Ron Dunn Podcast - In The Spirit

Episode Date: April 18, 2018

Ron Dunn preaches from Romans 8 on those who live in the Spirit.

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. The distinguishing characteristic of the true Christian, the one thing that sets him apart from everybody else, is the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life.

The distinguishing characteristic of the true Christian is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And if any man does not have that Holy Spirit dwelling in him, then he does not belong to Jesus. Six times in these verses, beginning with verse 9, you'll have the phrase of either the Holy Spirit being in us or Christ being in us, which is the same thing because Christ dwells in us through his Holy Spirit. Notice in verse 9, If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Verse 10,

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead. In verse 11, But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. And then again in the latter part in verse 11 but at the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you and then again in the latter part of verse 11 by his spirit that dwelleth in you six times in those verses the apostle mentions the indwelling of the holy spirit or the indwelling of christ through the person of the holy spirit now we said this morning that there are only two classes of people in every congregation. When God views the mass of humanity, he only sees two kinds of people, those that are in the flesh and those that are in the spirit,

those who have life and those that do not have life. There are no degrees of being lost and there are no degrees of being saved. A man is not halfway lost and halfway saved. A man is not more lost than someone else or he's not more saved than someone else. Now there are dimensions of Christian living, that's true, but a man is saved and he is saved and a man is lost and he is lost. And the one thing, in my opinion, that the man on the street needs to understand is that God classifies him and categorizes him in one of these two places. You are either in the flesh or you are in the spirit.

You are either the enemy of God or you are the friend of God. The only way that any person can be saved, the only way that any person can know saved, the only way that any person can know God and know the life that's in Jesus Christ is as the Holy Spirit dwells in him. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. That's the test of whether or not a man is saved. As I read the New Testament, I discover more and more that the criterion by which a man or a church is judged is the presence or the absence of the Holy Spirit. Nothing else matters. All else is incidental and beside the point. The imperative question is, have you received the Holy Spirit?

In Acts chapter 19, when Paul met that group of disciples, he assumed they were Christians. He didn't know, but he assumed they were Christians. And so Paul asked them a leading question. He said, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Now the King James has it. Did you receive, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And that's not the proper translation. All the other translations correct that and the greek reads that way a lot of times people have the idea that you're saved and then later on down the road you receive the holy spirit no if any man has not the spirit of christ he doesn't belong to jesus the holy spirit is received at conversion and so when paul met these strangers

assuming that they were Christians, he asked them this question, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Their answer revealed they were not saved at all. They said, we have not even heard so much as whether or not there be a Holy Spirit. The criterion by which God judges every man in every church is the presence or the absence of the Holy Spirit. When they picked a man as a deacon, the primary qualification was he must be a man filled with the Holy Spirit. You know, we don't look much for those qualifications nowadays. We ought to. I think we will in the future.

But we haven't, you know. We don't want to know if a man tithes. We want to know if a man has just been married once. We want to know all the other qualifications. But somehow we never get around to asking that embarrassing question, is the Holy Spirit filling you? But the first deacons, the criterion by which they were evaluated was they were men full of the Holy Spirit.

And when the church sent out men as witnesses and sent out men as missionaries, the criterion by which they were evaluated was the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their life. You see, the presence of the Holy Spirit constitutes the New Testament church. And the presence of the Holy Spirit constitutes a New Testament Christian.

Now I want to ask you a question. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? When you joined the church, when you walked down the aisle, when you were baptized, did the Spirit of God come to take up permanent residence in your life? If He didn't, you do not belong to Jesus. It makes no difference what you did at the front, the emotional experience that you had, or how many times you were baptized,

or how many catechisms you went through. If the Spirit of God is not present at this moment, dwelling, resident at home in your life, you do not belong to jesus and the way the lord jesus christ identifies those who belong to him is not denominational label but the presence of the holy spirit within him second corinthians chapter 13 in verse 5 says examine yourselves to see whether or not you're in the faith because you know yourselves that Christ is in you unless you be reprobate. Now that's truly classifying.

Either Christ is in us or we're reprobate. Examine yourselves to see whether or not you be in the faith. So the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian is the presence of the indwelling Spirit. And I think the way Paul words this in verse 9, he's putting a warning to these people. He's been writing to these Christians about what it means to be in the flesh.

But he comes in verse 9 and says, but you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. And Paul meant this to be a warning, and he meant for these Roman Christians to check up on themselves. Is the Spirit of God dwelling in me? All right. What does it mean? What happens when the Spirit of God comes to take up his residence in us?

The Williams translation translates this word dwell to be at home with, and that's right. It means that the Holy Spirit is not merely a passing through. It means that the Holy Spirit is not a temporary guest. It means that the Holy Spirit is at home in us. He has his permanent abode, his permanent dwelling place in us. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ gives to me this Holy Spirit to indwell me, certain things come to pass. The indwelling Holy Spirit brings to me three wonderful gifts. First of all, he brings to me life. To be in the Spirit, to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, first of all, brings to us life. Look over there in verse 6. Paul says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life. And then again in

verse 10, and if Christ be in you, the body, this present body you're living in, is dead because of the sins that you've committed, but the Spirit is life because you have a right standing with God. In verse 13, For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,

ye shall live. And the first thing the Holy Spirit does when he comes to indwell me is to bring me spiritual life. Jesus said in John chapter 6 that it is the Spirit that quickeneth. Every person without Jesus Christ is dead spiritually.

This means he's separated from God. This means he has no fellowship with God. This means he can have no communion with God. This means he has no fellowship with God. This means he can have no communion with God. I don't think many people realize this. Sometimes lost people think they can pray and have fellowship and communion with God. You can't do it. Without Jesus Christ, there is no way for you to approach the Father. No fellowship, no communion. You're dead. You remember what happened over in the Garden of Eden when God picked up that pile of dust and fashioned it into a human being? And the Bible says, then God breathed into him and he became a living soul. And the same word for breath is the

same word for spirit. The spirit of God is the breath of of god and just as god breathed into that lump of clay and he became a living soul so when i trust jesus christ as my savior the god breathes into me and the spirit of god comes into me and gives me life and quickens me and makes me alive to god those things that i were once dead to go i, I'm alive to now. This is the reason you have cause sometimes to doubt some people's salvation. They're just so dead to God. Just so dead to God. Man, you can have revival right

in the midst of them. They don't feel anything. They don't see anything. I believe they could stand in the lake and not get wet. They're dead to God. Dead to holiness. Dead to righteousness. Unaffected by it. unmoved by it. When the Spirit of God comes to indwell you, he quickens you, he reactivates you, he makes you alive and sensitive to the things of God. It says that when the Spirit of God comes to indwell us, that we begin to mind the things of the Spirit. You notice we said this morning that when a person is in the flesh, when he is lost, he minds the things of the flesh.

That's all he thinks about. That's what occupies his mind. That's what he seeks after, the things of the flesh, the things of the world. But when the Spirit of God quickens me, when he activates me and brings life into me, suddenly I begin minding the things of the Spirit. I begin thinking about the things of the Spirit. I begin striving after the things of the Spirit. I begin seeking after the things of the God. There's a rapport between the Lord and myself. There's a rapport between the Lord and myself. I understand spiritual things. I think one of the most revealing verses in all the Word of God is 1 Corinthians 2, where it says,

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually understood. When a man is lost, when a man is dead, none of this makes sense to him. None of this just makes sense to him. Why doesn't it make sense to him? Well, he's on AM and the Lord's on FM. He's not tuned in.

He doesn't have the right equipment. He can't receive from God. It just doesn't make sense to him. But when the Spirit of God comes to indwell me, then there is a connecting link between me and God. Now I'm on the same wavelength with God. God witnesses to me and God communicates to me through his Spirit. I begin minding the things of the Spirit of God.

Proverbs says, as a man thinketh, so is he. What's your mind occupied with all day long? What is the occupation of your mind? Do you mind the things of the flesh? Are you constantly thinking after the things of the flesh? Are you constantly thinking after the things of the flesh? The Spirit of God is not in you. When the Spirit of God comes, he quickens your mind and you begin to have spiritual thoughts. Have you ever been around somebody that's dead? I mean spiritually dead. Have you ever tried to share with somebody,

a member of a church, somebody that's religious? Have you ever tried to share with somebody, a member of a church, somebody that's religious, have you ever tried to share with somebody what Jesus means to you, how real Jesus is to you, and have you ever looked at the faraway look in their eyes and how suddenly they just seem to, a glaze seems to come over their eyes? They don't have any idea what you're talking about. When you begin to talk about the things of God and you begin to rejoice in the things of God. One of our ladies went visiting last week and visited some people that had visited our church before.

I hope they're not here tonight. But she went to visit them. They said, I don't like your church. I don't like your church. I don't like your church. She said, I don't like all that shouting and being happy and carrying on and praising the Lord. And this lady said, well, I don't know about you, but the Lord makes me happy. The Lord makes me happy. Well, I think when Jesus Christ is real and when Jesus Christ is really doing something in a person's life, they're going to be quickened.

That's what the work of the Holy Spirit is, to quicken us, to make us alive to the things of God. I've been reading a great little book on the Jesus revolution. And they make the statement that the thing that the pastors fear most about the Jesus revolution, you know what it is? The enthusiasm. They don't like the enthusiasm. that the thing that the pastors fear most about the Jesus revolution, you know what it is? The enthusiasm.

They don't like the enthusiasm. They don't like the enthusiasm. But the author says, 99 and 44, 100% of all preachers have at some time or another made the statement they wish people would get as excited about the Lord as they do about a football game. Have you ever heard a preacher say that? I've preached it. I've said that so many times. I wish we could get as excited about the Lord as we get about a stupid old football game. Well, all of a sudden, a bunch of people start getting that excited and we get scared to death,

just wondering what's going on. Oh, the Spirit of God brings you life you've never known what life is until the spirit of God takes control of you and makes all things new makes all things new well he gives a spiritual life but not only spiritual life he gives us resurrection life I want you to look at that verse 11 you see in verse 10 he says now if Christ be in you this body that you're living in this old physical body is going to have to die because it's sin. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. Now listen.

He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Right now, in good old 1971, I have physical, I have spiritual life. I'm alive unto God. I don't know what day has my name on it. I don't know when I'm going to die. I don't know when this old body is going to give up. I don't know when a truck's going to run over me. I don't know. But the Bible says that because the Spirit of God dwells in me, that same Spirit dwells in me that dwelt in Jesus. Notice the same Spirit, not another Spirit, the same Spirit that dwelt in Jesus dwells in me. And what the Holy Spirit did for Jesus 2,000 years ago,

He's going to do for me. And if the Holy Spirit quickened and resurrected the body of Jesus, it's going to resurrect my body. So when the Spirit of God comes to indwell the Christian, he gives him life, spiritual life, and he also gives him resurrection life. You can't lose. There's just no way you can lose.

I had dinner with a man today that said that. You just can't lose. You just can't lose in the Christian life. There is possibly no possible way, rather, for the Christian to lose. In this present life, you have spiritual life. If you die, what does it matter? The Spirit of God is going to quicken you and raise that mortal body back to life. Now there's just a little side glance here that I want you to notice. Paul is emphasizing that the same Spirit that dwelt in Jesus dwells in us. He's also emphasizing that what the Spirit of God did for Jesus,

He's also going to do for me. Do you get it? That same Spirit dwells in me. And you know what He wants to do? The Holy Spirit wants to do for me and in me everything He did for Jesus. Everything He did in Jesus. As that Holy Spirit gave Jesus life, as that Holy Spirit gave Jesus power to overcome the temptations,

as that Holy Spirit gave Jesus power to obey His Father, gave Him power to die, gave him power to rise again. That same Spirit who dwells in me tonight is wanting to do everything for me he did for Jesus. Do you have the Holy Spirit? If any man have not the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ. All right, the second thing the indwelling Spirit brings to us is leading. He leads us. Now, this point's going to have to be considerably shorter than point number one. Look at verse 14.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, this means two things. First of all, this means that we are under the control of the Spirit. Now, listen. If you're a child of God, the Holy Spirit wants to lead you and to guide you. That means He wants to govern you. And the indwelling Spirit brings me leadership. He takes me by the hand and He controls me and governs me.

That's what it means to be filled with the Spirit. That's what it means to walk in the Spirit. That's what it means to be filled with the Spirit. That's what it means to walk in the Spirit. That's what it means to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. He wants to lead you, to govern you, to order you around, as it were, to take you by the hand and say, listen, you follow me. I know what's best. I know what I want you to do. I have a plan for your life. I want to control you. Now right here is the breakdown in the Christian life because all of us, all of us have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us, but not all of us are wanting the Holy Spirit to lead. Some of us are not willing tonight to let the Spirit of God be the governor in our lives and to take us by the hand and say,

Not what I choose, not what I want, not what pleases me, but I'll walk in the Spirit. I'll walk after the Spirit and I'll be led by Him. To be led by the Spirit, first of all, means to be controlled by the Spirit, but it means something else. It also means to be content in the Spirit. In verse 6, For to be carnally minded is death,

but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now the word peace is used in two different ways in the New Testament. Sometimes it means peace with God through Jesus Christ. When I took Jesus Christ as my Savior, that war between us was over, and peace, a state of peace now exists between God and myself. But there is another kind of peace, not peace with God, but the peace of God, God's own calmness, God's own tranquility. The first peace means the peace of reconciliation.

This peace means you enjoying that reconciliation, that contentment, that serenity, that tranquility, that calm assurance that everything is all right because Jesus is Lord and in control. The Spirit is life and peace. Oh, you know who the most contented and peaceful person in this congregation is tonight? It's that person who's stopped trying to govern his own life and make his own decisions and run his own life. And he said, Lord, if you want to call it escapism, call it that if you want to,

but what a blessed escape. If you want to call it spiritual laziness, that's all right. Anything just to get out from the burden of trying to live my own life and I'm just going to let the Holy Spirit control me. I'm going to let the Holy Spirit lead me and choose my paths and choose my steps

and make my decisions for me. I want you to know that's contentment. That's peace. And I love what Andrew Murray wrote. When God, the Holy Spirit, led him into tragedy and led him into tribulation, he was still at peace because he said, I'm here by God's appointment. God brought me here. God brought me to this place. I wouldn't be here if he hadn't brought me here. So there's peace and contentment because I know that I'm here under the leadership of his Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit leading you tonight?

Is he in control? Has he given to you that peace? You see, the fruit of the Spirit is peace. When he's in control, when he's filling you, he puts inside your heart a calm tranquility that this world cannot understand. Now there's one last thing. The Holy Spirit not only brings us these, but he also brings us something else. He brings us liberty when he comes to indwell us. That person who is in the flesh, that person who is under the control of the flesh, is enslaved by the self. He is enslaved to habit. He is enslaved to his fears. He is enslaved to his own anxieties, to his own selfishness. But when the Holy Spirit of God comes in, 1 John chapter 4 and verse 4 comes true. It says, greater is he that is within you,

talking about the Holy Spirit, than he that is within the world, talking about Satan. Suddenly a stronger power takes up residence in my life. And so verse 12 of Romans chapter 8 says, therefore brethren, therefore since the Holy Spirit does dwell in us, we are debtors, we owe a debt, we're under obligation, but not to the flesh to live after the flesh. He liberates me from the old sinful nature. He liberates me from this unregenerated nature that is constantly dragging me away from God. All of my problems, all of my sinfulness, all of my habits, all of my malice and hatred and bitterness

erupts from that self, that flesh, that old unregenerated nature. And most people feel that they're under obligation to the old nature to satisfy it, to do what it commands, to do what it wants. But the mastery of the Spirit over the flesh occurs when He comes to take up residence in my life. He liberates me. He's stronger. The indwelling Spirit is stronger than the indwelling sin. Every Christian here tonight has indwelling sin.

Just because God has saved you doesn't mean that you're free from sin. You have indwelling sin, but you also have the indwelling Spirit who dwells within you and He is stronger and has the mastery over the flesh if you'll let Him have it. But there's something you have to do. There's something you have to do. I want you to look at verse 13. For if you live after the flesh,

you shall die. But if through the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. The only way that the Holy Spirit can really bring to me liberty is when I cooperate with him in mortifying, that word means to put to death,

the deeds of the body. When I gladly accept the position of death for myself, and I repent of every known sin in my life, and I resist every unselfish, ungodly, unworthy desire, when I treat my body and all of its desires, what it wants to do, when I look upon it as dead, having no power, having no claim on my life, if I am willing, if I am willing to die to myself,

take the position of death for myself, Denying myself. Same thing Jesus meant when he said, if you want to be my disciple, take up your cross daily. Deny yourself. The cross is an instrument of death. You die on the cross. You deny yourself on the cross. That's what Jesus did when he died on the cross. He was denying himself for our sakes. And when Jesus says, I want you to be my disciple and I want you to let the Holy Spirit of God liberate you, he's saying, I want you to deny yourself for my sake. Now that gets to be very practical. That means when you want a life or convenience to get out of something, you deny yourself. That means when you want to

cheat on a business deal or something else in order for your own advantage, you deny yourself. That means when your will, your desires clash with someone else, it means you take the position of death for yourself, and that's not easy, is it? You deny yourself. That means when God says, listen, I want you to straighten up this thing. I want you to go to this person and beg his pardon. I want you to go to this place of business where you used to work and make restitution for the money you took. I want you to go here to this person you cheated and make it right. You deny yourself, old self will never do that. Old self will never stand up like this young lady did this morning

and say for 14 years, 18 years, I've been faking it. Self never does that. You can't cling to self and do that. If you mortify the deeds of the body through the Holy Spirit, you shall live. You'll know this liberty. You'll know this peace,

this contentment. You see, it's not enough merely to have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. He must be infilling us, controlling us. And when you boil it all down, the simple truth is to be filled with the Holy Spirit is simply to let the Holy Spirit control us

in every aspect of our life. And to do that, you must put to death yourself. You must deny yourself daily. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now let's pray together. Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church.

For more Ron Dunn materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.