As we have been learning over the last few weeks, the Holy Spirit first came to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost over two thousand years ago but the work of the Spirit did not end on that day, it has continued to be active ever since! Jesus promised us that the Spirit would come to be with us, to counsel us, guide us and teach us. We have studied how the Spirit gives us words to speak and pray, even when we are unable to utter a coherent word. The Spirit also guides us to the Truth in our scriptures and in our everyday lives. Last week we looked at how the Spirit leads us to worship and how as we empty ourselves before the Lord in the midst of our worship, the Spirit fills us with the renewing power, energy and wisdom that we need to go about our daily lives. Today in this final sermon of the series on how the Spirit works, we will be looking at how the Spirit leads us to good works.
There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is alive and at work among the community of believers.
In Romans 8:5b we read “those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” What does it mean to have our minds set on the things of the Spirit? First Paul makes it clear that living by the Spirit is in direct opposition to living by the flesh. The desires of the flesh according to Paul are: sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, 20 idolatry, drug use and casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, 21 jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that. (Common English Bible)
Wow! When Paul said these were “obvious” he wasn’t kidding! It seems pretty easy to see how all these are desires of the flesh and not things that the Holy Spirit would lead us to do. As a Wesleyan Study I am reading states,
“The sinful nature and the Spirit are in conflict with each other because one seeks to elevate itself, while the other points us to the only One who can raise us up.”
When we make the choice to follow Jesus Christ and to be a servant for Him, we are in desperate need of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh will always desire the things of the flesh unless the Spirit comes upon us and works within us to lead our thoughts and actions. When we walk by the Spirit we surrender our selfish wants and needs and seek to please the Lord by living in His ways. Given an open heart and mind in which to reside, the Holy Spirit can transform us and renew our minds. The Spirit helps us to become so much more than we are on our own. Paul says in Romans 8:14, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” When we are adopted as God’s children, we take on a new self. We are no longer trying to please the family and friends we have on this earth but instead we live each day for God and the only way we can truly do so, is to ask the Holy Spirit to empowers us and direct us to live as we ought to live.
In our Wednesday afternoon study we have been reading the book, Key United Methodist Beliefs, by William Abraham and David Watson. In the chapter “What is the Church?” it states:
“Being a part of the Church does not just mean that you are saved or that you have a new social group. It means that you are part of the group of people who confess that Jesus is Lord, that God has put a claim on your life, and that you life will never be the same again. It means that the Holy Spirit is at work within you, forming you into the kind of person God is calling you to be. It means that much of your life will be different, from the way in which you think about human life to the way in which you spend your money.” (p. 93)
The Holy Spirit will lead us to do that which is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord. What is good and pleasing to the Lord? How do we know if we are living and walking in the Spirit?
Paul tells us that if we live by the ways of the Spirit, we will bear fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 states: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.”
It is safe to say then that we can test what the leading of the Holy Spirit is by asking,
“Is what I am going to do or say going to please my fleshly desires OR is it going to produce a Spiritual fruit that will point to God and help direct others to the saving grace of Jesus Christ?
As followers of Christ we are blessed to seek the Holy Spirit and to ask that the Spirit give us guidance. Through our free will we have the choice to follow the flesh or follow the Spirit. Our readings from Romans and Galatians today tell us: The flesh leads to earthly pleasures but ends in death. The Spirit leads to a life of humility and service to others but ends in eternal life with God.
So what will be our choice?
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