July 22, 2007

 Special Ingredient (Walking by the Spirit/ Being led by the Spirit):

Scripture reference: Galatians 5:16- "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

John 16:13- "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

What are some things that hinder us from fully committing to the Lord? The flesh, things of the world, and the devil.

Galatians tells us that if we walk by the Spirit, we won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. If your flesh is hindering you from fully committing to the Lord, then start walking in the Spirit.

What exactly is the flesh?

The flesh is the human nature: the nature of man that is not cooperating with the things of God.

The works of the flesh are laid out in Galatians 5:19-21, "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like" In order to stay away from all these, we must start walking in the Spirit. We cannot do it ourselves, we need the Holy Spirit.

 What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? It means to be led by Him and of Him. How?

When we walk in the flesh we will produce in the flesh and the works of the flesh. However, when we are led by the Spirit, we will produce in the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the spirit as laid out in Galatians 5:22-23 are, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

John 16:13 tells us that the Spirit of truth, who is the Holy Spirit, will guide us into ALL TRUTH. The Holy Spirit is there to live in us and guide us into all truth. So walking in the Spirit is walking and being led into all truth. When you start doing so, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

What is the truth? According to John 6:63 the truth is the word of God. When you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and when He does, He leads you into all truth. The Bible says in John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." However, there are still many people that do know the truth, but they're not free yet. It's not just about knowing the truth but it's also about acting upon it. Therefore it's the truth that you know and the truth that you act upon that sets you free. Just knowing the truth doesn't really do anything for you. James 1:22 tells us not to only be hearers of the Word but also doers of It. So being led needs to be tied with the knowledge of the Word of God. In order to be led, you need to have the Word in you. There's no shortcut in God's way. You need to take every step necessary in order to get to the place God has for you. You can't just be led by the Spirit without first feeding yourself with the Word. If you don't have the Word in you, you simply can't be led by the Spirit. This is because the Holy Spirit speaks the Word of God and if you don't know that Word, you can't hear Him so you can't be led.

The Bible says in Ephesians 6:17 that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. So the Spirit searches for the Word in you in order to speak to you. In the creation of the world when everything was dark, the Holy Spirit was waiting for the Word. When God said "let there be light," the Holy Spirit took that word and made it happen and light came. Therefore, the Holy Spirit waits until you feed yourself with the Word in order to lead you. Even if He spoke to you, you wouldn't be able to know whether it's Him or not because you don't have the Word to judge by.

Also the more you feed yourself with the Word, the more the Holy Spirit keeps you away from sin. He convicts you with the Word of God every time you fall into sin. The Bible says in Psalm 119:11, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." So feed your self with the Word in order to keep yourself from falling into sin and/or fulfilling the desires of the flesh.

 *Everything God does, He does through His Word so start getting deeper into the Word.

 Preached by: Pastor Teddy
Written by: Rebka  Tekeste