Sermon Tone Analysis

Since Easter we have been asking the question “where do we go from here?”

We are looking at our need for the power, presence and sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit to move forward in his mission to renew Pendleton, Clemson and the world.

What does it mean to be truly alive?

David Foster Wallace in his novel Infinite Jest writes about a dystopian future where an entertainment (something like a movie) that has been weaponize to enslave whoever watches it.

When ever anyone views this entertainment, they immediately feel the most intense pleasure, elation, and euphoria that is humanly possible.

The only problem is that all they care about from then on is gratifying that desire to watch the entertainment, they won’t eat, drink, or sleep, they will just watch with unspeakable glee until they die.

And in the book these two special agents Hugh who is trying to stop the entertainment from spreading and the other Reme, who is seeking to allow the entertainment to spread have this conversation about freedom and what it means to truly be alive.

Marathe says to Steeply: Allowing the entertainment to spread is about life, these people are freed to choose to be happy for the rest of their lives.

And Steeply is unable to give a response to Marathe because his country belies the good life is a life of maximum choice and spontaneous pleasure so that people can gratify any desire they have.

David Foster Wallace wants us to see that entertainment can be enslaving and even if there was a potential to gratify all desires, to live a life of ease exerting no effort and feeling nothing but pleasure from now until you die, even if that were possible you still might never truly be alive.

and these two special agents one who is trying to stop the entertainment from

Develop the idea that we live by the Spirit

Self gratification, and seeking ease and doing only what we feel like doing in the moment is no way to live, but often we are told that to be truly alive we should indulge, and gratify our desires.

Discipline and doing what you may not want to do in the moment well thats inauthentic, and fake.

And as we know there is always a pull to want to gratify selfish desires, to do things our way, to make things easy, or expect things to be easy.

Or we are told that everything should be easy and spontaneous,

Or we

Another more subtle way this works it self out is that often we are told that to have real

There will always be a desire to want to put self first, to build a name for ourselves, to draw attention to ourselves.

But when we gratify the desire to make put our selves first we end up consuming one another.

And as we know there is always a pull to want to gratify selfish desires, to do things our way, to build a name for ourselves, to put our self first.

There will always be a desire to want to put self first, to build a name for ourselves, to draw attention to ourselves.

But when we gratify the desire to make put our selves first we end up consuming one another.

In our passage this morning we see that if we seek to gratify our selfish desires, and do only what we feel like doing when we feel like doing it, we end up bringing death, consuming one another.

And to be a church that loves our neighbors, we need know that life does not come through self gratification, or a life of ease controlled only my our feelings in the moment.

Life comes by the Spirit.

We live by the Spirit

So what are the implications for us if we live by the Spirit?

Well, apparently it looks like we should dance.

A sanctifying dance with the Holy Spirit making us more Holy.

In our passage we see this kind of holy dance taking place with the Spirit, Paul gives us our dance moves all throughout.

We are to walk by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit.

And 1-2-3-4, 1-2...

walk by the Spirit, follow the Spirits lead, and keep in step with the Spirit.

First

First

Three times we are instructed to move as the partner of the Holy Spirit.

So first Paul tells us to

Walk by the Spirit

The life and freedom

Look with me at verse 16 and 17

If we are walking by the Spirit, in his power, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

What Paul means by desires of the flesh, is the indwelling sin that exists in all Christians, it is the anti-God energy that tempts us to want to put our selves in the center and make it all about us, to seek the easy road.

This indwelling sin, the flesh is opposed to the Spirit.

But if you are walking by the Spirit, you will not gratify these desires.

Paul is telling us to “Dance with the one who brung ya.”

Because if you are dancing with the Spirit, you will not be dancing with someone else.

If you walk by the Spirit you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

In this dance you can only dance with one at a time.

Illustration:

Application:

This is actually a really important point when it comes to the struggle that every Christian faces.

Let’s say do not want to gratify the desires of the flesh, well you cannot simply “Just say no”, that will not work.

Not gratifying the desires of the flesh is less about resisting and more about walking with the Spirit.

You are going to dance, the question is who with.

So if we look at list of works of the flesh that Paul gives us and take a look at the first one Sexual immorality, so if you struggle with pornography, growth comes not by simply trying hard to say no, resisting only lasts for a short time.

So rather than just saying no, walk with the Spirit.

If you are walking with the Spirit you will subvert the desires of the flesh by developing real intimacy and vulnerability with God and real intimacy and vulnerability with close friends, and spouse.

Because that is what is needed if you want to live in the life of the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Growith in Holiness is more about positivly walking with the Spirt more than about trying not to do something.

but walking with the Spirit you develop real intimacy and vulnerability with God and with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because that is what is needed if you want to live in the Spirits freedom and not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Simply saying no to pornography, drugs, alcohol, fits of anger, envy is not done, by negation, but by positively walking with the Spirit.

Walking by the Spirit in the new life of freedom he has given is done

Christians are in this dance of life, the question is are we going to dance with the one who brought us.

We should seek to walk by the Spirit and we should also

Follow the Spirits lead

In verse 18 we read

This is one of two places where Paul talks about being led by the Spirit.

And what he means by led by the Spirit is not a revealing to the mind divine direction that has been previously unknown, but a guiding of our wills and desires to practice what we already known.

This is why he follows this with “you are not under the law.”

If you are under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit, the law of God (which was write by the Holy Spirit) is no longer external to you, but is written on your heart.

You aren’t under the Law, the law is within you.

The law is not pushing you from the outside, but by the Spirit leads you from the inside.

And when Paul uses this what he means is a guiding of our wills and desires to practice

is a guiding of our wills and desires to practice

Sub point 1: How does the Holy Spirit lead us?

The Holy Spirit impels our wills to desire and pursue a life of obedience to the law of God which as Jesus summarized as loving God and neighbors.

We follow his lead, not by letting go and letting God, but by actively responding to every day life under his lead.

Illustration:

He writes the law on our hearts

Back in the day Sara Frances and I would go swing dancing.

Sara Frances is a much better than I am, she would mostly put up with me on the dance floor.

And one of the things that made her a good swing dancing is that she knows how to follow.

So in swing dancing you have a lead and a follow and following is by far from a passive activity.

For one you don’t hang your arms loose, but are kept in tension with the lead because the next move is often directed with a slight push from the leads hand.

Often you don’t know what is coming next, so you are always to be ready to respond.

Sub Point 2:

Sara Frances was really good at this and it made dancing with her really enjoyable.

Application:

Now similarly if we desire to be led by the Spirit we will need to be active participants in his dance.

The Holy Spirit leads us, he impels our wills and desire, but we are not passive.

Oh well if he really wanted me to change he would just do it.

This means that we should

Dacing produces fruit

In sanctification we participate in his dance.

This is where discipline and habits come in.

We should develop habit's of daily Bible reading and prayer, of habits of hospitality and service.

Habits of sabbath and fellowship.

If we want to be led by the Spirit we must learn to dace and that takes time, and practice.