THE HOLY SPIRIT ADVANTAGE SERIES PART 8 WALK IN THE SPIRIT2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

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Date: 2010-11-21

Title: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 8 Walk In The Spirit

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2010 The Holy Spirit Advantage Series

Teaching Transcript: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 8 Walk In The Spirit

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010. John chapter 16, we get to finish up the Holy Spirit's Advantage, the series on the Holy Spirit's.

And man, it's just been an exciting week. What an incredible time. I know that God's really been working in my heart and speaking to me, and I pray that He's been speaking to you as well. And I know that a lot of you could not make it to all of the nights and stuff, and so we do have some CDs on the table in the back. And so if you want to pick up those studies that you missed, you can do that. We also have all of the

the audio online right now from the previous studies this week and the video of most of the week is online and the rest of it will come online probably on Tuesday or Wednesday. So if you want to get caught up in those studies that you missed, then that will be available.

There are note pages on the back table if you need something to write notes on. That's what they're there for, and so I encourage you to do that. Once again, we'll have some different scripture references that we won't be able to get into, but you can take and look at and spend time on your own and allow God to speak to your heart in that way. Well, here in John chapter 16, we're talking about...

Jesus says he is preparing to leave. He's getting ready to be crucified and then he's going to ascend to the Father after he resurrects. And he's preparing his disciples for this event. And in John chapter 16, verse 7 is kind of the key verse for this series. But let's back up a little bit and take a look at verse 5 in John chapter 16. It says this,

But now I go away to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, Where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you.

Here as we see Jesus talking with His disciples, we get some insight into what's happening in their hearts. Jesus is talking about the fact that He is going away. They don't quite understand, even though He's been telling them that He's going to be crucified and that He's going to return to the Father. He's been preparing them, but they don't quite get it. But still as He's sharing these things,

Even though they don't fully understand it, they're saddened by it. They don't understand. What do you mean you're going away? What is that really talking about? And he says that sorrow has filled their hearts.

And so they weren't just a little bit sad or a little bit confused, but they were filled with sorrow. They were maybe overwhelmed with sorrow. And so it was something that was impacting them greatly. And so Jesus, seeking to bring some comfort to their hearts, says, No, you don't understand. Sorrow has filled your hearts because you understand that I'm going away.

But what you don't understand is the great advantage you will have when I am gone. Jesus says there in verse 7, it's to your advantage that I go away. And he says, I tell you the truth. This is something that is true. Something that we can rely upon and count on. That Jesus says, it's to your advantage that I go away. Because if I go away...

I will send the Helper, that is, the Holy Spirit, to be with you. And so it's better for you, even though it makes you sorrowful now, it's better for you, Jesus said, if I go away so that you can receive the Holy Spirit. And this promise of the Holy Spirit is not just for the disciples that Jesus was physically talking to at that moment, but for all of Jesus' disciples throughout the ages.

We see that in the book of Acts chapter 2 where Peter tells those who come forward as he gives his first altar call there in Acts chapter 2 and people come forward and they say, what must we do? And he tells them to believe in Jesus Christ and that they would receive the promise which is the Holy Spirit. And he said this promise is to all that the Lord will call, all who are far off, as many as the Lord will call will receive this promise of the Holy Spirit.

And so we've been looking at this understanding of the Holy Spirit and the fact that we have this incredible advantage, that it's better for us that Jesus ascended to the Father because He has sent to us the Holy Spirit to be our helper. That word helper, it means to come alongside, to bring comfort, to bring encouragement, to bring strength, to help us accomplish the things that God has set before us.

As we've been talking about throughout this series, I think it's not a mystery to all of us that life is hard. There's many difficulties that we face. There's many hurdles that we have to overcome. There's many challenges that are standing before us. And we need all the help we can get. Life is difficult enough, but then you add on the Christian life.

And not only do you have the same situations as everyone else, the same pressures and the same decisions, the same sufferings and loss that you face in just plain old ordinary life, but now you add on spiritual life and now you have these spiritual battles that rage. The spiritual warfare that's going on and the flesh versus the spirit and the enemy trying to take you out and analyzing you and strategizing how he can trip you up and

and cause you to fall. And there's a battle that goes on. And so we need all the help we can get. If we're to live the Christian life, it is a necessity that we have the Holy Spirit. We can't do it on our own strength. We need help. And so as we look at walking in the Spirit this evening, we're going to be kind of reviewing a little bit some of the things that we've been talking about over this past week.

And really, as we talk about walking in the Spirit, the main thrust that I think is what the Lord is putting upon my heart for this evening is, we've heard about it, we've learned about it, now let's go do it. We talked about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That was the very first study last Sunday evening. In John chapter 14, Jesus said,

again promises that the helper will come, the Holy Spirit will come. And he says there that the Holy Spirit will abide with you forever. This is such an important truth. That you and I as believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. But it's not just from time to time. It's not just sometimes the Holy Spirit's within us and then sometimes He's not. It's not that, you know, if we...

Haven't been doing very good. You know, maybe we didn't make it to church this morning or you know Maybe we weren't reading the Bible this week or maybe we didn't spend much time in prayer And so now the Holy Spirit's not dwelling in us. No, the Holy Spirit dwells within us always He has made your hearts his permanent address if you're a believer in Jesus Christ it's a permanent condition of the believer and

Whether you're in a good mood, whether you're in a bad mood, whether you're driving crazy, whether you're obeying the traffic laws, whether you woke up on the right side of the bed or the wrong side of the bed, no matter what is going on, you as a believer in Jesus Christ have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He's with you. He has come alongside you to help you.

And we saw on Sunday night last week that there was nine advantages that we have because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Some incredible things that are the result of the Holy Spirit dwelling within. And so we have these incredible advantages in the Holy Spirit. And we learned that in order to receive those advantages, we need to ask. We need to ask God to give us of His Spirit.

Although His Spirit dwells within us, the process of us asking is us receiving those things that He has given to us in the Holy Spirit. And then we need to walk. We don't just ask and then sit around. We ask and then we walk in those things that God has given to us. So, for example, one of the advantages that we have in the Holy Spirit is that He will teach us all things.

And so we need to ask God to teach us all things by His Holy Spirit, but then we don't just sit there and watch TV. Then we need to dig into the Word of God so that He can have the opportunity then to teach us all things. And so we need to ask and we need to walk. Well, then we saw the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is pretty amazing. It's pretty powerful.

Because there in Galatians 5, verse 22 and 23, Paul lists for us the fruit of the Spirit. And there are things that none of us would say, eh, I don't really want that in my life. There are things like love.

and joy, and peace, and patience, or long-suffering, and goodness, and gentleness, and self-control. These are things, Paul says, there's no laws against them. And they're things that all of us desire, and all of us need. We all crave these things. Well, Paul says, look, these things are not generated by your own strength, or by your own resources. You don't work up

Love or joy or peace or long-suffering. It's not up to you to manufacture these things. He says these things are the fruit of the Spirit. Or they're the results or the produce of the Spirit. These are things that the Holy Spirit produces in you. And so if you and I are lacking love or joy or peace or long-suffering or kindness or goodness or gentleness or self-control, if we're lacking those things,

It's not up to us to work really hard to build those qualities or make those characteristics happen in our life. We learn then, like, if you want more fruit from a fruit tree, what you do is you don't beat the tree, you don't yell at it, you don't scream at it. What do you do? You cultivate it. You give it the resources that it needs, the nutrition that it needs, and you take care of it. In the same way, for the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we

for the Holy Spirit to produce in us love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control, we need to cultivate our spiritual lives. We need to give our souls something to feast on. We need to spend time in the Word of God. We need to immerse ourselves in the things of God. And as we do, the Holy Spirit has the resources then to produce the fruits in us that He desires to bring forth.

There are some great lessons there on cultivating and not generating the fruit of the Spirit. Well, then we talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Not only do we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and the incredible advantages that come along with that, there's also the baptism of the Holy Spirit, where not only is He in us, but He comes upon us with power.

Jesus promised his disciples in Acts chapter 1 that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. That they would have this dynamic, this dynamite power, the power of the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose, and that was to be witnesses to Jesus. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit when he fills us or comes upon us,

is specifically for the purpose of testifying of Jesus. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not something that is only for the select few, only for those who have ministry positions. It's for every believer. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 5, he gives us the command to be filled with the Spirit.

Not to be drunk with wine. That is, don't overwhelm yourself and don't overindulge in the things of this world. But instead, immerse yourself in the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you. And you will receive power to be a witness to Jesus. Similar to an expert witness that might be called to the stand. You are an expert witness.

And you're able to testify about Jesus and about who He is and what He has done to the world around you. You're an authorized agent able to come and to bring the message of who Jesus is and what He has done. And so we saw as we studied the baptism of the Holy Spirit that the results, five different results of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the boldness that we receive, the power that is there to be a witness,

to speak the Word of God boldly. And how do we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Well, much like the fruit of the Spirit, it's not about working up really hard or being really faithful or generating something on our own. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is received by asking in faith. Asking and then walking. We ask. We ask God to fill us.

We invite him to baptize us with his Holy Spirit, and then we walk. We go forward in obedience, trusting that he has done the work and that he is doing the work in us and through us. Well, then we moved on and talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit really kind of come in a couple different categories. We have, first of all, that Jesus gives us leadership.

Jesus' gifts to us come in the form of leadership roles and positions. We looked briefly at that in Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul tells us that Jesus gave some to be apostles and some to be prophets and some to be evangelists and some to be pastor and teachers. And so those are leadership roles, leadership positions that Jesus has given to the body of Christ because he knows that we need authority, we need spiritual authority in our lives.

Well, then we looked at the fact that God gives us something as well. So Jesus gives us leadership. The Father then gives us membership. That is membership within the body of Christ. You and I as believers have this incredible advantage in that we are members. We have a place. We have a role. We belong in the body of Christ. We're not all off by ourselves.

We're joined together with other believers. We're united together as members of the body of Christ. How many members of your body did you leave at home today? I hope you brought them all here, right? We're all together. We're connected. We're joined together. And so we're not in this Christian life on our own. We're not isolated. But we have brothers and sisters around us who help us. We build one another up. We have this membership within the body of Christ.

Well, not only do we have these associations and this fellowship with our fellow members in the body of Christ, but we learned there that God gives us roles to fulfill, functions to perform within the body of Christ. And we saw there in Romans chapter 12, seven examples of the operations that exist within the body of Christ. Roles that God has given to different people. And every one of us

has a function to perform. Not only do we belong in the body of Christ, and that's wonderful, but we have responsibility to the body of Christ to perform the function that God has given to us. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4.16 that the body of Christ grows as each individual member does its share. And so there's a necessity for us to fulfill the role that God has given to us.

And the question is often asked, well then, how do I find out what my role is within the body of Christ? And we learned there as we studied that on Wednesday, that the way that we find out what our role is in the body of Christ is found in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, where Paul tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and then to prove the perfect and acceptable will of God.

The way that we find out our role is we present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice and we say, God, here I am. Whatever you want to do, give me opportunities to serve. And then as opportunities open before you, then you try them out and you prove, you determine, is this good? Does good come from this? Is this the role that God has given to me? It's, you know, trial and error kind of sounds bad, but it's kind of how we learn. We test it out. We try it out. We prove it.

By involving ourselves and by serving in those opportunities as God opens those doors, as we see the need. I think that's important because a lot of times, you know, we already have our list of things that we're willing to do. Okay, God, I'll serve you in any of these areas. But maybe the role that God has given to you is not on your list. Maybe he has something radically different in store for you.

And so we need to throw away the list and just present ourselves before God as a living sacrifice and say, whatever you want, Lord, here I am, send me. And in that process, as we go and we spend some time in this area and then we spend some time in that area and we test and we prove and we find out,

What is God's perfect will? And sometimes He has us here for a season and then He moves us over there and it's all part of His work in our life, but He gets to work through us in the process. And so we have roles to fulfill within the body of Christ. Each one of us has a function, has a role to fulfill, has a part to play within the body of Christ. Well, then the next night we went on and talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus gives leadership

The Father gives membership. And then the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts to help us fulfill the role that the Father has given to us. And so we spent the last three nights looking at those gifts of the Spirit. And we looked at them in three different perspectives, three different contexts. First of all, we learned how to receive the gifts of the Spirit. We learned that in 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul tells us to pursue love,

And then desire spiritual gifts. To pursue love is to chase after perfect love. To desire God's best for people. For the people around us. For the people that we serve. And then to desire spiritual gifts. It means to have a burning passion for spiritual gifts. That is to have a burning passion saying, God, use me.

empower me, gift me that I may supernaturally meet their need and accomplish what you have in mind for them, which is what is best for them. And so it's a burning passion to serve one another. And as we have that pursuit of love and burning desire for spiritual gifts, we put ourselves in a position where the Holy Spirit can give us these gifts to accomplish His purposes.

So we looked at the gifts of the Spirit in the context of fellowship. That you and I as believers, again, we have membership in the body of Christ. We're united together. We're placed around each other for a reason. Because I need what you have to supply. And you need what I have to supply. And as we rub against each other, as we bump against each other, as we conversate, as we share with one another, we are building each other up.

We can't do it on our own, but we need one another. God's designed us in that way. Well, this fellowship that we have isn't just, you know, like a club, like we can just, you know, get together and talk about, you know, the same kind of subjects. We have the same kind of interest. It's not like that at all. But the fellowship that God has in mind for us goes much deeper than those surface things so that we can impact one another's hearts and we can make a difference in each other's lives.

But we don't have to do this on our own strength. You know, it's not up to us to come up with that great counsel or those great words of encouragement. The Holy Spirit gifts us for our times of fellowship. And so we learned that we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts for those times when we're hanging out together, having a potluck.

That we need to be desiring spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit would gift us to be able to minister to the people that He's placed us in contact with. Whether it be on the phone or at the grocery store or in the parking lot after church, whenever we connect with one another, it's fellowship. We need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.

Well, then the next night we looked at the gifts of the Holy Spirit within the context of activities here on the church property. The ministries that are going on, the different capacities in children's ministry, in Spanish ministry, in youth ministry, college ministry, all the different things that are going on. The worship ministry, the usher ministry, the marriage ministry, all kinds of things are happening all the time. And then beyond that, you also have, you know, home Bible studies and prayer groups and those types of things.

There's a lot of work that is going on, a lot of work that God wants to do, but He doesn't call us to do those things on our own strength. And so if you're serving in children's ministry, if that's the role that God has given to you in the body of Christ, well, then you need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. That God desires to give you by the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts to be able to fulfill your role. Words of prophecy to be able to impact the kids' hearts.

Gifts of healing and the working of miracles so that you can accomplish His purposes according to His will. Whichever capacity you happen to be serving in, you and I, we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. That we would not serve from our own resources or our own strength. That we would not minister with our own wisdom or thoughts or ideas. But that we would bring forth the things that the Holy Spirit gives us.

Well, then last night, we finished off the subject of the gifts of the Spirit by talking about the rest of life. Many times as Christians, we think about the gifts of the Holy Spirit on this property and in the context of church studies and fellowships and things like that. But the rest of life, we kind of forget about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we forget to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.

We did a couple quick calculations last night in considering this and learned, you know, if you come to church a couple times a week, twice a week, and you're maybe here four hours a week at a time, let's say average, that that's about three and a half percent of your waking hours each week that you're here at church. Now, the Holy Spirit desires to work through you much more than just three and a half percent of the time. He wants to work through you

All of the time. And so when we're in the workplace, when we're in the home, when we're at the store, wherever we may be, we need to have the mindset that God is at work. And we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts that we might impact the people around us. That we might be able to share the gospel, not in our own strength or not in just something that we memorize, but in the power that the Holy Spirit provides and the gifts that the Holy Spirit provides.

And so as we have looked at all of these things, I hope you get the picture. I hope it's very clear. We have an incredible advantage in the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is not up to our own strength and we're not called to do it all by ourselves. But that the Holy Spirit lives within us, produces fruit in us, He comes upon us to give us power, He gifts us to fulfill our role and to minister to the world around us, to reach people,

It's a work of the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. It's what the Christian life is all about. And so as we continue tonight and kind of finish up this series, we want to talk briefly about walking in the Spirit. And for that, would you turn please to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. I want to encourage you this evening as we consider these things, the objective of this study, what the Lord put upon my heart in preparing and presenting this,

was not just a bunch of information. My heart's desire, what God desires, is that not that we would just have this great intellectual understanding of the Holy Spirit. We haven't talked a whole lot about doctrine. We've been talking a lot about how He works in our lives, so that now we can go forward and live it out. And as we talk about walking in the Spirit, that's really what we're talking about.

Let's take all of these things that we've learned and now put it into practice. Let's go and do it. Here in Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul is talking about walking in the Spirit. We're just going to hit a couple of verses here in chapter 5. First of all, it says in verse 16, Paul says, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Verse 17 says,

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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Jump down now to verse 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Now, in between those verses that we jumped over, it is Paul talking about the works of the flesh and that we're not to walk in those things. And then he talks about the fruit of the Spirit, the work that the Holy Spirit does in us. But this evening, I want to just focus on those few verses that we read, dealing with walking in the Holy Spirit, being led by the Holy Spirit. And then again, he says in verse 25, to walk in the Spirit.

This is what God calls us to do. To take all these things we've been thinking about and studying and praying about this whole week in regard to the Holy Spirit and then to put feet to our faith and live it out. To not just believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, but to live our lives with that understanding as if that were true, because it is true. To not just believe that

There's the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but then to live it out and to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to take steps of faith and to share with people and know that the Holy Spirit is empowering us and making us expert witnesses for Jesus. To take steps of faith and fulfill our role and our function within the body of Christ. To actually go and do it, to get out of the chair, to get out of the seat, to go into the world, to go into the world,

and accomplish the work that God has set before us in the power of the Spirit. I think we have an incredible example of this in the person of Jesus Christ. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul explains something incredible about Jesus. He tells us in Philippians 2, verse 5, "...let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God."

Then in verse 7 he says, Paul is explaining that Jesus Christ humbled Himself. He is God and He has always existed, but in the virgin birth He humbled Himself.

And he emptied himself where he laid aside his rights and privileges as God and came in the form or in the likeness of men. He came like you and I to be the ultimate example for us, to be the forerunner for us, to accomplish salvation for us, of course. But this means something important, that Jesus lived in a body like yours and like mine.

minus the sinful nature, of course, but he had our likeness. Remember, the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 4 that he's a great and incredible high priest because he's able to sympathize because he was tempted at all points as we are. He experienced life like we experienced life, without sin, but he experienced it. And the things that Jesus did, the works that he accomplished,

He accomplished in a body like yours and mine. He accomplished then in the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember in Matthew chapter 3, we find the beginning of Jesus' ministry. At the very beginning, He starts out being baptized. In Matthew 3.16, it says that when He had been baptized, He came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

Right at the beginning of his ministry, the Holy Spirit came upon him. At the beginning of Peter's ministry, the Holy Spirit came upon him. There in Acts chapter 2. This was the beginning. The ministry that Jesus accomplished here on the earth was in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Immediately after his baptism...

Then in Luke chapter 4, in fact, why don't you turn there with me briefly. We'll come back to Galatians in a few moments. But in Luke chapter 4, we find out what happens right after Jesus is baptized. And if you don't know what happens right after Jesus is baptized, it's not what you would probably think happens right after Jesus is baptized. In Luke chapter 4, verse 1, it tells us, "...then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit..."

returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Notice though what it says here in chapter 4 verse 1 of Luke. Jesus is filled with the Spirit and then he's led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus was just baptized. The Holy Spirit has come upon him. He's filled with the Holy Spirit and now the Holy Spirit is leading him. You see, from the very beginning, Jesus' ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Why? Why?

Because he came in the likeness of men. He came like you and I. To be an example for us. All of the things that Jesus accomplished. He did in the power of the Holy Spirit. Look down at verse 14. Here in Luke chapter 4. Verse 14 says, Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And the news of him went out throughout the surrounding region. He came back out of that wilderness experience. In the power of the Spirit. From the very beginning.

Jesus' ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Verse 18. He's reading from the Scriptures. He says,

And then in verse 21, it says, He began to say to them, Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So he reads from Isaiah chapter 61, this passage, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And then he tells the people, Today this is fulfilled. What is Jesus saying? He says, I'm the one this is talking about, and the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And for what purpose? To preach the gospel to the poor. What did Jesus say was fulfilled?

the result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? He said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. But wait, don't go yet. You're going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And then when you're baptized, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're going to receive power to be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. You see, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon him to proclaim the gospel, to be a witness.

to be a testimony in the same way that He has given the Holy Spirit to come upon us to proclaim the gospel, to preach the good news. In Matthew chapter 12, we learn that Jesus is able to cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 10,

They're testifying of Jesus and they say that he was able to work miraculous signs by the power of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9, verse 14 tells us that Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice through the Holy Spirit. His ministry was powered by the Holy Spirit. In the same way that he calls us to be filled with the Spirit and to live in the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit,

to be baptized and to operate in the gifts of the Spirit, that's what Jesus did. That's the life that He lived. Because He laid aside His rights as God. He didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped, but He laid it aside to come in the likeness of men to demonstrate for us what a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit looks like. And so we've learned all of these things about the Holy Spirit and we have Jesus as our example today.

Now all that's left for us is to go and do it. Let's go back to Galatians chapter 5. And the first point I want to share with you this evening is to walk in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Paul says again in verse 16, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The word walk means to walk. It's not complicated. It's not difficult. It's the same word that's used when

Jesus is walking on water, as the word that's used when he tells the lame to take up their mat and walk. It's the same word as the two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus. It just means to walk. Walking is one of those basic things for us in life. Our lives are filled with walking, and that is the point.

As our lives are filled with walking, to the same extent our lives are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Have you ever noticed when you go to the fridge, you have to get up and walk. When you go to brush your teeth, you get up and walk. When you go to the store, you're walking. When you go to church, you're walking. It's just everything that we do requires us to get on our feet pretty much.

And if we're going to go anywhere, we're going to get up on our feet and go walking. Even if we're just walking to the car to drive to where we're going, we still have to walk. In the same way, Paul says, walk in the Spirit. Immerse yourself in the Holy Spirit. Make everything that you do be part of you relying upon the Holy Spirit.

Paul gives us some great words about walking in the Spirit in the book of Romans chapter 8. I would encourage you to spend some time in that portion on your own. But he tells us in Romans chapter 8 verse 1 that there's now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who walk according to the Spirit, there's no condemnation. Then he goes on to explain in verse 5 of Romans 8 that those who live according to the flesh...

set their minds on things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on things of the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is the idea of immersing yourself, letting every step and every activity be in the power of the Holy Spirit, be relying upon the Holy Spirit for each step. We just kind of take walking for granted.

We just do it. We don't even really think about it. We don't have to concentrate to do it. And so we do it without thinking and we get from here to there. Paul says, no, walk in the Spirit. Stop and rely upon the Spirit for each step you take. Set your minds on the things of the Spirit. Fill yourself, immerse yourself in the things of the Holy Spirit. He says, the results will be, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

If you will walk in the Spirit, if you will immerse yourself in the Spirit, if you will take each step in the power of the Holy Spirit, He says, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. I like that word fulfill. It means to complete an order or to execute an order. And I think it's because of watching too many cooking shows. I think of a restaurant. You know, the order comes in and then the order is executed. This is what they've ordered. This is what they want. This is the way that they want it cooked.

And then the order is executed and it's given and then it's delivered to the one who requested it. If you walk in the Spirit, Paul says, then you will not fulfill. You won't complete those orders that are given in by the flesh. You won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. I think you need to post up a sign. You know, you reserve the right to refuse service to the flesh. That when the flesh says, hey, you need to indulge in this.

Here, this is my order. This is what I want. Go practice that. Tell her this thing. Giving you orders. They're not commands because, well, you've been set free from the bondage to sin. They're orders. Requests. They seem like commands. And boy, we can be persuaded pretty quickly that we have to do what the flesh tells us to do. But Paul says, if you immerse yourself and take each step in the Holy Spirit, then you will not fulfill those orders.

The lust of the flesh. He tells us there in verse 17 that the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. There's this battle that goes on and that's not uncommon to any of us. When we set our minds on the things of the flesh, the flesh will win that battle. But if we will set our minds on the things of the spirit, if we will walk in the spirit, then the spirit will win that battle. So how do we do it?

It's not a matter of doctrine or theology. It's a matter of practice. We need to practice what we know to be true. And so we need to fill our lives with reliance upon the Holy Spirit. That our days begin relying upon the Holy Spirit. That each step we're presenting to the Lord in prayer. We're asking God to work. We're asking the Holy Spirit to give us strength. We're focusing on the things of the Holy Spirit.

I love the picture of walking in the Spirit because I get the idea that as I'm taking each step, I'm asking God, what is this step you want me to take? Before my foot hits the ground, Lord, you want me to go a different direction? I'll go that direction. Lord, you want me to go a different direction? I'll go that direction. And each step I'm presenting to the Lord, giving Him the opportunity to change what I'm thinking, what I'm planning. I'm presenting each step to Him. Walk in the Spirit.

It's not technical. It's not complicated. It's simple. But it's hard for us to do. And now it's time. We know the truth. We need to just start doing it. Well, the second thing we see here in Galatians chapter 5 in regard to walk in the Spirit, he says in verse 18, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And so we learn here that we need to be led by the Spirit. We need to let the Holy Spirit lead us.

The word led here means to lead gently without violence. Now, there is a leading that is not gently, and then there is a leading that is gently. And I'm sure that you've experienced both. You know, sometimes you've got to lead with some force. You're going to come this way, you're going to go with me to here, whether you like it or not. And your parent grabs the arm and yanks, gets the kid where they need to go. That's not the idea here.

It's to lead gently, without force, without violence. He says, be led by the Spirit. Don't force God. Don't make God bring force, bring pressure into your life for you to change direction. Let Him lead you without violence, without force, without that strength. In other words, He just gives the slightest inclination. I want you to go here. I'm there.

How many times do we respond like that though? I like what the psalmist says in Psalm 32:8-9. God is speaking through the psalmist. He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go." God says, "I'm going to tell you what way to go." And boy, do we need that. He says, "I will guide you with my eye." Now that requires some intimacy. That requires knowing God for us to see where His eye is pointing and go, "Okay, that's where God wants me to go. That's where His attention is. Alright, I'm going that direction."

He says, I'll show you which way. I'm going to show you with my eye. You got to stay close to me. You got to be looking at my face. You got to know what I'm paying attention to. But then he goes on to say, don't be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. So he says, there's two options here. I will guide you with my eye and show you which way to go. You can be led gently without force, or you can ignore me and not pay attention and

And I will have to apply the bridle. I'm going to have to stick a bit in your mouth. And it's not going to be comfortable. You're not going to enjoy it. But I'm going to get you to where I need you to be because you're my child and I love you. But it doesn't have to be that way. He says, don't be like the horse or the mule. They won't come near unless you put this thing on their face and you pull and tug and put pressure on them to go in that direction. God says, look, I'll guide you with my eye.

We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. This is a willingness, a full submission to the Holy Spirit. And when He whispers, we move. We go forward. When He gives us that insight, when He puts that prompting in our heart, we go. Now, understand, confirmation is good, but then there's a lot of times that we wait and wait and wait. And God's confirmed it and confirmed it.

And we wait until what God then needs to harness us with a bit and bridle to get us to go in the direction that He wants us to go. God would prefer that we let Him guide us with His eye. That we be led gently by the Holy Spirit. We read that verse in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 where it says, "...then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."

The Holy Spirit led him, showed him, this is the way I want you to go. He didn't fight it. He went. We need to let the Holy Spirit make our plans. A lot of times we fight against the Spirit because, well, it goes against what our plans are. We had planned to go over here and to do over that thing. And this is the way that we want to serve. And this is the people that we want to talk to. And we don't want to go minister to them. We're fighting because it's not on our list of things to do. It's not what we had thought about.

But we need to throw those things away and let the Holy Spirit make our plans. I was thinking this, but hey, let's say I'm going. Jesus was led by the Spirit. And notice, notice what Jesus was led into by the Holy Spirit. He was led into the wilderness, into the desert. Now, how many of us would let the Spirit lead us to walk out into a dry, dusty, barren land with no food or water? Would we let the Spirit lead us?

Would we respond if the Spirit said, go wander around in Joshua Tree? No, don't take your car. Take your sandals. Would we respond? Would we trust Him? Would we let Him lead us? Or would we fight it? Say, well, I wanted to go to Disneyland. That's where I'm going. Be like Jonah, right? Let's go in the opposite direction as far as we can. Yeah, He didn't let the Spirit lead Him either.

But Jesus let the Spirit lead him into the wilderness. Not only that, but the Spirit here leads Jesus into a 40-day fast. How many of us would let the Spirit lead us to fast, to deny ourselves? No, that's against my plans. I wanted lunch. That's not what I want. But we need to let the Holy Spirit make our plans. Here we see also the Spirit leads Jesus into a season of intense temptation.

There in Luke chapter 4, it describes the whole thing. How many of us would follow that route? We need to be led by the Spirit. Yeah, sure, the wilderness and the fasting and the temptation, it was a little bit rough, but it's what He needed. And He was where God wanted Him to be. And ultimately, that's where we want to be. We want to be in the center of God's will. But to get there, we can't take our own route and have our own ideas and do what we want to do. We need to let the Spirit lead us. And when He prompts us, we need to follow Him.

The result, he says, of being led by the Spirit is that we're not under the law. Because the law is for lawbreakers. But if you're doing the things that the Spirit leads you to do, you're not going to be breaking the law. You're going to be right in the center of God's will. And so how do we do it? How are we led by the Spirit? Well, we need to learn to hear His voice. And we learn to hear His voice by practicing, by doing those things that He prompts us to do, by doing those things that He puts into our heart.

We can start, of course, by just looking at the Word and by doing the things that are spoken to us in the Word of God. And as we obey, we get to know, we get to hear the voice of God. We learn His voice. It's like, you know, if I was to call you on the phone and we don't talk very much, you might not recognize my voice at first. But if we talk frequently, if we talk more often, then you don't need the caller ID to tell you, oh, it's Jerry calling.

In the same way, as we get to know God, as we practice those things that He's putting upon our hearts and we see God working through our lives, we recognize, wow, God did tell me to do that. Wow, God did tell me. Oh, God didn't tell me to do that. I don't know what I was thinking. And we get to learn. We get to distinguish. Oh, that's God's voice. That's what it sounds like. That's what it's like when God speaks to me. And then we can learn and we get better. We get better. And God speaks to us and we learn, oh, yes, that's God's voice.

Now, we do learn His voice, but still sometimes, man, it's a struggle. There's some times that I go through things and I'm like, afterwards, you know, looking back, I know God told me to do something else and I don't know what I was, why didn't I listen? I know the voice of God. But we need to practice, to learn His voice and we practice it by doing. And so if the Holy Spirit puts something upon your heart, just do it. Even if it's crazy.

As if, you know, talking to that person over there at the table is so crazy. Whoa, don't get all crazy now, right? Go pray for that person. Oh, no, that's crazy. Hey, when the Holy Spirit puts that out, go do it. Learn the voice of God. Just practice those things. Let God lead you. Don't question it. Don't fight it. Don't struggle. Don't wrestle it. Don't avoid it. Don't be like the horse or the mule. Let God guide you with his eye.

When he calls something to your attention, he says, look, this is what I'm looking at. You see that guy over there? You see that girl over there? You see that situation here? You see that floor that needs vacuum? Just respond and let the Spirit lead you. Well, finally, number three, he tells us there in verse 25, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Point number three is to keep in step with the Spirit. He starts out with a condition. If we live in the Spirit, then so it

Would it be fair to ask the question, do we live in the Spirit? Well, the word live, it means simply to have life. So we could rephrase, do we have life in the Spirit? Is that true of us as believers? Do we have life in the Holy Spirit? You remember what Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3? He says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We have life in the Spirit. We've been born again by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has given us spiritual life. And so, yes,

We live in the Spirit. We have life in the Spirit. Paul tells us in Romans 8, 11, If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. What is Paul saying? Paul says, yes, you do have life in His Spirit. Your life is by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And since that's the case, since we have life in the Spirit, Paul says, let us walk in the Spirit. And the word walk here, it means to march in rank. If you would picture soldiers marching or a band marching, and each one has their place and they're marching in unison, they're keeping in step with one another. That's what Paul is saying here. If we have life in the Spirit, and we do,

Let us keep in step with the Holy Spirit. As a band marches, each one has their spot. They're keeping the same pace. If one of them were to change their pace or to switch their steps, it would cause some commotion. There would be some disruption. Things would be out of order. But as they keep in step, progress is made. The work is accomplished. The music is played. In the same way, since we live in the Spirit, since we have life in the Holy Spirit...

We need to keep in step, to keep on going, to keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit, with the work that is going on. And God is doing a work in us. The Holy Spirit is working in us. We need to keep in step. We need to be responding as He speaks to us and going forward in those direction that He says. But I think it also has another implication because in John chapter 16, Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit will...

come into the world to accomplish certain things. Not only is the Holy Spirit coming upon the believers, but he says the Holy Spirit's going to be at work in the world amongst the unbelievers. And what is he going to be doing? He's going to be convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He says of sin because they do not believe in me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more, and of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.

The Holy Spirit is going to be at work in the world, convicting us of sin and righteousness and judgment. That's what the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of unbelievers around you. All of the advantages that we've seen are incredible, are powerful. Here's another advantage that we have in the Holy Spirit. In our desire to reach those who are not saved around us, we need to understand the Holy Spirit is working in their life.

bringing conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment. And our role, our job is to recognize the Holy Spirit's work and then engage in it. That is, keep in step with the Holy Spirit. To have discernment, to have understanding, to look and see the Holy Spirit's really bringing conviction in that guy's life. And then keep in step. That's where the Holy Spirit's working. That's where I'm going to be focused. That's what I'm going to be engaged in.

Well, I want to talk to this guy. I want to work over there. No, no, keep in step. What's the Spirit doing? As you see the evidence of conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment, as you see and recognize the Holy Spirit is working in that person's life, the Holy Spirit is working in that situation, the Holy Spirit is working in that Bible study, the Holy Spirit is working in that area, then keep in step. Engage yourself in the work that the Holy Spirit is doing. We don't charge ahead and say, come on, Spirit, hurry up.

He goes ahead and He says, OK, I'm waiting. Anytime you want to jump in, look at what I'm doing. I'm working. Come on, jump in. Engage. This is what I'm doing. This is what I'm accomplishing. So we need to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Recognize as He's working in the lives of the people around us and then engage and participate in that work. We have the gifts of the Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit upon us. We have the infilling of the Holy Spirit and Him producing fruit. We have all these advantages, right?

Now we need to dig in. We need to put it in gear. And sometimes as Christians, it's like, you know, a car in neutral. We've got this incredible motor and all the gears, this torque, this power, you know, 300 horsepower or whatever your car has. I mean, it's a lot. But if it's in neutral, what's the point? We need to put it in drive. We have these incredible advantages in the Holy Spirit.

Let's put it in drive. Let's engage in the work. Let's take steps of faith. Let's reach out and allow God to use us to impact the world around us. Again, we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts. As we look and we recognize the Holy Spirit is working in that person's life. Lord, remember the example of the doctor that I've been sharing, right?

The doctor says, scalpel. And the assistant hands him a scalpel and he gets to work. He says, suction. He gets suction. He gets to work. He tells them what he needs and then he does what he needs to do. You and I are like doctors in that God is using us to perform heart surgery in the lives of the people around us. But we don't know what tool we need. We don't know what instrument we need. And so we just hold out our hand and say, Holy Spirit, you know the situation. You know the gift that's necessary here. You know what's required. And you desire that gift. Lord,

You have a burning passion. Give me that gift that I can minister, that I can reach, that I can impact this person. So we need to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts in order to keep in step with the Spirit and engage in the work that He is doing. Over these last eight days, we've learned all these incredible things about the Holy Spirit, the advantages that we have in Him. We have Jesus as our example. Now we just need to do it. We just need to put it into practice.

We have so many reasons why we don't, don't we? So many reasons why, well, it's hard and I just, you know, I woke up and things weren't going good and I just forgot and all of these things. Listen, I want to encourage you. You have the Holy Spirit advantage. Take control of your life by the power of the Spirit. Don't let your life drive you and push you and you're just trying to keep up.

You ever feel like that? You're just always behind. You're just trying to keep up. And all of these things are pushing you and you're going and you're trying to get ahead, but you just can't stay above water. Listen, wake up and hear from the Lord and obey and walk in the Spirit and do what God tells you to do every day. Take control of your life. You hear from the Lord in the morning and say, God, what do you want me to do? And then do that and focus on those things and don't get distracted. Take control of your life.

So that you're not like, well, at the end of the day, man, I really wanted to serve God today, but I just got so busy. That's backwards. That's idolatry. You need to put God first and receive the advantages that we have in the Holy Spirit. God wants to guide you. He wants to lead you. Let Him do so. Make time for Him. Hear from Him. Do what He tells you to do and accomplish those things that He has set before you. Jesus emptied Himself.

He laid aside His rights as God to walk in a body like ours, to be powered by the Holy Spirit, to demonstrate for us this is what it's like when you live the life that I've called you to live. So let's do it. We have the example. We have the advantage of the Holy Spirit. It's time for us to stop talking about it or wishing that it was so. It's time for us to start living it. Let's do it. Walk in the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit.

We've studied it. We've heard about it. Now let's go practice it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us. Lord, that these things would be real in our lives. That we wouldn't just have an intellectual understanding of these great advantages that we have that you've given to us in the Holy Spirit. But Lord, now I pray that you would help us to put them into practice. Lord, that our lives would be filled with the things of you.

Help us God to immerse ourselves in the things of you when I pray for us that you would help us each day to wake up and put you first and hear from you and Do the things that you call us to do each day or that we would not always be behind always thinking man I wish I could really serve God and do what God's called me to do Lord you've you've enabled us we have what we need help us to lay down our idols and

to lay down those things that hold us back, to get our priorities straight, that we might walk in the Spirit, Lord, that we might be led by You with Your eye, Lord, that You would show us those areas that You're working and what You want to do by shifting Your gaze, by focusing Your attention. Lord, may we have a relationship with You that is close and intimate, Lord, that we can recognize where Your eye is gazing, Lord, that we can involve ourselves in that direction, Lord,

Forgive us for our stubbornness. Forgive us, God, for insisting on our own way, being like the horse and like the mule. Lord, would you remove the bit and bridle from our mouth and help us to hear your still small voice. Not just to hear it, but Lord, to respond as soon as you speak. Not to resist it, not to fight it, but Lord, be fully submitted to you. Help us, God, to submit and surrender completely. Lord, that you could lead us without force, gently,

By your spirit god. I pray that you would help us to keep up you're working god You have a great passion and desire and zeal for the lost people of this world You love them even more than we do god and you're working in their lives with or without us But what I pray that you would open our eyes to recognize To see the holy spirit working in their lives god. I pray that you would help us to keep in step to engage

that work and to be part of the things that you are accomplishing for your glory for your kingdom bringing souls to salvation God we thank you for these incredible advantages you've not left us alone you've not asked us to live this life in our own strength or with our own power but you've given us everything we need by filling us with your Holy Spirit so Lord fill us now baptize us gift us transform us use us and

according to your will however you see fit lord we present ourselves to you for your living sacrifices here we are send us in jesus name we pray amen we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources