Declared by the Spirit: Living in Christ's Power
Notes
Transcript
Let’s Pray
This week we are going to look at verses 4-7
there is so much to cover and understand
so far we have looked at transformation of Saul to Paul
a man killing Christians to a man spreading the Gospel of Jesus to the world
We have looked at the power of the Gospel
We have looked at Holy Scriptures and how throughout the Bible Scriptures prophesied about Jesus and the Gospel!!!
We looked at Jesus in the flesh and how that proved His humanity
We looked at Bloodline...descendent of David and it’s importance
It fulfills Scriptures
Only Jesus was qualified to pay for sins once and for all
He is our sympathetic High priest
This morning we continue to look at Jesus and start to look at what Jesus’ impact onus is and our response to Jesus
Romans 1: 4-7
Romans 1: 4-7
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and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to dive into the big truths in these verse this morning
1. Declared vs 4
1. Declared vs 4
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Jesus was declared the Son of God
What does that mean?
It means God separated Jesus from humanity by Jesus’ resurrection
His eternal resurrection proves He is in fact the Son of God
II Corinthians 13:4
II Corinthians 13:4
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For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
Does this mean that Jesus was weak?
Crucified in weakness is what the text says
If Jesus is God...all-knowing.....all-present....all-powerful how could He be weak?
Philippians 2: 1-8
Philippians 2: 1-8
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So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Not weak in fact Jesus was far from weak
He choose to be human
His flesh was weakness
All flesh is weakness
your flesh
my flesh
everyone’s flesh is weakness
Jesus was fully human yet fully God but willingly chose to obey and surrender to God in the flesh!!!!!
Your flesh
my flesh
all flesh is weak and our only strength is from the Holy Spirit
Jesus died in the flesh and was raised by the power of God therefore declaring Jesus was God
Ephesians 1:19-23
Ephesians 1:19-23
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and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Do you see it?
Jesus was fully Son of God
Jesus is above all rule and authority and power and dominion
not only now but for eternity
The western church has stopped believing and living this
Pastor Joshua how can you say such a thing
because it is true
if we truly believed and lived this
addiction would be a thing of the past
porn a thing of the past
gluttony and being over weight a thing of the past
greed....gone
pride....gone
worry over governments and signs of the times....gone
Jesus is over all of that yet we continue to chose to bow to it
If Jesus truly has power overall...even every name that is named...satan....you...me...
trump
republicans
democrats
liberals
conservatives
you name a name and Jesus is above it and has authority over it
Jesus is above all power...earthly and spiritually
Don’t fear governments
or gangs
or terrorists
they will all answer to Jesus at judgement
they can and will hurt you and me ABSOLUTELY...physically but they cannot touch us spiritually if we are saved
Jesus is above all dominion
That is why I say if we truly believed and lived this truth
addiction
porn
alcoholism
gluttony
greed
pride
all of it would be gone because Jesus is above it all and that means so are we
LIVE IN THAT FREEDOM
LIVE IN THAT POWER
allow that power to truly change you and when that happens......when the transformative power of Christ happens people flock
I hate being fa but I continue to choose to give it power in my life
It doesn’t have that power but I give it that power
Jesus is above it and Jesus is in me it is time I lived in His power
2. Spirit of Holiness vs 4
2. Spirit of Holiness vs 4
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What is the Spirit of Holiness?
Do you and I have access to the Spirit of Holiness?
The Spirit of Holiness is the Holy Spirit
Jesus incarnate....in the flesh surrendered to obedience through the Holy Spirit
Jesus has the Holy Spirit
Matthew 3: 16
Matthew 3: 16
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And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
and again
Luke 4:1
Luke 4:1
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And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Full of the Holy Spirit
led by the Spirit
If I am honest sometimes I struggle with the Holy Spirit
am I supposed to feel Him
is it supposed to be emotional
is it physical
How do I know
Yes to all
Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s presences and guidance is very emotional
sometimes it is very physical
sometimes it is neither
How do you know
by looking for fruits
Galatians 5: 22-23
Galatians 5: 22-23
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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
This is how you know
fruit
you see all of these fruits showing up in your life
your heart of stone that is full of hate and pride and greed and selfishness begins to melt
to soften
to love
and that love begins to control you
you have joy you cant explain in human terms
you begin to have a Spirit and heart of humility because you realize this is all the work of the Holy Spirit...in spite of you and your weaknesses and failures
if you are saved you have the Holy Spirit in you
John 3: 34
John 3: 34
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For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
God give the Holy Spirit without measure
He fills you with the Holy Spirit
If you are saved you have the Holy Spirit in you!!!!!
We will get into this latter but it is the Holy Spirit that allows us
guides us
makes us holy
Leviticus 11:44
Leviticus 11:44
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For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
The Holy Spirit consecrates us
sanctifies us
leads us to be holy as God is Holy
Just as Jesus willingly submitted to God in the flesh through the Holy Spirit so must you and I
Jesus was flesh and bone like us and was powered and guided to obedience by the Holy Spirit just like us
He is our perfect example that we MUST follow!!!!!
3. Grace vs 5
3. Grace vs 5
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What is grace?
Grace is unmerited favor
Grace is getting what you do not deserve
salvation is a gift of grace
No one
especially the Romans during this time...but no one
you
me
anyone
could ever earn grace or deserve salvation
Romans 3:27
Romans 3:27
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Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Humans
you
me
everyone cannot gain salvation by works but only by faith in God through Jesus Christ
Romans 4:1-3
Romans 4:1-3
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What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Nothing you or I can do to earn salvation
You and I cannot do enough works to deserve salvation
Salvation is a gift from God
It is because of His grace that we can obtain salvation through faith in Christ Jesus
We will continue to look at works as a result of grace and salvation but works can never earn salvation
4. Obedience of Faith vs 5
4. Obedience of Faith vs 5
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True salvation always produces obedience through faith
you are not saved by works but works are in fact a result or fruit of salvation
you mature through obedience
you grow through obedience
you kill your flesh through obedience
your faith is expressed through obedience
your obedience begins in the Word
Romans 16:26
Romans 16:26
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but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
very clear
God gave us the Bible to bring about the obedience of faith
you can claim to be Christian but if you refuse to be obedient to God and the Word your claim is false
you obey because of what God did for you
He sent Jesus....His one and only Son....to die while we were sinners
while we were His enemy
You obey because of what Jesus did for you.....He became flesh....came to the world He created.....became obedient even obedient to the cross
He took your rejection
He took your beatings
He became your sin and my sin and the sin of the entire world
imagine with me for just a second that moment in time
Jesus became sin
He didn’t just see sin
He became sin
He knew that sin intimately
He was there
He experienced it
Every sin in the whole world past present future
think of the evil in the world throughout history and today and the evil that will continue in the future
Jesus willing became that sin
Why
So He could die for that sin
Shed His perfect blood to pay for the debt that sin created
The only response to that is full surrender and obedience
James 2:14-26
James 2:14-26
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What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Do you see it
How many times do you say we will pray for someone....most of the time you don’t pray for them or you say a quick half hearted prayer and move on
but you say you will pray when you have access to what they need
You say I will pray for you. Be well and stay warm
I know it is freezing outside and you have no where to stay and don’t even have a coat but I cant be bothered with that right now so be well I am praying for you
Give them a coat
Faith....true faith always produces actions....yes prayer is an action but so many use it as an excuse to not jump into action
The Holy Spirit leads and guides you on this and if He says go and give you go and give
i want you to understand something
You can’t out give God
Luke 18:28-30
Luke 18:28-30
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And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.”
And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
God is watching and God will bless you if He calls you to give
There is nothing you give up for God that will not be repaid many times over....maybe on earth but for sure in heaven
Many who claim to be Christians today only believe in God
the problem with that is the demons believe
in fact the demons even shudder out of fear for God
They know the end that they face
They know what God’s wrath is and that they will face it and they shudder yet the refuse to surrender
Today many....maybe even you...want a God who protects them
want a God who provides for them
but reject a God that demands change in them
they want to live for and from themselves and use God as a body guard
use God as their own personal bank
they want to do them
they want to live their best life
they want to rule their kingdom
it doesn't work that way
you believe in God but reject God
you must count the cost
you must die to yourself in order to follow Jesus and be saved
Obedience of faith
Why
Why is all of this important and so
Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:13-14
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“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
narrow is the gate that leads to salvation and eternal life
Through the Holy Spirit you must fight your flesh
you must fight against sin
you must stay on the narrow road through obedience of faith
I’m only human is an excuse that so many use today and it is just that an excuse
it is dodging what you know to be true
you are right you are only human but if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior you have the Holy Spirit and He empowers you to do great things...even greater things that Jesus did when He walked the earth
I am only human is an excuse you use to reject God!
Do you believe and surrender or not
the answer is in your fruits of obedience of faith
As vs 6 in Romans 1 tells us this applies to all Christians
Church this is eternally serious
do you have obedience of faith
First do you truly have Jesus as your Lord and Savior
If you need Jesus come to me and I will walk you through what the Bible says and show you Jesus and you can count the cost and make a decision
If you need to get with God and confess and repent or whatever you need
maybe to praise Him for what He is doing or has done in your life.....
maybe praise Him for what He is going to do in this storm in your life
if you want me to pray with you specifically come to me...if not go to the altar and I or an elder or others will just pray over you whatever God lays on our hearts
be a doer this morning
obedience of faith
Come
Invitation
