Walking in the Spirit! - Gal 5:25

Walking in the Spirit!

July 31, 2011

Galatians 5:25

Introduction

• Last Friday afternoon around 4pm, I felt a desire to visit the evening service at Bethel in Redding
• We got away late, there were traffic holdups, but eventually we arrived
• As we arrived in the foyer, I saw a very close friend of ours walking toward me.
• He said he had just felt the Holy Spirit nudge him to go out of the service and meet someone in the foyer!
• Wow! So we went and sat with them in the service
• There was an invitation for people who wanted to be baptized
• Jon, his wife and two of their boys wanted to be rebaptized, as they were at a crucial juncture in their lives
• We were able to be there with them as they took this awesome step, they were far away from their family and friends in LA!
• What got to me was that God planned this whole thing! This was not a question of asking for direction, God just sovereignly orchestrated this meeting, to make this event as full and joyful as could be!
• It required both Jon and me listening to the Spirit and being obedient, for all the connections to work
• The Bible talks about walking in the Spirit
• This morning we will be talking about what walking in the spirit looks like, personally

Walk in obedience

• Galatians 5:16-25
• Verse17
• There is a battle going on in our mind
• Romans 7:21-25
• So the apostle Paul, great Chrsitain as he was, still had this battle going on in his mind
• So we too have this battle
• The flesh in us wants to do the wrong thing
• But with our mind we want to do the right thing, in obedience to God
• We work to overcome some besetting sin, and at some point we think it is gone
• But when we let down our guard, it is right there, wanting to cause trouble again
• The Christian's life is a constant battle
• But God's intention is that we overcome it!
• Example of Cain and Abel
• Gen 4:1-7
• Unfortunately Cain did not master sin, but killed his brother instead
• God intends for us to be overcomers
• Rev 2-3 - the letters to the various churches usually end with "to him who overcomes ...."
• God does not desire children who just give in to every temptation that comes their way.
• He desires people who take hold of the temptation and turn their backs on it

Overcome temptation

• We are all going to be tempted
• Temptation is a part of this life
• We are tempted by our flesh, by society, and by the devil
• If we want a real, committed walk with Jesus, we will walk in the Spirit and overcome the temptation
• What happens when we are tempted?
• James 1:13-15
• The battle is in our head!
• The sin is not in being tempted, the sin is in allowing the temptation to dwell in our thoughts, until we finally give in to it
• So when we are tempted to do the wrong thing, get rid of that thought, fill your mind with good things, as opposed to the temptation
• Phil 4:8
• God expects us to be overcomers
• Jesus overcame the enemy, so must we!

Live in step with the Spirit

• Did you notice in this section of scripture, Paul does not refer to the old testament law?
• He does not remind them about "Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie"
• He tells us that we are not under the law
• The law was a tutor or babysitter, until we came to faith (Gal 3:24)
• It was a legal code we had to live by.
• But when Jesus comes into our life, we are not led by the law, but by the Spirit
• Gal 5:18
• The law and the Spirit walk in step, hand in hand
• So the Spirit will never lead us to disobey the Old Testament law
• But we have a higher call than merely to not kill or steal
• We have been called to live a life of love for God and love for our fellow man
• The Holy Spirit is our guide along this journey
• He speaks to us, nudges us, convicts us, whatever is needed, to help us stay on the straight and narrow
• He convicts us of sin, he reminds us when we are being tempted, and he helps us to overcome and replace that temptation with God's way of doing things
• This is why it is so important that we learn to listen to God's voice
• If we are deaf to what God is saying, we are merely living a legalistic life
• Walk in the spirit means just that, we are walking with our Companion, Comforter, Helper, our personal Paraclete!

Conclusion

• So as we grow up spiritually, we are going to be listening more and more to what the Spirit is saying to us.
• We will be responding in obedience
• We will be discerning that it is not the temptation speaking, but that it is God leading us in the paths of righteousness
• Allow the Holy Spirit to speak in your life, and be obedient to Him