Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, July 31st. God assigns tasks for believers to accomplish, but you can't do it alone. Here's more on the essential discipline of walking in the Holy Spirit. One of the most neglected subjects in the Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. You would think that as important as that subject is that more people would be talking about it, more people would be referring to the Holy Spirit. But there are millions of people who sit in church week after week after week, year after year, never hear a single sermon dedicated to the Holy Spirit and His work in our life.
When it's so crystal clear from the Scripture that you cannot live a godly life, you cannot serve the Lord adequately unless you understand how He works in your life. God intends for all of us to do our work in His power, in His energy, in His strength, and by His authority. What is done apart from the Holy Spirit is flesh. It's man's own human effort. We can never carry out spiritual work, God's work in the flesh, in our own energy apart from the Holy Spirit. That is one of the primary reasons He sent the Holy Spirit. Now, here is the big point.
I want you to get this. How do we walk by the Spirit? That is, we know He's indwelling us. We know that He is doing all these things in teaching and guiding and leading and filling and empowering and convicting and enabling and empowering and all these things.
Well, so what's my responsibility? It comes down to this, and that is if I'm going to live moment by moment in the power of the Holy Spirit, I must be sensitive to the initial promptings of the Spirit. Now, what do I mean by that?
Simply this. Now, let's take for granted that you're a believer. You're a Christian and all of a sudden you see something that gets your attention and you know as soon as you see that or you look that way or whatever it might be, something inside of you says, don't go that way. Don't head in that direction.
Who is that? That's the Holy Spirit. Or, have you ever been driving and you're going some particular direction and all of a sudden you get this strong feeling.
Take a right right here. That's the Spirit of God warning you of what's about to happen, which was a wreck. And God wants you to turn right. Listen, the Spirit of God within you speaks to your spirit.
That is with strong implications and strong inclinations. The Spirit of God arouses us to think and to think His way. The Spirit of God is an active person in our spirit giving guidance and direction how are we to live? Because He says, why did He come?
To guide us, to lead us, and to empower us, and to reveal to us, and to impart the truth of God's Word to us. And so, when I think about this whole idea of Him prompting us in the way He prompts us, He does so by strong inclinations. Now, somebody says, well, suppose He prompts me and I just keep going. Well, what would you call that? Let me ask you this, if you said to your twelve-year-old son, take the trash out now.
He says, I'll take it out, but I got something else to do right now, I'll take it out later. What would you call that? Somebody says partial obedience, that's just pure disobedience. In other words, that's disobedience.
And here's the way many people live and you don't realize this. If the Spirit of God prompts you to do something, obedience is that you do it when He says do it. Rebellion is when you do it when you want to do it or you don't do it at all. And any way you cut it, it's disobedience. In other words, if the Spirit of God prompts you to do something and you don't do it, give me any other word that best describes what you did than disobedience, a rebellion. It's not doing what God says do, that's what it is, and it's rebellion against God. So, when He prompts us to do something, how does He do that? He speaks to our conscience and to the Spirit within us. Now watch this, the Spirit of God's never going to tell you not to do the right thing.
It's always the right thing at the right time in the right way. Listen, the Holy Spirit is under no obligation to explain to me why. Well, why should I turn right here?
Why shouldn't I turn? Because there's some things you and I can't see, we can't foresee, He's protecting us. Listen, it is foolish not to live moment by moment by the Holy Spirit, because He's there for our benefit. Listen, by the way, God doesn't need any of us. He doesn't.
He can get His work done without any of us. But He loves us enough to seal us as a child of God in one of His works, is to seal us under the day of redemption. He says that in Ephesians chapter one, verse thirteen, the Spirit of God seals us. Now watch this, that means when you trusted Him as your Savior, the Holy Spirit came in your life to dwell. And not only does He come to dwell, but He seals you as a child of God. That is, you are forever a child of God. And as I say to my friends who do not believe that, and I'm sorry they don't believe it, here's what He says, In Him you also, having listened to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in Him, that is in Christ, with the Holy Spirit of promise, who has given us a pledge.
Now listen, if I promise you something and I pledge that to you, you expect me to fulfill it. When God gives you a pledge and He seals you, He gives you a promise, He has awesome power to do anything and everything, He'll keep His promise. So here's what He says, He seals us in Christ, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. That is, the Holy Spirit comes into your life and my life, and His presence in your life, watch this, is God's seal in your life saying to you, I promise you forever and ever and ever, you're one of my children. You may sin and I'll have to chastise you for it.
Forever you're one of my children. Now, if the Spirit of God is the one who seals us and seals us within, who's going to break the seal? Now, for people who do not believe that they are saved forever and they're saved today and missed tomorrow, let me just say something. If you understood the work of the Holy Spirit, you would not believe that. I'll tell you why. You claim to be a Christian. I don't question that.
And you read your Bible and pray and you may sing and choir or play in orchises or teach Sunday school lessons, all those things. And you just lose your temper. And I mean, you just have it out with somebody. Just let them have it.
They did you wrong. According to what you believe, you suddenly broke the seal, you've lost your promise, and you are lost and on your way to separation to God. The promise, the pledge of Holy God is that once He seals you as one of His children, you are forever a child of God. And what I want you to see is this, God's seal is God's seal and in my seal. The issue is this, you're sealed forever and the Spirit of God has equipped you to live a godly life. And we do that by moment by moment doing what?
Getting our focus right on Him. Now, I wanted to say all of that because it's so very important for people who think they're saved today and lost tomorrow. You know what? When I was growing up in that kind of a church, I was afraid every day that I probably did something that was wrong and maybe I forgot about it and I'd die and go to hell.
That's what they said. And the day I learned the truth of what God said in His Word, I wanted to shout right in the middle of a class, in a Greek class, because I understood for the first time that I was forever a child of God. God judges sin. He chastises the sinner. He punishes the unbeliever. But for the child of God, the seal is there forever.
And it's the work of the Spirit because it's His promise. Now, with that in mind, we think about there is going to be conflict. We got three enemies. Every morning you wake up with three enemies. The world, the flesh, and the devil. The world system in which we live. Look at it, what a mess it's in. The devil and the flesh. That tendency within you that wants to do wrong at times in your life, it's there.
It's going to be there till you die. And so, we have three enemies. So, how do we handle these three enemies? Well, Paul talks about resisting the devil, for example. He talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And so, here's what happens. When that tendency comes to think in the wrong direction, watch this now. Somebody says, I can't help myself. The devil can't make a single child of God do anything. He cannot make you. He will lead you. He will guide you, entice you, tempt you, but he can't make you. So, to walk in the Spirit means moment by moment, we are doing what? We're listening to the Holy Spirit.
He's our guide. Somebody says, well, you mean to tell me that I can live without sinning? How long can I live without sinning? Let me ask you a question. Can you live five minutes without sinning? Amen?
Four people can. Now, let's just think about what's the truth? About four of you said you could live five.
You know what? If I ask you if you could live ten minutes without sinning, there wouldn't be ten people stand up. Do you mean to tell me you sin every five minutes? That's what you said. You said five minutes.
What about one minute? You can live a lot longer than that without sinning. You know why? Because you have God living within you, guiding you, leading you, and if you will yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God, He's always going to lead you to do the right thing. I'm not saying you always will, but I'm simply saying we have the Spirit of God. That's what walking by the Spirit is about.
It's about setting our mind in a direction because we're at war and we're always going to be being attacked by what you see, what you read, what you hear, all the things that are going on. The devil's there to mislead us and to misdirect us and to cause us to rebel against God. But because we do understand that we have a conflict, we also have the Holy Spirit.
Now, the issue is this, what do I do about the Holy Spirit? So, turn back, if you will, to Romans chapter eight. And I want us to look in some earlier verses in Romans chapter eight, and I want you to notice what he says in this passage. Let's begin in verse five.
Now, watch this, very important. Those who are living according to the flesh, that is they're living by those desires that they have within them that are not of God. And those desires can be one of a many things. So, for those who are living according to the flesh, watch this, set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who are living according to the Spirit, they set their mind on things of the Spirit. Now, watch this, every single one of us sets our mind.
Now, listen carefully to what I'm saying. We all have a mindset. There's some people get up every morning with a mindset. I'm going to do my best today. Somebody else sets up on the mindset, I'm going to do as little as I can today.
Somebody says, I'm going to reach the top if I have to step on them and mash them. In other words, everybody has a mindset of some sort. He says, now those who are living according to the flesh, that is that internal feeling, I want to act outside the will of God, they're going to live by the flesh. Those who by the Spirit are going to live by the Spirit.
Now, watch this, verse six. For the mindset on the flesh is death, death to the things of God. The mindset on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God.
Do you get that? Hostile toward God. When you and I set our minds on doing things that we know are not right, here's what He says. He says, you're acting hostile toward God because the will of God for your life is a life of righteousness and obedience. So, He says, for the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And those who are living in the flesh cannot please God. So, that being the case, it makes me want to know, okay, how do I live according to the Spirit? And so, we have a battle.
Now, watch this carefully. Every single one of us has two battles every time we come to some temptation. First of all, there's a battle in the mind. Secondly, there's the battle in our behavior. If you don't win the battle in the mind, you're going to lose the battle in your behavior because what the mind thinks governs everything, governs what you see, what you hear, how you speak, walk, handle, you name it. The first battle in temptation is the battle in the mind.
So, I have to have a mindset. I choose to obey God. I choose not to walk that way. I choose not to look at that. I choose not to give to that.
I choose not to withhold that. That is, we have a mindset. And so, there's a battle that's going on, and we win that battle as a result of doing what? Yielding to and responding to the initial prompting of the Spirit. So, you have to decide, am I going to walk by the Spirit or by the flesh? If I want God's best, I'm going to have a mindset. First Peter, listen to what he says, first chapter in the thirteenth verse, Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit.
Prepare your minds for action. And in Colossians the third chapter, listen to what he says, the same sort of thing. Here's what he says, Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things which are above. Have a mindset on things that are good and righteous and holy. He says, Where Christ is seated at the Father's right hand, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
We have a mindset. For example, tomorrow morning, before you get out of bed and you wake up, you set your mind on the things of God. Today, Father, He's the first one you ought to talk to anyway. Father, I want You to guide me today and lead me. I want to listen to You, speak to my heart.
Make me sensitive to what's going on around me and the people I meet and so forth. That is, You'll develop Your own little message of setting your mind. Set your mind, he says, on the things above where Jesus is sitting at the Father's right hand. Because we can set our mind and the Holy Spirit will enable us to do it. It's His will that we do it. And that's why the Word of God is so very, very precious to us.
Why? Because this is the way we think. You don't read and meditate on the Word of God. You know what you're going to do? Listen, you sit at home, watch TV, program after program after program after all the kind of propaganda and all the things that have absolutely nothing to do with things that are spiritual. And then you go to bed and you think, well, I'm going to wake up and talk about Jesus.
I doubt it. You know why? Because you just programmed your mind.
You know what you did? You fed that part of you that's ungodly. You fed that part of you with all the stuff that goes on. Why would anybody want to watch stuff that instigates, stirs them up, and arouses things within them that are totally ungodly?
Because there's something in them they want to feed. And what He's saying is starve it to death. Set your mind on the things of God, on the things that are on high, the things that match who you are. You're a follower of Jesus. Our life is a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, we owe Him our life He died for us. He gave us the gift of salvation and eternal life.
We owe Him everything. How can we involve ourselves and allow ourselves to head in directions that we know are not right? The Spirit of God prompts us, do not go there, do not do that, do not think that, don't look at that.
We do it anyway. Remember this, any way you cut it, it is rebellion, it is disobedience, and it's hostility toward God. You want to live a godly life? Have a mindset that is godly so that when somebody crosses you, your mindset is, Lord, I'll get you back. Your mindset is, Lord, I'll forgive them for that. I'm just going to overlook that.
I won't pay any attention to that. In other words, godly people don't live like the ungodly. When we are walking in the Spirit, there is an absolute definite difference in our life.
Your friends may not understand it. They think, well, you just think you're something. No, we don't think we're anything. We know that we're children of God. That's who we are.
And we know that we are inadequate within ourselves to do anything that has any real value. We trust the Holy Spirit. We depend upon Him. We rely upon Him. We're sensitive to Him. We acknowledge Him. We obey Him.
Why? Because we've learned that's the best way to live. It's the only way to live with real peace and happiness and joy and contentment in your life. And it's the way God intends for us to live because He came to live through us that kind of life. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
That's who He is. So, here's the choice you have. You can set your mind on the things of God and trust this indwelling person of the Holy Spirit who has promised to guide you, lead you, enable you, equip you, give you authority and all the other things that we've mentioned.
Here you have the Holy Spirit living within you, ready to live through you the very life of Jesus Christ, which means that your attitude and your actions are going to be godly. It's a choice we make. You say, well, what do I have to do to get all that done? Just surrender. Just yield. Just tell Him, okay, God, I give up my way, I want You away. What does He do?
He takes over. Now, is it not true that's what you want your children to do? You want them to trust you and obey you.
Why? Because you know what's best for them. You give your life for them.
He's already given His life for us. To walk in the Spirit is to do what? Is to depend upon Him totally. To rely upon Him. To be sensitive to what He's saying to us. And to obey Him.
That is life at its very, very, very best. And it's available to every single person who wants God's best. Thank you for listening to part two of Walking in the Holy Spirit. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
