How Can The Holy Spirit Help Us?
Sermon Notes
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. At this time we can dismiss our children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get to check your child in please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back to assist you with that...Now as for today we’re continuing our series on a book of the bible called Romans, and it’s a series about renewing your mind, for the transformation of your life. What we’re talking about specifically today is the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit can help us? For example, one of the major ways the Holy Spirit can help us is by transforming us into being more like Jesus. Every believer, every Christian desires to be more like Jesus. Even if you’re a skeptic, a non-Christian, you most likely have a lot of respect and admiration for Jesus. You most likely would admit, your life and relationships would benefit if you were more loving like Jesus. In fact we all have things in our lives and relationships we want transformed, we need transformed, because they’re hurting us and our relationships. The Holy Spirit’s the one who can help with that. The Holy Spirit’s the one who can help transform us into being more loving like Jesus, in ways that’ll benefit us and our relationships. There’s a much greater version of yourself that God created and intended you to be, and the Holy Spirit’s the one who can transform you into that greater version. So let’s turn to Romans 8 and get into it. You’ll find Romans in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Romans 8:1-17. Title of today’s message is How can the Holy Spirit help us? The big idea is you need to walk with the Holy Spirit, to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit...You need to walk with the Holy Spirit, to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit...
Here’s your context. Romans was written by the Apostle Paul who was a skeptic and enemy of Christianity, until 35 A.D. when he has an interaction with Jesus that changes his life, and he becomes a Christian. He writes this letter to teach others about Jesus and the gospel that transformed his life. In ch’s 1-5 he teaches we’re all guilty of sin, we all need Jesus to save and restore us from our inherited sin nature. In ch’s 6-7 he teaches we’ll still struggle with sin even after we put our faith in Jesus, and so we need to continually rely on the Holy Spirit to transform us, which he explains in ch 8. In fact Paul mentions the Holy Spirit 20 times in ch 8, making the Holy Spirit a major theme in this chapter. So let’s see what Paul says about the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:1-17, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus...” This is another major theme in this chapter. It’s the theme of the assurance of salvation, the theme that there’s now no condemnation, for those in Christ. Those are three incredible words to remember when we stumble in sin. He says now, meaning there’s no condemnation right now! It isn’t sometime in the next hour, day, week, or distant future. It’s right now! He also says there’s no condemnation, meaning none, zero, not even a spec of condemnation coming from God for those in Christ. That includes our past, present, even our future sins, because when Jesus died on the cross he died for all our sins not some of our sins. I mean think about it. When Jesus died on the cross did you commit any sins yet?...On the very day Jesus died on the cross, did you commit any sins yet?...No you didn’t, since you weren’t even born yet! You couldn’t have committed any sins since you weren’t even born yet! This means Jesus died on the cross for sins you didn’t even commit yet. He died on the cross for sins he knew you’d commit in the future! He died for our past, present, and future sins, so we can always say there’s now, no condemnation in Christ!
Now do we still experience temporary consequences if we choose to sin? Yes. Do we still experience God’s correction and conviction if we choose to sin? Yes. The consequences, correction, and conviction are all good things God uses to lead us to repent and turn away from sin, so we can move forward in the joyful life he wants for us. But if you’re a Christian he’ll never condemn you when you sin, because there’s now no condemnation in Christ! So if you’re feeling condemned as a Christian, it isn’t coming from God it’s coming from someone else. If you’re feeling condemned as a Christian, it means you’re being condemned by 1 of 3 people.
#1 We condemn ourselves = We’re sometimes so devastated over our sin, that we can condemn ourselves. We can be quicker to forgive others, than we are to forgive ourselves. We’re like “I can’t believe I just did that!...I can’t believe I just said that!...I can’t believe I just did and said that again!...” Then we walk around beating ourselves up all day over our sin, sometimes beating ourselves up for days, weeks, years. Some of you are doing it right now! You’re beating yourself up over a sin that Jesus already took the beating for. You’re condemning yourself over a sin that Jesus has already forgiven you for. You need to remember there’s now no condemnation for those in Christ! Not later, but now no condemnation for those in Christ!
#2 Others condemn us = We sometimes condemn ourselves, but we also have others condemn us. Our culture is filled with cynics and critics ready to condemn you for your Christian beliefs. They’re ready to condemn you even on things like masks or no masks, vaccines or no vaccines, voting Democrat or Republican. There’s always people ready to condemn you for your beliefs and mistakes. You need to remember there’s now no condemnation for those in Christ!
#3 Satan condemns us = We sometimes condemn ourselves, sometimes have others condemn us, but we also have Satan condemn us. Revelation 12:10 says, “He accuses us day and night!” Every day and night he’s accusing and condemning us of our sins, trying to get us to doubt the forgiveness and salvation Jesus has given us. Just like God and people can speak to you, Satan and his demons can speak to you. They whisper negative thoughts, condemning lies in your ears saying things like “You aren’t forgiven. You aren’t saved. You aren’t loved, cared for, able to be restored and transformed.” It’s all condemning lies coming from Satan who Jesus called the father of lies! So when we’re feeling condemned we need to remember it isn’t coming from God, it’s coming from ourselves, others, or Satan. We need to remember to focus on the victory of Jesus not our failures. We need to remember there’s now no condemnation for those in Christ!
Again vs. 1, “There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Paul’s saying there’s two path’s people are walking in life. It’s either the path of the Spirit of life, or the path of sin and death. We’ve all sinned and continue to sin, so we all deserve the path of sin and death. But when we put our faith in Jesus he saves us and leads us on a new path filled with the Spirit of life. It’s a new path where the Holy Spirit starts sanctifying us, starts chiseling away all the sinful parts of us, so we can be transformed into being more like Jesus overtime. The Holy Spirit isn’t an impersonal force at work in our lives, instead the Holy Spirit’s a personal force, the 3rd person of the trinity, the very Spirit of God at work in our lives. In fact Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18 We are being transformed into the same image of Christ!” He says the Holy Spirit is God, and wherever the Holy Spirit’s at work in your life, there’s freedom! So the more we walk with the Holy Spirit, the more freedom we’ll enjoy in life. The more we walk on this new path of daily transformation, the more we’ll be transformed into the image of Christ. But what’s this new path entail? What are some new things we can expect to happen in our lives as we’re walking on this new path? Paul’s about to teach us 6 new things the Holy Spirit starts doing in our lives, as we walk this new path.
Vs. 5, “For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.” What we’re learning here is the Holy Spirit gives us #1 A New Mind...The Holy Spirit gives us a new mind that’s different than the mind we had when we weren’t followers of Jesus, which Paul calls the mind of the flesh. The mind of the flesh is a person who doesn’t care about what Jesus wants, they care about what they want. They don’t care about pleasing Jesus, they care about pleasing themselves. They don’t look up to Jesus, they look down to themselves. But that mentality shifts when we become followers of Jesus. We receive a new mind that’ll still wrestle with the mind of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit’s now helping transform our mind further away from the mind of the flesh. It’s a new mind that shifts into being more like the old WWJD wristbands. We start thinking what would Jesus do?...Instead of thinking what do I want do in this situation, we start thinking what would Jesus want me to do in this situation?...It’s a new mind...
Now I’m convinced the reason so many of us are struggling in so many areas of our lives, is because we aren’t seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit as often as we should. We have 24/7 access to the Holy Spirit, but we’re still living like we’re without access to the Holy Spirit. We go through most of the day seeking what we want, instead of seeking what the Holy Spirit wants, and then we’re quick to blame God if the day doesn’t turn out the way we want. We’re quick to blame God if the day turns into a mess, when the Holy Spirit was right there ready to lead us away from the mess, or prep our hearts so we could better handle the mess. If we made this one shift in our daily lives, if we lived out our prayer code which is that we want prayer to be our 1st response, and our continual response. I’m convinced if we lived that out it’d have a tremendous impact on our daily lives. If we went through the day with a new mind, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, thinking what does Jesus want me to do in this situation? What does Jesus want me to do to help repair or strengthen my marriage and family? What does Jesus want me to do with my career or education? What does Jesus want me to do to help my friends, neighbors, city, and church? It’s Isaiah 30:21, “Whether we turn to the right or the left our ears will hear a voice behind us saying this is the way, walk in it!” If we listen to that voice, if we listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice, it’ll bring tremendous freedom and transformation to our lives and relationships.
Vs. 9, “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit! If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.” What we’re learning here is the Holy Spirit gives us #2 A New Power. The Holy Spirit gives us a new mind, but also a new power. The word live in the original Greek means to dwell. It’s to permanently dwell, permanently stay, instead of being a quick visit somewhere. So when Paul says the Holy Spirit lives in you, he’s saying the Holy Spirit permanently lives and dwells in every believer. The Holy Spirit doesn’t treat you like a VRBO, visiting, vacationing, hanging a bit, but then leaves a few days later. He doesn’t come into your life, but then leaves you facing things on your own in life. When you put your faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit comes to permanently dwell in your life, giving you access to his power to face everyday life. It’s access to a new power, a greater power, than your own will power. It’s the very power of God helping to change and transform your life.
In the 1900’s there was an author and pastor named William Temple who explained the power of the Holy Spirit like this. Temple states, “It’s no good giving me a play like Hamlet, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it, but I can’t. It’s no good showing me a life like Jesus, and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it, but I can’t. However if the genius of Shakespeare could come live in me, then I could write plays like his. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come live in me, then I could live a life like his.” His point is you can’t live a life like Jesus, if you aren’t filled with the Spirit of Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit to live and dwell in us, to fill us with the Spirit of Jesus, so we can have the power to live a life like Jesus.
Vs. 10, “Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.” Paul’s saying the Holy Spirit can give us #3 A New Life. He says the Holy Spirit can give life, and bring our mortal bodies back to life. Both skeptics and believers know our mortal bodies are decaying and dying. Our minds will eventually decay, our bodies will eventually decay, everything and everyone we love will eventually decay and die ending up 6 ft underground. But the Holy Spirit can give us a new life, reviving and restoring what sin has wounded and wrecked. The Holy Spirit can breathe new life into our lives, marriages, families, careers, schools, cities, neighborhoods if we follow his leading instead of the path of sin and death. Sin and death is the start of our story, but it doesn’t have to be the end of our story. It’s because the Holy Spirit can give us new life, that’ll lead to a resurrected eternal life with Jesus.
Vs. 13, “If you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Paul’s saying the Holy Spirit can give us #4 A New Desire. It’s a new desire to put to death our sins. It’s a new desire to put to death our sins, because we know they’re hurting us, our relationships, and our savior. We love Jesus too much to want to continue in the very sins that nailed him to the cross. We have a new desire to put to death the very sins that put Jesus to death. In the words of John Owens, “You must be killing sin, or sin will be killing you!”Paul says the only way to kill sin is by the Spirit, it’s by relying on the Spirit’s guidance. Matt Chandler states, “Fighting sin without the spirit, is like open hand slapping a bear. It’ll never end well.” If we truly have the desire to kill sin, then we need to rely on the Spirit’s guidance, especially in the moment of temptation. 1st Corinthians 10:13 states, “He won’t let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation he’ll provide the way out.” The Holy Spirit provides a way out, but we have to take his way out. If you stumble, listen for the Holy Spirit’s reminder that there’s now no condemnation in Christ, and get back in the fight.
Vs. 15, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit ofadoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” This is about the Holy Spirit giving us #5 A New Relationship. We’re given a new relationship with God, our creator, our savior and sustainer. It’s a deeply personal relationship where we can cry out to God in a deeply personal way saying Abba, Father! I love this because in almost every language there’s an abbreviation for the word father. In Aramaic it’s Abba. In English it’s dadda. In Spanish and Italian it’s pappa. In Indonesia it’s bapa. In Turkey it’s baba. These abbreviations usually come from little children, because they can’t pronounce the word father. It comes from little children crying out to their father, which is what we’re supposed to do with God. We’re supposed to have a personal relationship with God like a child has with a loving parent. We’re supposed to be able to cry out to God in a deeply personal way anytime, anywhere, about anything saying Abba, Father!
Vs. 16, “The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him, so we may also be glorified with him.” This is about #6 A New Destiny, the Holy Spirit giving us a new destiny in heaven with Christ. A person without Christ is on a path that leads to an eternal destiny of sin and death, but a person with Christ is on a path where the Holy Spirit leads them to a new eternal joyful destiny in heaven with Christ. Paul says we’ll still face suffering in this life, but our suffering won’t last forever. We’ll still face suffering in this life, but it won’t be the end of our life. The Holy Spirit will make sure we make it through our suffering, until we reach our eternal destiny where we’ll be free from all our suffering, enjoying a resurrected life with Christ.
The big idea of the message is you need to walk with the Holy Spirit, to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit...Do you want to enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit for your life?...Do you want a new mind, new power, new life, new desires, new relationship, new destiny for your life?...It starts with repenting of your sins and believing Jesus died for your sins. It starts with receiving the good news that there’s now...right here, right now...no condemnation for you personally if you put your faith in Jesus. If you’re a Christian don’t yawn at that as if it’s old news, because the reality is we need to hear it again! The reality is we still sometimes listen to the condemning voices coming from ourselves, others, and Satan. So we need to be reminded that there’s now no condemnation in Christ, and get back into the fight again. Get back into walking with the Holy Spirit and enjoying the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s guidance again.
Will you still struggle with sin in this life? Yes. Will you still face suffering in this life? Yes. But your sin and suffering won’t be the end of your life, because the Holy Spirit’s leading you to a far better future with a far better life. It's a far better future with a far better life, free from sin and death’s decay on your marriage, your family, your relationships, your mortal body with all its physical and mental health issues. There’s a far better future, a far better life, a far better version of yourself, that’s still coming. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15, “We shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet...53 For this perishable body must put on imperishablity, this mortal body must put on immortality. 54...then we’ll finally be able to say ‘Death is swallowed up in victory! 55 O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’ 57Thanks be to God who gives us victory, through Jesus!” Let’s pray.