Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day that churches
around the world remember the coming of the Spirit after Jesus' ascension to
the right hand of God. So, I thought it would be good to talk to you about the Spirit.
It's a sad fact that who the Spirit is and what He
does are things that are not well understood among Christians these days. I
hope to help you to understand Him a little better this morning.
I'm going to do this in a way that is different from what is
normal for me. I'm going to use a whole chapter of the Bible, all of Romans 8.
That's a lot of territory, but we're only going to be considering what this
chapter has to say about the Spirit.
In all of this I have one big idea to present to you. The
Spirit's role in the Gospel isn't just a little add-on to having Jesus as
Savior and Lord. The presence of the Spirit in the Christian is essential to
the Gospel. Having the Spirit defines who you are. His presence in your life has
changed you in some very important ways. That's the main idea of the sermon.
Now, please listen as I read Romans 8. (Note to you who are
reading this sermon: It would be a good idea for you to read the chapter now. Really. Yes, the whole chapter.)
Here's the first thing that I want you to know.
You, however, are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit…
You have the Spirit. There is no 'ought' or 'it would be good
if' or anything like that. It's just a fact. You have the Spirit. And just as Paul could say that to every member of that church in
Rome, I can say it to every member of Faith Reformed. You have the
Spirit. His presence in your life is part of the Gospel, an essential part of
the Gospel. Once again I'm stressing the facts of the Gospel, the indicatives.
So, wherever you go, whatever you are doing, you have the Spirit.
One result of that is that you have resources for living that
those who are not disciples of Jesus don't. So, for one thing, while they are
still slaves, you have been set free.
For the law of the Spirit of life has
set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
All who are not disciples of Jesus are limited by sin and
death. They are slaves of sin. They don't have the option of doing what is good
and right. They can choose to sin to a greater or lesser degree, but they can't choose to
do good. And as a result, they are hemmed in by death,
the inevitable result of sin. Here, go back and review last week's sermon about
life versus death.
But you are different. The Spirit has done something in you.
You are no longer a slave to those things. Understand what that means. You can
choose to do what is good and right. You can choose those things that lead to a
greater and greater experience of life. You can choose to draw near to the
Father. You can choose to follow Jesus faithfully. You can choose to enjoy more
and more of what it means to be a Christian. You can do this because you have
the Spirit. So, consider this from Proverbs.
The path of the righteous is like the
light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep
darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
While life for those who are not disciples of Jesus is really
bad, life for you is becoming better and better. Because of the Spirit, you
have been set free to live, to really live.
Then there's this.
For all who are led by the Spirit of
God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of
slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as
sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Because of the Spirit you are sons of God. Think of it: sons
of God. Now, why didn't Paul write 'sons and daughters of God' or at least,
'children of God'? Was he sexist? No. Paul wrote that because he understood
something. Consider the love that the Father has for His Son, for Jesus. He has
the same love for you. He loves you as a son. That is simply amazing. It's as
if you have been welcomed into the family of the Trinity to enjoy the love that
has been there for an eternity. Actually, leave out the 'as if'. You are sons
of God, and you have been welcomed into the Trinity. You are loved as sons. This
is yours by the Spirit.
It's because of this that you are able to call God your
Father. Now, there are some of you who have had great relationships with your
human fathers. And there are some of you who haven't. But all of you are able
to have a great relationship with your divine Father. He's always there, always
involved in your life, always ready to listen, always ready to talk. He's a
great father, and He's your Father. This is also because of the Spirit.
Thus far I have told you some of the facts of the Gospel. You
have the Spirit. You have been set free to live. You are sons of God. These are
facts. No 'shoulds' or 'oughts'
or 'wouldn't it be nice if'. But now, it's time to talk about something you are
to do.
So then, brothers, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to
the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live.
Here, there is an expectation. You are debtors. That is, you
have an obligation. Because you have the Spirit you are to put to death the
deeds of the body. You are to deal with your sin. In fact, you aren't supposed
to just deal with it. You are to put your sins to death. So, consider some
sinful deed of your body: something you do, somewhere you go, something you
say, something you listen to, something you watch. God expects you to act. He
expects you to destroy that sin, to put it to death, so that you don't do it
anymore.
This is where people can feel overwhelmed. 'Destroy my sin?
Impossible! I can't do that. I've tried.' But remember, you have resources for
things like this. You have the Spirit. You have been freed from sin and death
so that you actually can choose to do good and right, and turn away from that
sinful deed of the body. You are sons of God, sons of the God who is right
there with you as a good Father. You can do this.
What is so helpful is that Paul doesn't leave it there. He
understands our situation. So, he also writes,
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness.
Yes, we have all these resources. And yet, we still get all
tied up in knots and trip over ourselves, especially when we try to deal with
some sin. For many reasons, we still find ourselves to be very weak. The Spirit
sees this, but He doesn't get annoyed or pull back. He doesn't tell us, 'Come
on. You're supposed to be able to do this!' He doesn't scold us. He helps us in
our weakness.
And Paul is quite clear when it comes to how the Spirit helps
us.
For we do not know what to pray for
as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings
too deep for words.
The key to your success, your being
able to live well, to do things like kill some sin, is always tied to prayer. Always. There is more than just prayer but never less. And
so, that is where the Spirit helps you. He says what your hearts would say if
they knew how to say it. He helps you, weak as you are, to cry out to your
loving Father. And how can the Father not hear your cries and respond in power
and love?
Understand what I've done. This has been a quick overview of
some of what the Spirit has done and continues to do in you and for you. There
is more to grasp, and, God willing, we will get to that also at some point. But
for the time being just deal with what you have here.
I've told you five things:
- You have the Spirit.
- He has set you free from the
slavery of sin and death.
- He has made you sons of God.
- He calls you to kill your sin.
- He helps you to do that.
These things are true of every Christian. And that means that
they are true of you.
So, what do you do with this? And the answer to that is
simple. Believe it. It's the Gospel. And believing it - not just with your mind
but also with your soul - will show. One way that it will show is in how you
talk to yourself. It will show when you are confronted by some call of God that
seems impossible. What do you tell yourself then? This is what you say. 'I can
do this. The Spirit is with me. He has set me free. He has made me God's son.
He is interceding for me. I can do this.' Believe this part of the Gospel, and
it will show.
It may be that you will want to focus on one particular point
of those five. The manuscript for the sermon will be online by this evening.
Read over that point. Pray over that point. But whatever you do, believe this
part of the Gospel.