P.M. Sermon
Spring Hill, TN
4/15/07 p.m.
Series: “Discovering the Holy Spirit” (Pt. 12)
Text(s): Romans 8; Ephesians 1:11-14, 3:14-19; 1 Cor. 6:19-20;
Summary: In PART 12, we explore what the Holy Spirit does as He indwells the Christian’s life today (A valuable resource in this study was an audio recording of Clyde Woods’ lecture at Heritage Christian University on “God’s Indwelling Spirit, Part II”).
“The Holy Spirit in the Christian’s Life”
Introduction:
A. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
1. When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome, no Apostle had yet traveled to that congregation (Miraculous gifts were transferred to others by lying on of an Apostle’s hand-Acts 8).
2. Paul desired to come to them that he might “impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established” (Rom. 1:11).
3. Although no one at the church at Rome had a miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit, Paul makes clear that Christians there did have the Spirit dwelling within them (Rom. 8:9ff).
4. Clearly, Christians at Rome had a non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit within them; the same promise made to all believers (Acts 2:38-39).
5. Romans 8 serves as the climax of Paul’s letter and it celebrates the wonderful promise of the Spirit dwelling within Christians.
B. Non-Miraculous, Non-Leading
1. When Paul wrote to this congregation, he begins exploring the theme that it is the “gospel” that is the “power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16).
2. Therefore, when Paul writes in Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” he is still developing the same theme: the Spirit leads through the power of the gospel.
3. So when we discuss the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Bible affirms that the Holy Spirit personally dwells within the Christian in a non-miraculous, non-leading way. The Spirit personally dwells within the Christian separate but in close conjunction with the Word.
4. But what does the Holy Spirit do within the Christian’s life today?
5. We want to explore the answer to this question by a careful examination of several Biblical passages address this issue.
I. THE SPIRIT IS A SEAL
A. Ancient use of seals
1. In ancient times, reading and writing were specialized skills; individuals with these skills were employed as scribes for others.
2. Kings often could not write, therefore rulers would have to have some means of “making his mark” on official documents (i.e. cowboys in the old west “making their mark”).
3. Monarchs would use seals to make their mark upon documents. A seal might be in the shape of a cylinder that was rolled upon soft clay or wax which then would bear the official mark of the king.
4. Some seals were placed within rings (i.e. signet ring).
5. During his famine relief program in Egypt, Pharaoh placed his own signet ring upon Joseph’s finger (Gen. 41:42).
6. When the king’s mark (seal) was placed upon something, it demonstrated his ownership over the particular item.
B. God writes his name on you (Ephesians 1:13)
1. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:13 that “after listening to the gospel” and believing it, then Christians are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit is Himself, God’s signature upon the Christian.
3. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling within a true believer is how God marks those that are His own.
4. Illustration: Clyde Woods tells the story of one of his tennis players having a quilt that had been made by his grandmother. The other players mockingly saw the quilt and called it “cute.” The player was quick to let his friends know they were not to make fun of his grandmother’s quilt. The quilt was given as a reminder that the boy was not to forget who he belonged to.
II. THE SPIRIT IS AN EARNEST
A. A down payment
1. Most people know what the concept of “earnest money” is all about.
2. Earnest money is part of the purchase price of an item (especially real estate) paid by the buyer to demonstrate that he is serious about buying the property.
3. Most would call this a “down payment” these days. The purchaser usually has a certain amount of time for a loan to clear or for money to be exchanged to purchase the property; if the money is not given within the fixed amount of time, then the buyer (technically) looses his earnest.
4. The down payment is part of the purchase price which demonstrates that the buyer has ever intention of owning the property.
B. Spirit is a foretaste of glory (Ephesians 1:14)
1. Paul presents the Holy Spirit as being “given as a pledge of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14) (KJV—“earnest”).
2. God makes us a promise that he will give us the eternal inheritance of heaven to those who obey him.
3. God’s guarantee (down payment) toward this promise is the Holy Spirit presence within the Christian’s life.
4. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is a “foretaste of glory divine.”
5. The Spirit’s presence within your life is a promise that the rest of God’s blessings will follow in Heaven.
III. THE SPIRIT PROVIDES STRENGTH
A. Inner battle of the Christian
1. It has been said that every Christian is a walking war zone—a walking civil war (cf. Romans 7:14-25).
2. There is a great spiritual war taking place in our Universe and it is over the souls of mankind (cf. Ephesians 6:10-17; Rev. 12:17).
3. Satan is continually using ever means at his disposal to lure us away from faithfulness to God (2 Cor. 2:11).
4. We must put on the armor of God and defend ourselves against Satan’s attacks (Eph. 6:10-17).
5. We each have an individual obligation to work hard to resist the schemes of the devil (1 Peter 5:8-9).
6. However, we should not think that God has left us to resist temptation alone with only our own strength.
7. Because our adversary has spiritual power from heavenly places (Eph. 6:12), we need heavenly assistance to help us in the battle.
B. Spirit strengthens us against sin (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 3:14-19)
1. Paul warns Christians to flee from sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:18).
2. Other sins are things that we struggle with from without, but sexual sins is insidious because we often are struggling with ourselves from within.
3. Paul advises Christians living in the sex-saturated city of Corinth to remember “that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Cor. 6:19).
4. A constant realization that the Holy Spirit dwells within us provides great motivation for us to avoid letting sin into the temple (our bodies) where the Holy Spirit dwells.
5. Illustration: We want to make sure that our houses are clean when we have visitors. When we realize that the Holy Spirit continually lives as a guest within our hearts, we are motivated to keep our bodies free from sin.
6. Not only does the presence of the Holy Spirit encourage us to resist temptation, but He also actively helps provide us strength in resisting evil.
7. Paul prays in behalf of believers in Ephesians 3:16, that they would be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.”
8. The Holy Spirit does not win our battles for us, or override our moral freedom of choice, but He “levels the playing field” with the temptations that Satan hurls our way.
9. Satan cannot cause us to sin; he simply sends strong enticements our way. But the Holy Spirit helps us by giving us “strength” in the inner man to resist these temptations.
IV. THE SPIRIT PROVIDES INTERCESSION
A. Difficulty in praying
1. Most of us have faced sudden and shocking events in our lives that left us speechless and feeling paralyzed.
2. Such moments might include discovery of a cheating spouse, desertion of a spouse, tragic loss of a loved one, feeling disconnected when moving to a new area, etc.
3. In moments of extreme disillusionment and confusion, the Christian often realizes that there is no where to turn but to the LORD.
4. When events and circumstances are beyond our control, we can only find comfort turning to the one who is in control of everything.
5. Yet, when we prostrate ourselves before the Father in hours of darkest trial, grieve often overwhelms us and we cannot begin to know what to even ask of God.
6. Illustration: Many of us have faced the situation where we did not want to let go of a loved one, but if our beloved continued to live their quality of life would be almost nothing. In these hours it is difficult to know how to pray.
7. In these hours we often begin to simply “pour our hearts out to the LORD” (cf. 1 Sam. 1:15).
B. Spirit intercedes in our prayers (Romans 8:26-27)
1. In the climax to the letter to the Romans, Paul celebrates the Holy Spirit’s presence in the lives of Christians in chapter 8.
2. He makes the point that the “whole creation” is “groaning” waiting for the resurrection day when the bodies of all the faithful will be redeemed (8:23).
3. In the same way, we often have “groanings that are too deep for words” and we are unable to clearly articulate our prayers (8:26).
4. At those hours of difficulty, “the Spirit” intercedes for us.
5. God the Father, who knows the mind of the Spirit, listens to the intercession of the Spirit on our behalf.
6. The Holy Spirit takes the groanings of our heart and formulates them into an articulate message that is sent to God in our behalf.
Conclusion:
A. When we discuss the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are not talking about a feeling.
B. We each have a physical soul, we cannot feel it, but we know it is real because God has revealed this fact to us.
C. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling the Christian is not something that we can “feel” but it is nonetheless real because God has revealed this to us.
D. The Holy Spirit is active and working personally within the life of a Christian in many non-miraculous and non-leading ways.
E. We have explored four ways that the Holy Spirit is active in the Christians life—what a tremendous blessing!
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