Walking in the Holy Spirit
Men’s Retreat
November 14, 1999
Introduction
It’s my heart’s desire that the work that has begun this weekend would not end this afternoon. I want to talk a little about spiritual life beyond this retreat.
Galatians 5:26 – 6:10
:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
live in the Spirit – or better, "live by the Spirit". This is talking about how we are "born again", how we are given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel…
if … let us also walk in the Spirit – or better, "walk by means of the Spirit", to walk with His help and assistance.
What is walking? It’s taking one step at a time. It’s living life one decision at a time. A.T. Robertson said of this verse, "Let us make our steps by the help and guidance of the Spirit." But it’s not just a few steps, it’s all of life’s steps.
I trusted in Jesus as my Savior in eighth grade. For a couple of years my life was divided up into my "God-times" and my "regular times". My "God-times" were when I went to church. The rest of the time was "regular times". But I remember a light bulb going on in my head when it dawned on me that God didn’t want to just be a part of my life in my "God times", but in all my time.
God doesn’t want you to be close to Him just while you’re on this retreat. He wants you to be close to Him when you go down the mountain as well. He doesn’t just want you to find life in Jesus once at a retreat, He wants you to learn to live the rest of your life, taking one step at a time, through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
God isn’t going to fix all your problems for you while you’re on this mountain. He may have given you a second chance this weekend, but for most of us, what we make of this second chance starts after we hit town.
For some of you, your wife has had it a little extra hard this weekend because you’re gone. She’s down the hill struggling with the kids and the house and you’re up here having the time of your life. For some of you, you’re going to be going home to a gal who’s a little ticked off that you’ve had a great weekend while she’s been wiping dirty noses and scrubbing toilets. When you walk in the door, she’s probably not going to be extra nice to you. And you’re going to get all defensive and think it’s some kind of "spiritual attack". In a way it’s really more of a spiritual test. Are you going to walk in the Spirit then? Are you going to allow the Holy Spirit to help you love her and understand her? Are you going to give her a break for the rest of the day?
For some of you, the real tests aren’t going to come until a little later on this week. Things are going to happen at work that are going to really provoke your "flesh". You’re going to get angry and want to respond. Will you walk in the Spirit?
:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory
One of the quickest ways to ruin God’s work in your life is to become full of pride.
6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
be overtaken – be apprehended, taken by surprise, caught red-handed.
fault – paraptoma - to fall beside or near something; a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness
Paul uses kind of soft language here.
He doesn’t say, "If a man deliberately commits a heinous crime ..."
We will all fall from time to time. And what do we do when a person falls???
:1 ye which are spiritual,
spiritual – The mature Christian, who is led and taught by the Spirit. Those who have learned to walk by and be filled with the Spirit.
Quote:
Bill Gothard: Spirituality is not measured by how well we expose an offender but by how effectively we restore an offender .
:1 restore such an one
restore - katartizo - to render, i.e. to fit, sound, complete; to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair. Used of setting broken bones and mending fishing nets.
In contrast, under legalism, this would be rewritten:
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, nail him to the wall, bring him up before the court, and sentence him to severe punishment!
It is one of the saddest things that can happen in a church when we are so compassionless that when a person falls, we just kick them down a little more.
God's goal is always restoration, not removal.
Illustration:
Stanley Jones writes about a crucial moment in his life when he found himself on his way to what could have been a spiritual disaster:
For months after my conversion, I was running under cloudless skies. And then suddenly I tripped, almost fell, pulled back this side of the sin, but was shaken and humiliated that I could come that close to sin. I thought I was emancipated and found I wasn't. I went to the class meeting -- I'm grateful that I didn't stay away -- went, but my music had gone. I had hung my harp on a weeping willow tree. As the others spoke of their joys and victories of the week, I sat there with the tears rolling down my cheeks. I was heartbroken. After the others had spoken, John Zink, the class leader, said: "Now, Stanley, tell us what is the matter." I told them I couldn't, but would they please pray for me? Like one man they fell to their knees, and they lifted me back to the bosom of God by faith and love. When we got up from our knees, I was reconciled to my heavenly Father, to the group, and to myself. I was reconciled. The universe opened its arms and took me in again. The estrangement was gone. I took my harp from the willow tree and began to sing again -- the Song of Moses and the Lamb, especially the Lamb. The cross was my refuge and my release.
That was a very crucial moment in my Song of Ascents, the moment when I lost my music. My destiny was in the hands of that group. I was a very bruised reed; suppose they had broken me? I was a smoldering wick; suppose they had snuffed me out? Just a criticism: "I told you so. Too good to be true. He was riding for a fall." But they never uttered a criticism, or even thought of one, as far as I could see. The reaction was nothing but redemptive love. That group became redemptive. I saw and experience the power of redemptive love incarnate in a group.
-- A Song of Ascents
:1 in the spirit of meekness;
Two of the ideas are in this word "meekness"
1) Strength under control
It's the idea of a powerful wild horse that has been broken and tamed, and now the animals brute force can be channeled correctly.
We think of "meekness" as "wimpiness". Wrong.
Meekness is having the strength to respond, but choosing to hold back your hand.
When we are faced with a person who has fallen into sin, we can get overcome with anger, and want to say foolish things like: "You deserved it!", or, "what a stupid thing to do!".
But meekness requires that we hold back those kinds of comments if they're not appropriate at that time.
2) Teachableness
I think one of the best things I can put in my mind when I’m faced with a person whose fallen is this: "What can I learn from this?"
I need to realize that I too could be in the very same situation, and somehow, by God's grace, I'm not.
And I want to make sure that I'm learning through another person's experiences.
If I only go into a helping situation with the attitude that I've got it all together, and I'm here to teach you, you're going to find yourself rarely helping others.
You won't bother listening to what they're really saying.
You'll tend to jump to the wrong conclusions.
And worse yet, you'll stop growing yourself, because it's must possible that God may be wanting to use this situation to stretch you.
Sometimes we need to put ourselves in the other person's place is we are to be meek.
Illustration:
It was F.B. Meyer who once said that when we see a brother or sister sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.
One of the greatest components of spiritual growth is being a part of the lives of others. It’s having others around to encourage us. It’s being there to encourage others.
:1 considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Here's the warning we need to watch out for.
If we're not careful, we can get so caught up in coming down to the other person's level, that we too can get caught up in their sin, or another sin.
Illustration:
Rescuing a drowning person.
You need to be careful that you don't end up drowning yourself in the attempt. Recently there was an article in the paper about a truck filled with people that rolled into a lake. All five people inside drowned. Two more people tried to rescue them. They drowned too.
We need to make sure we know our limits.
If you're ministering to a person who gets caught up in pornography, and you have a lust problem yourself, you better make sure that you don't talk too much in detail about the issue, or else it will stir up bad stuff in you.
After all, we can cause each other to stumble into sin.
I've had people begin to go into vivid detail about their sins, and sometimes I have to stop them and say, "Gosh, I don't think I need to hear all the details .."
:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
You will reap what you sow. What goes around comes around. You gain benefit from the things you invest in.
If you are investing in your sin nature, continually doing things to feed your flesh, then you’re going to have problems walking with God. But if you are investing into the Spirit’s work in your life, you’re going to experience true life.
There’s an old Eskimo proverb: There are two dogs fighting inside of you. The one that wins is the one that you feed.
If you are feeding the flesh but starving the spirit, don’t be surprised if you can’t stop sinning. But when you learn to starve the sin nature and feed the Spirit, it’s not so hard to stop those sins that keep you all tied up.
One way we "sow to the Spirit" is through our reading and studying of the Bible.
Compare these references:
(Eph 5:18-20 KJV) And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; {19} Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; {20} Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
We are commanded to continually be filled with the Spirit. Some of the results of being filled with the Spirit involve songs, thankfulness, etc.
(Col 3:16-17 KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. {17} And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Here the command is to let the Word dwell fully in your life. But look at the results. It’s the same list! That’s because one of the ways we "feed the Spirit" is to stay in the Word.
Illustration
Let’s play "Feed the Spirit". I’ll be the gameshow host, and you be the contestants. Whenever I give a suggestion of something that will "feed the Spirit", then you go "Bing, bing, bing!" Whenever I give a suggestion of something that will "feed the flesh", you go "Buzzzzz!"
How about: Reading your Bible. Talking with other Christians about Jesus. Turning on your computer and going to "girlsgirlsgirls.com". Turning on your computer and going to "calvarychapel.com". Watching the girls go by as you eat your lunch. Sharing Jesus with your friend at work. Going to the men’s fellowship at church. Going to 7-Eleven and stopping by the magazine rack to browse for reading material. Staring at the lingerie adds in the newspaper. Going to the men’s prayer group at church. Getting up early to read your Bible. Watching "Baywatch". Praying for your family. Memorizing Bible verses. Taking a friend to church.
:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Lesson
Keep going
.I think that some of our greatest defeats come simply because we quit too soon.
Illustration
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas A. Edison,
Illustration
John Maxwell (Be All You Can Be (Victor, 1987), p. 136.) writes,
"Too many people have too broad a view of failure. They’re too quick to judge an attempt as a failure. If they don’t see immediate outward positive results, they see a major mistake. Failure is not the external result; it’s the internal activity.
"Thomas Edison was once experimenting in search of a natural rubber. In his search he had 50,000 failures. His assistant said, "Mr. Edison, we have made 50,000 experiments, and we have no results." He was ready to quit. He viewed failure outwardly.
"Edison replied, "Results! We have had wonderful results. We now know 50,000 things which won’t work." Thomas Edison knew that there was only one thing that was failure, and that was quitting."
:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Lesson
Have a spiritual outlet.
As important as it is that we be "feeding the Spirit", we also need to realize that we need to be doing things. We need to be serving. We need a spiritual "outlet".
Illustration
There is a place in Israel that is watered directly by the Jordan River itself. How wonderful it must be to have the water of the Jordan flowing straight into this valley. But the problem with this place is that there is no place for the water to flow out. As a result, the water is about 25 percent salt, more than seven times that of sea water. Except for bacteria and brine shrimp, nothing can live in it. That place is known as the "Dead Sea".
Are you like the Dead Sea? Are you constantly being filled with good things yet you have no place to let it flow out? Is your spiritual walk getting lifeless?
Greg Laurie in his book "The Upside-Down Church" writes (pg. 152),
"Maybe you’re at a place in your Christian walk where you simply feel that you’re in a spiritual desert. You read the Bible, and you think, It’s just not speaking to me the way it used to. You come to church and think, This is all good stuff, but I feel as if I’ve heard a lot of these things before. You’re trying your best to love God and live the Christian life, but the fire that once burned in your soul feels as if it’s smoldered down to a smoking log."
"Guess what? You probably don’t need to attend more Bible studies. You may not even need to read more Christian books or go to more church services. The real problem may be that you don’t have an outlet for what you are taking in. And if you do not have an outlet for spiritual truths in your life, you are going to lose heat and energy. You can keep blowing on those coals all you want. But what you really need is to share what you know with others; then your fire will grow."
The importance of having a balanced Christian walk.
Illustration
I have to confess that I love to play computer games. My favorite game right now is called "Age of Empires". In the game you control an entire community and have it progress by learning new technologies and eventually building an army that you then conquer your opponent with. But during the game, one of the things you have to do is keep an eye on your "resources". The resources you have to watch are wood, meat, stone, and gold. You need various amounts of these resources in order to build things or to progress as a civilization. And to get these resources, you have to collect them with your villagers. The game goes best when you keep working to balance out your resources.
My sons also like to play this game. They’re learning now, but at first, my younger sons weren’t much fun to have on your team because they would rather take a single villager and just wander around the map. They never spent any time working at their resources. They just loved to wander. They would cry because the enemy would keep invading their town center and wiping it out. Or they’d take a few ill prepared army men and try to attack the enemy, who would eat them for breakfast. They never took the time invest in their army and train it. They will go to try and build a certain kind of building but not have enough wood to build it. I’ll ask them, "Do you have any or your people cutting wood?" It’s hard to have wood for building if nobody chopping down trees. The key to victory is working at your resources. The key to victory is keeping them all in balance.
As Christians, there are certain things that we desperately need in our lives if we’re going to progress. There are certain things we need to keep working at if we want to have victory. Sometimes we fall into a trap of just working on a few things while we let the others go. We need to keep things in balance. That’s the key to victory.