In this passage, Paul says in verse 16, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the lust for the flesh, lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. So we'll look at these verses tonight. And last week we kind of set the groundwork for this, some background just to lay the ground for this understanding of this passage. We talked about three underlying assumptions. As believers, every Christian must acknowledge that there is still yet in all of us remaining corruption. We still have what Paul says, the flesh. We're not to give in, we're not to walk according to the flesh, but walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh is that fallen part of us as a result of this fall of Adam. There is sin and our flesh was under the dominion of sin, but as believers we're a new creation and it no longer dominates us, but it still remains. So it does not dominate, it does not rule, but it does remain. And we acknowledge that, we know that in our own lives. And as we looked at the story and the history of David, we see this even in him, in the great king of Israel, that he, in chapter 24 of 1 Samuel, did well when he did not kill the Lord's anointed. Though he may have been tempted to do so, he did not give in to his flesh. But we find him in the very next chapter that he does give in to this flesh, or at least he's pursuing this when he is going to kill Nabal. And God arrest him in his steps in that process. And so we have to acknowledge the reality of remaining corruption in us. It's close at hand. It's crouching at the door. every day of our life. And then every Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of God. Paul says in Romans 8, 9, if any man be in Christ, or if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. So every believer is someone who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. This is a wonderful gift that God has given to us, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And this is what is in view here, that he has come to dwell within us. And therefore, Paul is calling us to walk in this spirit who lives within us. And then the third assumption is that every Christian's life will manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit. this third person of the Godhead who lives within the lives of his people. will live there and he will not go unnoticed. He is there to bring about changes in the life of every believer. And so his powerful presence will be manifested in the lives of those who have been born of God. They've been born of the spirit, they're indwelt by the spirit, and the spirit is at work in them to conform them to the image and the likeness of Christ. Here in verse 16, we are given what we might call a hope-filled command. It's a hope-filled command to walk in the Spirit walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So we have this remaining corruption that is in us, but here's a command, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill. You will not fulfill. You will not give into this remaining corruption that is in you. And this is a command. It is a present tense command. 24-7 we are called to walk in the spirit. So this is a responsibility that is given to the believer. And the idea is that walking is talking about a course of life, the way in which we live our life. 1 John 2, 6 says that if we say that we abide in Christ, we ought to walk as he walked. And this is what the spirit is at work in the life of the believer to bring them to become more like Christ. We have been predestined, Paul says, to be conformed to the image and the likeness of Christ. So the spirit has come to dwell within us to bring about this transformation more and more where we are being conformed to the image and the likeness of Christ. So he is leading in that direction. He is energizing and empowering us to live in that way. Howard Voss said, to walk by the spirit is to allow the spirit to be the governing principle in one's life. If the believer permits the spirit to control, he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now there is mystery here. I think for all of us to think that the third member of the Godhead dwells within us, And he is there to guide and direct us. I hope that we can all say I've known of his work in my life. I know of the convicting nature of the spirit to convict me of sin. Turn if you will to Romans 8. I think this is a helpful passage as we think of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter 8 and verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. Back in chapter six, he says there that sin shall no longer have dominion over you. You have the Spirit of God now. So verse 13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. This again is a present tense. If one's life is characterized by living according to the flesh, you will die. And the idea is, I think here, eternally you will die. But if by the Spirit you are You are you are I've got this underline nice Scratch out the word. I can't read it and if any of you are And if by the Spirit you are, is it putting to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. So here is another present tense. If by the Spirit of God, this is characteristic of your life, that you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, you are doing battle against the flesh, then you will live, you will live eternally. And then verse 14, for as many as are being led, again a present tense, as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So here is what the Spirit is doing. He is leading the people of God. This is an indication that they are a child of God. and he is leading them. And so here is the call that Paul gives that we are to walk in the spirit. We are to walk under the governance of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. And how does the Holy Spirit primarily work in the life of a believer? It is through his word, your word, I've hidden my heart that I might not sin against you. And it is the spirit who takes the word of God and applies it to our hearts. It is the means by which he does this work in us. So he convicts us of sin, he leads us in the paths of righteousness and various other things. He brings about illumination, but it's tightly connected to the Word of God. And so here is this wonderful command, walk in the Spirit. And it talks again about the course of one's life. In day-to-day life, walk, be controlled by the Holy Spirit, and then we're given this wonderful promise. In fact, we could call it an ironclad promise. And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. you will not fulfill. So as you walk in the spirit, here is hope for the believer that they will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, the remaining corruption that is in them. And I think as believers, we recognize, we're painfully aware that there is this power of our flesh. Just as David felt it and knew it, we know it as well. And it can be a very strong influence in our life. We feel the pull of it day by day. So this is no small force that is still in us, this remaining corruption. It is a formidable foe. And I think Paul talks about that in Romans 7, There's this battle going on within him that he wants to do what is good, but at the same time, there's another law, another principle that is in him that is drawing him away. And it's the principle of sin to do what is displeasing and dishonoring to the Lord. But here's this command, and here is the means by which we overcome that. It is by walking in the spirit. And so Paul gives us encouragement here. There is hope for us. We don't need to live in despair or discouragement thinking that I cannot overcome remaining sin. No, God has provided a means so that we can and we're called to walk in the Spirit. And he gives the grounds for this in verse 17. Four, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And 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 the law. So here's the spirit who's been given to us. And Paul, I think, gives us here a picture into the window of the heart of every believer. There is this conflict that is going on. There is this battle, what we might say this irreconcilable conflict in the heart of the believer. The spirit is lusting against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. So here are these combatants, if you will, that are going on inside of us. There is the flesh. this unredeemed flesh, this remaining corruption that is in us. And then there is the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. We have been given a new heart, we've been given new affections by the grace of God, but we have also been given the Holy Spirit. And I think this is the Spirit that is being referred to, the Holy Spirit here in us. And so these are the combatants. And we notice that this conflict is intense. It is an intense conflict. The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. So the lust, the flesh lusts against the spirit. This is a word that has this idea of a passionate desire, epithumia. It can be used in a positive way or a negative way in the Bible, but it speaks about strong desires. that are in the hearts of people. It could be used in a positive way where Paul said this in Philippians 1, I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire, here's that word, I have this strong desire to depart and be with the Lord. to be with Christ, which is far better. So it is used there in a positive sense. And sometimes it's used in a negative sense, in a lust, an inordinate desire, a burning passion that is sinful by nature. burning in kind of a sensual way. And it is used here in verse 17 that it is the flesh that has the strong desires against the spirit and the spirit, the same strong desires against the flesh. The ESV translates this, the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. So here's that conflict that is within us, remaining corruption, and the spirit of God that is there. And there is this ongoing battle inside of us. And Paul says here, he amplifies it, that these are contrary to one another. They're opposed to one another. They're against one another. The word that is used here is a word that is often used in a legal context. When you think about a courtroom, you have a defense and a prosecutor, and these two are against one another. They are adversaries. It's even used of Satan, who is our adversary. He's the adversary of God, and he's the adversary of God's people. And so Paul says, these things are contrary, the spirit and the remaining corruption, our flesh, these are contrary to one another. There's never going to be a peace. There's this ongoing battle that is going on in the heart of the child of God. They are antagonistic towards one another. They cannot peacefully coexist. And so we also see here that the duration of this conflict is that this is an ongoing thing. Again, in verse 17, these are present tense verbs. The flesh is continually lusting against the spirit, opposing the spirit, and the spirit is continually opposing the flesh. So again, this is an ongoing conflict. The spirit will never surrender, the spirit will never quit, nor will the flesh. The flesh will always remain with us this side of heaven. It may be a little discouraging to think about that. I think we do make progress where the flesh is not as strong, but it will remain. And there will be this ongoing conflict that we'll never see. So we see here, this is an irreconcilable conflict that goes on in every believer. But again, the good news with regard to this conflict is that the spirit is at work in us to bring about victory over the flesh so that it will not rule, it will not dominate We have been given new life in the Spirit and He lives within us. In Ephesians 2, it's just over the page of my Bible, but these familiar verses to us in Ephesians 2, Paul is saying there that we once, verse 2, walked according to the course of this world. We walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath. He says, this is the way we once walked. This is how we live. We were under the dominion of sin in our life. But it is the spirit who brings about a new power. We see these words also in Titus 3, 3. We ourselves also, once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Paul says that's the way we used to walk and live. And this flesh was undisturbed and it had dominion. And we were willing servants of our flesh, indulging in our flesh. This is how we formerly lived and left to ourselves. We would have been happy and contented to remain there. But no more. God has brought about a new creation. He has brought about a new heart and new affections. John Owen said, the dominion of sin is present when sin exercises control over the will of a man with no opposition from another principle. And that's the way we were as fallen in Adam. There was not another opposition against this principle of our flesh, but now, There's a new power. There is something radically different. It is the Spirit of God who has come to reside within us, who is doing battle against remaining sin that is in us. And the result is this, Paul says here in verse 17, so that you do not do the things that you wish. You do not do the things that you wish. And I think he's referring here to the flesh. Formally, the flesh did as... as it wanted, it had dominion. And here he says, this is no longer true. It no longer has the dominion. And you cannot do the things that you wish, that your flesh wishes to bring about. Everett Harrison said, behind the spirit's resistance to the flesh, is the divine purpose that believers should be kept from doing things they otherwise would do. Behind the Spirit's resistance to the flesh is the divine purpose that believers should be kept from doing the things that they otherwise would do. And again, is this not encouragement for us as we live right in the midst of a fallen, broken world where we find remaining corruption in us Here is an encouragement, walk in the spirit and know that the spirit is at work in you to counter and go against the remaining corruption. And so he has been given to you so that you no longer will do the things that one time you did and has given you the power to do that. Now, how does the spirit bring this about? The spirit brings this about as a result of a superior power to bear on our sinful flesh. These powers within us are not equal. There is our flesh and it is strong, but there is the Holy Spirit of God who lives within us that is a superior power. 2 Corinthians 3.17 Paul says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is liberty. There's this freedom that Christ has brought for us by giving us the Spirit and we have freedom to now live differently. The flesh is not able to overpower the spirit. So walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, the remaining corruption that is in us. So no one as a Christian can ever say, well, I was walking in the spirit, but my flesh was more powerful. No, if you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of your flesh. Again, greater is he, John says, that is in you than he that is in the world. Let me quote from John Brown. This was, I think, Spurgeon's favorite commentator. He said this, here is the reason the flesh cannot go on having dominion. A greater power has come to bear on the Christian. Since the spirit contends against the flesh, he cannot do what, but for this opposite influence, he would be wholly inclined to do. The spirit brings new thinking and affections. And though he still has his fleshly desires and inclinations, he cannot fulfill them. He feels not a natural, but a moral impossibility of fulfilling them. And he sets himself to mortify, crucify, and destroy them. So here's this conflict. Here's the struggle, this irreconcilable conflict. And here's the solution to it. Walk in the spirit, the all-powerful spirit who lives within you, and you will not fulfill the lust of your flesh. I've always appreciated an illustration that Mark Webb gave in his sermon as he spoke about this passage of scripture. And he used the illustration of flight When you think about these huge planes that are going over our heads here at church day by day, you look up and you see this massive hunk of metal up there in the sky. And it's like, how in the world does that thing fly? Does it fly because the law of gravity has been negated or is no longer in existence? No. The law of gravity is very much in existence, is it? The law of gravity says. Everything is going to fall. If I just let this Bible go, it's going to fall. And so it is with the law of gravity. It's going to press things down, not allow things to go up. So how does it overcome gravity? Well, Mark goes on to explain that the law of gravity hasn't been abolished. It's still there and it's still active. But there's another law, a greater law, a greater principle that overcomes the law of gravity. And that is called what? The law of aerodynamics. law of aerodynamic lift. That if you have enough speed and you have a wing and curvature that it'll eventually get off the ground. Brian worked for many years with those jet engines as well as some others. And when you get enough speed going and you got the right curvature on the wing, it creates this aerodynamic lift and this big hunk of metal with all the people and all the luggage lifts up and flies. And as we think about the work of the spirit of God within us, here is a superior power that is at work in the life of the believer. John Owen said, sin will have dominion and control of the will of man unless there is opposition from another principle, another power, another law. And that is the power of the gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people. And so here is this law, the law of the work and the ministry of the Spirit of God that is able to overcome this power of the sinful flesh. And as we think about that, There is what Thomas Chalmers called, there is the expulsive power of a new affection. How does this come about that a believer will choose what is good and right over his flesh that is trying to get him to do what is wrong? Well, there is a superior affection, a superior power that is at work to bring this about. So the Holy Spirit tells us to say no to sin, but there's something more that the Spirit of God does. He gives us a greater affection for something far greater than the love of sin. Chalmers said this, he was a Scottish pastor, died in, I think, about 1847. And he was well-known for this sermon and this book that was written, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. He said, it is not enough to understand the worthlessness of the world and of the flesh One must value the worth of the things of God. We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our hearts than to keep in our hearts the love of God. And no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God than by building ourselves up in the most holy faith. And so what the spirit does is to bring about a surpassing new affection for the things of God, a love for God, a love for Christ, a love for the gospel. And it is this new affection that will drive out or expel those old affections of the flesh, because there's a greater love. You think about Joseph. You remember the account when Potiphar's wife was tempting him. And it says that Joseph would not give in. And this went on for a period of time. He would not give in to her. Do you remember what his response was to her when she grabbed him by the robe and was gonna seek to force him to stay and to come and lie with him? What did he say? How can I, what, do this great sin and sin against my God? He had a greater love, a greater affection for God than for his own flesh, his own, I'm sure, temptation of his flesh. I want to please God. And then there was Moses, turn, if you will, to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, we see the same thing in the man Moses. Hebrews chapter 11 in the hall of faith, we see there Moses. And you remember he was raised in Pharaoh's court. He was the adopted son of Pharaoh. He was living life in the fast lane. But we read in verse 24 that by faith Moses, when he had become of age, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. What would make a young man do this? to give up all the riches of Pharaoh's home and all the things that he enjoyed and then identify himself with slaves and to suffer affliction with them, well, We read in verse 26, he was esteeming the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward. Here are new affections. They are affections that override these other affections in his life, and he seeks to live in obedience to God. Augustine was one who experienced this as well. He was a very promiscuous man and he really lived a sensuous life. But when he was converted, he made this comment that God gives us so much pleasure in himself, so much joy in himself that we triumph over the pleasures of sin. And so here is the Spirit of God who works in the lives of believers to give new affections, new desires. for Christ, for love for God, and a love for the gospel that we are able to triumph over sin. And this is an ongoing battle, isn't it? We, day by day, are called to this. Walk in the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Be energized by the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit. as he leads you and guides you and you will not fulfill the lust of your flesh. May God help us that we would so live day by day. Any thoughts as we close? Paul tells us to fight the good fight of faith. It is a good fight and may we fight. Let's stand and we'll be dismissed with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you tonight for your saving grace that saves us from hell, but also your sanctifying grace that saves us from the dominion, the power, the love of sin. We thank you for your spirit who has taken residency in our lives. We have become the very temple of the Holy Spirit. We thank you that he is there to lead us, to guide us, to illuminate us, to chastise us, to take the things of Christ and show them unto us. And Lord, we pray that you will enable us that we, by your grace, by your spirit, may walk in the spirit and not give in to the desires of our flesh. May we fight the good fight of faith. Bless us as we enter into this new week. And I pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Lord bless all of you. Hope you have a good week. You are dismissed.