back to index2016-10-23 Mind on the Spirit and Mind on the Flesh
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If you can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 8 verses 5 through 11, Romans chapter 8 verses 5 00:00:12.560 |
through 11, we're going to be continuing on the subject of the Holy Spirit and the law and the 00:00:17.080 |
flesh. Again, all of these messages really needs to be understood all together because it is 00:00:24.480 |
connected. Paul is making an argument, obviously all the whole book of Romans is written like that, 00:00:28.440 |
but in particular chapter 6, 7, and 8, because if you just come in in the middle, some of the stuff 00:00:34.280 |
may not make a whole lot of sense. Not that you're not going to be able to understand it, but really 00:00:40.240 |
you need to kind of get the mindset of what he said and then what he's going to say. So again, 00:00:45.080 |
just to give you a heads up that what we're talking about in the Holy Spirit today, it is 00:00:48.600 |
not comprehensive. It is a part of what he says in the larger picture. So I'm sure a lot of questions 00:00:54.440 |
may come up, but some of those things will be addressed in the later part of the book of Romans. 00:00:59.800 |
Romans chapter 8 verse 5 through 11, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds 00:01:06.120 |
in the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds in the 00:01:09.360 |
things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit 00:01:14.240 |
is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit 00:01:19.040 |
to God's law. Indeed, it cannot, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not 00:01:25.480 |
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not 00:01:30.160 |
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is 00:01:35.520 |
dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised 00:01:40.240 |
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to 00:01:45.240 |
your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." Let's pray. Gracious Father, we pray that 00:01:56.880 |
your Word would be your words, Lord God, and not mine, not man's, not our opinions, but the authority 00:02:07.080 |
that you have placed. I pray, Father God, that your Word would go forth. Cause us to see clearly who 00:02:13.040 |
you are, what it is that we have in Christ. That our understanding of the gift of the Spirit, our 00:02:19.000 |
salvation, Christ crucified, all of these things, Lord God, that may be correctly understood. That 00:02:25.920 |
our minds, our thoughts, and our worship may be thoroughly influenced, Lord God, by who you are. 00:02:31.000 |
We ask for your anointing over this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As we've been talking about 00:02:37.640 |
justification by faith, and again, chapter 6, where he says, "Well, if it's justification by faith, isn't 00:02:44.080 |
that going to lead to licentiousness?" There is no consequence for sin. If that's the case, then we 00:02:50.880 |
can just do whatever we want. And of course, that's not what God desires, but if that is what happens, 00:02:55.600 |
so what? I mean, genuine Christians aren't gonna say, "So what?" But in reality, that may actually 00:03:02.360 |
happen, right? There's no consequence. So Paul says, "That is not the case at all, by no means." 00:03:07.520 |
That doesn't happen because when we were crucified with Christ, our old self died, and we were renewed 00:03:14.120 |
in Christ, we were united with Him. We were married, we were freed from the marriage of the previous, 00:03:21.200 |
with the law, and now we are married to Christ. We're no longer enslaved to the law of sin, but 00:03:27.120 |
now we're enslaved to righteousness. So therefore, he says, that is not what happens to a Christian. 00:03:34.200 |
So it does not. A genuine justification by faith actually leads to genuine sanctification, genuine 00:03:40.240 |
growth in his spiritual life. He says, "Then what is the purpose of the law?" Chapter 7. "It came in 00:03:45.880 |
order to reveal sin, it came in order to stir up sin, and it came so that sin would become utterly 00:03:50.880 |
sinful." To lead us to a point where Paul says in verse 24, chapter 7, "Woe is me! Oh, what a wretched 00:03:58.040 |
man that I am! Who is going to deliver me from this body of sin?" And so he introduces Christ, 00:04:04.000 |
and through Christ and His blood sacrifice, how we become renewed. So what we could not do, what the 00:04:10.440 |
law could not do, we can by the sinful flesh. God did by sending His only begotten Son. And so the 00:04:15.480 |
distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian is the Holy Spirit. So we said that God initiates 00:04:21.720 |
salvation, Jesus Christ mediates salvation, and the Holy Spirit is the one who perpetuates, gives us 00:04:27.480 |
the power so that now not only are we saved, we are being saved by the Holy Spirit, and that we 00:04:33.920 |
will be saved ultimately. And that is in a nutshell how the Bible describes our salvation. So the 00:04:41.080 |
distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian is the Holy Spirit. A non-Christian can declare to 00:04:46.680 |
know God. A non-Christian can even say that Jesus Christ came and He died. Remember even the demons 00:04:54.560 |
when they saw Jesus they bowed to the ground and said, "Son of God, have you come before your time 00:04:59.040 |
to torture us?" Satan knew exactly what Jesus was doing so he enters into Judas and tries to 00:05:06.520 |
prevent him from going. And then he influences Peter trying to get him not to go. So Satan was 00:05:11.960 |
very aware of what Jesus was going to do. So the demons were not unaware. So James says, "If you 00:05:17.520 |
have faith without deeds, it's dead faith. It is no different than these demons who declare these 00:05:22.440 |
things. They believe in a God but it doesn't produce works." So the distinction between a 00:05:27.320 |
Christian and a non-Christian is the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit that regenerates, Holy Spirit that 00:05:33.200 |
indwells, and Holy Spirit that empowers us. That is not disputed. There is a dispute between, in 00:05:44.240 |
chapter 7, is that a Christian or a non-Christian? Now again depending on which era of commentary 00:05:49.800 |
that you read you're gonna get different views. That could be up to interpretation. But what I 00:05:54.880 |
just said about the power of the Holy Spirit, about a Christian having indwelling of the Holy 00:05:59.320 |
Spirit, that is not disputed no matter what denomination, no matter what era of Christianity 00:06:03.480 |
that you may read. But there's a tension. There are things that sometimes we say in the church 00:06:10.880 |
and then there's a disconnect in the way that we live. And so after a while when you continue to 00:06:18.160 |
live your life and you see this disconnect, there's a disconnect from the Bible and your life. And that 00:06:24.840 |
disconnect is pretty obvious. And I think that the greatest of this disconnect is, I know what the 00:06:29.000 |
Bible says, but I don't see this in my life. Nor do I see it in the life of majority of the Christians. 00:06:34.040 |
I know some people, but majority of the Christians that I know, I don't see this. So because of this 00:06:41.600 |
tension between here's what God says we ought to do, says who we are, and then what I'm experiencing, 00:06:47.800 |
what I'm seeing, I would see it on television, people giving their lives. Every once in a while we see 00:06:53.160 |
missionaries who are packing up their bags and doing crazy things for Christ. It's like, okay, I see it 00:06:58.040 |
in them. But in our personal lives, that may not be the case. So different groups have come up with 00:07:05.120 |
the solution to this. So the Pentecostals have said, maybe the reason why there's this disconnect, 00:07:11.600 |
there's this gap between who we ought to be and who we are, is that we need a second baptism of the 00:07:17.640 |
Holy Spirit. That you were baptized maybe when you became a Christian, or maybe you weren't baptized 00:07:23.640 |
at all. And you really need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. So there's two levels of Christians. 00:07:28.560 |
There's Christians who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and then there's Christians who are 00:07:32.200 |
filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, years ago we were out in Balboa, and we were out witnessing, 00:07:39.200 |
sharing the Gospel with people. And I ran into a group of people who believed that, Apostolic 00:07:42.960 |
Pentecostals. And they believed that the evidence that you have this baptism with the Holy Spirit, 00:07:49.600 |
that you need to speak in tongues. So we were going back and forth, opening up the Scripture, 00:07:53.760 |
and they had this whole chart in the back of their trunk, and they were showing me all of this stuff. 00:07:57.200 |
And then, you know, at the end, we said, "You know what? Let's just pray. Let's pray, because we're 00:08:02.560 |
not getting anywhere." So I started praying with them, and it was surprising. As soon as I started 00:08:06.800 |
praying, all of them, about 12, 13 of them who was out there, surrounded me. And all of a sudden, 00:08:12.280 |
right in the middle of the Balboa, you know where the, what do you call it? The bridge. 00:08:17.360 |
Pier. Pier, yeah, the pier. Right in the beginning of that pier, they surrounded me, and all 12 of them 00:08:23.520 |
just started speaking in tongues. You know? And so I was praying, and I remember after the prayer, 00:08:30.040 |
I was just looking up at them, and they said, "Did you get it? Did you get the tongues?" 00:08:33.920 |
I was like, "No." You know? But with them, the distinguishing mark between a Christian and 00:08:38.960 |
non-Christian is, do you speak tongues? Because if you don't speak tongues, that means you don't have 00:08:42.320 |
the Holy Spirit. We have variations of that, even though, again, completely unbiblical. I'm not 00:08:48.280 |
gonna get into arguing all of this. Maybe one of these days, when we have a systematic theology 00:08:53.000 |
class, that we can get into more details of why that's not biblical. But we have variations of 00:08:58.040 |
this. Some people will say, "Well, maybe people are immature, because there is a lack of 00:09:04.120 |
organization, lack of discipleship. You haven't met the right person, and you're not doing certain 00:09:09.120 |
things right." And so, maybe that's what it is. Maybe if we applied the right methodology. Maybe 00:09:15.480 |
if we were organized differently, and then we were more relevant. But the problem with that 00:09:21.960 |
is, if you go to church, to church, to church, to church, using different methodology, and different 00:09:27.000 |
organization, you'll see that this struggle is consistent over denominations, over different 00:09:36.320 |
groups, over campus ministries, over ages. Recently, we had a resurgence of Reformed Theology. And, 00:09:45.000 |
again, getting us back to the Scripture, obviously, is a great thing. But it also led to this pseudo 00:09:52.160 |
intellectualism. Thinking that if you have enough knowledge, and if you can quote enough things, 00:09:57.880 |
and read enough books, that somehow that makes you mature. And so, that's how we're bridging the gap 00:10:02.760 |
between a matured and non-mature person. This idea has taken even outside of the Christian circle, 00:10:10.200 |
where people are so frustrated with this. Some of these cults say, "Maybe it's because you're at the 00:10:14.280 |
wrong church, that you need to be baptized into the Church of Christ." So, that's the reason why 00:10:19.680 |
you're not experiencing this abundant life, because you're at the wrong church. And so, you have to go 00:10:24.920 |
to their church, and you have to be baptized. In fact, I spent almost a whole year with one of the 00:10:29.920 |
leaders, or two of the guys, who are on campus at UCI. And the two guys who are there, the local 00:10:37.040 |
church movement. You guys may or may not know, because they tend to change their name every once 00:10:42.080 |
in a while. But basically, they were saying that, you know, there's two different groups of Christians. 00:10:46.800 |
There's a regular Christian, and then Kingdom Christian. Kingdom Christian are people who belong 00:10:51.880 |
to their church. So, those are the people who are saved in body, soul, and spirit. So, the regular 00:10:59.280 |
Christians are Christians who are only saved body and soul, but not spirit. So, we spent a long time 00:11:04.320 |
arguing and discussing over this. And so, but the tension of what caused them to get there is the 00:11:10.040 |
same. Because they see what they see in the church, and what they see in the Scripture, it doesn't 00:11:16.480 |
match. So, where is the sanctification, and how do we bridge this gap? We need to make sure, again, 00:11:24.960 |
first and foremost, as we studied on Thursday, that whatever it is that we think to be true or 00:11:30.920 |
false, doesn't come from my worldview, or what I think is right, or what makes the most sense to me. 00:11:37.880 |
We have to make sure that it is coming from a careful study of the Word of God. Where does my 00:11:44.000 |
thought come from? Where does my convictions come from? Obviously, it's clear we need to come to the 00:11:49.640 |
Word of God. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian, clearly, is the Holy Spirit. 00:11:55.960 |
What the law could not do, God did by sending His Son, who walked in the Spirit, not according to 00:12:03.160 |
the flesh. So, the two extreme ways to apply this, if the Holy Spirit is the answer, how do we apply 00:12:11.760 |
this? So, you have one extreme where it says, "Just let go and let God." Since it's not me and the Holy 00:12:16.280 |
Spirit, it kind of makes us a passive recipient, and we just kind of sit there, and then, "Well, the 00:12:21.400 |
Holy Spirit's not doing anything, so what can I do?" That's not what the Bible teaches. In fact, 00:12:26.440 |
there's imperative in the Scripture, "Be filled with the Spirit." Walk in the Spirit, right? To, 00:12:31.640 |
all things to be done in the Spirit. So, these are imperatives, or things that we are taught to do. 00:12:37.440 |
Do not grieve the Spirit. The other extreme is to think that, "Well, if it's the Holy Spirit, so 00:12:43.720 |
somehow I can wield the Holy Spirit. That if I maybe just did certain things, quoted the certain 00:12:49.400 |
verses, or prayed a certain way, that I can capture the power of the Holy Spirit and wield it toward 00:12:54.560 |
a certain direction." Now, we see that mistake in Acts chapter 8, 17 to 20. If you remember a man 00:13:01.400 |
named Simon, when he sees Peter praying for people, and the Holy Spirit comes upon them, remember what 00:13:06.720 |
he does? He says, "Well, I have money. How much is it going to cost? How much can I give you, and can 00:13:11.640 |
you give me this power?" And as a result of that, Peter gets angry, and he says, "Not only will you 00:13:16.040 |
not receive this power, you're going to be judged for thinking that you're able to purchase this." 00:13:20.480 |
And then another example we see in Acts chapter 19, the sons of Sceva, where Paul is going around, 00:13:28.120 |
and he's doing tremendous amount of miracles. And so, he thinks that maybe he could also cast out 00:13:33.840 |
demons. And then, so the sons of Sceva, these seven sons of Sceva, get in a room with this demon 00:13:40.400 |
possessed man, and tries to cast out the demon. Remember what the demon says? "I know Paul, and I 00:13:46.520 |
know Jesus, but who are you?" And then what happens, he says, "They overcome this man, and they strip him 00:13:55.320 |
naked, and they run out screaming, wounded." So, what is the point of that? You can't wield the Holy 00:14:02.320 |
Spirit. It was in their arrogance to think, "Maybe if we did this, oh, they can do it. Maybe I can do it." 00:14:08.520 |
And as a result of that, they get overcome, and they get thoroughly humiliated. The Holy Spirit is 00:14:13.720 |
not something for us to wield. No different than God Himself, for us to think that somehow, 00:14:19.160 |
if we say the right magic words, God has to bend to our prayers. Which, again, a whole group of, 00:14:27.000 |
there was a whole movement called the Word-Faith Movement that actually taught that. Then, if that's 00:14:32.720 |
not the case, if we can't wield His power, if we're not to be passive, and just passive recipients, 00:14:37.560 |
how do we engage this Holy Spirit? What does this power of the Holy Spirit look like in the life of 00:14:42.360 |
a Christian? Some of you, I know, were probably wrestling with that and thinking, "Ok, now He's 00:14:47.320 |
going to give us the answer, and we're going to fix this problem once and for all." Right? If that was 00:14:51.760 |
the case, that would have happened a long time ago. Right? But I want to show you what the 00:14:55.560 |
Scripture says. But first and foremost, we have to understand when we think of power, that that power 00:15:05.280 |
that we're expecting and hoping for is the power described in the Bible. Not what you and I oftentimes 00:15:14.400 |
equate with power. Because, again, in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, Jesus deliberately humbles Paul. And Paul 00:15:21.680 |
says at the end of his struggle that, "When I am weak, He is powerful. He is strong." So He deliberately 00:15:27.600 |
makes us weak in order to demonstrate His power. But I want to give you, I think, the most tangible, 00:15:33.560 |
tangible evidence, or tangible demonstration of what God deems to be powerful. Turn your Bibles 00:15:41.240 |
with me to 1 Kings chapter 19, 9-18. Elijah is a prophet during a period of probably one of the 00:15:50.440 |
worst kings of Israel, Ahab. And his wife was even worse, Jezebel. There's an encounter that Elijah 00:15:58.960 |
has with the idol worshippers, these priests. And over 400 of them encounter him. And they say, "Well, 00:16:06.720 |
if it's your God or my God, let's see what happens." And God comes and consumes them with fire and they 00:16:12.560 |
die. So you would think at the end a revival would break out. Nothing of the sort. After that event, 00:16:22.440 |
when Jezebel hears from Ahab, Ahab comes running to his wife and tells his wife exactly what 00:16:28.200 |
happened. Elijah, this troublemaker, he killed all our prophets. And then Jezebel's determined, 00:16:33.240 |
"I'm gonna get this guy. We're gonna make sure he dies." She's just determined. She's not afraid of 00:16:39.600 |
him at all. And then it's strange that Elijah, after seeing that kind of power from God, gets 00:16:46.520 |
so discouraged, he runs off and hides into a cave. That's the setup. He's in a cave right now. He ran 00:16:53.480 |
away because Jezebel said, "I'm gonna kill him." Right? Verse 9, "There he came to a cave and lodged 00:16:59.040 |
in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said to him, 'What are you doing here, 00:17:04.320 |
Elijah?'" Right? "And he said, 'I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the 00:17:10.320 |
people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets 00:17:15.240 |
with the sword. And I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.'" You see the 00:17:21.680 |
discouragement of Elijah was he expected a revival to break out. But instead of revival, they're 00:17:28.320 |
determined to get him. And Jezebel and Ahab said, "We're gonna kill this guy." So he said, "I've done 00:17:32.680 |
everything I could possibly do, but it's just not working. Not only is it not working, I'm the only 00:17:38.120 |
prophet left. And I'm done. I don't know if I can keep doing this." So he's burnt out. He just saw 00:17:45.000 |
the greatest power of God, and now he's hiding in a cave. Just a few days later, he's hiding 00:17:51.600 |
in a cave. He said, "I'm burnt out. I'm tired. Lord, I don't want to do this anymore." And then he said, 00:17:56.920 |
"Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord, and I will pass by." And behold, the Lord passes 00:18:03.800 |
by. So he said, "I'm gonna show you. You're burnt out, and you need to have a fresh encounter with 00:18:10.080 |
me." And so God says, "Go out and wait for me, and God's gonna pass by." And he says, "And a great and 00:18:18.560 |
strong wind tore the mountains and broke into pieces the rocks before the Lord." Some of your 00:18:23.840 |
translations actually says that it's a hurricane that came in, right? The language is it wasn't just 00:18:29.120 |
a normal strong wind. It was a hurricane that came. Now, I want you to think to yourself, "Why does God 00:18:35.080 |
do this?" Right? Why does God go through all this drama? Who created this wind? Did it just happen 00:18:41.560 |
that when He stood out there, just randomly some wind went by? Who did it? God must have done it. 00:18:47.800 |
Like a hurricane and an earthquake and fire all happened just randomly at the same time and said, 00:18:53.840 |
"Oh, that wasn't me." Clearly it was God, right? But he said his clear presence wasn't there. Earthquake 00:19:01.200 |
comes next, and you would think like, "Earthquake?" Right? We live in Southern California, so when we 00:19:07.280 |
hear the word "earthquake," it's like, "Oh, okay. It's just another day." You know? But if you ever have 00:19:11.440 |
friends or cousins that come from the East Coast or the Midwest, and the earth shakes for a 00:19:16.720 |
little bit, they freak out. Right? So the earth shakes. Who did that? It wasn't a train that was going by. 00:19:23.160 |
It wasn't a thunder. It was God Himself did it. But He said God wasn't there. Fire comes, 00:19:29.680 |
but nowhere. Fire comes, and God's not there either. Right? Why does He go through all of this drama to 00:19:39.120 |
demonstrate to Elijah that He's not there? So what happens next? God shows up, and He says, "What does 00:19:44.440 |
He say?" At the end of verse 12, "And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper." And that's where He was. 00:19:53.200 |
Not the hurricane, not the earthquake, and not the consuming fire, and all of these things in the 00:20:03.880 |
past. God showed Himself in those things. But to Elijah specifically, He said He wasn't there. And 00:20:10.240 |
He deliberately shows up as a whisperer. Why does He do that? Because Elijah just experienced this 00:20:17.840 |
fire. He experienced the thunder. He experienced this tremendous power of God, and nothing happened. 00:20:26.320 |
Even after all of that, these people aren't going to repent? "I quit!" That's where He was. That's why He 00:20:37.000 |
was in the cave. "I quit!" And so God is trying to show Elijah that you're looking for maybe 00:20:46.800 |
the fire wasn't big enough. Maybe if the thunder was louder. Maybe the earthquake was even bigger. 00:20:52.240 |
And He's looking for this mighty power. And He says, "No." He comes in a gentle whisper, and then He 00:20:59.040 |
says, "And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, just like any other man in the presence 00:21:05.440 |
of His glory, recognizes his sin, and he wraps himself, and he hides. And behold, there came a 00:21:13.640 |
voice to him and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" The second time asks him, right? "What are you 00:21:19.040 |
doing here?" And he gives the same response, verse 14, "I've been very jealous for the Lord, the God of 00:21:23.640 |
hosts, for the people of Israel. I've forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed 00:21:28.440 |
your prophets with the sword. And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away." After 00:21:34.040 |
all of that, nothing has changed. And they're still trying to kill me. And the response of God, it's 00:21:45.760 |
almost comical, because there's no hoopla. There's no shaking. There's no miracle. He just says, and 00:21:55.080 |
the Lord said to him, "Go back. Go return on your way to the wilderness in Damascus, and let me tell 00:22:01.160 |
you what you're going to do. Go back. There's going to be some remnants. There's Elohim, and my 00:22:06.840 |
people are here." He doesn't say, "The ground's going to shake, and thunder's going to happen." He just 00:22:13.560 |
says, "Go back. Just keep doing what I'm telling you to do." Right? What was his point? God is powerful 00:22:24.040 |
in the thunder, in the earthquake, in the fire, and in the whisper. See, our tendency is, when we think 00:22:34.680 |
about the Holy Spirit and power, we're thinking about something to happen, revival. Like something to 00:22:40.200 |
happen, something to shake me, like get me out. You know, I'm stuck. Get me out. I need a super 00:22:45.400 |
truck. I need a plane. I need something. But it's the description that Paul gives of somebody who 00:22:53.380 |
is saved and delivered from sin. It's just his mind. He says, "For those who live according to the flesh 00:23:02.520 |
set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their 00:23:06.760 |
minds on the things of the Spirit." And he just describes, it's just your mind. Your mind is 00:23:11.480 |
different between somebody who's in the Spirit and somebody who's living in the flesh. And again, 00:23:18.040 |
one of the questions I ask is, "Is this describing what you ought to do or who you are?" It's clearly 00:23:23.800 |
an indicative. This is not an imperative. He's describing a Christian and a non-Christian. So, 00:23:28.120 |
the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian was, what's going on in your head? 00:23:32.440 |
Right? It doesn't sound too dramatic. I mean, really? That's it? I know some of you guys were 00:23:40.560 |
waiting all week to think, like, "What is he gonna say? What's the answer?" Like, "Give me the answer 00:23:45.920 |
so that I can have sanctification." Well, I mean, it just seems so mundane. But I want to show you, 00:23:52.840 |
oftentimes what we're looking for may be no different than what the Jews were looking for. 00:24:02.320 |
Remember what he says? "The Jews asked for signs and the Greeks looked for wisdom, but we preached 00:24:10.200 |
Christ crucified." And I'm gonna keep reading. He says, "But we preached Christ crucified, a stumbling 00:24:17.960 |
block to Jews and a folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, 00:24:21.680 |
Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, 00:24:27.240 |
and the weakness of God is stronger than men." What you consider to be powerful, in God's eyes, 00:24:34.160 |
is weakness. 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, 00:24:42.040 |
but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." So, when we think about this power, 00:24:48.240 |
the Holy Spirit, our first thing is something happening, something rumbling, something's gonna 00:24:53.320 |
happen. But he says, "It's foolish. It's just so mundane. It's the preaching of the cross." In fact, 00:24:59.720 |
there's two areas in the Bible where there's a concentration of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, 00:25:06.160 |
called pneumatology. Not pneumatology, pneumology, right? So, Chapter 8 is one of them, and then John 00:25:14.000 |
Chapter 14, 15, 16 is the other. So, can you turn your Bibles to John Chapter 14? This is where Jesus 00:25:21.040 |
prophesies and tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit is going to come. And He explains why the 00:25:26.600 |
Holy Spirit is going to come. Verse 16, Chapter 14, verse 16. He says, "And I will ask the Father, 00:25:37.080 |
and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever." Okay, so one, just remember that. He 00:25:42.800 |
calls Him Helper, and then verse 26, again, He says, "But the Helper of the Holy Spirit, 00:25:46.840 |
Helper of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things." 00:25:51.120 |
So, one, He's called the Helper. The purpose of the Holy Spirit coming is to help us. Help us what? 00:25:56.320 |
To continue on, to continue to follow Him. Right? What is He going to do? "And even the Spirit of 00:26:02.920 |
Truth," okay, He's called the Helper, He's called the Spirit of Truth, "whom the world cannot receive, 00:26:07.760 |
because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in 00:26:14.000 |
you." And then, if you go further down in verse 26, He describes exactly why He is coming. Verse 26, 00:26:23.480 |
He says, "But the Helper of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you 00:26:27.520 |
all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." All right, stop right there. 00:26:33.240 |
So, when you look at chapter 14, when Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is going to come, why is the 00:26:39.520 |
Holy Spirit coming? One, to help you. He says, "I'm going where I go, you cannot come." And then He 00:26:48.240 |
says, "Oh, what about us?" And they're freaking out. And then, so He says in verse 18, "I will not 00:26:53.920 |
leave you as orphans, and I will come to you." And then He's talking about the Holy Spirit. So, in the 00:26:59.040 |
Holy Spirit, the Helper comes, the Spirit of Truth, "He will bring to remembrance all that I have 00:27:03.880 |
taught you." And then, if you go to chapter 16, verse 7, again He describes the ministry of the 00:27:12.320 |
Holy Spirit. "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do 00:27:17.520 |
not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, 00:27:22.480 |
He will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, 00:27:27.720 |
because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father. And 00:27:31.480 |
you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." So, 00:27:36.840 |
let's put that all together. The Holy Spirit is coming, called the Helper, the Spirit of Truth. 00:27:42.920 |
He's going to cause us to remember all that Christ has said. He's going to convict the world of sin, 00:27:48.240 |
and of righteousness. If we were to wrap that up in a short, concise statement, basically what He's 00:27:55.760 |
doing is He's causing us to remember Christ. That's what He said. And what does that mean? What does 00:28:05.080 |
that have to do with when Paul says, "The Holy Spirit, the people who are Christians and non- 00:28:11.000 |
Christian is what's going on in their mind." Right? People who are of the Spirit have their minds set 00:28:16.560 |
on the things of the Spirit. People of the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh. Here's 00:28:21.200 |
what's interesting. The word for repentance is "metanoia." And the word "metanoia" literally in 00:28:28.520 |
the Greek is two words put together, "meta" to change, "noia" is the mind. So, the literal 00:28:34.720 |
understanding of this word repentance means to change your mind. So, when Paul says, "A Christian 00:28:40.800 |
and a non-Christian," he's a Christian is somebody whose mind has been changed, who's repented, and 00:28:47.280 |
he no longer looks at the world the same way. That his mind is continually set on the things of the 00:28:53.480 |
Spirit. And the one who's not is the one who's continually set his mind on the flesh. Some of 00:28:58.840 |
you guys who have the NIV translation, the word "flesh" is translated "sinful nature." Okay. Now, 00:29:08.840 |
that's not the literal translation of that word. NIV translated "sinful nature" because they just 00:29:14.640 |
said, "Well, it means flesh." That's what Paul must mean. So, they basically translated it for you, 00:29:19.000 |
interpreted it for you. But the literal word for flesh is just "flesh." So, what Paul really is 00:29:26.240 |
saying is, "A Christian and a non-Christian is somebody who is constantly living, thinking, 00:29:32.200 |
and consumed with the things of this world." You may come to church on Sunday, but the rest of the 00:29:39.240 |
week is your mind is no different than anybody else. But a Christian who's been renewed by the 00:29:45.120 |
Holy Spirit, and because of his faith, is constantly thinking of the things of the Spirit. Next year, 00:29:53.040 |
Esther and I are planning our 25th, you know, anniversary. 25th anniversary really is our 00:30:00.320 |
first honeymoon, because our first honeymoon after we got married, we just drove to San Francisco. So, 00:30:05.320 |
you know, we're trying to... we didn't have money. We were young at that time, so we thought, like, 00:30:08.800 |
"As long as we're married, it doesn't matter." And then I realized it mattered. And then, 00:30:12.360 |
ever since then, I've been trying to make it up, and we just haven't been able to, 00:30:17.520 |
because we had kids, right? So, next year will be really the first time that we're doing something, 00:30:24.120 |
and we're kind of, "What are we going to do with the kids? Are we going to take Isaiah? You know, 00:30:28.040 |
how much is this going to cost? What are we going to do? When are we going to go?" And so, 00:30:31.160 |
I'm constantly, every time I have, I'm trying to research, you know, "Can I save enough points? Can 00:30:35.840 |
I do this and do that? What can I do?" You know? And so, even though it's six months or whatever 00:30:40.960 |
away, you know, my thoughts are on that, because I'm planning and preparing for that. Well, he says, 00:30:46.880 |
a Christian is somebody who believes in the promise of the coming kingdom. And so, as a result of that, 00:30:54.440 |
our mind is constantly set on the things of the Spirit. And somebody who's not, who doesn't have 00:31:00.000 |
faith, no matter how often you go to church, no matter what you do, your mind is constantly set 00:31:04.560 |
on the things, because this is where you belong. See, a Christian is somebody who heard the Gospel 00:31:10.880 |
of Jesus Christ, and when he saw that, he believed. And he repented. He changed his mind. So, if you 00:31:18.440 |
didn't repent, if your mind has not been changed, you wouldn't be a Christian. That's what Paul is 00:31:23.960 |
describing in Romans chapter 8. A person who has repented. And so, in Romans chapter 12, verse 2, 00:31:29.280 |
when he said, "Do not be conformed, but be transformed by," what? "Renewing of your mind." What does the 00:31:34.920 |
renewing of your mind literally mean? Repentant. Repenting. That our mind is constantly being 00:31:43.440 |
renewed and changed and revised. And that's what the Holy Spirit primarily does. That He comes into 00:31:51.760 |
our lives, and He reminds us of what we have in Christ, and why He did it, and who He did it for. 00:31:58.720 |
And I believe this. And I believe in the coming Kingdom. And as a result of that, my mind has 00:32:05.000 |
been washed. My brain has been washed. I'm brainwashed. Renewed. Repented. See, people who are 00:32:15.480 |
fleshly is simply unrepentant. Unrepentant. There's nothing that has changed. Unchanged in mind. 00:32:23.880 |
Therefore, they are concerned about the fleshly things. And as a result of that, he says in verse 6, 00:32:28.480 |
it leads ultimately to death. A fleshly mind is somebody who is already dead. Verse 7, their mind 00:32:35.840 |
is hostile to God. If your mind is constantly thinking about this world, and the benefits of 00:32:41.680 |
this world, and this world only, he says you can't please God. You're hostile. Colossians 1:21, 00:32:47.280 |
"And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil things." And the reason why they 00:32:53.000 |
were doing evil things is because their mind is constantly thinking of things that are against 00:32:56.600 |
God. Not only that, in verse 7 it says, "It does not and cannot submit to the law of God." And again, 00:33:03.160 |
I believe that Romans chapter 8 is describing that person. That no matter how much he desires it, 00:33:08.600 |
he cannot. And that's what he says in verse 7. He's not able to please God. In 1 Corinthians 2, 00:33:15.240 |
14 and 16, he says, Paul says, "A natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, 00:33:20.240 |
for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually 00:33:25.320 |
discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has 00:33:32.120 |
understood the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ." Because he 00:33:40.000 |
can't, he can't even, you know, no matter how much he tries, he can't understand. If he has not 00:33:45.840 |
repented and changed his mind. You know, oftentimes, you know, one of the most common questions that I 00:33:50.960 |
get from people is, "What is the will of the Lord? Should I marry her? Should I go here and do this?" 00:33:57.240 |
Well, that question can't be answered to somebody who is not already following the will of the Lord. 00:34:03.800 |
If every other part of your life you're living independent from God, and because this is such 00:34:10.480 |
an important decision, this one thing I want to get right. Everything else I just live independently 00:34:15.400 |
from God. But who I marry, I don't want to get this wrong, so I want His blessing upon this. He says, 00:34:20.760 |
"You can't possibly know that." He said, "A mind who is fleshly is not able to discern the will of God, 00:34:29.040 |
and nor can he even please God." You can do all these external things, but what God desires is 00:34:35.440 |
genuine worship. He says, "He can't please God." Therefore, again, they can't please God. But, he says, 00:34:43.240 |
of a Christian, in verse 9, "You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit." And as a result of that, 00:34:50.920 |
he says there, "You have life and peace." A person who has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit has life 00:34:58.840 |
and peace. And you'll notice in the Scripture, life and peace always go hand in hand. Because the word 00:35:05.480 |
for peace for a Jew is "shalom." And the word "shalom," peace, is closely related to the word Sabbath. 00:35:13.000 |
Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9, he says, "So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever 00:35:18.840 |
has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His." So, the Bible uses the term 00:35:25.880 |
Sabbath and salvation in similar terms. Because what was lost at the fall was when God entered 00:35:33.080 |
into His Sabbath, when we rested and we were living there, when we sinned, He says, "You shall surely die." 00:35:39.880 |
What did death look like? Separation. The Sabbath was broken. And ever since then, we're trying to, God 00:35:46.600 |
was trying to bring Christ to restore what? The Sabbath. So, he says, "A person who has the Holy Spirit 00:35:53.080 |
has life and has Sabbath." Because the Holy Spirit, in verse 9, is indwelling in us. He's making 00:36:01.320 |
His dwelling in us. Verse 9, "You are not of the flesh of the Spirit, but in fact the Spirit of God 00:36:07.560 |
dwells in you. And anyone who dwells not have the Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Him. But if 00:36:12.760 |
Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." 00:36:17.480 |
I hope if you guys were studying this passage this week that you saw that Christ and the Holy Spirit 00:36:24.280 |
is used interchangeably here. Did you catch that? Right? Remember we talked about the Holy Spirit, 00:36:29.640 |
the idea of the Trinity is very difficult to explain. But when you get into the Word, it is 00:36:34.360 |
clearly taught. He says that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit 00:36:39.080 |
of Christ, He just says, "Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Him. But Christ is in you, 00:36:45.480 |
although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." You notice that? 00:36:49.720 |
God, Christ, Holy Spirit is all used interchangeably here. If you notice, John chapter 14, he said, "Well, 00:36:57.160 |
if you go, how come we can't go with you?" And he said, "Do not worry. I will not leave you as orphans. 00:37:02.680 |
And when I go, the Helper is going to come." And then in chapter 15, he spends the whole chapter 00:37:09.320 |
talking about, "You cannot bear fruit unless you will do what? Remain in me, continue in me." 00:37:14.840 |
And then he goes back to chapter 16, talking about the Holy Spirit. So chapter 14, he describes the 00:37:21.720 |
Holy Spirit. Chapter 16, he describes the Holy Spirit. And chapter 15, after promising them that 00:37:27.640 |
He's going to continue with them, he says, "You have to remain. If you're going to bear fruit, you have to 00:37:32.600 |
remain with me. Remain. To continue. To rest. To stay." So what Paul is saying here is exactly what John 00:37:43.000 |
is saying, what he's been saying everywhere else. That the work of the Holy Spirit is to continually 00:37:48.840 |
connect us to Christ. That's the ultimate work of the Holy Spirit, is to continue to connect 00:37:56.920 |
us with Christ. There is only one mediator between us and the Father, and that's Jesus Christ. There's 00:38:05.160 |
nothing else in between. If we put anything else in between, if I just connect with the right person, 00:38:11.560 |
if I connect with the right program, if I was just, if I just went to the right seminary, 00:38:17.320 |
and suddenly we put something between us and Jesus, and we think, "Well, maybe the reason why 00:38:24.520 |
this is happening is because I lack this and this and this." And when the Holy Spirit says, "No, everything 00:38:29.720 |
that you need for the life of God has been given to you, and I'm not going to leave you as an orphan." 00:38:34.280 |
The Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Spirit of the Truth, He's going to come and remind you of all that I have 00:38:39.080 |
said to you. He's going to take the things that I have done, and He's going to convict the world of sin 00:38:44.520 |
and righteousness. So what is the work of the Holy Spirit? It's to connect us with Christ. A dynamic 00:38:52.040 |
relationship with Jesus Christ. And He brings us back to His Word. It is His presence. Presence of 00:39:01.160 |
Christ in our life through the Holy Spirit. In fact, J.I. Packer says of the Holy Spirit, "The greatest 00:39:08.040 |
benefit of the gift of the Holy Spirit is simply His presence." His presence. That the Holy Spirit 00:39:16.600 |
is no longer coming and going. He's not anointing and leaving. He has made a permanent indwelling. 00:39:24.200 |
The Scripture says that He was given to us as a deposit, guaranteeing our salvation. Deposit. 00:39:31.960 |
Permanently in us. Leading and guiding. So, rest of Chapter 8, He's going to go further into that. 00:39:38.440 |
Into what does it mean for the Holy Spirit to intercede on our behalf? We're not going to get 00:39:42.920 |
into that today. But it's if that Holy Spirit is in you, that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the 00:39:48.840 |
dead will also raise you to eternal life. Let me wrap all this up so that we can get to the communion. 00:39:57.800 |
I know that at the end of the day, maybe it'd be easier if we had some sort of a Holy Spirit 00:40:09.800 |
encounter. And that's what I used to think too when I was younger. And so, I was thinking, when I was a 00:40:16.920 |
younger Christian, or younger pastor, you know, I came from a charismatic background. That's why I 00:40:22.360 |
got saved. Even though I grew up in a Presbyterian background, I got saved in a charismatic background. 00:40:27.080 |
And so, people were doing healing, you know, speaking in tongues, and all the things that you 00:40:32.920 |
know, the charismatics. Well, I fully gave myself to that because if that's the case, then I want it. 00:40:40.440 |
But then there are certain things that just didn't fit spiritually. Like, why are we speaking in tongues 00:40:44.120 |
out loud? And the Bible says that there needs to be an interpreter. And so, there's certain things in 00:40:47.720 |
the Bible that I didn't see fit. But at that time, there were healing services going all around. It's 00:40:52.440 |
not like today. Right now, it's, you know, there's Seeker Friendly, or Reform, the Gospel Center 00:40:57.080 |
movement. And there's different things going on right now. But at that time, it was predominantly 00:41:01.400 |
vineyard, you know, like healing services on Sundays. So, people will go to a Presbyterian 00:41:05.480 |
service in the morning, and go to vineyard at night for healing service. So, I searched for five years, 00:41:11.480 |
you know, looking. If you, if that's the power of the Holy Spirit, I want it. I mean, that would save 00:41:18.360 |
me a lot of time. A lot of time. Instead of expositing the Scripture and telling you about 00:41:24.600 |
Christ, I just knock you to the ground. Right? I mean, what Benny Hinn does, you know, sounds fun. 00:41:33.240 |
Take off my jacket and just, and then go home. And revival breaks out. I mean, it'd be easy, right? 00:41:40.200 |
So, I said, "Man, if I had the gift of healing, if I can cast out demons, if I can do that, 00:41:45.080 |
I mean, why not? I don't see in the Bible, it says you can't happen. So, why not?" 00:41:49.880 |
So, I went to every service that had these services at vineyard. And I went, and I sat there. And one 00:41:55.320 |
time, I took the whole youth group. I think Elder Joe might have been there. I don't remember. 00:41:59.400 |
But I exposed our youth group to a lot of stuff. So, I would go to these services and look at it. 00:42:07.480 |
And then when they, I remember this one particular service that John Wimber, who was the head pastor 00:42:12.600 |
of that. And he said, "Well, there's 3,000 people in the room." And he said, "Anybody who hasn't seen 00:42:17.640 |
a miracle take place, come out." So, I went up, took the youth group up. And he had three, four people 00:42:23.880 |
sitting up in the front. So, we sat with them. And I surrounded, we sat. And literally, I was, 00:42:28.760 |
this, this, this. I wanted front row seats. So, John Wimber came and laid hands. And he was walking. 00:42:33.880 |
And there's about four or five other people. And he happened to stop at this one particular guy. 00:42:38.920 |
And it was just me and maybe about 15 other youth group kids that I took. And laid hands on him. 00:42:44.520 |
And then, all of a sudden, he's like, "Whoa, the Holy Spirit worked. This man's leg just grew." 00:42:53.240 |
And he, you know, and he, like, he was just hyping it up. And everybody in the congregation, 3,000 00:42:59.160 |
people, yeah, just clapping. I was confused because I didn't see anything. And what confused me even 00:43:06.520 |
more is that the guy who supposedly the healing happened, he was confused just as I was. 00:43:10.680 |
And I was looking at all the youth group groups, like, "Did you see something?" And we're all 00:43:15.560 |
confused. But 3,000 people were convinced because he was hyping it up. And so, afterward, he said, 00:43:23.160 |
and he went and said, "Oh, you know, praise God." And so, he's just like, "Yes, praise God." You 00:43:26.840 |
know. But we could clearly see, sitting there, that he was just as confused as us. So, that service 00:43:31.960 |
ended. 3,000 people left that room saying that they saw a miracle, except us. And I remember 00:43:39.160 |
leaving that thinking, "How much of it is this?" Right? It doesn't mean that it doesn't work. I 00:43:47.240 |
don't, I'm open but cautious. The guys who know what that is, I'm open but cautious. I don't 00:43:51.400 |
believe anything in the scripture that says it can't happen. I think it probably does happen. 00:43:56.040 |
Of course, God works miracles. Of course, God answers prayers. Of course, He heals. Right? 00:44:01.160 |
But this sensationalizing of the Holy Spirit actually detracts from the real source what 00:44:09.480 |
God has anointed, which was His Word. He anointed His Word. Foolishness. The Jews were demanding 00:44:19.720 |
signs. Greeks demanding wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. That it is in His faithful 00:44:27.400 |
teaching and preaching of the Word where the Holy Spirit takes that and unites us with an intimate 00:44:33.320 |
relationship with Christ. And that is the primary, it is not the only work, but it's the primary work 00:44:39.400 |
of the Holy Spirit. Now, some of you guys, again, are going to be sitting here and thinking like, 00:44:45.080 |
"Well, that sounds good, but I don't know if it helps me." Let me put this back to you. 00:44:50.840 |
Could it possibly be that some of our spiritual frustration is because we have not made up our 00:45:03.160 |
mind that this is what I want? If we put the kind of effort that we put into entertainment, 00:45:17.000 |
would there be revival in your life? Maybe. I'm not saying that it will, but it could. 00:45:30.600 |
If we put the kind of energy that we put toward losing five pounds, 00:45:34.840 |
do you think that'll make a difference in your walk with God? If you put half the energy to 00:45:42.840 |
pass a test and get a good grade into the Word of God and communion with Him, do you think that 00:45:50.760 |
will make a difference in maybe the frustration that you have in your walk with God? Could it 00:45:56.360 |
possibly be that it's not because the Holy Spirit is not upon you, but that we haven't made up our 00:46:05.480 |
mind? When Joshua says, "Choose you this day whom you will serve," stop teetering between two views. 00:46:16.200 |
If you're going to serve the Lord, serve the Lord. If you're going to serve Baal, serve Baal. 00:46:21.160 |
But you cannot do both. I'm not saying that that answers all the questions, but could it be 00:46:27.800 |
that part of the frustration in our sanctification is because we want both? 00:46:34.360 |
I can't say with absolute certainty that that's what it is, 00:46:42.200 |
but until you have committed your life to Christ wholly, you will never know 00:46:50.040 |
that that simply may be the reason. That your mind is consumed with the things of this world, 00:46:57.320 |
and you want God at the same time. You want revival and intimacy with Christ 00:47:02.120 |
and pursue the frivolous things in the world at the same time. You want to glorify God and yourself 00:47:09.000 |
at the same time. You want the security of money and security of the Holy Spirit at the same time. 00:47:21.000 |
I don't know, but until we've given our life fully to Christ, we would never know. 00:47:29.000 |
I'm going to conclude with this. In Matthew chapter 28, 16 to 20, is a passage where Jesus 00:47:37.160 |
gives the Great Commission, and it's something happened. We usually focus on verse 18 to 20. It 00:47:42.600 |
says, "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 00:47:47.720 |
And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted." So the Great Commission was given 00:47:53.720 |
as a result of this phrase. It's because they doubted. And that's why he says, "All authority 00:48:01.560 |
in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go make disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, 00:48:07.480 |
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And lo, I am with you to the end of the age." The reason why he says 00:48:12.040 |
"All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, and lo, I am with you to the end of the age," 00:48:15.480 |
because he says they were worshipping him, and yet some doubted. That's why he says that. 00:48:19.960 |
So the question is, what were they doubting? What were they doubting? They were already 00:48:27.880 |
worshipping him. Right? I mean, if they were doubting, could he possibly be the Messiah? 00:48:34.920 |
They wouldn't be worshipping him. They've already concluded that. To worship somebody that you 00:48:42.360 |
he may not be God would be the greatest blasphemy to a Jew. You would be struck down by lightning 00:48:48.840 |
instantaneously. You would have, I mean, people had leprosy for lesser sins than that. 00:48:53.320 |
They were worshipping him. So what did it mean that they doubted? Remember who they were. 00:48:59.880 |
These guys just failed miserably. Jesus going to the cross. He denies him three times. 00:49:07.720 |
And then Jesus is resurrected, comes back, and these people have utterly failed. 00:49:12.840 |
They have no confidence in themselves. Have you chosen the right people? You're going to use us? 00:49:22.440 |
I believe that they were doubting possibly themselves, and because they were doubting 00:49:29.560 |
themselves, maybe doubting did you pick the right people? And it is in that context, Jesus says, 00:49:35.240 |
his encouragement to them was, "The person who's sending you out, don't forget who I am. 00:49:41.320 |
All authority, every authority above Romans, above the demons, above all rule and authority 00:49:49.240 |
has been given unto me. Therefore, go make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the 00:49:55.960 |
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, 00:50:01.640 |
I am with you to the end of the age. So go. It's not you. I have empowered you." 00:50:10.760 |
So if we bought into this idea, this satanic idea, that God has given you 00:50:18.920 |
imperatives to follow, and then given you no power to do it. So living in impotence, 00:50:26.600 |
living lukewarm, and living the rest of your life feeling just guilty and just accepting 00:50:32.440 |
the fact where you are, that is satanic. That is not from God. God did not tell us, 00:50:37.880 |
"Go live your life and then withhold the power to do it." He who did not spare his own son, 00:50:45.400 |
how will he, along with him, give everything? Would he have just forgiven you of your sins, 00:50:51.880 |
and then not have delivered you from the power which is causing all of this stress and distress? 00:50:58.920 |
By no means. The same God who forgave us is the same God who resurrected Christ. And the same 00:51:09.000 |
God who resurrected Christ is the one who commands us. Live, live worthy of the gospel that you have 00:51:17.880 |
been called to. Would you take some time to pray with me as we prepare for the communion? And again, 00:51:23.880 |
as I mentioned to you earlier, that this message really needs to be seen in the larger context of 00:51:28.840 |
the whole book of Romans and chapter 8. And this is just a part of it. There's other things that 00:51:33.560 |
Paul's going to say about the Holy Spirit. But I think today, as we come to the communion table, 00:51:38.760 |
if you've gotten to a point, you've been a Christian for a while, and you've accepted the 00:51:44.200 |
fact that, you know, we're just failures, and that's just the way it is, you know, and God's 00:51:48.520 |
just going to accept me as I am, you know. To a certain degree, it's true. Our salvation is not by 00:51:55.000 |
our words. But you just quit in your pursuit of holiness. You just accepted the fact that this is 00:52:02.600 |
normal. And you're no longer striving after the things of God. By no means. The whole purpose of 00:52:12.520 |
why he saved us is so that we may have life and have this life abundantly. And maybe you're not 00:52:18.360 |
living that abundant life because you quit. And just like he promised his disciples, "I pray, 00:52:25.160 |
Peter, that your faith would not fail you. Get up and feed my sheep." That maybe we just need 00:52:33.160 |
to make that decision to change our mind, to repent. Or whatever way I was thinking was fleshly, 00:52:40.760 |
that I commit my life to Christ. I stand with Christ. So this morning, as we come to the 00:52:47.160 |
communion table, to examine our hearts to see if we, if our mind and our heart is of the Spirit. 00:52:55.080 |
And if not, take this time to come before the Lord and repent. I want to follow Christ with all 00:52:59.560 |
my heart. I don't want to stand between two worlds. You are my Savior. You are my hope. 00:53:05.240 |
To take that time to pray, and then when you are ready, we want to invite you to come up. 00:53:10.440 |
So as we ask Elder Doe to come up, I'm going to read passage in Corinthians. And then as you are 00:53:17.640 |
ready, again, I want to ask you, if you are a baptized believer, we ask you to come. And you're 00:53:22.920 |
welcome to participate. If you have not been baptized and you are not a believer, that you 00:53:27.080 |
would stay in your seats. Because the baptism is like a wedding ceremony. And communion is kind of 00:53:34.920 |
like an anniversary, remembering. So if you have not been baptized, we ask that you would stay in 00:53:39.880 |
your seats. For those of you who are, again, when you are ready, please come to the two aisles and 00:53:44.680 |
then use the middle aisle to go down. First Corinthians 11 23, "For I received from the 00:53:50.200 |
Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. 00:53:54.920 |
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this 00:53:59.560 |
in remembrance of me.' In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is a 00:54:04.920 |
new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you 00:54:11.320 |
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" Heavenly Father, 00:54:17.800 |
we come before you at the communion table. Help us, Lord God, to come in thankfulness, in humility, 00:54:24.200 |
in celebration. Lord, all of these things, Lord God, that we can possibly imagine attaining for 00:54:29.960 |
ourselves. We are weak, and the longer we live, the more we are aware just how weak we are. 00:54:36.760 |
I pray, Father God, that in our weakness that Christ would be strong. I pray that your Holy 00:54:43.480 |
Spirit would convict us, that your word would bear fruit in us. Teach us what it means to remain, 00:54:50.360 |
to rest in you. And we ask, Lord God, that this communion table would cause us, Lord God, to be