Galatians 5:16-18
Walking in the Spirit
One of my favorite stories is a Story about a School teacher from England who had applied for a
job in Switzerland - she was accepted / picked apartment
A) Then she went back home to
get her things in order to move to Switzerland
.
B) It dawned on her that she
didn’t remember seeing a bathroom in her apartment / In England - Bathroom = Water Closet or
WC
1)So she wrote to the head
school master in England - the man who
hired her & asked if there was a WC in or near the apartment
C) The School master wasn’t
familiar w/ the term - WC - so he wasn’t sure what she meant - he asked the
parish priest for advice.
1) They concluded she must be
talking about a Wayside Chapel
so he
wrote her this response.
Dear Madam:
The WC is
located`9 miles
from the house, in the heart Of a beautiful grove of trees. It will
seat 150 people at one time, and is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Some people
bring their lunch
and make a day of it. On Thursdays there is an organ accompaniment-
The acoustics are very good. The slightest sound can be heard by everyone.
It may interest you to know that my
daughter met her husband at the WC.
We are now in
the process of taking donations to purchase plush seats. We feel that this is a
long‑felt need, as the present seats have holes
in them.
My wife, being
rather delicate, hasn't been able to attend regularly/.
It has been six months since she last went. Naturally, it pains her not to be
able to go more often.
I will close
now with the desire to accommodate you in every way possible, and will be happy
to save you a seat either down front or near the door, as you prefer.
It is amazing how confused people can get when there is a
misunderstanding –
A) That is the very thing that Paul is trying to
avoid here in Gal Ch. 5
B) For 51/2 Chapters Paul has been stressing the
Fact that in Christ we are Free – Free from sin /
guilt / PBA/
1) But as we noted in our study last time V.13-15 – But don’t use
your liberty as an opportunity to indulge your flesh - But thru love serve one
another
C)
So last time we spent some time looking at the balance between love &
Liberty
1) Christian love is to supersede or override
liberty – Christian love puts the needs & Concerns of others above my
rights
D) But that is
a hard road to navigate – easier said than done
– well what Paul says next – gives insight into how it is to be done
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.17 For the flesh lusts against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one
another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.18 But if you are led
by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now this I think is one of the most important subjects in
the NT & yet one of the least talked about subjects in the Church today.
A) WALKING IN
THE SPIRIT !!!
B) Here is this last section of Ch. 5 Paul gives us
this exhortation to walk in the …..& then proceeds to tell us what walking
in the spirit looks like
C) Today – Talk about – 1st
What does it mean to walk in the Spirit & to be led by the spirit 2nd
Why is this so important ? 3rd Why
it can be so Hard 4th
How it is accomplished
D) Next week
start looking at what it looks like ! / What it doesn’t look like as we
Contrast the fruit of the Spirit & the Works of the flesh
1st What does it mean to walk in the Spirit ?
A) Walking speaks of action & activity – it
speaks of movement – it speaks of Progression – Going forward in our walks with
the Lord
B) Now that should get our attention right away –
this is something that we are participants in – not spectators
1) Sometimes
the idea of walking in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit is described as LETTING GO & LETTING GOD
C) Now that is not a wrong concept if you mean that
by letting go – you are putting aside your own
resources / laying aside your own will
1) Surrendering
your own agenda & Submitting yourself to God’s
will / plan and agenda for your life – Then letting go & Letting God
is purely biblical
D) What is unbiblical is the idea that I am going to
just kick back & let God work in my life – do His thing – when He wants
& How He wants
1) That is not Biblical – because it has always been
the method of God in working in People’s life to
get them involved in the process
E) God throughout history has always chosen to work in &
thru willing vessels .
So walking in the Spirit speaks of a life that is
surrendered to the leading of the HS & thus is willing to move go & act
as the spirit leads
A) In fact in
v.18 Paul uses the word Led by the Spirit
. – The verb led was used of a farmer
herding cattle / or a shepherd leading sheep
B) It was also used of the wind driving a sail boat – All 3
are wonderful pictures of the Christian life –
C) The Picture of the farmer herding the cattle is a
good description of how the HS – will sometimes have to prod us to move in a
direction we don’t want to go – work on us to bend
our will.
The Picture of the Shepherd leading the sheep is a little
softer – Sheep love the Shepherd – depend on the Shepherd – trust the Shepherd
A) The Picture is a step up from the one of the
cattle – There is a relationship there is a trust that is involved there .
B) The picture of the Farmer w/ the Cattle describes the HS work in our lives prior to
conversation or just after – Breaking time
C) The Picture of the Shepherd is one that we enjoy
after we have come to the Lord & learned to trust Him with our lives
D) The Picture of the wind empowering the sailboat is a picture
of further progression – great picture of the Baptism of the HS
1) Moving & empowering the believer – Not us
getting more of Him – but Him getting more of us
So as our leader the HS takes the initiative in our lives.
He asserts His desires against those of those of the flesh
A) He forms
with in us holy & heavenly desires – He puts His gentle pressure upon us.
B) It is the Spirit who is doing the leading but we are the ones walking/ He is not walking for us
1) Our place is to Yield
ourselves to His direction & control . When we do He supplies us with the
power to accomplish His will.
C) We are not on the sidelines watching Him do
everything – but actively following His leading / His direction in our lives { depending on His power
D) So that in a nut shell is what it mean to walk in
the Spirit & to be led by the Spirit.
2nd thing consider - Now why is this so
important? Turn Jn 14
The
SCENE: Upper room on the night before the Crucifixion /
A)He has just washed their feet- taking the role of
the servant / exhorted them to treat each other the same /
B) Given them a New
Commandment – Love
each other as He has loved them ( He shares w/ them that they are
all going to forsake him that night)
1)
Peter is going to deny
Him – ( Troubling stuff)
C)But then He says in ch.14:1 Don’t be troubled He tells them that He is going away to His fathers house to prepare a place for them
1)
But He is going to
come again to receive them to Himself
D) By this time their
heads must be spinning – but notice what Jesus says next v.16-20 ( pay
attention to the language)
Jesus
says I am not going to leave you as orphans – but I am going to send the Helper
– the spirit of truth
A)The World doesn’t Know him but you do – because He is w/ you –
Why did they know Him ? How was He w/ them
B) The HS was Christ –
and He was in Christ – since Christ was w/ them, The Spirit was w/ them
1) With us prior to conversion – Convicting of Sin
C) But then Jesus said
v.17 He shall be IN YOU – this is that
Indwelling work of the HS that happens at conversion – Christ in our
HEARTS
1)
God bringing our
spirits to life & then placing his spirit to live in us /
D) So in this moment when their hearts would be troubled Jesus says I am sending the Helper or the Comforter
E) The Greek word Helper is parakletos which literally means:
called to one’s side or called to one’s aid.
1)In Grk writings we
also find this word used in a court of justice to denote a counsel for the
defense/ An advocate..one who pleaded
another’s cause.
F)
So that is the role the HS was going to play in their lives – Defender / friend
guide / teacher & helper
Now it is important to note that in this
discussion Jesus was revealing that their relationship with Him was going to
change
A) For 31/2 yrs
they lived together walked / talked / ate / they were friends and comrades
B) That is
something that we sometimes fail to realize about Jesus & His Disciples
1)
We can have this sort
of Austere Perception of Jesus & His Disciples
( Monks ) Especially if you grew up in Church /
C) We fail to realize
that for 3 ½ yrs they hung out together ( Gospel RD)
We
don’t picture them like that – but they probably brushed bees out of Jesus’
hair – Long hair bees – watch out Jesus
A)They probably took splinters out of each others fingers & feet / I bet they BURPED ( We don’t think about stuff like that )
B) They spilled things –
did Jesus ever knock over a cup? Did Peter ever
spill something on Jesus – razed for the rest of the day by the others
C) Did they ever have to
tell Jesus he had a piece of Spinach stuck in his teeth ( Lord that was a good teaching but …….. in your teeth
)
1)
Imagine all the meals
they spent together / all the conversations / the Joking
D) Imagine the hard time
they gave James & John after Jesus called them the SONS OF THUNDER – And now here they come
………..Thunder !!!!!
1)
They laughed together
/ they cried together they were comrades
They
had come to depend upon HIS personal presence W/ THEM
A)Their inner action w/ Him centered around their Physical senses –
John put it this way 1JN 1:1
1That which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of
life ( Touch / saw / Heard )
B) But Now He was going to inner
act w/ them in a different capacity they would develop a different censor organ
1) His Spirit w/ in them / Last thing that Jesus tells them{ Importance
Plus Acts 2 essential for their Ministry.
C) Even though they lived w/ and were personally taught by Jesus for 3 yrs – there was still something missing before started ministry
1) They needed Power – Come from the HS – Not just
with them / and in them – but UPON THEM –
empower them
D) Power to serve / power to be witnesses for Him
1) HS would become the wind in their sails { What
Jesus meant in Jn 15 when He said – W/out me you can do nothing { Huge need
E) It is the very thing that the Father promised in
the NC { Ezk 36
26I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and
give you a heart of flesh. Internal thing
27I will put My Spirit within you
and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do
them.
So we
see the importance of what Paul is talking about here because it was emphasized
both by Jesus & His Father
A)But if that
is the case - Why is this subject so neglected in Christian literature &
teaching today ?
B) Many
reasons – not time to go into all of them – but
I want to mention a few
C) First is the fact that as human beings we have grown to
be dependent on our sensory organs
1) Prior to coming to Christ we spent yrs learning
to make decisions based upon how things looked / what we were told / how we
felt
D) And quite frankly a lot of what is taught in the
Church today – still caters to those physical senses
1) It is hard to learn to
adjust & tune in our spiritual antennas – to the voice of the HS –
we are so used to responding to feelings etc
Another reason is we have the tendency to separate our lives
into the spiritual & the non spiritual
A) Having devotions w/ the kids
is a spiritual activity – Doing laundry isn’t
Leading
a Ministry is a spiritual activity/ leading my company is not
B) Now when we separate our
activities in that way is here what happens
1) In these areas – Church/ devotions/ witnessing –
the “Spiritual things” Lord I need your help, guidance, empowering,
Pray – dependence
C) But in the areas of Business / home duties /
friendships / I don’t
1) I am used to functioning in those arenas – I have
been for a long time
D) What that mentality fails to understand – is that
you might be a great worker – great executive – But
the Lord can make you better
1) The Lord wants to sure up the areas where you are
lacking – Improve areas where you are strong – Make
you a wonderful representative of Him
E) You might be a natural at the home stuff ladies –
but the Lord wants to give you a new perspective about laundry – that is going
to impact your kids
F) See it doesn’t matter what we are doing - the Lord wants us to reflect Jesus in it
!!! – The HS wants to lead us & empower us to that
end.
1) Make an impact not just in areas of “ ministry”
but family life / friendships / Business world / Occupations
Another reason that this is often neglected is that we have
something that the Early Church lacked – that is a completed Bible
A)Sometimes we
can think – I don’t need to pray I just need to read I just need to study.
B) That is fine about the many things the Bible
addresses w/ point blank precision –
1) but that isn’t going to help you in trying to
decide – should we buy this house / should I fire this employee or give him
another chance.
C)
Your not going to open up the Bible and find – Yes you should buy the house w/
the Blue trim
1) No you shouldn’t give that guy another Chance –
D) But the Bible does say : James 1:5 NLT 5If
you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he
will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.
E)How does God give us wisdom – Thru the Spirit
speaking to our hearts
1) What the Spirit tells us will never contradict
scripture – but will always follow scripture { Rob
that Bank -
So those are
some reason why this teaching is sometimes neglected or isn’t emphasized as
much as it should be
3rd thing we want to note today- Why can walking
in the Spirit be so hard ?
A)Answer is
because of the conflict inside of us !!!! Paul puts it this way
17 For the flesh lusts{WARS}against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and
these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
wish.
B) There is a battle going on
inside every believer – Two natures that are at war – Flesh & the Spirit
1) Flesh is our old nature – it is the sinful
desires of our fallen nature
C) Sinners – natural tendencies is to please self !!! Live
to elevate numero uno
1) Natural Fleshly tendencies & responses –
Wronged – naturally want revenge – hurt me – I will hurt you more /
D) Break my arm – I will break both your arms and
Your nose too!
1) That is the natural tendency of the flesh –
Our Flesh is also prone to temptation: Satan tempts the
Flesh / he is constantly appealing to the flesh
A) Satan is
constantly trying to get us to live w/in that mentality of Looking out for
ourselves –
B) But when we
came to Christ – we were given a new nature / God’s spirit inside of us
1) New Mentality – Not living primarily to please
self – but to please God
C) Man’s highest achievement is in discovering God’s
plan & purpose for my his life.
1) First on that list is to Know Him { Jn 17:3
D) New responses: God working in our hearts –
teaching us to forgive
1) Teaching us to make choices that are concerned
not only about temporary fulfillment – but eternal SATISFACTION
E) Flesh says live for the moment / Live for Now /
The Spirit says – Live w/ Eternity in view
So these two natures are at conflict with each other –
Battle
A) Romans 7
Paul illustrates how hard the struggle can be at times -
the things I want to do I don’t do / things I don’t want to do ……
doing
B) Jesus said
to Peter – after falling asleep not once / not twice but 3 times - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
Well that
leads us to talk about our 4th & final point – How do we accomplish
this { 2 things
A) THE MAN W/ THE TWO DOGS {
The one I feed the most
B) The more
that I starve the flesh & feed the Spirit – the easier it gets
1) Feeding the
Spirit – thru Bible study – Stronger
C) 2nd thing is Choice – Paul said Walk in the
Spirit - That is a daily choice
1) Begins each morning – when
we get up to confess our need of the HS guidance / Help & direction in our
lives
D) Confess the areas in particular where we know we
are going to need His help – Certain situation / area of weakness / Person in
our lives
1) Matt 5:3 – Poor in Spirit – the kingdom
Close with
this analogy
In the Story of Ulysses / there
was a certain Island called Cyrene / Beautiful women sang wonderful
melodies songs of enchantment
A)Ships that were passing by the Island would here
the music and they would be so entranced that they would turn in – toward
Island / Rocks
B) No ships were able to make it past the Island
C) Now Ulysses was
determined to make it past the Island but he also wanted to hear the music /
tied to the Mast / Men wax in their ears
1)
Past by – Ulysses was
able to hear the music / screamed at his men to turn in / but they could hear
him
D) He
tried to break free of the ropes but it was to no avail
1)
Once the ship was
safely past the Island – His men untied him / they as a crew were able to
survive
Now there was
also another man who survived sailing by the Island but he did it in a
different way that Illustrates what it means to walk in the ..
A)His names was Orpheus & he was a great
musician & when he & his men were sailing by the Island / they heard
the music / they were drawn /
They began to turn in
B) At that moment – Orpheus broke out his flute & began to play a song that was far superior to the song coming from the Island
1)
His men were able to
sail safely past
C) Those stories are a good picture of the
difference between how religion and true Christianity deal w/ the Battle of the
flesh
The
Religious are those who like Ulysses
hear the music of the world and are drawn to it – their flesh is
fascinated by it
A) They are bound to a law a code of ethics to
resist that temptation
B) It is not exactly what you would call victory
They are held against their will and there is no peace
C) But Christians are like the men of Orpheus they
too hear the music of the world but they also hear the sweeter song
1) the more melodic tune of the love of God speaking
to their hearts –
D) Believing in the plan of God for their lives –
That tune drowns out the tune of the world .
1)
But it is that the
Music of Jesus in our hearts is so much better that there isn’t a desire for
the those other things / He is working in Me
E)
They are free – what about You?