The Spirit of Life.
I’m preaching this morning on the Law of the Spirit of Life.
So our freedom in Jesus Christ is a Law. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not a possibility. It’s a Law! It’s always true, we can prove it over and over, and it will never change. Our freedom from the law of sin and death is law itself. And that carries alot of weight. But what seals this law in heaven is that is not just a law, it is THE law of the Spirit; the Holy Spirit. We covered law in general, but whose law is this? Well it’s the Spirit’s law. I am FREE from the law of sin and death because the Spirit says so! And it’s the Spirit of Almighty God (El Shaddia), the Spirit of the creator of Heaven and Earth (Elohim). It’s His law. It’s not my law. The Holy Spirit is the Author of this law. It’s not the law of man, but the law of God. Therefore it’s sure. The bible says (Psalm 19) The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul!
We covered “The Law.” We covered “The Law of the Spirit.” But this morning, we’re preaching on “The Law of the Spirit of Life” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of LIFE! His domain is LIFE, his jurisdiction is LIFE, his territory is LIFE! He is the authority on LIFE! Life is his expertise! He possesses all the knowledge of LIFE! And most of all he’s got power over LIFE!. Power to give it and power to take it. He is the Spirit of LIFE!
It’s the Spirit of LIFE that has made me FREE from sin and death! Death is when life ends. Death is when life ceases to be. Amen? But I tell you today that LIFE is when death ends. Life is when sin and death cease to be! That’s exactly what Jesus did when he rose from the dead. He conquered death and sin. Paul said, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Jesus said, (John 11:25) “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” Paul said in Rom 8:11 “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 SHALL ALSO SHALL ALSO quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” He is the Spirit of LIFE!
There’s a church down the road that advertises, “Do you need a life change?” Some people think that’s what they need: a life change. But we don’t need a life change. We need a life itself. Paul said:
Ephesians 2:1-6
1 – And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
WHO WERE DEAD! WHO WERE DEAD! WHO WERE DEAD!
2 – Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 – Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 – But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 – Even when we were dead in sins EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD! EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD! EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD in sin, (God) hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 – And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
LIFE is when sin and death cease to be. And the Holy Spirit has got the power to give life. We don’t need a life change. We need an old-fashioned dose of the Holy Ghost. We need a one on one encounter with the Spirit of Life. We need sweet fellowship with Spirit of Life. Remember the context. Paul is talking about getting victory over this old flesh. There’s someone else living on the inside that knows a thing or two about life, it’s the Spirit of Life. This reminds me of some advise concerning prayer. The New Testament instructs us to pray without ceasing. So I’ve heard preachers say that we can’t pray all day, but what we can do is to have an attitude of prayer or be in the spirit of prayer. I agree, but I think what’s more critical is than having a spirit of prayer is having fellowship with the Spirit of Prayer, the Spirit of supplication, the Holy Spirit. I had one teacher tell us that praying is not asking for God to supply your needs, but it’s sweet fellowship with the supplier. So likewise, it’s not about us changing our lives to conform to what we think God wants us to be, but rather it’s us having fellowship with the Life-giver, the Spirit of Life.
We get so caught up with results; seeking the end results. But the results are really not are business. Our business is the means to the end. Our business is to seek the means. God is the means. And if we get hold of the means, he’ll take care of the end. The bible says, “Paul planted, Apollos watered, but it was God that giveth the increase!” We’d like to see the fruit. In vain, we try to produce fruit. The bible says, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” John 7:38,39 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit..” The flowing rivers of living water represent the Holy Ghost and His life giving power. It’s no coincidence that David uses this metaphor to describe a man that is truly blessed of God. Today, blessed is the man that is filled with the Spirit of Life and walking after the Spirit. That Spirit is that river of water. The tree who’s roots tap into this water shall have life like no other tree. Look at the tree of life at the end of Revelation. John said, “He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:1-2 This tree of life straddled the crystal river. It’s roots anchored to both sides of that river.
Serving in the newness of Spirit, and walking after the Spirit, YES are about producing fruit for God, but it’s not about us doing it, it’s about us getting tapped into that river of Life, the Spirit of LIFE. And God will bring forth the fruit in his season. Our job is to get planted by the rivers of water. Put our delight in the law of the LORD, and in his law should we meditate day and night. And I’m not talking about the law of sin and death that condemns, but the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that makes us free from the law of sin and death. And really and truly, if you’re saved, you’re already planted by the rivers of water. I guess our job is just drink up the living water. It takes a measure of faith.
That’s why Paul said, “The life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” How many of us can say that? The life I now live. “If any man be in Christ, old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new!” The life I NOW live. John said, “We know that we have passed from death unto LIFE!” I heard a preacher say that he was gonna stop asking people when they got saved anymore. It’s not when did you make a profession; or when did you make a decision. He said, “Hey! When did you get out of the graveyard?” When did you pass from death unto life? When did you start living the life you now live? When did the Spirit of LIFE take up residence in your soul?
What did Jesus tell those Pharisees? “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Matthew 22:31-32
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
If we are to have any life, it’s going to be by the Spirit of Life. I don’t care how much you got going on in your world, how active you are, how happy you are, how busy you are. If the Spirit of LIFE is not your partner in all this, it’s all death and destruction. It will all come to nought. It will all perish in the using. It will all come to condemnation. James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. The perfect law of liberty? That is the the law of the Spirit of LIFE. Why is it perfect? Because it’s the only thing that make us free from the law of sin and death. It’s the only way to a blessed life.
We read on in James. (Read James 2:11-21) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12 – So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 – For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. 14 – What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 – If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 – And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 – Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 – Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 – Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 – But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
I don’t want to get into all of this, but verse 12 sums it up: “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” So speak ye, and so do. So speak ye, and so do. You know what he’s saying? So speak ye, and and so do? Talk is cheap. He’s saying why don’t you do what you say? You say you love God? Why don’t you act like it? You say you serve God? Why don’t you act like it? Faith without works is dead. I find it curious that James uses the word DEAD. He didn’t say it was fruitless, or ineffective, or unprofitable. No, he said it was DEAD. Dead means there’s no LIFE. James is saying that if there is no outward manifestation of your faith, if it doesn’t cause you to do the works of God, then that faith has no LIFE in it. That’s still walking after the flesh. That is not freedom from the law of sin and death. James is saying, “Let your faith come alive!” “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” My judge is the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. I am subject to that law. The law that makes me free from the law of sin and death.
How do we let our faith come alive? How do we get LIFE in our faith? How do we do those works that prove there’s LIFE in our faith. Put our faith in the Spirit of LIFE. Be filled with the Spirit of LIFE, and walk after the Spirit of LIFE. Paul said to the Corinthians: (2 Corinthians 3:2-3) “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 – Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” How do we know that there’s life in our faith and the Spirit of LIFE in our works? Through them, the Spirit of the living God will speak to the hearts of men. The Holy Ghost has a purpose and job to do here on this earth. (John 16:7-8) “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 – And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” Are we just scratching the surface in this old sinful world? Or are we plowing deep and touching the hearts of men? Jesus said (Luke 9:62) “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Hosea 10:12) Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
The Spirit of God deals with the spirit of man, the soul of man. So first of all, can we say like David, Psalms 66:16, “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” Paul said that his Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. #1 Does that happen. Does God deal in the depths of your soul? And 2nd of all, does God use us to deal in the depths of the soul of others? If the Spirit that Jesus promised would come has indeed come and is working in this world, he will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment through his people. Now does this mean we go verbally reproving everybody about sin, righteousness, and judgment?
No, I believe that our perfect example of being filled with and walking after the Spirit of Life is Jesus. The bible says that (John 1:4) in him was life, and the life was the light of mean. We ought to hate sin, and flee from it, and warn others about it, but nobody ever hated sin like Jesus hated sin. His hate for sin was manifest in his love for us. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Christ hated sin so much that he took the sins of the world upon himself and let himself be nailed to a cross. Jesus set the standard. There is no greater reproof to this world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, than what Jesus did at Calvary. We must remember that the Spirit of Life is the Spirit of Christ. “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”
There is no greater reproof to this world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, than what Jesus did at Calvary. And before he left, he told the disciples that he’s gonna send another Comforter and he’s gonna do the same thing: John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” A life filled with the Spirit of Christ will reprove the world of sin, righteouness, and judgment, by testifying of Christ. If there’s any real life in us, we’ll testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what does this mean?
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 – And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 – And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Nobody hated sin like Jesus hated sin. His hate for sin was manisfest in his love for the world. How does the Spirit of LIFE reprove this world of sin? Through love. What’s the 1st fruit of the Spirit? Love. Paul said, “The life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The Spirit of Life is the spirit of love. And we live by love. When I was studying about the dove, I found out that the word dove came from a German word for dive. Maybe love comes from the world live; or live from love. Can I say this: We don’t learn to live until we learn to love.
I want you to see how Paul lumps these two together: Philippians 2:1 – If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
1 Peter 1:22 – Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
We don’t learn to live until we learn to love. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. We live by love, and we love by the Spirit of LIFE, the spirit of the living god.