JUST SAY YES—TO THE SPIRIT (GAL 5:16-18)

SERIES: FREE AT LAST, PART 21

GCEFC: APRIL 18, 2010

INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW FROM LAST SUNDAY

1. If you were here last Sunday, as the passage was being read a moment ago, you may have wondered: Does Pastor Sam realize he already preached on this passage last Sunday?

2. Or you may have noticed in the bulletin that even though the sermon title is different than last week’s title—the passage is identical. Is he trying to trick us?

3. Actually, I do remember that we looked at this same passage last week. And be assured I’m not trying to trick anyone.

4. But after last week’s sermon I spoke with several people, including my growth group. And though the main teaching was understood clearly enough—a question remained.

5. The question was not about the what or the why or the who of the passage. But was about the how of the passage.

6. The admonition is clear from V16: So I say, live by the Spirit (walk by the Spirit), and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

7. As believers in Christ, our lives are to be lived with the Spirit of God in control. With the Spirit of God not only empowering our lives but directing our lives too.

8. And we saw why this should be the case in V17: For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

9. We must walk by the Spirit, we must live by the Spirit, because it’s the only way our lives will reflect God’s good purposes.

10. We saw that there’s a battle raging within us. A battle that should be raging within every true believer. The battle is between two tendencies, two leanings.

a. The Bible refers to them as the old nature and the new nature. The flesh and the Spirit. The old man and the new man. The old mind and the new mind.

b. Two opposite desires, two opposite wills, two opposite values, two opposite purposes.

11. In the heart of all unbelievers, and in our own hearts before we became believers, there’s only one purpose. That one purpose is to please the sinful nature.

12. This is at the heart of GAL 5:16-18. Here we see the age-old dilemma still alive and well and living in the heart of every human being.

13. The dilemma of whether to choose my will—or submit to the will of God. An unbeliever will never choose the will of God. It’s impossible. Let me show you.

a. 1 COR 2:14: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

b. Unbelievers don’t have the Spirit within. So they cannot understand spiritual truth. Spiritual truth must be understood before it can be obeyed.

c. ROM 8:6: The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

d. This is what GAL 5:17 is saying. That there is a relentless conflict between what the Spirit of God wants for us and what we want for ourselves.

14. Now here’s the point. Only by the power and direction of the Spirit of God will anyone choose to obey the will of God.

15. Unbelievers will always choose what serves their sinful nature. Always. They have no reason or motivation or power or inclination to do otherwise.

16. But when we become believers. When the Spirit of God takes residence within us, we are free to choose the will of God. We are free to obey the Spirit’s prompting.

17. You see—the unbeliever is unable not to sin. And though the believer is certainly able to sin—he’s also able not to sin.

18. So why does the believer ever sin? Because we still have the sinful nature within us. It doesn’t go away in this life. It can never be eradicated—it can only be controlled.

19. And the way it’s controlled is by submitting to the Spirit. Let me try to illustrate this with two flashlights…….

20. So we’re back to V16: So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

21. So the question remains from last Sunday: How do I do that? How do I walk by the Spirit so I won’t gratify the desires of the sinful nature?

22. Pastor Sam must have forgotten to give us the secret formula. He forgot to issue the decoder rings. He gave us no magical incantation to make the sinful nature behave itself.

23. But I must tell you there is no secret formula to give. No decoder rings. No magical incantation. HOWEVER—there are things we can do that will aid us in this battle.

B. WALKING BY THE SPIRIT

1. Remember, we already said last week that the key to the battle is not engaging in it. Rather than fighting our old sinful nature, we must surrender to the Spirit of God within.

2. Remember, to walk by our feet is to walk in the power and direction of our feet. To walk by the Spirit is to walk in the power and direction of the Spirit.

3. We have the promise of God’s Word that if we walk by the Spirit—we will not gratify the desires of our sinful nature. It’s not a probability—it’s a promise.

4. Walking by the Spirit is an act of your will. It’s a decision. It’s a choice you exercise. It’s a commitment you make. It’s not magic. It’s not mysterious. It’s not even complicated.

5. If “walking by the Spirit” was complicated and mysterious—then why in the world didn’t Paul explain it? Why didn’t he go into how to do it?

6. Maybe it’s because like most hard spiritual decisions we are called to make—the rub is not in the understanding—the rub is in the doing.

a. I don’t know if you’re a Calvin and Hobbes fan or not. But there’s one cartoon that has always stuck with me.

b. Calvin (the 6-year old boy) is confessing to Hobbes (his stuffed tiger). He says: I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I’m sorry I did that.

c. To which Hobbes replies: Maybe you should apologize to her. Calvin thinks for a moment and says: I keep hoping there’s a less obvious solution.

7. Sometimes we’re just like Calvin. The solution is painfully obvious. But we’re hoping there’s another solution even when there’s not.

8. I think the main reason I like the slogan from that drug abuse campaign in the 80’s—Just Say No—is because it removes the excuses as part of the equation.

9. Which is not to say that it’s easy. No one is saying that it’s easy. Just that eventually it comes down to whether you will say yes or whether you will say no.

10. Sooner or later it comes down to whether we will say yes to our sinful nature, or yes to the Spirit of God within. It’s not easy. Nor is it complicated—we may wish it was.

11. What I am not suggesting is that there is nothing we can do to help us say yes or no. What I am suggesting is that we cannot escape the responsibility of saying yes or no.

12. So let me offer some practical ways to more greatly ensure that we will say no to the sinful nature and yes to the Spirit of God. Let’s look at 4.

C. THE BIBLICAL SUGGESTIONS

1. There are principles and ways that promote walking by the Spirit. And though we cannot grow spiritually apart from the Spirit’s work in us—the Christian life is not passive.

2. We are all individually responsible to grow. It’s a biblical command to do so.

3. It all begins with a frame of mind. ROM 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

4. So the first thing we must do is offer ourselves to God. We must come to the point where we believe this is what we must do—and do it.

5. No one can do it for you. You can’t do it for someone else. You must decide this is what you will do. And until you make that life-changing choice—the prospects are minimal.

6. This is done in a moment of time. But it must also be renewed, essentially as a daily exercise. Just as with marriage. Now I suppose there are some people who stay married simply because they took a vow.

7. But most people stay married because they choose to—each day. It’s not a formal choice—but it’s a real choice nonetheless.

8. Second, take the escape route God provides. 1 COR 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.

9. Let me give you a personal non-spiritual example…my love of ice cream.

a. But doesn’t 1 COR 10:13 say that God will provide an escape for us in the midst of temptation? It does and he does. But we tend not to choose the escape.

b. So it’s a much better strategy to avoid the temptation to start with. It’s not nearly as heroic. But avoiding temptation is aways better than fighting it.

10. Third—know what the Word of God teaches so you will know where the Spirit of God is leading. PSA 119:105: Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

a. You cannot know what the will of God is unless you know what the Word of God says. The Word of God must be read, studied, thought about, understood, and applied.

b. The purpose of the Beth Moore simulcast this coming weekend is so the attenders will be equipped with the Word of God.

c. The purpose of Growth Groups is so we can become familiar with what the Word of God teaches and how it applies.

d. So when the Spirit of God directs us a certain way—we’ll know it’s the Spirit of God directing—and not some other spirit. The Spirit leads in harmony with the Word.

11. Fourth, when you fail—confess it quickly. Repent from it genuinely. Learn from it thoroughly. And move on resolutely.

a. There’s no point in dwelling on the sins from Christmases past. Move on.

b. I love this old ditty: Well may the Accuser roar, of ills that I have done. I know them all, and thousands more, Jehovah knoweth none.

CONCLUSION

1. An unbeliever has but one master. He always obeys his one master. The master is his old nature. Now the unbeliever may feel free—but he’s actually enslaved.

2. A true believer is free—but not in the sense that he has no master. He’s free to obey his new master—or he can choose to obey his old master.

3. It always comes down to the will. I wish I could tell you otherwise. But that would not be honest, and it would not be helpful.