True Spirituality
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Romans 8:4-27
We continue this morning in our study of the Great Life.
God has promised us a life that is abundant, not just routine.
Like living in the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey…the Spiritual life is a life full of promise and blessing.
We have learned that there are three types of people:
1) the Natural Man -The Unsaved
2) The Carnal Man - the Saved who are not yielded to the Holy Spirit, and
3) The Spiritual Man - the Man who is in right relation not only with Christ, but with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible all throughout the New Testament talks about the fact that there are two types of Christians:
Those who “abide in Christ” and those who "abide not in me”
Those who are “walking in the light” and those who “walk in darkness”
Those who “Walk by the Spirit” and those who “walk as men”
Those who “walk in newness of life” and those who “walk after the flesh”
Those who have the Spirit “in” and “upon” them, and those who have the Spirit “in” them , but not “upon” them
Those who are “spiritual” and those who are “carnal”.
This has to do with the quality of our daily Christian life.
And the Bible speaks a lot about a person moving from being a carnal Christian to a spiritual christian.
This, which we are talking about today, is the seventh ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Last week we talked about six of the seven ministries:
Two to the unsaved: Restraining and Rebuking
and four to the Saved at the moment of salvation: Regeneration, Indwelling, Baptism and Sealing.
The moment a person comes to Christ with saving faith, they are regenerated (given new life), they are indwelt (the Holy Spirit comes to stay in them, they are Baptized (baptised into one body by one Spirit), and they are Sealed (our salvation is sealed until the day of redemption.)
The seventh ministry of the Holy Spirit deals with the Spiritual Man, the man who yields to the Holy Spirit, and that is Filling.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be transformed, or as 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Through yielding to the Holy Spirit we see made true the proving of what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
When we are yielded to God’s Will, God then works in us to do his will...
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
In Acts 9 we are told of Saul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus.
Later he is told by Ananias that Jesus had sent Paul to him for a two fold purpose:
to receive his sight
and to be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Paul came to saving faith on the Road and received the Holy Spirit then, but when he arrived in city He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is a separate act and time than salvation.
The Bible speaks to the Spirit-filled believer being the divine ideal.
Christ was full of the Spirit.
1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Each member of the John the Baptist’s family was filled with the Spirit: Zacharias, Elisabeth and John.
The disciples were filled with the spirit in order to minister with Jesus.
Each of the biblical examples show that the Holy Spirit came upon them.
In Ephesians 5.18 we read
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The grammatical tense of the Word used here is different than any other ministry of the Holy Spirit:
We have been born again by the Spirit
We have been baptized in the Spirit
We have been indwelt
We have been Sealed, etc.
This word however translated “be filled” with the spirit literally means “be being kept filled by the Spirit.”
So then the Christian who is spiritual must be filled and be being kept filled by the Spirit.
The word translated filled gives the idea of being controlled by.
Glove illustration
Three times in the Bible being filled with the Holy Spirit is likened or compared to the effects of strong drink, or being drunk.
To be filled with the Spirit is to have the Holy Spirit of God fulfilling in us what God intended us to do.
It is not a matter of getting more of the Spirit in us…it is a matter of the Spirit having more of us!
The result will be living the way Christ would live!
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
The purpose of the Christians growth by the power of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to God.
I believe that as we yield to the Holy Spirit…as we give in to His control…we will see Seven Manifestations of that Spirit’s control in us:
I. Christian Character
I. Christian Character
The Bible calls this the fruit of the Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
These are the fruit of being yielded to the Spirit rather than yielded to the flesh.
This is living our life like Christ would live... as He perfectly demonstrated for us while He was on earth.
These nine things are foreign to human nature.
Yes as a person made in the image of God (as all human beings are) may show a shadow of some of these things.
But true love, true joy, true peace, etc. will only come by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Christian Character is not built, it is grown in us by yielding to the Spirit.
It is wholly and completely the work and power of the Holy Spirit.
If we are Spiritual:
we will love as God loves - this enables us to do good to them that hate us
we will have joy unspeakable and full of glory - even in hard times we can have joy…which the world cannot figure out.
we will have peace that passes all understanding - in the middle of the storm, we will be peaceful.
we will have longsuffering - we will be able to have a patience that only God can create and empower.
we will have gentleness - This is the opposite of severeness, or cutting something short - it is a gentle spirit.
we will have goodness - good in disposition and character, simply doing good
we will have faith - firm persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth, veracity, reality or faithfulness
we will have meekness - often described as strength under control - it is often manifested in us as a calmness toward God in particular. It is the acceptance of God’s dealings with us considering them as good in that they enhance the closeness of our relationship with Him.
we will have temperance - often translated self-control…however I have always found difficulty calling some that is a fruit of the Spirit as being done by self - truthfully it is Spirit-controlled.
This means that when we yield to the Holy Spirit and are filled with the Holy Spirit one of the fruit that comes from this is being able to be Spirit-controlled - in other words once you yield…God gives us what we need to keep yielding!
Each of these nine words or character traits are throughout Scripture and you will always find three things:
1. They are always divine characteristics
2. They are expected by God in the believer’s life.
3. They are always produced only by the Spirit of God in us.
So the first manifestation of being filled with the Spirit is the Christian Character, The Second manifestation of being filled with the Spirit is...
II. Christian Service
II. Christian Service
Christian service is a direct exercise of the energy or power of the Spirit through the believer.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Just like salvation, the ability to serve Christ has been designed and empowered by God.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
God has ordained a very special service for each individual.
These are for those who...as Paul beseeched the Romans to do...have presented themselves a living sacrifice...
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
According to the Bible, Christian Service is an exercise of a gift.
These gifts are the Holy Spirit gifting us...or manifesting through us...a direct undertaking of the Spirit through the life of a believer.
It is the Holy Spirit of God doing something, and using the believer to do it.
Each believer is given a gift to serve...
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are gifts of the Spirit that have ceased when as the Bible says, “That which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away.”
These manifestations of the Spirit which have ceased were related to the introduction of the Spirit rather than the continuation of the work of the Spirit in this age.
This isn’t without precedent.
When Christ was born, a star was seen in the East, the voices of angels were heard … these were unusual conditions that occured at the introduction of a particular event.
The star did not continue to shine, the angels are not continually heard.
So is the case for some of the gifts of the Spirit, often called the operational gifts (where Paul uses the Greek word energema)
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
However there are gifts that continue throughout the church age.
These are the Motivational gifts of the Spirit found in Romans 12 - spoken of using the Greek word charismaton,
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
and the Administration gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12:5, where the Greek word diakonia is used
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
But the Bible specifically tells us that the prophecies, tongues and words of knowledge shall cease.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
That which is perfect is come - We hold the perfect, preserved canon of Scripture in our hand.
Some say that this verse is talking about Christ’s coming…but he has already come!
He was perfect…it didn’t say “when He which is perfect shall come.”
And more importantly it didn’t say “When he which is perfect shall come again.”
So the manifestation of the Spirit in the Christian is through Christian Service - the gifts of the Spirit.
The Prophet - Although prophecies of new revelation is ceased with the completion of God’s Word…God’s using His revelation is not…therefore the Prophet is one who by Gifting of the Holy Spirit is able to divinely apply God’s revelation.
The Servant
The Teacher
The Exhorter
The Giver
The Administrator/Ruler
The Mercy
These are the Gifts or Motivation Gifts of the Spirit by which we serve Christ through the Holy Spirit.
For sake of time, I don’t want to reteach these individually…My sermons on the Gifts of the Spirit can be found on YouTube and on our website under the Sermons tab either way you can search for Spiritual Gifts to learn more there.
The third manifestation of the Filling of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit’s...
III. Teaching
III. Teaching
The teaching manifested by the Spirit in the believer is described by Jesus in John 16:12-15
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
God has given to us the Holy Spirit to teach us, to guide us into all truth.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
We have been given the Word of God, but he has not left us alone to rightly divide the Word of Truth…but has given us His Holy Spirit to help us.
Every Christian has this available to them:
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Even if left on your own, you can still understand the Bible.
This isn’t an encouragement to stop going to church and just read your Bible.
We still have to obey the whole counsel of God.
But the preacher, the church, is given to us to keep us in line with God’s Word.
Not all thoughts that come into our head are from the Holy Spirit.
I have known some that let their mind go crazy as they are reading the Bible and try to connect dots that aren’t there.
God has given us the church, and the pastor to help us stay within the bounds of truth.
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
But rather the Holy Spirit convicts and teaches us as we read and as we hear the Word preached to keep us on the right road.
It is possible however to be immature in growth and still be Spiritual.
It is a matter of yielding.
We grow slowly, not overnight, through continual study of the Word, prayer and service.
Next, the filling of the Holy Spirit manifest’s itself through...
IV. Promoting Praise and Thanksgiving
IV. Promoting Praise and Thanksgiving
Immediately following the command to be filled with the Spirit we find a description of the normal results of being filled with the Spirit.
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
As we yield to the Holy Spirit we begin to sing, and we begin to be thankful.
Satan loves to depress our joy…depression is a hard thing to go through.
Although it can be a chemical thing, something physical in the body, it can also be a spiritual thing.
Medical News Today lists potential signs of Spiritual Depression:
a lack of faith or confusion about faith
a disconnect from God, whichever religion a person may follow
feeling like God does not answer prayers
sadness or lack of joy in faith, religion, or relationship with God
avoiding places of worship
avoiding people a person once worshipped with
general feelings of sadness, emptiness
inability to feel pleasure
feeling like life has lost meaning
negative thinking about religion, God, a higher power, or the universe (their words not mine)
negative thinking about the meaning of life, such as there is no meaning, therefore everything feels “pointless”
a sense of overall hopelessness
If it is a spiritual depression, the answer is yielding to the Spirit of God, whether you feel like it or not!
Fifthly, the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in our lives through His...
V. Leading
V. Leading
Here in the context of Romans 8, our text for today, it is speaking of the Spiritual Man compared to the carnal man and the natural man.
He says in verse 14,
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The assumption is made that the Christian will be led of the Spirit.
The Normal Christian experience ought to be that we are led by the Spirit.
But, the leading of the Spirit is not experienced by all who have the Holy Spirit.
Spirit leading must depend upon willingness to go where He leads.
Sixth, The filling of the Holy Spirit manifests itself through a...
VI. Witness
VI. Witness
The Spirit, the Bible says witnesses with our spirit.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Not only does he have a very active part in our salvation, but he continues to witness to our spirit that we are a child of God.
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
What a witness!
By this manifestation of the Spirit things unseen become real to us by Faith!
The Holy Spirit manifests in us, when we are yielded to His leading through the producing of Christian Character in our lives
He manifests in us through enabling us by our gifts from the Spirit for Christian Service.
He manifests in us by teaching us the Truth of the Word of God, and helping us recognize truth.
He manifests in us by leading us in the way we ought to go.
He manifests in us by witnessing to us that we are a child of God.
And then number seven, The filling of the Holy Spirit manifests itself through...
VII. Interceding
VII. Interceding
After much talk about the benefits of being the child of God coming to verse 26 he says
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This especially deals with prayer.
Our infirmities - our lack of knowing what to pray as we ought.
The Holy stands between us and God as an intercessor to help us pray as we ought.
In our weakness He helps us pray according to God’s good pleasure and will, according to His plan and counsel.
One author said, “We may pray for healing when the Lord wants to use our sickbed to prepare us more and more for the inheritance that awaits us. We ask for all kinds of things while we do not know what we really need.”
Because of this weakness of not knowing what we ought to pray for, the Holy Spirit assists us.
He does this with groanings which cannot be uttered…words that we could never speak.
He knows our hearts (27) and He also knows the mind of God, and is able to intercede for us.
It doesn’t say that He helps us pray, but rather that the Spirit itself makes intercession for us.
He prays in our place, so that where our prayers are deficient the Spirit fills in for us.
We know how to pray - the Lord’s prayer gives us the example.
We know when to pray - Pray without ceasing.
We just don’t know what to pray.
We do not know the Will of God for our lives, but the Holy Spirit does and He intercedes for us!
Conclusion
Conclusion
What a gift, the Holy Spirit is for us.
We may have the Holy Spirit in us, but not all are filled...controlled by...the Holy Spirit.
If you are, these seven things will be manifest in your life!
The question is, like this glove…are you going to be filled…are you going to yield to the control of God?
Or are you going to do it your way?
The answer to that question will determine if you are a Carnal Christian or a Spiritual Christian!
What a Great Life we can have!
But it is up to you!