Read this if you Long for a Deeper Walk with God: Moving forward into the Depths of God

The apostle Paul, who went from a persecutor of the church, to a hero of the underground Jesus movement, is now nearing the end of his life. He’s looking back on a life well lived. He’s looking back and considering all he’s been through, and all that he has become. And he is not doing this to brag, but to instruct the next generation of leaders who are called to continue to proclaim the gospel he loves.

We’re in the book of 2nd Timothy today, a letter Paul wrote most likely from prison, when he was in his sixties.

One day you will be in a hospital bed, surrounded by loved ones, looking back on your life. And you'll ask yourself, did I really give it all for Christ? Or did I miss the mark? Now rewind to today. How can you build your life in such a way, that when you're near death, you may look back and say to yourself: This was a victorious Christian life. I became all God wanted me to be.

If we want to start today, and begin moving in that direction, we may believe a simple statement: I can be everything God desires me to be.

Do you believe that? Or have you sold yourself on a mentality of defeatism? That you can’t ever quite get over that hump? I dare you today, to believe, God is able. I can be everything God desires me to be.

Or as Paul wrote: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." -Phil 4:13

And in Hebrews 6:1a we get a picture of what that journey looks like: “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity” -Hebrews 6:1a

So we want to discover today how to obey that teaching of going on into maturity, with the help of the belief that we can be all God has called us to be, for the purpose of living a victorious Christian life.

What does that word maturity mean in the Greek? It means perfect, mature, of full age. It implies spiritual completeness.

Pastor I can’t be "perfect," true, but we can be mature. This doesn’t mean we never make mistakes, it does mean we are generally mature in our attitudes and thinking. We’ve grown up. A child in elementary school can be expected to behavior as one who is in elementary school. But if an adult behaved as if they were in elementary school, we'd know there was something wrong. Similarly, we who are spiritual should not find ourselves behaving as spiritual grade-schoolers when we ought to have proceeded into adulthood. But the question is: How do we get there?

For our example today, we look to the life of Paul. Paul, writing to his mentor Timothy, who was a pastor at Ephesus, instructs him on Christian living. Paul has written about false teachers, which we discussed last week, but starting in verse 10, he reminds Timothy about his own life.

It says, “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,”

We’re looking at Paul’s way of life. And we want to mimic Paul, as Paul mimic’s Jesus. Paul’s way of life is first of all defined by his purpose. In anything we do in life, we have to know our purpose.

Why am I on Earth? What am I here to do? Your purpose on Earth is to love God with all your heart, and to love people around you. Those are the two commands Jesus gave us, defining the base of our purpose, love.

Paul’s love for Jesus who changed his life propelled him forward. It fed his entire being with passion, excitement, he was on fire for Jesus.

If you struggle in your walk with God, it may be because you lack a clear understanding of your purpose. Or, you once were excited, but the flames have died down.

Ask God today, pray right now even, and say Lord, I need you to set me on fire for Jesus. I need you to show me my purpose, so that passion can propel me forward, in Jesus name, amen.

Without knowing our purpose we won’t be able to do anything else on this list Paul gives us. But if we do, zeal will fill us. "Zeal" is a spiritual word, it means excitement.

But if you don't know your purpose you'll be rudderless in life. I see a whole generation of young people who were sold on the lie that life has no real purpose except that which we invent for it. And that philosophy has consequences, it has led to a generation of young men and women are feel like has no purpose. They just go to the bars, doom-scroll social media all day, play videogames constantly, and have no real goals or aspirations aside from hedonistic pleasure. And it's a lie. That philosophy is a lie. And it nearly destroyed me. It may have not been explicitly taught to me in school, but it felt "baked in" to everything propagated by our society, from television to schooling to modernism to scientism and everything in between. And it nearly destroyed me. It's destroying lives today, because people don't know their purpose. But once we know our purpose, who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and where history is going, we become dangerous to a broken system that pushes materialistic relativism. 

Next, is faith. What is faith? It’s conviction in your heart of the truth of something. You believe it’s really true. You trust it’s true. You trust in God for your salvation. You believe essentially that Jesus is really real.

Purpose and faith hook together in your heart and they feed off of each other. You know your purpose is to love God and love others, it fills you with desire to do it, that’s coupled with your faith that Jesus is really real and the gospel is true. This produces a fire in your heart.

If you’re struggling with doubts that’s ok, go back to some apologetics, evidence for God, the Bible, the historical Jesus, and let it fuel your faith. Faith comes from the word of God as well, so study it carefully.

Next, patience. Waiting is the key fact of the Christian life. We are all waiting and waiting, often waiting in difficult circumstances.

Many of you are waiting on the Lord in difficult circumstances. You have chronic health issues that won't go away. You've got unsaved loved ones you've been praying for, for years. But you've kept your eyes on heaven, and waited on the Lord patiently. It is something we all need to understand and learn.

Next, flowing from purpose, through faith, across the great expanses of the wilderness of patience and longsuffering, we come to love. Love is at the very center of the gospel. For God so loved the world that he gave his son.

Everything we do as a Christian is meant to be done in love. Compassion, empathy, affection, it’s all based in love. But we are not able to love on our own.

We must receive love from God, and love God back. That happens in our relationship with Him. The best thing in the world I can suggest to you, is to sit alone with God, on a lawn chair outside, and just talk to Him for hours. And you will sense your heart filling with love. Then you’re able to pour out that love to others.

The key thing God is teaching each Christian is how to love Him and how to love other people. It’s everything. Love is everything. With the goal in mind of going on into maturity, make love your goal. Learning it, doing it, receiving it, giving it, and you’ll become mature in Christ.

Sometimes we face a challenge though. We've been hurt so badly in life, hurt in our child hood, hurt by circumstances, abused and mistreated by someone we should've been able to trust, that we've closed off our hearts from love. We've shut that gate. And now we find ourselves cold, numb, and unable to open that gate again. My challenge to you is to seek God on this one, and let Him take you on a healing journey. He can do a work in your heart, to open that door closed by pain, which will allow love to flow once again.

And endurance. We humans live within the confines of God’s system of time. Life may feel short, but it's also quite long. That’s why it’s so important to have the mindset of endurance, one day at a time.

When we look to the 1828 dictionary, the definition for endurance is “Continuance; a state of lasting or duration.” In the recovery community an individual who has stayed clean and sober another year often celebrates their sobriety date with cake and a coin citing how many years they’ve been sober.

Maybe we should do something similar in Christianity. How many years have you been a Christian? What date were you first baptized? We celebrate our marriage anniversaries. We should be celebrating the day we got saved. I was first baptized February 10th 2013, I still have the video of the testimony I gave that day, endurance is seeing the long game.

In NFL football each team is often focused in on the current drive down the field, play by play, how do we reach the end zone, but any good coach sees the long game, how many quarters are left, how many scores do I need to make to win this game, and if they’re a very good coach they’re thinking weeks ahead, they’re thinking months ahead, years ahead, to build their team to be Superbowl contenders.

Patience and endurance are connected. We talked about waiting in difficult circumstances, like many of you here deal with everyday. Endurance is like that, when we’re dealing with a difficulty long term, endurance biblically does two things: First, it accepts the reality of it and walks with it each day, without endlessly resisting it. Instead we embrace the difficulty and accept that it’s part of what we’re going through. Second, we don't let it weigh us down. We accept the situation, but we never surrender to despair. Never. We always keep our hope and joy strong.

Next, verse 11, “...persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.”

Most of us will never experience the incredible persecutions Paul endured. In Antioch and Iconium Jews in the cities stirred up the crowds and drove Paul out of both cities. In Lystra it was even worse, Paul was surrounded, pelted with stones and his body dragged outside the city gates.

Yet Paul makes the vital statement, “The Lord rescued me from all of them.” I always expect in my walk with Jesus, when I face difficulties, that God will rescue me.

My wife Chelsey and I were really at the end of our ropes in Chicago, at our last posting. We felt trapped, empty, we felt like there was no future, no hope. We were so burned out. And we figured, we can’t ever leave The Salvation Army, I’m called here, so I’m stuck, my wife is stuck, despite how things have gone. But God said no, I’m calling you somewhere new, and we felt so seen by God, we felt so completely that he really did see us, and He made a new way for us. That’s who God is. He is a rescuer. But understand timing, endurance, patience, because I waited many years feeling hope fade before God moved.

Next, verse 12: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...”

Now not everyone wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. They want Jesus, but they don’t want to live godly. They want Jesus and sin too. They aren't going to be persecuted, necessarily. They aren’t going to heaven either.

But if you want to live a godly life in Christ, you will be persecuted. But the thing about persecution is, it actually helps us. It molds us, it shapes us, it matures us. It shows us how to respond the right way to critics and haters. That builds character.

Next verse 13: “...while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

From the ages of 18 to 27, I went from bad to worse, I went downhill so very fast. And when I was 27 I gave my life to Christ and ever since then, each year I become a better person. That’s God work in me. You see it in yourself as well, God molding and shaping you. 

But it’s often difficult to accept, particularly within our own families, that they aren’t getting better, they are either staying the same it seems, or they seem to be getting worse.

It’s hard to watch as a Christian, because you’ve got the Master Physician working on you each day. And it’s awesome. But to see someone on the other side, without Christ, it’s hard. They don’t have Jesus. They are getting worse over time. 

And there’s really no way to force someone to get Christ. As hard as we try to show someone, it’s their choice. Often attempts to force will actually make it worse. So honor their free will. Invite, encourage, pray for them, don’t try to force them. For children it’s a bit different of course, we can't force them to become believers, that's between them and God, but we can require them to come to church until they reach an age when they can make that decision themselves.

Next, verses 14-15: “14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

We understand that going on into maturity in Christ, growing up into our salvation is going to take many things, from purpose to persecutions, but ultimately it’s going to take an attitude of the mind. That attitude is continuance.

Keep moving forward. And what I think that means is this: Make it your goal to keep getting closer and closer to God. Never settle at a particular place. Say no, I’m going to go deeper.

I remember in Owosso we did a series on a book by a famous French contemplative writer named Jeanne Guyon. She wrote a book called Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ. We did a series going through the book, and it changed my life. Because it helped me realize one simple fact: The Christian life is about setting out on a journey to dive into the depths of the heart of God.

I’m not sure I can explain exactly what that means. But I think there’s a statement that Moses makes, he asks God, “Show me your glory.” He’s asking God to show him who he really is. He is looking at God and saying, who are you? Not just things about God, but looking at God himself. So often in church we talk about God, but we don’t actually turn to Him and say "Oh hi, you’re right here. Who are you really Lord?"

My wife wants to know people deeply. I love that about her. She doesn’t have a lot of time for small talk. She wants to go deep and see into your heart and talk about your deepest desires and hopes and dreams. And she wants to point you to Jesus Christ in all of it.

Take that desire, to know someone deeply, and point it toward God. I want to know you deeply, all about you, your very depths. It can be intimidating, to launch out in a little space ship toward such a huge God, but make that your journey. God I want to know you more, your mysteries, your ways.

Paul reminds Timothy here, continue forward in what you’ve been convinced of, and look to the holy scriptures, which will make you wise for salvation.

Next, famous scripture, verse 16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The goal is the servant of God, that’s you and me, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. All scripture, which is breathed out by God, is useful in attaining this goal.

All of this put together means we are equipped by God’s word, ready then, trained, to do good things for God in the world. We know God, we love God, and we love his people. We've chased God, we know Him, we know His word, and it's fundamentally changed us over the years. We are built up. We are lit up. We are on fire. We are grown up. We are mature in Christ. And from all this flows a beautiful flood of love-filled good works.  And God will not fail to reward us for this.

Bringing in Hebrews 6 again, which God linked with our passage today, verse 10: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

The reward is greater than we could possibly imagine and God will not forget our service. He is watching every single deed, every ounce of love we give, every tear we shed is stored in bottles, every detail of our journeys is recorded in books in heaven. God will not fail to richly reward your faithfulness in seeking Him. Believe that with all your heart. If you go on into maturity, your reward will be great. Why go on into maturity? It means becoming everything God has called you to be, and on judgment day that equals a life without regrets. I can say, "I was all in!" And I can look back with pleasure that I really did believe God could do it. And He did!

But the greatest reward of all will be, when you walk through that doorway into heaven, and you see your blessed living savior, waiting for you with arms wide open, and you’ll know, I became the man or woman He wanted me to be, and now… the adventure has only just begun. Hallelujah!

Let’s Review our Journey Today:

1. You can be everything God has called you to be - remember the goal, looking back at the end of our lives, we want to be able to say, I lived a victorious Christian life, obtaining that means changing the present

2. Go forward into maturity: see it as a journey toward God

3. We learned the equation for success: Purpose, Faith, Patience, Love, and Endurance

4. Expect persecution, but don’t fear it: It actually helps you

5. We may be improving each day in Christ: Don’t expect the same from the world, they are becoming worse and worse

6. See your Christian life as a journey toward the heart of God: “Who are you really Lord?”

7. Through God’s Word we are thoroughly equipped for this journey

8. God will not forget: The reward is greater than you can ever imagine

Contending for the Faith: The Struggle against False Teachers

Five years ago I gave a sermon on biblical justice that landed me in trouble. It was during a time of chaos in our society, at the height of the COVID pandemic and a summer of political riots. During that time I had observed the rise of an ideology called social justice that was beginning to infiltrate the church. 

Biblical justice is based on the scriptures and builds from there, but I saw that the social justice ideology was built on the oppressor vs. oppressed paradigm common in Marxist ideology. It was based on critical theory, a concept of criticizing and tearing down perceived oppressive structures in society. And I saw this ideology was infiltrating the church under the guise of justice ministry.

I became increasingly concerned, sensing God calling me to speak up in the struggle between biblical justice and social justice ideology.

On July 5th 2020 during the height of this societal chaos I gave a sermon on biblical justice that I titled "...And Justice for All." The sermon was live streamed. I spoke about the dangers of critical theory based ideologies. I spoke about the importance of unity in diversity among the body. And I encouraged the body of Christ to embrace biblical justice, which includes deep love and mercy.

Immediately after giving the message, the sermon had received over five thousand views and a mob had formed on social media with the goal of cancelling me. They lobbied leadership in The Salvation Army, and I was banned from preaching for a period of about one month. And for a moment it looked like I might be removed from leadership altogether. 

However, officers, soldiers, and leaders throughout The Salvation Army world spoke up on my behalf, and in the end, all the complaints were dropped and my preaching rights were restored. Leadership viewed the original text of the message and decided the message was not blameworthy after all.  

I remember when I was first writing the sermon this feeling came over me, I could almost sense what was coming next. I got on my knees in distress to pray. And I said, "Lord, would you like me to change this message in some way?" And I heard the Lord say to me: "Every word." 

It was a scary moment in my life as a new officer, just out of my first year, but God used it to mold and shape me, and I saw the army's approach to justice ministry begin to shift toward a more biblical approach. I knew that in some small way, God had used that sermon I gave that day to help guide the movement toward a more biblical path. But I was never treated the same in the movement after that day. I began to feel like an outsider. 

Yet it was worth it to see a real change in the struggle between biblical justice and social justice. Nevertheless, it is a continued struggle to this day in the body of Christ, such teachings are always attempting to infiltrate the church, teachings that divide people into disparate groups, sow distrust among believers, and encourage hatred and resentment instead of love. 

In the struggle against false teachings and false teachers, you may pay a price for the witness you bring, but if the Lord is calling you to speak up, speak up boldly. Despite the price you pay, remember our Lord paid an infinitely higher price when He died for you on the cross. 

Today we examine the book of Jude, in particular the last half of the letter. Jude was a brother to Jesus, his real name was Judas, but, we call him Jude, because that name Judas is more often associated with the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

Jude was probably one of the younger brothers of Jesus. He did not follow Jesus during his earthly ministry, but after the resurrection of Jesus, Jude became a leader in the early church.

Jude is writing this letter to a church that is struggling against false teachers. So Jude writes early in the letter, that he had hoped to write a letter about all the wonderful depths of salvation in Christ, but instead he has to write this letter challenging the church to “contend for the faith.”

And the Greek word for contend here is very strong. It implies to fight, as a combatant.

If we turn to the 1828 Webster’s dictionary, it says this about the word contend:

1. To strive, or to strive against; to struggle in opposition.

2. To strive; to use earnest efforts to obtain, or to defend and preserve.

3. To dispute earnestly; to strive in debate.

I like that word earnestly because it implies you have a good heart about it, you love the truth, you aren’t disputing because you want clicks or because you want to make some point, but because you love the truth. It’s honest disputing.

So that’s the challenge, to contend against false teachers. And these false teachers that Jude is dealing with are making a particular claim, that is very common in the modern church. Jude writes in verse 4:

“For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

They take the concept that we are under the grace of God, to be a license, to practice and live in sin. They say, if we’re under the grace of God, we can do whatever we want.

What is a license? It gives you permission to do something. If I have a fishing license, I am officially allowed to fish in the area. They treat the incredible gift of the cross of Jesus, as a license to sin.

I had a Christian who was disputing me with, because he and his wife felt I was a teaching a works gospel, and they made the statement, “a Christian can sin as much as they want.” That my friends, is a false teaching.

This has been a theological dispute in the history of the church, a heresy we now call today antinomianism. The phrase antinomian breaks down into two words in Latin, "anti" meaning against, and "law" meaning moral good. Martin Luther wrote extensively against antinomianism, so did John Wesley.

So that’s our first point for today, contend for the faith. Keep your guard against false teachers who want to make the claim that because we are under Christ, we can live and sin however we want. This is very common today, so many ministries teach a grace-heavy gospel, that removes the need for holiness and for purity, and rebukes good works as attempts to earn your salvation.

So Jude spends the first half of the letter dealing with these false teachers and pointing out that we can know them by their fruit. We will know them by what their lives produce. Their words may seem very wise or powerful or seem right to our emotions, but their fruit will prove who they really are.

Second point, you can know a false teacher or a false Christian by their fruit. Does their lifestyle match what they say? Now, no ones lifestyle perfectly matches Christ, but, you will be able to sense, by the Spirit’s guidance, whether they are walking in the way of Christ or in their own way.

But I want to focus in on the second half of the letter. Which gives instruction from Jude about how to live, despite the false teachings around us.

But let me just say one more thing, we live in a time in the body of Christ, when there are false teachings everywhere. I believe we live in the era that Jude is about to talk about, where we see false teachers everywhere, and false teachings damaging the faith of millions. We live in those times now.

I’ve done research on the churches here in Traverse city, I would say nearly half of them are gay pride churches, churches that are teaching against the leading the Holy Spirit, against Christ, that is wild. This is up north traverse city of all places. But it’s true in every city I’ve been in, from Escanaba to Chicago to Owosso to Gary, there is always a big gathering of churches that are apostate, against the faith, against Christ, because they teach against his word.

So you may be sitting there thinking what do I need to worry about false teachers? Brothers and sisters, they are all around us. And on tv, and social media, and YouTube.

So Jude addresses this, verses 17-19: "17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”

Notice that phrase, “in the last times.” Jesus spoke repeatedly about a period of time at the end of human history, known as the end times. He spoke about difficult times that would come on the Earth. And part of that story of the end times was, scoffers who would mock the idea of Jesus’ return.

There were signs of this even in the time of Jude. Jesus predicted that after he was crucified and resurrected, vicious wolves would sneak in among the flock and lead many astray.

Third point, be on guard in your thinking. Watch out for soothing, clever statements made by leaders. There are all sorts of clever arguments intended to sway you away from faith in Christ, or to get you to accept false doctrines. Their arguments will appeal to your emotions, and manipulate your emotions. They make statements like: "If God was really good, why would he send someone hell? If God loves everyone then why shouldn’t we accept all lifestyles? We just need to listen and learn from other peoples experiences. We can’t convert anyone that would be wrong, they need to stay in the religion they were raised in. There are many ways to God, not just one."

All of these statements can be so appealing to our emotions. But we can't let our emotions rule us. Not everything that sounds good, is good. Here’s my challenge to you, the best way to be on guard in your thinking is to let God’s word stand in authority above your emotions. Then we can’t be led astray, because we’ll say, well, what does God’s word say? There's a check and balance against our feelings.

Let God’s word stand in authority above your emotions, and you won’t be led astray.

So we understand we’ve got to contend, keep watch, keep our emotions in check, and resist and overcome false teachers.

Notice verse 19, they follow mere human instincts, they do not have the Spirit. That is one way to identify a false teacher, do you sense the Spirit working through their ministry? Certain speakers I've watched over the years in church, they would come up and speak and I would sense the Spirit moving through them. But numerous times a speaker would come forward, and my wife and I would say afterward, where was the Holy Spirit? We would listen and become troubled, grieved, even upset as they spoke because we sensed a different spirit, but not the Holy Spirit.

Next, Jude is going to explain to us how to live, despite all the frightful things we see happening around us.

Verses 20-21: "20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

This is the key scripture for our message today. Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. But I thought it was God who was building us? That is true. We are saved by grace through faith, this is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. Yet the word of God also says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So many people get annoyed with me in my preaching because I mention those pesky scriptures that no one likes to talk about, the ones that mention hell, and judgment and the fear of the Lord, falling away, and the call to holiness. Is it because I enjoy being controversial? Not at all.

But, it’s like we have this long list of our favorite scriptures, John 3:16, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11. And then we have this other list of scriptures, the challenging ones, that few preachers will talk about, because these scriptures make us feel uncomfortable. But if I only teach from the list of feel good scriptures, I am a false teacher, because by excluding the difficult passages, I’ve carved an idol out of God, making him all love and no justice. Now the converse is true as well, if I only preach on the tough verses, I’ve also made an idol, of all justice and no love, that is a false teaching as well.

We must teach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), as one who must give an account, in accordance with James 3:1.

Point four, build yourselves up in the most holy faith. I’m on a journey, and I know you are too, to build yourselves up in your faith journey. We are people always seeking to grow, always seeking to learn new things, looking for opportunities to build our faith, and to go on into maturity.

And if you’re wondering, how do we as Christians overcome all these lies and falsehoods and false teachers and evil agendas around us in the world, the answer is to build ourselves up. We often think we must fight harder. But Jesus said, overcome evil with good.

One Christian who really seriously seeks to build themselves up in the faith, and become all God has called them to be, is greater than 450 false teachers (just ask Elijah). They can overcome all of it, and change an entire city. Because Christ is glowing within them.

Next it says, “And praying the Holy Spirit.”

Point five, pray in the Spirit. What does that mean? Pentecostals talk about that a lot, praying in the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit is when we allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us. It’s not necessarily praying in tongues, but it can be. But more so, it’s allowing the Spirit to guide your prayers. Sometimes I do this when I pray, I’ll say Holy Spirit please pray through me before I start.

I can tell when I’m praying in Justin, because it’s not too powerful, but when you start praying in the Spirit, you feel the Spirit surging through your being, and you get passionate, excited, and focused. Your prayers become powerful when you pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep that in your back pocket. Ask the Spirit to guide your prayers before you start.

Verse 21, "keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

What do you mean keep yourself in God’s love? Isn’t God the one who keeps us? God certainly does keep us, and we’re told in his word there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Nothing outside ourselves, nothing demonic that can separate us. But, we can choose to separate ourselves.

It’s all outlined in John chapter 15, Jesus said, "If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love." It’s the concept of abiding, remain close to Jesus, which keeps us in God’s love. But God’s love is also keeping us. It implies two entities interlocked together, God and you holding onto each other.  

Point six, keep yourself in God’s love as you wait. We are all waiting for something as Christians. We are waiting for the Lord Jesus to return, and bring us to eternal life. We are all waiting for that one day when Jesus will part the sky and take us home. In the meantime, abide in Christ, as Christ abides in you, keeping yourself in God's love as you wait. 

But in the meantime, as we wait, we receive instructions on how we should live. Verses 22-23: "22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

If someone is having doubts in their faith walk, don’t judge them, be merciful to them. Encourage them. Listen to them. Pray for them.

For others, snatch them from the fire. Many countless souls out there today, in this city, are perilously close to the eternal hellfire of damnation. And they need someone like you and me, to come and snatch them from the fires and show them to the feet of Jesus.

To still others, show mercy, mixed with fear. So a balance of mercy, along with deep concern for the sins they are in, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. That’s the concept of love the sinner, hate the sin. Some say it’s not scriptural, show them Jude 23.

Essentially, it’s saying as we wait for Jesus to come back, be at work in his field, as ambassadors to the community on His behalf.

So lastly, verses 24-25, “24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Jude has just told us to build ourselves up in the most holy faith, but then he also reminds us, God is able to keep us from stumbling, and to present us before the throne of God the Father without fault.

It’s all very synergistic. God’s presence and help and power, connected with our prayers, obedience, faithfulness, and practice of purity. 

The entire Trinity is involved in preparing us for judgment day. 

Jesus makes us clean by dying on the cross for us, and covering us with his blood. Jesus goes with us on the journey, walking with us, and advocating for us to the Father. He also keeps us holy on the road.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, encourages us, convicts us, and helps us to hear God’s voice. He builds us in purity of heart.

God the Father, molds us, shapes us, loves on us, builds us, and protects us along the way.

All for the purpose of one day presenting us before the throne of God, faultless, and with great joy.

Point seven, trust that God our Savior will be do His part to present you faultless before God our Father’s throne.

Jude concludes by declaring, all glory to God, God the Father is our savior, through Jesus Christ, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to God. Forever. Amen.

Review of Main Points:
1. Contend for the faith

2. You can know a false teacher by their fruit

3. Be on guard in your thinking

4. Build yourselves up in the most holy faith

5. Pray in the Spirit

6. Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait

7. Trust that God our Savior will be do His part to present you faultless before God our Father’s throne

In conclusion today, let’s wrap it all together. God is painting a beautiful canvass on our hearts. He’s molding and shaping us into people of incredible glory, from one degree of glory to the next. He’s creating something amazing. And it’s messy on the way, there are setbacks, and trauma and pain and tears and grief, but also victories, hope, healing and renewal.

As we engage in this journey, and we build ourselves up step by step with God, we must guard against false teachers that would smear their own designs all over the beautiful canvass God is painting. Their false teachings would ruining and sideline us on our spiritual journeys. The false teacher is great at getting us to stop on the road, and pitch a tent in a place where we were meant to keep going deeper and higher toward God. Keep your guard against their clever schemes and high sounding speech. Contend for the faith, speak up boldly, but also remember, we overcome false teachers by doing good, not by lashing out with anger. 

Apply your heart to building yourself up in the most holy faith. In so doing, you will grow and grow, praying in the Spirit, helping others who are in danger, and waiting patiently for the return of the Lord Jesus. On that day he will present you, God willing, faultless and with great joy before the throne of the Father.

As Jude writes, "Glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to God!" Amen.

The Forbidden Sermon: ...And Justice for All

This is a copy of a sermon I gave on July 5th 2020, at the Flint Citadel Salvation Army. I was targeted for cancellation by activists in The Salvation Army world, and was temporarily banned from preaching by leadership for a period of one month. Once leadership reviewed the text of the sermon, they restored my speaking rights and dropped all complaints. This incident took place five years ago, but now I feel free to share this faithful message, given that I've moved from leadership in The Salvation Army to leadership in The Church of the Nazarene, by the deliberate leading of the Lord. I don't share this message to provoke controversy, but to simply and openly share the word the Lord gave me. For more details on the story behind these events, read this sermon.

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.

"But I don't ask for justice,” the mother explained. "I plead for mercy.

"But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied.

"Sir,” the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.”

"Well, then,” the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son.

-Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness. Multnomah Press, 1984

In a world where so many cry out for justice, that justice be done, that yearn for the right, it’s wise to remember, that for others we cry out for justice, but for ourselves, when we’ve done a wrong, how desperately we desire mercy.

Yet we all have within us the desire for justice. And we serve a God who loves justice. In Isaiah chapter 30 verse 18 we hear these words from the Lord: “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Psalm 37:27-29 ESV “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”

We live in a world where there is a great deal of injustice. There are many countries in the world where you can be arrested if you simply criticize the government, or have an unpopular opinion. Even in the United States, there are areas of society where we still struggle with injustice. Particularly in recent times we’ve seen the issues of racism and police violence take the center stage. Later we saw violent riots, and subsequently statues and monuments being torn down.

So we as the church, as a light to the world, now wrestle with this concept of justice and injustice in the world. We want to care for and be a shield to those who are hurting and oppressed. We want to carry the torch of justice and rally for those who’s rights are violated.

These are good and holy desires. God has given us each an internal conscience that desires justice, liberty, and equality. So let’s just jump right into it: How can we live out justice in a biblical manner? What does God say about justice? And what does the world say about justice? So let’s consider worldly justice, God’s view of justice, and then how we apply ourselves to living out biblical justice in a broken world.

The world around us has some interesting ways of responding to injustice. We’ve seen in recent times many run to social media, to share their outrage and their sense of injustice. We’ve seen a growing “cancel culture.” We see a sort of angry mob on social media attempting to cancel people with whom they disagree. Anyone with dissenting viewpoints must be cancelled and shut out of society. You’ll see activists dig into the past of public figures in our society, trying to find some speech or offhand comment they made that could indicate they are evil, or wrong, or racist, or bigoted. Then that person is summarily cancelled.

There is no mercy, only justice for these people. There is no mercy for the statues of the past, only justice, they find something from that person’s past that they disagree with, and then declare they must be torn down. This is cancel culture. And we as Christians should take no part in cancel culture. Our sense of biblical justice includes the concept of mercy and forgiveness. The worldly view of justice says if you made one mistake in the past, made one comment that indicates you are immoral, then you are cancelled forever. (Talk about the apostle Paul)

But a Christian sense of justice says yes, we’ve all sinned, we’ve all done terrible things, if any of our sins were hung out for the world to see, which of us here could stand? If someone brought out a copy of our internet browsing history, which of us could stand? We’ve all fallen short, we’ve all sinned, and thankfully we serve a loving God, a God of justice, but in which whose concept of justice includes the powerful cleansing reality of mercy.

Increasingly within the church we’ve seen a new “woke” paradigm beginning to take hold. We are told we need to read certain books, and study certain concepts, like critical race theory, like intersectionality, and systemic inequality. The number one best seller in the nation right now actually, is a rather extreme and disturbing book called “White Fragility” by Robin Diangelo. In this book we see that all people are portrayed as racist, and all interactions between different races are grounded in racism, and also, if you disagree with any of the ideas in White Fragility, this is actually an indication that you are simply protecting your power structure and are racist. Which means, its unfalsifiable. No matter what, you are wrong.

We also see the NY Times pushing this agenda called the 1619 project that attempts to paint the history of the United States as a fundamentally racist history on every level.

It’s quite concerning to see these political and social ideas invading the church, and being pushed in various church movements. You may have your own viewpoints on these things outside the church. That’s fine. But we want to be very careful, about what ideology we’re embracing inside the church, when fighting for justice in the world. Because if we embrace worldly ideologies, that divide us up into groups, and promote hatred, distrust and division, we may find that all our efforts in the end have made these problems worse, and not better, in our society.

So, if that’s the worlds view of justice, what is God’s view of justice? Time and again in the scriptures we see the concept of unity. Romans 12:4-5 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

So instead of considering people as groups, who are aggrieved and victimized, and viewing the world through the lenses of critical theory, of oppressor and oppressed, we see that God would have us view ourselves through the lenses of unity.

But not uniformity. In the biblical definition of unity, we see a unity that is diverse. We find unity in diversity. We as the body of Christ are an example of this. We’re all very different, one plays beautiful music to the glory of God, another preaches to the glory of God, another cares for children, another evangelizes on the streets, and still another serves the elderly in their homes, and another is a missionary who goes to foreign nations to preach the gospel.

So we see that humanity in the same way can be viewed as a unity in diversity. We have people whose ancestors hail from different parts of the world. We have people who have all sorts of different skin colors, and different features. Yet we are one humanity, united as a human race. So we ought to focus on unity, instead of carving each other up into group, and power structures.

3rdly So how do we live out biblical justice in the world?

First of all we must realize that any biblical view of justice must include mercy. I am not here to stand in judgment of people who look differently than me. I’m not here to stand in judgment and condemn those who I disagree with. I must humble myself because as a Christian, God says you are to show mercy, and you let God deal with vengeance. God said, “I will repay.” There is so much hate in our world, so much division, the last thing we want to do as Christians is add to it. We are to show mercy, to the oppressed person, and even to the oppressor. Because the truth is we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And we all deserve strict justice, a gavel slam and off to the hot place. But instead God through Christ Jesus gives us what we do not deserve, that is mercy. Extensive mercy.

And if our brothers and sisters are feeling that they are oppressed, or mistreated in our society we should take that seriously and investigate that. But not by tearing down the system around us. Nowhere in the word of God do I see a call to tear down the world. Instead we are to be salt and light to the world, using our influence as Christians to make the world a better place. So we should do that.

How do we live out biblical justice? We ought to reject the hateful, divisive, cancel culture of the world that divides us up, and pits us against each other. And we ought to embrace a biblical view of justice that includes loving mercy, and more importantly, a staunch desire for unity in diversity. A lot of people don’t want unity, they don’t want people to come together, it’s more politically advantageous if we’re constantly fighting each other. But God calls us to holy unity, a unity in diversity.

Galatians 3:27-29 says, “27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”

Some of you , your ancestors, came to this nation, the United States, as immigrants. Some of your ancestors were the original colonists who founded the nation. Others have ancestors who were enslaved and taken here by force. Others have ancestors who had to endure racism, and segregation. Others fled European nations hoping for religious freedom. Others simply came here looking for a better life. And at some point we became part of the body of Christ, in this nation, and began a new life.

Some of you were liars, some of you were cheaters, some of you were sexually immoral, some of you were alcoholics, or drug addicts. Some of you worshipped false gods. Some of you came from rigid systems of legalism. Others came from lives of selfishness and self worship. But today, you are no longer any of those things, they do not define you any longer, you are born again in Christ Jesus. And there are no more divisions among us.

The heart cries for justice in the brokenness of the world. Let your heart continue to cry for justice. But do so humbly, with a justice that includes great love and mercy. And focus on God’s design for justice, not the designs of the world. God’s way of unity in diversity is right. I want to wish you a happy July 4th independence day. 

Walking by the Leading of the Holy Spirit: A New Way of Thinking for Every Believer

One of the events in history that has really enamored me throughout my life and ministry is the American revolution, everything that took place from 1775-1783. The events of those years, the colonists hiding their weapons, the British searching for their storehouses, the standoff at Lexington and Concord. The desperate nature of their situation always fascinated me, the colonials fighting one of the largest militaries in the world, and the single largest navy in the world.

The battle at bunker hill, which they lost, the amazing siege of Boston where General Washington had no artillery, so General Knox went and stole a bunch of cannons from a British fort, and brought them to Washington.

The defeat at New York, the chaos, the lost battles, all of it was so desperate, looked so bleak, and yet, the great turning point was when Washington crossed the Delaware river on Christmas day to score a key victory.

So much of it was clearly acts of God in human history. Washington himself believed that, he kept speaking of divine providence. All those events eventually led to victory over the British, and a new nation was born.

Freedom and liberty came about through those events for untold millions. And it took God's favor. It's always inspired me, that desperate battle for liberty. That victory bought for us a freedom from tyranny that endures to this day.

But today we speak of another kind of freedom, a freedom that Christ bought for us with his own blood.

We often see in scripture an idea called freedom, or liberty in Christ. And today we’re going to talk about what that means to have freedom in Christ. We’re going to look at what the exercise of that freedom looks like, we’re going to look at the limits of that freedom, and how that freedom leads us into a mindset called living in the Spirit.

We find ourselves today in the letter to the Galatians, the fifth chapter. Paul writes this letter to the church of Galatia, it was originally sent from Paul in Ad. 48, so about 2000 years ago.

The issue was, the church was originally made up of two main groups, Jews who had converted to Christianity. And gentiles (non-Jews) who had converted to Christianity from pagan religions. And, one of the problems that cropped up in the church in Galatia, among other churches at that time, was that some of the Jewish Christians began to insist that believers should have to follow certain ceremonial laws from the Old Testament.

The one in particular, that was being taught by false teachers in Galatia, was that gentile Christians had to be circumcised.

Paul is writing the letter to the Galatian church to deal with this heresy, of requiring gentile Christians to be circumcised according to the law of Moses.

Our scripture today in Galatians 5:1 begins like this, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

It is for liberty, for the concept of liberty, that Christ set us free. The Greek word here, eleutheria (el-yoo-ther-ee'-ah), implies the concept of a slave being released. But it is more than freedom from sin, but also liberty to make free choices, because in fact Christ loves and desires liberty as an end in itself.

I’ve found that to be true about who God is, he loves liberty. He doesn’t force us to do anything and doesn’t want to control our actions. He gives freedom. Now he does desire that we would freely choose the right. But he doesn’t force us. Of course, there are consequences to our actions.

It is Satan and his demonic forces that prefer tyranny and control. If you notice, in the book of Revelation, Satan’s end game, his final plan, is the mark of the beast, which once the person takes it, it forces them to be under the control of the anti-Christ. Satan’s end game is total control, to turn people into cattle.

God’s end game is liberty, but also consequence. If we use our liberty to live in blatant sin, there will be consequences. But, if we use our liberty for love, there will be reward.

Once we are free, we are reminded to stand firm, the Greek word can mean, to remain stationary. Do not let yourself be slowly taken it by yokes of slavery. A yoke is a harness that an animal would wear when it’s being directed.

There are two yokes that we need to avoid. The first is the yoke of slavery to old testament ceremonial laws and regulations. The second, is the yoke of slavery to sin.

Paul is writing to a church, where false teachers are trying to put them back under the yoke of the law of Moses, when Paul knows that Christ has set the people free from sin, yes, but also from adherence to the old testament law.

It continues, verses 2-4, “2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Paul uses the strongest language to call out these false teachings. Imagine if we started saying that we have to obey the old testament law, no mixed fabrics, no pork, no shell fish. Those are old testament ceremonial laws. They do not apply to us today. Same thing with circumcision.

Interestingly enough, circumcision is still done, medically, because it actually is more healthy, but, no Christian would say a new believer must be circumcised.

But Paul says, those who are attempting to be justified through the law, they’ve fallen away. They are alienated from Christ. The Greek word here ekpiptō implies losing something, dropping away, being driven off from one’s course.

That’s how serious it is, that we don’t try to live according to the old testament law of Moses in order to be justified before God. We know our justification comes through Jesus Christ, and what he did on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the law completely. We must trust that Jesus’s victory for us is sufficient.

Paul continues, verses 5-6: "5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Here Paul gives us a hint of our true lifestyle as a believer. He says, “through the Spirit…” We as believers do not live by the Old testament law. We don’t live by rules and regulations. We live by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

That relationship with the Spirit is lived through faith, trust. Faith then naturally expresses itself through acts of love. If it doesn’t, something has gone wrong.

Next, verses 7-9: "7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

The Christian life is comparable to running a race. Pursuing a goal. And it’s a beautiful thing to watch a Christian who really sees their life that way. They are pursuing Christ. They are chasing after Him.

But it is amazing how much damage false teachers can do. They come around with crafty arguments, very clever statements, to try to draw you away from wholehearted devotion to Christ.

There are so many dangerous false teachings out there today. The teaching that claims any sort of call to holiness is legalism. I’ve heard that garbage for years from lukewarm Christians. It is very common unfortunately for this very book of the Bible, Galatians, to be used by some to make the argument that any attempts toward holiness before the Lord are like vain attempts at adhering to the law of Moses. Yet scripture says repeatedly, live the most holy life in response to what Christ has done for you. 

The book of Galatians must never be misused as an antinomian cry to reject the New Testament commands of God because we aren't under the ceremonial law. It is toxic to a believer who can sense within that they are called to live a pure live in Christ, which is repeatedly commanded throughout the New Testament. Watch out for lukewarm Christians who will draw you away from wholehearted devotion to Christ.

As Paul says, a little yeast leavens the whole batch. False teachings have a way of disturbing our entire walk with Christ. One simple lie can mess up our entire concept of Christ and lead us astray.

Next, verses 10-12: “10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”

Notice here that Paul says if we were to go back to the law, it would mean the offense of the cross would be abolished. But Paul is confident that the cross is not abolished, he is confident that true believers will in fact take no other view, but the truth. Paul reminds them that judgment awaits the false teachers, he even goes as far as to say, that he wishes these false teachers would go all the way and emasculate themselves.

Yes, that’s in the Bible. Paul so wishes to protect the believers in Galatia, that he views the false teachers as a vicious and dangerous threat.

Next, verse 13: “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.”

Here we’re getting closer to the heart of what it means to have freedom in Christ. The freedom Christ gives is like the freedom a slave would receive when being set free. We were once all slaves to sin. We did not have the power in our flesh to not sin. But when we allowed Christ to reign in our hearts, we received the Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit of Christ, we are able to be free.

That freedom means we can be free from sins in our lives. We’re free from having to strictly adhere to the old testament law of Moses. Jesus has fulfilled it all for us.

So does that mean we can essentially do whatever we want? Absolutely not. We’re instantly told, do not use your freedom as an excuse to indulge the flesh. Rather, we have a freedom yes, but the goal should be, to exercise that freedom to serve one another humbly in love.

It’s kind of like how the United States was setup. It was setup as John Adams wrote, for a moral and religious people. We have a lot of freedoms in our society. And the reason for that is, because each citizen should be a law unto themselves. From within they guard themselves from taking actions that would harm the society. That is American freedom. We govern ourselves. Unfortunately, as people in our society lose touch with that fact, and run wild, our society increasingly has to create new laws to prevent destructive behavior.

Next, verses 14-15: “14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

Through the Spirit, who lives within us, we are able to fulfill not the old testament law of Moses, but the law of Christ, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. Yet we also get a warning, but if you begin to quarrel and backbite each other, you will destroy each other.

We are no longer under the law of Moses. But one could say that we are under a new law, a new yoke, but this yoke is easy and light, as Jesus said. We are under the royal law, the law of love, which puts us under the two great commands of Jesus, to love God, and love our neighbors. By the Spirit, we are able to fulfill this yoke.

Next, verses 16-18: “16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

So we’ve discovered that freedom in Christ, is about personal freedom in your life from regulations and more so, freedom from slavery to sin in the flesh. It’s about full reliance on Christ and what he did on the cross.

It’s about accessing God through faith. This faith expresses itself in love.

We are now in a new pattern of thinking. We no longer look nervously at the endless commands of the Torah, we look to the Spirit within, with the help of the New Testament, and to the command “to love” from Jesus.

We want to see it all in the context of walking by the Spirit vs. walking by the flesh. The Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh, the flesh what is contrary to the Spirit. They are in conflict. This is the battle within us. So we are in fact not to do whatever we want, that would be a misuse of our freedom in Christ.

But if you are truly led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

I’ve heard it so often described in Christian theology as faith vs. Works, faith vs. Works, or that’s a work, you’re working for your own salvation, blah blah blah. But that is not the key divide in the Christian life. It’s something we should be aware of, that we live by faith, and that faith expresses itself in works. But no, the main divide as we live the Christian life is learning to live by the Spirit’s leading, and to crucify the works of the flesh.

And we as Wesleyans do not believe that one must always keep on sinning endlessly. We believe, that through the Spirit, we can do just what it says, crucify the sins of the flesh. And live free. Does that mean that we’re suddenly perfect? Of course not. But, we believe, we can fundamentally live from a place of freedom, not slavery.

What are the works of the flesh?

They are as follows: 19-21: “19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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.”

Notice, the end of verse 21, Paul is talking to believers here, I don’t know why that’s hard for some people to figure out, but it says, if you live like this, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When you practice these sins of the flesh, you are in fact putting your salvation on the line. It says it right there. If you live like this, make a practice of willful sinning, you won’t inherit eternal life.

So be wise and repent quickly, if these sort of practices are occurring in your life. God will help us.

Next, we get a picture of the Spirit life: “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The Spirit is always developing these characteristics within the heart of a believer. And we can trust that God will bring them to completion. We also know that our cooperation is necessary with the Spirit, for these characteristics to develop.

Lastly, verses 25-26: "25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

The battle between the flesh and the Spirit rages intensely in the life of a new believer. And over the years, as those battles are won, the battles die down a bit. But, God is often addressing something new in our lives, depending on what stage we’re in, in our spiritual journey.

So, we want to keep in step with the Spirit. That word “in step” in the Greek pictures “proceeding in a row as the marching of a soldier” in an orderly fashion. The Spirit is our leader. He guides us, and shows us things he wants us to focus in on. So, as you pray, and study the word, and listen for the Spirit, the Spirit will guide you on a journey, from one area of your life to the next, teaching you, training you, convicting you, guiding you, and you’ll be brought to different things in your life. The Spirit will encourage you, crucify this issue, set it aside, repent of it, build up this area, heal in this area, and it’ll be a beautiful journey as you engage on it.

We get one last warning, to not become conceited, provoking or envying each other. That’s always a danger as we grow in Christ, and we see the Spirit doing all these things, we start to think well I'm good now, I don’t have anything else to work on, but, that can be pride, and we want to stay humble, and open to the voice of the Spirit in our lives.

In conclusion, Christ came to give us freedom. That freedom is beautiful. It’s an open space for us to live free from slaveries of the mind or heart. But it’s a freedom that calls us to purity. It’s a freedom that calls us away from rules and regulations of the law. It’s a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, expressing itself in love. And that faith relationship leads us toward the Holy Spirit and the leading of the Spirit in our lives.

We obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with Jesus’ commands to love God and love our neighbors. We utilize life in the Spirit, to put to death the misdeeds of our flesh. And so we learn to walk in step with the Spirit, following His lead, remaining humble, as we journey toward heaven together.

Think back to the American revolution, which we talked about at the beginning. It seemed like a long shot at the time. It seemed in fact, virtually impossible. Sometimes as a believer in Christ, we look at all the wreckage in our lives, the sins, the depression, the anxiety, the difficulties, the distractions, and we throw up our hands and assume there must be no way to find a place of victory over these issues. But we must not allow ourselves to be tempted to think that way. The Holy Spirit is with us, just as divine providence was with the continentals during the American revolution. We can believe that God will again and again grant us victories where defeat seemed certain. 

We can live by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Dare to believe this simple truth today, and watch where that belief begins to take you. Dare to believe it.