Message details

-Todays teaching will be part three of a series titled; “Hope for the Discouraged and Depressed.” -The Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, has been showing us how it is that we can get out of the discouragement and depression of chapter seven.

William Newell – “Many sincere people are yet spiritually under John the Baptist’s ministry of repentance. Their state is practically that of the struggle of Romans Seven, where neither Christ nor the Holy Spirit is mentioned, but only a quickened but undelivered soul in struggle under a sense of “duty,” not a sense of full acceptance in Christ and sealing by the Holy Spirit.”

-At the risk of sounding sensational, what we’re about to see in the text before us, has the propensity to utterly and completely change our lives. -It’s important to understand that this can only be “life changing,” presupposing, that we’re willing to surrender to, and be filled by the Holy Spirit. -The deciding factor as to whether or not our Christianity resembles the depression of chapter 7, or the elation of chapter 8, is the Holy Spirit. -This is how we begin where Paul true to form and in no uncertain terms hits the proverbial nail on the head with our first one found in verse nine.

1. Hope is found when the Holy Spirit is at home in me (Verse 9) (9) You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. -v9 Paul says we are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in us. If not, then one does not belong to Christ. -It’s important to note that the word Paul uses do describe the Holy Spirit living in us carries with it the idea of the Holy Spirit being at home in us.

-In other words, for those of us who are in Christ, and born again of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will take up residence as He indwells us, living in us. -Not only is the Holy Spirit at home in us, but we can now become at home in the Spirit, in the sense that we are no longer at home in the flesh. -We may still live in, and dwell in these fleshly bodies while in this fallen world, but we’re no longer at home in either. This world is not our home.

William Newell -Here the great mark of a true Christian is, that the Spirit of God dwells in him. If he is indwelt by the Spirit of God, he is not “in flesh,” but instead an entirely different kind of being, —“in Spirit.” The Spirit becomes now the element in which the believer lives, like water to the fish, or air to the bird, vital, supplying, protecting.

-We as believers can have just enough of the Lord in us to be miserable in the world, and just enough of the world to be miserable in the Lord. -If you were to ask me what I thought was one of the most depressing ways to live, this would have to be it. The world has nothing to offer us. -The truth of the matter is that a fulfilling Christian experience will be proportionate to how at home we are in the Spirit, and also the Spirit in us.

2. Hope is found when the Holy Spirit gives life to me (Verses 10-11) (10) But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. -v10 Paul goes on to say that if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet conversely your spirit is alive because of righteousness. -v11 He then says if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit. -Verse ten explains to us the ‘so what?’ of having the Holy Spirit living in us, and verse eleven expands on the Holy Spirit being at home in us.

-Here’s what I’m thinking, while I may be at home in the Spirit, and the Spirit at home in me, I still have to live in this body, and in this fallen world. -This begs the question of how it is that I am to have hope when I’m still subject to my fleshly carnality until that day when I get my glorified body.

Charles Spurgeon -“Though our inner nature is transformed, the body still suffers and tempts us to sin; but even the body is the Lord’s and is yet to be changed.”

-Does this mean that until that time, I have to continue on living in this hopeless state of depression and despair while in this wretched body? -Absolutely not! Here’s why? The Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me, and will vis-à-vis the Holy Spirit, give life to me.

-I would suggest to you, that when we have this blessed hope to look forward to, it makes whatever we’re going through, easier to get through. -Not only do we have that to look forward to, yet future, we can have hope while still here in the present, if and when the Holy Spirit lives in me. -The Holy Spirit Who lives in me, gives this hope to me, and life through me, for me, and instead of me, up until that time when I leave this life.

William Newell -What an unutterable comfort! “Whether we wake or sleep,” this blessed indwelling Spirit of God will give life to these mortal dead-to-God bodies of ours, so that they shall be as alive Godward as our redeemed spirits now are! It is present comfort beyond measure to know that when the day comes, God will do this blessed giving of life to our bodies through His Spirit that is now dwelling in us!

-This means that whenever I experience marriage difficulties, or financial struggles, I need not despair by virtue of how this world isn’t my home. -If this world isn’t my home, and it isn’t, then this world isn’t my hope either. I can neither be at home in this world, nor put my hope in this world. -This is where the Holy Spirit comes in; when the Holy Spirit is at home in me, He will package it with that hope for me, by giving that life to me.

John 16:33 NIV "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."