Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20060416.htm

THE BIBLICAL SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN LIFE
Part II: Relating Properly To God The Holy Spirit As Believers
E. Heeding God's Admonition To "Walk in the Spirit" Relative To Specific Crucial Ministries
(Romans 8:13; Jude 20b; 2 Timothy 1:14 and Revelation 3:22)
  1. Introduction
    1. The permanent indwelling ministry of God the Holy Spirit, God's priceless, eternal Gift to us who trust in Christ as Savior, provides many wonderful ministries for our blessing as we learned in this lesson series.
    2. Thus motivated to want to relate properly to the Holy Spirit in all of life, we view various passages based on the implications of Galatians 5:16, 25 KJV where God calls us to "walk in the Spirit" as follows:
  2. Heeding God's Admonition To "Walk in the Spirit" Relative To Specific Crucial Ministries.
    1. Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to "walk in the Spirit," following His lead at every step to put to death the deeds of the sinful nature that we might enjoy practical spiritual abundance in life, Romans 8:13:
      1. We learned in our previous study that the function of "walking in the Spirit" involves a full, continual following of the Spirit's leading every step in life, cf. Galatians 5:25 and stoicheo .
      2. Thus, we must heed God's lead at every step that we put to death the function of the sin nature that we might enjoy spiritual abundance in living, cf. Romans 8:13 with Bib. Know. Com., N. T. , p. 470-471:
        1. By his statement in Romans 8:13a, Paul does not mean we Christians will lose our eternal life if we live by means of our sin natures; eternal life is securely ours according to John 5:24 et al.
        2. However, living by means of the sin nature will keep us from enjoying the spiritual benefits of the "indwelling presence of the Spirit" in our experience, Ibid., p. 470.
        3. Conversely, by depending every step (Gal. 5:25) upon the power and leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we believers "(present tense) put to death" the works of the sin nature, Ibid., p. 471.
    2. Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to "walk in the Spirit," following His lead at every step to pray effectively for victory over the debilitating influences of apostates, Jude 20b in its context:
      1. Jude's comments on "praying in the Holy Spirit" at Jude 20b is made in reference for the need for believers to be aware and avoid the fellowships and influences of vile apostates, Jude 17-19.
      2. These evil folk would follow their own ungodly passions to scoff at the truth, cause divisions in the Church with their error, being worldly and devoid of the Holy Spirit, Jude 17-19 ESV, NIV.
      3. Staying immune to their influences would demand a step-by-step dependence upon the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, and a life of "praying in the Holy Spirit," Jude 20b.
    3. Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to "walk in the Spirit," following His lead at every step to keep ourselves orthodox or accurate in our doctrinal beliefs, 2 Timothy 1:14:
      1. Paul's call in 2 Timothy 1:14 to "keep" the "good thing" or verse 13's "sound words," and that "by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us" refers to preserving one's doctrinal accuracy, or orthodoxy.
      2. Hence, applying Galatians 5:25, we believers must heed the Spirit's every leading step-by-step in our walk that we see our doctrinal belief remain solidly upright and healthy for our own good!
    4. Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to "walk in the Spirit," following His lead at every step to heed the words of the Holy Spirit to us in our era of Church History, Revelation 3:22:
      1. In former studies of Christ's message to the Seven Churches of Revelation 2-3, we learned that the message to the Church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22 is His directive to us in our Evangelical era of history, one that is negatively impacted by Calvinist and Arminian errors that in turn are affected by the ancient respective pagan influences of Neo-Platonism and Stoicism.
      2. Thus, we must follow the Spirit's lead and empowering at each step to apply God's message to resist Evangelicalism's theological and ministry errors and live and preach the Bible's truth!
Lesson: We believers must depend upon the Holy Spirit's power and leading at every step in life to put to death the deeds of the sin nature that we might enjoy abundant spiritual blessings, to pray effectively for victory over influences by debilitating apostates, to keep our doctrinal beliefs orthodox and to heed the message of the Holy Spirit to our era in Revelation 3:14-22 for God's blessing in our own era.

Application: May we follow the Spirit's lead at every step for victory over the sin nature, over influences by apostates, over deterioration in our beliefs and for God's blessing in our unique era!