the gospel of Luke the fourth chapter the events have taken place is right before the fourth chapter verse 1 is that the Lord has been baptized by John the Baptist and there came the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove lighting upon him which was the symbol and the message to John that indeed this was the Messiah and And then a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Then chapter 4, verse 1, the Holy Spirit picks up there and said, Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and here's the words that I want you to note, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Our Lord was 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the wilderness While he was there he was being ministered to by angels and you'll read there in the 40th chapter again fourth chapter again that Jesus Christ left the wilderness and he does so in verse 14 and Now verse 13 says, And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from heaven. And then verse 14, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. I want you to note two important things. Verse 1, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And then verse 14, He returned in the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Holy Trinity that God has commissioned, ordained, would be the energizer of God's work. He is the indweller of every individual child of God. Our Lord, before He ascended back to Heaven, the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John he's telling the Apostles that he's leaving them and he tells them in the 14th chapter in verse let me start reading here in verse 25 14th chapter of the Gospel of John let me back up and pick up just verse 16 verse sixteen the fourteen chapter of the gospel and i will pray the father and he will give you and mother comforter i've spoken to you before about this word another to do to greek words one of the means another of a totally different kind i've illustrated that but tell you know automobiles as a ford and as a chivalry They're both automobiles, but they're totally two different kinds of automobiles. Or you could say a Cadillac and a Chevrolet or Ford. Whatever variety of cars you're talking about. Now, General Motors has a lot of different varieties of cars. But when you get talking about a General Motors car and a Ford car or a Honda car, they're another car, but they're a different kind of car. so this word another here though means another of the same kind you get a piece of apple pie after the meal and the pie is very good and delicious and the hostess or the waitress or your wife says would you like another piece of pie and she's talking about the same kind of pie and you say yes I believe I would like to have another piece of pie You didn't mean for her to go beg another pie or go get a different kind. You want another the same kind. Well, that's this word right here What I am emphasizing to you is the Holy Spirit of God is very God Not another something different he is very God Holy God There are many scriptures that would support what I'm saying, what I've just said, but I move on to say, I will send you another comforter. And the word here for comforter is the Greek word which means paracleia, and it means several different things. Of course it means a comforter, it means one to strengthen. That word in the Greek is a compound word, And the first part of that word, paraclea, the first part of it, you would recognize in the spelling of it to be the same as the word parallel. And that's what it means, one to come along beside you, to be with you, to be in you, among you. I will send you another carpenter, paraclea. in verse 26, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, when the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, and whatsoever I have said unto you. This is the prophecy, confirmation that the apostles would be given the Holy Spirit whereby that they would write infallibly not just their own ideas and we sometimes get that impression we say Paul said this or John says this it is their mood guided by the Holy Spirit of God and so it is the very Holy Spirit that is speaking to us the message from God it is the essential work of the Holy Spirit of God that I'm concerned about with us today we have been looking at the book of Romans the great thesis on the subject of salvation. And we'll come to the eighth chapter of Romans, and you'll read much here more about the Holy Spirit. And so if you'll turn with me there to the eighth chapter, we're beginning with very familiar words to us, and that is, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now, how does this fit in the context of what the Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, has been speaking to us about? Well, in the seventh chapter, he's been talking to us about our power over sin. We are in a constant struggle as a child of God. A child of God is a two-fold person. You are, we have a natural body, a natural nature, which is a sinful nature. We were conceived in sin, born sinners, we live sin. Paul describes this in the second chapter of Ephesians which we quote quite often because it is a very clear statement about what we are apart from God s grace. And you at the quickened who were dead and trespassed and said that was our spiritual condition before we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. We were immune to God as it were. God knew all about us, but we were totally ignoring God, trying to, and going astray from God. There's none that do us good. Paul talks about that in Romans chapters 1, 2, and 3, about the sinful nature. There's none that do us good, no, not one. All of a sudden it comes short of the glory of God. And so in Ephesians, the second chapter, you are the quickened who were dead in trespass and sin, who walked according to the course of this world. That was all of us. According to the spirit of disobedience, well let me be sure I get the very words of it quite right. The spirit of disobedience, the now work of the children of disobedience, let me start Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 again. You of the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, I knew I was leaving a phrase out, according to the course of this world. According to the prince of power of the air, that's the demonic power, you and I, influenced by demons, Satan, by various means, going according to the course of this world. That's the way this world is going. Everything about the world. Brother David made reference to the fact that the world is going to continue to get worse and worse. Yes, it is. God has promised that. God has warned us about that. because of the very nature of sin. Sin destroys. Sin corrupts. Sin does not make things better. Sin makes things worse. We discovered a mouse in our house the other day. Ruth did. The mouse wasn't moving. Fact of the matter, the mouse was dead. It had been caught in a trap. And the way we caught it, the way we found it, was because it stank. It had been dead so long, it was stinking. That's the nature of all of us. When we die, if we weren't put in a grave, and that's the reason we were put in a grave, our bodies would, if you're not embalmed, you would turn to dust. What's, see, there's something along the road. Something has been killed. It corrupts, it dies. The body decays. That's the world you and I live in. Everything that you and I see is decaying. According to the course of this world, the spirit that are now working on children's disobedience, among whom we all had our conduct in times past, the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our mind, And we're by nature the children of wrath. That's our divine nature. That's our physical nature. The news always is telling you about bad things happening. Somebody gets shot. Someone gets killed. Da-da-da. War is going on. Children of wrath. That's our nature also. Paul ends the seventh chapter in there by saying, Oh, wretched man that I am. And the word wretched, the Greek word for wretched means tormented, twisted, in travail, because of a conflict between the two natures. The fifth chapter of Galatians, Paul talks about that more extensively. If you're a child of God, you know what I'm talking about. If you've never been born again, you have no understanding about it. But a born-again child of God, indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God, has a divine nature imparted to us, which nature hates evil and loves holiness. And that nature is that which draws us and causes us to want to follow Christ. And the way in which that works in us is by the imparting of the Holy Spirit to us. And that begins with regeneration. You are not a child of God because of what we have done, what you resolve to do, or some good works that you perform. We become a child of God by the working of the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are made to be new creatures in Christ Jesus. Who come to understand that by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, as Paul has been talking to us about in Romans, that we have been justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. He paid the sin debt and there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The characteristic then of a child of God is what we're looking at in the 8th chapter of Romans. Here is the characteristic of a child of God. Am I a child of God? Am I one of God's elect persons? Paul in Philippians says that we should work out our salvation. That does not mean that you are accomplishing it, but rather you should make it to be effectual in your life by submission to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. If that's not going on, woe be you! But it is for our betterment. Why? Because Paul will tell you here in the 8th chapter later on, because you have been predestinated to a life of ease, to a life of just joy and peace and happiness and prosperity. That's what the world tells you and that's what false preachers tell you. No, we have been predestinated to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now, as a young convert, young man, very ignorant in scriptures, I thought that God ought to just zap us up to heaven the moment that you got born again, got regenerated. And I was frustrated, why don't you do that, God? Get me out of all the problems in the world I live in. By God's grace and by the Holy Spirit, I've come to understand what God is doing. He is conforming me, working in me, molding me. You and I both, mutually, collectively. He is working in us, how? By various means, but primarily by the Holy Spirit of God. IF YOU ARE NOT GROWING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST AND BEING CONFORMED TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST, IF THERE'S NOT SOME IMPROVEMENT GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE, MY LIFE, THERE'S SOME PROBLEM HERE. I sometimes refer to myself as being a soul doctor. I'm not a doctor of any nature, but I use that sometimes to express to people what my calling is. A minister, a preacher is a soul doctor. We're not talking about the material things and physical things, although that is relative. It is our calling by God to speak to you and talk to you and instruct you and help us all collectively about our spiritual souls. For what's it a property of man to gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul? Ruth and I stayed at a motel in West Virginia. We were there for three nights, and I got acquainted with a young man who was working the desk in the daytime. Very friendly, outgoing, personal person, and I began to talk to him about his soul. I said, you've got great potential. The question is, if you gain the whole world, what is the problem with you if you lose your own soul? There is a heaven, there is a hell, and you're headed to one or the other. And so I begin to talk to him about the Lord, pray for him. I could give you his name, but I won't do that. We are communicating still by internet, by email. That's true of all of us. We are spiritual beings, either with a dead spirit or a quickened spirit, and we are, as God's elect people, we are ordained to be conformed to the image of His Son. Now, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. How do I know, how can I tell if I'm in Christ Jesus? Here's what we're looking at in the 8th chapter of Romans. The characteristics of a child of God, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now the word walk means your conduct, your manner of going, your lifestyle, your values, your philosophy, what it is that moves you. I spoke to you last few weeks about this subject and I titled my message, you know, What GPS Are You Following? What is it that guides you? What excites you? What encourages you? What is it that your life is focused on? The Lord says, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his rights and all these other things shall be added unto you. That has not changed. That's God's requirement. That's God's exhortation, especially to his people. What is it that you're motivated by? What is it that drives you? What is your ambition? Where are you going? Where am I going? Where am I headed? Am I stagnant? Idle? Neutral? Or is it something that moves me? If you're a child of God, it is the Holy Spirit. What is your GPS? Is it God's Word? Is it the Spirit of God? Are you moving in a direction toward God, or are you moving in an opposite direction? Well, I can tell you the way the world is going. Whoa, I can tell you right real quick. All you have to do is listen to the news and look around you You know, the direction the world is going its language its conduct its dress style all of these things What motivates the world that we now live in if we are following the world you're going farther and farther away from God There is none that seeketh after God They've all gone astray. They've turned each to his own way. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man. Now listen, there is a way that seemeth right, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Hear the word of God, who walk not out of the flesh, but out of the spirit. You can't do that You can't do that following the world. Why? Verse 2, For the law of the Spirit, now when he says the law, the word should not be understood to mean that there is a rigid law, but he is talking about the principle, the principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death. If you are a child of God, you've been born again by the Holy Spirit of God, you are free from the bondage of sin. You've been given a new nature. Oh, you still have to deal with sin, but your appetite, your energies, and that which delights you, that nourishes you, as a child of God, is not sin. You sin, we do sin, but it is abhorrent to us. It's grievous to us. It's distasteful to us. And we repent of it if you're a child of God. Verse three, for what the law could not do. What is the weakness of the law? It's a rigid standard that no one except Jesus Christ ever kept and fulfilled. Why? Because he was totally sinless. So what's the weakness of the law? For what the law could not do in that it was weak How? Through the flesh. I cannot keep the law. You and I cannot keep the law. Thou shalt not. We know what it says. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not commit adultery. But by nature, our nature is contrary and opposed to that. And our Lord told us that the whole sum of the law is in two rules. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. That's the very first principle. And by nature we have constantly violated that. And we cannot attain to that. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The unregenerate, carnal person lives for himself or herself. It's all about me, that's our world you and I live in, what I want, what I like, what I can do for myself, where am I going to get out of this? Whereas the very contrary wise is that of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. And that's the spirit of God's people. Why do we wash feet? It's just a ritual we go through? No. It is supposed to be something that we are expressing that we as God's people are to be feet washers to each other and to other people in the world even. what the law could not do in that it was weak to the place god sending his own son in the likeness and note that in the likeness not very simple but in the likeness are simple play very human born of a virgin human nature the god man christ jesus who is talking about maracas we can follow boat molded together divine nature and human a very god but sinless man, his own son in the likeness of him, and for sin condemns sin in the flesh, which means that he judged sin in his own body. For what reason, verse 4, that the righteousness of the law, now note these words, might be fulfilled in us, the whole program of salvation, The whole program that God has ordained for you and I is that we would manifest the righteousness of God. God imputed to us Christ's own righteousness and imputed to Christ our sins. And we have been reckoned by God to be very righteous, having the right of Christ. then we are to live in this world manifesting inward righteousness, manifesting in the flesh, just as Jesus Christ manifested the righteousness of Christ. The expression has been used and kind of tried to refer to it, what would Christ do? That's how we as God's people to live in this world. How would Christ deal with this situation? I tell you, that is really a challenging thing. It's really a rebuking thing to me. I mean, I have to really, from time to time, I restrain myself and say to myself, wait a minute, how would Christ deal with this issue? What would his response be? And sometimes I've responded and then I say to myself, oh, that's not what the Lord would have done. But as a child of God, I'm to manifest God's own righteousness to the world I live in. That's to the people I'm around, the people I work with, the people I'm, my spouse, my family, Christ-like righteousness. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not out of the flesh, but out of the Spirit. Now, I don't fulfill the law, I cannot, will not, but Christ my Savior has fulfilled the law, and in following Christ, in following Christ, I'm following in His footsteps, therefore I'm following, I'm fulfilling the law in Christ Jesus. You see, it's not to earn salvation, it's because we have been saved. We're following the Christ. Paul said, be ye followers of me, as I am also of Christ. That's the standard. It's not what the preacher says, it's not what the neighbor says, it's not what the community does, it's not what the government says, it's not what my friends are doing, it's what does Christ demand of me and require of me, that I might fulfill the righteousness of Christ in me, who walk not out of the flesh, but out of the spirit. There's the qualification. There's a means of it. Preacher, you just, you just blowed me out of the saddle because I can't do this thing. That's exactly right. But here's how you do do it. Here's how I do it. It's by the power and the strength of the Holy Spirit of God. Paul says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. How? By the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, I need you right now. I'm dealing with an issue. Lord, I need your help. And you have it. It's not way out yonder. It's here, in you, in your spirit, in your heart, by the Holy Spirit of God. That's what Paul was saying. You walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That's the characteristic of a child of God. Oh, man, I've missed the mark so many times. But why? How? Because I was being controlled and dominated at that moment, that time, by the flesh and not by the Holy Spirit of God. For they that are at the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are at the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Isn't that simple? I mean, that's very plain. and you're a child of God, you're born again, you know what we're talking about, what Paul was saying to us. You know when you are minding the things of the flesh, and you know when you are being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. Let's just see, Galatians chapter 5, Paul tells us the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5 he says the fruit of the Spirit now noted. It's the holy fruit of the Holy Spirit Not what I've done, but what the Holy Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is love Genuine love Holy love Suffering love kindness, you know the whole 13th chapter 1st Corinthians. Oh, I description of spiritual Christian love, long-suffering, tolerant, patient, does not exalt itself. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. How does the world see me? Am I a grouch? How does my spouse see me? Am I a grouch? How do my children see me? Am I no grouch? joy, joy that's not based upon temporal things, joy that's not based upon worldly approval, but joy that God instills in our heart because we know He is in control and we are in proper relationship with Him, which gives you peace, the peace of God, the peace of understanding. You know God's people have gone to a fiery death, willingly singing, praising God at peace. Being led out to have their head cut off, the crowd cheering, ridiculing them, spitting at them, throwing trash at them, throwing eggs at them. They're going here to have their head cut off? How do they go? In peace, joy, triumphant. They know what's about to happen. They're going to heaven. They're getting out of this old world. Joy. How do they do it? Peace of God. Long suffering. Boy, we need a lot of that, don't we, with each other. THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, WITH EACH OTHER, LONG SUFFERING, HOW DO WE DO THAT? REMEMBER GOD WAS LONG SUFFERING TO OSWORTH, WHILE WE WERE YET IN SIN HE WAS LONG SUFFERING TO US, WE DESERVE TO BE CUT OFF, CAST OUT, BUT HE WAS LONG SUFFERING, STILL LONG SUFFERING TO US, GENTLENESS, I TELL YOU, that's one word that just really smacks me both ways, gentleness, that's not my nature, not your nature, most of you, faceless men to be gentle, to be gentle with their spouse, to be gentle with our children, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Boy, I tell you that guy's a mean character, what's wrong with him? He believes the Bible. That guy's a weirdo, what's wrong with him? He lives godly. I tell you that guy wants something else, what's the problem with him? No matter what you say to him, he doesn't get mad. That's not my nature and not your nature. It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit though. And that's how we need to measure ourselves and judge ourselves. How am I living in accordance to God's Word? Back to Romans 8. They that are the flesh do mind the things of flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Well, brother Hatfield, that's just how, that's just the way my nature is. That's the way I was reared. That's just me. Somebody's gotta, you gotta put up with me. Well, look at the next verse. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Which way you want to go? Which way you're headed? If you're carnally minded, if you're dominated by the flesh, if you're dominated by carnality, you're on the road to death. If you're motivated by carnality, you're on the road to death. But to be spiritually minded is life, everlasting eternal life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. Here is the test characteristic of Christian people born again child, they are not carnally minded. They're not dominated by the flesh. It's what does God say? What is God's plan? What's God's program? What does God want me to do? The thing that bothers me in the world that you and I live in, the majority of Christian people are living just for themselves. It's all about me and my, what we want to do, what my goal is, what I want to attain to. What does God Saint to us. To be carnal minded is enmity against God. The two cannot walk together. How can two walk together except there be an agreement? Paul will tell you in Corinthians. What fellowship have light but darkness? What accord have the temple of devils with the temple of God? You can go to the devil's house, but you can't take God with you. You can live the life of the devil, but God won't walk with you. A call-on-minded is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. But ye are not in the flesh. A born-again child of God, characteristic of a child of God, you're not in the flesh. I'm free to do whatever I want to. No, you can't. You've been bought with a price. by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We are redeemed. You see, Paul began this discussion here with the phrase, there is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Oh, hallelujah, salvation is free. No, it costs God his only forgotten son. It costs Jesus Christ his blood. Oh, it's free to you and I. but heaven paid a dear price for it and God is going to extract from you and I something in repayment back now that's not a good term of theology I know because nothing that we could do the Lord told the servants when you've done all these things yet count yourself as unworthy servant you can't merit anything back from God you can't add anything to God you can't give God anything because he doesn't need anything but God's going to extract from his people the kind of life that God ordained for us to live now hear me God is going to extract from you and I and from me the kind of life that God has ordained for us to live now predestination is a great wonderful subject as long as I'm just free to do what I want to do but listen Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10 for we are his workmanship. We are his workmanship. Paul says, by the grace of God, I am that I am. You were brought into existence by divine will for divine purpose to do God's business. What is that? For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. that's God's program for every one of his children that we live the kind of life that manifests as Christ Jesus and that will be done by the Holy Spirit of God or else child of God Paul said I keep my body under subjection and beat it down lest by any means when I preach to others I myself would be set aside cast away is the word in the English but set aside is the word in the Greek. For this reason Paul says in the eleventh chapter of the first Corinthians, for this reason some are sick, some are weak, some are weak, some are sick and some sleep, that meant that they were dead, why? Because they were being dominated by carnality not by the Holy Spirit of God. You see folks we got to understand God doesn't play games God's not an idol, God's not a toy that we play with just on Sunday, and then pick it and leave him alone for the rest of the week. It's every day of our lives. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can it be, and say, Well, I am vain in the flesh, cannot please God. You and I, we come here this morning to worship God. Revelation Chapter 1, there is a verse of scripture in this chapter that really challenges me. Revelation Chapter 1, John on the Isle of Patmos is writing to us and he says in verse 10, Revelation 1 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And I very rarely ever start up But what I don't think about that verse of scripture, am I in the spirit today? Have I been in the spirit this week? Now I'll tell you, the devil has done everything possible in this past week to keep me from being in the spirit and to keep you from being in the spirit. And the devil is doing everything he possibly can to keep you from being in the spirit, being yielded to the Holy Spirit of God. Paul says to us in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, quench not the Holy Spirit, grieve not the Holy Spirit, we are told also by the Apostle Paul. Now there are some things that we are warned about and admonished about, about the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God is SENSITIVE TO US, AND HE HATES SIN. HE IS ALLERGIC TO IT, HE HAS A REACTION TO IT, HE WITHDRAWS HIMSELF IN MANIFESTED WAYS, GREEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT, I WAS IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD'S DAY, IT'S NOT WHAT WORSHIP IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN JUST PUT ON A GARB, CLOTH, or come through a door in a building and we start to worship the Lord. I try to exhort people, encourage people to prepare for Sunday on Saturday. Prepare for Sunday on the Lord on Saturday. Get your work lined out so you're not tired come Saturday evening and wore out and you come to church dragging like somebody that's been run over by a Mack truck. I know what that is, I've been there. We should come to the Lord's house with anticipation by the Holy Spirit of God that we've come to worship the Lord. To be carnal minded is death. Why are our services sometimes so cold? Why do we get nothing out of the services? Because we come with carnality. verse 9 but you're not in the place but in the spirit if so be the Holy Spirit of God will continue you can't get rid of it God chose you in Christ Jesus before the foundation world all the father give me shall come to me and him that come on to me I shall no wise cast out you're not going to get rid of God you're not going to get rid of the Holy Spirit God Chose us ordained us to be heirs of eternal life and to live for him here in time And what you're not doing what when we get out of tune to the Lord He has a way of bringing us in tune My dad used to do that from time to time he used to have to tune me up We have a little talk with a belt or a switch and things would change my attitude toward him my behavior would change now I know that that's not a pleasant experience I've had some whelps put on my back end and legs and I thought it was because my daddy was mean and hateful to me I thank God I had that kind of father but your heavenly father says who I'll everyone that I love I chasten Everyone that I love I chastened Everyone that I love I chastened repent you therefore That's God's admonition to us collectively You're not in the place but in the spirit if so be the spirit of God's love in you if any men have not the spirit of Christ He's none of his Now there's one or two roads that you and I are walking today. I hope and believe that all of us here are walking on the spiritual road to heaven, the pathway to glory. I hope we've been redeemed by the blood of Christ. I hope all of us are on our way by God's grace to eternal glory. But the vast majority of Christians today in America, in America particularly, are merely professing Christians who are going to church because it is expected of them socially to do so. Well that used to be true, it is not so much anymore. Now here is verse 11, But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, Jesus Christ was resurrected after three days and three nights in the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit he lived he died buried raised up by the power of the Holy Spirit shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you we don't like restrictions we are all rebels We don't like rules and regulations. We're all rebels. We don't want anybody to tell us what we have to do and need to do. We're all rebels. That's our depraved nature. I don't like it. I've never met a stop sign that I like. I've never met a red light that I like. They're all against me. This past week I had a very narrow experience. I was going into Tupelo. I don't remember exactly what street I was on, but I was headed in a certain direction and I was looking down the road at a traffic light, watching that traffic light, and I had totally forgotten about a railroad crossing that was between me and that traffic light. And there was a van, car, van running beside of me, so I couldn't see to my right. And I was focused on that traffic light down there. And I was clipping along at 35 or 40 mile an hour street. And all of a sudden, red lights came on in front of me and a gate came down and all, whoa, right there, right there was a locomotive coming to me. It was a shifter and he had been sitting there connecting or disconnecting rail car, and he wasn't 100 feet from me, and he was moving toward the crossing, but what caught my attention was those red lights, and I said, ìThank the Lord for those red lights!î They stopped me, and the gate came down and the train went across. I don't like red lights, but I'm thankful for them sometimes when God puts them on. Well, God puts things in our lives to warn us and to tell us to stop us, and these are some scriptures, the characteristics of a child of God and the importance of the Holy Spirit. is this if I'm not sensitive if I'm not being guided by the Holy Spirit if I'm not attuned to the Holy Spirit of God in my life if I'm not concerned about the Holy Spirit in my life then there's a real question about my salvation and there's a real question about my resurrection if there's no Holy Spirit in me I have no assurance of a resurrection of eternal glory Now you may be an unregenerate child of God, and God will in time regenerate you and bring you to, and dwell you by the Holy Spirit of God. But if today, now, your present condition, you're living the kind of lifestyle that it does not manifest, that you're a child of God, and that you're in tune to the Holy Spirit in your life, you have a real problem to be concerned about, and that is no resurrection. to glory, to eternal life, because it is by the Holy Spirit of God that we are resurrected, given a new nature, a new body, a glorified body. That's the work of the Holy Spirit of God, and He is tuning us up and getting us ready for that resurrection by conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. It's an ongoing process, folks, the characteristic of a child of God. You're not what you used to be, and you're not today what you maybe were last week or last year, and what you're going to become, what we're going to grow to. But the question is, are we walking after the flesh or after the Spirit? And may God, by the Holy Spirit, cause us to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in my life. You see, Jesus was led out in the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. because he is the example and the pattern for us as God's people. We must face the wilderness of the world and the temptations of the world by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. You can't do it by yourself. It's the Holy Spirit of God that makes us to be successful victorious Christians, that gives us peace, that gives us love, that gives us joy in the midst of this crazy world that you and I live in. And that's God's gift to every child of God, the Holy Spirit. It's not because of what we do, it's because of what Christ has done for us. May God bless His word to us. Our Father, we come to you here this morning hour. And Lord, we're thankful for your great love and mercy toward us. We thank you that you've loved us with an everlasting love. We thank you for your grace that redeems us and brought us to the knowledge of Christ as Savior. And Lord, we thank you for your Holy Spirit that guides us, that corrects us, that teaches us, that admonishes us, and that makes us to be stronger Christians, and gives us overcoming power and victory over sin. We pray, dear Father, that we will be drawn closer to you by your Holy Spirit, that our lives will be manifesting of your grace day by day. would show forth the fruit of the Spirit of God in our lives. In Jesus' name I pray and ask it. Amen. Amen.