Neighbors-Living by the Spirit
Neighbors • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsWe can be good neigbors when we live by the Spirit because we are fundamentally changed in order to consistently love others.
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
If you would, starting turning in your Bibles to .
In just a moment we are going to be reading verses 16-18.
Again, that is .
This morning we are going to continue our series that we started last week regarding neighbors and being good neighbors!
You will recall that last week we began talking about the subject of love as it is represented in .
And if you remember, the reason behind that any attempt to be a good neighbor to the rest of humanity rests in Jesus’ command to love.
Remember Jesus tells us to . . .
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
And you may bet tired of me quoting that passage, but you are probably going to have to just get tired of it because it is key to absolutely everything we say and do in this life.
If we are going to live a Christian life, we MUST first have the ability and capacity love.
Remember what Paul told us last week . . .
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 cor 13:1-
Meaning that without that foundation of love, everything else is pointless and useless.
And the reason this foundation in love is so important is because, again from last week and , God is love!
It all ties together.
But this morning we are going to go a little bit deeper and start talking about another aspect of love.
Specifically, how do we love?
How do we gain this capacity to love?
And many will say that we are born with the capacity love, which is partially true.
We are born with the desire to receive love and a basic capacity to demonstrate love just because of our very nature and make-up being formed in the image of God.
Jesus himself even admits this much . . .
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
But, here in Matthew we also see though the problem with our love.
Notice here that Jesus says, though you are evil, meaning that we are sinful and that sin has distorted our ability to love fully and perfectly.
Sin has hardened our heart and drawn us away from God’s perfect love, which is really what we are talking about here.
The ability to love completely and unconditionally.
Do we love humanity in general to the point that we are able to look beyond a person’s sin in order to see and love the actual person?
Jesus also tells us that . . .
13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
And John tells us . . .
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
So, how do we get to this point?
Because we know that it is not easy.
And, just being honest, none of us have probably reach the point 100%
We are all somewhere along the journey trying to get there.
The secret does not lie within ourselves.
We cannot do it on our own.
Sin is too great.
No, the secret is in the power of the Holy Spirit, which brings us to our passage for this morning.
So, if you have found in your Bible this morning, I’d invite you to stand.
And again, I am going to be reading verses 16-18.
Paul writes . . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The Secret is Out
The Secret is Out
So, right here in the very first verse of our passage, Paul reveals the secret to us.
Again, he writes . . .
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
And he also reveals to us our own duplicity or dual nature.
He talks about two things that are at conflict with one another within us.
We have the Spirit, or Holy Spirit on one side and the sinful nature or our spirit that has yet to be transformed by the Holy Spirit on the other side.
And really what Paul is doing here is revealing the two ways people can choose to live.
They can choose to either live by the Spirit or they can chose to live a life fulfilling and gratifying the desires of their own sinful nature.
And when we put it that way, it doesn’t sound very appealing does it?
And it really goes back to all of the ways that Satan tries to deceive us and throw us off track.
He really plays on our weaknesses, our shortcomings, and those triggers that reside within our sinful nature.
And he exploits them whenever he gets the opportunity.
But Paul gives us another option.
He tells us to choose to live by the Spirit instead, because when we do that the desire to gratify the sinful nature gets weaker and weaker and eventually we will see the sinful nature for what it is.
Because as the Holy Spirit increases, the sinful nature decreases.
This is why Paul tells us that . . .
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
That old sinful nature and its desires begin to pass by the wayside and we begin to desire the things of God.
Our heart is made perfect and the capacity to give and receive love is planted within us.
But, still it’s not easy.
We don’t just wake up one day and decide, “today I’m going to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
It doesn’t work that way.
Paul continues . . .
An Internal War Rages
An Internal War Rages
17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
And I think we have all experienced what Paul is talking about here.
He is talking about the internal war and struggle that goes on within each of us.
The Holy Spirit desires for us to love and be a reflection of Jesus Christ.
To be doers of the word, if you will.
But the sinful nature is opposite of that.
The sinful nature tells us “it’s me, me, me . . It’s all about me,” with no regard to anyone else.
Whatever we want, whatever we think is appealing, the sinful nature says “go for it!”
It doesn’t matter how it impacts other people, “who cares about them anyway?”
And for us it causes this great conflict and confusion within us.
Look at what Paul writes about his own struggle . . .
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Do you ever feel like Paul?
You want so bad to do good, to live a Christian life, but you keep messing up.
The reason is because of the internal war and internal struggle that goes on.
The reason is the Holy Spirit is trying to deal with our sinful nature, and to be quite honest we get in the way.
As creatures with a free will we have the ability to choose how we are going to live and each choice we make has consequences.
And because of this sometimes we choose well, other times we do not.
And the internal struggle continues, but hopefully as we are willing to give in and give control over to the Holy Spirit, the battles decrease.
Also, this is why we see good Christian people make horrible choices and make horrible mistakes sometimes.
They push out the Holy Spirit and allow the sinful nature to determine their choices.
And instead of following Paul’s example in that says . . .
1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.
We, in the church want to “make an example out of them,” push them out, “punish them,” which is the exact opposite of living by the Spirit.
It is no mistake that Paul follows the section about living by the Spirit with a passage about how we should restore others.
Because Paul knows the human nature’s tendency to puff us up.
We’re doing our thing, on a roll, things are going so good and we start to get a little proud of ourselves.
And when somebody messes up we get the “what is their problem” attitude, thinking that we are somehow better than they are.
Nope, that ain’t how it’s done.
Paul says we are to restore gently, and also consider ourselves because we are just one step away from messing up ourselves.
He goes on to say . . .
3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Ultimately we all make a choice, every single day, of which way we are going to go and none of us are immune from making a bad choice today, tomorrow, or the next day.
However, Paul does tell us that . . .
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Galatians 5:
Consistently, trying our best to let the Holy Spirit lead, releasing ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s control, growing in grace, frees us from the law.
It frees us because our hearts have been cleansed, our intentions have been made pure, even though we mess up.
God’s mercy and grace intervene and intercede.
And even though we are nowhere near perfect, the Fruit of the Spirit begin to become more and more evident in our lives.
(Galatians 5:22)
We have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Paul tells us that . . .
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Altar Call
Altar Call
The question though is have we done this?
Who is in control in our house?
Remember, Paul also writes that . . .
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
And even though this verse deals primarily with honoring God with our body, it is a reminder that we are designed to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
And a lot of times, we are like the man who Jesus describes in . . .
43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
Matthew 12:4
We do a real good job sweeping the house, cleaning the house, and putting everything in order so that there will be a good impression.
It looks nice, but the problem is the house is unoccupied, it is empty.
The Holy Spirit is nowhere to be found.
We’ve put on our fancy clothes and our nice smiles, but there has been no real change.
God has not changed our hearts.
It’s all for show.
And our soul becomes a playground for our sinful nature and for Satan to reign supreme.
And we can keep lying to other people if we want.
We can keep lying to ourselves if we want.
But we cannot lie to God.
God knows what’s in our heart, even if we do not want to admit it.
And this morning we have people who’s heart is not right with God.
You have been struggling with sin for a while and cannot break free.
God is here and is wanting to release you from those chains, will you let Him?
There are also those here who are frustrated because they have tried and tried but cannot have any lasting victory.
God can give you that victory but will you let Him?
So, whatever the need is this morning God has the answer, but the question is, are you willing to accept the answer?
The decision is yours to make this morning, what will it be?