Paddling through.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Announcements:
October 12th, 5:30 pm : Fellowship on the Lawn
October 31, outreach 5pm - 9pm
Community Prayer - 5pm today
Last Week we started a journey into Romans chapter 8. This is an incredible chapter, one that I have been stuck on for a while. It is a beautiful description of who we are in Christ. I started last week by simply reading through the chapter, because I believe there is just so much to get out of this chapter.
As we look at the world around us, it is easy - so easy for us to be concerned about the things that are going on. For us to get worried - this chapter deals with that. This chapter starts with no condemnation and ends with no separation. This is the anthem of the believer. This is our comfort food. This is our blessed assurance. It is right here.
Last week we got through all of one verse, and I am tempted to stay there for a few more weeks because there is so much in one verse that we truly could do that. The implications that the one verse has on our lives as believers is HUGE.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
If you haven’t already - that verse aught to be underlined in your Bible. This verse is worth memorizing. This is a verse you weaponize against the enemy. It is powerful. It is the summary of 7 chapters of Paul’s writing to the church in Rome, it is poetic beauty of the Gospel, this is the promise of our salvation. This is the hope of our eternity. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
That is just one of several incredible truths found within this chapter.
Today we are going to build on that foundation, and attempt to understand what it means to be in Christ - and living according to the spirit, and see the incredible power of the holy spirit in our lives.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,
in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In verse 4, Paul sets up a compare and contrast between those who walk according to the flesh and those who walk according to the spirit.
Paul says he is, and his authentic audience is, those who walk according to the spirit. He says those of us.
There are three kinds of people, those who can count, and those who can’t.
Those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh:
Have their minds set on the things of the flesh
That mindset is death
The mindset is hostile to God
Cannot submit to God, cannot please God
Set on the things of the Flesh
The person who lives according to the flesh - sets their minds on the things of the flesh.
What does that mean?
Think of it this way....
Picture yourself in a canoe, in the middle of a large lake. Off in the distance to your left - you see a boat dock, and off in the distance to the right, you see a ramp.
Eventually you have to get to land, so you are going to chose one of those two points to get out.
And everything you do between now and then, is in an effort to get you there.
The funny thing about being in a canoe, is you never really travel perfectly straight - because you can only paddle on one side or the other. But, you can change up your strokes, to change direction. So you set your mind, before you start to paddle, and everything you do with your paddle is to help get you to that destination.
To have your mind set on the flesh or set on the spirit, means that is the general direction that you intend to go. You are headed for the ramp or the dock. Even though you might veer a little bit as you move, you are in general headed in one direction.
The mind set on the flesh, is death. what it means here is to that with that mind set on flesh - they are dead to everything else. Even though you are still “living” death is coming. With that mind set on the flesh - you are unable to respond to the spirit around you.
My dad died as a result of a car accident, but before he died, he was in the hospital for 17 days on life support.
He was still alive, but unable to respond to anything going on around him. Dead. It was the same way with my uncle before he passed. We gathered around a lifeless body that was still pumping blood. Still warm. Chest still rising and falling, but unable to respond to us.
A person who lives according to the flesh - is spiritually dead. They cannot respond to the world around us.
The mind set on the flesh is Hostile to God.
The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so.
We see this happening all the time.
This isn’t necessarily a person who doesn’t believe in God - though those people would be included too. But a person can believe in God and be hostile to him.
“I don’t believe in a God like that”
“I don’t think there is just one way”
God is certainly not above their values - he certainly does not determine their values - he is instead a reflection of their values. He is a mirror of their own feelings.
Athiests are here as well - hostile to God. In fact, they become significantly more hostile about God to a point that they talk about God more than someone who believes in him.
The world in general is hostile to God.
God gets the blame for all sorts and kinds of human nonsense.
It does not submit to God, in fact it cannot. It is unable to do so.
A heart set on the flesh simply won’t comply.
I don’t want to do what you want to do.
It is the defiant “No” of a toddler.
The stubborn stopping of a dog.
The cat on the shelf pushing your things off.
The heart set on the flesh says
“I will do part of what you want me to do.”
“I will do some of it.”
They want God to be satisfied and happy with their efforts.
This is where the at least statements come in.
At least I came to church.
At least I’m better than ....
At least I don’t do drugs...
At least I put in my 10%
And they totally miss the mark on pleasing the Lord.
This is our natural way. This is who we are - all on our own.
While Paul is discussing the way of someone who lives according to the flesh, he also describes someone who lives according to the spirit.
When we submit to the Lord - The holy spirit starts doing some really incredible things.
We are a new creation. And that new creation - is going to be living according to the spirit. The Holy spirit works to change our way of thinking.
All of a sudden, I am setting my destination on things of the spirit.
Those who live according to the spirit:
Have their minds set on the things of the spirit
That mindset is life and peace
The mindset is at peace with God
Submits to God, is pleasing to Him.
Some of these things, are simply the opposite of the living in the flesh situation.
Living in the spirit requires setting your mind on the spirit.
Living according to the spirit is not a all of a sudden you are living a perfect life - you are just changing your mindset - changing your destination. Your way off in the distance thought processes. And then the holy spirit goes to work.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
This doesn’t say that the fruit of Adam Johnson working really really hard is these things - the fruit of the spirit does these things.
When we change our destination to be one moves towards living in the spirit - the Holy spirit goes to work.
He does the work!
He goes about giving life and peace. Life - the ability to respond to things, to move and breath. To love.
Romans chapter 13 tells us that Love has fulfilled the law.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we are in the spirit - we have peace with God. When we walked through that chapter we talked about how big of a deal - how truly important that is - to be at peace, and not adverse to the creator of the universe.
So this morning - the question that we have to answer is, where are you?
You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
Romans 8:9 tells us that this is an if - then situation. If the spirit of God lives in you then you are not in the flesh. The opposite is also true. If anyone does not have the spirit of christ he does not belong to him.
What is the direction that you have set?
You are paddling through life one direction or another - there are only those two types of people.
Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.
For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!
Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,
and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.