Keep in step with the Spirit

INTRODUCTION

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 Be filled with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 Walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the Bible asks us to live in the Spirit, be filled with the spirit, walk by the Spirit, and be led by the Spirit.

I want to speak to you about how to grow in the Holy Spirit and mature as a Christian where you are led by the Spirit every moment of your life or how to be led by the Spirit.

The first step to growing in the Spirit is to live in the spirit.

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Many people feel that living in the spirit and walking in the spirit mean the same thing. Live and walk are two different words. The word lives simply mean to have life, to breathe. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour He forgives our sins, we become God’s children and the Spirit of God lives in us. When we are born again, we start to breathe in the Spirit, we get life to our spirit. For all those of you who have not come to this level, the way to live in the Spirit is to confess your sins and accept Jesus as your personal Saviour. I praise God that every one of us here lives in the spirit. This step is very easy – believing, confessing, and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord.

The second step to growing in the Spirit is to be filled with the Spirit.

For all those of us who are living in the Spirit, the Bible asks us to be filled in the Spirit. It is the experience of Acts 2. Acts 2:1-4 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

An experience where the supernatural power of God will come and fill your body and grow to the experience of speaking in tongues as the Spirit enables you.

The third step is to walk by the Spirit.

Let us look at the word walk. It is a word we very well know and can picture and the first thing we picture is movement. Living is staying in a place. If I say I work and live in Bangalore that means I am stationed in Bangalore. I am living in the city of Bangalore. But if I say I got a transfer and I am moving to Chennai that means to keep in line with my job I have taken a decision to move to Chennai. Living is stationary, walking is movement. Walking means going somewhere.

Once we start living in the Spirit then we need to keep in line with the Spirit and move where the Spirit leads us. To understand walking in the Spirit better let us go to Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Walking by the spirit is also called as to be led by the spirit. Jesus also had the experience of being led by the Spirit. Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

ILLUSTRATION

I remember going on many long train journeys when I was a child all the way from Kerala to Calcutta through the Coromandel Cost, and I really enjoyed those train journeys. What amazed me the most is that the express train that had more than 20 compartments was pulled by one single engine. The engine guides the entire train to its destination.

We are to be led by the Spirit like how an engine leads the train. We have no strength of our own and we are led by His power. So to “walk by the Spirit” means stay hooked up to the divine source of power and go wherever He leads you.

Now God has a destination for you and it is the Spirit that hears from God and guides you to your destination. John 16:13-15 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

RESULTS OF WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

1. When we walk by the spirit the desires of the flesh are overcome.

Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

The way not to yield to the cravings and the appetites of the flesh, the way not to do those things that go against the word of God, and the way not to sin or get in bondage is to learn how to walk in the Spirit.

If I ask you can you hear God’s voice? You say yes. Are you sensitive to the Holy Spirit? Yes. We all have experiences to prove that we can hear from God and that we follow God. This is good. Now I want you to see what the works of the flesh are: Galatians 5:19-21 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Even though we say we are following God there are many aspects of our life where we are still walking according to the flesh. That is why the Bible says: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

2. When we walk by the spirit we produce the fruit of the spirit.

When we walk by the spirit, the path of the Spirit will automatically produce fruit in us. What is the fruit of the spirit? Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. See the Bible mentions it as the fruit of the spirit, not fruits. The fruit is only one – Love and love produce all the other fruit. Many of us want the fruit of the Spirit but are unwilling to walk by the Spirit. If you do not walk by the Spirit then automatically you are walking by the flesh.

3. When we walk by the Spirit it is a walk without obstacles.

The direction of the Holy Spirit is the highway without any obstacles. It is smooth. Isaiah 35:8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

When a Christian begins a daily walk with the Holy Spirit, God opens a highway for him. It is not that a Christian does not face obstacles, but the obstacles are taken care of by the Holy Spirit. It will be easy to follow if we have chosen to walk with Him. Today if you are facing obstacles decide to walk by the spirit.

4. We are protected when we walk in the Spirit.

If you walk by the spirit you are always protected. You need not fear any evil.

Isaiah 35:9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there. If you walk by the spirit you need not worry about the dangers that are awaiting you, you need not worry about uncertainties, you are always protected by God.

Psalm 23:1-4 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 27:3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

ILLUSTRATION

I remember as a small boy I would walk with my grandfather through the backyard of our house in Kerala. We have a river running through our property and on both sides of the river we had sugarcane plantations. The leaves of the sugarcane are like a saw and if you get in touch with them you scratch your body. The wound becomes skin-deep and is very painful. When I walk with my grandfather he would always make sure that none of those leaves would swing back and hit me.

When we walk by the Spirit we are protected by God. If you are facing danger, and uncertainty – walk in the Spirit.

5. We receive power when we walk in the Spirit.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Power is the special and distinctive quality of God, and God alone. All power belongs to God. But when a man of God walks in his Spirit God delegates a portion of his power to his creatures, yet it still is his power.

The Spirit of God has power and many times we do not realize the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us.

a. The Spirit of God has the power to create.

The world was created by the power of the Holy Spirit. Job 26:12-13He divideth the sea with his power. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens.

b. The Spirit of God has the power of resurrection.

1 Peter 3:18 He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. Resurrection power is the power to bring back to life what was dead. Maybe once you had a good time, everything was going fine and today you are in a dry condition. All what you do is becoming a failure. If you walk by the Spirit God will resurrect the good times back into your life.

6. We are blessed when we walk in the Spirit.

Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Blessing is empowerment to have success in every place of your life.

7.We receive life when we walk in the Spirit.

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.

Means not only results but the very presence of God produces abundant life while on earth and also eternal life.

HOW TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT?

1. Walk in the direction of the Holy Spirit.

We know Enoch walked with God but it never says that God walked with him. It was Enoch’s responsibility to walk with God. It is expected of us to also walk with God daily. We will have to walk on the same side of the road and the same direction He is walking on. Walk in the same pace as God. How do we walk daily? It is only through prayer, sometimes prayer with fasting; reading, meditating, and following the Word of God, repentance and as we walk the Spirit will reveal to you more.

2. Walk according to the rules of the Holy Spirit.

There is only one rule to walk in the Spirit. Live Holy Lives.

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 35:8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

So if there is sin in us, if there is an impurity in us we cannot follow the Spirit. If you need to walk by the spirit we need to live holy lives, free of sin.

CONCLUSION

Coming back to where we started from. Galatians 5:16-17 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.

Some of you may be telling in your heart, “Lord, I am trying my best but I am falling prey to the flesh. How can I walk in the spirit?” The flesh and spirit are always in conflict. Walking in the Spirit can be done only if we change the way we think, and renew our thinking. Next Sunday I am going to speak about renewing our thinking.

Let us conclude and see if we are walking in the direction and the rule of the Spirit.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?
Have you accepted the Lord in Water Baptism?
Do you take time to pray? Do you sometimes fast and pray?
Do you meditate and obey the Word of God?
Do you have a daily live of repentance?
Is your life holy?

Let’s pray.