"Walk In the Spirit"
Author: Dr. Neal Gray
Passage: Galatians 5:16-25, KJV
Purpose: This sermon message illustrates how we can--and do--frustrate the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Also, we find out the motivation for walking by the Spirit.
INTRODUCTION
Opening
Can you imagine the confusion that entered into the minds and hearts of the eleven disciples (Judas Iscariot had already left the supper room to betray the Lord) when Jesus proclaimed,
"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," (John 16:7)?
"But wait, Rabbi! Stay with us, Messiah!" That’s what I would have said.
What did the disciples say? "What is this thing He is telling us? We do not know what He is talking about," (see John 16:17b, 18b).
Purpose
How great an advantage we--even we--have over those eleven men! All the illumination of God working through history is ours, particularly our understanding of how the Holy Spirit, the "Helper," the "Comforter," plays such a large part in our lives.
Scripture
While this is mostly a topical message about "walking in the Spirit," we will look at two other Scriptures. But let’s start at Galatians 5:16-25.
DO NOT QUENCH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction
"Walk in the Spirit; live in the Spirit." Those are very clear instructions for the Christian.
Not Paying Attention
By unfortunately, so many Christians simply don’t "pay attention" to what God is saying to them. A story comes to my mind in this regard; although fictional, I think you’ll see what I mean.
In Herman Melville’s novel White Jacket one of the sailors takes sick with severe stomach pains. Dr. Cuticle, the ship’s surgeon, is delighted to have a patient with something more challenging to his art than blisters. He diagnoses appendicitis. Several shipmates are pressed into nursing service. The deck-hand is laid out on the operating table and prepared for surgery. Dr. Cuticle goes at his work with verve and skill. He makes his cuts with precision, and, on the way to excising the diseased organ, points out interesting anatomical details to the attendants around the table, who had never before seen the interior of an abdomen. He is absorbed in his work, and obviously good at it. All in all it is an impressive performance, but the sailor attendants are, to a man, not impressed but appalled. The poor patient, by the time he has been sewn up, has been a long time dead on the table.
==> Dr. Cuticle, enthusiastic in his surgery, hadn’t noticed. The sailors, shy in their subservience, didn’t tell him! WHEN DOING SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT, PAY ATTENTION! And...your life in God is supremely important. It deserves your full attention!
Don’t Quench the Spirit
Living your life in Christ means you find out the will of God--and then do it! Do it fully, to the best of your ability; not just "go through the motions."
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! When you know what the will of God is for you, and you don’t follow, then the Bible says you are "quenching the Holy Spirit. We find this in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, namely:
"Quench not the Spirit."
When we "quench the Spirit," the Scripture means that you decide to simply not hear what the Spirit has to say to you--you decide to ignore Him.
Whether you do this consciously or even out of ignorance, the result is the same; namely, you put yourself in a position where you can no longer take advantage of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life!
Scary, huh? We simply cannot be "too busy" with "doing our own thing," to pay attention to the Life-Giver.
What Was the Apostle Teaching?
The Apostle Paul spoke these words, "Quench not the Spirit," to the Thessalonian First Church of the Nazarene. The Thessalonian church was one that was very dear to Paul. He had started it during his second missionary journey, and stayed with them for a considerable amount of time.
In his letter, he exhorts them to LIVE IN THE WILL OF THE LORD. They should live their lives in holiness, always looking for the return of the Savior; and, while waiting, they should live together in love.
Good teachings, huh?
==> Take note carefully. [With emphasis] You cannot live in holiness and love without the Holy Spirit in your life.
Don’t "tune Him out;" DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT! Keep tuned in to His good leading in your life.
DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction
Look at another passage with me, please. This command is another "do not" type instruction. It is found in Ephesians 4:30, namely:
"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."
What Does "Grieve" Mean?
My dad retired from a national freight line company; he was a journeyman welder. And he was in the union; in fact, for a very long time he was the shop steward. He represented the men of the trailer repair and maintenance shop at union meetings.
At home, over the dinner table, I often heard him say something like this, "Old Gus filed a grievance today." What he meant was that GUS WAS UNHAPPY WITH SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IN MANAGEMENT. Usually, the company was ignoring some basic right the worker felt he had and so, he was "grieved." Gus had lived up to his side of the bargaining agreement, and he fully expected the company to live up to their side.
God Keeps His Side
The thing is in our Christian life is that God the Holy Spirit ALWAYS keeps His side of the agreement. The Holy Spirit’s agreement is to...
* Abide and dwell with you forever, (John 14:16-17)
* Teach you and help you remember Jesus’ instructions, (v. 26)
* Guide you into all truth, (16:13), and,
* He will glorify Jesus and the Father, (v. 14).
==> The Spirit keeps His end of the relationship. BUT YOU GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT WHEN YOU IGNORE HIS CLEAR DIRECTIONS FOR YOU! When you ignore the Lord’s leading in your life, you grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Christian man, Christian lady, listen: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God!"
Ignoring Is Sinning
Let’s get this straight right now: IGNORING GOD IS SINNING AGAINST GOD.
The after-this-life place called Hell is the destination of choice for those who wish to ignore God. In Hell, there is no God. This is the fact of life: If you choose by your own choosing to ignore God, then the True God will ultimately allow you to have your own way--forever.
I have found that when behave in a way that ignores the known will of my God, the Holy Spirit speaks to me immediately, trying to tell me that I need to change course. And I thank Him for keeping His end of the bargain, to remind me of Jesus’ kind instructions.
==> But in the end, if I ignore Him, I commit the folly of behaving in a way that God is not pleased with--I SIN. I grieve the gracious Holy Ghost whom Jesus sent to guide me into the life He desires me to live, and to mold me into the man He wants me to be.
But I have found that as I accept the leading of the Holy Spirit, He gives me the grace to make the right decision! Praise the Lord! DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
==> REMEMBER: If the Holy Spirit grieves...the Holy Spirit leaves!
WALK BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction
Those two instructions, namely ...
* Quench not the Spirit, and,
* Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God
...both have the word, "NOT," in them. They tell us what NOT to do.
What We Should Positively Do
Returning to our Scripture from Galatians, we find the third key aspect of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. And it is a POSITIVE aspect. Look again at Galatians chapter five, especially verses 16 and 25.
"Walk in the Spirit; live in the Spirit."
What Was the Apostle Teaching?
Paul wrote the Galatian epistle shortly after his first missionary journey. As you know, he and Barnabas founded several new churches in the region known as Galatia.
After he left the area, the Judaizers told the Christians that they still had to keep all of the Laws of Moses. Paul wrote the Galatian letter to teach them that our righteousness comes through Jesus and not the Law, "if righteousness comes by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain," (2:21b).
==> But Christ Jesus did not die in vain, He did not die needlessly! He died that we could experience genuine spiritual life, and that in true holiness as God is holy! Another basic fact of life is this: OUR TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE IS FOUND BY OBEYING JESUS CHRIST AND HIS HOLY SPIRIT.
The Battle of the Flesh vs. Spirit
You see, a battle is raging with each of us; it’s the battle of the flesh against the Spirit.
"This I say then, ’Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (5:16-18)
Paul tells us the characteristics of the life lived by the flesh, as you can see in verses 19-21. Then he gives us the characteristics of the life lived by the Spirit, as you can see in 22-23.
==> There is a raging battle going on in your life! And in mine, too!
Homework: Decide to Walk in the Spirit
Beloved, go home after church and enjoy some dinner, (or fast!). Speak with your loved ones, gently and with love, IN THE SPIRIT. Maybe take a short nap to get some needed rest.
But then, I ask you to do something TODAY. May I put this one other thing on you?
1. Read the verses in this passage that talk about "the works of the flesh," (Galatians 5:19-21).
Ask yourself: "Do I want to live the rest of my life with these evil things in my life?" If the answer is "No," then ask yourself when you are going to yield to the Holy Spirit of Christ to rid your life of these nasty things.
2. Now read the verses in this passage that talk about "the fruit of the Spirit," (Galatians 5:22-24).
Ask yourself: "Do I choose this day, now and forever, to live by the Spirit of God?" If the answer is "Yes," then ask yourself when you are going to fully yield to the Holy Spirit of Christ to help you make your life something glorious and godly!
I Have Been Crucified With Christ
The point is this: since you have trusted Christ Jesus and HE HAS MADE YOU NEW, literally into "new creature," (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17), then you are no longer a part of this world.
Therefore, Christians who...
* Continually hear the call of God
* Recognize that they are no longer citizens of this world
* Desire to live the holy life of God, and,
* Long to please the Lord
==> ...these sincere Christians "walk in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit!!!"
CONCLUSION
Quench, Grieve, or Walk?
The Scripture warns us to not quench nor grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whom Jesus has sent for our benefit.
The Scripture, and the Holy Spirit Himself, teaches us that our proper position is to walk with Him. This means giving your full attention to Him.
Example of Two Types of Christians
Finally, and to close this message so you can go home, eat, sleep, and read the Scripture, listen oh so closely to one more thing, please.
The Scripture talks about "the natural man." He simply cannot understand the things of God--not one bit at all--because he is still a rank sinner.
The Scripture also talks about two kinds of Christians, namely...
* Those who are still fleshly, or carnal, who choose worldly, fleshy things over godly, holy things, (1 Corinthians 3:3), and,
* He who is spiritual, (1 Corinthians 2:15).
I want to show you by example the difference between the sinful, natural man; the fleshy Christian, and the spiritual Christian.
[FOR THE READER: I have a rubber ball that is a miniature globe of the world; it represents the natural, worldly person. It looks "worldly." It bounces moderately.
I also have two golf balls for this example. One golf ball that is springy and vibrant; it represents the spiritual Christian. When I bounce it to demonstrate the Christian who is walking by the Spirit, it really bounces. The other golf ball looks and feels normal, but it is not: it bounces only about one inch when thrown to the floor. This is the Christian who is quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit.]
AMEN.
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| Copyright 2002
| Practical Holiness Ministry (r)
| "BRINGING PRACTICAL IDEAS TO
| THE CHRISTIAN LIFE." (tm)
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| You may reprint or publish or hopefully preach
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| (see Mark 8:36).
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| Dr. Neal Gray is the Senior Pastor of the
| Baltimore Parkville Church of the Nazarene.
| 8510 Fowler Ave -- Baltimore, Maryland 21234
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| You can reach Dr. Gray by e-mail at:
| mailto:drngray@earthlink.net
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| Also, please visit the church’s website:
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| LEARNING. MENTORING. SERVING. (tm)
| 2 Pet. 3:18 - 2 Tim. 2:2 - Matt. 20:26-28
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| Used with God’s blessed permission.
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