Let us turn tonight once again
to Romans chapter 8. Tonight we'll be looking at verses
8 through 14, Romans chapter 8. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For
if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you through
the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. I took the opportunity last Sunday
night to bring my message from verse 8 to remind all of us as
to why salvation must be of the Lord, why it must be of the Lord,
and the reason being because man has inherited a sinful nature
from our father Adam, all men. In theology, this is called original
sin or man's inability or total depravity. As Charles Spurgeon
said in a message years ago, man was not merely wounded in
the fall. He didn't just break a little
finger, he broke his neck. Man died spiritually. He lost
that ability to come to God apart from the work of God, the Holy
Spirit. And I believe in that message
that he preached along that line. He gave the illustration of a
bird, a bird that has a broken wing and is caught in a thicket.
Now the bird is free. It's free. It can fly. But it
doesn't have the ability. It doesn't have the ability.
And men love to talk about man's free will. But man is a fallen
creature. And yes, man is free to come
to Christ, to trust in Christ, but he doesn't have the ability
because of his sinfulness, his sinful nature that he has inherited,
making it impossible apart from the work of God. In Philippians,
the apostle said, for it is God who worketh in you both to will,
first of all, the will, the will to come to Christ, the will to
know Christ. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Now, then we're
told, work out your salvation in fear and trembling, but God
must first work in a person. And that's clearly stated here
in verse number eight where we began, so then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. All men are in the flesh by nature.
Wouldn't it be pleasing to God to trust in Christ? Sure it would. Absolutely. But men in the flesh
cannot please God apart from the work of God the Holy Spirit.
Now the words we're going to look at tonight, the Lord willing
here, are words, first of all, I want us to see which were written
to believers, to children of God. When he says, verse 9, but
you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. Now, these are
the same people in verse one of this chapter that he said,
there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. But you, now verse nine, but
you are not in the flesh. All men before conversion, that's
all we are. That's all a man is, is flesh,
sinful flesh. We're not just talking about
this physical body. We're talking about that depraved
nature that we have inherited from our father Adam. And in verse one again, he says,
there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Now, of course, he means that
those in the spirit, verse nine, but you are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, you have been born of the spirit of God. Our
Lord told Nicodemus, we sang that hymn just a moment ago,
he told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then
a few verses later, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born of water, even of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom
of God. We are nothing but flesh, that
is a depraved nature, until we are born of the spirit of God.
And because it is the work of the Spirit, the new birth is
the work of the Spirit. And, you know, we see this over
and over in the Word of God. And I like to point this out.
God is our Savior. Let that sink in. God is our
Savior. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. God is our Savior. And our Lord
told Nicodemus there, the wind, and it's interesting that the
word wind is the same word for spirit, and the same in the Hebrew
in the Old Testament, as well as the Greek in the New Testament.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell from whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is everyone. born of the Spirit. Everyone
that's born of the Spirit. It's a work of the Spirit. And
so now, we're considered to be, as he says here, both spirit
and flesh. But you're not in the flesh.
No longer. You were. You were nothing but
flesh. But now, because of being born
of the Spirit of God, being given faith to believe in Christ, you're
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be the Spirit
of God dwell in you. Now that, of course, is referring
to God the Holy Spirit. And in verse nine, if you look
at it there, the first time you see the word spirit, but you're
not in the flesh, but in the spirit, he's talking about that
spiritual nature, that new nature that we're given when we are
brought to Christ. If so, be that now the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now I want to give us tonight
six truths that I say in these few verses, six truths about
everyone who is born of the Spirit. Everyone who is a child of God,
six things that are true about you, that are true about me,
all of us who have been saved by the grace of God. There's
six things I want to point out. First of all, again in verse
nine, every believer, everyone who's born of the spirit of God
is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You can't be saved and not possess
the Holy Spirit. That's a fallacy, you know? There's people out here preaching
and telling you you can be saved and now this second work of grace,
you receive the spirit and speak in tongues or something like
that. No one is saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit and
immediately when a person is converted, the Holy Spirit comes
to live in us. Let me show you that. Let's look
first in Ephesians chapter one. in Ephesians chapter one. Paul
said, if any man have not the spirit of God, he is none of
his. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now, here in Ephesians
one, verses 13 and 14, and we see the order here. This is very
important. We see the order of salvation
here. As far as our experience is concerned,
let me add that. Verse 13, in whom you also trusted,
that is, if you look back to Christ, who first trusted in
Christ, in whom, that refers back to Christ, in whom you also
trusted. After that, you heard the word
of the truth. Person has to hear the truth.
A person must hear the truth, right? That's the reason we preach
the gospel over and over and over. A person not saved by hearing
lies, no man must hear the truth, the truth about God, the truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth about ourselves. After
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that you believe,
Notice the order, you heard, you believed, you were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of
His glory. We use that word earnest mainly
when you're purchasing real estate. That's the only time I can think
of when we see that word. and you have a contract and you
give a person earnest money. And the earnest here is God the
Holy Spirit. The earnest that you're going
to be redeemed completely in God's purpose and time is that
you're given the Holy Spirit. After that you've heard the word
of truth, you trusted or believed, you were sealed. And that seal
is God the Holy Spirit. So that's the first thing. And
also another text in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19, what? What? I like the way he says
that to those believers at Corinth. Know you not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? And think about
that, that's in chapter six. And above that, he had told the
people, hadn't he? Not to be mistaken that people,
fornicators and idolaters and all those things he lists there,
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of
you. But you're washed, you're justified,
you're sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ. And then a few
words later, what? Know you not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and you are not your own. The Holy Spirit is also
called the Spirit of Christ here in our text. The Holy Spirit
proceeds, as we say the scriptures teach, he proceeds from the Father. I will pray the Father and he
shall give you another comforter. The Holy Spirit proceeds from
the Father and he proceeds from the Son. All right, that's the
first thing about every child of God, the Holy Spirit lives
in every believer. Second thing, every believer
is indwelt by Christ. Notice that in verse 10, back
in our text, Romans 8 and verse 10. Every believer is indwelt
by God, the Holy Spirit, which means that every believer is
indwelt by Christ. Verse 10, and if Christ be in
you, there it is. Every believer is indwelt by
Christ. Christ dwelling in his people
doesn't mean that, as one writer said, he is exclusively in his
people. Well, let's say right now there's
a million people in this world who are saved, just for illustration. Now Christ is dwelling in each
one of those million people, but that's not the only place
he's dwelling. No, he's dwelling in each and
every one. But as John Gill goes on to say,
his person is in heaven. He ascended to the right hand
of the father, ever living there to make intercession for all
who come unto God by him. His blood, He's carried within
the veil. His righteousness is upon all
of His people. And His Spirit and grace are
in them. So He comes to be in them. He is formed in their hearts
by the Spirit of God in regeneration. Those are the words of Dr. Gill. The words of the Apostle Paul
inspired it are, which is Christ in you. That's a mystery, he
said, right? It's a mystery. What is this
mystery? Have you ever taken your concordance
and just look up the word mystery and see the different mysteries?
And a mystery is not like, you know, a mystery thriller that
you read a novel or anything like that. A mystery in the word
of God is a truth that man could have never known had not God
revealed it. And Paul to the Corinth said,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Christ in you. And
in John chapter 14, let me say, let's go over there just a moment.
We're talking about Christ being in every believer, the Holy Spirit
indwelling every believer. In John chapter 14, he said, look in verse 16, he
said to his disciples, and I will pray the Father and he shall
give you another comforter. that he may abide with you forever. Well, who is that other comforter?
The Spirit of truth, God the Holy Spirit, whom the world cannot
receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but
you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless,
I will come to you. So first he promises he's going
to pray the Father and the Holy Spirit's going to come. Now he
tells us, I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world
seeth me no more, but you see me because I live, you shall
live also. At that day you shall know that
I am in the Father and you in me and I in you. He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love
him and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him,
not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, And my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him." God is indivisible, right? There's only one God. Father, he exists in a trinity
of persons. And when the Holy Spirit indwells
a person, that means that Christ indwells that person, and also
the Father. We will come and abide with thee. So that's the second thing that's
true. Christ dwells in every believer. All right, still in
that same verse, verse number 10, if you go back to Romans
chapter eight, The third thing that's true about
every believer, every believer is both body and spirit. Body and spirit. Notice what
he says there. And if Christ be in you, he is,
the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. Every believer, every child of
God here tonight, we are both body and spirit. And concerning
our bodies, it is subject to death. We know that's going to
take place. If the Lord doesn't come in our
lifetime, this body is subject to death. As he tells us here,
the body is dead. Why? Because of sin. because we are sinners. This
body, that was a penalty for sin, was death. And Paul tells
us here, the body is going to die. Even though the body has
been redeemed, redeemed with the blood of Christ, just like
the soul, but the body is going to die. The body is dead because
of sin. It's subject to death. And it
is so because of sin, but keep this in mind. The death of the believer's body,
this house that we're living in, that's what it is called,
right? A tabernacle, a tent. The death of the believer's body
is not punishment for our sins because Christ has borne the
punishment for our sins upon the cross. The physical death
of a child of God is one of our privileges. We don't think of
it like that, but really it is. Can you imagine if you lived
and lived and lived and lived in this body as this body wears
out? Can you imagine? No, it's a privilege. Look with me in 1 Corinthians
3. Paul mentions this, 1 Corinthians
3. when he says, all things are yours. He's talking to believers,
isn't he? 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 21. If you've turned
here, 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 21. He said, therefore, let no
man glory in men. He's talking about these preachers,
Paul and Paulus and Peter. Don't be glorying in men. They're
just ministers. They're men that God has set
apart For your good, don't glory in them, whether it's Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come, all are yours. They're yours. This life is yours. We enjoy the things of this world. We have a right to them because
of of our relationship to Christ. All things are yours. And he
mentions not only life, but death. Death. And you are Christ, and
Christ is God's. Now, the body, as he says here,
the body is dead because of sin. But don't think of that as a
punishment. Think of it as a privilege, as
a blessing that is yours because of God's eternal covenant. that
it's just a door. I wish I could believe some of
the things I preach. I really do. I do believe them,
but I tell you, when I stare death in the face, I don't know
that I really have the faith to believe like I want to. But
that's all death is, if we could just get a hold of that. It's
like when we leave this building in a little bit, you're going
to go through this door, that door, that door out there. You're
just going to open the door and walk through it. And that's what
death is for a believer, just passing through a door to life
eternal. The body is dead because of sin,
but the soul, he says, the soul is life. It lives because Christ
lives, and it lives eternally. Those believers, think about
this, those believers who have died before Christ ever came
into this world and since Christ came and returned back to heaven,
to the Father, the souls of those believers, they're not in limbo. They're not in some secret place
in the heart of the earth like some people have taught. They
never were there. They never were there. No, Paul said to depart and be
with Christ, which is far better. And I'm saying tonight that Abel,
if he was the first one who died in this world, after believing
and trusting in Christ and receiving his righteousness, he went immediately
into the presence of God, into the presence of Christ. And every
other believer since then has. Parents or friends, relatives
and friends you know tonight, they're not dead. They're with
the Lord. They're with the Lord. To depart and be with Christ. I was reading up some here recently
on these people that believe that the soul sleeps in the grave
along with the body until the Lord returns. And I thought,
how in the world could you, how could you preach that? How could
you teach that? And one of the verses that I
wondered how they dealt with was when the Lord told that man
he saved that was on the cross on one side of our Lord. He said,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Today I say unto thee. That's the way they twist the
scripture. Well, that just means I'm saying
this today. You'll be with me in paradise.
That's not what our Lord said. No, he said today, today, before
this day ends, you're going to be with me in paradise. There's no Bible teaching about
the soul sleeping in the grave or anything like that. The body
sleeps. We're told that the body sleeps
in the grave, turns back to the dust, but not the soul. And that
brings me to verse 11. This is the fourth thing that
is true of every child of God. Every believer will receive a
new body. Verse 11. But if the spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
body by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Every believer will have
a new body. The same spirit that raised the
body of Christ will raise or change the body of every believer. Look with me in Philippians.
If you want to turn or if not, just listen. Philippians 3. Philippians 3 and verse 20. For our conversation, some say
that means our citizenship. Our citizenship is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the same Jesus the angels or those men told the
apostles that day when he went to be with the Father. The same
Jesus that you've seen go into heaven, he will so come in like
manner. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body. You know, if there's anything
true about this world, it's change, isn't it? It's change. The only person that we can think
of tonight or know who never changes, Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. But there's coming a final change,
a final change. Yes, when Christ comes again,
and those believers who are alive at that time, their body's going
to be changed, and the bodies of believers that he brings with
him, they're going to be raised from the grave, and there's going
to be reuniting of soul and body together. It's going to be a
new body, a glorified body, who will change our vile body. I
think some say that means this body of our humiliation, our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself. Let me hurry on. Here's the fifth
thing. I said I had six things. Here's
the fifth thing. Every believer is a debtor. Verses
12 and 13. Therefore, because these things
are so, back in Romans 8. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after
the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Every believer
is a debtor. And notice the apostle includes
himself here, doesn't he? Therefore, brethren, we, we are
debtors. Now, you know that before the
Lord saved you, you had a sin debt. You had a sin debt that
just kept mounting higher and higher and more and more. Augusta's
top lady tried to figure out how many sins it might have been
possible that he was guilty of. And I forget how many thousands,
how he figured, calculated that, so many sins a day, so many days
in the year. And I mean, you just come up
with a large number. We were debtors. The justice
of God demanded satisfaction, that it be paid. And we couldn't pay it. Turn
with me to Luke. Keep your place here, but look
back in Luke chapter 12, just a moment. In Luke chapter 12, the end of
this chapter, the Lord said, when thou goest, verse 58, when
thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate. Now, who is
our adversary? Well, the justice of God demanded
satisfaction. And who is the magistrate here?
Well, we're going to appear before God, right? Now, when thou goest
with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give
diligence, give diligence, that thou mayest be delivered from
him, lest he hail thee to the judge, and the judge deliver
thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart
thence till thou hast paid the very last price. If we look at
that as the debt we owe to the justice of God, and we're told
to agree with our adversary. Agree, agree that we've sinned
against God, that we have a debt. Because if we go to the judgment,
if a man goes to the judgment with all of his sins still his,
there's not gonna be any change. And he's never coming out of
eternal punishment. It says here, till thou hast
paid the very last mite, but man can't pay. He can't pay. And hell is a place where men
suffer, but never satisfy the wrath of God. It had to be paid. And there
was only one who could pay that debt. One who is both God and
man. Man that he might suffer, God
that he might satisfy. And this should motivate all
of us because of Christ, who he is, and what he's done for
us. It should motivate all of us. The love of Christ constraineth
us, the apostle Paul said. Brethren, back in our text. Therefore, brethren, we're debtors,
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh, but for if we live after the flesh,
you shall die. Now I looked at that and I thought,
he's writing to believers. I've already made that point.
He's writing to believers here. But he says, for if you live
after the flesh, you shall die. Well, believers are given eternal
life. They're not going to die eternally. So what does he mean here? Well, I believe that believers
experience a hiding of God's face. It's called backsliding. It's called sluggishness or sleep. The same thing if you look in
Ephesians chapter 5. What I'm saying here is if we
don't mortify the deeds of our body, that sinful nature, if
we live after the flesh as children of God, we're going to experience
a lack of fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know, we sing that chorus, He lives within my heart. He walks
with me and talks with me along life's weary way. But if we fail
to seek the Lord and His will in our lives, then we suffer
a lack of His presence and His fellowship. And if you're a child
of God, you know you've experienced this. We all have at times. here
in Ephesians 5, and he's writing to believers here also. Notice
that, here in Ephesians 5 and verse 14, wherefore he saith,
awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. He's talking to believers. Believers
who get into this sleepy, sluggish position and we don't have the
fellowship with the Lord and the communion with the Lord that
we once did. And the reason is, is because
even though we're debtors to live, not after the flesh, but
after the spirit, we don't do so and we become negligent. Now here's the last thing. Every child of God, every believer,
is led by the Spirit of God. Verse 14, for as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Those who are led by the Spirit
of God, where are they led? Well, the psalmist put it like
this. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Where does
the Holy Spirit lead us? He leads us, first of all, to
Christ. He always points us to Christ.
Looking unto Jesus, he always points us. to Him, points us
to His blood, to His righteousness, and to the fact that there's
a fullness of grace in Christ for every child of God. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. He leads us to Christ,
leads us to trust in Him and trust in His righteousness alone. I trust the Lord will bless this
word tonight. We're going to sing a chorus,
I think. I want us to sing that, Reach
Out and Touch the Lord. Let's stand as we sing.