Would you turn back to Romans
chapter eight? While you're turning there, Andy
is going to be speaking for us tonight. He's giving me a break.
We've been doing the vacation Bible school and it's very helpful
to me, but I'm looking forward to hearing Andy preach. Look at the last sentence of
verse nine once again. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ. He is none of His. I have entitled this message,
Am I His? Am I His? Now, there is a people He calls His people. Matthew 121, Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. There is a people called His
people. I want to be one of them, don't
you? I want to be identified with Him. I want to be one of
His people. He said regarding these people
in John chapter 17 verse 9, I pray for them. I pray not for the
world but for them which you have given me. He said they are
not of the world even as I am not of the world. Now I want
to be one of his people more than anything else. I want to
be one of his people. Am I his? Paul says in verse 9, now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He's one that the Lord would
not own. He's one of the ones whom the
Lord would say, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never
knew you. Now I don't want to be in that
crowd. Oh my, I don't want to be in that crowd. I wanna be
one of his people. Now look back at verse eight.
Paul says, so then, they that are in the flesh cannot please
God. Now what does it mean to be in
the flesh? To be in the flesh is just to be the way you were
when you were born. That's all it takes. You just gotta be natural. The
way you think before God saved you, the way you act, whether
religious or irreligious, to be in the flesh is to simply
act as a natural man. It's to think as a natural man.
It's to believe as a natural man. That's all it takes. In
the flesh. Every unsaved person can be described
as this. They are in the flesh. The Lord
said that which is born of the flesh is flesh. They that are
in the flesh cannot please God. They lack the ability to please
God, which is the same thing as being under God's displeasure. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot. They lack the ability to please
God. But, verse 9, You are not in
the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. But, I love that word, but, but
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us. Aren't you thankful for the word
but, but, but. You're not in the flesh but in
the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now this is one of those mysterious,
everything in the Bible is mysterious. But God the Holy Spirit, He's
mysterious. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. One God revealed in three distinct
persons. All three persons having A part
of the great work of salvation. God the Father electing. God
the Son redeeming. God the Holy Spirit giving life. He is called in the scriptures
the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of God. He's called the Spirit of the
Lord. He's called the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Christ. The spirit
of holiness. The spirit of him who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead. The eternal spirit. The spirit of grace. Isn't that a glorious name of
the Holy Spirit? The spirit of grace. We read
of being born of the spirit. And we read of being quickened
by the Spirit. And we read of the Spirit riding
on the heart. We read of the sanctification
of the Spirit. We read of the seal of the Spirit
and the earnest of the Spirit. We read of the fruit of the Spirit.
We read of the unity of the Spirit. We read of the demonstration
of the Spirit and the supply of the Spirit. and we read of
being filled with the Spirit. All of these names the scripture
gives this person, God the Holy Spirit, and anything and everything
that you and I experience of Jesus Christ, His person, comes
from His Spirit. If you have any love for Jesus
Christ, if you actually believe the gospel, if you bow the knee
before Him, if you see Him as God, all you experience of Jesus
Christ is through the Spirit of Christ, God the Holy Spirit. Paul said, the Lord is that Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. He's the creator. He's the giver of life. And He
said to dwell in the believer. We read of walking in the Spirit.
That's the new man, the spiritual man that the believer has. That
seed that does not commit sin, that's God the Holy Spirit. Aren't
these words mysterious? I mean, He's called the incorruptible
seed, the seed that does not commit sin. Dwelling in. walking
in a believer. God walking in a believer by
His Spirit. Those who have Him are in the
Spirit. Now, understand this. You don't
walk in the flesh one day and walk in the Spirit the other
day. It's not like it's something you go in and out of. If you
have God the Holy Spirit, you believe the gospel, you walk
in the Spirit. And if you don't have the Spirit
of God, you do not walk in the Spirit. And Paul says in verse
9, Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his God would known him. He's one of those whom the Lord
Jesus will say, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. To be none of his is to not be
one of his people. And I don't want that for me.
I don't want that for you. I want to be one of his people,
don't you? I want him to own me. I want him to say, he's one
of mine. He's one of mine. I want to be like that thief
where he'll remember me. Oh Lord, remember me when you
come into your kingdom. I want, I want the Lord to remember
me, to own me, say he's one of mine. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If I don't have the Spirit
of Christ, that means I'm not of God. You see, he that's of
God, I love that terminology, the way the Lord uses that phrase.
He that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them
not, because you're not of God." Now, to be of Him is to belong
to Him. It's to be His. Think of what
the Lord said when He talked about His people. He said, They
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. That's true of all of His people.
All who have His Spirit. Now, if you have the Spirit of
Christ, if you've been born of the Spirit, if you've received
the Spirit and believe Him, you're one of His. Isn't that
what you want to be? One of His. One of His in these
four ways. This is what it is to be one
of His. First, you're His by an eternal union with Himself. I wish I knew how to explain
that, but I can't. That can't possibly be explained. He said regarding all of his
people, behold, I have loved you with an everlasting love,
a love that had no beginning. Do you know I have always had
personality before God? He foreknew me. That means He
knew me beforehand, before my physical existence. He's always
known me and I've always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
one of His by eternal union with Himself. He said, I'm the vine,
you are the branches. The two shall be one flesh. Both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of
one. For the which cause He's not
ashamed to call them brethren. I'm His by this mysterious eternal
union. I've always been His. There's
never been a time when I wasn't His. If I am His, He is by eternal
union. And we're His by purchase. You're bought with a price. You have been purchased with
His precious blood. You're not your own. You're bought. Isn't it a wonderful thing to
be bought? You're bought with a price. And then, you're His
by His choice. John chapter 15, verse 16, the
Lord looked at His disciples and He said, You have not chosen
Me. But I have chosen you. Boy, doesn't your heart just
respond, why me? Why me? Why have I been brought
into union with himself? Why has he purchased me? Why did he choose me? And then where he is by nature,
The spirit, according to 2 Peter 1.4, has made us a partaker of
the divine nature. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. Now, if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he's none of his, verse 10. And if Christ
be in you, the body is dead. The word is, is in italics, the
body, dead, because of sin, but the spirit, life, because of
righteousness. If Christ be in you. Now that's
one of the most glorious things, to think of Jesus Christ the
Lord, the eternal Son of God, the creator of the universe,
dwelling in my heart. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
heathens. Christ in you, what a glorious
thing. And I've said this before, it's not enough for Christ to
be revealed to me because I forget Him. If that's all that happens,
if He's anything that's revealed to me, I can lose it. But oh,
the Son of God was revealed in me. I know why I love Him, because
He's in me. I know why I continue in the
faith. It's because He's in me. Now,
if Christ be in you, and this is a part of the great mystery
of the faith, great mystery, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
If Christ in you, the body, dead because of sin, and it's going
to physically die because of sin, and right now that body
is dead. Well, how can you say that when
you're alive? I'm just saying because the Bible says it. I
don't know else how to explain it. My body... Yes, I've got
physical life, but I know where this body is going. It's going
to be put in the ground, and it's going to be dead because
of sin. I was listening to Bruce Crabtree preach Friday night
in Crossville, and he made this statement that I'd never heard
anything like this, but he said, I hope I have a little bit of
time that I can think about it right before I die. I don't want
too much time, but I'd like to have a little bit of time before
I die to think about it. I'd have a conversation with my body. I'd say, buddy,
old friend, I've known you a long time. You can be put in the ground. Don't be afraid. God's going
to raise you from the dead, incorruptible. You got to die because of sin.
That's where you belong. But don't be afraid. God's going
to raise you up a glorified body. Wait on him. I love that song
waiting for my body that will never die. Now, the body is dead
because of sin. We're going to die. Me and you
are going to die. One of these days, did you hear Todd Nybert died?
And then a few years on, nobody will remember who Todd Nybert
was. I hope, you know, some people, I know some people care now,
but a few years down, nobody ever, who's he? I'll be dead. I'll be dead. but my spirit will
be with God and one of these days that dead body will be raised
incorruptible. The body is dead because of sin. If Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. We have spiritual life and we
have life before God. This is soul. It's divine life. It's God begetting His life in
my soul so that I can see my need of Christ, so I can see
my sinfulness, the sinfulness of this body and my need of His
free grace. That's life before God. You know
not everybody has life before God. Only believers do. They have life before God. It's because of righteousness. There's no life without righteousness.
You see, if I have life, it's because I have his righteousness
as my personal righteousness before God. And I can't think
about that enough. I can't talk about it enough.
I can't believe it strong enough. His righteousness, his perfect
law keeping is mine. That's why I can look toward
judgment without fear. What's there to be afraid of
if you have perfect righteousness? His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. I sure am glad of that because
I sure enough know I don't have any personal righteousness. I
know that. His righteousness is my righteousness before God.
And I've got life before God because of righteousness. Now
verse 11. If the Spirit of Him that raised
up Jesus from the dead. I think that's glorious to think
of God the Holy Spirit raising up Jesus from the dead. Christ
was raised from the dead. And there's a reason. Because
He satisfied God. He made complete payment for
sin. He satisfied God when God raised Him from the dead. God
said, I'm satisfied with what He did. And I'm satisfied with
everybody He did it for. Now, if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, Christ in you,
God the Holy Spirit in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you. Now, we're going to be quickened,
resurrected, glorified, this body of death. And I love the
way Paul called it in Romans 7.23 when he said, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? And
what he's alluding to is a Roman prisoner having a dead body chained
to him. Well, that'd be a horrible thing,
wouldn't it? And I know what he's talking about because I feel
that way with my sinful body. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. And, you know, there is, there's
a joy in walking with Christ and there's a wretchedness that's
always there because of sin. As long as I'm a sinner, like
I said a few weeks ago, You find me somebody who really believes
in personal responsibility. I'm responsible to obey God perfectly. I'm responsible to not sin. These
things write unto you that you sin not. I'm responsible for
that. And you also believe in inability. I can't do anything but sin.
You find me somebody that really in his heart believes those two
things, and you're going to feel a sense of wretchedness just
like Paul did. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Well, that body is to be planted
in the ground, and one of these days, it's going to be raised
up incorruptible. 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, give life, spiritual
life, to your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Beloved, this life is so transient
and it's so brief and it's going to be over real quick. And then
every believer is going to stand before God in perfection. Even so come Lord Jesus. We look
forward to death in that respect because that's really when we're
going to begin to live. This is not life. It really, this
is not life. What about when the Lord said,
when you enter life? When he's talking about heaven,
when he's talking about being in his presence, he said, when
you enter life, isn't it better to enter life with one hand rather
than two to be cast into hell? He said, this is not, not true
life. True life will be when I'm in
His presence without sin, beholding His face in righteousness. Now
that's life. That's life. Verse 12, therefore brethren, in light of this glorious inheritance
we have, therefore brethren, we are debtors. not to the flesh
to live after the flesh. Now we're debtors. How indebted
we are to God and His grace. And this is the only good debt
there is. Don't you hate being in debt? Don't you hate owing
anything? Sure you do. But here is one
good debt. And how, I can't even begin to
express how indebted I am to His grace. I didn't contribute
one thing in this thing of my salvation. I am totally indebted
to His grace. And I love being in this debt.
I'm going to continue throughout eternity being indebted to His
grace. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,
not to the flesh. We don't give the flesh any credit. Paul said in Philippians 3, 3,
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. And
my, I have absolutely no confidence in anything that has anything
to do with me. If my flesh is in it, it's no good. We're debtors,
not to the flesh. Look what he says in verse 13,
four. If you live after the flesh, if you live according to human
nature, your fallen human nature, the wisdom of the flesh, the
religion of the flesh, the maxims of the flesh, if you live after
the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify, do put to death the deeds of the body, you shall
live. Now, if you live just according to
the flesh, according to the way you naturally think, you're going
to die. Isn't it amazing to think, and
I wonder how much I really believe this, isn't it amazing to think
that everything that you naturally think is wrong? And if you live
according to that, you'll die. But if you, through the Spirit,
do mortify, do put to death the deeds of the body, now this is
what every believer is doing, he's mortifying the flesh daily. He's putting to death the flesh
daily. Now, what does that mean? I mean, if you ask preachers,
well, they'll give you all kinds of different formulas about how
to mortify the flesh. Here's what you need to do. You
need to get up earlier. You need to spend more time in
prayer. You need to read the Bible more. You need to push
back all these evil thoughts and put in these clean thoughts
and just put to death the flesh. Don't give it any opportunity
to rule and reign in you. You need to put it down. All
kinds of of concoctions as to how to do that. You know how
much they work? Not at all. Not at all. There's only one
way to mortify the flesh. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way the flesh
is mortified. No other way. Look to Christ. May God give me and you the grace
to do that, even right now, to look at Him, to behold Him, to
behold His salvation, to behold His sufficiency, to behold His
righteousness as your righteousness before God, to behold His precious
blood as all that's needed to make you perfect even now, to
behold His intercession representing you. Look to Christ. I'm not
going to give you some kind of formulas of how to beat down
the flesh. You look to Christ. There isn't anything else to
say. Or if you live after the flesh,
verse 13, 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. Now here's who the sons of God
are. Those folks who are led by the spirit of God. And I know
where my leader brings me. He brings me to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He brings me to the feet of Christ. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And this is where God the Holy
Spirit, our glorious leader, leads us. He leads us to the
Lord Jesus Christ to find in Him our all in all. To find our complete salvation
in Him. That's where He leads. They that
are led of the Spirit are not under the law, is what Galatians
5.18 says. Now, for as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they and they only are the sons of God. actual sons. Not just servants,
but sons with all the privileges of sonship. Now, he says four. Here's what it is to be a son
of God. Four. Verse 15. You have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption, of sonship, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Now, he first tells us what we've
not received. You've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear. Now, what is the spirit of bondage?
Well, the only way we can answer that is by looking at the scriptures.
In Galatians chapter five, verse one, Paul says, stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled
again in the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say to you,
that if you be circumcised, if you go back to law, Christ shall
profit you nothing. The spirit of bondage is the law, is works. And all that would do, this spirit
of bondage, is bring us to fear. If any part of my salvation is
dependent upon me, all that does is make me fear.
I don't feel any confidence. I don't feel any joy. I don't
feel any peace. I'm scared to death. If you put
my works as part of my salvation, As far as it won't happen unless
I do this, if you put my work at the beginning of salvation,
I've got to accept Jesus as my personal Savior before I can
be saved, or I've got to, of my free will, let God's will
be done. If in the middle of my salvation
you tell me that it's my works that makes me holier, I can become
more holy and progressively more holy through discipline and works
and my efforts at obedience to God. If you tell me that at the
end of my salvation, my place in glory is going to be dependent
upon my works here, that I've worked real hard here and I've
really given that, so I'm going to have a higher reward in glory.
You tell me any of that kind of stuff and I lose all hope.
I become scared to death. I don't feel any peace. I don't
feel any confidence. But he says, you've not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear. But you've received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, father, turn with
me for a moment to first John chapter four. Verse 16. And we have known and believed
and you can. just as easily translate that,
we have known and relied upon the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because
as he is, so are we in this world. There's no fear in love, but
perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. Now it's his perfect love to
me that cast out my fear. His love. Now, let me say something
very important regarding the love of God. You listen real
carefully. The love of God is not unconditional. People talk
about unconditional love. There's no such thing. Somebody says, I want God to
love me unconditionally. He can't do it. He's holy. He can't love someone unconditionally. He can't love that which is evil.
He can't embrace that which is contrary to him. The Lord said in John chapter
17 verse 23, Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. God doesn't love Christ unconditionally. God loves Christ because he's
altogether lovely. God loves Christ because Christ
draws out the love of the Father. He sees His Son and He's beautiful. He's altogether glorious. He's
lovely. He's holy. He's perfect. God
the Father can't help but love God the Son. He's altogether
lovely. And the Lord tells us, Thou hast
loved them. as thou hast loved me. He can't love me anymore. He can't love me any less. His
love can't become greater. His love never cools, just the
way he loves his son. That's not unconditional, is
it? You know, if he can love somebody
unconditionally, he can unconditionally quit loving them if he wants
to. I just despise that whole thought
of unconditioning. I don't have any confidence in
it. I'm loved because in Christ, I'm worthy of the love of God.
Only in Christ. But I draw out His love. The
Lord looks at me and says, He's so lovely. He's so perfect. He's
without sin. Now that's the love of God to
His Son. And that perfect love that He has to us, that's all
together in Christ. That's the only love that casts
out fear. If I think of Him looking at
me even a millisecond apart from the Lord Jesus Christ and seeing
anything but Christ, it scares me to death. That's the fear
that hath torment, but His perfect love casts out fear. As He is,
so are we, right now in this world. Now, back to our text
in Romans 8. But you've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, works, law, but you've received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father, Christ said,
I go to my father and your father. I love the way the Lord says
to his disciples when he's talking about the father, he calls him
your father. and we cry out, Abba, Father, Daddy, Father. Verse 16, the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. If you told me that you knew
beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was a genuine child of
God. If you told that to me, you came to me and said, Todd,
I don't have any doubt that you're the real deal. You're a genuine
child of God. I'm sure of it. Do you know how
much confidence that would give me that I'm a genuine child of
God? None. None. It wouldn't do a thing for me. You know, I don't know how many
times people have asked me, do you think I'm saved? And my response
is, what difference does it make what I think? If I think you're
saved, does that mean you are? No. If I think you're not saved,
does that mean you're not? No. You see, what I think has
no bearing in this thing. It won't do me a bit of good
for you to tell me I know you're a child of God. The only one
who will do me any good telling me that is Him telling me that.
Him bearing witness with my spirit that I am His. That I am one of His. Oh, if
He bears witness with my spirit, I know I'm one of his, and if
you question it, it doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't. If
you think it is, it doesn't really much matter either. All that
matters is him bearing witness to me. In hearing the gospel,
in believing, in him bearing witness, you're one of mine.
The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. And if children, verse 17, this
is the last verse we'll consider. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Now, if I'm a child, you know
what that makes me? An heir of God. Not someone who's
earned something. Not someone earning his wages. You know, what is an heir? An
heir, what he has has just been given to him because of his connection
with somebody else. It's not because he worked for
it. It's not because he earned it. How many people who have
just been just basically worthless people have been heir of millions? Not because they deserved it.
but because of their connection with somebody else. Now that's
the believer's inheritance. We have an eternal inheritance
because of our connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. Joint
heirs with Christ. I love being an heir. We just
sang at the beginning of this service, this is my father's
world and I'm an heir to every bit of it. Whatever Christ has
coming to him, every believer has coming to them. Joint heirs,
co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ, if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together. Now that
means two things. It means two things, both of
which are equally true. First, it means when he suffered
and how he suffered. How he suffered. He suffered
because of sin. And I suffered with him. He was
dying for my sin. And I suffered with him. If we suffered with him, we'll
be glorified together with him. We'll be raised in perfect likeness
to him. But it also means this. We suffer. We suffer. We suffer on account
of sin. And this is not talking about
the way the unbeliever suffers on account of sin. An unbeliever
suffers the consequence of sin. You think of the sorrow of this
world. You think of the horrible things that take place. The broken
hearts. The broken relationships. All
the horrible things that happen on account of sin. You think
of all the things substance abuse does. It's a horrible thing. And everybody in some respect
or the other suffers because of the consequence of sin. But
a believer suffers because of the being of sin. No unbeliever does. The being of sin. I find in a
law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. As long as I have the being of
sin, there'll be suffering. And I won't stop suffering. until
I'm delivered from the very being of sin. And I behold his face
in righteousness, in complete satisfaction, awaking in his
very likeness. Now everybody here that suffers
because of sin, the being of sin, the defilement of sin, the
horror of being a sinner, the horror of disobedience before
God. Oh, what a burden. Is your sin
a burden to you? Do you suffer because of your
sin? I think of what David said when he said, my sin is ever
before me. And that's the cry of a believer.
Yes, we suffered with Christ. He put away our sin. And yes,
as long as sin is in this body, we suffer. And you know what? We're suffering within. It's
that new man, really, the new man that owns and understands
and sees the sin of the old man. And he suffers, but only temporary. Only for a while. I love the
way Paul said, our light affliction. which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while
we look not on the things which are seen, but the things which
are not seen. The things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. To be glorified together with
Him. Now I realize everybody in here
to some extent has some fear of death. Everybody does. Somebody says,
I'm not afraid to die. I am. I am. But there's a reason. I'm flesh. I'm flesh. But when I stand before God without any sin anymore, at all. I'll be glorified together with
Him. Let's pray together.