[The following is the manuscript of my trial sermon delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church in Lexington, NC on Sunday, April 27, 2014.]
Have you heard the news? That man Jesus, the Romans crucified Him, He was dead and buried. But now some of those who traveled with Him, His closest friends, swear that He's come back to life, that He's visited them! The word on the street is that He's supposed to get together with them again, up in Galilee. A bunch of us are going up to see if it's true. You ought to come along - this could be big. This could be really big...
I often like to put myself in the place of those who lived so long ago, to try to get a sense of what they might have been feeling. This little docu-drama is how I envision folks may have reacted to what Matthew saved for us in his Gospel, chapter 28, verses 7, 10, and 16. But now I'd like to read from Paul's letter to the church in Rome. Paul wrote this letter as a way to introduce himself, in large part because he intended to go to that church and hope to be their pastor for a while. Kind of similar to my being here today. From the book of Romans, chapter 8, verses 10 through 18, we read:
10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
--Romans 8:10-18 (NASB)
Let us pray... Father, please open our hearts to hear Your message, to receive Your word. Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to serve You. In the precious name of Christ Jesus we gather here and we pray. Amen.
Let's step back to just after Jesus was crucified. The 11 were in hiding, Jesus' closest friends. Just a week ago they had paraded through the streets of Jerusalem. Crowds gathered, shouted "Hosanna", laid their cloaks and palm branches for Jesus and the throng with Him to walk on. This was indeed a triumphal entry fit for a king, their King, their Master, their friend. Then the crowd turned against them. Jesus was taken, beaten, crucified, executed, buried. Can you imagine the emotional roller-coaster ride this would have been for His followers? From the top of the world to the bottom of the pit in the span of five short days.
Now Satan, on the other hand, must have been absolutely delighted that day when the sun disappeared, the ground shook, the temple veil tore in two, and all of heaven wept. I can just see Him rubbing his hands together and laughing in unbridled glee, like some mad scientist or evil genius, gloating over the doom of his victim. He had beaten God! He knew all along he could do it. Jesus was dead and he had won!
But then two women went to annoint the body of their Master with oil and found the tomb empty. The greatest power in all creation had been unleashed, decisively stripping that momentary victory from Satan's grasp. A power like none other...
The history of our world begins simply, as recorded in Genesis 1:1-3...
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. The Holy Spirit was active, even before the earth had form. "Moving over the surface" also embodies a protective attitude. So the Holy Spirit was participating in the act of creation and protecting what was being created. Could it be that when God said "Let there be light", that He was talking to the Holy Spirit, for Him to carry out the task?
Look at the events leading up to Jesus coming to earth, as reported by Luke in his Gospel, chapter 1, verses 34 and 35:
The angel Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that God would overshadow her, would shelter and protect her. There's that word "protect" again. And Matthew 1:20 tells us that Gabriel also came to Joseph, after Mary was found to be with child, and told him the child within her had been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
And do you remember the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus? Mary and her sister Martha sent an urgent message to Jesus. "Come quickly - our brother Lazarus is dying." But Jesus tarried for two days before setting out, so He could show the full glory of God. Upon arrival, Lazarus was already dead and buried. Martha met Jesus before He got to the home and questioned why He had delayed. John 11:25-26 contains Jesus' response to their brief conversation:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
After spending a moment with Mary, Jesus went to the tomb and shouted so all could hear, "Lazarus, come forth!" And indeed, Lazarus emerged from his tomb. This is the Holy Spirit, responding to our Lord's voice.
Getting back to our little view of Satan basking in his short-lived, self-proclaimed, synthetic glory.. The Mary's (according to Matthew and Mark) found the tomb empty, the burial wrappings left behind. Piecing the four Gospels together we see that the risen Jesus appeared first to the women, and then to the 11 hiding back in the house in Jerusalem, then to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Not just a couple of people, not even a dozen, witnessed the results of that awesome resurrection power. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul tells us that hundreds saw the risen Jesus in Galilee:
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
That's from 1 Corinthians 15:4-8. And it confirms the truth of the resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit.
So what does all this mean for us? The same Spirit of God that helped create and protect the universe, that conceived the Holy Child, that awakened Lazarus from the sleep of death, that raised our Lord and Savior from the grave... That same Holy Spirit lives within us! When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Master, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. We have that incomparable resurrection power right here within us.
Let's at our message text again, at Romans 8:11-16. If we live in the Spirit and are led by the Spirit then we are children of God. We have not been given a spirit of fear and slavery to sin but instead have received a spirit of adoption as God's children. How powerful is that - to be adopted by God?! We are heirs of Gods, fellow heirs with Jesus.
Paul talks about suffering with Christ in verse 17, but assures us in his letter to the church in Philippi, in Philippians 4:13, that...
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
The Gospel according to Matthew in chapter 4 verses 1 through 11 tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness on purpose, so that our Lord could be tempted by Satan. But the Holy Spirit never left Him and Jesus was able to resist Satan's temptations. That same Spirit gives us the strength to resist temptation also, if we just call upon Him for help.
Let's conclude by first noting that none of this is to say life will be easy for us thanks to the Holy Spirit. Paul succinctly affirms this toward the end of his first missionary journey, as noted in the book of Acts, chapter 14, at the end of verse 22 when he says:
22 ... “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
We can get a glimpse of that today, a hint of what is to come. When the Holy Spirit moves among us, absolutely amazing and marvelous things happen. Have you seen it? Have you felt Him stirring? I sure have, and more than once right here among you.
That same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us, is available to us, will help us withstand the world until the day we stand at Jesus' side.
We've got the power! We've got the very Spirit of God right here in our hearts, in our house. Jesus gave Him to us. Jesus asked Martha, "Do you believe this?"
Well, do you?
We've got the power! Believe it!
Amen.
Let us pray...
Heavenly Father, thank You so very much for giving us the same power You gave Your own Son Jesus, the power of Your most Holy Spirit living right here within us. Thank You for showing us so many examples of that power at work throughout mankind's history. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for moving in our lives, for whispering in our ears, for nudging us in the way we should go. As we go from here today, may we use that power to brighten our lives and the lives of those around us and to expand Your great kingdom. In the holy name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
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