Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Romans 8:1-4,
9-14
Romans
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you
free from the law of sin and death. 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. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in
order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who
do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans
8:9 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. 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. 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.
Romans
8:12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to
the flesh, to live according to it. 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. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children
of God.
-- several years ago, I was driving
home from work on Bemiss Road when I got stopped by a red light – nothing out
of the ordinary – I sat there, waiting for the light to change, and all of a
sudden I heard honking behind me – I looked up and saw that the light was
green, and had evidently been green for a while – and I realized that I had
done something that I had never done before – I had fallen asleep at the wheel
– thankfully, while sitting still at a red light
-- I chalked it off to being tired,
just like everyone else is these days – seems like everyone complains about
being tired – we just do too much and stay too busy and never get the rest we
need – but this was a different type of tired – like I was just completely worn
out and unable to think or move or do anything like normal
-- it wasn’t long after that episode
on Bemiss Road that I remember being woken in the middle of the night by Kim
hitting me and saying, “Breathe” – I didn’t know what was going on, but
evidently, she had noticed that I had quit breathing and had not taken a breath
in several seconds
-- normally, we breathe in and out
over 20,000 times a day – 15 to 20 times per minute – when we’re awake and when
we’re asleep
--
we do it without thinking – it’s just a normal involuntary movement of our body
as it self-regulates the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide within us – we
just breathe without thinking – but apparently, my body had forgotten how to
breathe
-- I went to the doctor and had a
sleep study done and found out I had severe sleep apnea – instead of breathing
the normal 15-20 times per minute at night, I was breathing about half that –
my body would just stop taking a breath – and the end result was that I was not
getting the oxygen I needed – I was not getting the sleep I needed – and that
was leaving me abnormally tired because I was never getting the rest and
recharge all of us need
-- they gave me a CPAP machine,
which pumps a continuous stream of oxygenated air through a mask and into your
lungs when you sleep – the first day after I used the CPAP, I was buzzing
around the house like I was high on caffeine, because, for the first time in
years, I had actually experienced a good night’s sleep
-- that CPAP machine was literally a
life-giving machine – and it change how I live my life today
-- we read about breathing and the
need for breathing in the Bible, too
-- the Greek word pneuma is
translated as breath or wind – and this is the word that is translated for us
in our Bible as the Spirit, in reference to the Holy Spirit who dwells within
us and who gives us life through His very breath and presence
-- when Jesus was talking to
Nicodemus in John 3 about being born again and coming to new life in Him, He
spoke about the wind and told Nicodemus in John 3:8, “The wind – the pneuma
– blows wherever it pleases -- you hear
its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going – so it
is with everyone born of the Spirit”
–
the word pneuma reminds us of the essential role of the Holy Spirit in
the life of the believer – of the life-giving presence and activity of the
Spirit in our lives
--
just like the CPAP machine that I rely on to physically enhance my breathing
and keep me alive, the Spirit works within us to bring breath to our bodies –
to enhance our lives with Christ -- and to enable and empower us to live holy
and sanctified lives through Him today
--
this morning, we are continuing on in our series on the foundations of our
faith, using the Nicene Creed as the outline for our messages – today, we will
be discussing the section of the creed that concerns the Holy Spirit
-- if you would, let’s turn to the
creed now and let’s recite it together – you can find it on Page 880 in our
hymnal or you can refer to the handout that I gave you earlier
[Recite Nicene Creed]
-- the section of the creed that I
want us to focus on this morning comes at the beginning of the third paragraph:
-- We believe in the Holy
Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through
the prophets.
II. Who is the Holy Spirit?
-- before we begin, I think it’s
important for us to remind ourselves of who the Holy Spirit is – as Peter wrote
in 2 Peter 1:12, “I will always remind you of these things, even though you
know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.”
-- we all know who the Holy Spirit
is – we have been taught that in church and in Bible study – we’ve gone through
sermon series on the Spirit – but if you are like me, there are times when we
forget the truth that we know – when we forget to rely on the truth in our lives,
even though we know what the truth is
-- that’s why Peter said it was
important to be reminded of these things, even though we know them and are
firmly established in the truth – it’s because sometimes we forget how to
breathe and how to rely on the Spirit within us in our daily lives and we need
a spiritual CPAP to get us breathing again
-- so, who is this Holy Spirit that
the Bible speaks of?
-- first, contrary to the teachings
of some of the cults around us, the Holy Spirit is a person – the third person
of the Trinity – God Himself
-- remember the reason why I told
you the Nicene Creed was prepared in the first place – it was to be a
definitive statement of our faith – of the foundational truths that we stand on
– so that we can counter the false teachings and misinformation about God that
we hear today
-- there are two prominent cults in
our area that teach that the Holy Spirit is not a person – that He’s not God – that
He’s not part of the Godhead – but that He is simply a term used to refer to
the power of God
-- but that’s not true -- the Bible
makes it clear that the Spirit is more than that – He is God and He has always
been present, throughout all eternity and infinity
-- in the very first words of the
Bible, we read of the Spirit – in Genesis 1:1-2, it says, “In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. Now
the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”
-- the Spirit has always been
present as part of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
-- I like the way A.W. Tozer
explained the Holy Spirit in his book, "The Counselor," -- Tozer
wrote: "Spell this out in capital letters: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON --
He is not enthusiasm -- He is not courage -- He is not energy -- He is not the
personification of all good qualities, like Jack Frost is the personification
of cold weather -- Actually, the Holy Spirit is not the personification of
anything...... He has individuality -- He is one being and not another -- He
has will and intelligence -- He has hearing -- He has knowledge and sympathy
and ability to love and see and think -- He can hear, speak, desire, grieve and
rejoice -- He is a Person."
-- the Holy Spirit has intellect,
emotion, and will -- He speaks to us -- He has feelings -- He can love -- He
can be grieved -- He can be hurt -- He has all the characteristics of God
because He is God -- He is omniscient – omnipresent – and omnipotent --
all-knowing -- ever-present -- and all-powerful
-- as the third person of the
Trinity, He has specific roles and functions that He accomplishes in our lives
and in the life of the church – and it is for that reason that He was sent to
indwell believers and empower the church
-- but who sent Him?
-- if you’ll notice in the creed,
our version of the Nicene Creed says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son – but this is a change from the original
--
when the Nicene Creed was originally written in 325 AD, this sentence stated
that “the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father” – it did not mention the Son
--
in the Sixth Century, the creed was modified by the Roman church and the filioque
clause was added – filioque is a Latin term that means, “and the Son” – so
that, the creed now reads, “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the
Son”
--
if you remember, I told you that this creed was accepted by all orthodox
Christian faiths – Catholics, protestants, and eastern orthodox – and that is
true, except for these three words
--
the eastern orthodox churches rejected the addition of the filioque clause
because they believed the Holy Spirit was sent to us by the Father and not by
Jesus – their contention is that although the Trinity is comprised of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that it is the Father who directs the actions of
both the Son and the Holy Spirit – so the Holy Spirit could only have been sent
by the Father and not by Jesus
--
these three words caused a rift between the west and the east that still exists
today
--
so, what does this mean for us? – nothing, really – I bring it up just for your
awareness, because the important thing for us to know is that the Holy Spirit
has been sent to us to give us life – to empower us – to lead us – to counsel
us – and to gift us with the manifestation of His presence to build the church
of Christ on earth today
--
I think the wording of the phrase in our version of the Nicene Creed is fine –
because the Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father
through Jesus – both the Father and Jesus were intimately involved in the
sending of the Holy Spirit to the church
--
in John 14:26, Jesus says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you”
--
and, in John 15:26, we read, “When the Advocate comes, whom I [Jesus] will send
to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – He
will testify about Me”
--
so, the Spirit was sent by the Father through Jesus – and I think it is
acceptable to say that means He proceeds from the Father and the Son
III. The Spirit is the Giver of Life
-- moving on from this discussion of
theological minutia – we know who the Spirit is – we know that He proceeds from
the Father and the Son – so, let’s finish up by looking at why – why was the
Spirit sent to the church?
-- look back at Romans 8:1-4
Romans
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you
free from the law of sin and death. 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. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in
order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who
do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
-- as the Nicene Creed states, the
Holy Spirit is the giver of life – while Christ died on the cross and paid the
penalty for our sins with His own body and blood and rose from the dead on the
third day in victory over sin and death – we are not living in the fullness of
salvation and redemption at this moment
-- as we have talked about before, we
will not experience the fullness of salvation until we stand in the presence of
God in our new immortal and imperishable bodies in the new heaven and the new
earth – right now, we still live in this fallen world, even if our allegiances
have changed
--
the Bible tells us that when we are saved, we become a new creation – we are
moved from the kingdom of this world and into the kingdom of God – as these
verses state, we are no longer under the law of sin and death, but we are
called to live in obedience to the law of the Spirit though Jesus Christ
–
but even though we have been reconciled to God – even though we have been
forgiven and our sin debt has been wiped away – we still live in this fallen
world with this fallen nature within us – we are daily beset with temptations
and sins – we experience the consequences of sin and of living in this fallen
world every single day
--
and that is where the Holy Spirit comes in – He is called the giver of life –
literally, it is the Spirit working in us and through us who enables us to live
a holy and righteous life as part of God’s Kingdom while still being present in
this fallen world
--
it is the Spirit – the pneuma – who gives spiritual breath to our bodies
and enables us to breathe in and breathe out the righteousness and holiness of
Christ – as it says in verse 4, we no longer live according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit
--
verse 9-11
Romans
8:9 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. 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. 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.
--
if we have the Spirit of God living within us, we are no longer in the realm of
the flesh, but the realm of the Spirit – the Bible tells us that when we become
a believer – when we put our faith and trust in Jesus and depend on Him for the
forgiveness of our sins and look to Him for eternal life – we are saved and are
indwelt with His very presence -- the Holy Spirit
--
unlike in the past – in the time before the cross and the resurrection – when
the Holy Spirit did not indwell people but merely came upon them and empowered
them to accomplish specific ministries or activities for God – we now live in a
time when believers are filled with the very presence of God in the Holy Spirit
--
if you believe in Jesus – if you are saved – then you have the Holy Spirit
living within you – and these verses tell us that means that we are no longer
in the realm of the flesh – we are no longer under the dominion or authority of
the flesh – but now we are in the realm of the Spirit – we are under His
authority and we live and move by His enabling power within us
--
the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies through His own presence living within
us
--
How do we know that we have the Spirit? Ask these questions:
1. Has the Spirit led you to Jesus? – have you
been convicted of your sins and turned to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and
eternal life through Him? – have you put your faith and trust in Jesus?
2. Has the Spirit put in you the desire to honor
and to be more like Jesus? – are you striving to live a holy and righteous life
in obedience to Jesus? – are you turning away from temptation and sin – are you
seeing spiritual growth and progress in your life? – are you led to worship and
honor Jesus with your words and your thoughts and your actions?
3.
Is the Spirit at work in your heart? –
can you see a change in your life? – has the Spirit moved you and changed your
heart so that you are seeking God in all you do?
--
if you are a believer, then you should be able to answer all of these
questions, “Yes” – that doesn’t mean you’re perfect – we won’t be perfect until
we are living in the kingdom of God in the last days – but it should mean that
we are better than we were – that we are growing in grace and in love and in
the knowledge of Jesus Christ – and this is only possible if we have the Spirit
within us, who gives us life and who enables and empowers us to live for Jesus
every single day
-- verse 12-14
Romans
8:12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to
the flesh, to live according to it. 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. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children
of God.
-- there are two ways we can live
our lives, even as Christians
-- first, there is the life that is
dominated by the flesh – dominated and controlled by the human sinful nature –
as Barclay puts it, a life whose only law is its own desires – it takes what it
likes, where it likes – it lives only to please itself
--
In different people that life will be described differently -- It may be
passion-controlled, or lust-controlled, or pride-controlled, or
ambition-controlled. – but the end result is the same – a life lived for self
always ends in death
-- on the other hand, there is the
life that is dominated by the Spirit of God – a life that is empowered and
enabled by the Spirit so that it lives for Christ – it is occupied by Christ –
and it puts to death the misdeeds of the body
-- a Spirit-filled life results in a
life of righteousness and holiness – a life where you experience all the
fullness and goodness that Jesus promised – a life where you walk in the Spirit
and are led by Him as children of God – a life that leads to an eternity with
the Father
-- the Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son to enable us to live holy and righteous lives here on earth
– to share the good news of the gospel – and to grow in grace and perfection as
His very own children – He is truly our life-giving Spirit
IV. Closing
-- I read a story about three young
men who were in seminary – while they were there, they sought permission from
the head of the seminary to plant a garden
–
the seminary was located in the downtown area of a large metropolitan city –
there wasn’t much of a backyard – there was only a stone-covered dirt parking
lot with no extra space – but the three young men really wanted a garden
--
so, they approached the head of the seminary with a plan to plant a small area
of the parking lot with squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers – the only real cost
was to rent a rake, a pickaxe, and a hoe – they went in and spoke to him about
their plans, and he just looked at them and replied, “You’re wasting your time
– nothing will ever grow there – but go ahead, if you still want to”
--
with his permission, the three students embarked on their mission to plant a
garden – they raked four inches of stones from one corner of the parking lot,
and outlined the boundary of their garden – then one of them took the pickaxe
and began trying to loosen the soil and find a place where their plants would
grow
--
to their amazement, when the pickaxe hit the ground, they found they had
selected the one area of the parking lot that used to be a refuse pile – as the
pickaxe bit into the ground, it turned up a gardener’s dream – dark, composted,
fertile soil just sitting there – it had been buried beneath rocks for years,
just waiting to be discovered
--
the three men looked at each other and repeated together the words of the head
of the seminary – “You’re wasting your time – nothing will ever grow there”
--
have you ever said that before? – have you ever thought that – either about
yourself or someone else? – have you ever looked at someone and said, “nothing
will ever grow there – they will never change?”
--
the take-home message for today is to never believe that change is impossible –
to never believe that “nothing will grow there” – George Eliot wrote, “It’s
never too late to be who you might have been” – you may not always see the
potential for growth, but it is there – just waiting for someone to dig past
the rocks and to find the good soil underneath
--
when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He comes in and begins to work – He
rakes away the rocks and the trash that are there – He gets rid of all the
things that are keeping us from growing – and He turns the soil and digs in our
lives to find the rich, fertile soil that is there
--
He fertilizes it and nurtures it and leads us to become holy and righteous
people – He helps us to walk in this world as the children of God – led by the
Spirit and not by the flesh
--
He helps us to choose life and not death – to choose to follow Jesus and not
the way of this world
--
He gives us His power and He changes us from the inside out into the people
that Jesus called us to be
--
through the Spirit, there is always the potential for growth – through the
Spirit, anyone can change and become better than they are – through the Spirit,
we can find life and enjoy it forever
--
that is why we worship Him – that is why we praise Him – and that is why we are
here today
-- let us pray
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