A Daily Relationship with God | More Than Religion | Pastor Zach Weihrauch

Romans 8:16–18

Romans 8:16–18

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit

that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs

heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided

we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed

to us.

Well,

welcome to the weekend here at Christ Community Chapel.

We're so glad that we get to be part of your weekend.

My name is Zach,

I'm one of the pastors here, and we're so glad you're here.

And hey, if you're watching this on video on Sunday,

it's because I'm out at the tent.

Thanks for being here this weekend.

We are in week three of our four-week sermon series

we're calling More Than Religion.

It's been pretty a pretty simple series.

The focus has been on how God is really not interested

in religious formality or religious ritual,

but instead in us, in our hearts, in relationship with us.

That's who he is. That's what he wants.

Two weeks ago, we talked about how God the Father has designed us

for relationship.

He built us with that in mind.

And then last week we looked at how Jesus Christ, his son, has earned our access

to that relationship in his life and his death and his resurrection.

He's gone before us to prepare a room in the father's house.

And this week, we're going to be talking a little more practical

in terms of what that relationship actually looks like.

What does it look like to have a relationship with God and including

asking the question, how can you be sure if you have a relationship with God?

So to do that, we're going to be looking at Romans chapter eight, verse 16

through 18.

But full disclosure, this is some old school Bible teaching we'll be all over

so I recommend just watching the screens

and writing the verses down, and then you can look them up later.

I have three points I'm going to use to guide our time together.

Very simple.

And they go like this three words.

Actually I want to talk about presence,

prepositions, and promise.

Okay, presence, prepositions, and promise.

All right, let's start first with presence.

I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but in life there are

natural relationships and what I'll call a supernatural relationships.

I don't mean like with aliens or anything.

That's not what I mean.

What I mean is

there are some relationships that just move forward

because you take the steps that you're supposed to take,

and then there are others that you just can't explain that way.

Like consider getting a job, like building a career that's a natural relationship.

Do you want to work at a place?

You figure out what the requirements are to work there, and you go do that.

You get a degree to unlock the door.

You get an interview, you wear what you think they'll like.

You say the things you think they'll like.

Then you get the job

and you do the things you know they want you to do in order to move up.

When you tell the story of your career, it's a series of steps

you've taken, decisions you've made, doors you have unlocked.

That's a natural relationship.

Falling in love is very different.

So if I were telling you the story of my relationship with my wife

and I said, yeah, I just did a lot of research about her

online, I figured out what she likes for guys to wear

and how she likes for guys to do their hair,

and I kind of hung out in the spaces where she hung out and listened to

the things she talked about,

and I

kind of just observed her from a distance and figured out what her hobbies were

like. Zach, you're describing a felony.

That's that's stalking, right?

That's because they're not the same.

Like like you want to be loved romantically.

I want to be loved romantically in a more supernatural way.

I mean, there are there are obviously natural parts of it.

But I want my wife to say, you know, I just saw you new

you know, there was just a moment where I realized

I want there to be some something

inexplicable, something she didn't manufacture

because getting a job and falling in love,

they're not the same kind of relationships.

And I say that to ask this question.

Well, which one is a relationship with God?

Is it natural?

Meaning the way you get a relationship with God is you just put in the work.

You you take the steps, you do the things you're supposed to do.

And over time, you unlock access to God.

Or is it a little more like falling in love and there's just something

you can't manufacture to it?

Well, I think the answer is the latter.

It's a little more like falling in love.

And one of the places the Bible says that is our passage this weekend.

Here's what Paul says in Romans eight verses 16 through 18.

He says, the spirit himself bears

witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided

we suffer with him in order that we may also

be glorified with him.

The the point Paul is making is here's how you know.

He's saying you have a relationship with God.

It's through the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Now the Bible tells us that there's one God, but he is three persons

father, son, and spirit, one and yet three, three, and yet one.

And if you're like, man, that's hard to understand.

That's not a sign.

You're not getting it. It's a sign you are getting it. Okay.

That's because I don't know if this makes sense the way I teach it.

Like even when I teach kids, there's nothing.

If there is a God, there would be nothing like him, right?

He. He wouldn't just be like a giant human in the sky.

There'd be nothing and no one like him.

And so when the Bible says God is one and yet three, three, and yet one,

we go, man, that's hard to understand.

Yeah, but doesn't that make sense?

God would be hard to understand.

He wouldn't fit neatly in any of our boxes or categories.

Even.

Sometimes people will be like, well, can you give me an analogy or a metaphor?

And the answer is no, not really.

No, I can't, because there's no one like God.

There's nothing like God.

He's one in yet three, three, and yet one father, son and spirit.

The father designed us for relationship.

The son earned our relationship the spirit, his presence in our lives

is the evidence that we actually have the relationship.

To explain this, let me reference.

We won't read it, but just reference

another part of the Bible in the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was a prophet.

His job was to tell the people what God wanted for them.

In 37 God has.

There's this vision God gives Ezekiel of a valley of dry bones.

And the reason why they're called dry bones

is because this is not like a recent battle that happened there.

These are like more like Indiana Jones archeological dig,

kind of bones like like they're they're dry, they're dusty.

There's no organic matter on them.

That guy's kneebone is there.

And his his arm bone is there.

You get it?

It's an old scene.

And God says to his, Ezekiel, can these bones live?

And Ezekiel does what you should do.

When God asks you a question like that, he's like, I don't know, God.

What do you think?

And God says, watch this, basically.

And he causes the bones to come alive.

And then he tells Ezekiel, he says, hey, one day I'm going to pour out my spirit

and I'm going to make people who are dead come alive.

That's what Paul is talking about.

To become a Christian is not to wake up one day and be like, you know what?

I need to get serious about my faith.

I need to take some steps towards God.

I need to modify my behavior.

No, no, no. It's not like getting a job.

To become a Christian is to experience the presence of the Spirit of God.

Your story would go like this I was dry bones.

I was dead, and then I came alive.

To be a Christian is not a natural relationship.

It's a supernatural relationship.

Now that begs the question, of course, for you to say, well, wait a minute.

Hold on.

How how do I know if I have that?

Because, you know, every survey that comes out,

they'll say 80% of Americans or so will say that they're Christians.

But I don't think that's what they mean.

I don't think 80% of Americans are going, I was dead and I came alive,

like I am experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

I think what they mean is I get up and go to church,

and I stand when they tell me to and sit when they tell me to.

And I try to live generously and keep the rules.

And so how do I know if I have this presence of the Spirit of God?

Well, that's my second point.

Not just the presence of the Holy Spirit, but prepositions.

I have four prepositions I think the Bible would use to describe

what the presence of the Holy Spirit is like in your life,

and then you can work through hey, have I experienced this now?

I think these are all prepositions.

If you're an English teacher and I'm wrong,

I have to do this a bunch of times this weekend, so come see me.

But whatever they are, I needed to start with P.

Okay, so just replace it with a p word.

So prepositions for prepositions I want to talk about on, in,

for and through on in for and through.

All right. Let's start with on.

The first job of the Holy Spirit is to work on us

externally in to to cause us to see that we're dead

bones, to see our need for God.

This is the way Jesus describes it in John 16.

It'll be on the screen. Here's what it says.

And when he he hears the Holy Spirit, and when he comes,

Jesus says he will convict the world

concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin,

because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness,

because I go to the father, and you will see me no longer concerning

judgment, because the ruler of this world is judge.

Jesus says that the first job of the Holy Spirit

is to awaken people to the reality that they have sinned against God,

that they're under God's judgment, that they're in rebellion to God,

and they're in need of a remedy to that.

Listen here.

Here's the way

I would say it in like our experience, sometimes people will say to me,

Pastor Zach, when you were preaching, it was like you were talking to me.

That's the spirit working on you.

I don't know what's going on in your life.

I'm not in my office like that guy.

Third row, little to the left.

This is going to nail him, right?

I, I don't I don't have that kind of infrastructure, that kind of network.

That's the spirit.

Sometimes people will say,

I don't know why, but when I come, I just get super emotional.

That's the work of the spirit.

I'll give it to you this way.

At one time

I was meeting this, this really bright young woman in downtown Cleveland.

We were she was curious about Christianity.

I was pastoring in Cleveland.

We were talking and she was a doctor, very bright.

And and one day she we were meeting was like the fifth of fifth or sixth meeting.

And she asked me a question that I couldn't

I didn't have a great answer to, and it frustrated me.

Her name was Karen, and I just said, Karen, let me ask you a question.

Why do you meet with me?

And she's like, I don't know.

And I said, you're you're smarter than me.

You're more educated than me.

And I thought at some point she'd jump in and be like, no, no, you're pretty smart.

But she was just like, yep, yep.

And I said, why do you keep meeting me in this coffee shop to talk about Jesus?

And she looked at me and she said, I don't know.

I just can't let it go.

That's the spirit.

That's the spirit working on you.

Now, here's the thing.

You may have experienced this.

Sometimes that happens here in a big way.

Like I'll be preaching or we'll be in a moment

where you can just sense God in the room.

You can sense him moving.

But but,

you know, here's what you and I know on is not enough because it goes away,

you know,

we'll experience this incredible moment,

and then the service ends and somebody goes, what's for lunch?

And it's like, it's gone.

You know, it's like we've turned the page, right?

So it's not just on that's on.

Here's the second one in.

Now this is where the real change happens.

Not on us having us go. Man.

I feel like maybe I'm at odds with God.

I feel like I need some solution for God in

is when who I am begins to change.

Like the things I want, the things I value,

the way I feel about God, the way I feel about Jesus, everything begins to change.

This is how Paul describes this in the Book of Titus.

It'll be on the screen.

He says this.

He says he saved us.

Listen, not because of works done by us in righteousness,

not a natural relationship, but according to his own mercy,

by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Here's what Paul saying.

He's saying our relationship with God is not like getting a job.

He said, we didn't dry bones.

Don't wake up one day and say, you know what I want to do today?

I'm going to come alive.

And we don't do that with God.

Instead, what happens is the spirit begins to work in us.

And you may have experienced this, you start finding.

I used to think all this stuff was silly, and now people tell me all the time,

I'll say, when did you become a Christian?

And they'll go, maybe this is your story.

They'll go, I don't know.

I mean, I started coming, I thought it was crazy,

and then I was coming and I didn't believe, but I was curious.

And then I was coming and I didn't believe, but I was interested.

And then one day I woke up and I was like, oh, no,

I believe this stuff.

That's the spirit working in you.

One of my favorite stories is another really bright

young woman I was meeting with in Cleveland, who her name was Alex.

She had just become a Christian and we were talking that day.

We got coffee together and and we were talking about

what it means to follow Jesus.

And she had just become a Christian.

And I said, you know, I was just trying to wrap it up and get home.

And I said, what are you doing this weekend?

And she said, oh, there's this big party on campus.

And, and I'm going to go,

there's a guy I'm interested in, and I'm hoping we're going to hook up,

which I really appreciated because no one ever tells pastor stuff like that.

Everybody I know, all they do is read the Bible and pray

and, you know, so I was just glad someone was treating me like a human.

But then I was like,

oh man, I'm going to have to tell her what Jesus says about that.

And she is going to stop calling herself a Christian after like 18 hours.

And I just said, hey, Alex, do you mind if I tell you what Jesus said about that?

She said, no.

And I took 30 minutes to walk her through a biblical understanding

of sexuality and, and covenant and and all that.

And at the end I said, what do you think?

And she looked at me. I'll never forget it.

She looked at me, big smile on her face.

She said, well, it looks like I'm going to have to make new plans for the weekend.

And I said, really?

And she goes, listen, I can't explain it. I love Jesus.

Whatever he wants is what I think is best.

How do you explain that?

You don't, you don't.

She she didn't decide in 36 hours to become a new person.

The spirit wasn't just on her, but he was working in her heart and in her

mind, changing what she wanted, changing what she valued, changing who she was.

Not at a natural way, but a super natural way.

Here's the third one.

You're going to love this if you don't know this, not just on and in, but for.

This is one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible.

Here's what Paul says in Romans eight, just a little bit later than our passage.

He says this.

Likewise, the spirit helps in our weakness,

for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself

intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit,

because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Here's a Paul saying, The Holy Spirit does a number of things for you.

You don't even know he's doing, one of which is he prays for you.

Things you would pray if you knew what was coming.

Think about that.

The Holy Spirit is praying for you.

Things you would pray so you don't know when the next big thing is coming, right?

You don't know when the diagnosis is coming.

You don't know when the career is going to take a turn,

when the relationship is going to dissolve.

But he does, and he's praying for you.

Things you don't even know on and in and for.

How do you make God pray for you to himself?

You don't.

He does it.

It's not natural. It's supernatural.

Here's the fourth one.

On and in and for and through acts one eight, Jesus says this to his disciples.

He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus says, here's what's going to happen.

I'm going to tell the whole world

what I've done, and I'm going to do it through you.

You see, one of the evidences of my own relationship with God

is that you get something from what I say, when when I'm up here

helping you understand the Bible says that coming from me.

It's like I went to school.

It's not because I have some natural gift.

Anything meaningful that's accomplished is because what the spirit

is doing through me. Here's all I'm trying to say.

A relationship with God is not coming to church

and trying hard and doing the right thing.

A relationship with God is dead, bones coming alive

because the Spirit of God is on us, in us, for us and through us we.

We live a life full of his presence.

Is that what you mean?

Because it's possible that you're sitting, you going, man,

you know, I, I do all the right things, but but I don't have that.

Like, that is not my experience.

And I would just ask you to consider if maybe

the first sign of the spirit working on you

is to help you see that,

to awaken you to that, to say you're

you have a natural relationship with me, but that that isn't what I want.

I want a supernatural one.

But if you're here and you're a Christian, you say,

well, no, I have experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I just wish I experienced it more.

Do you ever feel that like.

Like, yeah. Yeah, he's worked on me, but I wish more.

He's worked in me, but I wish I was changing more.

He's done things through me, but I wish more.

Listen, if that's how you feel, I just want to end with encouragement.

So my third point is promise.

If you

wish that the Holy Spirit was more present in your life, that's good.

I don't want to talk you out of that.

I want you to want that.

I want you to want him to use you.

I want you to want him to change you.

I want you to be as awake and alive to the presence

of the Holy Spirit in your life as is humanly possible.

I want that for you. But.

But here's the danger.

You might focus on what you don't have more than you do.

Here's what I mean.

Paul says, the Spirit of God testifies to our spirit that we are children.

In other words, here's what he says.

You're looking at the wrong thing.

Sure you want more of the Holy Spirit, so do I.

But he says, but if you have any,

that means you're a child of God.

Paul writes it this way in Ephesians.

He says it this I love this.

That's what he says in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the

gospel of your salvation,

and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

That word guarantee means down payment.

In other words, here's what Paul is saying if the spirit has worked

on you, in you, for you, through you. Yes.

You want more? Yes, you wish you were doing more.

But if he's done any. Here's what Paul says.

That is the proof positive you're having bound.

In other words, let me just get really real with you for a second.

Let's just take something very common.

Let's say you have a problem.

Another kids in the room.

So I'll say it this way.

Let's say you have a problem with looking at websites you wish you didn't look at,

and you hate it.

I hate it, you're shamed.

You're guilty.

You hate it.

You know, it grieves God.

You know it's not what he wants for you.

You know, it's probably robbing you of the closeness

you're meant to have with him. You hate it.

And I don't want you to not hate it. That's not.

I'm not trying to talk you out of that. I want you to hate it.

But I want you to realize something.

Years ago, you were looking at the same websites

and you didn't hate it.

People all over the world look at those websites.

They don't hate it.

So you wish you hated it more.

And I wish that for you, too.

But you're forgetting your dry bones.

If you hate it at all,

it's because of the Spirit of God in you.

See, we all wish we were better.

We all wish we were more like Jesus.

And I want you to wish that.

But have you ever stopped to say, but if all I am are bones,

let me put it this way.

Can you imagine some of the bones God brings to life?

And as 37 and walks up to just,

I guess, one of the bone guys and he's like pretty nuts, man.

And the guys like the guys like, yeah, you know, I just wish I could jump higher.

You know, run faster.

A couple of tendons would go a long way, you know.

Do you know what as he would say to him is like, dude, I get it.

But you were dead like five minutes ago.

Brother, sister in Christ,

I know you want more.

I want more for you.

I don't want you to not want more.

I want right now you to be praying God,

but I, I want you to work on me, in me, for me, through me more.

I want to participate in your kingdom more.

I want I want to be holy like you more.

I want to experience conviction over sin.

I want to experience your blessing, your gifts.

I want more, but I hope when you do that, you

marvel at the grace of God that you even want it at all.

And you take a second to

say to hear what Paul saying that that in and of itself

is the down payment of the home

that is most definitely yours.

It's not a natural relationship.

You don't manufacture it, but you can have it

if you just ask

that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus,

you might gain the presence of the Spirit of God.

Let me pray for you. Father God, thank you so much for everyone here.

Thank you for those that are awakening to the first time that they're religious,

but they don't know anything about the presence of the Holy Spirit

that you might show them.

You're not showing them that to wound them, but rather to woo them,

and they might turn towards you.

And for those of us who wish we had more,

who wish we were further along, that we wouldn't stop wishing that

and wanting that, and even participating in the work of the spirit

to get there, but that we would take a second to

say, God, I can't even believe I'm alive at all.

We would marvel at the grace

we have and the evidence that is of the future that's coming.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.