WALKING IN THE SPIRIT #4 ROSS SMITH
I want to come again to that topic that we’ve been following now for several weeks and that is WALKING IN THE SPIRIT, and this morning I’d like to come to the means of walking in the Spirit. I was interested when Craig said this morning “It’s worth listening, it may keep you alive.” Beloved that indeed is the thrust of the Word of God, If we listen to the Word, it will keep us alive.
To walk in the Spirit, we have to have an objective. There has to be an ambition to do so, but we must firstly determine what should be the motivation that would make us want to walk in the Spirit.
We said earlier that to walk in the Spirit is an unpopular choice. It places demands and limitations upon us which overturn the natural ambition. And so, to walk in the Spirit is not a natural choice and we need to determine what the motivation is that would make us want to walk in the Spirit. If the motivation is misplaced, then the ambition can never be fulfilled, for the Lord will never trust the enormity of His power nor will He trust the reputation of His name to a servant who would misuse the abilities that are offered and invested in a servant who will walk in the Spirit.
We’ve only to review the parable of the talents and we see there that the servant who was unwise in the use of his one talent was not only reprimanded for his misuse but was dispossessed of that one talent, and if that is the principle that applies in terms natural, it applies in magnitude in terms spiritual.
We need to understand the source of the ability to walk in the Spirit, we need to understand the character of the one Who would have us walk in the Spirit, and then as we comprehend both those dimensions, we will better comprehend the means of walking in the Spirit.
A very interesting Scripture emerges in:-
John 5:26 For even as the Father has life in Himself and is self-existent, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself and be self-existent.
I pondered this for indeed it is much deeper than first glance would lead us to understand. When I went to
1 John 5:12 He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.
The life that is being referred to in the Epistle is the same Life that is referred to in the Gospel, that is eternal life, which is sourced in God. God has Life in Himself, God is sufficient in Himself, He is self-sufficient and therefore he doesn’t need anything or anyone.
Whatever God is and all that He is, He is in Himself and in His entirety. All life is in God and all life is from God, whether it be the unconscious life of the lowest form of amoeba or whether it be the highly self-conscious intelligent life of the seraph in the heavenly realms, no creature has life in itself, all life is a gift from God.
I suppose this week, I have come to understand a little more clearly and probably with some degree of embarrassment, that the concept that we have held and maintained now for a long time, that is that we are God’s hands and God’s feet and that we are God’s mouthpiece in the society in which we live and that He needs us to carry out His work.
That premise is flawed in its basis because it suggests that God has a need. God chooses to use us, God doesn’t need us! God is sufficient in Himself, He made us for His good pleasure.
To admit to the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine being and we know without a shadow of a doubt that God is absolutely infallible, entire and complete in every dimension. Therefore there cannot exist in God any need. You see, NEED is a creature word. Only we have the word NEED, and it cannot be attributed to God as the creator in any way, shape or form.
God’s relationship to us is on a voluntary basis. God relates to us out of His grace, out of His good pleasure, but we NEED to walk and live in the Spirit, we HAVE to walk and live in the Spirit.
Colossians 2:10 And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
(KJV) And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power
This is the only way that we can meet the need of our life, to identify with that completeness that is found in God, otherwise we will be devoid of the necessary component that will enable us to live successfully.
Moreover, we need to recognize that God is complete in every respect. God’s interest in us is as His creatures and it arises out of His sovereign good pleasure, not from a need that we can supply to God; not from any benefit that we can provide for Him, nor from any completeness that we can contribute to Him, because, as I have said, God is complete in Himself.
But we exist, we live, on the basis of need. I need air, I need water, I need food, amongst many other things. You see, nothing, other than God, is complete in itself. Everything else exists upon things outside of itself. Let me give you an example. If you remove from our earth air, food and water, the majority of life would cease to exist and much of it within moments.
We might ask, “Why have you gone to such lengths this morning, to describe the situation?” The reason I have enlarged so much on this this morning is that we might understand our source; that we might understand the completeness and the fullness whereby we are enabled to walk and to live both in the natural and in the spirit. The only reason we are here is because God has given life. We live at such a superficial level because we don’t have that life and live it more abundantly like He intends.
A W Tozer was a scribe of great note many years ago and he penned the following: “The motivation for many people in Christian service is no higher than to help God out of the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited ability seems unable to get Him out of. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today”.
Sadly it’s true, but let me go further. The drive for us to walk and live in the Spirit is not cultivated in theological attainment, a man doesn’t need to be godly to be a theologian. Satan is an example, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan knew the Word.
Spiritual truths differ from natural truths both in their constitution and in the manner that we apprehend them. In natural truths, they may be learned regardless of how we are spiritually. Natural truth can be apprehended by anyone with any degree of normal intelligence, a saint or a scoundrel, you don’t need to be godly to grasp natural principles.
But God has things to say to the pure in heart that cannot be said to a sinful heart, because what He has to say is not just theology, it is Spirit. The Bible says in
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural, non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
As I was saying, a man can grasp natural principles whether he be good or bad, but when God wants to speak to a man, He has to speak spirit to spirit. The Apostle John had great insight into the ways and means of living in the Spirit, and as I read the first epistle of John this week, I found there that he made many statements which give us counsel in how to walk in the Spirit. I would like to refer to some of the nuances that he describes so that we can grasp the potential and also the intention that John describes
1John 1:3 What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
The part in the round brackets in Amplified means that it was inferred in the original.
That fellowship is a distinguished mark of Christians. If you don’t have that fellowship, then you are not identified as being a Christian. This fellowship that we have which is the distinguishing mark of Christians is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now the only way that we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son is if we agree.
Amos 3:3 Do two walk together except they make an appointment and have agreed?
You can’t have fellowship if you are in disagreement, can you? And so, we have that fellowship with the Father and the Son.
1 John 1:7 But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
Not only can we have fellowship with the Father and the Son, but when we walk and live in the Spirit, we should have that cultivation of fellowship one with the other. But more than that, it says that the blood of Jesus Christ purifies us from all sin. When we come to
1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.
There are many people today, who will claim to live and walk in the Spirit, but here is the test – he should walk and conduct himself in the same way as Jesus did.
I was interested as Sandra read from Colossians because there is the same thrust.
Colossians 2:6 As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him.
There are many people today, who will claim to live and walk in the Spirit, but here is the test – he should walk and conduct himself in the same way as Jesus did, “Walk and live in the Spirit!”
1 John 2:9 [Here is a contra indication] Whoever says he is in the Light and [yet] hates his brother [Christian, born-again child of God his Father] is in darkness even until now.
1 John 2:27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].
What can I expect when I live and walk in the Spirit? 1 John 2v27 begins to describe it.
1 John 3:10 By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).
1 John 3:22 And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him.
1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.
All of these scriptures are very precious to us. They are all full of encouragement. But the difficulty is that we read them and we luxuriate in their potential but then we neglect to expend ourselves in the pursuit thereof.
We say that we want to be like Christ and I believe that that is sincere, and yet as I look at our situation, I see that on many occasions, we can’t even be on time for service. Sometimes, we are not ahead on our preparation for ministry. Sometimes, we are not even ready to speak a word of encouragement to somebody in the street or at home. Beloved, we need not delude ourselves. If we are to walk and to live in the Spirit, then we are going to have to APPLY OURSELVES to the pursuit of spiritual excellence. Let’s not delude ourselves.
The spiritual treasures that are ours in Christ Jesus are made available through the atonement. That’s the reason why we can stand here this morning and sing “Jesus, You’re beautiful”. We understand to some degree the beauty of the person of Jesus Christ, but that spiritual treasure that is bound up in Christ Jesus will not become a reality unless we make the effort to overcome and progress in attaining this walk. Let me nominate some of these, not that you will be discouraged but so that we can see that they are progressive steps that we take:
1 We need deliverance from the activities of the flesh.
2 We need victory over self. We know it in the walk of righteousness as deliverance from self.
3 We need a constant flow of the Holy Spirit through our personalities.
4 We need to see that fruitfulness in Christian service. Galatians 5v22-3 tells us what fruit we need to see. (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)
5 We need an awareness of God’s presence. We said when we set out upon this area of study that the reason the church is so impotent today is that it has lost its consciousness of the divine being.
6 We need growth in grace.
7 We need an unbroken spirit of worship through an increasing consciousness through our union with God. I look for that – where we come into service and suddenly there sweeps across this congregation a spirit of worship and everything that has been planned or organised is pushed aside as God moves in and His people begin to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
The way that we will do that is to live and walk in the Spirit, being conscious of God, recognizing the sovereignty and majesty of God and we cannot withhold it any longer. Now, none of these things will happen automatically. Neither have we got to wait for eons for them to become a reality, for they are like the promised land was to the children of Israel we have to go in and possess them.
How do I go about it?
1 I have to have that burning ambition to walk and live in the Spirit. Now I think that most of us have come to understand that that is a necessity, a demand, not just something that is made possible upon us by the Holy Spirit. I have to have that ambition. I have to have that desire to walk and live in the Spirit.
2 I see that through the volume of Scriptural support and evidence that it is entirely possible for me to do.
3 Without this ability to walk and to live in the Spirit, I am always going to be a mediocre, Mickey Mouse, second rate, ineffective, sub-standard, poorly equipped and seldom successful Christian, and they are not a rare breed, unfortunately.
Today the church is plagued by mediocrity and complacency. These sorts of Christians sadden their God and gladden their enemy. We have to turn that situation around beloved, and do it very, very quickly. I have four propositions that will give us a start.
- You will get nothing unless you go after it. God never forces anything upon us. Salvation is probably the greatest gift that God could ever afford the human race. The rewards are absolutely priceless, the duration is timeless and endless, yet God does not force us to take up His offer. We have to accept it for ourselves. We will not get salvation unless we take it, unless we pursue it. Just like the Promised Land didn’t come to meet the children of Israel out of the middle of the desert, they had to traverse the barren places and they had to face the trials, and we too have to go in and possess the land.
Hebrews 12:14 Strive to live in peace
How much of that have you done this week? Most of us strive, but not to live in peace. We strive to get our own selfish way, and look out anyone who gets in the way. We will thunder over them with hobnailed boots on, but the book says
Strive to live in peace WITH EVERYBODY
(Not just with your wife or with your husband. That’s a good start.)
and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.
I can change that to read, And pursue that WALKING IN THE SPIRIT without which no one will ever see the Lord. Pursue it, Paul says to the Hebrew church.
We have to reach that destination and goal by way of detachment from the world, whereby what we want in God overturns everything else we want in tangible assets. Now that sounds like a simple statement, but when we boil it down, what we want in God has to overturn everything else that we want in tangible assets.
2 You can have as much as you insist upon having.
When Joshua was about to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, the Lord said to him in
Joshua 1:3 Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you, as I promised Moses.
Now Joshua could have said “Oh, that’s really nice Lord,” and he would have taken off and looked around for a nice block of land somewhere with good views, far from potential hazards, and he would have walked around it and said, “Well, I’m right for life. I’ve walked all over this nice block of land. God said that every where the sole of my foot shall tread, I can have that land”. But the rest of the nation of Israel would have perished.
The same set of circumstances faces the nation of Australia today. God is looking for a church that will be identified as ‘Joshuas’ who will walk in and possess the land and will take that which is rightfully ours by promise. The devil has for too long usurped the authority and has taken over the territory, and God wants us now to go in and take that which is rightfully ours and we can have as much as we will insist on having. If we are content to sit in this church from now until when Jesus comes, that’s what we’ll get. If we determine and we are set to take this city for God and insist upon having it we will see this city turn to God. You can have as much as you insist upon having.
It’s a principle that pervades the Word of God. When the children of Israel got into the Promised Land, Caleb was eighty years old and he came to Joshua and said, “Joshua, I might be 80 years old, but I am as strong today as I was forty years ago. Give me my mountain. This city is our mountain at this point of time,God has placed us here that we might take this land. Joshua insisted upon having what was rightfully his.
We have another example of the daughters of Zelophehad. They insisted also on what was rightfully theirs.
Numbers 27:1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad ….. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
Numbers 27:2 They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, and all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying,
Numbers 27:3 Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons. [Num. 14:26-35.]
Numbers 27:4 Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brethren.
Numbers 27:5 Moses brought their case before the Lord.
Numbers 27:6 And the Lord said to Moses,
Numbers 27:7 The daughters of Zelophehad are justified and speak correctly. You shall surely give them an inheritance among their father’s brethren, and you shall cause their father’s inheritance to pass to them.
They insisted upon it and they got it. These are Old Testament examples but the New Testament reinforces the principle for us today.
James 4:2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask.
God wants us to come and the Bible says in
Matthew 7:7 Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.
We can have as much as we insist upon. When our requests are such that honour God, we can ask as largely as we will. The more daring the request, the more glory that accrues to God when He answers and responds. But it requires that we walk and live in the Spirit.
3 You will have as little as you are satisfied with. Let me tell you, I’ve got some ambitions, and I’m not going to be content until those ambitions are fulfilled. There are some things I want and I want them badly, and I’m going to insist upon having them. But I can have as little as I am satisfied with. We know that God is a liberal God, and he gives to all men liberally, but it is an absurd thought that God’s liberality will make a man more godly than that man wants to be. God can pour out of His grace upon us but a man will never be any more godly than he wants to be, regardless of God’s liberality.
Many people are content to live in defeat because they enjoy wallowing, ever met any of those? People that just love to wallow, they wouldn’t have a point of conversation if they couldn’t talk about their arthritis or their bad backs or the fact that they had a poor childhood.
But the Bible tells me in Romans 1v20 that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defence or justification],
It doesn’t matter if I have arthritis or a bad back or whether I was brought up in a boy’s home, that doesn’t count. Jesus Christ is Lord over all those circumstances and I am without excuse. I can live and I can walk in the Spirit if I want to.
We need to live in the dimension of dissatisfied satisfaction: satisfied that I am in Christ but dissatisfied with the likeness that I have attained thus far, and as a consequence I must aggressively press towards the goal.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us,
Now I have a fertile imagination, I have an agile mind when it comes to dreaming up things of potential, but sometimes it is disheartening to me and it surely must grieve the Holy Spirit to see how many Christians are content to settle for less than the best. We live in an age of compromise. We have a Prime Minister that prides himself on the fact that he governs by compromise. The effects are felt not only throughout society, but it is also felt throughout Christendom it is evidenced in that lukewarm mediocre confession of Christ as Lord that is utterly unworthy of Jesus Christ as Our Lord. You have as little as you are satisfied with.
You NOW have as much as you REALLY want. Now this is going to fire up the gastric juices, because many people are going to contend with me when I say you now have as much as you really want. People say “I want more…”. Let me explain. If we really come down to the wire of our true nature, we do want to have more of God and be more like God AS LONG AS….. I don’t have to be specific about the “AS LONG AS”, because each of us has different fetishes. I dare not call them idols, that’s being too rude. All of us have different fetishes, we have various security blankets, we have those protective barriers. We’ll have as much of God as we can handle as long as it doesn’t interfere with our comfort zone. Anybody identify with that? Don’t put your hands up.
We will have as much of God as we can handle as long as it doesn’t interfere. Every man is as close to God as he wants to be. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. The book says in
Matthew 5:6 Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favour and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!
If there is a man on the earth today that hungers and thirsts after righteousness and God doesn’t fill him then God’s Word is null and void. If we hunger and thirst after righteousness WE SHALL BE FILLED and God says “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my Word shall never pass away.” We can have as much of God as we want.
There is a difference, however, between wanting and wishing. Wanting is that wholehearted desire – that which constitutes HOLINESS. Most people don’t get past the WISH stage. They wish they were better people. They wish they were more holy. They wish they were more joyful and victorious. But, I would suggest this morning, that we are not willing to meet the requirements to attain that place in God where we can live and walk in the Spirit. We will have as much of God as we insist upon having. We now have a much as we really want. God has placed before us a rich treasury of spiritual treasures, and these are the fruits of living and walking in the Spirit, but we have thus far neglected to claim them as ours. Our failure to do so may turn out to be a tremendous tragedy for this nation of Australia. The Lord has said, “I will build My church” and the only way He can build His church is with living stones. God is looking for people who will not have Him by measure, but He says He will pour out of His Spirit in the last days upon all flesh and the rewards of that outpouring of the Spirit, will identify and raise up a people who will know their God, who will be strong and will do exploits, and will evidence that walk and that fellowship with God the Father, and with God the Son and with all the saints of Jesus Christ. I want to be part of that.
oOo
Ross Smith 