"Walking In the Spirit" By Chris Ulrich October 13th,
2013 Good to see everybody out this
morning. It’s been a good month and a
half. We’ve been teaching and preaching
from the book of Galatians these last couple of months, and how many have gotten
a blessing? I’ve learned a lot and
hopefully everyone here has as well. One
thing that stands out for sure is that human nature, behavior as people, it never
changes; it’s something that’s constant.
It something that was the same in the days of Adam and Eve; it was the
same in the days of Moses; it was the same in the days of Christ Himself, and
it’s the same now. But I’ll tell you one
thing: Jason, you were talking about
your time of encouragement with the youth yesterday, and it got me thinking about
how in this day and age, we fight so many battles, because a lot of times that
the decadence of this world does seem to be more prominent, that it is that kid
that’s off to the side, just quiet, seeking for some answers, and one thing
that I’m going to say is that God’s ways never go out of style. I’m going to say this much: There’s a verse that talks about I’m not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation
(Romans 1:16), and one thing I’m going to say is that I’m proud of this Gospel,
and I’m not talking about proud in a prideful way, but it’s something that we
live and move and have our being in Christ (Acts 17:8). That’s something that’s ongoing, that’s
something that’s a daily walk with Him; it’s not something that we put on the
back burner for just a certain day of the week. Parrish preached last week from
chapter 4 and I’d like to highlight a couple of points. He mentioned that, in ministry, there’s going
to be a lot of times when we’re not always going to feel like it. I think we’ve kind of got that down; we
understand that, but, when you don’t feel like it, then you don’t feel like
it. God’s not taking break—we have to be alert, we have to be
ready, we have to be instant in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). I’ll tell you one thing, because I know that
there are a lot of struggles in this life, but we’re going to get into this
later on in the message, we do have a joy in God—the joy of the Lord is our
strength (Nehemiah 8:10). One other
point that you made, Parrish, which I think really stood out to all of us,
there are so many people that are thinking, “Don’t tell me what to do.” Remember that old movie, “Rebel without a
Cause?” that title really seems to sum up the mindset of a lot of people these days,
and the thing about it is, we’re not telling anybody what to do. Our goal isn’t to bash somebody, or try to
get people to believe what we believe just for our own sake. The Bible talks about instructing those that
oppose themselves. The Bible does talk
about being compelling (Luke 14:23), so it is a matter of being persuasive
(Acts 19:26), and being fully persuaded in our own lives (2 Timothy 1:12). It’s also a matter of not being ashamed, but
also looking at it like, “Okay, I want to see others know it, but, it’s not a
matter of being forceful about it.” We
can’t force our beliefs on others, that’s never going to happen. That went away with the Crusades—I don’t know
how many here have read about the Crusades, back around AD 800 to 1200. It was a tragic time, a terrible time. Really.
I would say more than anything, it gave Christianity a bad name. I realize that we’re not going to be able to
force anyone to believe. It’s up to each
individual to be fully persuaded in their own mind that following Christ is the
best way to live. I just want to share one
nugget: We had a fellowship gathering
this past Wednesday night, and some different people gave some testimony and
shared some things, and, Sonya, you got up there, and you talked about how you
listen to the radio a lot of times when you go to work, and there was a song,
“What a Beautiful Day for the Lord to Come.”
The thing is, I was thinking to myself, “You know, I haven’t heard that
song in a long time, myself,” and I always liked it. The very next morning, I got up, and, I
swear, it was like, in my mind. I
appreciate that. I appreciate those
nuggets of gold that can sustain us throughout the week. They’re the kind of things that give us
strength for the journey. Galatians 5:1-4 Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you,
that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. The idea that I think the world
tries to present is that Christianity is stifling. It’s true; we don’t get to do everything we
want, or to live any old way we want.
One thing that our founding pastor used to say was “If any old way will
do, then no way at all will do.” When it
comes to God’s Word, there is a standard.
The freedom that it’s talking about is not freedom to do what we
want. It’s freedom from the fear of
death. I want to touch on a verse in
Hebrews, because I honestly believe that the Spirit of God is going to deal
with everybody. I don’t car if somebody
claims to be agnostic or atheist, or this or that or the other… The grace of God hath appeared unto all men
(Titus 2:11). We’re going to get into a
little later about fairness, about what’s fair and what’s not fair. I remember when I was a kid—I think I was
about eleven—I don’t know if it was a show that I had seen, it as something
where they were dealing with the afterlife, but it was not like they were
talking about the Gospel. It was
something that was just terrifying, especially when you think as a little kid,
it’s like—I wasn’t a Christian at that time, and I didn’t have an understanding
of what it would take to know God,, to actually have my sins washed away, to
have my sins remitted, to have a daily walk with God, to be born again. I know we’re preaching and teaching from the
book of Galatians but I want to read this passage from Hebrews because it helps
make this point about freedom. Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil; And deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. I can stand here and tell you today
that that freedom takes away that fear of death. People are subject to that bondage all their
lives. I realize that this is coming out
of the Old Testament; this was fresh off that timeframe where the Gospels were
preached, Christ came, and the new Testament was very new. People didn’t have that promise in the Old
Testament. In the book of Job, it says,
“…all
the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” (Job
14:15) People had an understanding and a
belief that God’s not going to leave them in death; that He’s going to have a
promise, that He’s going to have something for them. Think
about how often we see people weighed down with the cares of this life, worries
of this life, riches of this life. I’m
not talking about having goals, I want to make that clear, because we should all
have some goals. We should all have
aspirations in this life, whether it’s to learn a language, whether it’s to do
well on your job, whether it’s to do well in the military, whether it’s to have
a healthy relationship with family and friends, as much as possible. Christ talked about, “As much as is possible,
live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)
It’ not like we’re trying to look for enemies—we’re going to have
enemies, because people are going to dig their heels in the sand, and they’re
going to make themselves enemies, because they oppose what this Gospel stands
for. we have to look at it like, where
is our hope? I don’t mean like, “I hope
that I can get a degree,” and some of you have, and I applaud that, and I’m
proud of you for that. Some of you have
had—like those prayer requests that Jesse and Tina have read about or the
answers to prayer, about the blessings that people have received. We’re trying to do as well as we can in this
life. I’m not talking about doing it at
the risk of compromising our stances in God, but I’m not working a job so I can
say, “Hey, pay me as little as possible.”
I realize that we have quite a range of ages of the people in this room;
I’m talking about the goals of looking beyond this world and thinking where we’re
going to be in 25, 50, 100 years. I’m
talking about after this life. Some of
us are closer to that time, some of us are quite a ways off. I’m not talking about just sitting there
thinking about death every day of my life,.
I will say this, we’ve got to know the end form the beginning. Joe and I were talking about, I think it’s in
Isaiah (Isaiah 46:10), being able to see the end from the beginning, and the
promises that were made, in the Old Testament and in the New, in the last days,
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased (Daniel 12:4). It talks about because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:12). These things are out there. I mean, if you just look at the last hindered
years or so, the Industrial revolution, which is what we’re kind of in the
aftermath of, I mean it’s till ongoing, but I think now it’s more of a computer
revolution… But, you look at, not just
the population growth, but some of the technology that’s just absolutely
mind-boggling. One thing I’m going to
say about that is this, we can’t get so caught up or enamored of the technological
things of this world that we’re forgetting the spiritual things of God. Galatians 5:7-9 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not
obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not
of him that calleth you. A little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump. This message from Apostle Paul was
to the Galatians is as applicable to us today as it was then. Bearing in mind that we have a society today
that tries to look over the Word of God, or maybe to look past it, but not
really to think of it as being as applicable today as it was a hundred years
ago or five hundred years ago or whatever.
Well, getting back to human nature, that’s what the Bible is all
about—it’s about the ways of people. It’s
not about technology; it’s not about geography; it’s not about we built this
new type of car, or we built this new type of airplane, or we built this new
kind of I-phone, or whatever the case might be.
It’s about behavior. It’s about
human nature, because that’s always going to be constant. So what are some of those reasons that are
hindering people today from obeying the truth and enduring to the end? what are some of the hindrances? People don’t feel like there’s enough proof? People don’t feel like there’s enough
excitement? People thinking that it’s
just too difficult? We’ve already talked about some of the challenges, but, one
thing’s for sure, Christ said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.”
That’s one of those things where I remember
seeing it on a billboard—I’ve shared this before—this was just maybe a month
after I got saved, I and a friend were riding up through Maryland and Delaware
on the eastern shore, but, I remember I was riding with a friend and we were
visiting some family, and I remember just seeing it. I mean, it was just a billboard, it was something
that I had read before at that point—because I had seen it—and it was a
comfort. It was one of those things
where, “Why does Satan try to make it seem so difficult and so overwhelming and
so impossible? because he’s going to fight this message more than he fights
anything else. There is nothing else in
this world that Satan is going to fight more than the Truth of God, being born
again, baptized in Jesus’ name, and the whole balance. I’m not talking about just a few points, or
just starting. I’m talking about, he's
going to fight it, because that’s what saves people. That’s what keeps us, and that’s what gives
us a hope, and that’s what keeps us going, this week, this month, this year,
next year, and ongoing. That’s what
gives us depth within ourselves. We talk
about in the parable of the sower where it talks about some of them that fell
away (Luke 8:14) where it says that they had no root within themselves (Mark
4:17). That’s something that has always
stood out to me, because what exactly is root within yourself? I’m not going to say that it means a million
different things but I’m going to say that it means I have enough in God to
know that I can make it the entire distance, that I can make the entire
journey, and it’s convincing enough. How
many other signs do we need? We had a Bible
study just a few months ago about how many more signs from God do we need? How much more iniquity does there have to
be? How much more financial ruin or
unemployment or crisis this of bombings in the middle east or terrorist
attacks? I think I’ve got a long, long
list of evidence, or proof that God is real.
How many are with me? Galatians 5:14-16 For all the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take
heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of
the flesh. That’s actually the title of today’s
message, “Walking in the Spirit.” If we
have eyes to see and ears to hear, then we’re going to understand that
concept. We live in a physical world,
and we have daily contact with other people, on our jobs, at school, the list
obviously goes on. So, the big challenge
is, is it easy to walk in the Spirit or isn’t it? Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh? It’s a battle? I
would say, it is and it isn’t. I know
that sounds pretty double-minded but the point is, it’s easy when we focus on
knowing God, when we study the Word of God, when we look to make spiritual
decisions, when we’re looking to gather together instead of scatter abroad,
when we’re looking to share with people, but also share with ourselves. We’ve got to have time with ourselves and
God, in order to appreciate the blessings of God. I would say that some of the reasons that
people don’t, maybe they feel like they’ve been disrespected, or dissed in
modern terminology, and cop an attitude.
I want to elaborate a little bit on the fairness, because the only thing
I’ve found that’s fair in the word of God is the promise that God would pour
out his spirit on all flesh and that the grace of God that brings salvation
will appear to all men. So, God’s giving
every person an opportunity, and this is going to help to jump into my next point: Whether you grew up rich or poor or somewhere
in between, whether you are rich or poor or somewhere in between now, God can
use you. God can use me. I was out in Ecclesiastes 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the
oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were
oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there
was power; but they had no comforter. I’m going to tell you today that
Christ is a comforter. The Bible says
that the
Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, shall teach all things to your remembrance (John 14:26). That’s something that, even if we have a more
difficult time, as far as, say, financially speaking, because that’s one thing
that has really plagued this country for a number of years. That’s one of those things, and I try to keep
up with what’s going on in other countries, I believe the unemployment in Galatians 5:19-26 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which
I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. If you get a chance, I’d like to
point out that this passage has a lot of similarities with a passage in
Deuteronomy that talks about the blessings of God and the curses as well
(Deuteronomy 28). It goes into extreme
detail about if you follow God, then he will bless you in just every way
imaginable, but if you turn from God, you’re going to be cursed with a curse,
and here’s what it’s going to be like.
It’s almost as if you can feel it.
Recently we had a couple of fellowship gatherings in the last month and
a half, and the main focus was addictions.
One thing I think we all learned is that one addiction might affect
Matthew differently than me and vice versa.
One thing that might affect Alex might be different than what affects
me. Something that might affect Rebecca
might be different… The goal is not to
say, “Okay, I do these things, and I don’t do those things, so I can check off
the box.” God’s going to give us power,
He’s going to give us an ability—and these things do crop up, but God can give
us the victory over them. It’s not a
matter of living in defeat; I think that is the biggest component of
Christianity is that there is a victorious life that God has for us and wants
for us. He wants us to be
successful. If we walk in the spirit,
then we’re going to have the fruits of the spirit. I know that joy is an indicator of where we
really are in God. You can have joy when
you have hard times, when you have tragedy.
I’m not undercutting the effect of tragedy; we’ve all had some kind of
tragedy. We’ve all had hardships, and,
you know what? Some have been harder than others. There have been people in this room who are
quiet and respectful, and they’ve been through a lot of hardship, and they’re
not blowing their horn about it; they’re not sitting there bragging about it,
but they got through it. My mother
knew woman that was from Thank you very much. Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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