Being Led by the Spirit
Notes
Transcript
First Heading
First Heading
Romans 8:5–17 “For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not…”
Introduction
Code breakers in history
Challenge codes.
Flash, Thunder
Transition
Talking about being led by the spirit.
Examples:
I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative, and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.
For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come.
They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia.
When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this,
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
--The holy spirit teaches, and guides Christians (EXPAND)
Unfortunately,
Satan also has plans to lead us astray
He tempted Jesus in the desert, he even used scripture to do it.
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.
We are in a Spiritual war, and just like real wars, information is critical
Making sure we get the correct information is paramount.
Because the enemy is on a disinformation campaign.
Roadmap
Question: How do we know if we’re being led by the Spirit?
(Implicit, 3 Big ideas, There is only one Spirit, and that spirit is God. The Holy Spirit will always proclaim Christ as Lord. We can always test the Holy Spirit against Scripture
Point
Statement
There is only one Holy Spirit.
Explanation
Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.
The implication here, is that there are not multiple Spirits, he’s receiving merely Part of the one spirit.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.
I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love,
making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
This goes against the idea they at the time--both in ancient israel, and in a first century pagan mindset, that there were multiple spirits for multiple different purposes. That was based on Idolatry.
Paul wants you to know good and well that there is only one spirit and that Spirit is from God.
And not only is it from God, it IS God.
Acts 5. Example.
Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property.
He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet.
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land?
-We’re not studying ananias and Sapphira, I’m not getting into breaking this verse down, we just want to know what this passage says about the HS.
Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God!”
Argumentation
Why do we care about this?
These are basic facts, There’s only one spirit, the spirit is God, so what?
The point is, because the Spirit is One, there aren’t multiple spirits, andbecaue the spirit is both from God and IS god
You can count on the Holy Spirit to Be consistent.
Illustration
When I was a Kid, used to try to work my parents against each other to get what I wanted.
They shut that down really quick by putting up a united front
I knew that Mom and Dad would never contradict each other. If I asked Mom I was going to get the exact same answer from Dad.
Application
Ask yourself: Is this consistent with the Character of God?
Does this make sense based on what I know about God?
Transition
The Bible makes it explicit, by the way, one of the areas in which you should test something to tell if it’s from the Holy Spirit
Point
Statement
The holy Spirit will always proclaim Christ as Lord.
Explanation
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
It’s nice to know that we’re not the first ones battling this issue.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,
but every spirit that refuses to confess Jesus, that spirit is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
The Text we read last week in 1 cor is very similar
So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Argumentation
Here’s where I want to get into the weeds a little bit
And I want to add a little nuance
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’
EXPAND
Illustration
The Band Skillet, asked to do less Jesus music.
Application
Every Decision you make, ask yourself, does this proclaim Christ as Lord
Does this Glorify God
Transition
As we noted, based on Jesus teachings in matthew 7, We’re not concerned about proclaiming Christ as Lord through empty words.
We’re concerned about proclaiming Christ as Lord through Actions
Point
Statement
The Spirit will never contradict Scripture.
Explanation
The Holy Spirit is who inspired the writers of Scripture
The Bible is the written word of God through the Holy Spirit
And because the Spirit is One, and from God, and Is God, and always proclaims Christ as Lord both in word and Action, The Holy Spirit will always teach and lead you in a way that lines up with Scripture.
Argumentation
Number one sure fire way, to know if something is from the Holy Spirit?
When we say, “it feels like the Spirit is leading me in this direction”
It feels like God is calling me to do this, or do that
Can I be completely honest?
Our feelings are kind of Garbage at determining what’s right and wrong’
If we have a prompting, or we’re being led by the Spirit in some way, and it doesn’t line up with Scriptural principles?
Get away from that thing, because it’s not from God.
Illustration
I have had times in my life, recently even, in which I felt like God was leading me in a certain direction.
And I felt pretty certain of it.
All the signs were there, and I was really close to making a decision one way or the other.
But I kept coming back to the Bible
The bible says you don’t handle things this way
The Bible says, this is how you need to respond, this is how you need to act.
And guess what, The Bible’s answer was the hardest option
The feeling, that I thought was from the Holy Spirit? That would have been the easy Choice.
Application
But God doesn’t call us to do easy things.
He calls us to do Good things.
Transition
One or two sentences to smoothly shift to the next part
Conclusion
Last point, and this is a bit more ethereal, and difficult to explain to people
But I need you to understand that this practice of Discerning the Holy Spirit
It’s a skill that can be practiced.
For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.
For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,
because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.
Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.
So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh
(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.
And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.
But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We engage with the holy spirit, get to know God in the Spirit
We can know the teachings and promptings from God if we know God
Spending time with him, in prayer, in his word, in obedience to what he tells us to do.
