I invite you this morning to turn with me in your copy of the New Testament Scripture to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter number five this morning. Galatians five verses 16 through 25, as have just been read a moment ago. Folks I have been having some trouble with a person in our church lately. In fact I've been having some trouble with this person in our church for quite some time really really since becoming pastor of this church. And this morning I think it's time to call out that person by name and to expose that person publicly. That person is me. Say, boy, Pastor Matt, I was worried that you were gonna actually name a name, right? No, some of you are thinking, I hope he doesn't name my name, right? How many of you thought I was gonna name your name this morning? All right, put yourself at ease. The old spiritual had it right. It's not my brother, it's not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. And the truth of the matter is that I've had a problem with me, not since becoming pastor of this church, but really since becoming a child of God, since becoming a born-again believer, since my conversion. You see, since my conversion, there has been a battle raging within me, a struggle between my old man and my new man. Positionally, I'm a new creature in Christ. Positionally, I'm robed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Positionally, I am good, but practically, I'm still living in this tent, in this tabernacle, in this body of flesh, and I'm no different than the Apostle Paul when he admitted to the Romans, he said, I know that in me that's in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find. I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members that's in my body warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members, my body. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? So how is it that I can experience spiritual victory while I'm living in this physical body? And as I've explained previously, there are two general approaches to sanctification or spiritual growth that have been asserted over the years. We might call the one the quietest and the other the pietist. The quietest considers the believer to be passive in his or her sanctification. The quietest, the popular expression of the quietest is simply let go and let God. Implying that the Christian life is a life of passive submission and yieldedness to God since it is God who works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. All we must do is sit back and enjoy the ride. You see, I can't, but God can. I'm only clay in the potter's hand. The problem with the quietest approach is that it can lead to lazy or carnal Christian living, and the problem with the quietest approach is that it can minimize our Christian responsibility to obey the imperatives in the New Testament, the commands, the commands to strive, to resist, to put off and to put on and to walk and to fight and to flee and study and stand and go and do and be. But yet the New Testament gives these imperatives to the believer to war against the flesh and to pursue holiness. but the quietest approach might be more passive. On the other hand, there is the pietist approach to sanctification and spiritual growth, and the pietist is aggressive in his pursuit of doctrinal precision and moral purity, and the quiet, or I'm sorry, the pietist puts on a strong emphasis of Bible study and holy living and self-discipline, and to the pietist, sanctification or spiritual growth is a matter of personal achievement, you see. It's a matter of do-it-yourself improvements. And the problem with the pietist approach is that it leads to spiritual pride, and it leads to hypocrisy, and it leads to a spirit of legalism at times. So in the end, the believer who tries to shoulder the weight, the pietist who tries to accomplish his own spiritual growth of himself alone will falter and fail. For you see, just as we cannot earn our salvation by the works of the flesh, neither can we earn our sanctification by the works of the flesh. We need the Spirit of God. If you take nothing else away this morning than this, we need the Spirit of God. In fact, I've written this there at the top of your notes. Without the Spirit of God, we cannot live for the Lord as we ought. Just as salvation is a divine work, so also is sanctification, yet at the same time, As man is responsible to respond to salvation by faith, we are also responsible to walk in the Spirit. And so, from Galatians 5, verses 16 to 24, I prepared a message titled In Step with the Holy Spirit. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, and then we'll unpack the text together, shall we? God in heaven, we humbly bow our heads in our hearts before you this morning, hearts that are filled with thankfulness, hearts that are asking you to speak to us, O Lord, through your Holy Spirit from the pages of Scripture. Lord, I confess that my My head is light and distracted, but I'm not feeling my best. Others are distracted, Lord. There's perhaps illness present here in this room, and Satan would want nothing other than to distract us and deter us from the teaching of your word this morning. God, we confess our need for the spirit of God, for our spiritual growth. It's not my brother, it's not my sister, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. because we need the Spirit of God to do His work in our lives. We pray toward that end. We ask that you'd go before us now in our study. In Jesus' name, amen. You have found Galatians chapter number five in your copy of the scripture. To keep us mindful of the big picture of this epistle as we've studied it, in chapters one and two, Paul has defended the gospel of grace. In chapters three and four, Paul has explained the gospel of grace. And now in chapters five and six, Paul wants to apply the gospel of grace. Most recently in chapter five, verses 13 through 15, Paul gave a A disclaimer, a cautionary disclaimer. After championing the notion of Christian liberty, he warned us to not misuse or abuse our Christian liberty less. We find ourselves in bondage to our own flesh. And we ask ourselves, okay, we get that, but how? How do we guard ourselves against that danger? Look at verse number 16. Galatians 5, verse number 16. I say then, here it is, here's the secret to success. For us in our Christian walk, walk in the Spirit, or walk by the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Number one in your notes, as you're following the outline I've prepared, the command to obey. The word walk here, peripeteo, it's in the imperative mood, meaning it's a command. We must obey. The word walk here is in the present tense, meaning it's a command of continuous action that we must practice. We are commanding to keep on walking, and walking, and walking, step by step by step in the Spirit, or by means of the Spirit of God. That is our habitual lifestyle ought to be driven by the Holy Spirit's control and his direction. We are commanded to be in sync or in step with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians and Romans we're commanded to yield to the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians we're commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many places in the New Testament we are commanded to obey the Holy Spirit. That includes both the Holy Spirit's explicit written instruction to us in the pages of Scripture as well as His subtle promptings to us in our inner man. The command To obey is to walk in the Spirit or to walk by the Spirit. Why is that so important? Well, verse 16 explains it to us, the secret to gaining victory over the flesh, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You see, that's the problem I have with me. That's the problem you have with you. That's the problem that we all have as we are tempted to misuse or abuse our Christian liberty to indulge the appetites of the flesh. Look at verse number 17. Verse 17, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit, if you will, lusts or wars against the flesh. These are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit you are not under law. First in verse 16 was the command to obey. Secondly in verses 17 to 18 is the conflict to oppose. Folks the Christian life is not a walk in the park on a sunny day. where we can passively enjoy the scenery, sit in the shade, make small talk. The Christian life is a struggle between the will and the wants of our flesh and the will and the word of God. The Christian life is a minefield. of magnets, a minefield of magnets that draw our flesh away and invite us to satisfy and to gratify ourselves, so that when our mind says no, our flesh says yes, and when our mind says yes, our flesh says no, because the conflict that rages within us, we don't even do the things that we know we should do. That's why we must walk in or by the Spirit of God. If we had the time this morning, I would point us to Romans chapters six, seven, and eight, where this very same theme is explained. Romans chapters six, seven, and eight are a portion of scripture that you need to know well, you need to study well. Let me just summarize some big ideas from those important chapters. We are united with Christ positionally in his death and resurrection. We have died and we have been raised with Christ positionally. Consequently, another theme there in those chapters is we ought to live like it. Rather than living by the impulses of the flesh, rather than following the enslavement of our dead flesh, we have the very power of the resurrection to obey. so that the conflict between the flesh and the spirit, the war is already won if we understand that and can apply that. So stop operating in the flesh. Stop living in the flesh. In fact, you know what? Go to Romans chapter 8. Go to Romans chapter 8. The scripture is so much more powerful than the ramblings of this preacher. Let me just read some of the early verses in Romans chapter 8 after Romans 6, after Romans 7. You know the passage well. Let me read Romans 8 beginning in verse number 1. This is the good news. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus positionally in Christ. who do not walk according to the flesh practically, but are walking according to the Spirit, our position, our practice. Verse number two, Romans eight, verse number two, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. On account of sin, he condemns sin in the flesh. This is the gospel, this is the crosswork of Jesus Christ, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded, fleshly minded, is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. Here's the war, the conflict. For it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If you are born again, if you are a born again believer, if you've been converted by faith, to be a child of God. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And even this morning, I would take this moment to implore you, if you are not certain of your salvation, If you are not certain that you've ever been born again by the Spirit of God, where you were dead in trespasses and sins, you've been made alive or quickened by the Spirit of God, please come talk to me. I want nothing more than for you to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ because of the work of the Spirit of God. And if that's not your testimony, please see me. But here we are given the secret sauce, if you will. Forgive my levity. I don't mean to be disrespectful. The secret to the Christian life is the Spirit of God. I hope that you know that there's a command to obey. Walk in the Spirit, walk by the Spirit. There's a conflict to oppose. The flesh and the Spirit are warring against one another. But then there's, number three, there's a contrast to observe. a contrast to observe. And the evidences of the conflict between the flesh and the spirit are pretty clear here. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to observe the contrast. First, there is the fruit of the flesh. the fruit of the flesh. And before we read this grocery list of the fruit of the flesh, I want to remind you that these things are the very things that are not part of our Christian liberty, as we've discussed over the last many weeks. And in verse 13, if you look there quickly, Paul gave us this cautionary disclaimer that we not use our Christian liberty as an occasion for the flesh. That is, Christian liberty does not allow these things. Are you ready? Look at verse 19 now. Verse 19. Well, we're back in Galatians. I'm still in Romans eight. Let me quickly get there. Back to Galatians chapter five. Galatians five, verse number 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these. adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and this is not an exhaustive list. He says, and the like. He said there's many others beyond this, but each of us have been guilty of one or more of these sins. So what do we do? Is our salvation in jeopardy? No. The key word is…the end of verse 21 is practice. We don't practice these things. It's not the continual ongoing action describes a habitual lifestyle of one who walks every step of the way in the flesh. However, when one turns in repentance from self to the Savior, from sin to the Savior, from unbelief to belief, to trust in Jesus Christ, they are gloriously saved from these very things. That was the testimony of the Corinthians. At 1 Corinthians 6, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Okay, we get that. Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And we praise God for His forgiveness of these things. Perhaps some of these things, both here in 1 Corinthians 6, as well as in Galatians chapter 5, were part of your life once upon a time. But we can claim the promise of 1st John 1 9 that if you confess those sins He's faithful and just to forgive those sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness Such were some of you Paul wrote to the Corinthians, but these are the works of the flesh that one may practice apart from the Spirit of God the fruit of the flesh But then that contrast is with the fruit of the Spirit here in Galatians chapter 5. And we're familiar with these and perhaps we even have these memorized, Galatians 5 verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit, here's the contrast on the other hand. It's love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. See, these are not matters of law. These are matters of the Spirit of God producing fruit in our lives. It was in the summer of 2017 that we studied the fruit of the Spirit in detail in conjunction with our Summer Home Bible Fellowships, perhaps you remember that. That was pre-COVID, if you can think back to the good old days, right? And our purpose this morning, I don't wanna work through each one of these pieces of that fruit in detail, but I simply want us to recognize the paradox that exists. The fruit of the Spirit is a product of the Spirit's work in our lives. The Holy Spirit's activity within us is to produce this fruit. All we have to do is abide in the vine, as Jesus explained in John chapter 15. So now, let me revert back to my introduction. The quietest The Quietus would emphasize that the believer is passive in this case. Our sanctification, our spiritual growth is up to God. It's the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who works to produce the fruit in us, and I agree. However, at the same time, without contradiction, but at the same time, each of the fruit of the Spirit here is also commanded of believers in the New Testament. We can find a New Testament scripture text that compels us to love, to rejoice, to be anxious for nothing, to have peace, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. In fact, in 1 Peter chapter two, Peter commands the believer to add to their faith a similar list of virtues. So the pietist would contend that it's the believer's responsibility to manufacture a fruitful Christian life. Okay, pastor, what is it? Is it the quietist or is it the pietist? Is it let go and let God or is it do it yourself? And the answer is both. The Spirit's activity is to produce the fruit in our lives. If we kept reading in Romans chapter eight where we were just a moment ago, we would learn that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. God has a purpose for you. And his purpose for you is to become like Jesus Christ. So accept that and get in step with that. Our responsibility, now back to verse number 16, Galatians 5 verse 16, is to walk in the Spirit, or to walk by the Spirit, that is, to surrender control of every aspect of our lives to the Holy Spirit of God. You say, okay, pastor, but how, right? How? This is where we get stuck. We love the doctrine. We love the teaching. We love the theological theory, but how? What does this look like practically? How can I walk and step with the Holy Spirit of God and get victory in my life? Folks, this is where we live. And this is why I have a problem with me. It's why you have a problem with you. Between our justification and our glorification, we live this life, in this life, in this flesh. We have no doubt about our position, but we stumble with the step-by-step walk. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Help me out here. Am I the only one? One final category for, one concept for us to grasp here, and I will, I'll call it number four, the conquest to obtain. The conquest to obtain. Galatians five, verse 24. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. We have this war, this conflict that's raging. The conquest to obtain begins with letter A, crucifying the flesh. Folks, the Apostle Paul is echoing really what Jesus Christ himself taught, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That is a call, a radical call to the lordship of Jesus Christ, to self-denial and self-sacrifice. You call yourself a Christian, you say you're a follower of the way, Jesus is Lord, then slay the flesh. In a radical fashion, it's a call to self-denial, to take up our flesh and nail it to the cross. Again, if we would have kept reading in Romans chapter eight, we would learn that we are to mortify the flesh. Jot in the margin of your notes there, Colossians three, verse number five, another companion passage. But folks, here's our problem. Because of our affluence and because of the creature comforts that we enjoy here in the West, because of the wealth and the prosperity of our country, we are seldom in want. And we can indulge our flesh so easily in so many ways. If I want a pizza, I can order a pizza. They'll bring it to my door. If it's entertainment I want, I can stream it into my house on every device I have for $6.99 a month. Right? We all do that. And another $6.99, and another $6.99, and we have all the streaming services, right? We can indulge ourselves everything we want at any time. If it's leisure, the options are innumerable. And I'm not sure that there's ever been a time or place where hedonism or the pursuit of pleasure has had more room to play than today. in our homes and in our hearts and in our minds. We live in a virtual vanity fair because everything is accessible and everything is affordable. We indulge the flesh. We don't crucify the flesh. In fact, that's so antithetical to the American dream, to modernity, to the good life. As much as ever, if we're to have victory in the Christian life, we must mortify the flesh. But unfortunately, we don't regularly mortify the flesh. We don't even restrain the flesh. Many times we claim Christian liberty to satisfy and gratify our flesh. That was Paul's disclaimer back in verse number 13. You say, okay, Pastor Matt, but again, how? You see, Pastor Matt, I'm weak. I'm weak. I don't have self-will. I don't have self-control. You know, I've tried every program of every... I just... I'm weak. What do I do? Let her be. Walk in the Spirit. In verse 18, the Spirit does the leading. You see it there? In verse 16 and in verse 25, look there, we do the walking. In verse 18, the Spirit does the leading. In verse 16 and 25, we do the walking. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us takes the lead, and he asserts his desires against the desires of our flesh. In verse 17, the Holy Spirit puts his gentle pressure upon us so that we must choose to yield. There's an oxymoron, right? We must choose to yield to his direction and control. You say, Pastor Matt, that's the problem. How do I know that gentle pressure? How do I hear the Spirit's voice? You can hear the Spirit's voice in what He has said in the Scripture. We call this the Word of God. It's the Word of the Holy Spirit. But I don't know what God wants me to do. Read His Word and feel that pressure. It's here where the Spirit of God has clearly spoken. And then we make the volitional decision to mortify the flesh and obey the Spirit. We will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I know your outline's complete, but there on the back of your notes, I've copied what Louis Schaeffer has written from his most excellent book titled He That Is Spiritual. Here's what he says, and you can follow as I read. The God-honoring quality of life is always the divine objective in the believer's daily life. Its realization is never by a human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh. It's by fighting the good fight of not the flesh, but of faith. But there's a wide difference between fighting to do what God alone can do and fighting to maintain an attitude of dependence on Him to do what He alone can do. The child of God has an all-engaging responsibility. Stop there and insert the word pietist there. Right there, in this short paragraph. An attitude, I'm sorry, an all-engaging responsibility. That's the pietist. This is your responsibility, pietist. Of continuing in an attitude of reliance. Insert the word quietist there. You see, we're both proactive and we're dependent and reliant upon the Spirit of God. This is the point of his constant attention that is the believer. Schaeffer goes on to say this is his divinely appointed task. Okay, insert the word pietist there again. The appointed task, this is what God has called you to do. and place of cooperation in the mighty undertakings of God. You can insert quietus there. This is God's work. And here's an illustration. The locomotive engineer will accomplish little when pushing his ponderous train. He is not appointed to such a service. His real usefulness will begin when he takes his place at the throttle. The important conflict in the believer's life is to maintain the unbroken attitude of reliance, what is this? Quietus, you can insert quietus there, the reliance upon the Spirit. Thus and only thus. Can the Spirit possess and vitalize every human faculty, emotion, and choice? What is that? Pietist. Do you see this divine human synergy? The Spirit of God is the one who gives us victory in our Christian life as we walk, obediently walk, step by step. by the Spirit of God. Let's pray. God in heaven, we thank You for Your Holy Word. We thank You for Your Holy Spirit. We thank You, Lord, for the power of Your Word. It is living. It's sharp. It cuts to the core of our being. It transforms us. We thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit working within us to give us victory, to produce fruit. What I pray for my fellow believers, those here at Fourth Baptist, those who are listening by way of the radio or watching the live stream, God, we are all in need. We are needy people. We are in need of walking in the Spirit. I pray that you would help us to obey and have your way with us. In Jesus' name, amen.