HOW TO HAVE A SPIRIT-LED LIFE
SPECIFIC PURPOSE: To motivate the listener to give the leadership of their life over to Jesus Christ. To help them reevaluate their life and what they do.
CENTRAL IDEA: The listener should walk away from this message challenged to become more deeply involved with Jesus Christ. They should be reexamining their life to bring it closer to one that is led by the Spirit.
I. This morning we will undoubtedly cover some very personal topics.
A. I will be very vulnerable to you and I hope that you will be very vulnerable to yourselves.
1. Yes, I said that you need to be vulnerable to yourselves.
a. What that means is that sometimes we humans have the innate ability to convince ourselves that we are something we are not.
b. I don’t know about you but I am always trying to be the do-it-yourselfer.
c. I would venture to say that all do-it-yourselfers, like me, have fallen victim to the Tim Taylor school of theology. The one with the motto of “Ah come on, this will be fun, you’ll see.” Remember Tim the tool man Taylor on the television series Home Improvement? In his school they even teach you how to acieve that special look in your eye like when he got when getting the new tools he needed for “doing the job right.”
d. In every do-it-yourselfers life there is always that one project that will tackle that should be left to the professionals. Right! Have you been there?
e. I recently read an account of one such project. I assure you that to the best of my knowledge this account is true and it fits very well with the Bible passage for today.
ACCIDENT REPORT
This one needs a little introduction so you won’t be lost at the beginning. This man reported this accident to his insurance company, in reporting this accident he filled out an insurance claim. The insurance company contacted him and asked for more information. This was his response:
“I am writing in response to your request for additional information, for block number 3 of the accident reporting form. I put ‘poor planning’ as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully and I trust the following detail will be sufficient. I am an
amateur radio operator and on the day of the accident, I was working alone on the top section of my new 80 foot tower. When I had completed my work, I had discovered that I had, over the course of several trips up the tower, brought up about 300 pounds of tools and spare hardware. Rather than carry the now unneeded tools and materials down by hand, I decided to lower the items in a small barrel by using the pulley attached to the gin pull at the top of the tower. Securing the rope at ground level, I went to the top of the tower and loaded the tools and materials into the barrel. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow decent of the 300 pounds of tools.” “You will note that in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh only 155 pounds. Due to my surprise of being JERKED OFF the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I preceeded at a rather rapid rate of speed up the side of the tower. In the vincity of the 40 foot level I met the barrel coming down. This explains my fractured skull and broken collar bone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid accent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and I was able to hold on to the rope in spite of my pain. At aprroximately the same time however, the barrel of tools hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the tools, the barrel now weighed approximately 20 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I begain a rapid descent down the side of the tower. In the vincity of the 40 foot level, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankels and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of tools and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the tools in pain, unable to stand and watching the empty barrel 80 feet above me I again lost my presence of mind. I let go of the rope . . .
Special Note: This illustration is taken from a website darwinawards.com. To view this illustration go to that site and search for this submission.
II. WOW! That was all I could say when I read this story. This guy hurt his head, his hands, and his feet all in the same project.
A. Sometimes what we think is a good idea doesn’t seem to work out too well. This is what Paul is writing about to the Galation churches. You must trust your life to the insturction and counsel of the professional, the Holy Spirit. THEME: DON’T TRY TO DO IT YOURSELF. RELY ON THE SPIRIT TO LEAD YOUR LIFE.
B. This is exactly what is happening in the church of Galatia. Some teachers are instructing the Galatian people that they need to practice do-it-yourself salvation. Paul says, “NO,” very clearly, remember you are saved by GRACE which is the freedom of the believer.
1. This letter to the Galatians is sometimes referred to as the Great Charter of Christian Freedom.
2. In it Paul is writing an urgent letter to address some very serious problems within the church of Galatia.
3. Not long after Paul left the area other Jewish-Christian teachers arrived and were teaching the Gentiles, that they needed to observe the Jewish law as well as have faith in Christ.
4. Paul saw that this struck at the very core of the Christian message. The message that salvation was a free gift given by God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This instruction by the Jewish-Christian teachers made observance of the law just as essential as trust in the crucified messiah which was Paul’s message.
IV. Our passage today starts in Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 and goes through verse 26 of the same chapter. Galatians 5 verses 16 to 26. I would encourage you to open your Bible and read along with me as I read this passage.
A. The first word of the text in verse 16 is the word “But.”
1. That word is sometimes one of the most dreaded words in the English language.
2. In Bible study it can either be good or bad “But” it should always make us look back at the text preceding where the word is found.
3. Anytime you see this word always look back a few verses and find the context in which it was written. This is a very important factor in any bible study or reading.
B. With that in mind what do we know about this letter to the Galatians?
1. The Galatians were the Celtic people who settled in Gaul before they came to Asia Minor.
2. They had received the gospel of salvation by faith alone through the testimony of Paul on a missionary tour through this area.
3. This letter was written to defend the gospel of grace for salvation rather than justification by the law as the Jewish Christian teachers were proclaiming.
C. Paul defends the idea that we are saved by Grace and that salvation by Grace gives the believer freedom from the law.
1. The fact that salvation has always been by faith throughout is time is evidenced in chapter 3 verses 6-9.
2. As we can see even in the time of Abraham salvation has been by grace through faith, his belief is what justified him. It has never been by works no work can save you.
D. The book of Galatians can be outlined like this.
1. In chapters 1 and 2 the gospel of grace is defended.
2. In chapters 3 and 4 the gospel of grace is explained.
3. In chapters 5 and 6 the gospel of grace is applied.
V. This brings us to where we are in the text, the application of the gospel of grace.
A. We see Paul use the phrase “Walk by the Spirit” in verse 16 of the text. What does this mean?
1. Verses 13 through 15 just preceding the verses we read clearly shows the strife within the Galatian church.
2. Paul is saying here that by “walking by the Spirit” the Galatians can not only stop false teaching, but also they can counteract the strife that occurs or could occur within the church.
3. Paul is not talking about the initial work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we become followers of Christ we receive the Spirit within our soul.
4. “But” there is that word again, that is not what Paul is writing about here as important as that is, Paul is more concerned with the Christ like conduct that characterizes a Spirit filled life. He is more concerned with walking “spiritually” as opposed to walking “in the flesh.”
5. We must be clear that this is showing us that if we are walking by the Spirit we are concerned that our spiritual lives are being led by the Holy Spirit, we are letting the professional take control.
6. This is a deliberate action taken by us, those who believe in Christ, to constantly check the direction of our lives. I think if the man in our story, the guy that flew up the side of the tower, had been aware of the direction he was going during the “rapid ascent” he would have let go of the rope and run away from the falling tools. He would have saved himself the painful experience of being hit in the head.
B. Sometimes that is the place that must be hit the hardest to bring our lives under control of the Holy Spirit.
1. Let’s talk about our head for just a minute. When I am speaking about our head I mean our minds. The thing in which we come up with so many brilliant ideas.
a. This mind we have has a great impact on our spiritual lives. We often talk about our heart and that is certainly important, but we must also bring our mind under control to walk spiritually.
b. The mind continues to take control even after we become a Christian. Remember back to that time, young or old when it happened, when you first accepted Christ? The first thing we did was to rationalize our current actions. “Well I wasn’t that bad of a person, I didn’t commit murder or something like other people in the Bible committed.” We seek to justify our actions so we can continue to enjoy the life and the pleasures we had in the flesh before we became Children of God.
C. We must take deliberate action.
1. We see in the last part of verse 16 Paul states that when we take this deliberate action we will “not carry out the desire of the flesh.” This does not mean that we will never fail or we will never sin again. It simply means that we will not desire those things contrary to the will of God. The focus on our desire.
D. We see in verse 17 Paul tells us that we have two opposing forces within us. The Holy Spirit obviously is infinitely more powerful, but left alone to our desires we will make wrong choices.
1. You see there is no middle ground here. We must choose one or the other. Christ himself told us in Matthew 6:24 that we cannot love two masters, we will either love the one and hate the other or we will hate the one and love the other.
2. This must be a conscious decision by each and every one of us. Are you walking by the Spirit? If not, why not?
E. To end this section Paul tells the Galatians that to be free from the law they must be led by the Spirit.
1. Paul is certainly not saying that as Christians we no longer have to follow rules of any kind.
2. Paul is simply saying that if we are led by the Spirit the natural outgrowth of that leadership in our lives is going to produce the fruit of service to one another and ultimately to God Himself.
3. To Paul, according to 1 Corinthians 2:16 possession of the Spirit coincides with having the “mind of Christ.” When our heads are thinking about the ways of Christ spiritual truth can be discerned. In other words, we will understand what we are to do more clearly.
4. Matthew Henry summed up this section with this excellent statement, “ . . . those who desire to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to it’s awful curse. Their hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel.”
VI. The next division in the verses we read occurs in verses 19-21. Here Paul is writing about the deeds of the flesh.
A. I want to point you back to the story of the guy flying up the tower holding onto the piece of rope. The things we do with our hands affects our health as well as our spiritual lives.
B. This is what Paul is listing; the deeds of the flesh, those things that humans do when left to their own fallen desires.
C. The list that he gives us is very interesting because it is divided into four major categories.
1. We must remember that the sins in this list are not all inclusive. They are merely a general list in which to start to process of critical thinking about our own lives.
D. The four major divisions in this list are captured best in the King James Version.
1.The fist division is a list of sexual vices. Those connected with our physical body; however, these can also include sins of the mind when dealing with a lustful attitude.
a. We can categorize the King James list in this way, adultery, fornication, uncleanness and lasciviousness. All pertaining to the sexual vices that occur throughout pagan world. Let us keep in mind that if we have been guilty of this type of sin, and actually any of the sins that Paul lists, all hope is not lost. Paul is not saying that just because you have committed these sins you are beyond hope. The Catholic Church uses this type of reasoning and they use this verse as proof. However, this is not what Paul is describing here. He is describing a life NOT
LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. The focus is not on the sins listed here, the focus in on who is leading your life.
b. The second category of sins is the heathen or pagan worship practices of idolatry and witchcraft.
c. The third category is sins of disunity. King James Version describes this as hatred, variance, emulations, wrath (bad tempers), strife, seditions or becoming a traitor, and heresies.
d. The fourth and final classification of sin in Paul’s list is the sins of appetite. The greed of human soul shown as: envying, murders, drunkenness, reviling.
E. The actions of our hands can lead us into the sins that the unbeliever practices. We must be keenly aware of what our hands are doing. We must make certain that they are doing work that is dictated by the Holy Spirit. Just as important as watching what we do we must also watch where we go. Remember the tower story when the man was falling down his feet didn’t even escape the pain. When we do not let the Holy Spirit guide where our feet are taking us we are taking control of our life into our own hands.
VII. Immediately following the section on the deeds of the flesh is the section on the fruits of the Spirit.
A. Paul includes in this passage a literary device known as comparisons.
B. This was placed in here deliberately to show the readers of this letter what NOT to do then he told what they should do.
1. I believe there is deep meaning that Paul included in this section. Paul does not only tell us what we are supposed to do but also what we are supposed to be. There is a well-known thought of new age thinking, “BEING” versus “DOING”. (I am not advocating the New Age thought process here.) This is the difference in just doing something you are supposed to do or actually changing your life to reflect what you want to be. We can learn something here, not from new age thought but from Paul. Paul tells us that to become a better or more faithful follower of Christ we MUST place control of our lives in the capable responsibilities of the Holy Spirit.
2. Paul is showing that when we do place the control of our lives under control of the Holy Spirit the qualities Paul describes will naturally flow into our lives. So Paul tells the Galatians not to be involved in the deeds of the flesh but to put on the fruits of the Spirit. WEAR THEM. Just like changing your clothes. A complete change.
3. The deeds of the flesh are not only hurtful to each person individually but also to the members of the body of Christ as a whole.
4. He contrasts the hurt following the deeds of the flesh with the healing power of the fruits of the spirit.
a. Sometimes we must swallow our feelings to promote the good of the body.
b. Sometimes we must just turn up the volume control on love to those in the body of Christ that are just unlovable or intentionally hurt us.
c. These types of actions foster the fruit of the Spirit in each and every person, not to mention the body of believers as well.
5. By describing the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit we are told what to avoid and what to embrace.
6. Romans 6 verse 12 tells us that sin does not reign in the bodies of the believers.
VIII. In verse 24 we see the climax of this passage. Read it again with me please. READ VERSE 24.
A. The word “crucified” describes the same action taken against Jesus Christ upon the cross. It means to “extinguish”. At least that is what the world tried to do to Jesus. Isn’t it great they didn’t succeed?
B. When we truly follow Christ, we have the mind of Christ, our hands do the work of Christ, and our feet go to places fitting those who follow Christ.
C. My Father once told me that no matter what I do or where I go, “think about how you would feel if Jesus was sitting right next to you. If you would be ashamed you should not go or you should leave at once, if He would be proud then you can rest assured you are where you should be.”
D. Give up control of your life to the Professional, The Holy Spirit. He was sent to help us, He was sent to LEAD us.
1. Verse 25 tells us if we live by the Spirit we must also walk by the Spirit.
2. Verse 26 shows us the natural outgrowth of that action. Those things we would NOT DO if we were walking with the Holy Spirit. Pleading to the Galatian church not to fall into this type of behavior as followers of Christ.
IX. To sum up what we looked at.
A. First, we must take deliberate action to place our mind under the control of the Holy Spirit.
B. Second, we must take deliberate action to make sure our hands do the work of Christ.
C. Third, we must take deliberate action to make sure our feet carry us into places that will glorify God.
D. How do we do this? Three quick suggestions on how to accomplish a spirit led life.
1. Spend time with the Master. The one who sent the Holy Spirit wants to commune with you.
a. Spend time in the Word. If you don’t like to sit and read, listen to the radio in the car or at home. We have great Christian radio stations in this town and they have some fantastic teaching programs. Get an audio Bible if you want to listen to the Bible read to you.
b. Enter into the yoke with Christ. Pray for Jesus to mold your life and change your heart. I know this is uncomfortable at first, but when you follow His lead wonderful things can and will happen. Pray for Him to access every part of your being.
2. Critically account for what your hands are doing. The work of your hands, not speaking of your trade or your business, however, you may need to look at that as well. We are talking about the numbers your fingers push on the TV control when you are alone late at night. I have been there, I can relate to this as well as you
3. Last but not least, be aware of your surroundings. Know where you are and where you are going. THINK AHEAD. If you are in the habit of going someplace that tempts you to be involved in actions unbecoming a follower of Christ, STOP GOING. A drug addict that hangs out with his dealer will not be successful in kicking a drug habit. An alcoholic which hangs out at bars cannot expect to stay on the wagon.
X. Finally in closing, remember this, when you are holding onto that rope and it jerks you toward something you know is not of the Spirit, LET GO and let the Spirit take over.
XI. If you do not know who Jesus Christ is, the Savior bids you come today. If the actions of the flesh are not fulfilling you, which they will never do, come forward and I will show you a great message of hope and love. Don’t put it off another day. As the music plays please come forward or see me after the service. Let the professional take control of the project of your life it’s too big for you or I to handle on our own.
XII. PRAY
To dismiss you today I want to do something different. I would like to leave you with a blessing Moses gave to Aaron and his sons in Numbers 6:23.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” Amen and Amen.
