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| A Matter of Life and
Death One of the strangest movies ever released has got to be Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey. It was revolutionary in its time; in fact, the scenes filmed in “space” are still remarkably convincing. But a lot of the details of this movie are downright weird. There is that scene in the beginning of the movie with the apes and the obelisk -- a kind of metaphysical take on evolution, I guess. Then a few minutes later the obelisk reappears on the moon and we know we are in for an unusual vision of the future. Stanley Kubrick’s vision of 2001 was the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, space travel to Jupiter, and a computer that wants to take over the world – or at least the space station; but the most chilling moment in the movie comes near the end… when in a fit of jealous rage, Hal, the onboard computer, murders all of the crew – except one who manages to escape. In a tense climax, we see this astronaut madly trying to switch the computer off while it intones, “Dave, what do you think you are doing? I think I deserve an answer to my question, Dave. Dave, don’t do that! I know I’ve been feeling a little off lately, but I’m feeling much better now.” It’s frightening and riveting… and really somewhat senseless if you think about it very much. If HAL is so intelligent, why doesn’t he realize that it’s the man who put him together in the first place? If he is so intelligent, then he ought to know that he needs the man to replace his batteries and tighten his wire connections and troubleshoot his bugs. HAL doesn’t have arms or hands or legs or eyes or ears (well, maybe an eye of some sort). Without the astronaut on board he will eventually find himself hapless and helpless -- destined for the junkyard of space – which is what happens. You see, like all created things, HAL is far better off living in harmony and collaboration with his creator than he is attempting to go it alone. In a perverse way, HAL is a picture of the relationship between humanity and God. When we rebel against God; when we the created turn against our creator the results are also invariably disastrous. Of course, God is far more powerful than the astronauts. We couldn’t murder them like HAL did, no matter how much we try…. And God doesn’t have to rush around space ship earth switching switches to eliminate us before we eliminate him – he could destroy us in an instant. But instead, in his infinite wisdom God stands back. Because of his desire that we love him freely, He allows each of us to make our OWN choice as to whether we will serve him or rebel against him. But the truth is that whenever WE ignore God or declare him dead, as some have tried to do, then just like HAL the computer we are hapless and helpless and whether we know it or not, destined for the junkyard of space. How much better it is to live in harmony and collaboration with OUR creator, than it is to fight against him! How much better it is to lean on an all-knowing all-powerful God for direction and guidance, than it is to try and go it on our own! In fact, it is ONLY when we discover the pleasure of gladly ‘executing his programs’ – obeying his commands – that we can truly be Set Free to be who we ought to be. It is only when we learn to walk in step with His Spirit that we can ever reach our full potential on earth! This is really the Crux of our Scripture for this morning in Romans 8. Ages and ages ago in our pre-passion days (actually it was six weeks ago), we looked at Romans 8:1-2 where is says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” NIV And we saw how it was that Jesus Opened the doors of the prison of self and set us free from the law of sin and death. We saw how it was that he paid the Price of our Salvation on the cross and ransomed us from the consequences of our past behavior; we saw how it was that he made provision for us within his Family to allow us to live lives that are pleasing to him and fulfilling for us… and at the very end, we mentioned that he does it through his Holy Spirit – and I said that you would all have to come back to hear about it! Well, you are back! And our mission today is to impress upon you the main message of Romans 8 – which is the Crucial Importance of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer. The Christian life will only be fully realized in your life and mine when we learn to live (as Paul says), according to the Spirit – when we learn to listen to the voice of our Creator and walk in His steps! Now, before we begin, I want you to know that the critical importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is not something that Paul invented in Romans 8. You might notice in your outline that I have included a number of different scriptures under “Introduction” – all of these verses deal with the history and the ministry of the Holy Spirit! We will cover most of them quickly this morning, but you might want to read through them this week on your own just to fix these principles in your mind. The Holy Spirit has always been a part of the Trinity – a component of God’s nature and an important part of God’s Plan for his people. In fact, the indwelling Holy Spirit is a New Testament distinctive. During Old Testament times, God spoke to his people only through his prophets as the Spirit moved them – and the Spirit didn’t even move them all the time. The revolutionary change that was to take place with the coming of the Messiah, was that all believers were do be indwelt by the Spirit of God. This is the message of Jer 31:33-34, where the prophet wrote, “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD.” NIV This is the beauty and the genius of the Church Age. God has put his law in our minds and written it in our hearts. We no longer need outward enforcement of the Law as we walk according to the Spirit. The importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer was confirmed by Jesus Christ himself in John 3. This is the famous passage when Jesus was talking to an inquiring religious leader named Nicodemus. They were out at night (because Nicodemus was embarrassed to be seen with Jesus) and Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:3-8), "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." And Nicodemus said, “C’mon! How can a man be born when he is old?” And Jesus clarified "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Do you want to know what it takes to enter the Kingdom of God?” says Jesus. “You must be born of water and the Spirit.” Jesus said that the Spirit is a critical component of our Salvation.
He said that in order to enter God’s Kingdom we have to be born
of water (which probably refers to physical birth) and of the Spirit –
which refers to the New Birth, the Spiritual Birth. To deny the Spirit, is to deny the very existence of God; it is to deny his ability to operate in our lives – and THIS is the only unforgivable sin. You see, Jesus knew how critical the ministry of the Holy Spirit was going to be in the life of the Church. He knew that it would take the ministry of the Holy Spirit to transform the disciples from a bunch of bumbling, cowardly fishermen who ran at the first sign of trouble into towering men of faith who were willing to give their lives for the truth of the Gospel. That’s why at the Last Supper in John 16, he turned to his disciples and said, “I am going away; but I want you to know that this is a good thing.” That’s sounds impossible, doesn’t it! But it’s right there in John 16:7! He says, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you!” NIV He knew that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers down through the ages would make all of the difference. He knew that the Holy Spirit would bring us our first taste of His Glory. He knew that the Holy Spirit would be our key to understanding the Scriptures and our Comfort in times of trouble. He knew that walking in the Spirit, ‘executing God’s program’ (so to speak) was the Key to Life and Peace and Freedom for every Believer! And that is the message of Romans 8! Let’s open our Bibles this morning to Rom 8:5-17. This is what Paul says:
“Listen,” says Paul in verse 5, “there are two potential mindsets. There are… those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; (and there are…) those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” And in the following verses (as he has often done in the book of Romans) Paul proceeds to describe these two different mindsets with a series of contrasts. The first Mindset, says Paul, LEADS TO DEATH! In fact, he says it IS death! Wow! That’s a strong statement. Now, I think it’s important to realize that people who ‘live according to the sinful nature’ are not universally evil people. They aren’t all pirates or gangsters or sexual deviants. For one reason or another a lot of people ‘who live according to the sinful nature’ do things that are good for society. They get married. They have children. They hold down jobs. They pay their bills and even give money to worthy causes. But still Paul says that (outside of the Spirit), the mind of sinful man is death. What really matters isn’t the veneer, it isn’t the behavior that has been enforced in one way or another upon us by society. What really matters is what’s inside! While I was on vacation, I was reading a book about the horrible Civil War that took place recently in Lebanon. Once Lebanon was known as the “Switzerland” of the Middle East. Beirut, a city that now evokes images of terrorists and bombed out buildings was once known as the Pairs of the Middle East. It was sophisticated and cosmopolitan and peaceful… and then in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it fell apart. In the book the author (who is Jewish) made a very interesting comparison. He said that Lebanon reminded him of the Steven Spielberg Movie, Poltergeist. This movie was about a lovely suburban home that unbeknownst to its inhabitants had been built on top of a cemetery. The family who lives there discovers something is wrong only when some of spirits of the people who had been buried in the cemetery become angry about the house that had been built there and begin to rise up and haunt the place. All sorts of strange things begin to happen. So the family hires an expert demonologist to purge their house of these angry spirits. After some research, she determines that a closet in the upstairs bedroom is the ‘gateway’ through which the spirits are entering and exiting the house. In the climactic scene of the movie, the expert, who is a tiny woman with her hair tied up in a bun gingerly opens the door and out rushes a wild, screaming, fire-breathing monster – the embodiment of uncontrolled rage and violence. It bowls over everybody and everything in its path! The author said Lebanon was like that – beautiful, sophisticated, cosmopolitan – like a lovely suburban home at least in veneer -- but then it was as if someone opened the door to the closet and a fearsome demon rushed out until the country was swallowed up in violence. He said that because he lived in Beirut, wherever he goes in the world today, he looks around him at the people in the theater or the museum or the city street and he wonders where that door is. The truth is that that door has been opened again and again all over the world – most recently in Cambodia; in Bosnia; in Rwanda… and, in fact, millions of people have died in the resultant violence. Why does this keep happening? Because the mind of sinful man is death! The truth is that ALL of our earthly houses, these bodies of ours, have been built on top of a cemetery; they are rooted in death. Sure, societal mores and police protection can control things for a while – but when the veneer is stripped away, when the restraints are removed all too often the demons rush out in violence and lawlessness. How is it that riots so often spur looting? Is it because the Economic Policies of the G7 are evil? Not at all! It’s because the heart of MAN is evil. It’s because the mind of sinful man is death… it’s because at any time, there is a danger that the closet door will be open and that what lurks inside will be revealed. Now, look at the Contrast. The one (the mindset of those who live according to the sinful nature) leads to death; but the other (the mindset of those who live according to the Spirit) Leads to LIFE and PEACE in any circumstance. What a wonderful promise! I was reading again this week the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Catholic Priest who was sent to a Concentration Camp by the Nazis for publishing ‘unapproved’ materials – really for daring to resist the evil of the German Occupation of Poland. Father Kolbe had notice from his friends in the underground that his name was on the list of people who were soon to be arrested. He could have run, but he knew that if HE disappeared then his friends and his colleagues and his family would be taken instead – and so rather than risk the lives of any of his brothers in Christ, he stayed at his post and waited. A few weeks later, he was indeed arrested and taken to Auschwitz. When he arrived, he was told that the average life expectancy of a prisoner in that place was one month… and yet even in that fearsome place, Father Kolbe lived according to the Spirit – he lived a life of Life and Peace in a place of death. In circumstance that tended to bring out the worst in many, Father Kolbe determined to show Christ’s love. He prayed over those who were sick and shared his crust of bread with those who were hungry. He ministered to the hurting. Then, one day, a prisoner escaped from Barracks 14, his barracks. Escape at Auschwitz was punishable by death. Even worse, if the prisoner managed to remain free, then everyone would be punished in his place. Twenty-four hours passed and the Nazi commandant finally pronounced the sentence: ten men chosen at random would die for the life of the one man who had escaped. With a sneer upon his lips he chose ten from Barracks 14 –callously ignoring their pleas for mercy. The ten were told to remove their shoes and walk to their death – death in what was called the starvation barracks, a place where they were to be deprived of food and water until they dried up in the agony of death. Father Kolbe was not chosen, but at the last possible moment he stepped forward. He said to the Commandant, I wish to die in the place of one of these men. When the Commandant asked why, and because he knew that he could not be completely frank he said, “I am old and useless.” When he was asked to choose which man he would die for, he pointed out one who minutes before had plead for his life for the sake of his wife and his children. There was a look of amazement on that man’s face as they silently exchanged places… that someone would die for him was almost beyond believing. But more amazing than that was what happened in the Starvation Barracks. You see, even there Father Maximilian Kolbe continued to walk with the Spirit. He continued to display a mind not of death, but of life and peace. Where so often before the inmates of Auschwitz had listened to the horrible cries of those who were slowly dying of starvation; now instead, they heard the soft sound of singing. The Spirit was there, even in that dark place because of the encouragement of that one man. Perhaps, this was why the Lord preserved Pastor Kolbe until the very end… he was the last one to go. And it was said that he died with a smile upon his lips and his eyes fixed upon heaven and that Auschwitz from that day forward became a different place because of what that one man did! What mattered to Maximilian Kolbe, you see, was not what was on the outside, but what was on the inside! It was Napoleon Bonaparte who said, “There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit; but in the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.” He was right. We don’t have to live in a Concentration Camp to feel the tremendous power of the Spirit… it ought to be a part of our daily lives. Even in this world, even in our circumstances, through the power of the Spirit, we can display life and Peace to those around us. The truth is that the Spirit of this World is Death – when truly revealed it brings about nothing but selfishness and violence and evil. On the other hand, the Spirit of God is Life and Peace. Wherever it is allowed to dwell in its fullness, it will free us from the evil of this world and usher us into the very presence of God! As John puts it in 1 John 1:7, “… if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” Walk according to the Spirit and we take on the nature of God.” What a promise! There are two mindsets in this world. The one leads to death; the other to Life and Peace. But there is more. The First, says Paul, is also HOSTILE to God (that’s verse 6). In fact, Paul goes on in verse 7 and says that those who are controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God at all! It is impossible, says Paul, to please God in the flesh. Even at its best, humanity is basically selfish. Outside of the Spirit of God our motives are always mixed. Our efforts will always fall short of the Glory of God. I have an Indian friend, who on one level at least, wants to do something great spiritually. He is unhappy with life so far and is looking for something more. He is a member of a very strict Hindu sect called the Jains. If you ever visit India, you can often recognize a Jain on the streets of Calcutta or Mumbai because they carry handkerchiefs over their nose and mouth, for fear that they might inhale a stray insect and therefore negatively affect their Karma. This friend of mine has been very successful here in America – but at the same time overstressed and it seems on one level at least unhappy. A few months ago, he sold his business and announced that he was going to move to India. His plan is to go without money or resources and walk the streets as a beggar – paying a sort of spiritual penance; trying to earn a higher place in his next incarnation. He told me that his wife can follow him if she likes, but he will not seek her out or call her. And he leaves behind a fifteen-year-old daughter and twenty-year-old son – fatherless. Does this make sense? This is a kind of desperate attempt at spirituality – but at its base it is nothing more than selfishness. He may have in mind a life given over to meditation and prayer, without stress of this world. But to leave behind a wife and children at this critical stage of life is not really spiritual at all; it’s irresponsible. In some way, my friend is trying to earn his way into heaven (or Nirvana) by doing something extraordinary. But this sort of thing will never please God. Living according to the Spirit never turns us inward – it turns us outward. As high-minded as asceticism might sound on the surface, it is only a fruitless way of seeking after self… a situation that is basically hostile toward the loving nature of God. The truth is that there is nothing we can do in our flesh that can outweigh the price of our sins. There is no good deed that we can accomplish; no penance that we can paid; no sacrifice that we can make. All of these things are just a different form of bondage – not even related to the kind of freedom that we can find in Christ who has already paid the price of our sin and who only desires our love and collaboration in the Spirit! The mind of sinful man is death; but the mind of the Spirit is Life and Peace. The sinful mind is hostile toward God. But the mind of those who follow after Him is CONTROLLED by the SPIRIT. In fact, Paul goes on to day (in verse 9) if you do NOT have the Spirit of Christ, you do not belong to him at all! Another strong statement. Paul says that ALL Christians have the Spirit – not just those who preach or those who speak in tongues – but every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That’s a radical thought. Now, I wish that I could tell you that whenever anyone became a Christian, whenever they ‘accepted the Lord,’ that they would be from that point on be completely controlled by the Spirit; that they would never sin again. I wish that whenever anyone said the prayer or made a decision for Christ that a dove would descend from heaven upon them or that tongues of fire would rest on their heads. Things would be so nice and neat if that were the case! But God in his wisdom has NOT made things that way. The truth is that just as unbelievers can sometimes do good things, so also Christians often do BAD things. If we really desire to be controlled by the Spirit, then we must continually seek after his ministry in our lives. Even Christians can quench the Spirit. That’s why Paul in Eph 5:18 commands us to “be being kept filled with the Spirit.” This ought to be the goal of the Christian life. The truth is that as A.W. Tozer says, we all have as much of God as we actually want. Being controlled by the Spirit is less about tongues of fire and ecstatic experiences than it is about an ongoing, growing relationship with God. Someone once said that if the Holy Spirit were taken away from the Modern Church, 95% of what goes on there would go on as if nothing had happened. On the other hand if the Holy Spirit had been taken away from the Early Church, only 5% would have gone on and everyone would have immediately recognized the difference. The truth is that we will be most effective as individuals and most effective as a Church in direct ratio to the amount we allow ourselves to be Controlled by the Spirit. Corrie Ten Boom once said that we are like gloves and its a good comparison. On its own, a glove is basically useless. It lies on a shelf or in a drawer incapable of any action at all. But when a hand is put inside the glove, suddenly the glove can be used for all sorts of things… for driving and hitting baseballs and gardening or any number of other things – all, however, at the direction of the hand. We are those gloves. Outside of the Spirit, we are limp and lying in the drawer. It is only when we are filled with the Spirit that we can begin to affect the world in the power of God the way that he would have us to do… and we have just about us much of God as we desire. The other day I was listening to an interview of a homeless person somewhere in the Northwest. This man was a Veteran and he lived in a tent within a few blocks of a Veteran’s assistance center. When the interviewer asked him what he knew about the center; he said, “Oh that’s a nice place. They have good food and clothing and access to jobs – all kinds of things.” And the interviewer asked him, “Well, then what are you doing living here in a tent?” He said, “Oh, I can’t go down there! They’d want me to be sober sixty days! I’m not ready for that.” A lot of us Christians are like that homeless person. We live within reach of the power of God, but we don’t take advantage of it. Actually, we don’t want too much of the Spirit in our lives – because we’re afraid of the way our priorities might have to be rearranged; we’re afraid of the implications that the filling of the Spirit might have on our secret sins… and so do you know what we do? We keep on living in the tent, dousing our Spirits with the ways of this world. We don’t realize our potential, because we quench the Spirit and refuse to walk in his light! What a mistake! How much better it is to recognize who we are by his Spirit. We are the Children of God! We are the children of the King and we are called to act like it! We are privileged (as Paul says in verse 15) to call God, the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe, “Daddy!” the intimate creator and preserver of our souls, our Father in Heaven! And the very best place that anyone can ever find himself is in the place of fellowship with Him. Being controlled by the Spirit means being right with God from the inside out. It will give us the tremendous pleasure of doing the right thing for the right motive and pleasing our father in heaven in the Process. It will revolutionize our world! This past week, I happened to catch sight of a bumper sticker on a car at the airport. It said, “Keep our Children Safe – Report Child Abuse” and I thought to myself what an interesting illustration of the difference between being controlled by the sinful nature and being controlled by the Spirit. On the one hand, I suppose that bumper sticker is good. It’s a good thing that our society has passed laws against child abuse; and that parents who physically or sexually abuse their children will be punished or even have their children taken away from them. But on the other hand, that bumper sticker is also bad; because you see, in spite of all those laws; in spite of governmental child protection agencies; in spite of police enforcement and lengthy prison terms; in spite of all those things, child abuse over the past few decades has increased at a frightening rate – in fact, it has increased at about the same rate vas the influence of Christianity upon our culture has declined. And it gets even worse, really. The truth is that children who are taken away from abusive parents in our society are routinely bounced from one foster home to another. They are almost always lonely and angry and rebellious. Their chances of growing up into normal, productive human beings are greatly reduced. How much better it would be instead if that bumper sticker was unnecessary. How much better it would be if that child’s parents were ‘controlled by the Spirit’ instead of the Law; if they loved their children in the same way their heavenly father loves them; if they raised them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; if they were patient and firm and loving and kind – all on their own, because of who they are inside without the long arm of the law needing to intervene. Wouldn’t that be far better? You see, all the rules in the world cannot create righteousness out of the sinful mind; all the child abuse hot lines in the world cannot create a safe place for our children. It is only in the freedom of the Spirit that God’s purposes can be revealed in this world -- from the inside out. It is only when we are controlled by the Spirit that we can experience the love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control” of God! |