WHAT'S NEXT?

GALATIANS 5:16-21

‘So I say, “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:  sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.’

This was originally meant for those who have just received baptism, to tell you what is expected of you now.  But I believe it is also a message for all Christians to hear.  So, from this day forward … what’s next?

First of all, how many of you believe that your body has a spirit?  Nearly all of you.  What would you say if I told you that you were wrong?  

Your body does not have a spirit.  Your spirit does have a body, however.  The body will disappear, but your spirit will live on forever. 

We consist of three parts.  We have a mind; we have a body; and we have a spirit.  It isn’t your mind that communicates with the Holy Spirit as your mind focuses on the data of the world.  It isn’t your body that communicates with the Holy Spirit as your body is focused on the fleshly pleasures of the world.  It is your spirit that communicates with the Holy Spirit. Today, I want to discuss a teaching from the Apostle Paul, about the Spirit of God.

Let’s start by talking about …

1.     OUR SPIRIT

Paul is talking about living by the Spirit.  Of course, he is talking about the Spirit of God’s nature, the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit that was sent to be with us when Jesus left.  The Spirit that remains with us yet today, if we will but let Him in. 

But don’t let the word ‘Spirit’ fool you.  We tend to think of a spirit as something vague, not real – something akin to Casper the friendly Ghost.  But the Holy Spirit is as real a person as you or I.  He can be grieved and made sad.  These traits are only found in real living beings.  And, being the comforter that God the Father sent to us after Jesus left, He lives with us by living in our spirits. 

And Paul says to live by the Spirit and we will not satisfy our sinful nature.  We are born into a world that is under the sway of the enemy, and the enemy is the world’s best liar.  His only job is to kill, steal, and destroy what God has made – and we are in the center of his target.  Since we are born into this world, we have carnal natures, always looking for immediate gratification and fun.  And there is no sin that is not fun to somebody to some degree.  If sin were not fun, there would be no enticement to commit it in the first place.  And that is our problem:  Our carnal and worldly nature craves the fix we get from sin.

And Paul tells us to live by the Spirit and we will not gratify those desires of our flesh that we have.  If you will notice, before Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, his first instinct was to walk with God.  After he ate of the forbidden fruit, his first instinct was to hide from God.  He had lost his way because he had disobeyed God and become a part of this world.

An airline pilot came on the loud speaker in the middle of a long flight and told the passengers that they had been flying with no radar, radio communications, or compasses for the last hour.  He said the bad news was they were hopelessly lost.  But he said the good news was they were making excellent time!

Too many Christians are living their lives like that pilot was flying his plane:  Living a lost life, but making good time doing it.  We have become so busy in our society that we no longer focus on details, but on the overall pictures.  Unfortunately, big pictures are made up of small details, and when we miss them, we are distorting the bigger picture.

A man confided that his life was so busy that he no longer came home at night and asked his wife what was going on.  He said he walks through the door and says, “Where are we going?”

We are a busy people.  So many people complain that they do not have any time left in their day to devote to God.  They have it backwards!  God wants our first fruits.  That means He wants the first portion of everything we have.

When we awake in the mornings, we should give God the first portion of our day.  Wake up and go into prayer, and then read His holy word for a while.  Then get on with your normal routine.  In church, give God your first fruits.  In other words, worship Him first.  Then get busy doing the things you do to serve others.  Like I said, God wants your first fruits, not what is leftover after you do everything else. 

So how do we do that on a consistent basis?  The first thing we must do is learn to stop being so busy.  Everyone has the same amount of time allocated to them each day.  We must train ourselves to take a small portion of that time and give it back to God.  And the best way we can do that is to train ourselves to read what God has written so we will know more of what He wants for us.  We must “be still” before the Lord, or in today’s vernacular, we must cool it and stop being so busy.

PSALM 37:7 tells us to ‘be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.’

PSALM 46:10 says to ‘be still and know that I am God.’

God does not mean for us to be idle and quit working.  He does, however, want us to take periods of time to be restful so that we can focus on the things of God.  If we do not take the time to read His word; to communicate and listen to Him in prayer; how can we get to know God better?  The answer, of course, is we can’t.  And if we do not take the time to pursue our God, we will not take the time to live by the Spirit of God.

One of the ways we can devote to God is by doing the things that Jesus has modeled – such as baptism.  We are trying to find a place by the river so we can have an old fashioned baptism after church during July, followed by a country-style picnic.  We have several people who want to get baptized at that time.

Here is what Paul says about baptism.

ROMANS 6:4 says,

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

When we go under the water in baptism, we are dying to our sin just as Jesus died to his earthly life, and when we come up out of the water, we come up to a new life in Christ, just as He came up out of the earth to a new life in God.  And, as the Holy Spirit lighted on Him, the Holy Spirit is given to us.

And that is when we begin to live by the Spirit.  And when we begin to live by the Spirit, we start seeing the fruits of the Spirit being manifested in our lives.

GALATIANS 5:22-24

‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things, there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature, with its passions and desires. 

All those things we desire in the flesh are contrary to what God wants us to desire.  In the flesh, we desire fun.  In the Spirit, we desire joy.  You cannot have joy in the flesh, as pure joy only comes from having a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

There was a lady in a small church several years ago who carried her Bible with her everywhere she went.  She was the first to offer prayers for others and in every conversation, she mentioned the Lord.  But whenever she talked about people who were divorced or homeless, she could only offer biting criticisms.  Was this lady living by the fruits of the Spirit, or was she living by the hatred of the world? 

A person who leans on Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit only offers up loving rebuke, and then only in the proper setting.  A person who is led by the Spirit of God does not use the Holy Ground of God’s church to criticize, denounce, or correct others, especially in a church service.  A person who relies on God’s Spirit does not find fault with others, but will find love for others. 

And that brings me to -

2.     LIVING IN THE FLESH

We are born with a hole in our hearts.  That hole is in the shape of our Lord and Savior.  So what do we spend our lives doing?  We do everything we can to fill that hole so we won’t be missing anything.  And we use all the things this world offers us to do it.

Some people use alcohol to fill that hole.  Do you remember the testimony Brother Rome gave a few months ago?  He recounted his days as a drunkard and said he would awake in the mornings to find himself drooped against the toilet, sicker than a dog.  But he said he would smile and try to remember all the fun he had the night before.  What was he doing?  He was trying his best to fill that void in his heart, but he was also failing miserably.

Some people use sex to fill that hole.  In verse 19, Paul talks about sexual immorality, and in verse 21, he talks about the sin of orgies.  God gave us sex as a wonderful thing, but it is only to be experienced between a man and his wife.  In any other setting, we are sinning against the Most High God, and we are trying to use it to fill the void in our hearts.  The problem is it that it cannot fill that void; only a personal and close relationship with Christ Jesus will fill that void.

A man lay dying in the hospital.  He had been married and had several children, whom he loved with all his heart.  But he and the wife had divorced and he felt lost and empty, with nothing to hold onto, so he started living the life of a partier.  He soon started using drugs and then abused the alcohol, and very quickly became very promiscuous.  And all he was trying to do was be happy and fill content – but he didn’t even realize it.

The sad part was he was soon to die, and he would not be with his children any more and he had never found that contentment or fulfillment in life that he so eagerly pursued.  When sad things happen to us, or those we love, we tend to understand them on a deeper level, don’t we?  I understand this, because that man who lay dying in the hospital was my oldest brother, Gene.  And Gene was chasing his sins, trying to use them to fill a void. 

All of us pursue things to fill the void in our heart when Jesus isn’t in it.  Think for a moment.  What sin are you chasing? 

In the passage I read a few minutes ago, Paul is telling us that if we continue to live these kinds of lives, we shall not enter into the gates of Heaven.  Is that what we want:  To be told to get away from God because we are evildoers?

Let me give you some very understandable examples of what I am talking about.

Dale wants a promotion on his job, so he must make sure his work is worthy enough to be promoted.  Trina is pursuing a college degree, so she must work at studying so she can pass the tests.

Dale probably doesn’t like spending all that time on the job anymore than Trina likes spending that much time studying, but they know that to earn what they really want, they have to do it.  It may not be easy, but it is necessary.

Likewise, it is not always easy to live a life in the Spirit, but to get what we really desire; it is necessary to always strive to live in the Spirit.  Have you ever noticed the difference between a person who is walking with Christ and one who is not?  The one walking with Christ is living in the Spirit.  And it is no coincidence that the person who is living in the Spirit is happier and more peaceful, no matter what their lot in life.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 explains this difference.

‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’

If we really are in Christ, and Christ really is in us, then there will be a difference between the way others live their lives and the way we live ours.  That difference is what we lean on to fulfill our desires.  They lean on the world and all the sin the world offers them.  We lean on God’s Holy Spirit, and receive the joy of God’s love as we do.

Errol Flynn was an actor who died in 1959, at the relatively young age of 50.  He was said to have had lustful desires for any human who walked, whether it be male or female.  He also was addicted to gambling and drinking.  In his house, he had a gambling hall and a large barroom.  He also had one-way mirrors in most rooms so he could sneak peaks at whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

Errol Flynn, by all accounts, was the type of person Paul was describing in the passage I read.  He was sexually immoral, full of impure motives, his idol was his own selfish pleasures, and he indulged in orgies and drunkenness. 

How many of us have done similar things?  Oh, maybe not on as grand a scale as old Errol, and maybe in different ways, but we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Now, let me ask you a question:  Do you think Mr. Flynn went to heaven?  And if not, why do you think you will go if you are guilty of those same sins?

After Flynn died, Stuart Hamblin bought his house.  Mr. Hamblin is the songwriter who wrote such songs as, ‘It Is No Secret What God Can Do” and “This Old House.”  He removed the barroom and placed racks full of gospel music in its place.  He also took out the gambling hall and made it a recreation hall for Christian youths.  In short, he renovated the house, taking out all the sin and converting it to a house that worships Jesus.

That house is much like becoming a true Christian.  Even though our carnal bodies remain the same, something new happens to it.  The Holy Spirit comes in and takes up residence in our spirits.  Now, we must be very careful, because sometimes things get distorted, even in the church.

There are many people who believe in God, and even believe in Jesus; who go to church regularly and are nice people who think they are really Christians.  But they aren’t.  These people have been deceived by the devil into thinking that they are doing all the things necessary to go to Heaven.

In reality, these people focus on their own desires first.  Everything they think about revolves around what they want, what they need, what they think.  It doesn’t matter whether their thoughts are good or bad, they are selfish because they are not focused on the Lord first and foremost.  For us to be real Christians, we must focus on what the Lord wants, and stop ….

3.     Living in sin

Our sinful nature is in conflict with the Spirit of God.  Let me reiterate that:  When we live in self, we are focused on self.  When we live by the Spirit, we are focused on God.

A lady went through a McDonald’s drive-thru and ordered a chicken sandwich.  When she got the order, it had a hamburger instead of a chicken sandwich and she went ballistic.  She jumped out of her car and actually crawled thru the window and began screaming and throwing food everywhere.  Then she left and went next door to Taco Bell, where she was arrested for disorderly conduct.

It seems she was unhappy with her happy meal and finally went elsewhere to get what she wanted.  How many people do you know who throws a fit because they are not happy with something and then goes somewhere else to find something they like?

We see people doing that with marriages all the time.  They become disillusioned with their mate when the newness wears off, and instead of trying to buckle down and work at having a happy marriage, they throw it away after throwing a fit and then off they go to find something they like better.  The sad part of this is they never find any happiness because they are never willing to work at getting it.

The Apostle Paul knew of this conflict of what we want versus what God wants for us. 

In ROMANS 7:15 he said,

‘I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.’

What in the world was he talking about?  He was talking about the same thing we go through many times every day.  There is a war going on inside us, and it is over what our sinful flesh wants and our Christian heart wants.  It is not an easy battle, but it can be won.  But to win, you must be willing to fight against the flesh.  You cannot succumb to your worldly desires and then just feel badly after the fact.  It is your responsibility to use what God gave you to not give in, but to stand firm by living in the Spirit.

I saw a program on TV a few weeks ago about the mating battles of different animals.  Invariably, the bulls who want to be dominant will go head-to-head in a fight that sometimes lasts all day, or until one runs away or dies.  It would seem that the largest and strongest bull wins.  But how did he win?  He actually won the battle months before in the summer when he ate the most.  He prepared beforehand for the battle that would be yet to come.

There will be winners and losers in this spiritual battle that rages within us, too.  And that winner will be the one who prepares for it beforehand; and not the one who waits until they are in the middle of it to wonder what to do.  The only way we can prepare for this battle is by reading the Bible to find out what God wants from us.  It will not be by reading sleazy books, watching filthy shows, or doing things that are fun to do.  We will get ready by focusing ourselves on getting closer to our God.  But to do that, we must first turn our back on the sinful offerings of this world and turn back towards God.

If you are living with your focus on what you want, you are living in the flesh and you will go to hell, even if what you want is not necessarily bad.  Why?  Because your focus is not on Jesus.  If your focus is on you, then you have become your idol, and Paul tells us to stay away from idolatry.

But, also understand that we are talking about having an “attitude” of sin.  Every one of us is going to continue to sin the rest of our lives, but when we live by the Spirit, the Spirit will convict us of our sin and that is when we go to the Father and ask forgiveness with a humble and repentful heart.  And the wonder of it all is that He does forgive us – because He is a God of second chances.

Most countries have a pay-as-you-use toll system on major roads, like we do here in Oklahoma.  Switzerland on the other hand, has a system where you pay a flat rate every year and get a sticker to put on your window, similar to our license plate stickers.

They give you all of January to purchase the new sticker, and will not give you a ticket during that month.  January is a month of grace.  But when that month is over, you either have a sticker or you will get a ticket.  They will say you had plenty of time, but chose to ignore the law, so you must pay the consequences.

Don’t you see that is what God gives us?  He has given us a period of grace; a time to understand the law and to comply with it.  Many people ask how a loving God could send someone to hell.  The answer is that He doesn’t – we send ourselves to hell because we refuse to obey the law.

When your grace period is over, what will be your plight?  On your personal Day of Judgment, what will God see when He looks at you?  Will He see a person who has received Christ and has tried to live by the Spirit, or will He see a person who has kept a rebellious heart and refused to obey?

And what will you do on your personal Day of Judgment?  When you look at God, will you see a Father who loves you and has forgiven you, or will you see a God who you have rejected?  You will be before His throne.  Will you hold your head up high and find joy in the radiance of His love, or will you hang your head in shame and terror, as you finally understand that your pride has sent you to hell?

Won’t you please get your sticker before your grace period runs out?  Won’t you ask the Holy Spirit to come into your spirit today?  God wants you to.  The question is; do you want to?

INVITATION

  * - The words that are bold and underlined correspond to the sermon notes in the power point display.

** - This message was originally entitled “Life in the Spirit” and was written by Rev. Steve Shepherd, in March 1999.