Spirit of God in what?!

Good morning and welcome to living Rock church. We are happy you are here today, all of you, especially kids! Every fifth Sunday we keep the kids in the whole service to 1)give a break for the kids rock teachers and 2)we believe family worship is important. We understand it is a little louder and crazier than our usual service so if your child starts to get loud our nursery is open and so is our 2nd and 3rd grade room house if you need to step out.

I’m excited about this Sunday because kids, you have been learning something in your class that has a direct connection to what we are learning out here. So I need to see if any kid can tell me what you have been learning in Sunday school, and even though I know you are tempted to say “Jesus” please be a little more detailed than that.

The fruit of the Spirit. And who is able to have the fruit of the Spirit? We are, yes, believers! That is exciting because as we will read today, the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit is not great.

So that is what you have been learning, and out here we have been learning about a guy named Ezekiel. And I thought I would share a little bit of what we have been learning so you know, but then we are going to look deeper into this vision that Ezekiel had and how it connects with the fruit of the Spirit. So that is where we are going, so if you haven’t already, please open in your Bible to Ezekiel 1.

REVIEW

So kids, this is for you, but also for adults here, this is a just some review to remind ourselves as I feel like I have thrown a lot at you in the past couple weeks. So let’s read the first couple verses and discuss some important facts about Ezekiel.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

So, kids I know that this is not the most exciting verses but there is actually a lot of information there. So just some important things for you to know about Ezekiel and what is happening in his world is this:

EZEKIEL AND HIS WORLD

EZEKIEL WAS 30 YEARS OLD AND WAS A PRIEST.

Why is that important you might ask? Well the priest and the Bible were really important people regarding the temple at that time. The priests whole life focused around God’s temple and God’s word. So to understand Ezekiel, you need to know that his whole life has been focused on being a priest. And here were are on his 30th birthday (happy birthday Ezekiel, sorry your party is so lame) and that is important because this is when the Ezekiel would have entered into his priesthood. So this should be a happy thing, right? Except there is a problem with Ezekiel’s world.

EZEKIEL IS BY THE CHEBAR CANAL IN THE LAND OF THE CHALDEANS.

I want to show you a map that might help you understand why this is an issue for Ezekiel. All the way to the left is Jerusalem where the temple was and where Ezekiel should have been installed as a priest. Yet the red line shows the journey of Ezekiel about 8-900 miles away in the land of the Chaldeans. So I’m guessing you are wondering why in the world is Ezekiel way over there? Did he get lost somehow?

3. EZEKIEL IS IN EXILE.

Exile is a fancy way for a really bad timeout. The people of Israel have been incredibly disobedient for over 500 years. They have not followed after God but actually have even gone after false gods. God was incredibly patient and kind with them by sending them prophets and every once and a while a good king. But they still rebelled. And so God being a good and just God, like a good parent disciplines a disobedient child, God sends the people of Israel into exile.

Kid’s picture this. You are in your town and then one day you are taken from everything you have known. Your parents are now gone, friends are gone, you have to live in a tent down by a river and in a place that has different culture, language, bugs, customs, and gods. There is no way I can communicate this besides Ezekiel’s whole world has been flipped upside down.

Yet. God shows up to Ezekiel in one of the hardest times of his life and does some incredible things. The first thing God does is show up in this wild vision. And in this vision is where we are going to see the crazy connection of a strange wheel with eyeballs and the fruit of the Spirit. You ready? Let’s read a part of the vision, if you have time kids, you should read it on your own sometime. All you need to know up this part of the vision is that Ezekiel is overwhelmed, there are some living creatures with four faces, and Ezekiel knows it is God. But there in the vision, below these living creatures with four faces (you think the Bible is boring, you have not read long enough) there are some crazy wheels. So lets read about them and see how they connect with the fruit of the Spirit.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. 16 As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

So there is a lot to discuss here but the thing I want us to focus on here is that these eyeball wheels are controlled by something. They are not wheels that are connected by a rod, there are just there, and yet they are all going in the same direction without any kind of connection. Why? Because the Spirit is in them. How in the world is the Spirit, the ruach and breath of God, in the wheels? These are wheels, not living beings. They have eyeballs, sure, but there are still wheels. We don’t have to overcomplicate this. They have the Spirit in them because they are in the presence of God! And they communicates through the Spirit that is also in the living creatures to move where they need to go. Isn’t that amazing?

THE SPIRIT IS UNIFYING AND LEADING THE WHEELS

EXAMPLE? four kids. Okay all four of you need to go in the same direction with out talking to one another. Okay now, when I point you in a direction, go that way. See how they were in unison? Why? Because they were all being controlled by something other than themselves. Some of you see where I am going already.

So God’s Spirit brings unity to these four wheels and directs them in the direction that they should go because they are in the presence of God. God’s Spirit does not change because, He is God. He is not a feeling, an emotion, a power, He is God. And while it may feel like he has a lesser role in the trinity, he is one with God, and God himself. So now how does this affect us? Wheels with eyeballs and the fruit of the Spirit? Let’s read in Galatians 5 about the fruit of the Spirit and then we will tie this all together.

So Paul has been talking to the church in Galatia about a lot in this book, but in the end he is talking about relationships in the church. How do they live this new life in Christ. And he gets to this point of what it looks like for how to live in this new way by the Spirit.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

So Paul says that there are two ways you can be lead in life. You can be lead by your flesh, just any desire that pops into your head, any kind of emotion or drive that came from the fall. You can go that way, be lead that way, controlled that way, but it is not going to bring about the kingdom of God in you life. You will find yourself in exile and in a different land that feels unfamiliar and out of place.

OR

You can be lead by the Spirit. And when you are being lead by the Spirit, you are like a tree and the Spirit is the water that you are nurturing yourself with. Then the fruit that comes from the Spirit in your life is seen in your relationships where there is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. So the same Spirit that was in the wheels in Ezekiel should be doing the same thing in the believers and the body of Christ.

THE SPIRIT THAT FILLS BELIEVERS TODAY WILL UNIFY AND LEAD GOD’S PEOPLE.

Remember, Paul is writing to a community of Believers, a church. He is not just writing to an individual. And this community was learning how to live this new life in Christ by being filled with His spirit that brings about the fruit we see here. There is not much new under the sun is there? We need this same charge today to be filled with the Holy Spirit so he can continue to unify us and lead us. We are an eclectic church and many of you would probably never talk to one another if it was not for church, and that is okay. But the more we are individually and corporately being filled with His Spirit the more we will see his fruit in our lives, unity, and His leading. But if we choose to be lead by the flesh and our own desires or preferences. His word tells us that we will become conceited and provoke one another and envying one another.

So what do you see in your life today. We can’t change who you were yesterday or even this past week, but we can help you today because you are here today. Do you see more things of the flesh or more things of the Spirit? If you see more of the flesh than the Spirit, don’t fall into condemnation, see this as an incredible moment of God’s kindness. Because it is his kindness that he leads us to repentance.

So this leads us to a very important question. How can I be lead by the Spirit? I can I be filled with the Spirit? How can I stay in step with the Holy Spirit not only for my own life but for the sake of the body.

Thankfully it is not programatic, it is not just one way that we can do this. Since Holy Spirit is a person, it is not some kind of magic trick or spiritual jumping jacks that we need to do to get more of him.

HOW TO BE LEAD WITH/FILLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

Remember this is not linear or built upon another, but just simple ways all of us can receive more the Spirit to walk and be lead by him.

BE IN GOD’S PRESENCE

When we were looking at the wheels being filled with the Spirit, it was because they were in the presence of God that they were able to do this. God fills us with his Spirit as we spend time with him. In His word, in prayer, in worship, in nature, in ways that we encounter him we fills us with himself. The more “you” focused are, the more you will be focused on you. The more you are focused on God, on His beauty and majesty, the more you will want more of Him. So, by faith, entering into times of worship, Bible reading, prayer whether it be corporate or individual, God will meet you there.

Ask!

You have not because you ask not. Well, Josh I did ask and nothing happened. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. It does not say ask and you will immediately receive. Have you kept asking? Have you kept persisting? Have you put other things aside and gave Him your full attention? Have you put to death other things so that He can be more and more alive in you? When we ask the Holy Spirit to come, I believe with all my heart, he really wants to come and fill us. He desires it more than us I believe. And as we ask, we will be filled with him so that we can walk in the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. We will be lead by God where he wants us to go. He will continue to be bringing us into unity with others rather than into a the cultural god of individualism that make you think you were made for isolation and self absorbing. Let us continue to ask God for more of Him!

Come to the end of yourself

Did you hear what Paul said about us crucifying our passions and desires in verse 24? Sometimes we can read that as everything should be dead by now. But we know, at least from Jesus’ crucifixion, that crucifixion took a while. Sometimes they were up 6 hours to 4 days! So it is a long process of slowly dying. We need to continue to find ourselves in that place that anything outside of what God created us for in His image should be continually on its way to the cross. It should not have a voice, it should not be the thing we bow down to, and it should continually be put to death. Because if not, you will constantly be lead by it rather than by the Spirit.

Be a part of a Christian community

These commands to walk in the Spirit are given in community, and honestly, I don’t think you can do these thing outside of community. Can you practice being kind to yourself? Sure, but when does that get weird and you start drifting into self focus and ego, and possibly just being really strange. Oh you are so kind to me, yes I know I am me. That’s weird. But God gave us His Spirit to be his image bearers and to be more like Him, to be more like Jesus.

Land the plane by summarizing? Praying?