Walking by The Spirit
The Disciple-Making Parent • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I really like how Bettis begins this chapter,
In many chapters of this book, I’ve been able to share specific principles and practices that Sharon and I have learned in the process of raining our children. In some cases, I can say (like Pastors should be able to say), “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). In some chapters, however, you really are reading along as I write to myself. Like Paul, I say, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:13) In other words, as a parent, I am still growing in the things I am writing about. This chapter on the Holy Spirit is on such chapter.
Some churches are afraid of speaking about the Holy Spirit because of a lack of confidence in the subject.
Some church probably lean too much to the side of overplaying the Holy Spirits purposes and really just downright getting it wrong in their understand this person of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit inspired the written Word of God, and that same written word is called the sword that we have at our disposal.
That same Spirit is the chief earthly agent of our children’s shepherding.
He is our helper that the Father gave us in the absence of Jesus here on earth and He’s our helper for parenting as we take this responsibility seriously in our homes.
WE are His instruments to carry out His desire to disciple our children.
Disciple-making parents rely on the Spirit and teach their children to rely on him as well.
The Helper
The Helper
Just as the Father fully equipped His Son Jesus by the Spirit, so Jesus fully equips us with His Spirit.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The ends of the earth there for parents begins in our home. You cannot begin to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth by the Spirit until you begin allowing the Holy Spirit HELP YOU take the gospel to your home.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
If His followers were to bear the fruit of righteousness, they would need to remain IN HIM.
This is exactly what we want from our children.
We want them to be CONNECTED like a vine to the branch to our Lord and Savior so that the Holy Spirit is present in their lives.
For too many households, the Holy Spirit though has been forgotten.
The Holy Spirit has become an under appreciated person of the Godhead.
The Activities of the Holy Spirit
The Activities of the Holy Spirit
We want to make sure that we WORSHIP GOD… IN ALL THREE PERSONS… FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT.
In order to do this we must first make sure our household understands what what the Holy Spirit does.
He regenerates us. (Irresistible Grace: John 6:37-40, Eph. 2:1-10)
We are born dead in our sins… living out the passions of the flesh and carrying out the desires of the body.
But it’s the Holy Spirit who makes us alive to the things of Christ. He gives our children life.
This is our only hope… for the Holy Spirit to cause them to be born again.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
He lives within us.
When they are born again… they have another influence within them. They themselves have the Helper.
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
He gives us power to defeat sin, grow in holiness and live the Christian life.
The commands of the Jesus are impossible to fulfill without regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
He leads and convicts us.
Gal. 5 makes clear that the Holy Spirit leads us into holiness. (Turn there and read a bit) (Gal. :16)
How many family frustrations would be missed if we understood the important of walking by the Spirit.
He leads us in decisions.
He leads us not only in this inward journey of holiness but also in our outward journey of making decisions on certain matters.
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:
7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
He teaches us.
The Holy Spirit is who teaches us through the Word of God. He teaches our mind and our heart.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The Spirit breathes upon the Word and brings the truth to sight.
William Cowper
He gives spiritual gifts. (Rom. 12:4-8)
He gives our children gifts to build up the body of Christ.
He assures us.
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
They Must Follow The Holy Spirit
They Must Follow The Holy Spirit
Very simply… our children when they come to faith as just as much as we do… have this supernatural helper!
This gives us assurance as parents, that when they are in Christ… they have the Spirit of Christ in them to help them in their coming and in their going.
This is a promise that Christ gives in Matthew 28:20
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”——->> HIS PERSONAL PRESENCE.
Now… to obey us (parents) is to obey Christ. ‘But as they get older (become regenerated)… our teaching needs to go from obeying us to obeying the Holy Spirit.
From Parent obedience to Spirit Obedience.
From pleasing us, to pleasing the Heavenly Father.
From seeking our approval to seeking approval of the Holy Spirit.
ULTIMATELY, they must follow the Holy Spirit and not me.
Our Interaction with the Spirit
Our Interaction with the Spirit
The Holy Spirit has interactions and fellowship with the believers.
He speaks to us… we can speak through Him.
He is the person of the God head that is constantly by our side.
And just like any fellowship we are in… we can at times grow closer… we can at times grow more distant.
The scriptures say that we can grieve, quench, and resist the Holy Spirit.
BUT… what is so good about serving our God… is that even though there may be times when we SIN AGAINST HIM… when we grow distant from and leave the dinner table so to speak…
We serve a great God and Kings who is full of GRACE AND TRUTH… and who forgives us in Christ.
In those times… we are to repent and then continue to walk with the Spirit and look to keep in step with Him…
In this we must know that as we obey His commands… we are being in close fellowship with Him.
Wayne Grudem
We must recognize that these activities of the Holy Spirit are not to be taken for granted, and they do not just happen automatically among God’s people. Rather, the Holy Spirit reflects the pleasure and displeasure of God with faith and obedience - or unbelief and disobedience - of God’s people… The Holy Spirit gives greater evidence or weaker evidence of his presence according to our response to him.
The indwelling of Christ is a thing of degrees.
Charles Hodges
Bettis
We want our children to know and understand that the Holy Spirit is a person who can be pleased, listened to, grieved, and insulted. He is a real person to whom they are vitally connected.
How can we help our children?
How can we help our children?
Confess and repent of neglecting the Holy Spirit in the development of your children.
Charles Spurgeon said, “The greatest fault of saints is to neglect the Holy Ghost.”
Let us be parents who ask the Holy Spirit to help us in our parenting. And encourage our children to ask for that same help as they walk with the Lord and confess anytime that they grieve the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 4:30)
Ask them, “What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?”
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to fight your sin?
How do you feel the Holy Spirit speaking through your conscience?
Speak of the Holy Spirit as the power within them to defeat sin.
Tell our children to pray and ask for more of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives.
Teach them to pray and ask for the Spirit to root out all sin in their lives as we do the same.
Teach them that the Spirit gives them power and strength to cut off the sin that the Spirit highlights. It’s through his dwelling power and help that we are able to do this.
Encourage them to tell you what the Spirit is saying to them in the Word.
Ask them… how did the Holy Spirit speak to you through your bible study today?
Encourage them to seek the mind of the Spirit in prayer.
He gives us direction in times that we need it. We should teach our children how to seek this direction and then how to listen to the Spirit through all the different avenues that God supplies.
Encourage them to seek the mind of the Spirit in ‘gray areas”.
Kids will want to push their Christian freedom to the limit.
We must teach our children how to seek His guidance in the grey areas of life and show them that at times the Spirit will impress on us to reign in our freedoms for the benefit of a brother or sister in Christ.
We want to encourage them to please the Spirit in disputable matters.
Encourage them to seek a closer walk with the Spirit.
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones says…
Jesus seems to be taking it for granted that those who are going to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit are those who know that they are children and who address Him as their heavenly Father… it is not something that happens automatically, therefore, at regeneration, but it is the regenerate, the “children,” who make this request; nobody else will do so.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
We are to continue being filled with the Holy Spirit. (Balloon analogy)
By urging our children to see to be closer to the Spirit, we are teaching them out of this shallow understanding of walking with Christ.
The Conscience
The Conscience
The Conscience is the eardrum of the Holy Spirit
The Puritans held to the belief that the conscience was “the mental organ in men through which God brought His Word to bear. Nothing in their estimation was more important for any man than that his conscience should be enlightened, instructed, purged, and kept clean.”
THE LIBRARY: houses our understanding of right and wrong attitudes and actions…
Entries into this Library of right or wrong came from God (Rom. 2:14-15), from parents, from society, and from the the Bible.
THE JUDGE: takes whats in the “Library” and applies it to us.
Actively judges our attitudes as right or wrong, commending or accusing or commending. (Rom. 2:15)
What then is Our Responsibility?
What then is Our Responsibility?
much of this section was taken from “the puritan conscience” in A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer.
To inform our conscience.
“There is no real spiritual understanding or any genuine godliness except as men expose and enslave their consciences to God’s Word.”
I also think of Phil 4:18 which says.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
To keep our conscience clean.
It must be a regular practice that we take of searching our conscience for anything that is putting weight to it. A certain sin, a relationship that has been wronged by your sin or somebody else.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
To keep our conscience tender.
If we regularly search our conscience, then we are able to keep our conscience tender.
The healthy Christian conscience is constantly in operation, listening for God’s voice in His Word, seeking to discern his will in everything, active is self-watch and self-judgement.
Applications for Our Children
Applications for Our Children
Actively teach them right from wrong according to the scriptures while teaching them to be aware of a guilty conscience.
Teach them the value of informing their conscience by reading and listening to the Word.
Encourage the cleansing of their conscience by confession to God and others.
Actively call on them to keep their conscience clean and tender. Beware of callous consciences.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What a wonderful reality in that we have been given a HELPER from the God of gods and the Lord of lords.
Whenever we need conviction, whenever we need counsel, whenever we need encouragement… He is there.
Once you begin living by the Spirit… there’s no way we would want to go back.
Are we doing this personally in our lives?
Are we doing this in our parenting?
Are we encouraging our children to do this in their own lives?
Disciple Making Parents rely on the Spirit and teach their children to relay on Him as well.
For Thought, Discussion, and Action
For Thought, Discussion, and Action
How does walking by the Spirit make the Christian life exciting and unpredictable rather than boring and moralistic?
Have you thought about the Spirit as a force apart from your parenting? Or as a person interested in it? How does his involvement change your perspective?
Which applications is most appropriate to the age of your child?
