The Life Of The Filled

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For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

And I pray that song is a fragrant offering as we as we come to you with our hands wide open and surrender.

Because you are worthy of our complete surrender.

What I'm encouraged by those words on the screen, the fact that you do not change.

Hey Jesus, you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

You do not change.

That means that the gospel does not change.

Thank you for who you are.

Thank you for your consistency.

And the fact that you're constant.

Oh, and as Caleb says, thank you for your love.

The world did not have to get cute before you for you to love it.

We stand surrendered.

We thank you, Lord.

It's in your beautiful name, I pray.

Amen.

Well, good morning, Horr.

Are we good?

Love it.

If you have your Bibles, would you grab those?

Go to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, you can just relax.

The text is going to appear here on a screen.

But I would love for each of us to follow you, follow me on your device, your Bible, whatever, on Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

And this is where we're gonna be.

We're gonna be camped out in this chapter for the next five weeks.

We have the honor of exploring one of the mountaintops of the entire Bible.

You should never trust a pastor when he says this, but this is one of my favorite verses.

Okay?

This is my favorite verse this month.

Okay?

My name is Leo Almeida.

I'm one of the teaching pastors here at Grand Parkway.

And last time I preached, I told you a little bit about my childhood.

And as I was meditating, getting ready for this sermon, okay, I was thinking about it.

One of the things that hasn't really changed since my childhood was just that, is my is my hatred for change.

Okay, I am a creature of habit.

If you break into my apartment when Leo's not there, you would see that you would very clearly see which side of the couch I prefer.

Okay, there's a crater there where my body goes every day.

Okay, same with my bed, same with my stovetop.

Okay, I eat at the same five places and eat and order the exact same thing.

I walked in a Mongolian girl last night and she knew my order.

Like the lady knew my order.

I am a creature of habit.

And as an eighth grader, I found out the hard way that the world does not care about that at all.

It was very disorienting to hear my whole household talk about change.

So this is circa 06-07.

Okay, so back then what was happening was my cousin lived with us at the time.

So whenever we moved here to America, my cousin moved to Switzerland.

He did his high school in Switzerland, and he came over here to do his college.

And about 06-07, he was plotting on finishing school and heading back to Angola, to which I replied, huh?

And then my oldest brother, my oldest brother, he's in his he was in his 20s at the time, was getting ideas of moving closer to the U of H campus.

So he was looking for apartments out there.

And then my other brother, who's only 18 months older than me, started, and I still don't understand this, he started dating.

Still don't get it, but he he was out of the house way, way more.

And I remember this hating the change.

I remember one time talking to my brother Joel about all the change.

I remember telling him, listen, you know how things are right now?

Like how we're all here at the house right now?

I want this forever.

Let's all stay here.

Let's no one move out.

If you get married, she moves in here.

Let's all stay here.

I want this forever.

And honestly, as I look back on that, it makes all the sense in the world.

Back then, the hardest part of my life was how do I bring all the groceries in in one trip?

Like that was the biggest conundrum in my life.

So I would say things like, I want this forever.

And that's what I was saying.

But what my heart was feeling was, what could be better than this?

Look at the sweet setup.

What could be what could possibly be better than this?

And that's amusing for an eighth grader, for an anxious, nearsighted eighth grader to think that way.

But it's not funny when Philip is thinking it.

Or Peter is thinking it.

Or Matthew or Simon is thinking it.

Okay, there's uh just when the disciples are starting to turn the corner as to who Jesus is, he's the God man, just when they're starting to get it, Jesus goes, Okay, so I'm leaving.

But it's better that I leave.

And I guarantee you that they pulled an eighth-grade Leo thinking, what could be better than you being here?

One translation says that Jesus says that it is for your advantage that I leave.

And they're confused.

And it's within that tense context that he talks about the Holy Spirit.

I am sending a helper, an advocate, a counselor who will guide you into all truth.

And the JD Group puts it this way: the spirit inside you is better than Jesus beside you.

And this is the point in history in John chapter 16 where Jesus starts announcing that God with us is about to go one step further from God with us to God in us.

John 16 · chapter mention

And that's what we're gonna be exploring for the next five weeks.

Okay, being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

The Bible uses this language of filling.

In Luke chapter 4, whenever Jesus is going into the wilderness, it says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Okay, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form, okay, not a force or a power, it's a person, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

There's a man named Barnabas.

Barnabas was his nickname, and it literally means son of encouragement.

And the Bible says he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

There's another man named Stephen, who was chosen to be a leader of the church.

The Bible says of him, he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.

What in the world does that look like?

What does a spirit-filled believer really look like?

We're gonna start our ver our journey here in verses 1 through 11.

So we'll go to Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 11, and follow along with me.

Romans 8:1–11

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

For God is done with the law, weaken by the flesh could not do.

By sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on thinking of the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on things of the spirit.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and it's peace.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law.

It can't.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

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 the spirit who dwells in you.

Who comes to mind in your life when you think of, I mean, that person is filled with the Holy Spirit?

What type of traits and characteristics do you think of?

I believe this passage answered the timely question: what do spirit-filled people look like?

And number one, what we see here is that filled people are free people.

Okay, filled people are free people.

Friends, freedom in Christ is not a temperament.

Okay, Christians who are free in Christ don't just talk louder or dress looser.

They're not more careless or airheaded, fly by the seat of their pants.

It's not what freedom in Christ is.

Rather, people who are free in Christ are not prisoners to opinion, they're not slaves of their own past, nor are they slaves to the uncertainty of the future.

They're free.

But why are they free?

Well, their position, they're free because their position is perfect.

Look at verse one.

Their positioning is perfect.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It's hard for me not to just park here the whole time.

Okay, what's beautiful about Romans chapter 8 is it starts off with no condemnation and it ends with no separation.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Both of those contribute to freedom.

Okay, they contribute to freedom.

The word condemnation here is a legal term.

To be condemned in this word means uh you're you're you have a guilty verdict or a guilty sentence.

It's a strong word for judgment.

And Paul's saying, if you are in Christ Jesus, if Jesus Christ is your permanent address, there is no condemnation for you.

There is no condemnation for you.

Will there be consequences for your actions?

Probably.

Okay, there's still conviction of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit convicts us.

There's still coming an evaluation.

There's coming a day where you get to stand before the throne of God and he gets to look at you and say, Hey, remember when you volunteered and you didn't want to, but you did it because you thought of me?

Okay, here is your hair.

Okay, remember when you there is coming an evaluation like that, but there for the belief, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And friends, look who's talking.

Okay, don't become so numb to that the fact that this is uh from the Bible, but these are people, look who is talking.

This is Saul of Tarsus.

Okay, there is a man um named Stephen.

I mentioned Stephen earlier.

The Bible describes as someone who is full of the Holy Spirit, and then he gets arrested.

And as a pastor, it's a great honor, it is a huge honor to get a speaking engagement, to go speak at a conference, to go to speak at a different church, to go speak at a chapel.

It's a huge honor.

Stephen got the honor of preaching at his own funeral.

He was arrested, and one of those what do you have to say for yourself now moments, and full of the Holy Spirit, he just proclaims the gospel.

And gospel, in the gospel, it's offensive, and it offended them, and before they ended up killing him and they're stoning him to death, but before they stone him to death, they take their jackets off so they can have better range of motion.

And the Bible says they put their jackets and their garments down at the feet of a man who was applauding and approving the whole thing.

Saul of Tarsus.

That's how we're introduces the guy who's talking right now.

Okay, matter of fact, this is the Bible says a great persecution arose and he was spearheading that persecution.

Acts chapter 8 says this about Paul.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Or back then Saul.

Okay, he was ravaging the church.

He wasn't just tweeting at the church, wasn't bad-mouthing Christians, he was ravaging the church.

Entering into house after house, he dragged off men and women.

He wasn't, let me speak to the head of your household.

No, no, no.

He's dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

He's ruining and devastating the church.

And he's putting spirit-filled people to jail or worse.

And then he himself is filled with the spirit.

He himself experienced and understood God's grace in such a way that he's saying, listen, the forgiven man and the innocent man are on par with one another.

He's declaring here what David discovers back in Psalm 32, that the innocent and the forgiveness, God's forgiveness is such that the innocent and the forgiven are on the same page.

That's huge.

That is forgiveness to what Hebrews says, forgiveness to the uttermost.

That is completely clean.

We've all seen those military videos when a soldier comes back to surprise their family, to surprise their wife, or to surprise their brother, they surprise their kids.

You've all seen those videos, yes?

Okay, those videos always make me a little bit allergic.

I'm like, wow, there's something is pollen's in here.

But there's usually, if not every time, there is a huge jubilation and there's parting over our guy went to do the work and now he's back.

But use your baptized imagination for a second and think about it.

What do you think it was like when Jesus went back into heaven after his work here?

What do you think the jubilation was like after he did all he did here?

People spitting in his face, and he's like, I'm not, I'm not budging.

I got people to save.

I'm not budging.

All that, all the sinlessness, what do you think?

How do you think the father looked at him?

Okay, imagine the father's approval of him when he's coming back to sit on his throne.

Imagine how accepted he was by the Father.

Now I pose this question.

Do you really believe, do you really believe you're as approved of by the Father as Jesus is?

Or do you think God's forgiveness is just kinda?

Do you really believe you're as forgiven as Christ is accepted?

Or do you believe that God looks at you with kind of a low level irritation all the time?

Or a low level disapproval all the time.

But this passage is there is no condemnation, not less condemnation.

A lot of Christians believe that their status in Christ is merely improved.

No, no, no, there is there is no condemnation.

And I said this back in March, but it bears repeating.

Friends, this is where that body of Christ metaphor becomes crucial for us.

It sounds a little bit dramatic that the church is the body of Christ, but this is where it becomes crucial because 1 Corinthians 6 is that Christ and the believer are one.

He is in me through the Spirit, I am in him by faith.

Me and Christ are one.

He is the head of the body, the church.

You can't, it would be inconsistent with who God is to say you're approved to the head and then condemn the body.

That would be incongruent with who he is.

So he stands, so we stand.

That's huge.

So join to him, we hear his verdict.

Jesus is not condemned, therefore I am in Christ.

Do not become numb to the fact that you are in Christ.

There is no condemnation.

And friends, this, this, I believe, is how you hide from flaming darts.

Satan will attack your faith, and this is how you hide.

Instead of barking back, you hide underneath this passage.

Satan does not operate today like a terrorist.

He's not gonna put a bomb in your bed or your house.

That's probably not gonna happen.

Rather, these days, I think Satan operates like a skilled hacker.

Okay?

Getting you to believe subtle lies about God's forgiveness for you, feeding you lies as soon as you wake up, bringing up the old youth, things you've put to death, things that you've been forgiven for, telling you that the gospel is too good to be true, telling you certain verses are just too good to be true.

In fact, I want you to look at this verse reader.

This is Hebrews chapter 10, verse 14.

Hebrews 10:14

I want you to read this to yourself.

For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

A lot of Christians read that like perfect.

It's a typo.

The Bible has a typo.

No, no, no, friends, this verse, there is no condemnation.

This is how you hide from those flaming darts.

On those days where you are being accused, use Romans chapter 8, verse 1 as a warm blanket and then get out of the courtroom.

Romans 8:1

Okay, you were judged not guilty.

Get out.

Put the blanket on and then get out of the courtroom.

You have to preach, you have the wherewithal, like like David in Psalm 42, to actually preach to yourself.

Yes, Satan, Satan's right.

I am a sinner.

I am a sinner.

But God didn't come here to save saints, he came to save sinners of who I am before most.

And my permanent address is Jesus.

That's my, I'm not going anywhere.

He holds me.

My relationship is not determined by how well my quiet time is going.

No, he's holding on to me.

And because he went back into heaven and heard no condemnation, that no condemnation comes down to me.

Friends, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So people who are filled are free because they know that their position is perfect.

Furthermore, they know that they're they're they're free because they know that their work is finished.

Look at verses two through four.

For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.

By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Now, what's happening here?

I don't know if you caught it.

Paul is using a lot of legal language.

Why?

Well, in Romans chapter 7, the chapter before this, okay, he's talking about the Old Testament law.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

He spends that whole chapter talking and dealing with the Old Testament law, talking about how hard it is to fulfill the Old Testament law.

And the question he's posing is, okay, is it good?

Okay, is the old is the old excuse me, is the Old Testament law good?

We see one of the people, heroes of our faith wrestling with the Old Testament law.

Is the Old Testament law actually good?

Friends, that question is a lot more relevant than you think it is.

Because of what the Supreme Court ruled a few weeks ago, there are tens of millions of people who are enraged at your faith.

And they're not gonna come up to you or slash your tires or slap you in the face.

What they'll probably do is they're gonna Google Leviticus and they'll Google Deuteronomy and they'll Google Exodus, and they're gonna look at the law and go, what kind of God is this?

And they'll start ridiculing the law.

And in those moments, a lot of Christians either freeze or they start agreeing.

Like, yeah, God was younger back then.

I would hate for someone to cut a slice of that out and but Paul's answer in Romans chapter 7 is that yes, the law, the law is good, but it's limited.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Like a GPS.

It can tell you where to go, but it can't take you where to go.

The law is good, but it's actually limited.

Okay, so the law is good because it reveals God's character.

Okay, the God that the law is holy because our God is what?

He's holy.

It also reveals God's will.

We know that his plan is not to leave the sons of Adam to their own devices.

His plan is to save, and you get to see that in the law already.

The law identifies sin.

Okay, Paul says, I didn't even know what coveting was.

And so that's all thou shalt not covet.

So it identifies Sin.

Last but not least, the law intensifies sin.

The law intensifies sin.

What does that mean?

I worked at a church with three lakes in the front.

Okay?

And there is an alligator in there.

And I'm still not sure if it was three alligators or one alligator that was moving around.

Either way, there were alligator alligator-infested waters where I used to work.

And I think it was our insurance company that contacted us, but I think they called us to us, hey, you should put a no-fishing sign up there.

And we did.

We put up no fishing.

What do you think happened?

What do you think happened after you put no fishing?

Half of Fort Bend County was like, yo, there's fish in there.

So I would leave work and I'd be like, gosh, lock the gate when you leave.

There's something about boundaries that make our flesh go, challenge accepted.

And all the parents said, Amen.

That's what Paul says that our sinful passions were aroused by the law.

So the law is good, but the law is limited, like a GPS.

He can tell you where to go, but he can't take you where to go.

He does not have the power to save us because of our weakness, because of our flesh.

And Paul is wrestling with that at the end of chapter 7.

But he has good news for us in chapter 8.

In chapter 8, you hear it shackles breaking.

Look at verse 2.

For the law of spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Friends, freedom has come through the Spirit.

We are free.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So 19 times in this chapter, the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit.

This is one of them.

And he gives the Holy Spirit gives us freedom and power.

If you're a believer, you have a brand new vitalizing principle inside of you.

Your body may grow old, your willpower may grow old, but the Holy Spirit doesn't get tired.

You have a brand new vitalizing power inside of you.

And you're in the flesh, but you have the Holy Spirit in you.

So the average plane is about 90,000 pounds.

Okay?

Slash, the law of gravity exists.

It's real.

So it's very difficult to get the thing off the ground, but the engine, the engine on those planes is so powerful that it overcomes the law of gravity.

In that same way, because of the spirit that's put in us, people in Christ are set free, not only from the penalty of sin, but also the ruling power of sin from this challenge accepted nature is being changed in us as we speak.

That's huge.

Friends, the gospel is so sweet that get out of hell free card wasn't enough for a gracious God.

He puts a vibe, he puts himself, he downloads himself into us.

And if you're a believer, you understand that because your desires are starting to change.

Look at verse 3.

God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.

God did this.

We didn't will ourselves to earn the Holy Spirit.

No, He did that.

He gave it.

He gave Himself to us.

Now, how did He do it?

Did He snap His fingers and go, you know what?

I was a little harsh.

Sin doesn't matter that much after all.

No.

Okay, look at verses 3B.

This is huge.

It says this.

By sending His own Son.

By sending His own Son.

Friends, the Father did not have extra Jesus lying around.

He used one on you.

One of the things that I'll keep repeating in this series is this.

It's not about getting more spirit in you or how much Holy Spirit you have.

It's about how much the Spirit has you.

So whenever you feel rejected or abandoned or bad in any way, you can give yourself to the Spirit by saying, God spent his best on me.

Okay, by sending his own son.

God, that means God spent his best on me.

Okay, the gospel of Jesus, according to John, emphasizes the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Jesus is the only Son of God.

He's the only Son of God, the only Son of God.

What that means is the best marriage in this room, the best marriage in Fort Ben, the best marriage in the world is only a microscopic dewdrop compared to the oceans of love, infinite oceans of love between the Father and the Son.

And that's who he sent to save you.

Okay, that speaks to the magnitude of your sin and the love of your God.

God spent his best on you.

Furthermore, by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Friends, Jesus did not just appear to be human, he was.

Here's what that means.

Next time you're going through pain or temptation or sadness or even anxiety, give yourself to the spirit by encouraging yourself and saying, Jesus has been here.

I see footprints in this note.

He has been here.

By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin in the flesh.

For sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

That word's right there, for sin, that means to be a sin offering.

Jesus was offered for you.

And he said that he condemned sin in the flesh.

And what that means is there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Because your condemnation went to Christ Jesus.

You heard not guilty.

Jesus heard guilty.

It's a pretty raw deal when it comes to Jesus, right?

Everybody else, the deal is if you follow God wholeheartedly, you get God in the end.

Jesus followed God wholeheartedly.

He got the cross.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

He was judged on your behalf.

He became the curse for you.

That condemnation didn't just disappear.

He went to Jesus himself.

And it finishes off by saying this, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

Friends, Jesus fulfilled what the law requires.

Okay, that would have been enough.

But then God gives us his spirit to have power over sin.

Not just penalty from our sins, but power over sin.

And that was all his doing.

And people who are free can exhale and go, the work was done for me.

They are energized by the fact that the work was done for them.

And is that you?

A call to Christ is a call to freedom.

The gospel is a call to freedom.

You can hear, again, in chapter 7, Paul uses I, I, I, my, my, my, meaning me almost 20 times.

And in this chapter, it changes, and you hear the spirit, the spirit, the spirit 19 times.

Okay, it's a call to freedom.

Filled people are free people because their position is perfect and their work is done.

Furthermore, filled people ask higher questions.

Look at verses five through eight.

Look at verses five through eight.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on thinking the things of the spirit.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

For it is not submit to God's law.

Indeed, it can't.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Now, this is not saying that filled people are mystical.

This isn't calling us to be mystical, like you feel a gust of wood and go, ooh, I feel the spirit's here.

Okay, this isn't an obsession with catching the spirit, but rather keeping our minds on things of the spirit.

Okay, and we're so think of it this way.

So um think of a 21-year-old Olympian training for the Olympics.

In the same place that a 21-year-old college kid is working out.

Okay, one of them has the goal of representing their country.

The other one has the goal of looking good for the summer.

Okay, swimsuit season.

Amen.

Don't amen that, I was joking.

They're gonna occupy if one of them is thinking about the flag waving and getting a gold medal for their country, and the other one is thinking of babes, they're gonna occupy the same space.

They might do some of the same exercises, it's going to look radically different because their minds are aiming at different places.

Where your mind is, where their minds are, affects everything.

They're daydreaming about different things as they work out.

And that affects their intensity, their consistency, their direction, and even their outcome.

Their mind or minds, because their minds are in different places.

Where your mind is affects your decisions and your directions and your destiny.

So, friend, what are you setting your mind on?

In this passage, if you've noticed, Paul is juxtaposing, okay, he's comparing somebody who's spirit-filled with someone who is not spirit-filled.

And what we do when we read that is we behave the same same way we behave whenever we read about the Pharisees.

We go, that ain't me.

Okay, I wouldn't sit my mind on things of the flesh.

But friends, Peter shows us it's very easy to slip into this thinking.

Okay, Mark chapter 8, verse 33 says this.

Mark 8:33

Okay, Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed.

And after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly.

And Peter took Jesus aside, he took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan.

For you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on the things of man.

When you have nothing to do or no pressing responsibilities, where does your mind consistently drift towards?

Because verse 8 is a staggering statement.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

They might do noble things, but it's done in the rebellion of con in the context of rebellion.

They cannot ultimately please him.

And Paul's saying, don't think like them.

For the love of God, literally, don't think like them.

Verse 6a says, For to set the mind on the flesh is death.

Okay, you wouldn't drag a dead carcass and put it in your living room.

But you are inviting death into your life when you set your minds on things of the flesh.

Verse 7 says, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law.

It can't.

Set the mind on the flesh is to set your mind on the patterns of this world.

It's a life determined by the determined and directed by the values of this world that's in rebellion of God.

What's your mind set on?

What do you fix your focus on?

On the other hand, a mind set on the spirit is directed by a different kingdom altogether.

Okay, the kingdom of God.

Philippians 4.8 says this.

Finally, brothers, whatever's true, whatever's honorable, whatever's just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, okay, think about these things.

Friends, as a result, people who are filled, they end up asking better questions.

Filled people have lives that are led by better questions.

Okay, so Christians and non-Christians, yeah, they're they're in different kingdoms at this point, but they do a lot of the same things.

Okay, when you come to Christ, you still gotta go to the bathroom, you still gotta get a haircut, you still get you still do a lot of the same things.

You still have to approach a lot of the same same topics.

But they're approaching it, filled people approach different topics differently.

For example, filled people ask better questions about glory.

Someone who has their mind set on the flesh is always gonna ask, how old this makes me look?

Okay, that's a shout out to this section right here.

I love you.

I was there five minutes ago.

I am I was not born 29, however old I am, 29.

Okay, but when I was there, the leading question that I would ask, if I would do or not do something, is how will this make me look?

At the end of this, where does my status line up?

I was making major life decisions based on how will this make me look?

Or how can I market or promote myself right now?

How can I get credit for this?

Am I getting enough credit for this?

Do they see all that I'm doing?

Those are questions that are someone with their mindset on the flesh.

Someone with their mindset on the spirit is gonna be asking questions like, what could I do right now that would shine the spotlight on the goodness of God?

Or how can I do this task in such a way that it honors the awesomeness of God?

Same topic, glory, same topic, but they're asking different questions.

Okay, fill people ask different questions about desires.

People who have their minds set on the flesh are gonna ask desires, what do I want?

How are my desires being met?

People who are keeping their minds on the spirit, things of the spirit, are gonna communicate their desires, but ultimately they're gonna ask, What does God want?

Remember, Jesus on his knees in Gethsemane, God, make this cup pass for me.

But nevertheless, let not my will be done, but your will be done.

Filled people ask bitter questions about sufficiency.

Someone with their mind set on the flesh is gonna ask consistently, how do I pull this off?

How do I pull this off?

How do I pull this off?

Do I have what it takes to pull this off?

Do I have enough to pull this off?

Someone with their mind set on the things of the spirit is gonna ask, How do I need to depend on God right now?

How can I draw on God's strength right now?

How can I be more dependent right now?

Filled people are gonna ask better questions about righteousness.

Okay, someone who is have their minds sitting on the flesh is gonna consistently ask, what do they see when they see me?

What do they see when they see me?

Am I good enough to distinguish myself?

Am I good enough to earn acceptance?

But someone with their minds set on the spirit is gonna consistently ask themselves, how does the gospel speak to this right now?

How does the righteousness of Jesus fulfill or cover me right now?

Okay, last week I was with, or two weeks ago, I listened to Bob Goff talk and he did his hands and he talked about small shifts that make all the difference.

And friends, give yourself to the spirit by asking better questions.

Give yourself to the spirit by having your life dominated by better questions.

Because to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

So filled people are free people, filled people ask better questions, and lastly, filled people have life.

Look at verses 9 through 11.

We'll end here.

If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

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 this his spirit who dwells in you.

Okay, first thing you see right here in verse 9 is that this, um that the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is not like seat warmers on your car or 5G internet on your phone.

Some cars have it, some don't.

Or some phones have it, some don't.

Some work well, some don't.

No, listen, listen, if you belong to Christ, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you.

Everyone who belongs to Jesus has the Holy Spirit inside of you.

And I do this every sermon, and I plan on keeping uh I plan on keeping this up, but that's a shout out to anybody here, junior high or below.

You if you are in Christ, you have the spirit of living, of the living God in you.

What type of confidence should you have?

Don't use your age as an excuse.

You have this, the Holy Spirit hasn't gotten tired since the Bible days.

He is not, he's not, he's not on JV now.

Okay?

What type of confidence should you have?

And I remember hearing a bunch of junior hires saying, Leo, I just I can't pray out loud.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Listen, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you.

And I'm making this plea with you because when I was younger, my brothers would be playing video games, and I'd be annoying and be like, can I play?

And they'd be like, sure.

And it passed me a controller that was unplugged.

And I would sit there button mashing, thinking I was playing.

And I fear, my big fear is that the young ones in here, the sixth grade and below, specifically sixth grade and below, you think that you being in here with us is us giving you the unplugged control.

No, we need you.

You have the spirit of the living God.

You can teach us something about the God just by the way that you live.

You should have confidence in that.

You have the spirit of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, look at verse 10.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

Okay, the spirit is life.

There's that word again.

Okay, that word life.

Okay, we spent, I'm not gonna harp on this so much, we spent about four and a half months dissecting this Zoe life, but the Bible refuses to let us grab forgiveness and get out of here.

But it calls us into an abundant life.

It's not just forgiveness and leave, but Jesus calls us to fullness of life.

And this is your New Testament is pregnant with this.

Romans 6 4 says this.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too on par with Christ, we're not Christ, we too might walk in the newness of life.

Are you walking in that newness?

I love the fact that it says the word walk.

It doesn't say when you panic, you run to God.

No, no, no.

Walk, meaning that you're daily.

Are you walking in that newness of life?

And verse 11 says this if the 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.

Watch this to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

Friend, ask the Holy Spirit what that might look like for you.

To live with this resurrection life.

This is invoking resurrection language.

What is it like to walk in that resurrection life?

Because filled people have life.

Okay, filled people are free.

Filled people are letting better questions lead their life.

And filled people have life.

And I pray that throughout us journeying through Romans chapter 8, you might get closer to walking in the fullness of life that you're called to.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Again, it's not about how much Holy Spirit you have, it's about how much the Holy Spirit has you.

And I pray you can get closer and closer to full completely submitting your life to the Holy Spirit because He's trustworthy.

Let me pray.

Thank you for who you are.

And I you know I you could have stopped at forgiveness.

God, your grace is such that you did not stop at forgiveness or get out of hell free car, but you've empowered us with a new vitalizing force.

I thank you.

I pray that you can help us walk in that newness of life.

It's in your beautiful name, I pray.

Amen.

As always, um, we have to leave some time in our services to step back and allow time to process.

So there's some questions here on the screen for you to process and do some mental worship to.

What you could do is you can pull your phone in and take a picture of them, or you can just zero in on one or two of them and just uh go to the Lord with them on your mind.

Nevertheless, I want to create some space for us now just to respond to these questions here in silence.

Dear God, um, we trust you.

Um we thank you.

Um thank you for what you're just doing right now.

Um I pray that these questions can sink down deep to us and bless um these can this community and the community groups that'll be be joining around them, that we can get new life um out of out of us.

Um we love you, we praise you, it's in your name I pray.

Amen.

So um, well, as always, church, um it is so good to be um with you.

Um if you're a visitor here with us, we want to say welcome.

Thank you so much for being here.

Um you if you you matter to God, therefore you you matter to us, if you wouldn't mind just texting that number here on your screen.

Um, that gives us a record of your visit.

If you do not have a church home, we would love to be that church home for you, and I would love to be one of your pastors.

As a matter of fact, at the conclusion of our service, we're gonna have some pastors here at the front that would love to pray for you and love to help you process some of the things that you've heard.

Now, if Grand Parkway is home for you, I mean and today is your day to worship through giving, there's some boxes around the room that you can do so um in.

Uh now we want you to know what's happening in the life of our church.

So just point your direction here to the screens.

Thank you for joining us today.

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know that you're here and get you connected with the church.

The table is happening on July 17th.

All women are invited for an evening of dinner and worship.

The deadline to register for dinner and childcare is July 13th.

Sign up at grandparquay.org.

This Wednesday, our men will gather at Clancy's Public House in Richmond for dinner at 6 to 8 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Since 1995, singer-songwriter Ross King has been a full-time songwriter, worship leader, performer, and a producer.

Ross has a heart for ministry and the church and will join us in both services on August 7th to share strings and stories that help us engage with God and each other, make plans to be there, and bring a friend.

If you have any questions about what you heard today or would like someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

We'd like to conclude our services with the spoken blessings.

Would you get up if you're able?

Hold your hands out for me.

Filled people of God.

You are free from the penalty and the power of sin.

Walk in that newness with confidence.

I declare these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.