I. Recap and Intro.
A. Recap from last week: This is a year of connection, expansion and commission.
1. God is keeping our connection to Him and to others that align with our purpose and vision. As we foster this fellowship, we will grow and our fruitfulness will multiply, new vision and clarity for building the kingdom will result form this.
2. I saw this happen last week. Re-connected with a Pastor from Nova Scotia. His former ministry network is withering and he called to ask if we could connect on a consistent basis for support, prayer and encouragement. I had spoken to Pastor Willie in KS that morning and he suggested that we pray about inviting other pastors to join us for a monthly Zoom call. (Also had a request to return to Quebec this year.)
3. Pray about joining me on a trip to Quebec and Nova Scotia to encourage the church.
B. Remember that God has chosen us to produce fruit that remains.
1. We saw in John 15 that we have been chosen by God to be the kind of people that are pleasing to Him. Jesus calls this “bearing fruit.”
2. The fruit that God is looking for in us is found in Galatians 5:22&23.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
3. And we realized that God comes looking for this fruit in us.
a. Just as He said in Isa 5 when He came looking for grapes from His vineyard.
b. Just as Jesus did when He came looking for figs in Mark 11.
c. God expects us to bear this fruit in our lives.
4. Don’t be intimidated by this, just remember that God has chosen us for this, and He makes us able to bear this fruit.
C. Intro: Walking in the Spirit.
1. Today I want to talk about walking in the Spirit and what that means. Every believer is meant to be led by the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit. God has given us His Spirit so that we can lead a life that is pleasing to Him.
2. Our sin made us far from God and out of favor with Him. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus we have been made right with Him. And now God has put His Holy Spirit within us to teach us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
3. The bible calls this a holy life, godly living, etc. Those words have negative connotations for many of us because we think holiness is about rules and we will eventually mess it up.
4. The Holy Spirit will teach you how to live a holy life more than any college or seminary, more than any author or social media influencer. Walking in the Spirit is not about becoming spiritual —it’s about learning how to follow the Spirit who already lives in you.
5. Today we’re going to talk about how to be led by the Spirit. How to live in the Spirit, spend time in the Spirit, etc. so that we can bear the fruit that He is looking for.
II. Walking in the Spirit is every believer’s portion and every believer’s battle.
(I say this because we are born of the Spirit and yet we have an old, sinful nature that opposes our new life in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is our inheritance, but it’s also our daily battle.) (No junior version, etc.)
A. What does it mean to ‘walk in the Spirit’?
1. To walk in the Spirit means to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the daily course of life.
a. With our speech, reactions to people & events, etc.
b. In our attitudes, emotions & thought life.
c. How we spend our time, our money and attention.
B. How do we do walk in the Spirit?
1. By letting the Spirit be the greatest influence on us.
a. By yielding to His direction.
b. Following His lead.
c. Surrendering our desires to Him.
2. Key words and concepts that every believer needs to grasp in order to walk in the Spirit:
a. Humility, humbling ourselves.
b. Deferring to the Spirit, seeking His input before taking a course of action.
c. Submission to His will.
3. Presumption is a great hinderance to walking in the Spirit.
a. Presumption is ‘shameless boldness’ it is assuming to know what is right, true or best without asking God to show you.
b. The opposite is deference, which means ‘a readiness to yield’.
C. Every believer is able to walk in the Spirit.
1. Foreshadowed in the OT: Hebrews led through the wilderness by the pillar of fire and the cloud. Prophetically speaks of us being led through the wilderness of this world by the Spirit.
2. David in Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.”
3. John 3:6-8
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
a. If you are born again, you are born of the Spirit.
b. If you are born human, as you grow you will live as human, do human things, etc.
c. Consider different cultures, if born into a culture, you will continue in it.
d. Born of the Spirit, you will continue on in the Spirit, grow in the Spirit, etc.
4. Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
a. Born of the Spirit, led by the Spirit.
b. We should be able to identify Christians because they are led by the Spirit.
D. What is the greatest hinderance to walking in the Spirit.
1. Our flesh, our carnal nature, our old man, the sinful nature, etc.
2. Galatians 5:16-25
16 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.
a. lusts against: desires to control, the flesh doesn’t want to cooperate, it wants to dominate.
b. The Spirit of God within us is at war with our flesh (our old sinful nature) and the battleground is our body and soul, mind will and emotions, etc.
c. They are completely incompatible, will never strike a truce
d. Vs 18 the law was given to control the flesh, if we are led by the Spirit, we do not
need the law to keep the flesh restrained, the Spirit will do it if we surrender to Him.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery (lust of the eyes), fornication (sexual intimacy outside of marriage), uncleanness (moral impurity), lewdness (shameless indulgence of excess, unbridled lust), 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
e. Keep in mind that this is just a sample, not an exhaustive list.
f. Eternal rewards and eternity with Christ is at stake.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
f. Vs 24 The flesh is irredeemable, it must be destroyed.
3. The greatest hinderance to walking in the Spirit is our own flesh and the war is being fought in our heart, our mind and our body.
III. How to walk in the Spirit.
A. Step One: Obedience.
1. The first step in being led by the Spirit is to obey the Lord.
2. Obey God’s Word. Ezekiel 36:27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
a. God prophesied this through Ezekiel and we are living it out today.
b. When we read or hear the Word, we must obey it.
c. Ex: Heb 10:25 “Don’t forsake assembling together…” but we do it anyway, then we experience a lack of fellowship, community and accountability (death in that area).
d. Ex: 1 Peter 3:7 “Husbands live with your wife in an understanding way, honor them… that your prayers may not be hindered.”
e. Ex: Eph 5:18 “Do not be drunk with wine…”
3. Obey the still small voice. John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
a. Pay attention to your inner peace.
b. The Spirit often speaks through an inner conviction. (John 16:8-11)
c. He whispers to those who are close to Him but He has to shout to those far away.
d. Ex: The broken $5 bill & the $5k wire, same day. (Prepare yourself.)
e. Ex: Jack Deere stock market story.
4. We should understand that the Spirit responds to our obedience. He will not argue with us, negotiate with us or compromise with us. He leads and we follow.
5. Delayed obedience will cause us to doubt what we have already heard. “Did God really say…?”
B. Step Two: Kill the thing that is trying to kill you.
1. Gal 5:24 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires.”
2. Rom 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
3. Eph 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
4. We need to understand that life in the flesh is certain death, but life in the Spirit is the only true life.
a. Death to finances, death to relationships, etc.
b. Life in the areas that we obey, abundance, prosperity, etc.
5. There is a lag time between sowing and reaping, so we don’t always connect our actions with their consequences. But God is not mocked, what we sow we will reap.
a. Gal 6:7&8
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
6. Kill the flesh before it kills you. It doesn’t need discipline, it needs crucifixion.
C. Step Three: Fix your mind.
1. Romans 8:5-9
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
2. Remember, in the big picture we’re talking about living a life that is pleasing to God, being the kind of person that is pleasing to God. Bearing fruit that remains.
3. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
4. The best way to renew your mind is to be in the Word of God every day.
a. Eph 5:25&26 Jesus washes our minds with the water of the Word.
5. Some indicators we need to renew our mind.
a. We do things to try to win respect, approval, acceptance or status.
b. We pursue money for security, material things, etc.
c. We follow cultural trends more than the Word of God. (Do we even question the movies we see? The music we listen to?)
6. To renew our mind we have to accept that we think differently than the world does and develop that godly mindset.
D. Step Four: Walk by faith, not by sight.
1. “My righteous one will live by faith.” Hab 2:4 (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38)
a. Abraham is the poster child for being led by the Spirit.
b. Gen 12:1 God told him to go “…to a land that I will show you.”
2. Faith means trusting God when your emotions demand proof. To really walk in the Spirit we have to be willing to take the steps that God puts in front of us without having the whole map.
3. John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
a. Be flexible! Be willing to let your plans change, your schedule be interrupted.
b. We can see this all through the Word, with many examples in Acts.
c. Acts 16:6-10
6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
4. What a great example of being led by the Spirit.
a. We see obedience, flexibility, following the still small voice, deference, etc.
E. Recap.
1. Obey God’s Word & still small voice.
2. Kill whatever is trying to kill you.
3. Fix your mind.
4. Walk by faith.
IV. Closing.
A. God has chosen you to walk in the Spirit.
1. We should feel most at home, most at rest and most fulfilled where the Spirit is moving and out of place where He is not. The day will come when walking in the Spirit will feel more natural to you tan walking in the flesh.
2. God is not trying to get you to try harder, He is trying to get us to surrender at a deeper level.
3. Remember, following our flesh always leads to death, but following the Spirit always leads to life.
4. If this seems hard, that’s because it’s impossible— unless the Holy Spirit lives in you.