POWER FOR LIVING THROUGH THE RESURRECTION

Romans 8:9–11 NASB95

9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Now, a good test as to whether you’re saved or not is just simply this: Have you received the Holy Spirit? As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter 19, Paul met some disciples and he had reason to believe, just wonder whether they were saved at all or not. He asked them, he said, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you were saved, since you believed? And they said, We didn’t even know if there was a Holy Spirit. Paul said, Is that right? What were you baptized for? Oh, they said, We were baptized with John’s baptism. And then, Paul realized that these people had come right up to the threshold of salvation but they’d never received the Lord. And he preached unto them Jesus, and they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and received the Holy Spirit. My dear friend, the distinguishing mark of a child of God is this: that he has the Holy Spirit.

If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you don’t know anything about God. And we’re coming back to Romans 8 in just a moment, but go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 for a moment. I want to read a passage of Scripture that’s often used at funerals, but it’s taken out of context a little bit when you use it at a funeral. And turn with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. The apostle Paul is talking about understanding or perceiving the things that belong to God, and he says, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

I. As the Spirit of Life, He Gives Us Our Life.

a. No condemnation for sin.

Romans 8:1 NASB95

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

You can read the bible as LAW, DEMAND and THREAT

OR

GRACE, Promise and Assurance filled with Jesus.

One way will be Discouragement, the other will be ENCOURAGEMENT!

b. No longer controlled by sin.

i. The Devil can’t make you do it.

ii. The Devil can’t undo you.

c. The Enemy has been conquered.

The ultimate Crisis is not sinning. It’s not having Jesus

1 John 4:4 NASB95

4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

II. As the Spirit of Christ, He Glorifies Our Lord.

There are those who say they tried the Christian life and found it wanting. I would come back and say they they tried to live the Christian life in their strength and failed.

They kept one foot in the world and one foot in the church.

Many of you have the same issue. You think, I’m not worshipping idols. I believe in Jesus. I think church is good.

But, you worship celebrity. You know more about keeping up with the culture than the Kardashians.

You know every new movie, gadget, fashion coming out.

You have given your children over to the world. Oh no, we pray. But your kids binge watch NetFlix and Youtube. You and they are influenced by the world more than the the Word!

You read the word but you don’t live by the Spirit.

During the women’s conference one of the speakers shared about her ministry to incarcerated women. She recently challenged the ladies in light of Easter to go and share what Christ has done in their lives.

These women said, I may never get out of prison, but I can live for Christ here and make a difference now.

III. As the Spirit of Adoption, He Guarantees Our Legacy

Now, He’s called the Spirit of adoption. What is adoption? When this was written, adoption was a process in which a man would make perhaps a son that he had sired by a slave, an heir to his riches, although being the son of a slave, that son would not necessarily be an heir. Or he might take another man’s son, as we would do today, and adopt that other man’s son into his family. Adoption is a legal act where a man takes his own son, or the son of another man, and gives to him legal position, legal advantage, and legal privilege. Now, spiritually, we’re born into the family of God; legally, we are adopted into the family of God. Now, a man could disinherit a natural son, but he could not disinherit by law an adopted son—it’s very interesting. For example, the way they reason that is this: a natural son might be accidentally conceived—that is, we didn’t mean to have a child when this child was conceived, and I don’t want this child to have a part of the inheritance—but, when a man adopts a child, he knows what he’s doing legally, and he locks himself in. Now, what God is saying here is that we have the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of our adoption. It’s very interesting.

Now, what does the Holy Spirit, your best friend, do? He gives our life; He glorifies our Lord; He guarantees our legacy. Those are the three things: He gives our life; He glorifies our Lord; He gives our legacy. He is the Spirit of life; He is the Spirit of Christ; He is the Spirit of adoption. Now, the Holy Spirit is there to attest to and to make real what happened to you legally when you got saved.

Adrian Rogers, “Getting to Know Your Best Friend,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Ro 8:9.

A. We Have a New Relationship: His Presence.

B. We Have a New Assurance: His Power.

800 people in prison morning and night and over 66 said they wanted to learn more and have Bible study. 2 of the inmates accepted Christ. That day. Despite being in prison by the flesh, the Spirit of God still had power in their lives and others. What keeps you from doing that.

C. We Have a New Certainty: A Predestined Place with Him.

Chrysostom of Constantinople, threatened and finally exiled by the Empress Eudoxia, stated in a sermon at the time of his banishment: "What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord's. Will it be loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out. Thus all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes, and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear. Riches I do not sigh for. Death I do not shrink from, and life I do not desire to save only for the process of souls. And so if they banish me, I shall be like Elijah! If they throw me in the mire, like Jeremiah. If they plunge me in the sea, like the Prophet Jonah! If into the pit, like Daniel! If they stone me, it is Stephen I shall resemble! John the forerunner, if they cut off my head! Paul, if they beat me with stripes! Isaiah, if they saw me asunder."—