How to Make a Difficult Decision as a Christian

In 1971 during the Vietnam war there was a Vietnamese translator who worked with a famous Christian evangelist. He translated him as he traveled throughout Vietnam during the war. This young translator was named Hien Pham. Unfortunately, Vietnam fell to the communists, and Hen was arrested for his work. He spent years in prison. “After Hien was released from prison, he secretly began building a boat with about 53 other people to flee communist Vietnam. Just before they were going to leave, four Viet Cong soldiers came to his door and accused him of planning an escape.

At first, Hien lied and denied it. The soldiers left—but afterward Hien felt convicted. He felt he was taking control away from God. He prayed that if they came back, he would tell the truth.

A few hours before the escape, the same four men returned. They asked him again if he was escaping.

This time Hien answered:

“Yes, I am with fifty-three others. Are you going to imprison me again?”

Instead of arresting him, the men leaned forward and whispered:

“No. We want to escape with you.”

So the group grew to 58 people, and they escaped by boat into the South China Sea. During the voyage, a violent storm hit. Hien shared that those four Viet Cong turned out to be fishermen, and their sailing skills were what got them safely to Thailand. Without them, they would have died at sea.” -Tim Campbell, illustration

What if Hien had ignored the conviction of the Holy Spirit? He might’ve never made it safely to America. Well, today we’re talking about a process for decision making. How do we make decisions as a church and as individuals in accordance with what God wants?

For this we continue our series, Follow Me, and today we consider how a disciple makes decisions. We pick up in Acts where we left off, just after the moment Jesus had ascended into the sky.

It had been an unforgettable moment. Jesus their dearest friend, their Lord, rising into the heavens. Then angels appearing telling them Jesus would return again one day.

But today we get the details of what happened immediately after.

From Acts 1:12: “12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 

So the ascension of Jesus took place on the Mount of Olives, which is about a half mile outside Jerusalem, and after this event they head back to the city.

Verse 13: "When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.”

So they’re in Jerusalem, at the upper room they’ve been staying in over the festival. And we’re told who is present. We have all of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus, led by Peter.

Let’s see what the disciples did as they gathered in this upper room.

Next, verse 14: "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."

So, we have the eleven disciples, and the women followers of Jesus here as well, this would’ve included Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Joanna, among others. We also see Jesus’ mother present. And what’s interesting is we have Jesus’ brothers present, James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude. You’ll recognize James and Jude, because they wrote books of the New Testament, named after them.

It says they joined together constantly in prayer. They are spending every day together, praying.

Being constantly united in prayer, unites us in the Spirit, and pushes us forward toward the will of God, like riding a wave into God’s unveiling plan.

But if we miss prayer, particularly praying together, I think we begin to miss the will of God, and blunder forward unaware of his plans and purposes. Then we just kind of make it up as we go along, and miss what he really has for us.

Are you following his route or have you carved your own path through the woods, and landed in the wrong place? It’s never too late to redirect your course toward his will. As soon as you acknowledge Him, as the scripture says, and ask for the course correction, God will start cutting a path for you toward what he originally desired for your life.

It’s kind of like how we enter an address into our GPS, but then we start going the opposite direction. Still the GPS keeps rerouting, replotting the course to get you to where you need to be. It’s never too late to get to where God wants you.

The key truth we must understand today is that we aren’t really in charge of our lives.

Next, verse 15: In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

Peter is in leadership. It’s kind of like the structure of a church today. You have the pastor who is the shepherd of the flock, you have the other apostles, who are kind of like the elders, and you have the 120, kind of like a church congregation. Quite fascinating.

Next, verses 16-17, Peter says..., “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”

Peter is addressing the situation that occurred the night Jesus was betrayed. He is referencing Judas, and how Judas led the guards to come and arrest Jesus. And Peter reminds the gathering, that all of this was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Notice it says, that Judas was a guide for those who arrested Jesus. And I think in the context of what it means to be a disciple, we must remember that at times, the enemy will attempt to use us.

It happened to Peter himself, who one moment proclaimed Jesus as the messiah, and the next, Jesus told him, get behind me Satan. In a faith community, we can be used by the devil if we aren’t careful. We can end up being a guide for the evil one, for his purposes and will. Self gets in the way, and the devil can influence us, often through pride, or wanting our way. Guard against it.

Next, in verses 18-19 we get Luke, the observer who is recording the events of Acts, give us information on what happened to Judas after he betrayed Jesus.

Verses 18-19: 18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

This is a gruesome depiction. We see Judas purchased a field with the thirty pieces of silver, other accounts say he returned the thirty pieces of silver, and the field was bought by the Sanhedrin. Either way, the field came from the payment Judas received. Certain accounts say Judas hanged himself, here we’re told he fell headlong, and his body burst open, (perhaps both are true) and his intestines spilled out. Judas was punished for his sin.

Next we see Peter continue his speech, verse 20: “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’
and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’

Peter quotes psalm 69:25 and psalm 109:8. Notice as leader here, Peter sees what happened to Judas, he connects it with scripture immediately understanding, that all this happened according to God’s will. And a replacement was needed.

Peter continues, verses 21-22: "21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Now comes the challenge, who do we replace him with? I’m sure there were many who had traveled with the disciples from the beginning.

Peter knows that Jesus commanded them to be witnesses. So the person in question had to have been with them from the beginning, and saw the things Jesus did, his life, his death, and resurrection.

How do you go about making a difficult decision? Peter looked to scripture. I hope we also look to scripture. Inspired by the Spirit as well. And it filled a current need.

Scripture, Spirit, Need. But still, how do we know who or what to do?

Next verse 23: "So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias."

The church take nominations, or perhaps it was handled by the eleven disciples, we don’t know, but we do know that through a process of nominations, they called forward two men, Joseph and Matthias.

We often do this when we’re attempting to make a decision. We gather together a list of options. We say Ok, I can do this, that, or the other thing. That’s wise. If you have a tough decision to make, about anything, work, a relationship, faith, life choices, sit down and write out your options. Here’s what I can do. So we narrow it down with wisdom and knowledge.

What did they do next? Verses 24-25: Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”

Then they prayed. Lord, show us. Lord, show us your choice. Not ours, but yours.

Once we’ve narrowed things down through scripture, and in prayer, we step into a new kind of prayer: A direct inquiry to the Lord. We may often ask: "Lord guide me, Lord, show me the way." But this prayer is very direct, "Lord, which of these options is the correct course to take?"

What teaching of Jesus are the disciples following? I think it goes back to the sending out of the 72 in Luke’s gospel. Jesus sent out 72 of his followers to minister, to heal, and to cast out devils. They came back, and Jesus celebrated with them.

Luke 10:21-22 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

As Jesus taught us, our Father has hidden the mysteries of God from those who think they are great, the prideful, and he has chosen to reveal it to little children, to the humble, to those who are willing to come to the Father like a little child, and simply ask, "Daddy, what should we do?" This gave Jesus great joy to speak this truth.

And I think it should also give us great joy, that Jesus has given us this radical access to the Father. The Son has chosen to reveal the Father to us, and so we enjoy access. But we must choose to utilize it. Come as a humble child. And that’s just what the disciples do.

How little we see that happen in big businesses, how little we see that on college campuses, even among Christians it is rare for us to stop and say wait a minute, God is here, right now, and we can ask Him! And indeed we must.

The humility here is what we need, to let go of control of our own lives, and let God be in control, and ask Him for guidance. But I worry we think asking God’s guidance is doing what we want, and then getting his feedback about how to go about doing what we want.

That’s all backwards. We should instead ask God to show us what he wants, and then ask for his guidance to do His will. Big difference there.

So, last verse today, how do the disciples discover which of the two men is called to be the next apostle?

God reveals the answer to them in a supernatural revelation, through casting lots.

Verse 26: "Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles."

Casting lots is mentioned in certain places in the Bible, but this is the only place in the New Testament where the church makes use of casting lots. We don’t really know from history what this might’ve looked like. We know it was practiced by the high priest in the Old Testament to discern God’s will.

It may have been sticks painted different colors, or stones of different colors, dropped from a bag, or perhaps they had Matthias and Joseph pick stones from a bag. We simply don’t know.

Sometimes in our own lives, we may ask God for a sign or we may “lay out a fleece” for him. And God does sometimes work in that way. But we're also told in scripture to be cautious to not test the Lord. 

Don't demand an answer for everything. Very often the answer from God is: "Trust Me." 

You'd be astonished the number of times I'm seeking an answer from the Lord, and the answer I get is two words: Trust me. 

I can often tell God does not like it when I ask for timing on a particular issue. When I ask Him something he often shares generously with me, but it seems like He desires I not seek to know specific timing on most issues, and that tracks with scripture.  

But as the church today we do not practice the casting of lots. Why not? Well notice this incident, the timing of it, it’s after the resurrection of Jesus, but before the sending of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So, it’s reasonable to assume it was never practiced again, because after Pentecost, all believers would have the presence of God within, the Holy Spirit to speak to them. Indeed, throughout the rest of the Acts we never see casting lots mentioned again. 

In any case, the lot falls to Matthias, and he is chosen to replace Judas, as one of the twelve apostles.

In conclusion today, let’s put it all together. First, how do we make a decision as a church?

Notice the process they went through here. Peter, the "pastor" prayerfully reflects and seeks to do God’s will by replacing Judas.

He discusses this with the 11 disciples, kind of like elders, or a church board, the leadership team. And they address it prayerfully.

Then, they bring it also before the 120 followers of Jesus, kind of like bringing it to the church congregation, who prayerfully seek God’s will as well.

They nominate two leaders, or in a different situation they may list several ideas.

They prayerfully narrow things down through wisdom.

Then they ask God, which one? For the church here, they cast lots, but for us today, after Pentecost, we pray, fast, and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

As we wait on the Lord, and pray, we receive an answer in some form.

The last step then, having heard from God is, we take action in accordance with what he said.

That’s how the church ought to function.

Now, how about you in your life choices? Now let me be clear, this isn’t a process we go through when we’re wondering what pair of pants to put on in the morning. This is for important decisions.

Think of yourself like Peter in this scenario, you are the "leader" in your life.

So a decision is before you, something big, something you need guidance on.

First thing you do is go to the word and prayer, and consider what to do.

Think of the eleven disciples, like your wife or husband, children, family, closed friends. You talk to them about the decision you’re considering to make, and get their feedback, hopefully prayerfully.

So then perhaps you take it to your church community, to people you know in the church, for guidance, kind of like the 120.

In all this you begin to narrow down your options, and after seeking God in prayer, counsel from family and your faith community, you go to God directly, and simply ask Him the question, which way should I go Lord? Here are the options I’ve narrowed it down to.

And God may say, that one, or this one, or not yet, or none of those, or here is something you didn’t even think of. Be open to anything he may say. He may simply say: Trust Me. 

Lastly, having discovered God’s will, through the Holy Spirit, we take actions in accordance with what God has said. Or we simply wait in faith.

This is the way of a disciple of Jesus. Last time, we talked about how our journey is spirit birthed and spirit empowered.

Our second principle of being a disciple today is this: Having the Humility of Listening for and Obeying the Voice of God.

But perhaps at the very heart of it is this: Loving the voice of God. Loving to do His will. And for that, we need a heart like His. We need a fresh Pentecost in our lives. Which I believe God will provide, if we ask with a full heart.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, I confess that my heart doesn't naturally incline toward you when I make a decision, I too often look to my own ideas. Lord I repent, and I turn to you. Please forgive me Father, and I ask for a fresh fire of the Holy Spirit. God, I turn to you, and seek to do your will, I forsake my own plans and lay them aside for your perfect purposes, in Jesus name, amen. 

How to Experience Conscious Contact with God

There was an evangelist of yesteryear named Wilbur Chapman. One day he was talking to William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army.

Chapman asked Booth, “General Booth, God has used you in a great way. What is the secret of God’s use of you?”

Booth moved the hair out of his face, looked at Chapman with his piercing eyes and said, “There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with the poor of London, I made up my mind that He would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life.’”"

This started for William Booth when he was very young. At the age of fifteen Booth came to faith in Christ in a Methodist church. He wrote in his diary: ‘God shall have all there is of William Booth.’

Booth didn’t want to go half in, half out. He wanted to make sure God had full possession of him.

That’s our first point for today, Let God have all of you.

It makes me think of Mark 14:35-36, when Jesus wanted things changed. He wanted God to take the cup of the cross from him. It says…

“And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Letting God have all of you is this: When you disagree with God, not wanting to do what God says, but do it anyway. You say: “not my will, but yours be done.”

That is the beginning of “God have all of me.” It’s surrender to God’s will. It’s letting Him be in control.

This is a work of God in you. You can’t force it to happen. But you can cooperate with God in it. You can decide in prayer, as Booth did, that this is your goal in Christ.

But God is doing the miracle. Let God do it! 

“As the Lord gradually begins to do this, to take full possession of you, it is true that you will begin to enjoy a sense of His presence. You will find that this sense of the Lord's presence will become very natural to you. Both the prayer with which you first began and a sense of His presence which comes with that prayer, will eventually become a normal part of your daily experience. An unusual serenity and peacefulness will gradually spread over your soul. Your whole prayer, your whole experience, will begin to enter upon a new level.” -Jeanne Guyon, ch. 12

Second point, the royal road to God having all of you in through basic prayer. Prayer is talking to God. I know most of you think of prayer as “God give me this, God help this person, God change this situation.” That is certainly a part of prayer. But prayer must go deeper then that.

Prayer is more often for me, telling God how I’m feeling. Explaining to God about what I’m struggling with. Telling God about my emotions. Telling God stories about what happened today. Telling God what I’m worried about. Telling God about my dreams. Talking to God about my future plans. Talking to God about my friends and family. It’s a lot like a conversation.

Let yourself begin to get excited about this conversation. Enjoy spending time with God. Sit down on your front porch, or balcony, or at the park, or by the river, and simply stare out into nature, and talk to God. Pray to God. Tell God about your problems. Make requests of Him. Invite Him to change you.

It’s like putting your boat on the river. You don’t do a lot. You simply allow yourself to be in God’s presence. And then the current takes you.

As you learn to pray more and more, talking to God in the morning, praying over meals, praying at night, praying at mid day, praying at church, and praying at home, eventually you’ll find that something changes. You’ll realize over time, wow, my entire day is turning into a dialogue with God.

All day, in your mind, you’re talking to God. While you ride your bike, you’re talking to God. While you’re at work you’re talking to God. You’re whispering prayers to Him in your car. You’re whispering prayers to Him at home. You’re constantly engaging in conversation with God. Eventually even, it’s not just a prayer, it’s your heart crying out to Him. Not even in words. But in your emotions in your heart, your heart cries out to God throughout the day, and that becomes a prayer in itself. And it’s beautiful.

That’s our third point, Prayer is a journey, a pathway, a road. It starts out very basic. I remember when I was a new Christian prayer seemed hard. I found it stressful to try to turn off the technology and just be quiet with God. It scared me. But slowly, I prayed for thirty seconds a day. Then it was a minute or two. Pretty soon it was five minutes, then seven minutes. And slowly but surely I went from near prayerlessness, to talking to God all day.

It's like a river. As soon as you get on the river, you are moving in the new direction. God is in control. You simply let Him guide your prayer life ever-closer to Him. You follow the river, keeping clear of the edges, staying at the center, and allow the current to take you. 

As Jeanne Guyon said: “Let us say that you wish to reach the sea. How will you get there? You need to do nothing except this: embark upon a river. Eventually you will be carried to the sea without any trouble, without any self-effort.” -Jeanne Guyon, ch. 12

As you journey along the river of growing contact with God throughout the whole day, you’ll begin to experience God’s presence.

At some point in your journey of prayer with God, you’ll begin to feel God’s presence all around you and within you. It is a feeling but it’s not just a feeling. It’s also a knowledge that God is with you. You know it. It’s real. And it’s true.

Now God is with all Christians. But someone who has cultivated daily contact with God will experience the peace and joy of God’s presence because they’ve tuned themselves to it.

They are in such intimate contact with God, they are tuned in to His presence, they feel Him, sense Him near, and enjoy His presence, power, and comfort.

In times of deep prayer I will experience God’s presence in different ways. Sometimes it’s the fear of the Lord. I’m praying and I actually tremble with fear because I know the God of all is literally right there with me. Other times it’s a gentle peace a calmness that surrounds me. Other times it’s a joy, a joyousness where I just smile and enjoy being with him. Other times it a pleasure, a feeling of excitement and pleasure that I love God and God loves me.

God works in our lives in so many different ways. Sometimes he encourages us, sometimes he rebukes us, sometimes he gives us peace, other times he tests us in difficulties and sorrows. Sometimes we tremble at the fear of God, other times we rejoice in the joy of God. It all depends on the day, the season, and what God is doing in us at the moment.

That’s our fourth point today, as you cultivate continuous prayer with God throughout the day you’ll begin to experience God’s presence at times.

With some saints they’ve cultivated a state of nearly always being in God’s presence, I think of Brother Lawrence who wrote The Practice of the Presence of God. He cultivated a state of constantly being in God’s presence.

Through constant prayer we’re consistently turning ourselves toward God. We’re turning our faces toward His face. We’re seeking God’s face, which is to seek His presence, His will, and His guidance. And in that comes God’s presence.

Let’s put it all together now.

First, we decide that God must have all there is of me. So we make that our prayer. And we practice that, we apply that by doing God’s will even when we don’t want to. We say not my will, but your will be done God. That isn’t easy. But it’s worth it.

We expand on that submission to God by cultivating basic prayer, second point.

Third point, we expand on basic prayer by developing more and more prayer, until the entire day is a dialogue with God.

Fourth point, as we cultivate that constant prayer with God throughout the day, we begin to experience at times the presence of God all around us, and within us.

And lastly, point five, as we cultivate submission to God’s will, basic prayer, journey expanded prayer, and walk in the presence of God, we begin to experience conscious contact with God.

Point five, conscious contact with God. What does that mean? It’s something Bill Wilson the founder of the twelve step movement said is essentially doing the next right thing. Knowing what God wants us to do and then doing.

Bill Wilson wrote, “What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.”

As we walk with God in this way, we’ll begin to experience inspiration, God will direct us.

In other words, in our prayer times, and throughout the day, God will speak to us. That’s why it’s important in prayer to have quiet times, when you’ve prayed for a while, to stop, and just listen, and let God speak to you.

“When you come to the Lord, gradually learn to have a quiet mind before Him. One of the most important things you can do is cease from any self-effort. In this way, God Himself can act all alone. It was the Psalmist speaking for the Lord who said, "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)” -Jeanne Guyon, ch. 12

You may experience this as an internal voice, an external voice (rare), a thought in your mind that grows strong, or a simple knowing, you just know what God is saying. Other times he’ll nudge you to open your Bible in that time, and he’ll lead you to a scripture that will speak directly into your situation. But always remember in this, nothing God says to you will contradict His word. And be cautious, there is a difference between God’s leading and your own internal voice. Learn to quiet yourself and listen.

One of the biggest mistakes I've made is thinking my own internal voice was God's voice, and I made some pretty dumb decisions in those times. It's usually hardest when we really want something. We substitute our voice for God's voice and then claim it came from God. But it didn't. It was us. 

I think it takes an honest desire to authentically hear from God, whether it be a blessed word or a challenging word. Let God speak. Don't distort it with your own agenda. 

As you proceed down this royal road, this beautiful river of contact with God, you will have a back and forth between you and God going on in your life. God will hear you, but you will also hear Him. And then you will be a friend of God. One who hears from God on a daily basis. And that my friends, is amazing, glorious and far too rare. But it is the providence of every Christian, not just for a few elite. Any and every Christian can and should hear from God.

So let’s review our main points today:

1. Let God have all of you (Seek to do His will, not your own)

2. Do this through cultivating basic prayer (Set up prayer times in your life)

3. As you do, you’ll begin to experience constant conversation with God (daily dialogue with God)

4. As you do, you’ll experience His Presence (God’s Presence will flood in)

5. As you do, you’ll experience conscious contact with God (Hearing from God Himself/Receiving guidance from Him)

How to Live by the Spirit's Leading: The Spirit vs. the Flesh in Galatians 5-6

I recall an episode of Star Trek Voyager that always hit me very hard. It was called Timeless. The Voyager was a spaceship that had ended up far, far from home, and it was slowly making it’s way back through unknown territory.

It reminds me of us, as Christians, lost in the wilds of this fallen Earth, but also now on a journey, through dangerous territory, back home to God.

Voyager travels through many difficulties and dark places, and enemies, but, they are always kept safe. They make wise choices. They avoid dangerous areas. They refuel and resupply from time to time.

But in the episode Timeless, we see a worst case scenario, in which Voyager was destroyed, and plunged into an icy grave, because of some bad choices that were made.

In any case throughout the episode, two of the crew find a way to change history, so that they can change the bad decision they made.

One of the crew named Harry, actually sacrifices his life, to correct the mistake, and make things ok again.

We as Christians also face decisions that can either keep us on the right path, or begin to lead us astray.

The Bible talks about our faith journey as like we’re sailing on a ship. And yet Paul also writes of those who have “Shipwrecked faith” because they got off course.

I’ve seen decisions in front of me as a Christian, a temptation, an old friend who wants to hang out, a drink or drug in front of me, and I can see where it leads, an icy grave.

But I’ve avoided those pathways, and followed the paths of life. We too must learn to follow the pathway of life. The great thing is, God helps us every step of the way. He protect us. And guides us. And he helps us to make the right choices, to steer our ship toward heaven.

But I want you to remember this as well: Even if you tumble off the path and into the clutches of sin and death, God has provided pathways even in those dark places to change history, like history was changed in our example today.

Galatians 5:13-25 "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."

You have been called to freedom, is one of the key teachings that Paul lays out to the Galatian church. Certain people in this church were saying that they needed to go back to the Old Testament law in order to follow God rightly.

Instead Paul gives them different instructions, he says, actually you’re free in Christ. You don’t need to follow the old testament law. But do consider yourself obligated to love your neighbor as yourself.

So we see our structure begins to be built. Two towers, one is the Spirit and one is the flesh. The Spirit’s leading in your life is marked by freedom, a call to humble service, and a general command to love your neighbor.

However, in the flesh, there is slavery to sin, not freedom. That slavery leads to indulgence of evil desires, and that leads to conflict among believers.

Next in verses 16-18, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

All this leads us to the key command for our scripture today: Walk by the Spirit. Or be led by the Holy Spirit.

If you do allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life, then you naturally won’t want to gratify the desires of the flesh.

But, if you allow the flesh to lead your life, then you will naturally begin to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Next we get a list of fifteen ways in which believers can end up walking by the flesh.

In verses 19-21, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Gratifying the desires of the flesh, lead to the acts of the flesh, which are listed by Paul here. You can see how a lot of these acts of the flesh are connected, one leads to the next, sexuality immorality leads to impurity, hatred leads to discord, jealousy leads to fits of rage, selfish ambition leads to factions and envy, sexual immorality leads to drunkenness leads to orgies and the like.

Sins of the flesh build and begin to gain steam as a snow ball rolling down a hill. But, one can always stop the process, by seeking God’s help, praying, asking forgiveness, and turning from the sins of the flesh toward the Spirit’s leading once again.

The sins of the flesh are the fruit of the indulgence of the flesh. Our choices bear fruit in one direction or the other.

Next Paul lists off different fruits, fruits of being led by the Spirit.

Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (22-24).

If we consistently allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we will begin to grow fruit in our lives that expresses itself as love. That love leads to joy. Kindness leads to gentleness. Forbearance leads to faithfulness, which leads to self control. All these characteristics of the Spirit that God produces in us are connected. They build on each other.

Paul adds, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” -Gal 5:25-26

There’s a sense given of keeping in step with the Spirit. Listening for the Spirit’s leading. Following the promptings of the Holy Spirit within. It’s an art form of sorts. We learn to listen to God’s leading. And we stay in step with the Spirit.

We also guard against conceitedness, that’s pride, ego. As we grow in the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, we may be tempted to become prideful and think wow look at how good I’m doing. But guard against pride, stay humble, and don’t envy each other.

Paul continues, in Galatians 6:1-6, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.”

There is a lot here, but I want to focus on one key here, If someone is caught in a sin, help restore that person gently.

Many Christians from time to time can slip into the wrong category here, into the flesh and begin to be deceived and caught in the cycle of sin. But a believer can help restore that person. And bring them back into alignment with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Calling out their sin gently, encouraging them to repent, praying with them, and bringing to church, or bible study, can all be helpful steps in that process.

Pretty soon that person that was lost in the cesspool of sin finds themselves in the Spirit once again, and back in freedom.

But we also get a warning, be cautious because you can tempted by the sin they are active in.

So conversely, someone walking in the Spirit, if they go into a situation where there is a lot of tempting sin going on around them, can be tempted back over into the sins of the flesh. And they end up back in the flesh and caught up in slavery again.

There have been times that I was attempting to help someone escape sin, to break free from lust, or drinking, or hatred, but I began to sense myself feeling the temptation toward what they were doing. And I had to keep my guard up, and leave that situation before the temptation grew too strong. Again, don’t become prideful. Don’t assume that you could never fall to a sin. Temptation still has an effect on us. Don’t be brash, leave the situation before you’re overly tempted! That’s wisdom.

Think of it like that classic board game shoots and ladders. Following the Holy Spirit is like slowly climbing the ladder, one foot in front of the other, led by the Spirit we take our journey up in the goodness of Christ.

The shoots are quick, we feel tempted, allow a sin in our lives, and quickly that sin begins to take over and we slide down very quickly, like down a shoot, and out into the bottom. But we can always ask God’s forgiveness and come to the ladder once again. The stairway to heaven is transposed with the backslider slipping back down into the pit of sin.

Next it says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (7-8)

Paul gives this stark reminder, a man will reap what he sows.

So all this has to do with sowing. What is sowing? Sowing is planting seeds. If we are sowing toward the Spirit, planting seeds with actions and words in the Spirit, we will be reaping eternal life.

If we are consistently sowing to the flesh, we will in the end reap destruction.

The fruits of the Spirit well up like a building fountain, bubbling up to eternal life.

The fruits of the flesh they well up like a bubbling fountain of filth, bubbling up to judgment and destruction.

But understand, if someone is sowing to the flesh, they can always repent, ask God’s forgiveness and they will be completely forgiven, and none of those sins will be counted against them.

But also understand, if someone is sowing to the Spirit, but they fall back into sin, and those sins continue to build and build, and they refuse to listen to the Spirit calling them toward repentance, they can, at the end of their lives, having stubbornly refused the Spirit’s calling to repentance, reap eternal destruction.

Here’s an interesting question, what if I’m doing both? I’m sowing to the Spirit and I’m sowing to the fleshly sins. In that case, I have to believe that one will crowd the other out. You’ll begin to be in conflict within yourself. The Spirit will be saying to you, clear out those sins. The flesh will be saying, stop listening to the Spirit. And you’ll begin to obey one of those voices, either you’ll begin to put the fleshly sins to death, or you’ll begin to ignore the voice of the Spirit. It will pull in one direction or the other.

Does this mean we’re adding works to our salvation? Not at all. We are saved because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our only part is to live in response to that by putting to death the flesh and living by the Spirit. It’s simply showing the genuineness of our faith in Christ, or it’s showing we don’t really have a faith in Christ, or our faith in Christ has been shipwrecked due to unbelief/willful sin.

We’re not adding anything to our salvation. We already wear the robe of righteousness. We’re simply doing two things, living out the lifestyle of those who wear the robe of righteousness, which is loving our neighbor. And we’re keeping our garment clean and tidy, unstained by the muck of the sins of the world. We’ve added no new garment to the robe, indeed we cannot. Christ is all. His righteousness is enough for perfect purity.

If a police officer wears a police uniform he does things that police officers do in a police uniform. An officer in uniform not doing police things would not be right. He would eventually have it taken away because he was not using it correctly. Similarly he’s expected to keep the uniform clean and to wear it with honor. If he does not, again, he may lose it. He cannot make his own uniform, that would not be an authentic uniform. Similarly, we wear what we’re given, and we steward the robe of righteousness of Christ, by living out the actions assigned to us in it, and by not allowing ourselves to be stained or dirtied by the wickedness of the world.

Lastly Paul tells us this in 9-10, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” -Galatians 6:9-10

God knows that we will at times start to feel weary in doing good. We keep living clean, living holy lives, resisting the flesh, doing good deeds in the name of Jesus, but it can be tiring, and we see people living in sin and we start to think, well I want to indulge too.

God reminds us, don’t become weary in doing good, because this consistent cycle you’re living in, of doing good, living in Christ, following the leading of the Spirit means that you’re en route, on a journey, to reap a harvest of eternal life.

If, it says, if we don’t give up.

Notice also in the flesh column, there is a cycle there as well, a cycle of harvest, practicing fleshly indulgence leads to a different kind of harvest, a harvest of destruction.

You know in that episode of Star Trek Voyager Harry Kim was tempted because he wanted to find a faster way home. He became prideful in his own abilities, thinking he could do the impossible. And that led to destruction for the spaceship. The ship was blown off course and crash landed on an ice planet.

Certain choices we make are routine. Certain choices we make are minor. Certain choices we make are big. They have the capacity to either lead us much closer to God or way off course.

The Holy Spirit will help you to recognize those key moments and to choose life. But guard against pride. Pride says I can do it my own way. Pride says I don’t need to listen to the Spirit, I know better. Guard against pride. Stay humble in this process of sowing to the Spirit. And stay patient. Keep sowing. Don’t give up. And you’ll reap a harvest if you don’t quit. And all that is sealed off in loving our neighbor, so much of this played out by thinking of others before ourselves.

The flesh is selfishness incarnate. The Spirit is thinking of others before ourselves. That’s not natural for us. But the Spirit helps us in our weakness. And we’re able to do good to all and especially to believers.


To Review:

1. God gives freedom to humbly love & serve our neighbors

2. Be led by the Spirit, not the fleshly desires

3. Indulgence in the flesh lead to the acts of the flesh

4. Walking in the Spirit leads to the fruits of the Spirit

5. One caught in the flesh can be restored to the Spirit

6. One in the Spirit can be tempted into the flesh

7. Our Actions repeatedly sow either to flesh or Spirit

8. The process of sowing to the flesh leads to destruction

9. The process of sowing to the Spirit leads to eternal life

10. If you become weary in doing good, remind yourself of the glorious harvest of eternal life

Every single person born is born into the flesh. They seemed destined for destruction. It almost seems inevitable. But God changes history time and again. He changed my story. I was meant for destruction I could taste it. I was locked into that pathway. But I cried out to Jesus Christ, and suddenly time, space, reality, everything changed in a moment, I went from filthy rags, to purest garments. All it takes is calling out Jesus Christ. Even if we’ve fallen from grace, we can come again to Him, and find repentance and renewed purity. It’s a history changing miracle. It changes our future forever.

Practicing the Presence of God: Following the beat of the Kingdom

I recall a few weeks back I was trying to get into the mindset of Christmas, so I was watching old Christmas cartoons from the mid 1900s. A fair amount of it was oddly poisonous to my spirit. It was not edifying or encouraging to my inner man. It was a lot of self focused desire for stuff, a lot of santa claus in the red suit giving people toys. So be it. One after another was pretty bad, pretty boring, but then I came along the little drummer boy. It was made in 1968, a stop motion film about the little drummer boy meeting the baby Jesus.

In any case I watched this cartoon and found myself, laughing and kinda thinking to myself man this is stupid. But when I got to the end, something caught my attention that has stuck with me ever since. It’s something where I left feeling that I had been edified by the film, and that God had been in it after all.

The drummer boy comes to the baby Jesus and plays his drum. And everyone starts nodding along to the beat, the people around, the animals, everyone nods along to the beat.

And I realized that’s really what happened when Jesus was born into the world. The kingdom of God came with power, and with that, people became different, something fundamental changed. And a new beat took over, and spread to millions, the beat of the kingdom of God, and it’s so different from the messed up beat of the world. There is a new beat.

The ”beat” of God is what true Christians have, they walk in the mindset of Jesus Christ. They see the world around them through that lens.

There is a competing system, and that is the world system, which is under the control of the evil one. More and more it nearly forms itself into an opposing religion, another all encompassing way of seeing reality.

It vys for the hearts and minds of lost humanity, and claims to be a way out for humanity. Just as Christianity claims to be a way out for humanity.

Like any radio station, we can only tune in to the station if we’re on the right channel. If I want to listen to K-Love and I’m on 107.9 it’s not going to work. I need to turn over to 89.1.

Similarly, you will follow the beat of that which you’re tuned into. If you’re tuned into the world system, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, Ny times, Washington post, major academic institutions, political groups, television, Hollywood, celebrity gossip, then you will be in fact tuned into the world system, and you’ll walk in step with the world system. It will dictate how you think, what you think about, and what causes and effort you focus on in the world.

Similarly, if you tune in to the Bible, prayer, daily devotionals, sermons on Youtube, biblical Christian speakers, Christian books, Christian media, Christian newspapers and websites, then you’ll be tuned into God’s system. If you listen to the prophets you’ll be aware of prophecy. If you listen to biblical teachings, you’ll have biblical knowledge. If you study end times, you’ll have knowledge on such things. That’s a good vein to be in. But you can be tuned into the body of Christ, and still not find yourself in step with God’s plan and purpose for your life.

There is a lot of false doctrine out there in the body of Christ, from once saved always saved to cessationism, to Calvinism itself, so we do really have to be careful what teachers we’re listening to in the body of Christ. Because we may just be led astray, if we’re not careful.

To really be in alignment with God’s purposes and plans you need to do something mentioned in scripture, from Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

You need to learn to test and approve what God’s will is. This is done through prayer, asking God for help on a particular, specific topic, and then studying the word for clues about God’s wisdom on the topic you’re questioning about. This also takes time. Give yourself time as you seek an answer from God.

That’s all well and good, but, I’ll tell you this, you will naturally lean toward God’s will in your life if you have something very basic, which is our theme for today: The Presence of God.

If you have cultivated a lifestyle in Christ in which Christ is the center of your life, and you’re in constant communion with God throughout the day, you will walk in the cloud of the presence of God at all times, and you will naturally incline toward God’s will, God’s heart on a particular topic, and God’s purposes for your life, for your state, your nation, and the world.

It will happen naturally if you have the presence of God in your life.

I want to point us back to the theme scripture for our series, Incarnation, which says, ““The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.“ -John 1:14

We understand John to be meaning that Jesus was born as a baby, in a manger, of Mary. But I want you to see another angle: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling in us.

If you are a real born again Christian, you have Jesus Christ living within you. You are in fact part of His body, the body of Christ. You carry His presence with you. The presence of God, with you.

Jesus is here. He’s here right now. That is shocking, isn’t it? He’s with us. We can’t see God with our physical eyes. But we can sense His presence. The environment changes as we sense God move in. Often the presence of God is linked with the wind, as Jesus stated, the Spirit moves wherever it wishes…

“8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8

You’ll need to learn as a Christian, over time, how to attune yourself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and what the Lord has for you to do each day. You can see the effects of the wind, the trees move, the bushes shake back and forth, but you can’t actually see the wind itself. So it is with the Holy Spirit of God, we can sense the Holy Spirit at work, we see people getting saved, we see God doing things, healing people, changing lives, our part is to catch the drift if you will, and get into alignment with what God is doing in our community.

We find our part to play in what God is doing, he leads us to that spot of where we belong in his plan, and then we get to work for His kingdom.

There are two ways where we can miss that:

First, we can miss it by assuming God doesn’t have a specific plan for our lives. This is taught in some theological circles, basically that God has no particular design for your life, that you just need to accept Jesus as your savior, then you live your life as you please, as long as it’s accordance with general biblical principles, love people, help others, pray, and so on and so forth. But they miss the fact that God has a will for their life, purposes for them to fulfill, people for them to reach. And they miss it with bad theology, that God just has a general purpose for them to simply obey basic biblical principles in their life. Wrong, he has specific purposes for you.

I used to operate that way as a Christian, I’m going to do what I want, in a biblical way. I’m going to pursue where I want to be, what I Want to be, but with biblical concepts, love forgiveness, etc. But that’s not it. There’s more, he has a plan, a specific plan, yes there is freedom in it, but there is a purpose.

Second, we can miss it by getting obsessively neurotic about His will and plan. This is me sometimes. What do I need to do right now for God? Obsessing, praying in my mind all day all the time God what do you want me to do? Where do I go next? And it becomes too much, where I drive myself crazy, and I stress myself out, and I collapse under the pressure I’m putting on myself.

The right way, to find and follow the will of God is in calmness, in prayer, in peace, in the fear of God, in a trembling at his word, and in a fervent desire within to simply be of use for his kingdom. I want to be of use for God’s purposes. Peacefully, joyously, even in difficulty, even when I’m tired or crabby. That isn’t always easy. But it’s not neurotic either.

From Acts chapter 2:1-3, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

I think this scripture shows us how to walk in the will of God. First, the disciples were gathered on Pentecost. Jesus had told them to gather and wait for the Holy Spirit to come, they did as he said. They were in the right place at the right time.

Second, The presence of God filled the house where they were. God moves in and takes over.

Third, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke from the Holy Spirit.

That is your job in any encounter where God is using you. You’re prayed up, and in the word, so you end up at the right place and at the right time. You’re there. God’s presence takes over. The Holy Spirit fills you. Then you speak from the leading of the Holy Spirit to that person or in that situation.

In all that you’ve done something critical: You’ve tuned into the presence of God. And God is using you. You’re walking in the “beat” of Christ. You’re walking in step with the heart beat of God, his purpose for your life.

Three examples from the night of all nights, the night that Jesus was born…

Mary and Joseph are surrendered to the leading of God. They are also obedient to the government authorities, they are returning to Bethlehem, the town of Joseph’s family, to register for the census. Mary has submitted to God’s will for her to be pregnant with Jesus. Joseph as submitted to the fact that he should not divorce mary, but should continue with his plans to marry her. And by the will of God, Joseph and Mary find themselves in the barn, with the barn animals, Mary giving birth to Jesus in the hay. And this was exactly where God had for them to be at this moment.

Next God moves in with might and power, from Luke chapter 2, “8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The glory of God fills that night with God’s presence. The response of the shepherds is fear. They are shocked by the presence of God. Sometimes when I sense the presence of God near me, I’m afraid. That’s natural. Other times when I sense the presence of God, I’m filled wit joy. The shepherds go from fear, to joy. That joy leads to praise, “20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

Notice also the shepherds joined with Mary and Joseph in obedience to God’s leading. They went where they were told to go.

I want you to notice that, obedience. It’s huge. Many, many people here who come through the salvation army, I can tell there is a calling over their life. They are called by God to ministry, to service, to the body of Christ. But they are in a state of rebellion against that calling, against God, and they are resisting his leading. My part is to encourage them to simply stop fighting it and embrace God’s calling. But, many walk opposed to it. If you want to be different, do the radical thing, obey God. Simply, like a child. The childlike mindset will inherit the kingdom of God.

Third example, the wise men, gentile wise men, seek after God, and come to find Jesus in the manger.

It says in Matthew 2, 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

These men are actively following the leading of God in their lives. What a rare thing! They are following as God leads, they are tuned in to the signal from God on what to do and how to live.

As a result God does lead them. Just like the Holy Spirit leads us as Christians, to do God’s will, so at the same time, the star leads these wise men to exactly where they belong, at the feet of Jesus. In the same way time and again the Holy spirit will lead us correctly, exactly where we belong.

And this process of being led by God, leads them to great joy. It ends in great joy. And this great joy leads them to worship. And to offer their gifts and talents to God’s service. They give to Jesus, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Similarly we who serve God in the body of Christ offer our gifts and talents to God, for his glory.

Challenge: Are you truly led by the Spirit of God? Do you experience God’s presence in your life? Or do you always find yourself distracted by other things?

Do you do your own thing? Or do you let God use you?

Let’s review:

1. Walk by a different drum – don’t submit to the world, follow God’s leading

2. Test and approve what God’s will is for you

3. Avoid common pitfalls in discerning God’s will (self-driven life, neurotic attempts to follow)

4. Through prayer and scripture discern God’s will

5. Obey God as Joseph and Mary did

6. Encounter God as the shepherds did

7. Rejoice in God as the Wise men did