Rabbi Schneider - Who Are the Children of God?

TOPICS: Book of Romans from a Messianic Perspective 1, Led By The Spirit

Hear the Word of God, verse number 9 of Romans chapter 8, "However, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Messiah, he does not belong to him". Notice, how do we define whether one's a Christian? According to this verse right here, there's one way that defines ultimately whether one is truly a born-again Christian. And when I use that word "Born again", some of you that are watching the broadcast, you're thinking that that word "Born again", you know, it's kind of like a certain sect of Christians. But I want you to know, that the term "Born again" was not coined by a certain sect of the Christian church. The term born again, beloved, was spoken by Jesus himself. That is said to Nicodemus, in John chapter 3, "Unless you be born again of water and the spirit, you cannot see the Kingdom of God".

So there's not the born-again type. Some people think of Christians, and they think, "Well they're the born-again types". Listen, there's only one type of real believer, and those are the born-again types. And I'm not talking about people that are a part of some stream of Christianity, I'm talking about whether you're a Catholic, whether you're a Lutheran, whether you're a Baptist, whether you're a Methodist, whether you're a Pentecostal, it doesn't matter. Unless we're born again, unless we have received literally the Spirit of God, we don't belong to them. So, this is what Paul says here.

Look with me once again in verse number nine, "However, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Messiah Jesus, he does not belong to him". It's just that simple. You see, we must be born of God's spirit. We're born into this world with a human nature, a fleshly nature, we're born into this world as human being from our mother's womb. This is the first birth, but we must receive a second birth, and that is when we receive the Spirit of God. And Paul's point here is that we will be able to overcome the evil inclination within all humanity, that we'll be able to overcome the principle of the flesh by the power of God's spirit. Paul got done saying in Romans 8:2, that, "The law of the spirit of life". What is the spirit of life? It's God's spirit. He is life. In Jesus is life. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life".

When the spirit of life comes into us, beloved, it gives us the type of power and authority to live above the nature of the flesh, even as a jet can live above gravity, because of the jet engine that's in it. And so, Paul says, "But if you don't have the Spirit of God in you, then you're not living by the spirit, you're not walking by the spirit, and not only that", he said, "But you're not even really the Lord's". Because if you're the Lords, you're going to have his spirit. Think about it: if you're a child of God, you're going to have the spirit of your father, amen and amen.

And so we're going to continue on there. In verse number 10 Paul says, "If Christ, if Messiah Jesus is in you, though the body is dead", what does Paul mean when he says the body is dead? Well, my body's dying. I mean, I thank God, I don't want to pronounce anything negative over my life, but you know, I'm aging. It's the nature of life. The body has the principle of death within it. It will not live forever. Within the body is an agents of change, and it goes in to death eventually, right? Our hairs begin to to fall out, and the body begins to change. But Paul says, that even though the body is dying, even though the body is getting old, even though the body is aging, Paul says, when Jesus is in you, his spirit in you is going to give you life, he's going to give you zoe life, eternal life, supernatural life, so that even though your body may be aging and changing, there's going to be a life in you, a youthfulness in you, so that you could be young even when you're old.

And not only that, even when your body begins to decay, and get old and gray, and you begin to get into that senior season of life, there still is a life that's shining forth from your vessel. That people, even when you're 80 years old, can look into your eyes, and they could see power, and life, and youthfulness, and joy, and even the eyes of a child. Why? Because of Jesus spirit, beloved, that's in us. So, Paul says that even though the body is aging, and even though the body is decaying, that Jesus, the spirit of life is in you. So, don't ever call yourself old. You're young, and you'll always be young. You're eternally young, those of you that have the Spirit of God in you, because God is life, and health, and youth forever and ever.

So, let's look again what Paul says here. He says in verse number 11, "But if the spirit of him", the father is speaking up here, "Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you", and he's in us, right, if we're his. "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead also will give life to your mortal body through his spirit who dwells in you". You know what this means? This means, beloved, that we can walk, get this now, in divine health. Even though there's a principle of death in the body, in the flesh of the body, that can't be changed, the body's going to die, every body, the Bible says "It's appointed for man once to die, and then comes a judgment", every human being that's ever been born has died, that principle will not be reversed until the second coming, beloved. Listen, even though that principle is true, the Bible says because God's spirit is in us, he will give life to this mortal body. Even as a jet engine gives life to that plane, so that plane is able to live above the gravity, God's spirit of life within us can give us the ability to live above, beloved, the pulling down of aging.

It doesn't mean that aging will have no effect on us, but it means that there's going to be a supernatural plus factor within us, that will give us victory, beloved, even in our old age, because there's a power source within us, beloved, that is life eternal. And so, Paul says he will give life to your moral body. And I pray personally, Father God, keep my body healthy, keep my organs healthy, keep me fit, Father God, keep my body in shape by your spirit, o God, that's in me. The law of the spirit of life, Romans 8:2, has set me free from the law of sin and death. And Paul says here, that when Jesus lives inside us, he gives life to our mortal, our fleshly body. So, Lord Jesus, we pray that you will give life to our fleshly bodies, and that we will walk in supernatural health all the days of our life. That the law of life within us will supersede, abba, the law, father, of our bodies, the law of the flesh, in Yeshua's name, amen, amen.

Now, let's continue on. In verse number 14, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God". Notice, it's not about doctrine, but it's about being led by God's spirit. How are we led by God's spirit, beloved? We need to be sensitive to God's spirit. What did Paul say? Look at again, verse number 14, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God". So how do we know if we're a Son of God? What qualifies us as a Son of God? What's the Mark of a Son of God? Paul says right here, it's if we're being led by the spirit. How are we led by the spirit? Well, number one, I think, when we know the Word of God, like we're doing here today, it trains us to know what is the spirit. In other words, the Word of God, the written Word of God, beloved, it gives us discernment as to who God is, and to how to follow him.

Think about it: there's a lot of people today, they say they believe in Jesus, but when you ask them who is this Jesus that they believe in, it's a different Jesus than the Jesus that's written about in the written Word of God. And when you look at their lifestyle, and there are certain things that are blatantly, obviously wrong with their lifestyle, and you try to point out to them that these things are not right, that this is not the lifestyle of one that's being led by the Spirit of God, they reject it, because they say it's okay with their Jesus. See, they don't know how to be led by the Spirit of God, and they're not being led by the Spirit of God, because the Jesus they believe in is a figment of their own imagination, and they justify their own lifestyle by their own mind, rather than by the written Word of God.

So, the first thing I want to say is: when it comes to being led by the spirit, we must know the written Word of God, because it clarifies truth for us. But secondly I want to say, that to be led by the spirit we need to be, listened now, we need to develop a sensitivity, and we need to cultivate a sensitivity to the prompting of what we call in Hebrew the Ruach Hakodesh's, the Holy Spirit. Because you see, the Holy Spirit is always speaking to us, literally, experientially.

Paul's going to go on to say in Romans 8 here, that his spirit, beloved, bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Look in verse number 16. First Paul tells us that we are being led by the Spirit of God, verse 14 says, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God". Now look at verse 16. Verse 16 says, "The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God". So we're being led by the spirit, Paul says, and he also says that the spirit, get this now, is bearing witness with our spirit. And so, we need to be conscious, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, get this now, bearing witness with our spirit.

You see, some of us, we have not developed a sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We've not developed a sensitivity, get this now, to the witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul just got done saying here in Romans 8:16 that his spirit, get that now, that the father's spirit, that Jesus's spirit, get that now, bears witness with our spirit. How do you know whether you're supposed to say something or not? Oftentimes you can know by the witness of the Holy Spirit.

If you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit, you'll have wisdom, you'll know when to talk, you'll know when not to talk. If you're sensitive to the witness of the Holy Spirit, you'll know what to say, and you'll know what not to say. If you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit bearing witness with your spirit, you'll know when to turn the television off. If you're sensitive to the witness of the Holy Spirit, you'll know when to pick up the phone and call somebody, and when not to. If you're sensitive, beloved, to the Spirit of God bearing witness of your spirit, you'll know what to do and what not to do.

So, so much of walking with God, beloved, is learning how, get this now, to be sensitive to the subtle promptings, the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit that's in you. He doesn't beat you down, beloved, with a Hammer often times. It's very subtle. Remember Elijah, and when Elijah heard the voice of the Lord, the Lord wasn't in the earthquake, he wasn't in the violent wind, he wasn't in the fire. Listen, he was in the still small voice, in the silent voice. So, if we're going to be led by God, we're going to have to learn how to stop walking in the power and strength of the flesh, we're going to learn how to stop walking in worldly strength, and soulish strength. We have to learn how to stop, beloved, so that we can wait on God, and learn how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

There is no other way. This is a must. We've been crucified with Christ, it's no longer "We" that live, but Messiah Jesus lives in us and through us. But until we stop participating in living in our own strength, and learn how to just wait on the Lord, so that he can renew our strength with his own strength, beloved, we will not learn how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. The key is, beloved, to stop living by your own strength, and to wait on God, to put your own strength to death. To wait on God, to be trained by God, so that God can arise, and you can learn to allow him to go before you, and you'll learn how to be sensitive to him.

I remember a dream I used to have over and over again. And the dream that I used to have was that my teeth would be falling out. Over and over again, for years I would have this dream, that my teeth were falling out, that my teeth were crumbling. And it was a repeated dream, and then finally one day, after years of having this dream, I saw that my teeth had fallen out in a dream, this was after dreaming my teeth had fallen out and crumbled so many times, and then one day I had another dream after these dreams. And in this new dream, beloved, I saw that my teeth had fallen out, but underneath my gums there were new teeth that were coming in. And these teeth that were coming in were harder, beloved, and sharper than the teeth that had been there before.

And I realized when that happened what the Lord was showing me through all those dreams, because the teeth crumbling and the teeth falling out are a symbol of a lack of power, or a losing of power. And so, what the Lord was showing me is that I was dying to the power of living in the flesh, that the power of living in the flesh was dying. And then, when the power of living in the flesh, beloved, had died, maybe not completely, but significantly, then I saw new teeth coming up from underneath my gums. These new teeth, beloved, were the teeth of the Holy Spirit. That now that I learned how to not live in my own soulish energy, and self strength, and had waited on God for a significant amount of time, over a significant season in life. Now, beloved, God's spirit was beginning to arise within me, and I was beginning to learn to live by his strength, hallelujah, and by his strength alone.

Some of you read in my book that I wrote, called "Awakening to Messiah" about a experience that I had. When I began to wait on God, about six years ago, I went through a season in life where I just waited on God for an extended period of time. I waited on God, beloved, and did nothing else for a year. I just waited on the Lord, I gave away as many responsibilities as I could, and I just waited on the Lord hours, and hours, and hours, and hours, and hours every day. And as I did this, I started seeing the Lord change me. I really started feeling my inner nature change. Even people that didn't know about what I was doing, neighbors that were secular in my neighborhood that would coming to me, and they would make comments to me, telling me that, "Boy, you've really changed".

And after waiting on the Lord, beloved, for a year doing nothing, and seeing him change my inner nature. And and by the way, one of the things that was going on, I said, "Lord", I said, you know, "All the things that are happening around me", previous to waiting on him, I said, "I'm not sure if you're opening these doors or if I'm opening the doors. So, I don't have any real confidence or joy in this, so I'm going to stop doing everything, and then I'm going to wait for you to go before me, and open the door supernaturally. And then I'll know that you're the one that's doing it, and I'll be able to rejoice in that". But I said, "God, I'm not going to know that you're the one that's doing it, until I stop and see you arise". And so I just stopped and waited on the Lord, and I saw him supernaturally change my nature.

And then after doing this for about a year, we had been meeting our Messianic congregation at Adat Adonai World Outreach Center, I invite you to come and visit us sometime, you can get that information on our website DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com, and just hit the visit link and it will take you to our congregation's website. After about a year just waiting on the Lord, I got a phone call, and the phone call that I received was from the man that owned the building that we were meeting in. A man was letting us use his building, but he was trying to sell it at the same time, we have been there for a couple years. And all of a sudden he called me, and he said to me, "I sold the building, and you're going to need to be out of the building in 30 days". And when I got that phone call, beloved, I had such peace, because of this season that I'd been in on waiting on God. And I said to the Lord, I said, "Lord", I said, "I know that I could just run around like a chicken with my head cut off, and go and find another building somewhere. I could go and find a storefront somewhere or just, you know, figure out some type of arrangement". But I said, "Lord, I don't want to just go find another place to meet. I want to wait for you to go before me. I want you to show me where to go from here".

So I just decided, "Lord, I did nothing, but wait on you for a year, and I saw you change my inner nature. I saw you arise". I said, "Lord, I'm going to do the same thing now with this building. I'm going to not do anything, I'm just going to wait on you, and let you show me what I'm supposed to do. I believe that you're going to provide". And so I got that phone call, we had to be out of that building that we were meeting in 30 days, and I'd made no preparations, I just believed that the Lord supernaturally led us into that building, and that he would supernaturally lead us out. Just like the children in the wilderness, the Bible tells us in the book of numbers chapters 9 through 11, that the pillar of fire, and the cloud would move, and whenever it moved, the children of Israel would stay camped, and when it was time for them to move the pillar of fire and the cloud would lift and they would follow. That's how I was. I was just saying, "Lord, I'm not going to plan, I'm just going to trust in you".

And so, I said, "Lord, I'm not going to even tell anybody that I got a phone call from this man, telling us that the building of sold, that we need to be out in 30 days. I'm just going to wait on you for two weeks". So I didn't even tell the soul, until five days later when I got to synagogue to preach that week. And by the way, the word synagogue it just means a house of worship, beloved, Jesus taught in the synagogues. I got before the congregation five days after I'd received the phone call, and I said to them, "I got a phone call from the man that owns this building, we need to be out of here, and it's less than 30 days now. And I'm just going to wait on God", I told them, "For two weeks. I'm not going to do anything for two weeks, but wait on God".

And after I got done preaching the sermon, and sharing with the congregation what the status was, people came up to me and they said, "What are you going to do, rabbi"? I said, "Well, right now I'm just going to wait on God for two weeks. I'm not going to do anything". They said, "Okay, great, but what are you going to do"? I said, "I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to wait on God for two weeks". I had to repeat that a couple times before it finally sunk in. I waited on the Lord for two weeks, and I figured that the Lord would either bring me the building while I was waiting on him, or he would supernaturally bless me after the two weeks, and I'd be like Joshua, take possession of wherever it was that the Lord was sending me. I waited on the Lord for two weeks, beloved, I didn't have a building.

The day after the two weeks, I started making some phone calls. I started calling some realtors, the realtors that I called, they weren't in, they didn't even call me back that day. That night I went to bed, the devil just started coming at me with a torrent, he started saying to me, "You are pitiful. What kind of a leader were you, not planning for this? You led these people, and you led them this far, and now the whole thing's going to fall apart". I went to sleep that night under attack. I said, "God", in my sleep, I was crying out to the Lord in my sleep, I said, "Lord, I trusted you in this, and now I feel like you've deserted me". And then, beloved, in my sleep a golden spear appeared in my dream. It was about three feet long, and about an inch in diameter. And this golden spear appeared in front of my head, and all of a sudden, beloved, this golden spear in my dream, this golden spear, it pierced through the center of my eyebrows, and came out through the back of my head.

And I felt like the Lord was saying to me, "You trusted me in this, you waited on me. You didn't go by your fleshly energy, but you waited for me to arise. You waited to be led by my spirit, and now this golden spear that represents my truth has slayed you, and you will be possessed by it, and lead by it for the rest of your life. For the rest of your life, my son, you will live by the principle of being led by the Spirit of God, because you are willing to die to your fleshly energy, and not rely on your fleshly energy, but rather to rely on me, to let me be your strength. You'd make your decision to be led by my spirit, and for the rest of your life, my son, you will be blessed by being led by my spirit". And beloved, I tell you that story, because God wants the same thing for you. So, Father God, I pray that you will bless your people, discipline your people, Lord, train us all. I ask Father God to be led by your spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.