THE SPIRIT IN THE EPISTLES
PART 1: “LIFE IN THE SPIRIT”
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. One day a young man who had his ears, nose, and even his tongue pierced went into an ophthalmologist’s office to buy contact lenses.
2. After the optometrist completed the eye exam, she told this teenager she was going to check the fit and prescription by putting the lenses into his eyes.
3. The teenager looked at the optometrist fearfully and asked, “Is this going to hurt?”
B. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re on our 7th in a series on the Holy Spirit. Tonight we’re moving into the Epistles/ Letters of the Apostles.
2. The Epistles of Paul, Peter, and John contained the teaching and understanding of the closest individuals to the outpouring, of what the dispensation of the Spirit was all about.
3. Their concept of what “Life in the Spirit” is all about is key to entering into the same kind of experience.
4. So tonight is Part 1 of “The Spirit in the Epistles” and next week we’ll cover “The Spirit & His Gifts.”
I. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT
A. OUR BODIES, THE SPIRIT’S TEMPLE
1. 1 Cor. 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you…” (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22).
2. Gal. 3:14, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
3. Paul implies that God’s promise of blessing to Abraham ultimately was about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!
B. THE SPIRIT IMPARTS LIFE
1. Tit. 3:5, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
2. Rom. 8:11, “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.”
C. THE SPIRIT IDENTIFIES GOD’S CHILDREN
1. Rom. 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
2. 1 Jn. 4:13, “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”
3. Gal. 4:6, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
4. Rom. 8:15, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
5. HUMOR
a. Ellen Read told that when her daughter was born, she weighed in at 11 lbs. and was 23 inches long.
b. Nobody was surprised, because the child’s father was a big basketball player. It was obvious she was his child!
c. He commented, “She’s a born basketball player! She’s got the size and she already knows how to dribble!”
d. The obvious sign that we’re OUR FATHER’S child is that He has given His Holy Spirit to us!
D. THE SPIRIT A SEAL, GUARANTEE OF MORE
1. Rom. 8:23, “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship…”
2. SEAL OF THE SPIRIT.
a. Eph. 1:13, “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Eph. 4:30)
b. 2 Cor. 1:22, “[He] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
c. The saint is sharply distinguished from the world. The Spirit is the identifying mark or seal: as it was by the Spirit’s descent on Christ that John recognized Him (John 1:33) and “him hath God the Father sealed” (John 6:27), so believers are “sealed with that Holy Spirit.” (Eph. 1:13).
3. EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT
a. 2 Cor. 1:22, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
b. 2 Cor. 5:5, “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
c. Eph. 1:13-14; “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
d. 2 Tim. 1:14, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit.”
e. An “earnest money” contract is one in which a sum of money is applied/ a down payment, to guarantee that the purchaser is serious and will follow that payment with many more.
f. The Greek word is arrabon. In modern Greek arrabona is the word for the engagement ring! The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will raise you up from the dead and seat you on the throne with Christ, no matter what happens in this world!
II. THE SPIRIT OPPOSED TO LAW, FLESH
A. THE SPIRIT VERSUS THE LAW
1. CIRCUMCISION. Rom. 2:29, “No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.”
2. WRITTEN CODE VS. SPIRIT.
a. Rom. 7:6, “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
b. 2 Cor. 3:3, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
c. 2 Cor. 3:6, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
3. FOLLOWING SPIRIT FREES FROM JURISDICTION OF THE LAW. Gal. 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
4. FAITH DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO LAW. Gal. 3:2,5.
B. 2 REALMS: ARE YOU IN FLESH OR SPIRIT?
1. TWO REALMS. Rom. 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.”
Gal. 4:29, “At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.”
2. ARE OPPOSITES. Gal. 5:17, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
Gal. 6:8, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
3. POSSIBLE TO START & NOT FINISH. Gal. 3:3, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”
4. KEY TO VICTORY
Gal. 5:16, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Gal. 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
5. This speaks of us not getting lazy, but staying in prayer and fellowship with God. Our walk must be kept fresh!
6. ILLUS. On one Polynesian island where most of the natives became Christians, their habit was to walk into the forest and prayer. Each person had their own spot. Trails developed from each house to their place of fellowship with God. When one got away from prayer, the others would ask, “Brother, I see grass is growing on your path!” Us too!
III. CONDUCTING YOUR LIFE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
A. SPIRIT MUST TRANSFORM THINKING
1. Rom. 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.”
2. Rom. 8:6, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”
3. There are 2 different worldviews: the world’s and God’s. We must adopt a biblical worldview!
4. 1 Cor. 2:14, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
B. SPIRIT SUBDUES SINFUL LIFESTYLE
1. Rom. 8:13, “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.”
2. If we really have God’s Spirit, one proof will be that we OBEY God’s commandments. If we don’t, we don’t belong to Him!
3. 1 Jn. 3:24, “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him…we know that he lives in us…by the Spirit he gave us.”
C. THE SPIRIT PURIFIES US
1 Pet. 1:2, “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.” Also Rom. 15:16.
D. MANY ARE ONLY PARTIALLY TRANSFORMED
1. 1 Cor. 3:1, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.”
2. There are all kinds of stages of maturity. Sadly, many think that when they get “saved” that they have reached maturity. This is totally incorrect. We need to change!
3. 2 Cor. 3:18 KJV, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
E. BENEFITS OF THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
1. LED BY SPIRIT. Rom. 8:14, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 2 Cor. 12:18 Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?”
2. FREEDOM. 2 Cor. 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
3. FELLOWSHIP. 2 Cor. 13:14, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
4. STRENGTH. Eph. 3:16, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”
5. EMPOWERED SERVICE. Phip. 3:3, “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.”
F. DARE NOT FALL AWAY
Heb. 6:4-6, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.”
IV. FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
A. THE LIST
1. Gal. 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.”
2. Jesus said, “You will know a tree by its fruit.” Apple tree, orange tree, pear tree, lemon tree, etc. Each kind bears the type of fruit consistent with its nature.
3. This is true of Christians. We should likewise begin to exhibit the nature of Jesus Christ, if He is living inside us!
B. SEPARATELY
1. LOVE. Rom. 5:5, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s LOVE has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Rom. 15:30)
2. PEACE & JOY. Rom. 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, PEACE and JOY in the Holy Spirit.” (1Th. 1:6)
3. HOPE. Rom. 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
4. UNITY. Eph. 4:3, “Make every effort to keep the UNITY of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
5. SELF-DISCIPLINE. 2 Tim. 1:7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
6. PURITY, KINDNESS. 2 Cor. 6:6, “in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: LIKE A PUMPKIN
1. A lady had recently been baptized. One of her coworkers asked her what it was like to be a Christian.
2. She was caught off guard and didn't know how to answer, but when she looked up she saw a jack-o'-lantern on the desk and answered: "It's like being a pumpkin."
The worker asked her to explain that one.
3. "Well, God picks you from the patch and brings you in and washes off all the dirt on the outside that you got from being around all the other pumpkins.”
4. “Then he cuts off the top and takes all the yucky stuff out from inside. He removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.”
5. Then he carves you a new smiling face and puts his light inside of you to shine for all to see. It is our choice to either stay outside and rot on the vine or come inside and be something new and bright." Author unknown
B. THE CALL
1. The Holy Spirit is the “earnest,” the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance and marking us as children of God.
2. The Holy Spirit should transform our thinking, subdue our carnal lifestyle, and give us power and freedom to serve the Lord.
3. Lastly, the Holy Spirit inside of us should bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
4. We should be different people because God has put his Holy Spirit in our hearts.
5. Are we showing the evidence of a Christ-like life? If not, what steps do we need to take to fix it? Get saved? Get filled with the Spirit? Begin to force ourselves to be patient and kind? Pray.
