Letting God’s Holy Spirit Do the Leading
Galatians 5:16-18
October 6, 2019 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (Galatians 5:16-18)
Gal 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
A. There is a battle is going on in every Christian’s life that will NEVER be worked out, and never be at peace, until the day we as Christians enter God’s presence in heaven!
B. It is the battle between Our Flesh, and the Spirit of God in Us
1. It’s like the eternal battle between cats and dogs
2. It’s like Oil trying to mix with Vinegar – never will mix
3. It is the war that goes on in Christians that makes living the Christian life complicated!
C. Don’t be discouraged – because there is a way to actually manage the battle NOT in your favour, but in God’s favour!
1. You have only one choice – to let God win.
2. You see, if YOU want to win the fight in you, you will find that you can’t
3. But if you want GOD to win the fight in your life, then there is no problem at all
D. Last week I taught you An Introduction to Walking in the Spirit
E. Today, we will learn HOW to walk!
II. Background and Review
A. You Have Two Natures Now
1. A fleshly, natural Human nature
2. And a spiritual, supernatural, Christ-like nature
3. And the decisions of you in the middle!
B. We Know Something is Wrong in Us
1. There is a Conflict of Voices
a. The scream of the flesh for attention
b. The quietness of the Spirit for attention
2. Romans 7:15-19 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
3. Can’t seem to ever do right – always grouchy, selfish, complaining, angry, bitter…
4. And don’t enjoy doing wrong anymore – just never finding rest
5. So, God did something that has confused most Christians, but is actually is the answer
C. What God Did for us at Conversion
1. He Ignored my flesh – treats it as dead
2. Brought life to my spirit (Eph 2:1-9)
a. Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…
b. Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
c. Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)…
d. Eph 2:8,9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
3. By putting HIS Spirit into my spirit – an entirely new nature – different loves and desires and even lusts!
4. Asks me now to obey His Spirit in me – to walk in His ways, to walk with Him (not against Him), following His leading, obeying His will
III. The Command to Walk in the Spirit
A. Most people have this backwards
1. Strive so hard to stop doing wrong things
a. Wish they were good
b. Hate themselves and all their failures
c. After a while, give up even trying, and just give in to the sins around them
d. We almost always struggle AGAINST what we want to do, so that we can try and do what we think GOD wants us to do in any situation, or temptation.
e. But that is backwards for the Christian.
2. God flipped things around and simply asks every believer to follow the Holy Spirit, and discover they won’t end up doing all the sins and old habits they can’t seem to stop doing!
3. The righteousness of all God's laws are fulfilled/accomplished in us when we yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him live through us - what a thought (Rom 8:4) That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (DID YOU NOTICE THAT?)
4. EXAMPLE: When we treat our lives like a glass of air, we will struggle to remove the air that naturally fills it. The only way to get rid of the air in a glass is to replace it completely with water!
5. Most people are trying to prop their flesh up like puppets and act like they are okay, but they are not yielded to the Holy Spirit of God at all – they are only yielded to your own EGO! And they always fall back into the old habits, addictions, old ways of talking, and especially the old ways of thinking!
B. It is the central power by which we actually live the Christian life
1. Not by our own will power
2. Or wealth power
3. Or health power
4. But only by Spirit power – by God’s Holy Spirit!
5. Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
C. It is only for believers (Rom 8:9) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
D. It is commanded to every believer - not just for ultra-spiritual people, but all of us
E. For every day / a way of life! Not just Sunday morning when you have nothing else to do
F. Walking in the Spirit MUST be learned like any child learns to walk – not automatic
1. Loads of encouragement
2. Baby steps
3. Entirely new way of living – no longer just being carried about, but walking for themselves!
G. You must get up when you trip and fall – never stay down – just learn from it!
H. Walking in the Spirit CAN become a way of life - if you will care to do it!
I. It won’t be easy
1. There is no shortcut to learning how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
2. But so what? Do you want to be a BABY all your life?
IV.How It Is Done
A. Believe Key Truths
All of these will overwhelm the lies that enslave people in their sinful thoughts and habits and lifestyles!
1. Believe the Old You is Dead Now (Romans 6:6-11)
a. Not dead, dead – as in not breathing
1) Like an arm that you slept on, and it can’t feel anything – we call it dead, or numb to feelings
2) So is your body – it is still here, but needs to be reckoned to be dead – believed to be dead
b. But, Dead to sin
1) Dead to sin’s tug and attraction
2) Dead to my flesh’s desires for sin’s pleasures and attraction
3) Dead to the world’s pressure to go another way than God’s will
c. Dead to you now
1) The old YOU is now only in the past, and not important anymore
2) Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
3) Rom 6:7 For he that is [LITERALLY] dead is freed from sin.
4) Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ [FAITH], we believe that we shall also live with him:
5) Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
6) Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
7) Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2. Believe you are Completely Forgiven – and can therefore stumble and be okay!
a. Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
b. Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
3. Believe You are truly Free – the best kind of free
a. NOT free like a bird - but free to live in a completely different way
1) No one is free to live under water for very long – will die
2) No is free to live in space – will die very quickly
3) But with the right tools, anyone can do both!
4) The same is true for us – without the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will fail to live godly, and righteously in this present world
b. So, if you are born again, you must Believe that you are free now
1) From sin’s penalty – of hell
2) From sin’s power over you
3) One day from its very presence when we walk into heaven!
4) He made you free
when He died in your place!
(Col 2:14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross;
c. So, Freedom means
1) You are no longer stuck in a sinful lifestyle, and can live like Christ
2) But are Free to now choose to do right and end up doing the right things (Rom 8:12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
3) God will always give you a way of escape from temptation (1Cor 10:13)
4) We are Free to walk in the STRENGTH of Holy Spirit of God (Rom 8:1-5)
a) Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
b) Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
c) Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
d) Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
e) Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
5) GOD DESCRIBES A BELIEVER’S FREEDOM AS
a) Completely forgiven!
b) A new desire – walking AFTER the Spirit
c) A new direction – than what I used to go
d) A new description
1. Sin and death no longer describe my life
2. God’s Rightesousness and all its expectations have been fulfilled in my life now
e) Just by simply Obeying/Minding the Holy Spirit
4. Believe Sin does not rule you anymore
a. Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
b. Oh yes, it pulls at you, but it cannot drag you anymore away from God
5. You Belong to God now
a. 1Co 6:19,20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
b. Your body, soul and spirit – all of you belong to Him now – He bought you
c. Your body even is a Temple for God to dwell in and be worshipped in
6. The Holy Spirit is always leading you – tugging you
a. He will always be with you to help you do the right thing
b. You can shut Him up, and grieve Him, and push Him away, but he waits to act on your behalf when you get tired of failing and yield to His help
c. I am to obey God by bringing my flesh into line with the will of God (Eph 6:5) – dragging it along with me!
1) Keep my vessel pure in marriage and out of marriage
2) Not using your tongue to destroy someone else
3) Use your time wisely
4) Use your health for good, and for souls
7. Believe Christ Saved you to Serve (1Cor 9:19) – not to live as YOU please!!!
a. Not to be your own man or woman – but a man or woman of GOD
b. A servant of the most high God!
c. Not to do as you please, or to be happy doing your own thing…
d. But to serve God and others – no matter who they are!
1) 1Cor 9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
2) Mark 10:44,45 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
e. So, Use your new life now to serve others – constantly humble yourself and take offense, and SERVE God and others, instead of myself
1) Gal 5:13,14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
8. You cannot fall all the way down
a. Hallelujah!
b. Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
c. 2Tim 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
d. Satan can and will trip you up, but even he can’t keep you down
1) Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
2) Psa 37:23,24 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
9. But you can forfeit your freedom – become enslaved again to sin – a whole other message
a. You cannot lose your adoption into God’s family – your salvation
b. But you can lose your liberty, freedom, ability to ignore your fleshly desires!
c. Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
d. Entangled is a serious word – entrapment, enslavement, in actual chains again
e. NOT because Stan is so powerful, but because we STOPPED believing we were FREE, and thought sin would be better! REMEMBER SATAN’S LIE TO EVE?
f. 2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
B. Expect a Fight (Gal 5:17)
1. Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
2. Your flesh will NOT just roll over and die, and just LET you do the will of God
3. It will fight you and attack your thinking, and come up with needs you didn’t know you had
4. Like a child being told to go to bed – will suddenly remember
a. I have to brush my teeth – you already did
b. I need a drink of water
c. I forgot to do my homework
d. I want you to read me a story – already read two
e. I feel like I need to pray again – we already just prayed
f. And the needs just keep coming
g. …keeping that child from obeying the leading of their parents!
5. Determine to LET the Holy Spirit win over it
a. Sometimes you are going to have to force your flesh to yield to God’s Holy Spirit in you – give in, let Him win!
b. He Can and ONLY He can
c. The next point will explain how
C. Listen to, and Yield to the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:16-18)
1. Winning over your old habits and nature all comes down to one simple word – YIELDING
2. Yield to whatever the SPIRIT wants you to do and be!
a. Just as you used to yield to whatever your flesh wanted
1) Whatever you wanted to eat or drink
2) Whatever was in the cinema you watched
3) Whatever you wanted to watch on your phone or internet
b. Now, yield to whatever the SPIRIT wants you to do and be – lusts after!
c. WHY? Because… 2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
d. Rom 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
e. Rom 6:12,13 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
3. How do we find out what the Holy Spirit wants done? I’m glad you asked!
4. You can only hear Him while quietly reading and obeying the words of the Bible
a. The Holy Spirit has a very still, small, and quiet voice
1) Very hard to hear when so much noise is going on around us
2) 1Ki 19:11,12 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
b. Even though quiet, it is a very powerful force in the life of the believer
c. The Holy Spirit has written everything HE wants done in the Bible
d. Everything important to life and liberty and joy and love and success is laid out in the words of Scripture!
e. 1Co 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
f. His power works on you and through you AS YOU YIELD (2Cor 12:9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities [HOWEVER GOD WANTS ME TODAY], that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
g. They change you as you just spend time listening to them! (2Co 3:18) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
h. They become part of your thinking (John 14:26) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
i. So… Do whatever God shows you to do from this Bible!
1) His leading will never go against what His words say on paper
2) He WILL lead you specifically
a) Whom to marry
b) What ministry to serve in
c) Who to go to and witness to about the Gospel
5. AND ONLY THEN will these words and their power become your way of life!
D. Ignore Your Flesh – easier than it sounds
1. This is exactly what an athlete does in training and in sport!
a. Ignore its whining, its complaining, its hurts, its hunger, its loneliness, its pains…
b. And push it further than it wants to go!
2. Paul calls is, “Keeping under your body” – strange phrase
a. 1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
b. 1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
c. 1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
d. 1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
e. To BRING IT INTO SUBJECTION means making it subject to the will of the Spirit – forced to do the will of someone else – the will of God!
3. Paul gives us no false illusion about how hard it is
a. It hurts us physically sometimes being a Christian
b. It costs us emotionally sometimes
c. 1Cor 4:11,12 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
d. 2Co 6:4,5 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;…
e. 2Co 11:23-27 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
4. So, How does anyone put up with all that? Unless they learn to :
a. IGNORE their flesh’s complaints and griping, and resisting
b. Die to the flesh – switch off
c. Crucify the lusts of the flesh (Gal 5:24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
E. Forgive Every Hurt
1. This is key (all of these are, but especially this one)
2. Now that a
person is saved from sin, they are also saved from the need for justice
REPEAT THIS!
3. That means, all of the past hurts against you must be forgiven or you will never be truly free
4. Shake off every hurt and personal attack – Jesus did!
a. Act 28:2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
b. Act 28:3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
c. Act 28:4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
d. Act 28:5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
5. So, Forget every incident of hurt – keeping the memories will enslave you to their power that they had way back then. Only now, you are enslaved by all the power of all the past hurts!
6. Love as brethren
a. Gal 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
b. 1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
c. 1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
d. 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
e. 1Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
7. That is IF you want to be FREE and walk as free and not in the chains of all those that hurt you!
8. Otherwise, your memories, your flesh, your emotions, your bitterness will keep you in a prison you wouldn’t want your worst enemy it!
F. Worship Constantly
1. In other words… Don’t just sit there
2. Actually, constantly worship God!
3. Make the effort to talk to God, all day - praise and thank Him, adore Him, and lean upon Him for every need
4. Worship Him in YOU! In the Temple God saved you to be!
a. Your body now is a temple where worship should take place – not of yourself (that would be like worshipping the brick and mortar, and marble and gold)
b. Don’t worry about the place of worship (no matter the condition), and just start worshipping!
c. Could be in good health, or bad
d. In poverty, or great wealth
5. ENJOY Him
a. Enjoy His presence
b. Enjoy who He is – not who you so want Him to be (your genie)
c. Enjoy what he does – big and small things!
6. Thank Him
7. Love Him with your words, your life, your actions
8. Physically, your flesh may be a mess, but worship frees everything else about you!
G. Go Only Forward!
1. THE MAIN REASON FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE IS SO THAT YOU CAN GO FORWARD!
2. Never backwards
3. God did NOT allow Israel to ever go back to Egypt
4. He had things for them ONLY ahead – never behind!
5. It is SATAN only that wants you to quit, and to just die, and to fail, and to make sure everyone around you fails!
6. Find out what your purpose in life is, and do it (Luke 4:18,19) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me [FOR A GREAT PURPOSE] to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
7. Run the race of the Christian life
a. Heb 12:1,2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
8. Forget everything that keeps tripping you up – leave it all behind
a. Php 3:13,14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
9. Ignore anything that would slow you down
a. Act 20:22-24 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
10. Be a finisher
a. 2Ti 4:6-8 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
b. Grow up! Become a Bible TEACHER, a Christian LEADER, a faithful MOM, and DAD! A soul-winner! A missionary! A pastor! A pastor’s wife!
c. Quit just sitting around while the world is going to hell
d. Quit closing your eyes to the needs of our church body – just thinking it is beneath you to serve! And just expecting others to do lowly things!
H. Endure - It’s Only a Little Longer!
1. There is an Expected End (Jer 29:11) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
2. This conflict, struggle does not go on forever
3. There is no eternal ying against yang
4. Just a little vapour of time, and then total freedom!
5. Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
V. Conclusion
A. Today, we learned a bit HOW to walk in the Spirit of God!
B. We have learned that God Ignored our flesh – and saved us anyway
C. By bringing life to our spirit
1. He put HIS Spirit into my spirit – an entirely new nature – different loves and desires and even lusts!
2. Asks me now to obey His Spirit in me – to walk in His ways, to walk with Him (not against Him), following His leading, obeying His will
D. Most people have this backwards
1. Trying so hard to NOT do wrong things
2. When what God wants is for us to just obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as he directs you in the pages of this Book
E. Walking in the Spirit MUST be learned like any child learns to walk – not automatic
1. That’s why we make time to read and learn this Bible
2. Why we come to church ready to learn, to walk and run as believers
F. Walking in the Spirit MUST become a way of life!
G. It is not automatic!
H. It all starts with…
1. Believing Key Truths
2. Expecting a Fight
3. Listening to, and Yielding to the Holy Spirit
4. Learning to Ignore Your Flesh – easier than it sounds
5. Forgiving Every Hurt
6. Worshipping Constantly
7. Going Only Forward!
8. Enduring - It’s Only a Little Longer!
I. That is, IF you are a born again Christian
J. If you are only ‘religious’ or believe in creeds and churches and religion and good works, you will waste all your best efforts, and miss heaven!
K. Jesus said, You MUST be born again – in your spirit!