CHRIST IN YOU

(S1) —

Believing something…different than believing IN something

LADDER

(S2) — SERIES—Good life (28)—Life in the Spirit

Disciples/Believed Jesus/What’s next?

….believing Jesus was much easier than believing IN Jesus

Pentecost—Fresh wind/fire/H.S. — not only came on them…IN them

Living the good life, following Jesus, is more than believing in Jesus…

— The Apostle Paul...that the secret to living LIFE IN THE SPIRIT is Christ IN you!

Colossians 1:27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ…and this is the secret: Christ lives IN you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

Believe in Christ…Christ in you? Life in the Spirit

PRAYER

(S3) —

Political signs/markers/beliefs/values

O.T. Spiritual markers/signs of something great God had done in the midst of his peoples struggles.

Joshua 4:1-8

Memorial of what God had done—more than that, a turning point…

Paul's encounter with the spirit of Christ in the midst of his struggles…would become a spiritual marker in his life and for his ministry...

Romans 7:14 “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.

Paul is always looking back to the turning point in his life for strength..

7:25—8:1

In ch. 8. Paul goes on to contrast human limitations of living in the flesh…to living in the Spirit

Romans 8:5 “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

Last week—Mind your head

After described in detail what it means to be “in the flesh” and to live “according to the flesh,” now sets out to describe the divine alternatives, which are to be “in the Spirit” and live “according to the Spirit.

4 spiritual markers/signs of Christ IN you...

(S4)

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

(NLT)—under the control of our fallen nature…under the control of the human Spirit—having our minds on the things of God

He then moves to triumphant statement of God’s GRACE!

as the Spirit of God lives in you.

The indwelling presence of God in the person of the H.S. Christ IN you

(S5) — First spiritual marker of those who put there trust IN Christ…

I. Christ IN you…the Spirit of God WITH us!

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you realize that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

Living the Spirit life means there is a new and greater force at work within you

“May the force be with you”

The Methodist Movement in America came know for those experiencing the Spirit of God in super natural ways—’slain in the spirit’

Jonathan Edwards one of America’s greatest theologians and a leader in the “Great Awakening” revival (1720s-1770s), the dawn of the evangelical church and its prophetic witness of God with us

“It was a very frequent thing to see a house full of outcries, faintings, convulsions, and such like, both with distress, and also with admiration and joy.”[1] Edwards believed that at least some of these “fainting” experiences and “convulsions” resulted from authentic encounters with God.

When John Wesley (1703-1791) came from across the Atlantic Ocean in England, bringing Methodism to America, he describes people falling as one of the “outward signs that so often accompanied the inward work of God.”

Wesley’s journal—God “began to make bare his arm, not in a close room, neither in private, but in the open air, and before more than two thousand witnesses. One, and another, and another was struck to the earth; exceedingly trembling at the presence of His power.”[2]

(S6)

On his deathbed…spoke and these final words, "The best of all is, God is with us."

In contrast Paul was dealing with some who were disciples, but did not yet have the Holy Spirit in them.

Acts 19:1-6

There were many claiming to follow Jesus, but had not Christ in them—Baptism of the Spirit

John 14:17 “ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

Do you bare the spiritual marker of God with us?

(S7) —

Romans 8:9–10 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

Notice the change from God’s Spirit to the SPIRIT of CHRIST—Is this another spirit? No! As trinitarians we believe in One God, One son, One spirit/3 in one—yet with differing roles

The Spirit of Christ (H.S.) is Christ IN you—It’s also a reminder of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise

John 15:26 “ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

…if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ...

Christ in you…the Spirit of God with us.

The second spiritual marker...

II. Christ IN you…the Spirit who gives NEW Life!

Those who believe IN Christ, are still subject to death...but in Christ they find new identity, a new life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

This gift of new life means giving up our old ways, trading them in for a new way to live—it requires daily repentance...

Until we repent, there isn’t a thing God can do for us or with us. A consistent message of Scripture is the necessity of repentance. Note that Jesus always raised the bar on what constitutes sin; he never lowered it. Pastor S. Bishop

G.L. Conference—time for prayer/cleansing...

Galatians 5:24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

It was the Spirit of Christ who called me first into a NEW life…then into a NEW life of serving Him and His church. It meant letting go of some things—work/friendships/relationships

Matthew 10:39 “39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

But, what is gained is worth so much more…the Spirit gives life because of righteousness

Right standing with God—The new life gained in the spirit is due to nothing I have done…and everything to do with what Jesus did!

Jesus who gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life for our unrighteousness, so we could receive God’s goodness in Life and death!

(S8) — verse 13 confirms this…

13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Without Jesus, a grave stone is a marker of death—with Jesus its a marker of the Spirit who gives life—Jesus is the ONLY way to get right with God

Do you bare the spiritual marker of Christ in you?

(S9) —

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The same spirit…the disciples received

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you...

The same spirit of Christ who Paul encountered…is the same spirit of God, who…

The third spiritual marker...

III. Christ IN you…the Spirit’s POWER to heal !

Warning labels on packaging/superman costume does not enable flight

(S10) — Warning label

THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS and that same power is Christ in you

Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.

Christ in you is the power of God to heal…restore…mend…and to raise us out of any brokenness

God’s power is a marker of a restored marriage, healed soul, a mended broken heart…the power to redeem the lost and save the sinner

Do you bare the spiritual marker of God’s healing power?

Christ IN you…the Spirits POWER to heal

Like those stones, spiritual markers are signs of something great God has done in the midst of his peoples struggles.

(S11)

How are these spiritual markers sign in your life of Christ in you?

…the Spirit of God WITH us…the Spirit who gives NEW LIFE…the Spirit’s POWER to heal!

It takes more than just believing Jesus and even believing IN Jesus—Believing that Christ is IN you

1 John 4:13 “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”

What are your spiritual marker—stone of remembrance

You only need to believe IN JESUS: the Spirit of God—the Spirit of Christ—the Spirit of Christ IN you who is God WITH you, the spirit who gives you NEW life and has the POWER to heal you?

Resources

1. The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 29: Romans (The Law of the Spirit of Life)