WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.799 Well, Providence family, it's so good to see each and every one of you. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:07.440 If you uh are uh here as a guest, we're honored that you've joined us. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:13.359 And for those who call Providence home who are away this holiday weekend, we hope that you're having a great time. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:15.919 And uh we're glad that you could also join us online. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.960 Um, it is really good to see each and every one of you. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:25.679 Uh last weekend uh I tried to lay out a vision over the next five years of what it would mean. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.879 And if it would come to pass, a vision is simply what we could see in the future. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:38.560 Um our hope is, what we would see, is that every single one of us would embrace the cost to make disciples that would make disciples. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:44.719 And for that to take place, we believe that a number of things would need to be multiplied. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:53.359 One of those things is our own maturity, is that we need to grow deeper and fuller as followers of Jesus Christ. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.560 And so we want to learn how to grow even more so. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.280 For some of us, we've been walking with the Lord a long time. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.200 For some, maybe this is the first week that you've been walking with the Lord. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.159 People continue to trust Christ every single week. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.760 And so for each one of us, we want to be able to grow. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:14.879 Well, one of the greenhouses for growth in the New Testament is a small group. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:21.599 It's where people know you, love you, pray for you, where you can share insights and have your insights refined. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.239 And so, to be involved in groups, well, many of our groups around here are full, and so we need to multiply the number of groups. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:35.280 And for that to happen, we would need to multiply the number of people who can lead because all the groups and all the ministries need leaders. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:42.799 And the fact is, is that if we would multiply our maturity and our groups and our leaders, we believe that we would multiply our reach. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:48.000 What that simply means is there are people who are far from the Lord and far from us. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:59.599 And the Lord would incline our hearts with that growth and the opportunities to extend ourselves to the point of discomfort in order to bring the gospel to people who are a long way away. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:01.439 And that is our hope. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.959 But if you notice, we have to begin within. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:07.840 How do we grow mature? 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:14.000 And so, beginning right now this week, we are going to do a series called How We Change. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:21.439 And all of us want to change, and the reason is because we all live in that disheartening gap between who we are and who we want to be. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:26.639 And for some of us, who we are and who we know Jesus has called us to be. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.479 So we tend, as humans, to do a number of things to change. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:38.400 We make resolutions and we set goals and we exert effort, and yet change for many of us seems so elusive. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:47.759 Well, what if the way to change was altogether different than the way that we imagine that we can change? 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:56.479 What if the Bible actually provides a pathway with a number of steps that if we follow those steps is that we would change? 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:57.919 And that's what we want to do. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:04.319 Over the next eight weeks, we're gonna look at a number of these steps that begin with opening God's word. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.400 Then it moves to the importance of praying that we would believe. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:15.840 When we hear truth, every single one of us, there's some parts where we think, I believe that, and other parts are like, I don't know if I believe that. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.520 It's a critical step of belief. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:28.159 And then there's this adoption of a new identity, and that's so important because our identity, it fuels our behavior. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:42.159 And if we really understand that what Jesus has said is the truest thing about us, and we adopt that as our own identity, then it fuels specific behaviors like repentance and obedience, and we do this with one another in community. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:54.560 Well, one of the things we find in the Bible is that it doesn't matter which of those steps that we're looking at, and we'll look at those each in the weeks ahead, is that every single one of them, there's a power source to do that. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.919 And that power source is not you and it's not me. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.159 It's the Holy Spirit. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.520 It is God Himself who lives within our hearts. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:13.680 And because every step is empowered by the Holy Spirit, we want to begin this series with a message on how we walk by the Spirit. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.199 So I want to pray for us as we get started, okay? 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:24.879 Father in heaven, we bow before you and we believe that what's about to take place is going to be transformative. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:34.639 And for those of us who have doubts about that, I pray that you would lead them to see that you have power that is available that can change our lives. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:44.000 And I ask that you would change our lives, that you would begin today to change the desires in our heart that would change the behaviors of our life. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:52.800 I pray, Father, that you would speak through weakness and you would help us to look at this passage that has such power and influence as we believe. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.439 We pray all of this in Christ's name. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:56.319 Amen. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:56.959 Amen. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:02.480 If you got a Bible, turn to the book of Galatians, okay? 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:10.240 Uh the Holy Spirit is not introduced in the New Testament. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.439 The Holy Spirit is introduced and is active in the Old Testament. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:17.439 What's interesting is the story of the Bible, obviously it begins with creation. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.439 And then soon thereafter we sinned. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:24.079 You see, God wanted to protect the peace that we had with him, and so he gave it instruction. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.839 And yet the man and woman thought that instruction to be too overbearing. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:41.759 And so the Bible says that we sinned against God, we broke fellowship, and sure enough, ever since man ran away from God, something is so amazing and gracious has happened, and that is God has progressively drawn closer to man. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:49.360 If you read the Old Testament, which was the first part of the Bible, what you find is that God was above man. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:57.839 He was beyond, he was not like close, but not like in the New Testament, where someone's walking with them. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.079 He was he was beyond everybody. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.399 But what's interesting is he kept promising a better day to come. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:11.120 In the fullness of time, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, came to the earth. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:18.000 And when he came to the earth, he was not beyond people and above people, hovering in the clouds. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:21.839 He walked among people and was with people. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:30.399 We could touch him, we could see him, hear him, experience him in such a personal way here on the earth. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.759 And interestingly, Jesus promised a better day. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:41.199 The night before he went to the cross to pay for our sin, he said, It is to your advantage that I'm gonna go away. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:45.759 For if I do not go away, the helper of the Holy Spirit will not come. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:56.000 But if I go away, I will send him to you, and he will live not above you, not with you, but in you. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:59.279 God could draw no closer. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:04.720 Well, the next day Jesus, as promised, he went to a cross. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.560 He died for our sin, pay the penalty of our sin. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:22.959 He was buried in a grave, and on the third day he rose from the dead, and then he spent 40 more days with his disciples, teaching them about the significance of his resurrection and characteristics of his kingdom that we read about in Acts chapter 1. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.480 And then we're told that he says, I'm leaving, and when I leave, this is what I want you to do. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:29.839 I don't want you to go out and preach. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.439 I don't want you to go try to heal. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.079 I don't want you to, I want you to pray. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:38.240 I want you to wait until the promised Holy Spirit comes upon you. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:48.399 And when he comes upon you, then you will be empowered to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, telling people what I have done for you. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:50.959 He ascends, they pray ten days. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:08:02.720 The Spirit of God descends comes into their heart, and they become bold witnesses and missionaries taking the gospel to places like Galatia, which was a region. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.920 It wasn't a city, it was a place where there's lots of cities. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.319 It's modern-day Turkey. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:14.079 And they began to tell people about Jesus, and people began believing. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.959 But just like us, these people found it difficult to change. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.480 They found maturity to be sluggish. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.959 They found old patterns reappearing in their life. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:30.959 They also found false teachers to be abundant. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.600 And so Paul wrote them a letter. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.960 Notice what it says in chapter 1, verse 6 and 7. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:45.039 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.360 Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:57.200 Now, so you notice they don't want to remove Christ, they want to distort the gospel of Christ. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.480 And the distortion was Jesus plus. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:17.600 It's Jesus plus obedience, Jesus plus morality, Jesus plus ethical living, Jesus plus the ceremonies and rites and circumcision and obedience to the Old Testament law. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.200 And so he comes in order to protect them. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:31.200 And he knows that many of them have become confused, very confused, because there's so many false teachers about how do I now grow in Christ if I already have believed in Christ? 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:35.279 And so in chapter 3, verse 3, he says, Are you so foolish? 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.600 Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:40.879 You see what he's saying? 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:52.639 He's saying, having been born again by the Spirit of God, not because of your works, do you now suppose that you're gonna grow in Christ by your works, by your effort, by your resolutions and goals? 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:54.480 Do you think that's really how you're gonna grow? 00:09:54.639 --> 00:10:03.519 In fact, next week we're gonna look at a passage where he says, as you came to Christ, so walk in him. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:16.480 What that means is that if we try to grow in Christ with ingredients that are foreign or different to how we come to faith in Christ, we will not grow. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.399 We will not change. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.559 And then what he does is he writes to explain a better way. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.320 And not just a better way, the only way to change. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:40.879 So in chapter 5, starting in verse 16, he writes, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:47.679 For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:52.720 For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.879 But if you were led by the spirit, you were not under the law. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:13.039 And now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:19.279 I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:27.840 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.799 Against such things there is no law. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:36.000 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:40.159 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:47.519 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:55.440 So, what I want to do on the basis of these words is I want to talk about, first of all, what happens if we do walk in the spirit. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:59.759 And then second, how do we walk in the spirit? 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:00.799 How does this happen? 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:02.960 But first, what's the impact of doing so? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:03.759 A number of things. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:08.559 First, walking with the spirit changes our deepest desires. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.679 You notice I didn't say it changes our effort or our goals. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.759 It changes our desires. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:20.320 We all have desires, every one of us. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:25.600 There's things that we want to do, there's things we want to say in the moment, there's things that how we want to respond. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:31.759 We have desires, and these desires are powerful in steering our life. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:41.200 In fact, our desires move us as effectively as a little bit that you put into the mouth of a horse. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:46.320 You see, we follow the tug of our desire. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:13:05.519 Even if those desires are evil or gluttonous, impure, dishonest, anxious, we follow the tug of these desires unless a stronger desire for good begins to emerge within us that pulls and tugs in a different direction. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:15.440 What I'm trying to say is that if we could look into each of our hearts and see our strongest desires, we could predict our future. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:23.039 Because we all eventually do what we want to do. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:33.840 And so verse 16 says, Well, how do you start to do something different than we've always done before? 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.240 And so he says, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:44.480 Now, the flesh in this context is not flesh and blood, it's not skin and muscle. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:52.559 The flesh in this context, as is written all through the New Testament, it's a metaphor of our old nature. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.960 That sometimes it's called the old man in us. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:02.720 That nature that was with us before we came to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.919 And that nature has three characteristics. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.240 One is it doesn't love God. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.600 Well, the Bible says if we don't love God, our heart is made to love. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:12.799 So it's going to love something. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:15.200 If it's not God, it's something less than God. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:21.200 And so the Bible says that the first characteristic of the flesh is we don't love God. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.200 The second is we begin to love sin. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.639 And then the third is we begin to rely on ourself. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.120 We rely on ourself. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:41.120 And so, interestingly, what it says, if you notice, it says that the flesh, this flesh that relies on ourself, it doesn't love God, and it loves sin, it produces desires. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:44.159 And the word desire is epithumia. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:44.879 It's two words. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.679 Epi is epic or overriding. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.320 Themia is lust or desire. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.799 In other words, we have lots of desires in our heart, but there are epic ones. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:01.039 And whatever is that epic desire in that moment, what it does is it moves our hands and feet. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:12.240 And so it starts with the flesh, it has desires, that moves our hands and feet, which is why verses 19 through 21 says the works of the flesh. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.799 In other words, the flesh has desires, and then we act on it and it develops works. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:31.279 And you look at this list: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like this, which means it's not the complete list. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.200 This is just a sampling. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:44.000 These are things that when Christ comes into our life, some of us right now want to change, and we want to change from this to something else. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:54.000 But what I want you to see is we do these things because we want to. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.519 Which is why I frequently say our greatest problem isn't what we did last night. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.559 It's that we wanted to. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.639 Imagine the power of wanting something different. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.039 And that's what this passage is all about. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:26.320 You see, there's some of us who need to leave a city, need to leave a home, need to leave a broken relationship. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:27.600 We need to leave. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:39.200 But what I want you to notice is this there's a lot of people who leave a city and go to a new city, leave a relationship, enter a new relationship, and change is not sufficiently accomplished. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:46.799 And the reason is because we went to the new city with our flesh, and we entered a new relationship with our flesh. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:57.679 Most of us, when you hear how we change, we begin to think, oh, there's probably two or three steps. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:01.759 And the Bible always says, forget the steps, they come way later. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.079 But look at your heart. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:07.200 What do you want to do? 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:14.319 But notice when the Holy Spirit enters our heart, he begins to plant new desires. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.279 And suddenly this causes a war. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:24.880 Verse 17 says, the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:26.720 They are opposed to one another. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:38.559 This is why many of us, and we are absolutely earnest and honest when we say this, where in our honest moments, even before the Lord, Lord, I want to be pure, but last night I did not want to be pure. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:47.200 I want to be an influence in my home for peace and unity, but last night I wanted to throw verbal grenades. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:50.960 Why the war? 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.799 I want you to know something. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:57.759 If you're a follower of Christ, it's a more complex reality for you than others. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.200 And the reason is because you have two factories in your heart and not one. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:09.519 The Holy Spirit comes into your heart and has notice the flesh creates epic desires, and so does the spirit. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:19.119 So now we have two factories working in our heart, both creating desires, and the greater desire is going to pull us in that direction. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:30.400 The question then is how do we get the desires of the spirit to be bigger and more epic than the desires of the flesh? 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.759 And the answer is it depends who you walk with. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:43.839 If you walk by the flesh, the fleshly desires will look so much bigger and better and sweeter and more pleasant than righteousness. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:53.200 But if we walk by the spirit, those desires of the spirit, they will look better and more epic and more beautiful and more pleasant than sin. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:01.759 So notice what it says, verse 18 if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:07.279 This is actually a very kind of confusing thing when you first read it, like, what does that mean exactly? 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:18.160 He's describing in verse 18 how the Holy Spirit, when we walk with him, fans the flame of good desires and makes them brighter and bigger within our heart. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.200 How does he do it? 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.400 Well, there's really two ways what he means when he says, if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:31.440 Meaning, if we can grasp not being under the law, we're gonna see that our desires for righteousness actually expand. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:32.160 How so? 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.559 The Holy Spirit first reminds us that condemnation is removed. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:42.480 Romans 8 says, For those in Christ, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.799 He says, Because Christ came to the earth, he died for our sin. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.480 When we put our trust in him, he gives us his righteousness. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:20:02.960 And there it says in chapter 8, verse 4, it says, and the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us who walk not by the flesh, but by the spirit. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:11.839 In other words, when we come to grips with this reality that we have been forgiven, that we have a new record, that we have a righteousness. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.480 It is a powerful force. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:23.440 It gives us thanksgiving and love, and love and thanksgiving are greater sources of motivation and guilt and fear. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.599 And this confuses a lot of people. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.400 And if it confuses you, it confused a lot of people in the Bible. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.960 In fact, people in the Bible were writing this. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:37.279 They were writing and they included some of the opposition and their tactics in their writing. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:50.240 And so in Romans chapter 6, Paul's writing about justification by faith, that we have a righteousness in Christ that's been given to us as a gift because of our faith in his work and not trying to work for it ourselves. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:56.079 And the people who don't understand this think, Paul, don't you say that this is so dangerous? 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:02.240 People are going to mistaken grace as a license for sin. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:07.680 Don't tell them to be motivated by love, tell them to be motivated by fear and guilt. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:11.599 You better do better, you better do better, or he's gonna get you. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.440 Tell them to fear. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:35.599 And what Paul does through the book of Romans and Ephesians and Galatians is to say, for those people that take within their hearts so deeply the precious truth that we've been justified by faith, it creates within us such a gratitude and a love for Jesus Christ that it begins to change our very heart, knowing that we are not condemned. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:42.000 And that love and gratitude becomes a more powerful fuel for righteousness than fear and guilt. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.759 The second thing the Holy Spirit does when he says we're not. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.200 Not under the law is the Holy Spirit aligns our heart to the goodness of his law. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:25.200 What that means is that when we come to the Bible and we are absolutely certain that I have a righteousness from Jesus Christ that I've received from him and I read what he wants from me, before that moment I look and think, I don't even know if this is all that good for anybody, much less me. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:31.839 Tell the truth, don't steal, don't lust, don't look at another woman with lustful intent. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:33.200 Are you kidding me? 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:34.880 Why in the world would this be good? 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:48.640 But once I come to faith in Christ and see that the heart of the man who went to the cross for me says this is in my best interest, now all of a sudden I look and go, his word is actually that's kind of attractive. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:57.359 That looks like a better way to live, which is why 1 John chapter 5, verse 3, it says, This is love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.799 If you love God, you read the Bible, and you don't think, oh, what a burden, you think, what a blessing. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:05.839 I love my wife. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:17.440 And when I know what's gonna please my wife, that she likes this kind of food or she likes to go and do these kinds of things, then I defer and show preference because I love her. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.559 And that's not burdensome, it's motivated by love. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.880 And when we love Christ because of what he's done for us, then suddenly we can hear from him. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:26.880 We go, well, that's not burdensome at all. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:35.119 And suddenly his desires for good that exist within our heart, they become bigger and stronger. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:40.000 And this is what he means when it says, if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:44.559 Friends, have you noticed how easy it is to sin when we want to? 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:50.720 And have you also noticed how easy it is to resist sin when you don't want to? 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:10.720 And therefore, the understanding is that when we walk with the Holy Spirit, he begins to change our desires in such a way that we begin to live lives of integrity and purity and honesty, self-control. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:24.559 And other people who don't understand, they look and they don't see it yet, because they don't have that desire, and they think, oh my goodness, what self-control, what self-discipline that person over there lives with in order to have that kind of lifestyle. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:31.519 I just don't understand it, and yet we're over here and we're doing it, and it doesn't even feel like self-discipline or self-control because we want to. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:34.799 You know who goes to the gym all the time? 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:36.240 People who want to. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.680 And they go to the gym and they don't feel like it's a have to, it's not self-discipline. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:43.119 They want to be there. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:44.880 What do you want to do? 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:50.160 To you, that doesn't feel like self-control, but other people, it may look like self-control. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.480 What I'm trying to say is this stop making your list of how to change. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:02.480 The first thing you must change is how do I get a new want-to in my life, a new desire. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.000 And that's what he says. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:08.559 If you walk with the spirit, he changes the desires of your heart. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:14.240 A second thing I want you to see is that walking by the spirit produces a desirable life. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:22.960 Just imagine in this crazy world who's so confused, and all the different groups, all the different people who say, You want to be in this group, this is what you got to care about. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.880 You want to be in this group, this is how you have to believe. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.960 You want to be in this group, this is what you have to be able to do. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:37.119 Just imagine the set of behavior, a set of attitudes that's so pleasant that there's not a single group in the whole world that would make a law against it. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.319 And that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:44.319 Notice what he says. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:54.799 The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things that there is no law. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:57.839 Now, did you notice? 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:10.240 See, we have two factories, they both create desires, but notice the factory of the flesh creates desires that moves our hands and feet, and he calls it the works of the flesh. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:18.960 But the factory of the spirit that creates desires that moves our hands and feet, and he calls it the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:22.240 Now, why is one called a work and the other is called a fruit? 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:28.160 I believe the answer is works are what we do and we're gratifying the flesh. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:46.160 And fruit is what appears in our life, upon the branches of our life, when we do what we're told in verse 24, and that is that for those of us who are in Christ, we crucify the flesh and its desires, its passions. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:49.599 It's interesting. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:53.119 The fruit that he describes here, there's a number of characteristics. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:55.200 One of them is the fruit grows gradually. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:56.720 Gradually. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.240 You go out there and you see a little bit of the apple, a little bit of the orange. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:09.279 The fact is, if you went out there every single day and you stood there, not just every day, you just stayed there. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.519 And so I'm just gonna watch this orange over all these months just grow. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:16.480 Well, day by day you wouldn't see any difference. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:21.759 But if you go every single week and you measure its circumference, you go, you know what? 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:23.680 This orange has gotten bigger. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.240 It's gradual, and so it is with this fruit. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:27.279 It grows gradually. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.799 You can't see necessarily a difference between yesterday and today. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.960 But if you walk with the Holy Spirit over a long period of time, this is what you'll find. 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:44.720 You'll start saying things like this You know, a long time ago, it was like eight years ago, I remember that moment when my anger was incited, and this is how I responded, and I was so ashamed at how I responded. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:49.119 But yesterday my anger was incited, and I didn't respond the same way. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.839 And that's how we change. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.160 It's gradual, it's also inevitable. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:28:00.000 When the Holy Spirit of God, third member of the Trinity, lives within our hearts, stuff happens, right? 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:11.680 Our desires change, our behavior change, our pleasure in sin even changes, and the reason is because he convicts us in such a way that it takes away the joy we had in our sin. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.599 It's inevitable and it's also powerful. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:17.200 It's so powerful. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:23.759 Some of this that looks so small, what just like be kind, like what impact in being kind is gonna have? 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:26.319 Think about an acorn for a second. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:30.480 An acorn, it's so small, it's so unassuming, and yet an acorn becomes an oak tree. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:38.799 And an oak tree has these roots that can grow so big and strong that as they grow, they can actually tear up other strong things. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.440 And so it is with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:51.440 When we walk with Him, He gives us new desires, produces new fruit that can break evil patterns in our life and begin brand new ones. 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:53.359 It's powerful. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:29:06.960 And when this fruit that is gradual, inevitable, and powerful begins moving in our life because we're walking with the Spirit and those new desires, it creates and produces a pretty desirable life. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:22.480 Have you ever met somebody who imperfectly but persistently was loving, and joyful, and peaceful, and patient, and kind, full of goodness and faithfulness, and self-control. 00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.400 You have a friend like that, you got a good thing. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:28.799 It's desirable. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:36.480 The third thing I want you to see is that walking by the Spirit develops a life-changing relationship. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:54.960 Some of us we got in our car this morning, we started driving, we started thinking about something else, and you got all the way here, you drove six, seven, eight, nine, ten miles, and there was this consciousness that wasn't even aware that you were driving until you got here, and you're like, Oh, I'm like one turn away. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.400 How did I get here? 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:58.480 You've probably experienced that. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:07.519 Where our mind is on something else, and just by routine, we just we the fact is, is those thoughts change the whole drive. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:12.400 You go on a walk with a friend, and it changes the walk. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:13.920 Have you ever noticed that? 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:19.200 You go exercise by yourself, you go on a long walk, you're like, how much longer is this trail? 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:21.039 For goodness sake. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.079 But you go with a friend, and what happens? 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:33.599 You go with a friend, you start talking, and all of a sudden you travel a mile and a half, and you don't even know you've been walking because you're not thinking about it, because you're enjoying the relationship. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:38.960 So it is with walking with the Holy Spirit, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. 00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:44.799 We're living our life and we're going through life, but we're experiencing a relationship that's totally life-changing. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:49.599 And it changes how we live in each of those days. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.599 It changes the difficulty of those days when you have a friend that you're walking with. 00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:56.079 And that's what he says in verse 25. 00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:00.559 He says, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:04.160 He keeps talking about we're walking with the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:05.119 So how do we do that? 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:06.240 That's where I want to close. 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:11.119 First, let's get in step by putting our trust in Christ. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:22.640 Friends, we cannot keep in step until we first get in step, and you cannot get in step until you are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.000 Before there is power, there must be salvation. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:33.119 The Holy Spirit has to come into your heart, and how he comes into your heart is you put your trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.759 Have you trusted Christ? 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:42.079 Do you see that you have a sin problem apart from Christ that you don't have the moral capital to pay? 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:48.640 You see, he came knowing that the wage of sin is death, but he was willing to die for us. 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:50.480 That's his love for you. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:58.079 And when you put your faith in Christ, he forgives you, he gives you his righteousness, but he also sends his spirit to live within you. 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:05.359 That is a says in Ephesians chapter 1, a seal guaranteeing your inheritance in heaven. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:08.720 It's like proof of ownership. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.359 I know I'm going to heaven. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:17.680 Did you know within the Bible, and a lot of people get very confused on this, you ask someone, hey, do you think you're going to heaven? 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:18.480 Yeah, why? 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:20.000 Uh, I'm a pretty good person. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:24.640 You know the Bible never says being pretty good is a guarantee to go to heaven. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:36.640 It doesn't say baptism, giving, building a hospital, praying, being a church. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:45.759 There is one and only one definitive proof on the earth that you're going to heaven. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:47.519 You say, Well, what is that? 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:55.839 Romans chapter 8 says it this way anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:59.599 Now take the knots out, and what you have is this. 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:03.279 Whoever has the Holy Spirit does belong to him. 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:05.599 That's how you know. 00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:07.759 Is the Holy Spirit living in your heart? 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:08.880 You say, Well, how do I know? 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:09.920 Well, let me just ask you this. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:17.279 If we went out to a pond and I had a rock and I threw it into the pond, and I said, Now the rock is in the pond. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:21.440 How would you know the rock is in the pond when the rock is now at the bottom of the pond? 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:24.240 And the answer is, you can see the ripples. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:27.200 And so it is with the Holy Spirit. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:28.400 You can't see the Holy Spirit. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:31.759 So how does how do we know the Holy Spirit is within us when he enters us? 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:34.799 It creates ripples that we see the rest of our life. 00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:42.880 And the rest of the New Testament gives us evidence that we're supposed to look for that when the Holy Spirit is in our life, these are the ripples that you can see. 00:33:43.440 --> 00:33:44.799 Let me just give you a number of them. 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:55.359 In Romans chapter 10, he says that continued belief in the tenets of the gospel, which is the life and the death and resurrection of Christ, is only possible if the Holy Spirit is within your heart. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:00.000 Worship and love for Jesus, saying Jesus is Lord is only possible. 00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:04.720 1 Corinthians chapter 2 says, unless the Holy Spirit is in your heart. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:07.839 Current trust in Jesus Christ. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:14.800 I woke up this morning and my hope that I'm going to heaven is not because I prayed a prayer when I was 16 years old, which I did. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:28.239 My hope is Ephesians Hebrews chapter 3 says, proof of the Holy Spirit is today I woke up and I had the impulse to say that my only hope today is Jesus Christ and Him alone. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.480 Truth, understanding of the truth. 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:39.119 First Corinthians chapter 2 says one of the proofs or ripples of the Holy Spirit is you begin to understand the Bible. 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:46.320 Still a lot of parts that are very confusing, but you begin to understand the truth. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:52.320 The passage that we've been reading, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a proof. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:58.639 In John 16, it says that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict you of sin, righteousness, and judgment. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:34:59.440 What does that mean? 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:03.519 It means when you do what is wrong and the Holy Spirit is living in your heart, you feel guilt. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:08.239 When you do what is right and the Holy Spirit is in your heart, you feel his pleasure. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:15.440 When you're making a decision and the Holy Spirit is in your heart, you're reminded that one day I'm going to give an account for this. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:22.239 These are proofs, these are ripples that take place within our lifestyle when the Holy Spirit is within our heart. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.440 In 1 John chapter 2, he says, repentance and obedience. 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:31.679 In 1 John chapter 3, he says, love for his people are all ripples of proof of the Holy Spirit. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:35.280 So my ask my question to you is this I ask you this. 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:37.280 Is the Holy Spirit in your heart? 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:44.960 And if he's not, then stop listening to me and call out to Christ in faith, and he will save you and fill you with the Holy Spirit. 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:48.639 It is the only way you will definitively change. 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:57.280 Second, for those of us who have, let me urge you to keep in step by practicing the Spirit's presence, to walk with the Spirit. 00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:00.800 This confuses a lot of people, this idea of, okay, this is not religion. 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:07.440 This is supposed to be this relationship with Christ, and yet my relationship with other humans is different than my experience with Christ. 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:20.320 One of the reasons that we can get confused is because the Bible uses a number of metaphors like water, a dove, and fire to describe the Holy Spirit. 00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:24.719 So sometimes it's easy to think he seems impersonal. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:30.239 Fire, I'm gonna walk with fire, walk with oil, I'm gonna walk with water. 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:31.519 Like what is that? 00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:34.800 It seems so impersonal, and yet those are only metaphors. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:36.639 Those are things that he does in our lives. 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:38.079 This is what he's like. 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:44.880 What you find throughout the Bible is the description of who the Holy Spirit is. 00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:46.960 You find tremendous personhood. 00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:48.719 What do I mean by that? 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:50.639 Let me just give you a few examples. 00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:53.199 The Holy Spirit has knowledge and comprehension. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:58.400 It says in 1 Corinthians 2, no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:10.400 In 1 Corinthians 12, when he's speaking about the fact that the Holy Spirit gives each one of us a spiritual gift to build up the church, he says, and all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:14.159 If you're saved, you have a spiritual gift, and you don't get to pick your spiritual gift. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:18.079 And interestingly, this says Jesus doesn't pick your spiritual gift either. 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:27.519 This says the Holy Spirit, it's according to his will that we receive which spiritual gifts or gifts that we have. 00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:32.320 You keep going, and we're told he has a voice in the book of Revelation. 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:35.760 He says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:38.159 In Ephesians, it says that he has emotions. 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:40.960 He says, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. 00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:42.639 That he can feel. 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:47.840