A Confirmation of Relationship

Pr Edi Giudetti

18-08-2018

A Certainty of Life Everlasting

¹⁰And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

How can we do justice to the loveliness of Christ and the importance of him? No words can begin to show the value of the Saviour for what he has accomplished. In John 19:30, just before he “bowed his head and gave up the Ghost” his words “It is finished” do not seem to give to us an appreciation of all that he had done.

Nowhere is the word ‘Finished’ given a more fuller meaning than that passage in John, and we certainly will plough the depth of scripture for all eternity learning all that Christ accomplished for those who love him.

Here, in this passage in the book of Romans, though it is one the highest and certainly most profound chapters of all of the Bible, we have but one element of that which Christ our Lord has done for those who love him, do you see it?

¹⁰And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Here we have the certainty of everlasting life. An exchange for that which is dead for that which lives to eternity. From the beginning of the Bible man was warned of the danger of sin. The primo uomo, the First man, Proto Man we could say, the prime representative of all mankind, was told directly by his creator;

“…. Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

But by chapter 3 he seemed to have forgotten the certainty of the words of God. Then we notice the woman was not there when God told this to Adam, she was not yet taken from man to become his ‘Help meet’.  Like many of us forgetful men, who knows if she might have reminded him of it if she was there?

But no, scripture tells us that the woman was in the transgression (1 Tim 2:14) and that the man was fully responsible for his conduct, and now, “by one man SIN entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for all have sinned”! (Rom 5:12)

This is the doctrine of Original Sin. That is the state of man beloved, regardless of what it is the world dreams up as their personal preference to believe, that is the state of reality for all men in this very day. Not only do they so evidently still sin, but their bodies are this very day dead.

There is no life in man in the true sense of the word, for when the Lord speaks of life he does not refer to that which passes away, that which is temporary, he refers to that which is everlasting and eternal. To God, man is dead as he lives. No man has attained to any certainty of life everlasting.

Consider, what is the futility of man’s attempts today for immortality?

‘Immortality’ a word impossible to conceive of with the temporal bodies of this flesh. It literally means “without death”, but this is not possible in a mortal body! The very word itself comes from the Latin meanings specifically that which is “subject to death”. Beloved, a mortal body cannot ever be Immortal;

“…the body is DEAD because of sin..”

Immortality is a contradiction in terms in this body, this mortal must put on immortality!

Why do you think there is such tremendous effort today to create technology so advanced that a hope is given for some to place their minds (For they have no concept of the soul and think the mind is “Life”) into a Robot, a kind of Avatar for men!

According to a report in Business Insider Australia in April this year;

“Companies now offer the opportunity to freeze your brain after you die. Once technology advances, the brain could be transferred to a human avatar that would, in theory, live forever.”[1]

Businesses like KrioRus are offering the service of freezing your body for $36,000 US until the day comes when the entire brain is mapped. They will do it for half price if it’s just your head.

In another news article last year in The Express in the UK titled;

 Human beings on brink of achieving IMMORTALITY by year 2050, expert reveals

A Dr Pearson speaks of a number of ways people should be able to live for ever including Genetically engineering body parts to remove the ageing process.

“Dr Pearson also thinks with the advancements of androids, … people will be able to download their minds into a machine. The futurologist said: “A long time before we get to fix our bodies and rejuvenate it every time we feel like, we’ll be able to link our minds to the machine world so well, we’ll effectively be living in the cloud.[2]

Interesting words of the Lord when he said;

²³The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. (Luke12:23)

This is why Paul speaks to it in that famous 15^thChapter of 1 Corinthians ;

⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Cor 15:53-54)

This and this how man lives forever, but many will not come to Christ that he might have life.

¹⁰And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

For certainty of life everlasting Jesus Christ must have finished what he began. He came to seek and to save that which is lost(Lk 19:10), he came for the very purpose to die; Our wonderful Lord, when he walked with those two distraught and saddened disciples on the road to Emmaus gently chastised them for their forgetfulness of the promise, saying;

O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ²⁶ Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? ²⁷ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

It was Christ that should finish the work, it is Jesus who was ‘raised up…from the dead’ and it would “his Spirit that dwelleth in you” that “shall also quicken your mortal bodies”

Jesus is the Certainty of Life Everlasting. When you trusted in Christ the Saviour, the you who was already dead, lives no more, and a new you has been quickened to life and that life is Life Everlasting. The Old man is dead, the New Man now lives and cannot die. “This mortal has put on immortality”

Jesus is our Certainty of Life Everlasting, how do we know this? Because; he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also …..shall also….shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.Those who have believed the Lord and in his love for them, have within them that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. It is but one thing that Jesus finished on that Cross, an accomplishment that gives Certainty of Life Everlasting

A Condition for Life Abounding

¹²Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

The word ‘Mortal’ comes back to us again in a different form now, to mortify the deeds of the body, This is a CONDITION FOR LIFE ABOUNDING.

Remembering the Latin root for mortal relates to death, now it is expressed in an active sense, a continuing active sense to ‘put to death the deeds of the body’, not the body itself…remember that the body itselfis dead because of sin, but it is the deeds of the body that must be ‘mortified’ and must be mortified continually.

Sadly…O so sadly…this is not a one-off thing that is dealt with as if one action deals with all the deeds of the body, but this is many actions dealing with many deeds and must be done continually, why? Because it is the Condition for Life Abounding!

Perhaps beloved you are not as vile as I am. Perhaps your life abounds much due to your success in mortifying the deeds of the body. But some of us desire, more than anything else in this world, to have life Abounding. But it is too often our inactive effort in mortifying the deeds of the bodythat tends to choke the abounding potential of life even while we live in the flesh.

Turn to Mark 4:14-20

A wonderful parable is explained by Jesus to his disciples in this passage. It is the parable of the sower and his seed. Or That of the word of the Kingdom and how it is received.

At first Jesus simply tells the parable, then he is asked its meaning, and this is the meaning he gives, consider it in light of the passage we have before us this morning;

¹⁴ The sower soweth the word. ¹⁵ And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. ¹⁸ And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹ And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. ²⁰ And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

When the word of God is wonderfully received and believed, the result is a Life lived to abundance, fruit abounding some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. The Condition For Life Abounding in this passage in Mark is to hear the word, but NOT to have the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, tochoke the word.

We must actively Mortify the deeds of the body, (Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Flesh and the pride of life. 1 Jn 2:16). We must put them to death and we must do so continually for; “we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

Abundant life has with it a certain condition and that is that which is attained by faithfulness and obedience to personally deal with ‘the deeds of the body’.

It is difficult when you see the works of your children and the direction they may be going and the attitude you so readily recognize as that which you once had yourself, that when you chastise those so close to you and they turn away, they fall exactly how you expected.

The greater our love for our children the more attentive we are to them, and we see through wisdom, that some shall not readily have lives that abound if their attitude and behavior continues in the same trend.

WE KNOW WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO ABOUND IN LIFE. It is a sorry parent that will not chastise and instruct.  Our God is not a sorry parent.As many as he loves he rebukes and chastens(Rev 3:19) and also shows great patience and mercy toward them.

Our God knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and tells us in this passage the Condition For Life Abounding, the same thing we desire for our own children. It will be the same thing you shall desire for your own children, if you love them even just a percentage of how much Jesus loves you.

But why is it that such a condition is found in us that we must deal with so violently? What is it that requires us to ‘Mortify the deeds of the body’? Go forward to verse 22 in this passage to the Romans. Romans 8:22-23

I will deal with this portion in a little more detail in a later sermon, but it is of value to introduce it now.

²²For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ²³ And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

We have a body that cannot be helped. It is both dead and needs to be killed every day. We deeply desire an abundant life, and scripture teaches that it can be had under certain conditions, to attain it is a continued effort through our Love and trust in Jesus through his life giving word.

Romans 12:2 says Our minds need to be renewed, and that through his word, not conformed to this world. This must be done until we see him face to face.

The deep, deep desire we have, the HUNGER and THIRST for RIGHTEOUSNESS we have, shall be filled in time to come, it is referred to as us groaning within ourselves until such as time, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Turn forward to 2 Cor 5:4

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Cor 5:4)

• What a joy it is when we do “mortify the deeds of the body” as we are commanded to do,
• what blessing comes,
• what joy we experience,
• what love toward Jesus is built in us,
• what desire and burden for the lost we obtain?

When that abundance of life takes hold, you feel as if there is nothing that can harm you, nothing that can grieve you, or trouble you too deeply. Yes, it is in this second epistle to the Corinthians that Paul shares of the incalculable value of an Abounding Life; Are you still there in 2 Cor chapter 5?

Turn forward one chapter to 2 Cor 6:4-10

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, ⁵ In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; ⁶ By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, ⁷ By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, ⁸ By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; ⁹ As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; ¹⁰ As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

That is the most wonderful picture to me of Life Abundant. But this life is conditional as far as our passage teaches us; “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

And how wonderfully shall you live!! That is The Condition for Life Abounding and it cannot be done on your own, it is through the Spirit that dwells within you, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13)

A Confidence of Life Intimate

¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. ¹⁵ For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

It is of interest as far as the context of our passage is concerned, that there are none in the world that have that groan within themselves for an abundant life that includes the mortifying of the deeds of the body.

O yes, the Buddhist and the philosophical stoic might think in their minds that all the desires and wants of life must be done away, but that’s not the groans from within, that is not the deep desire of the heart, why? Because they do not have an intimate life entwined with God;

¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Within all those who love the Lord so deeply is the greatest desire from deep within to live for him. This, this is what gives to them A Confidence of Life Intimate. This is what demonstrates even to themselves that they can indeed cry, Abba, Father!

What more perfect example of the expressions of love and desire for God do we find than those given us by the man who was after Gods own heart?

So many are the loving cares for Christ, so many are the intimate desires for God that we yearn to also have within ourselves. How many are the times that you have said to the Lord that you have no satisfaction in life, indeed none, none satisfaction until you shall awake with his likeness?

This is that which demonstrates, more than anything else, that you are Led by the Spirit of God, and this is that which gives Confidence of a Life that is intimate with God,  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

But there was a time when the Sweet Psalmist of Israel might have had cause to fear greatly before God. It was a time in history when Kings go forth to Battle.

Turn there with me as we consider his journey; 2 Samuel 11:1

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

And we recall with horror the series of events which transpired as one poor decision was followed by another poor decision until, perfectly blinded by his own sinful wretchedness, David could not even identify himself in a parable.

Go forward to chapter 12:1-14

¹And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: ³ But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.⁴ And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. ⁵ And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: ⁶ And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. ⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. ⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. ¹¹Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. ¹³ And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. ¹⁴ Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

It was Psalm 51 that records the broken and repentant heart of this sweet shepherd of Israel; From the first verse we see the sadness for the disdain he had for that intimate relationship he once enjoyed with the Lord his God;

¹ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. ⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. ⁵ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. ⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

David knew how poorly he treated his God and Saviour;

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. ¹² Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

But David also knew his Lord well enough to understand what it is that could redeem him

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

It is the heart that is broken for that which is contrary to the heart of God, that shows he has the heart of God. Repeat?

Who is it that mourns sin more than the Children of the living God?  These alone can have Confidence of Life Intimate with God, no longer do they need to fear they will be separated from God;

Verse 15 in Romans 8, says;

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

This is when the heart truly rejoices in the Lord, how often has he shown you his loving forgiveness and grace? David received it for his great sin in which he sinned, and now he says to the Lord;

¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Ps 17:15)

and his desire for the Lord when he says;

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. ²My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? (Ps 42:1-2)

Who are they but those that have received the Spirit of adoption, whocry to God calling him Abba, Father?

None but those so perfectly intimate with him feel that way about him.

We mourn when our flesh is not mortified, We GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, because we desire Abundant Life. And we rejoice when our communion with God is restored and we give him matchless praise for the Love wherewith he loved us. These things are the Confidence of Life Intimate and lead me to my final point this morning found in the sixteen verse of our chapter;

A Confirmation of Relationship

¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

In sum, it is all these things that confirm to us that our relationship with God the father is certain, because it is that SAME Spirit that is in us that has us feel the way we do, and desire the things we desire toward God and our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

• It is not an emotion garnered through well placed melodies of music that confirms our relationship with God.
• It is not how many people we bring to Church or even our ability to preach and teach the Bible that confirms this relationship;
• It is not the breaking of bread or the drinking of the Cup of communion that does it, sadly these same might be eating and drinking damnation to themselves in so doing (1 Cor 11:29).
• It is not regular attendance Sunday mornings, nor faithful fellowship at prayer meeting;
• It is not the giving of the tithe of our income that does it;

Though all these things are the evidence of faithfulness to the Lord, none of these are that which confirms our relationship to the Lord;

It is The Spirit itself (which) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

A Certainty of Life Everlasting

(V10-11)

A Condition for Life Abounding

(V12-13)

A Confidence of Life Intimate

(V14-15)

A Confirmation of Relationship

(V16)

ALL SPEAKS TO THAT CONFIRMATION OF RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL LEAD US TO THE THRILLING HIGHEST POINT OF ROMANS and indeed the Bible itself, V28 TO THE END.

[1]https://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-humans-are-trying-to-live-forever-2019-3?r=US&IR=T

[2]https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/920735/Science-news-immortal-live-forever-2050-sex-robots-androids-virtual-reality-technology