Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Bible uses phrases like: walk by the Spirit. Abide in Christ. and draw near to God.
If the meaning of these feels vague to you, Or if you're wondering what such phrases look like, lived out. This message is for you. How do I walk by the Spirit? Let's listen to this message from Galatians 5, 16 through 18. In your copy of the scriptures.
Have your Bibles open to Galatians chapter 5. For the sake of context, I'm going to read verses 13 through 18. You can follow along in your copy of the scriptures or scroll along. As they did way back in the ancient days, or just follow on the screen. Ephesians 5, 13 to 18.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit.
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. and the desires of the spirit against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Let's pause for a moment and ask the Lord to teach us his word this morning. Father, it is our privilege. and our joy. To come together as your church. As are gathered many congregations around the globe.
What a huge privilege it is for us to be a part of that, Father. And in this assembly, Lord, as we open your word, we come before you humbly and expectantly. For your word, your spirit through your word to do his work in us, Father. Shape and fashion us in the likeness of your Son, the Lord Jesus, Father. Open the eyes of our understanding, That we will see you again.
Afresh. and be in awe. And live In a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you as we look forward to what you will do in us and among us. As a result of of our being together this morning.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
So this is actually part two of the sermon, Walk by the Spirit. Our focus is verses 16, 17, and 18. But I say, walk by the Spirit. And you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. That's a powerful statement.
The whole book of Galatians is about our freedom in Christ. There is a contrast here. The contrast is the law versus the spirit.
So, Romans chapter 7, verse 6. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the letter. That is a powerful, powerful truth that we must know and understand. Look at verse 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
That's our freedom. We are not under the law, in other words. Our walk of faith as Christians, as followers of Jesus, our walk of faith is not merely holding to keeping a moral code. As I've said numerous times before, if your walk of faith is relegated to keeping a moral code, you have missed the point and the power of the gospel. That means we are on a journey when we become followers of Jesus Christ.
As we had this up last week, before you were in Christ, you were dead in sins, you were alienated from God. And when you have been redeemed by Christ, regenerated by Him, reconciled to God, you are born to new life, you are now a new creation. In other words, in you now a principle of life exists that did not exist before. Christians know that. That is true of you.
And because of that, it is a journey of walking with Christ. That's what Christian means: a disciple, a follower of Jesus. You follow him, why? Because he is the one that takes you to the Father. He is your means and he is your end.
He is the prize of your soul when it's all said and done. And so as we are walking by the Spirit. It is the Spirit of Christ that he promised to give us. We're gonna be looking at that, breaking that down here in a minute. We are walking by the Spirit.
We are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. That's his objective in our lives. Because that's the witness of the gospel. The gospel lived. Reflecting Jesus Christ.
And so The person, the first person, redeemed, justified, reconciled. Raised to new life, that blue heart, that blue reference. Look at the triangle up above. That represents the triune Godhead. Perfect holiness and righteousness.
Okay?
Now you are in Christ, you are new creation. That seed remains in you. And as you walk by the Spirit, following Christ. You look more and more like him. You look more at the see the blue man.
the shade starts to permeate your being. The farther along you walk by the Spirit, following Christ. the more like Christ you look. That's how this works. That's how grace works.
This is nothing that has nothing to do with following a moral code. This is all about following Jesus. your relationship with him, your walk with him. You have been reconciled to God, so that you can relate to him. commune with him.
love him and delight in him. Therein your life is transformed. To where it reflects the character and the purpose of Jesus. That's how grace works. This is what Paul is arguing.
And he says: listen, if you go back under the law and you make your faith all about simply following a moral code, you're missing all of this. You will not become like Jesus Christ. You will simply become legalists. You will become Pharisees comparing yourselves and judging each other. There's way too much of that.
in Christianity today.
So that's why he says, verse 16, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. That's a powerful statement. Because there's that battle that's going on in us.
Now Having said this, there's four chapters that teach us the most about the Holy Spirit. And Jesus, three of them are taught by Jesus himself while he was talking with his followers. John fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. And in those chapters, he was preparing his disciples for their walk of faith. In his absence.
But listen, he said this. Get this. Jesus said to his followers, it is to your advantage. that I go away. It is to your advantage that I go away.
Because if I go away, I will send the helper. To you. In other words, what is he saying? When I go away, I will no longer just be walking beside you, limited by space and time. I will be where?
In you. Folks, that's awesome. This is a powerful truth of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. And that makes all the difference in the world.
Now what did Jesus say about this helper, the Holy Spirit? Whom he would give to us, and he will be in us. Jesus said, He will be in you. He said this: This is his primary mission. You ready for this?
He will glorify me. Jesus said that, he will glorify me. In other words, the Holy Spirit is not in you to glorify himself. The Holy Spirit's ministry in you isn't about the Holy Spirit. It's about Jesus Christ.
He's not in you. Jesus didn't give him to you to glorify himself and all the awesome stuff he can do.
Okay. His mission is to glorify Christ in you. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
So the manifestations of the Spirit look like what? Jesus Christ. The character of Jesus Christ. Those are the chief manifestations of the Spirit.
So this is what he says. The Spirit, Jesus is saying this once again of the Holy Spirit, He will take what is mine. Jesus says, The Holy Spirit will take what is mine. and will declare it to you.
So I get together John 14, 15 and 16, all the things that Jesus said there. All the promises that he made, all the directives that he gave to Zaya, all the promises that he made about the role, the Trinitarian role in the life of the believer. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Working in the life of the believer. I whittled it down to eight categories.
Eight categories. And then Jesus said, The things that are mine, he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
So these things, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to make all these things abundantly clear. and appropriated in your life.
Now let's go through them. John 14 through 18. Number one. The promise of his presence. Jesus said, the Holy Spirit, the promise He gave, the promise of His presence, the promise of God's presence among us, in us, each of us individually and all of us corporately.
The promise of his presence. John 14:21: Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Isn't that awesome? If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him.
And watch this, listen to this. We will come to him and make our home with him. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make that a reality in your life and mine, Christian. That's his work. He will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Secondly, Revealing the Father. It's all about, he's all about revealing the Father. John 14 said, if you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do not. You do know him and have seen him.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his work.
So the work of the Holy Spirit is the mission of Jesus Christ to reveal the Father to us. The beauty, the majesty, the holiness of God, so that we walk in awe of Him. Say bye, Denny. Hour by hour. Thirdly, He prompts faith by pointing us to Christ.
He prompts faith by pointing us to Christ. John 14:11, believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
So he brings to our remembrance everything that Jesus said and did. John 16:1. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. to keep you from falling away.
Alright, so he prompts faith by pointing to Christ. Fourthly, The Holy Spirit in us, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, is for the empowering, empowering for the mission. Empowering for the mission. John 14:12, truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these he will do because I am going to the Father. A direct reference to why it's to our advantage that Jesus goes to the Father, so that he sends the helper to us, so that we, the church, will do greater works than even Jesus did when he was walking here on earth.
Now, greater, what do you mean? Scope.
Okay. Okay. The church in history has reached the world. Jesus didn't reach the world in his short time on earth. He reached his disciples and he sent his disciples out to reach the world.
By the Holy Spirit. Empowering for the mission. He said, John 15:5, I am the vine, you are the branches. The branch vitally connected to the vine. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that does what?
Bears much fruit. There it is. Bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do what? Remember that.
Yeah. Remember that. Next, perseverance in brokenness. Fifthly, perseverance in brokenness. We live in a context of brokenness, and I still have elements of brokenness in me.
This physical being is a part of the fallen created order that is broken. I feel a little more every day. Three hours of yard work. I feel it. And every time I feel it a little more.
Yeah. Yeah. So we are broken creatures, but even inside we still have remnants of brokenness. And so here we are. He gives us perseverance in that brokenness.
John 14:30, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me. Isn't that awesome? The ruler of this world has no claim on me, so that gives us perseverance. John 16:33.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. Stop there a minute. That's a whole complete sentence with a full stop right at the end. In the world, you will have tribulation.
Listen to that. This is the Lord speaking. In the world you will have tribulation. The prosperity gospel. is heresy.
Mm-hmm. Jesus said so. In the world you will have tribulation. Then what does he say? But take heart.
I have overcome the world. All the more reason to lean into Jesus and to walk with him and follow him, right?
Okay, the spirit. helps us do that. All right, number six, steadfast love. Steadfast love. The Spirit reminds us of and helps us understand and know and feel the steadfast love of God.
John 14, 21, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves me. And He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love Him and manifest myself to Him. John 15:9, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Here it is: abide in my love. The Spirit helps us abide in His love.
Number seven, peace. He gives us peace, the peace of God. John 14:27, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Once again, John 16, 33, I had said these things to you that in me you may have peace. His words are The flow of peace in our lives as His words wash over our hearts and our minds. He gives us peace. Lastly, joy.
Joy. John 15, 11, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be what? Wow. John 16:24. Until now you have asked nothing in my name, ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Receive what? Everything that has to do with his character and his purpose. That's asking in Jesus' name. See, this is the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He will take what is mine, He will glorify me, He will take what is mine and declare it to you.
So everything that Jesus says. In John 14, 15 and 16, walking with his disciples, probably on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane.
So think about that in context. He was about to be betrayed, and the next day he would be hanging on a cross. And he says all these things. He's preparing his followers to carry on the mission And their walk of faith in him, trusting him, walking with him. in his absence.
but with the presence of the Holy Spirit. That's our privilege today. And it's the same for us. The same Holy Spirit who came to and indwelt these apostles and these disciples is the same Holy Spirit who is in us today. doing the same things.
Now there's another chapter in Scripture, and I want you to turn there, if you would please, to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 is a chapter that teaches so much about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 18 times in this chapter. Eighteen times. We're going to look at just a few verses here, okay?
Just in context. Because remember, what is Paul saying in Galatians? Walk by the Spirit.
So the whole point of this this morning is. What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? What does it look like? We've taken what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, John 14, 15, and 16. And all of that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Those are the things of the Spirit. Romans chapter 8, look with me at verse 5. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law.
Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. It's pretty straightforward, isn't it?
setting your mind on. What does it mean to set your mind on the things of the flesh? The things of the flesh are that self-preeminence in us that we were born living for ourselves. I am the greatest and most important reality, and the flesh leads me to operate in that mentality. I'm the greatest and most important reality.
Therefore, I am going to please me. That's what the flesh does. That flesh is setting your mind on the things of the flesh is hostile to God. It is hostile to God.
So, setting your minds on the things of the flesh is hostile to God. Any thought that is anchored in self-preeminence is hostile to God. I need to be aware of that. The Holy Spirit helps me to be aware of that. And setting your mind on the things of the flesh means that you cannot please God.
If you are operating with your mind set on the flesh, you will not please God. What's more If your mind is set on the things of the flesh, you will reap corruption. That's what Paul says in Galatians 6:8. We're not there yet, but we're going to get there. Huh.
sometime in October. Lastly. To set your mind on the things of the flesh is, what does he say in Romans 9? Romans 5 Romans 8, he says it's death. To set your minds on the things of the flesh is death.
Death ultimately is separation from God. Sin is inherently self-destructive. Sin is inherently alienating. And to set your mind on the things of the flesh is that.
Now, in contrast to that, he says, Don't do that, then set your mind on the things of the Spirit. What does the Spirit do?
Well, all those things we just talked about in John 14, 15 and 16.
So study that, review that. To set your mind on the things of the Spirit, what does the Spirit do? Verse 16. He affirms my position in Christ. He affirms my position in Christ.
And the Spirit, to set my mind on the things of the Spirit, means that He, the Spirit, is the means of transformation in me. Let me put that very, very practically. The Spirit allows you, through His transforming work, He equips you to rise above natural behavior. Do you see what I'm talking about? Christians, those who are regenerate in Christ, can do things that are.
This is awesome. This is what the Bible is teaching us. He says in verse 6: To set your mind on the things of the Spirit is what? Life and peace. That's kind of what everybody wants, isn't it?
Right? Summed up in three words right there: life and peace. To set your mind on the things of the Spirit is life and peace. And those who set their minds on the things of the Spirit will please God. Please God.
Very similar to what he says in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 10. And so to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. That's the outcome. That's the upward cycle of setting your minds on the things of the spirit. And walking in a manner that's worthy of him, pleasing him, bearing fruit.
And yet through that, still increasing in the knowledge of God. It's an upward cycle. All of this comes down to very clearly what Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 8. Whatever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, excellent, praiseworthy, do what? Think on these things.
Let me ask you a question right now. Where are you setting your mind?
Well, right now I'm setting my mind on Galatians 5 and Philippians 4 and Romans 8. Tomorrow at three o'clock, where are you setting your mind? Where are you setting your mind?
You see, the filling and the ministry of the Spirit and walking by the Spirit is not just about what we do in worship. That has been a colossal. Deception of the adversary to make the work and ministry of the Spirit about the Spirit Himself. The manifestation of the Spirit looks like Jesus Christ in here and at home and in the workplace and in the marketplace. and on the ball field.
Okay, now you're stepping on toes, Richard. You have. As human beings created in God's image. You have an incredible Power at your disposal, and that power is this: the selective power of choosing what you think about. Where you set your mind.
It is to this virtue and obedience that we are called. And because the Spirit dwells in us, He is the Spirit of Christ. He dwells in us. He reveals the Father to us. He points us to Christ.
Things of the spirit. is where we need to set our minds. If we are to Yeah. His church. The beautiful church.
Reflecting. the character and the purpose of Christ.
So walking by the Spirit. Thinking about this for a minute. I've taught often before about the habits of regeneration. Four of them. Walking by the Spirit is a part of, an equal part of, and it's like all meshed together.
You can't do one without doing the others. Draw near to God. Walking by the Spirit is a part of and the outflow of drawing near to God. What does the Bible say? Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Do you believe that? Do you practice that? Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Why should you draw near to God? Because you can.
You've been reconciled to him. Listen to me. The unregenerate person cannot draw near to God. No one can draw near to God unless first they have been reconciled to God, and the only way to be reconciled to Him is to surrender to Him. That has to come first.
So draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. Second half of regeneration is abiding in Christ. Abide in Christ as the branch draws life from the vine. Abiding in Christ. The third is to walk by the Spirit.
Walk by the Spirit.
And the fourth is letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Letting the word of Christ dwell in you, Rachel. I've added a fifth. Love others as I have loved you. Rich, you keep adding to this.
Just going with what the scriptures say: love others as I have loved you. That is a habit of regeneration. Hmm. It is the fruit. That is the natural outflow of the branch abiding in the vine.
You with me on that? A branch that is a healthy branch abiding in the vine, drawing life from the vine, that branch doesn't have to struggle to produce fruit. As long as it's abiding in the vine and drawing life from the vine, that branch. naturally produces fruit. That's why I say live in the outflow.
Your key Task there is not the fruit production. Your key task is abiding in the vine. This is how grace works. This is what the Holy Spirit helps us do. And do it powerfully.
As I said, these habits of regeneration, they are. They're all Co-mingled, if you would. You can't do one without doing the other. In other words, imagine yourself abiding in Christ but not drawing near to God. Imagine yourself drawing near to God but not walking by the Spirit.
Imagine yourself. Walking by the Spirit, but you're not letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. You can't do that. It's not possible because they're all part of the same. Imagine yourself loving as Christ has loved you, but not drawing near to God.
John says you can't do that. Loving others is an outflow of you drawing near to God.
So let me do a comparison here. Ephesians 5, verses 18 to 21. We all know Ephesians 5:18, well done. Do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be what? Filled with a keep on being filled with the Spirit.
In other words, it's a present, active, imperative. What does that mean, Rich? It means it's a command that you just keep doing it. Keep on being filled with the Spirit. And what follows that?
Well, I want to compare that to Colossians 3, verse 6, because keeping filled with the Spirit is one of the habits of regeneration. But then Colossians 3:16 is another one of the habits of regeneration. What is that? Let the word of Christ what? Dwell in you richly.
I love that part of those. Anyway, just. Let the word of Christ dwell in you in all of its richness.
Now let's compare the two. What follows those two commands? First one is to Be filled with the Spirit. And the second one is to let the Word of Christ dwell in you ritually. Let's look at, first of all, be filled with the Spirit.
If you are filled with the Spirit, you will have a song in your heart. It's the outflow of being filled with the Spirit.
Okay, you will have a song in your heart. If the word of Christ dwells in you ritually, you will do so with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. That's a pretty neat parallel, isn't it? There's more. If you are filled with the Spirit, you will manifest continual gratitude.
By the way, gratitude is the opposite of a sense of entitlement. If you're filled with the Spirit, you will manifest continual gratitude. If the word of Christ dwells in you richly, you will have thankfulness in your hearts. To the Lord. Ah, more parallel.
There's more. Hey. If you are filled with the Spirit, there will be submission in reverence to Christ. Submission and reverence to Christ. If the word of Christ is dwelling in you richly, you will do everything in the name of Jesus.
That's a great parallel, isn't it? Look at those three right there. And that's why Being filled with the Spirit. is not possible to be done unless the word of Christ is dwelling in you richly. And being letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly is not possible to be done unless you are being filled with the Spirit.
These are habits of regeneration. This is why Paul says, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Your freedom is all about God having taken up residence in you.
So that you will reflect Jesus Christ. That's his ministry. That's his work. And having said it, you have to see this, okay? You just have to.
Turn to Ephesians chapter 3. This is up. Dwight, prayed a prayer for us from Paul's prayer.
Okay. Uh And this is another one. Ephesians chapter three. This is Paul's prayer, but look what he says. This is how he prays for the believers.
Ephesians 3, look at verse 16. That according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Doesn't it make sense that we should pray for each other like that? Yeah. He keeps going, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Yeah. Trinitarian theology. Christ in our hearts. Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The Holy Spirit's role is to point us to Christ, to manifest Christ.
That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of God that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. It that deserves a run-on sentence by the Apostle Paul. He's out of breath talking about the advantage that is ours having the Holy Spirit indwelling us. And this is how he prays for us. But there's more.
Now, to him, he ends in doxology, which is totally appropriate, isn't it? But there's still more good theology coming in here, right?
Now, to him who's able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. That word power is the word dunamis. That is the same word Jesus used in Acts 1:8 when he said, You shall receive power after what? The Holy Spirit comes upon you.
Now, to him who was able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
You read Paul, and you just are breathless. He is so pumped. about the grace of God that has been lavished on us. And here he is, the Holy Spirit in us. He's moved in.
To those of us who are in Christ, and this is how he prays for us.
So I challenge you, church, pray for each other this way. Pray for each other this way. Pray for somebody who's going through an adversity this way. Pray for somebody who is praising God for a particular prosperity. Pray for them this way.
Pray for somebody who is weak. Pray for them this way. Let's think about what walking by the Spirit actually looks like. What walking by the Spirit actually looks like, four points here. And I'm going to relate it to the greatest command.
What is the greatest command? Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's the greatest command. In other words, that is humans listen to me. humans who are followers of Christ Regenerate in Christ, indwell with the Holy Spirit, that is your highest function.
It is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's your highest function.
So, this is what walking by the Spirit.
So, from now on, when we talk about, and when you talk about, read about Paul walking by the Spirit, and Rither, what does that mean? What does that look like? This is what it looks like. And I want you to contemplate this. I want you to take this.
I want you to think about it a lot. And develop, hone the craft of this virtue. in your Christian walk. Because it is a command of God to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
So walking by the Spirit looks like number one, loving God with all your mind. Walking by the Spirit looks like loving God with all your mind. What is that? That's your attitudes. It's transformed.
Attitudes. Transformed by The spirit of your mind, in the spirit of your mind. By the self-disclosure of God, by the work of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit who takes the Word of God and informs your mind and transforms your attitude so that what your manner of life is what it looks like, you think God's thoughts. Your attitudes can be characterized by thinking God's thoughts. Stop for a minute.
Put yourself in any situation, any time of the day, any time of the week. In that moment, in that instant, can you describe yourself as thinking God's thoughts? That's powerful. Remember, we taught Philippians 4:8: you have the selective power of choosing what occupies your mind. And to walk by the Spirit is to love God with all your mind.
Transforming your attitude so that you are thinking God's thoughts.
So that your perception is through the lens of God's self-disclosure.
So whatever circumstance you're encountering or whatever person you're associating with, you are looking through the lens of God's glory and goodness and holiness. Because you're thinking God's thoughts. with regard to that person or those circumstances. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Secondly, Walking by the Spirit looks like loving God with all your heart.
Loving God with all your heart. And what is that? That's transformed affections. This gets right down to the root. Of everything we do in our lives.
Why? Because you pursue what you desire. Period. You pursue what you desire. To walk by the Spirit is to love God with all your heart.
having transformed affections, so that you love what God loves. You love what God loves. For God so loved It's the world. I love the world. It's just my next-door neighbors that I can't stand.
Love what God loves. And if you're going to love what God loves, love, listen, love is exclusive. Love is exclusive. If I love my wife, if I love my children, I will hate. that which will hurt them.
So, if you love what God loves, you also hate what God hates. You can't get along with one without the other.
Okay. To love what God loves. God's love does not disappoint because God's love, His hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts by His Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5.5. His love has been poured out in our hearts by His Spirit who has been given to us.
To to love what God loves. Walking by the Spirit looks like loving God, number 3 with all your strength. And this is transformed actions. Listen to me. There's a reason why this is number three.
Don't go out there and try to transform your actions. without transformed attitudes and affections.
Okay. Won't work. With transformed actions, you serve his purpose in his power. You serve his purpose in his power.
So, in other words, again, whatever circumstance you encounter in your life, well, your first question is. What is God's purpose in this? What is God's purpose in me? His purpose in me is to transform me to the character and the image of Christ.
So how is this circumstance, how is it possible for this circumstance to contribute to my conformity to the image of Christ? And that's where the Holy Spirit steps in. And to serve his purpose in his power. Regardless of what people you're encountering, what the circumstances are, what is his purpose? It's to glorify him.
Do that in his power. Ephesians 3:20. Again, when I discovered this, there's a couple of verses like this. This is one of them. When I discovered this, I'm like, Wow, this is awesome.
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all You can ask or imagine. according to the power that is working you. In other words, in other words. What God can do in you and through you is not limited to what you think you can do. Surrender yourself to him, walk in his spirit, think his thoughts, love what he loves.
and watch what he can do through you. He will surprise you. That's what the Holy Spirit will do. Fourthly, walking by the Spirit looks like loving God with all your soul. And these are transformed associations.
transformed associations. In other words, how you associate with people. how you associate with people. And what that the manner of life then looks like, that you engage others with grace and truth. You engage others with grace and truth.
with humility and investment with the mind of Christ. That's what walking by the Spirit looks like. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says, You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore You're not your own. Therefore, glorify God in your body.
So let's break that down very quickly here for just a minute. What is the purpose of the temple? Speak to me. What is a temple? What's a temple for?
The presence of God. You worship God. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We collectively, as Christians, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I personally am also the temple of the Holy Spirit.
He resides in me. Therefore, what I do... Is worship. Is it good worship or bad worship? Is it worship or is it idolatry?
What are you exactly worshiping? Whew, that's a lot of questions to ask. Go home and think about that.
Okay. and keep thinking about it. But You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You represent the very presence of God. He dwells in you.
Right? To what end? to his glory. What does it mean to glorify God? Point with me.
This is God. Point with me. Up here, right here. Point to him. To glorify God means to point to Him.
In other words, when other people see you, your life points them to God. That's glorifying God. Not possible if you're not satisfied in him. Yeah. Yes.
I'm on a rant here.
Okay, here we go. This is what walking by the Spirit.
Now, listen, this is a lot to chew on. I get it. I get it. It's a lot to chew on. I'm going to ask you to contemplate this, okay?
Because this is something that we are called to develop. Walk by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. You will not gratify the desires of the flesh. That's a promise. You walk by the Spirit and you will reflect Jesus Christ.
That's the point of having the Spirit. Let me give you two illustrations. And I'm both of them. Rich Powell walking by the Spirit, and rich Powell walking by the flesh. I'm opening myself up here.
Rich Powell, walking by the Spirit. Back in the 90s, I worked at Peterson Farms in. Shelby, Michigan, is a food processing plant. At that point, I had walked away from pastoral ministry. I wanted nothing to do with it.
And so I was working in there, and several of the guys in there were Christians, and I was working on. Quality control, and so I had to walk the whole big food processing pantry. I had to walk it with the walkie-talkie and inspect the equipment and all of that, inspect the product, make sure it was coming out the way it was supposed to, and everything like that. And I started on night shift, and then they moved me to day shift. And in day shift, there was somebody else working in that position, too, and his name was Larry.
Larry was older than I was. Larry had been there a lot longer than I had. I had more education than Larry. And he knew that. And Larry was apparently a little bit threatened by me being there.
And so Larry. made sure he knew who was in charge. Rich, I'm going to tell you what to do. He didn't say those words, but that's what he did. I'm going to make sure you know who's in charge.
I'm going to tell you what to do and how to do it.
Now Was my flesh screaming at me? Say mm-hmm. It was. But I decided to defer to Larry because he is a man created in God's image. And I respected him for his work.
And I said, I listened to Larry and I did what he did. Long story short, when I was done working there, Larry and I were really good friends. And we worked well together.
So I saw him through the lens. Of the gospel. And the Spirit worked through me and in me. to reflect the character of Jesus Christ. That's Rich Powell Walking by the Spirit.
Now let's talk about Rich Powell walking by the flesh. This time I was a pastor. In Michigan. And one of the men in our church was a trucker, and he invited me to go along with him on one of his runs. and it was an overnight run in his Peterbilt.
long extended cab in the back. He built an apartment on the back of his truck. We were hauling produce. We were going to drop it off. We got to.
I had fallen asleep. I had fallen asleep. If you can sleep in a Peterbilt. Four o'clock in the morning, we arrive at the receiving dock of this company that was receiving this produce. And they have particular standards about.
How the pallets are packed when they receive the produce. It's four o'clock in the morning. This is the truck driver, I'm not gonna say his name, but he wakes me up. He says, Rich, we got to get out. We need to unload the pallets.
And he was miffed. because they told him they had certain standards of how pallets were packed. And these pallets, not all of them were packed the way they were supposed to be packed, and we had to. dismantle them and repack every one of the pallets. that were not packed right.
at four o'clock in the morning. and I was jolted out of a dead sleep. I was in the flesh. He was already having a really bad attitude and mistreating the guys on the dock. who are simply doing their job.
So what did I do? I go out and I mimic what he was doing. I had a bad attitude to the guys who were on the dock telling me I needed to restack the pallets. And to this day, I'm embarrassed of that moment. Because I saw them, these men, creating the image of God, I saw them as an obstacle to my comfort and pleasure.
And so I mistreated them. Besides that, has a pastor really bad example to this man in my church? I followed his lead. And I was operating in the flesh. Do you see the difference between those two?
One is walking by the Spirit. It's facing an adversity. One is walking by the Spirit and the other is walking by the passions of the flesh. You're, passions of the flesh say, you're interrupting my comfort and my pleasure. The other said I see you for who God made you.
I will respect you and honor you. Very, very different, very, very different scenarios. John says this. Whoever abides in him does not sin. And that, by the way, is the best translation of those words in the original language.
Your translation may not say those words. It may add some extra words, but. All expositors and translators agree that is the best translation of those verses. Whoever abides in him does not sin. It's an absolute negative.
So, what is he doing? If you're walking in the Spirit, you'll be sinlessly perfect. That's not what he's saying. What he is saying is this. What he is saying is this.
You can't be doing both at the same time. You can't be doing both at the same time. These are mutually exclusive behaviors. Abiding in Him. and walking in the Spirit.
I'm Abiding in him and sinning. Abiding in Him is walking by the Spirit, abiding in Christ, drawing near to God, letting His Word dwell in you richly, loving others as I have loved you. I did that to Larry. I didn't do it to the guys on the loading dock. Abide in him, and you.
will not Sin. You can't be doing both at the same time. Where are you setting your mind?
So, I need to cut off now. Time's getting away from us. But we're going to continue on this next Sunday, and then we'll take a four-week hiatus. And then I'll come back in October and we will finish. Uh the book of Galatians.
All right, so here it is. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 to 20. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you. Stop there for a minute. Christian, know this.
Understand this. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God resides in you. in all of his beauty and power and glory. God abides in you.
And then what does he say? whom you have from God. He's a gift to you. You are not your own. Oh, that is such an anti-American statement, isn't it?
You are not. Your own. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. What was that price?
When Jesus hung on the cross and he cried, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He took the wrath of God that you deserve. That's the price. You are bought at a price. Therefore, what?
Glorify God in your body. What you do, whatever you do, wherever you are, whatever time of day, home, work, church, with family, on the ball field, glorify God. In other words, whatever you do, point others to God. Let them see God in your life, your walk. your talk.
Your attitudes. Let them see God. This is Is the work of the Holy Spirit. The manifestation of the Spirit is the character and the purpose of Christ.
So, it's very easy for us to talk about this in the second person. I want us to personalize it and put it in the first person. Would you stand with me, please? As we are doing this, I'm going to invite the musicians to come forward now and take their place. We're all going to read this together.
We're going to personalize 1 Corinthians 6. 19 and 20. All right, and then we're going to go right into the song. Knowing you, Jesus. There is no greater thing.
And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. To point us to Christ, to point us to Christ.
So that our lives reflect Jesus Christ. That's his work. So may that be our song and that will be the close to the sermon. before Chris comes to bring the benediction today.
So let's personalize this. Let's read this together, all together. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within me, whom I have from God. I am not my own. For I was bought at a price.
So I will glorify God in my body. You've been listening to a message titled Walk by the Spirit, Part two. It was first preached on august thirty first, twenty twenty five. Check back in here at www.delightinggrace.com on Mondays to listen to the next message in this Galatians series titled Our Freedom in Christ.
