The Effects of Walking By the Spirit

, I would ask you to join me with, join with me in prayer, as we prepare ourselves for the word. dear Heavenly Father, we just come before you this morning, Lord, and we just want to give to you thanks and praise. Lord, we want to ask, Lord, that You would illuminate the eyes of our understanding to help us to see what you have in store for us, Lord, through Your word. Lord, we come to you as sinful, fallen human beings in need of your grace, in need of your kindness, in need of your illumination, and we ask, Lord, that you might reach down to us in your grace.

Compassion and kindness, and that Lord, you would reveal to us what you would want us to receive from you and through your word. Captivate our hearts and our minds by what you would have to say to us here this morning. And I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I want to begin by sharing a small portion of an autobiography written by a man named Tom Williams. In his book, You Can Make It, he says the following. I was 22 years of age and Wanda was 23. The doctor had X-rayed her two weeks earlier and told me something seemed to be wrong with the baby, but he was not sure exactly what it was.

I prayed and cried to my Heavenly Father, asking Him to give Wanda and me the grace and strength to face whatever lay ahead. Wanda labored for 18 hours when the doctor realized she just could not deliver, he again took X-rays. They revealed that the baby's head was twice as large as it should have been. Cheryl was a spina bifida baby.

She had a hole in her back about the size of a baseball. Her spine was split, and the spinal. The cord had pulled in and pinched. The lower portion of her body was paralyzed.

During the next few days, I faced some of the most difficult moments I had ever experienced. I was the one who had to tell Wanda the condition of the baby and to break the news that Cheryl would not be coming home. I also had to tell her that the doctor said we could not have any more children. Being a Christian for just 2 years, I found this a pretty choppy sea for a vessel so fragile.

I am thankful that our Lord is the master of the sea, and even to this young Christian He could speak, Peace, be still. Heartbroken but accepting the will of God, we decided we would adopt a baby later so that our son Tim would not have to grow up as an only child. Even in the midst of tears and heartache, we both knew in our hearts that the Lord was in control. After the peace of God had filled our hearts and enabled.

Us to face Cheryl's condition, the doctor asked if I would take her to General Hospital in Los Angeles. Tears streamed down my face as I placed our little daughter, just hours old, in the front seat of our car in a little receiving blanket, Left my dear wife at the hospital, and drove across the city to General Hospital. I very carefully placed Cheryl in the nurse's arms and with all of the grace God had given me leaned over and kissed our little girl goodbye. Perhaps one of the hardest things I have ever done was to leave my precious baby in that massive hospital, but I knew it had to be done.

God's grace was sufficient and His sustaining power evident. I felt those great everlasting arms enfold me and heard my Heavenly Father whisper, Tom, you go on. I will stay here and watch over her. Wanda seemed to be doing fine after a few days, so the doctor released her.

However, the day after she came home, she began to swell immensely. By Sunday morning, the odds were 80/20 that she would not live. By now I was totally fatigued. I had been up day and night going back and forth between the two hospitals trying to find out how the baby was doing and spending as much time as possible by Wanda.

Bedside, I shall always remember Sunday, June 8th, 1958, for that day God spoke to my heart and asked if I was willing to let Wanda go. I remember going out to my car, kneeling on the back floorboard. On my knees, I surrendered all I had to my Heavenly Father, my wife, our two year old son Tim, and our baby girl, telling him that if he wanted to take Wanda. I was willing to release her in the car that day.

The Lord was separating my own flesh from me. In the car that day, the Lord was separating my own flesh from me. I went through a battle before yielding to His will. Tom goes on to describe that his wife soon after passed away, but that the Lord graciously comforted him, and by his grace he was able to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Later in this chapter he says little Cheryl lived 4 months and 20 days after Wanda's death. Her head had grown to be the same length as her body, almost 21 inches long. She was not all that pleasant to look at, yet God gave me a tremendous love for her. One day as I was sitting by her bedside, God spoke to my heart, and He said, Tom.

She's really ugly, isn't she? Startled, I replied, Yes, sir, she is, but don't you love her? Oh yes, very, very much. Do you love her as much as Tim?

I thought for a while and then replied, Yes, I believe I do. Maybe even a little more. Then he said, Tom. I'm going to take Cheryl home soon.

But I always want you to remember what she looks like. Because that's what you looked like when I loved you. And for the first time in my life, my spiritual eyes were opened to the reality of what Romans 5:8 really meant. But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Three years from that time, he would call me from being a salesperson into the ministry of an evangelist. The lesson he taught me at the bedside of little Cheryl had been invaluable in my 26 years of evangelism. Here is a man who experienced the grace and the power of God in his life. When faced with the most difficult situations of life, he was able by God's grace to walk by the power of the.

Spirit and to receive the lessons that God had for him. This dear man of God has experienced and now continues to experience much fruitfulness to the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. Last week we were reminded that there is inside every single one of us an Adolf Eichmann. Today, this morning, I submit to you.

That there is also inside of every single one of us a Tom Williams. There is inside of every single one of us, because the Spirit of God indwells us, the ability to take life's challenges as orchestrated by Almighty God and to respond to those challenges in such a way that we walk according to the power of the Spirit. We do not have to be an Eichmann. We can be Tom Williams, and this morning what I would like for us to consider are the results of walking by the Spirit.

In other words, what does it look like when a person is walking by the power of the Spirit? We could probably answer that question simply by considering the example I gave to you in Tom Williams. But what I would like for us to do is to look at Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 23. Some of the answers.

to the question in our review, I will try to cover those points briefly, and there is one particular point that I want to cover with a little more detail. So please pray with me that God would help me to, to, get through some of these points quickly so that I can give, appropriate attention to the actual fruit of the Spirit. But again, the question, what are the results of walking by the Spirit? Number one?

You will not carry out the desires of the flesh. We see this in verse 16. He says, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. And then he goes on to say in verse 17, for the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

So he gives to us. A command, and it is a present tense command. It is the command to walk by the Spirit, and the promise is this If you walk by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Here the apostle Paul is contrasting two very different styles of life.

He is contrasting a walk that is characterized by a fleshly walk and then the walk that is characterized by being Led by and directed by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are the two different types of life that he is expressing to us in this particular passage. we've got the fleshly life versus the spirit-filled life, the selfish life, if you will, versus the selfless life, the life marked by pride versus the life marked by humility, the life that is directed towards The ultimate glory of God and God alone and the advancement of His bigger kingdom purposes versus the life that is directed by me wanting to establish my own small kingdom and having the world around me bow down before what I want it to do.

So we've got these two very different types of life again, one that is marked by the power of the Spirit and the other that is marked by the power of the flesh.

In this passage, we are reminded of the fact that we are not free from the presence of sin. Though the scripture tells us and the gospel tells us that we have been set free from the guilt and from the power of sin, the fact of the matter is, is that the presence of sin remains in our life. I submit to you that there is an ongoing war, even as I speak, being waged in our hearts, that war between the flesh and the spirit. A number of years ago I read a book to my children called Teddy's Button, and there was one scene in the book that I will never forget in which a man brought a mirror before little Teddy, and he asked Teddy the question, Teddy, what is your enemy?

Who is your enemy? And Teddy began to answer the question by talking about that girl and that. Boy and that person and the other person and then the man as he brought that mirror up before Teddy, he says, Teddy, I want you to take a look at your worst enemy. And so he brings the mirror up to Teddy and he places it right in front of Teddy and Teddy looks and this Christian man said to Teddy, he says, Teddy, there is your own worst enemy.

You are your own worst enemy. And in this passage, we find that there is this battle between the flesh and the spirit, and our own worst enemy is ourselves. It is our flesh, if you will, and we are being called by God to yield. The spirit as opposed to yielding to the flesh.

When you think about Tom Williams, the example that I gave earlier, it would have been very easy for him to fail to yield to the spirit and instead to yield to the flesh. He could have said things like this Why me? This is not fair, God. I cannot handle this.

I wish you would take me home. Do you find some sick pleasure in my suffering? First, my wife, and now my little girl. What are you up to God, I hate you.

He could have responded in the power of the flesh, but instead, he responded in the power of the Holy Spirit. And those who are walking by the Spirit will not manifest the desires of the flesh. Let us go ahead then and move to the 2nd point. If you are walking by the power of the Spirit.

Paul says, you will not manifest the deeds of the flesh, and so we move from speaking of the desire of the flesh, the, the desires of the inner man, and we move towards the expressions of those sinful desires, the deeds of the flesh. Number 2, if you are walking by the power of the Spirit, you will not manifest the deeds of the flesh. Read with me in verse 19. He says that the Needs of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.

And so this is just a sample list of the bigger. A list and that list is perhaps infinitive. He says things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice these things, he says, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And so these are the actual deeds of the flesh, and those who are walking by the power of the Spirit are not going to manifest these. Particular deeds of the flesh. The person walking by the power of the Spirit is not going to be living a life that is characterized by anger and by bitterness and by jealousy and by lust. The person that is walking by the power of the Spirit will find that he is not yielding to these particular sinful tendencies that are in his heart, but these tendencies are being crucified.

They are being put to death, and as a result, he is freed up to walk in the power of the Spirit. He is freed up to manifest, therefore, the fruit of the spirit. And so number 2, you will not manifest the deeds of the flesh, but instead by way of contrast and in its place, you will manifest the fruit of the spirit, and that is number 3. The person who is walking by the power of the Spirit, if you are walking by the power of the Spirit, you will manifest the fruit of the Spirit.

It says in verse 22 that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let me just say a few things about this passage. First of all, fruit here is singular, and so there is one fruit that is Expressing itself in multifaceted ways, and this list is by no means exhaustive. It's just a sampling.

When you are walking by the power of the Spirit, these particular qualities are coming out of you. These particular qualities are being manifest in your life. They are being expressed by your life. When the difficulties of life come your way or when people come along and they Against you and they hurt you and they say negative things about you, you will, if you are walking by the Spirit, you will manifest these fruits in your life.

These fruits will be expressed in your marital relationship. These fruits will be expressed in your parenting, young person. These fruits will be expressed in how you relate and respond to your mom and dad. These fruits will be expressed.

In terms of how you respond to your worst enemy, these fruits will find expression in your life. And note that these fruits are fruits of the Spirit. They are fruits produced by the Spirit. You cannot pick yourself up by your own bootstraps and manifest these fruits on your own.

You must manifest these fruits in connection with walking by the Spirit. There are passages of scripture. That talk about these fruits and give commands that parallel these fruits. For example, here it says the fruit of the spirit is love.

If you look at other passages, you will find a command to love, or it says the fruit of the spirit is joy. And if you go to other passages, you will find that it says rejoice. There are commands to do these things in other passages. The fruit of the Spirit is peace, and you'll go to other passages and it'll tell you if at all possible, as far as it depends upon you to be at peace with all men.

Let me say this to you about the times in which these fruits are given in the form of commands elsewhere in Scripture every single time. Those commands are given on the basis of and the foundation of the gospel itself and so we are to be loving in light of the fact that God has been loving towards us. We are to be peaceful with other people. It tells us in Romans 12:1-2 and following in lieu of the mercy of God, in lieu of the crucifixion, in lieu of the death of Christ, and so all of the commands.

that come our way in other portions of scripture that parallel these fruits, whenever those commands are given, they are given on the foundation of the gospel. And I submit to you that there is no way that we can manifest the fruit of the Spirit apart from the foundation of the gospel, the foundation of the cross. That has to be the starting point. That has to be the air that we breathe, so that as a result, consequently, the fruit of the Spirit finds expression in our lives.

Well, let me go ahead. And take some time then to look at these various fruits, if you will. These fruits are all relational qualities. We cannot manifest these fruits in isolation.

We must manifest these fruits in relationship to others. So keeping that in mind, let's look at love. Love. The word here is agape, and it speaks of unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless love.

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that the greatest of all virtues is love. First John 4:8 tells us that the very character of God is love. God is love. Agape, God's agape love, is expressed to us through the crucifixion of Christ.

We read that God demonstrates his own love, Agape toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. This is the very love of God. This love that he says is a fruit of the Spirit, is the very love of God that flows through us via the Spirit.

It is something that the Spirit of God produces inside of us. Let us move to the next fruit of the spirit then. We've got love, sacrificial, unconditional, selfless love. We now have joy, joy.

This is an inner gladness and deep seated pleasure based on spiritual realities. And as I've mentioned before in Philippians, Paul speaks of rejoicing, but he says to rejoice in the Lord. Curios, the title given to Jesus Christ, rejoice in Jesus Christ. We are to find much joy.

In light of the gospel and so come what may, even if you are told that your daughter will die and your wife is going to pass away, you are still able amid the storm to have a deep seated inward sense of joy in the Lord because that at the end of the day life could be way worse for me. I. Got way more than I deserve. I've got salvation in Christ.

I've got the hope of glory in the future. And so come what may, life can actually be and should be for me much worse than it really is. And so in lieu of the gospel, I can actually have a deep seated sense of joy. And so this joy finds expression no matter the circumstances of life.

The next fruit of the spirit is peace. Peace. This term speaks of a person having it all together. This is equivalent to the Hebrew shalom, and it means prosperity in the widest sense, especially prosperity in the spiritual sense of having a soul that blossoms and flourishes.

I think of the apostle Paul, for example, in Philippians, where he has peace, and he tells the Philippians that they are to have peace, and he goes on to tell them that if you If you do these right things, he gives him a prescription in Chapter 4, but he says that if you do these things, the God of peace will be with you despite your circumstances, despite the unjust sufferings, despite the fact that I am in prison, we as the people of God can experience this peace that trespasses all understanding, and it is a peace that can.

Guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus and then the next fruit of the spirit is patience, patience. This has to do with tolerance and long suffering that endures injuries afflicted by others. This is the calm willingness to accept situations that are irritating and painful, patience.

The next one is kindness, and the word for kindness has with it the idea of being useful and helpful, being useful and helpful. It shows care and gets right into the situation with the person. Kindness suffers with those who suffer. It struggles with those who struggle, and it works with those who work.

And again, if you are walking. by the power of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, these qualities are going to manifest themselves in your life and in your relational dealings with other people. We have the fruit of goodness, and this speaks of moral and spiritual excellence that is known by its sweetness and act of kindness. The person walking by the Spirit will speak and will act in a manner that is marked by goodness and then we have the fruit of faithfulness.

Faithfulness here speaks of loyalty and trustworthiness. It speaks of a person who is true to his word. This speaks of a person who, when they say they will do something, they will do it. When they say that they will have the job done, a week from today, they will have the job done a week from today.

The person who, when they give their word, you can take it to the bank, they will follow through with their word. They are faithful and it speaks of a person who is faithful not just to God but faithful to his fellow man as well. And then we've got the fruit of gentleness. This includes the idea of meekness.

It's not just being gentle, but it goes beyond that and it speaks of a meekness. this, this meekness then is the temper of spirit in which we accept God's dealings with us as good and therefore without disputing or resisting. It is that humble and gentle attitude that is patiently submissive in every offense while being free of any desire for revenge and retribution. And then finally, the final fruit of the spirit or the final manifestation of the fruit of the spirit is self-control, and this refers to one's ability to restrain his passions and appetites to where he is not yield.

Himself over to life dominating sins and so these fruits of the Spirit, if you will, will be evident in the life of a person who is walking by the power of the Spirit. Years ago now. When I first got married, my wife and I were living on the island of Guam. And I will never forget this was one of those first things that really irritated me.

And here we are washing the dishes together. And as we are washing the dishes together, in my own mind, I am being very critical of the way in which she was washing the dishes. She did not wash dishes the way I was raised to wash dishes. She washed dishes very differently, and I didn't even say a word, but she sensed it from me and she hit it right on the head that I was just having this attitude inside of me about how she washed the dishes.

It irritated me because she was making more noise than she should have in washing the dishes. It bothered me because as she is washing the dishes, water is getting splashed all over the place, and when I wash dishes, water does not get splashed all over the place, and I wash dishes more quietly, and she, by golly needs to learn how to wash dishes the way I wash dishes. Now question. Was I walking in the power of the spirit, or was I walking according to the flesh?

I submit to you that the answer is obvious. I am walking in that instance, I was walking according to the power of the flesh. What an attitude. There was no love, joy.

I wasn't rejoicing in the gospel. I was being angry over the fact that she was washing dishes wrong, for crying out loud. And I remember too on another occasion. It didn't take too long for me to realize that my wife She, she would do the laundry.

And I'm not trying to pick on her or anything, so please don't take this the wrong way. But like my wife would do the laundry and she would get it out and she would iron some of the stuff, and I'll never forget she takes my boxer shorts out and she folds them up to put them away, and the question in my mind was this Why aren't you ironing my boxer shorts? After all, my mom always ironed my boxer shorts. Was I walking in the power of the spirit, or was I walking according to the flesh, or here's one that used to get to me, and occasionally it still happens.

I'm not going to give you too much information because you don't want it, but, when you go to the restroom and you've got your toilet paper hanging to the side of you, and doesn't it bug you when the toilet paper hanging to the side of you comes underneath rather than on top? that can be a real opportunity for sanctification. We're talking about a spiritual cleansing that can be a real opportunity, to not get bent out of shape. who cares if you have to unroll the toilet paper from underneath as opposed to on top?

But see, these are just examples of how we have a tendency of walking by the power of the flesh. We expect things to be done my way. We are in the process of building. Our own little kingdom and wanting the subjects of our kingdom to bow down and to kowtow before us because by golly I am God and I expect my environment to operate the way I want it to operate.

Those are just a few examples and maybe, maybe you find yourself, young man, this is your first date ever and this may be that lucky woman. Whom you will pop the question to at some point in your future. And so this is, this is the first date, you're at home, you get all ready, you get all spiffy, you look at your mirror, spend 5 hours looking at your hair, asking mom if everything's right and everything. And so you hop in the car and the timing is right.

you've left at the right time, you've left at 5:30, you're going to get there by 6 o'clock. You'll have a few extra minutes just to relax before you go to the door and everything. And on your way there, You hit a major traffic jam. There has just been a tornado that has flown through the freeway.

And you are in, you are in dead stopped traffic going nowhere. Therein is an opportunity to walk by the power of the spirit or to walk according to the flesh. You're in the flesh and you're like honking your horn and saying hurry up and looking at your clock and you're just, what it feels like. You're just stressed because you've got to get there.

At a certain time and you're gonna be late or maybe the Lord in His sovereignty has allowed you to be in a situation in which you have lost a job and you don't know where the next paycheck is going to come from, and therein is an opportunity to either walk by the power of the spirit or to walk according to the deeds of the flesh. Therein is the opportunity to raise your fist at God and to question Him and to say, God, what are you doing? With an attitude of anger as opposed to an attitude of respect, and so you've lost your job and God is allowing you in that moment the opportunity to join with him and to honor him and to live for his glory.

Maybe the doctor comes along and tells you that the disease is fatal, the disease is terminal, and these are all examples.

Our brother Tom William. was faced With some very, very, very difficult circumstances of life. By the way, what I read is just a very, very, very small bit of his life. If you read his autobiography, you cannot help but to be just, just blown away by the trial after trial after trial that came his way.

just, it's unbelievable. His first wife dies. His second wife, a wonderful woman of God, gets diagnosed with a terminal. Ease and she's in a vegetative state for like a few decades I believe and he's having to take care of her and love her in this situation.

It would have been easy for him to say, God, what are you doing? My first wife and girl, and now my second wife? What is up with that God? He could have questioned her, but what his mindset was?

His mindset was this God. You have prepared me for this. You have allowed me to experience the power of walking by the Spirit with the death of my first wife. You have allowed me to understand by your grace that despite what happens, you are still worthy of worship, and you have prepared me so that now as I am being faced with another very difficult circumstance of life, my wife is a vegetable.

I can respond to this by walking in the power of the Spirit, and I can manifest the fruit of the Spirit in her life, love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want to ask you. Where do you stand? In relation to the manifestation of the fruit of the spirit in your life.

As you take that mirror. And put it before yourself and you look at yourself in the mirror. What are you observing? Deeds of the flesh?

Or a manifestation of the spirit's fruits. What do you see? I'll ask the same question that Paul Tripp asked last week, perhaps in a different way. If, if we were to play a video clip.

Of the last month of your life. Would we observe from your life The fruit of the spirit. Or would we observe deeds of the flesh? What would your spouse say?

If she were to be given the opportunity to evaluate you, what would your children say? Kids, what would mom and dad conclude? Do you find that you are manifesting in your life, the fruit of the spirit? If not, I'm going to encourage you later.

That the solution is to begin to walk by the Spirit. But let us move then to number 4. We have examined 3 results of walking by the Spirit. You will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

You will not manifest the deeds of the flesh. You will manifest the fruit of the Spirit. Let us move now to the 4th result of walking by the Spirit. And I'll just take a second to deal with this, but, but this is awesome.

Number 4, you will not be hassled by the demands and condemnation of the law. Verse 5:18 says, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And then later in 23 B, after giving the fruit of the Spirit, Paul says, against such things, against walking by the power of the Spirit and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, against these things, there is no law. You see, as you are walking by the power of the Spirit, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, one of the results of that will be that you will not be hassled by the demands and the condemnation of the law.

The law will have nothing against you. The law will fail to bring up any railing accusations against you. Because you are walking in the power of the Spirit and you are walking in freedom, experiencing the freedom not just from the guilt but from the power of sin over your lives, so that practically speaking, you are experiencing not just the imputation of Christ's righteousness, but the impartation of His righteousness as well. Number 4, you will not be hassled by the demands and condemnation of the law.

And so we have considered the results of walking by the spirit. We will not carry out the desire of the flesh. We will not manifest the deeds of the flesh. We will, by way of contrast, instead, having put off the old man and putting on the new and walking by the power of the Spirit, we will manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and we will not be hassled by the demands and condemnation of the law.

As I said before, perhaps you like Teddy as you look at your life in the mirror. You find that You're not measuring up. You find that the deeds of the flesh. are being expressed you find that you're not quite walking by the power of the spirit in the way in which you should.

I want to conclude by answering the question, what am I to do if I fail to see the results of walking by the Spirit? What do I do when I look at the mirror of my life and I see that I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? What do I do when I look at the mirror of my life and I see traces of anger and traces of bitterness, and I note here that I have gossiped against another person and I have failed to submit myself before the authorities that God has placed. Over my life, what do I do when I look at my life and I see the deeds of the flesh expressing themselves and I see very little of the fruit of the spirit, or maybe I see a little, but I don't see as much of the fruit of the Spirit as I should.

I don't see enough of Christlikeness in my life as I should. What do I do? How do I deal with this? I am experiencing the guilt of my sin, and what do I do?

Number one. Thank the Lord for graciously revealing by his spirit your sin to you. It is a grace of God that he shows us ways in which we fall short. It is the grace of God that he brings into us conviction that points, points out to us the fact that we need to make some changes in these particular areas of life.

Number 1, thank the Lord for graciously revealing by his spirit, your sin to you. Number 2, Then repent, and these are by no means in a particular order. These are all things that ought to be done, whichever you do first, I don't know if it really matters, but these are the various things to do. Repent of your sin, be sorry for your sin, turn from your sin, acknowledge your sin and repent of your sin and embrace the gospel with faith.

Go back to the foundation, go back to the gospel itself and be reminded that in the gospel you are freed from the guilt and the power of sin over your life. All of your sin has been, has been dealt with. The Lord Jesus Christ was crushed in your place, receiving upon himself all of the wrath of Almighty God that you deserve. and you are free from the condemnation of the law.

Go back to the gospel and proclaim the gospel to yourself and remind you that because of Christ I am justified by grace through faith in Christ alone. Go back to that gospel and embrace the gospel with faith and beyond that. Enjoy the spirit mediated riches of your salvation. And then Number 4, continue to carry out the desires of the spirit within you.

This is what Milton told us. Pastor Milton shared this with us a few weeks back, you remember? But number 4, I've said here to continue, continue to carry out the desires of the spirit within you. You see, the spirit of God has desired that you thank the Lord, repent of sin, embrace the gospel, and enjoy the spirit mediated riches.

The spirit of God within you is craving these things, is leading you to do these things, is. leading you to embrace these things, but it may be that the spirit of God within you is asking for you to take it one step further and, and, and to do a little more than what we have already discussed. Perhaps the spirit of God is speaking to your heart and in your heart of hearts, by the Spirit that God wants you to do something about a relationship in your life. It may be that the Spirit of God is trying to surface.

Himself in your life to get you to the place where you're walking by the Spirit, go to that person and ask for forgiveness because you have sinned against that person. Or maybe the spirit of God within you is asking you to be willing to forgive that person who has sinned greatly against you. That is the spirit of God at work within you. And I would submit to you that you need to continue to carry out the desires of the spirit within you.

There may be a person in this body that you are at odds with. There may be a person in this body with whom there needs to be reconciliation and perhaps even restitution, and the spirit of God within you is telling you this needs to get right. You need to forgive the person. You need to ask for forgiveness.

Continue to carry it. See, these fruits of the spirit are meant to flow in the context of community and relationship. We cannot do this in isolation. We cannot live the ascetic lifestyle.

We must manifest these things in the context of relationship, and perhaps the spirit of God within you is leading you to and directing you to and guiding you to a place in which you are beginning to meditate upon and memorize and apply various portions of scripture that might relate to your own particular flesh struggle. And if the spirit of God within you is leading you to do those types of things, memorizing passages of anger that will help you to deal with the sin of anger, memorizing passages that speak of purity and holiness to help you to deal with the sins of impurity and sexual immorality, perhaps the spirit of God is wanting you to go to those passages that talk about being kind to one another because you need to be kind, you need to grow in your kindness to other people, and if the spirit of God is asking you to do that, you need to follow the spirit.

That in part is what it means. To be walking by the Spirit.

So, do these things if you find yourself falling short. Thank the Lord for revealing your sin, repent of your sin, embrace the gospel, enjoy the spirit-mediated riches of your salvation, and continue to carry out the desires of the spirit within you. And going back to our brother Tom Williams. He was carrying out the desires of the spirit inside of him.

He responded to the tragedies of life by trusting. And obeying. And not going, not growing bitter, but instead he became better for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom. Please join with me in prayer.

Dear gracious heavenly Father, we just thank you for this passage, and I would ask you, Lord, that you would work it into our lives, that Lord, we would find expressions. Of walking by the Spirit in our lives that we would find fruitfulness in our lives. Lord, that the relationships of this body would be relationships marked. By the fruit of your spirit.

We would walk according to the spirit. And not according to the flesh, O God, by your grace, please help us, for we need your help. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.