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Here's today's sermon.
So the topic is still the fruit of the life and the spirit. The fruit of the life and
the spirit. We're going to continue from where we start on Sunday. And our key text, the
two of them, the first one is from 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17. 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17.
I read it this time from the NLT. And it says, So we have stopped evaluating others from
a human point of view. At one time, we taught of Christ nearly from a human point of view.
How differently we know him now. So this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become
a new person. New King James, a new creature. It says the old life is gone, a new life has
begun, a new life has begun, a new life has begun. And that is the reality for anyone
who is in Christ. We say that all that Christ has accomplished, all that Christ has accomplished
in his death, burial and resurrection, all of these things is what is encapsulated in
the life of the believer. And that life that we have, that is the way, that life that we
have in the spirit, praise God, that life that we have in the spirit. And we say the
summary of all of this is that at salvation, we receive everything that we need to live.
Receive everything that we need to live. So our work as God's children is anchored on
what has happened to us, is anchored on what has happened to us as at the point of salvation.
Our identity as a new creation in Christ Jesus is anchored on what has happened to us as
at salvation, praise God. So, and we say this other text is in Galatians 5 to 2 to 25. Galatians
5 to 2 to 25. We're going to draw a bit more on that passage today. In church we had explained
we said we talked about the new birth and we said the new birth is the birth or born
of the spirit. And we said it's also the same thing as born of God. We say that in John
3 verses 5 to 6, we see Jesus' conversation with the Godimnos, where he makes reference
to being born of the spirit, being born again. And in 1 John 5, 1 John 5, they make reference
to being born of God, being born of God, being born of God. And all of those things are the
same thing as the new birth, our identity as in our own contact in Christ, praise God,
our identity in Christ. And then we did all of that and we talked about how the gift of
the spirit is really given. It doesn't cost anybody. It didn't cost us anything, but it
cost our Father. It didn't cost us anything. It's not a partnership with him, but that
it's for us to have that experience, praise God. And we looked at several scriptures.
We looked at Romans 8.32, where we clearly emphasized to us that we were freely given
all these things. We were freely given all these things. And we looked at Acts 18 to
20, where we saw how Simon the Sorcerer was wanting to buy it. And Peter rebuked him and
says, your money perished with you because you thought that the gift of God can be purchased
with money. So nobody should sell it to you. It's what was given to us freely and we freely
received. And we also saw Ephesians 2 verse 8, where he tells us that, grace, we have
been saved through faith. And it's not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God. We say
it is a gift of God. We have received that gift. We receive the gift. And that is the
gift. That is what we're working in. And we said all of this is a fulfillment of a promise.
And we say that, and we saw in Ephesians 2, we looked at Ephesians 1, 13 to 14, where
we saw that it is the spirit that we are sealed with the spirit of promise, which is a guarantee.
We looked at that word guarantee. We say it's a down payment. It's down payment or anest.
We talk about deposit. And we use, we understood it from the analogy of when you go to get
a house and then you put a deposit. And we say that is nothing in comparison to what
Christ, the word God has done for us. It's the down payment is the whole thing. The down
payment is the full package. It's not part of the package. Praise God. It's not part
of the package. And then now, I'll just jump to, we talked about the prophetic, we talked
that we looked at Ezekiel and we looked at Jehovah, where we saw the promise being made
and we saw it's fulfillment. And we saw all of that in Acts. So now we're going to be
going to, so now the walk in the spirit, we're going to be talking more or focusing more
of the walk in the spirit. I'm going to be looking at Galatians, Galatians 5, 16. I want
us to open our Bibles. We're going to be going through scripture this evening and I want
us to follow, I want us to follow as fast as we can. We'll see what we, I'm not going
to rush, but we're going to cover as much as we can. So Galatians 5, and we're going
to be looking at 16, Galatians 5, 16. This is Paul speaking. He says, then I say then
walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. Walk in the spirit
and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. Walk in the spirit and you shall not
fulfill the loss of the spirit. So what are we going to be looking at? The first part
is the walk. Walk in the spirit, walk in the spirit. And then we'll look at the flesh and
look at the different ways we see flesh used in scripture.
And then see that you can't use the same thing all through. Look at a couple of scriptures
to be able to clarify that.
And we'll see also that in Romans.
So we're looking at, for this work in the spirit,
we're looking at Galatians 5.16 down to 25,
which is the second part of our text,
the second part of our key text,
it covers the second part of our key text,
and also Romans 8.1 to 9.
We're very much familiar with that passage of scripture.
So what I want us to do is to go to Romans 8 now.
Romans 8, we're gonna look at 1 and 4.
We're gonna look at 1 and 4.
Romans 8.1 and 4.
So we say that for this bit,
we're looking at the work in the spirit.
So Romans 8.
And if you look at it from the King James,
you will notice something.
In the King James, if you look at the King James,
if you have a different translation with you,
NLT or any other translation, you will notice something.
I want you to pay attention to that.
And you may put two.
Yeah, you'll notice something.
In the New King James, you will just see it say,
there is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus.
That's where it stops for.
Most people that are using several other translation,
but in the New King James, there's an addition to it.
And that addition is not out of place
because you will still see the same thing repeated
in the verse four.
So it says, who do not walk, that's in the New King James.
It says, who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit.
Who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit.
And then I want us to jump to four.
Four says something similar.
It just adds that, that the righteous requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us.
Who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit.
Who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit.
You notice that, that in of itself,
if you look at one, it's still saying similar
to what is said in four.
Where it says, therefore there's now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus.
It states that these individuals or these persons
are in Christ Jesus.
As believers, we are in Christ Jesus.
We are in Christ Jesus.
And our walk is in the spirit.
And that's why it goes to say that we do not walk
in the flesh, but according to the spirit.
So you see the very, you see the similarity.
You see the interplay of words.
It's still saying the same thing.
Say there's therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus.
And they do not walk according to the flesh.
And please pay attention to the use of the word
that they do not walk.
They do not walk according to the flesh.
How do they walk?
We saw from Galatians 5 verse 16,
that they walk in the spirit.
They walk in the spirit.
So, and if you look very closely, it's not walk.
And it's not, you can't do both at the same time.
You can't do both at the same time.
It's either you're walking in the spirit
or you are doing the other,
which is you're walking according to the flesh.
Praise God.
And I want us to see what the word walk is.
We'll look at it in the New Testament
and look at a little bit of it in the old
and then we'll marry and sanitize everything together.
So the word walk in the Greek is the word peripateo.
The word peripateo.
It's P-E-P-E-R-I-P-A-T-E-O with a dash on top.
P-E-R-I-P-A-T-E-O, peripateo.
And it's used, you see that because Greek is what's used
in the New Testament.
We see that a lot.
And that word is a metaphor for a way of living
or how we conduct ourselves
and how we express it more on its definition.
And one thing that you will notice is that
if you're reading especially the epistles,
you see it said, you see places where you see walk in love.
You see where there's walk in the spirit.
You also see walk in love.
You also see walk in delight.
You also see walk in the truth.
And I'll give us references to those scriptures.
I think we can look at them still.
We have time.
So let's just look at them.
So you'll see instances in Paul's letter
to the church in Ephesians.
You will see in Ephesians 5, Ephesians 5 verse 2.
I want us to go there very quickly.
Ephesians 5 verse 2.
Ephesians 5 verse 2, that's for walk in love.
Ephesians 5 verse 2, let me just read from one.
Say therefore, be imitators of God as their children.
2 now says, walk in love as Christ also has loved us
and given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.
So you see the word there, walk in love.
And it starts off as imitators of God,
as therefore be imitators of God as their children.
So there's already a father,
there's only a relationship that places on the nappies,
places on the napposition where we walk in love.
I want you to see that all of those things
are not speaking of different things.
All of those different places
are not speaking of different things.
And when we go to the other one,
which I said walk in the light, walk in the light,
we'll see that in 1 John, 1 John 1, 1 John 1.
I want us to go to 1 John 1, 1 John 1 verse 7,
1 John 1 verse 7, 1 John 1 verse 7.
It says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son,
cleanses us from all sin.
So we see that if we walk in the light,
and we see all of it, we see walk in the,
walk in love, walk in the light.
So let's see the other one, walk in the truth.
So since we're in 1 John, let's just move to 2 John,
2 John 1, 2 John 1 verse 4, 2 John 1 verse 4.
It says, I will judge greatly
that I have found some of your children walking in truth,
walking in truth as we receive commandment from the father,
walking in truth.
So we've seen all of these scriptures
and you can take time and look at the individual,
read the whole chapter and get more context
by just trying to build something there for us
that you'll see this walk in love, walk in light,
walk in truth, all of them,
we'll see how they marinate together.
It says all of this walk is talking about the way of living
and it's consistent with God's nature.
It's consistent with our divine nature.
Speaks and it's not speaking,
it's speaking to individuals, speaking to individuals.
It says walk in love, walk in light, walk in truth,
walk in truth.
And I want us to see this word,
this word used in the Old Testament
and there's a scripture,
it is in Psalms 1, 1,
it's a place where we are very much conversant with.
Psalms 1, 1, Psalms 1 verse 1,
where it says, blessed is a man who walks.
The word walks there is a Hebrew word, halak or yalak.
It's either halak or yalak.
These are two variants of the word.
This is halak, halak is H-A-L-A-K,
or the yalak which is the, just change the H to a Y,
yalak, Y-A-L-A-K.
That's the word used there, walk.
It says, walk not, says who walks not
in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners,
nor sits at the seat of the scoppers,
nor sits at the seat of the scouple.
If you notice that all of these things is speaking
of a position in a way,
because it says, doesn't you don't listen to ungodly counsel?
You don't hang around sinners,
you don't see that it speaks of a way of living.
And you know that that is in contrast.
You know, he does that in verse one,
and then you see in the preceding verses,
it contrasts it with what delight
of the person that is blessed is,
delight in the love of the Lord.
You see that there are two different ways.
And if you notice, when you read,
to contrast one thing against the other,
we look at Galatians, it was contrasting the walk
in the spirit against the walk in the flesh.
And I want us to understand something
that every of this thing, you don't want to,
it's not something that you can do,
it's not something that happens where you say,
you walk like this and then you can do both at the same time.
There's no middle ground for the two of it.
Once you notice that there's no middle ground
for the two of it.
So we will now see certain instances of individuals.
And I want us to go to Kings, 1 Kings 16, 1 Kings 16.
I think that one stood out to me
because I was very recently looked at it.
So I want us to use that one too.
Let's start with 1 Kings 16, 1 Kings 16, 16 verse 19,
1 Kings 16 verses 19.
We're speaking about Jehoiobam.
If you remember this, Jehoiobam of Solomon's son
and then there's Jehoiobam,
the one that took the other part of the kingdom.
It says in verse 19, it says,
because of the sins which he had committed,
because of the sins which he had committed
in doing evil in the sight of the Lord,
in walking, notice it uses the I-N-G,
walking in and it's W-A-L-K,
yeah, I was talking about it
because I'm saying it sounds like O-R-K, W-A-L-K.
In walking in the way of Jehoiobam
in his sin which he had committed to make Israel,
in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin,
in his sin which has committed to make Israel sin.
So it means that you see someone walking in the sin,
in the way, walking in the way of Jehoiobam.
And when I saw this, I remember,
I think when we're talking about Balaam,
I think very recently, I think it was,
it was in Pastor Victor that was teaching.
And he said, in Peter, Peter was speaking,
that's 2 Peter 2.15,
where he talks about the way of Balaam,
following the way of Balaam,
where the individual, there's something that they had done
that makes them have,
it's almost like they had created a pattern of action
because of the way they did certain things.
And then everybody now, there's a way
that's created a system by which there's a way.
And what is that way?
In Balaam's situation,
it goes further to state what the way is.
He said, who loved the widows of unrighteousness?
Meaning that he, it's because of his eye,
his eye was on the money and he did something ungodly.
I remember we said, all of those things have their,
you see that you're on this side or on the other side.
And then let's look at also 1 Kings 22.
Let's look at 1 Kings 22, 22.52.
1 Kings 22.52.
And we'll see that he says in 1 Kings 22, verse 52,
he says, he did evil in the sight of the Lord
and walked in the way of his father.
And in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeorabam,
notice that they walked in the way of the father,
walked in the way of the mother.
And this is Ahaziah, Ahaziah.
And then they also included walked in the way
of Jeorabam the son of Nebat.
And that Jeorabam is Jeorabam the son of Nebat.
There's another Jeorabam,
but this is Jeorabam the son of Nebat,
who had made Israel sin.
And this individual had made the whole nation,
had made the whole nation to sin.
And let's look at the other one in 2 Kings 3.3.
2 Kings 3.3.
He says, in 2 Kings 3.3,
nevertheless, he persisted in the sins of Jeorabam
the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
He did not depart from them.
This is another, this is Jehoram,
this is Jehoram to another King again.
So you see several Kings now,
there's a way, there's a walk,
there's a pattern that they are taking up.
And we have talked a lot about Jeorabam the son of Nebat,
but let's look at what Jeorabam the son,
what is that way, what is that pattern that he had created
that makes him the reference point,
the point of reference for every other person
that is coming up.
Let's look at it in 1 Kings,
let's go to 1 Kings 12, 1 Kings 12.
1 Kings 12.
This is the point of the whole revolt against Jeorabam.
1 Kings 12, I think we'll just read 25 to 33.
1 Kings 12.
Remember, what we're looking at is the walk.
Walk, that is W-A-L, W-A-L-K.
So 25 now reads, 1 Kings 12, 25.
This is then Jeorabam built Shechem
in the mountains of Ephraim and dwelt there.
Also he went out of there and built Penelope.
And Jeorabam said in his heart,
now the kingdom may return to the house of David.
If those people go up to offer sacrifices
in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem,
then the heart of these people will turn back
to their Lord, Jeorabam king of Judah,
and they will kill me and go back to Jeorabam king of Judah.
28, therefore the king asked advice,
therefore the king asked advice,
may two cows of gold and say to the people,
this is too much for you to go up.
Is it too much for you to go up to Jerusalem?
Here are your gods, O Israel,
which brought you up on the land of Egypt.
Does that sound familiar?
Then 29 says, and he set up one in Bethel,
and then the other, and the other he put up in Dan.
Now this thing became a sin for the people
went to worship before this one as far as Dan.
He said, he made the shrines on the high places
and made the priests from every class of people
who were not the sons of Levi.
Then I think we say we stop at 33, yeah, let's 32.
Jeorabam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the eighth month,
like the feast that was in Judah
and offered sacrifices on the altar.
So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the cows
that he had made and at Bethel,
he installed the priests of the high places
which he had made.
So he made offerings on the altar,
which he had made at Bethel on the 15th,
on the 15th day of the eighth month,
in the month which he had devised in his own heart.
And he ordained the feast for the children of Israel
and offered sacrifices on the altar and burnt incense.
And notice that all that he did, he had created,
he had made golden calves, Bethel,
he put one at Bethel, put one at Dan,
and people took, like people sacrificed to go to that,
I mean, besides the sacrifice,
that the sacrifice is sacrificed to go to that place
to do the sacrifices to this.
So you can see that this man had done these things
to appeal, has done these things
because he knew that he was like,
if I don't do it, I will lose the people
when they go to Jerusalem.
And this is all his own idea, this is all his own thought.
And this is how he came about it, worked.
And if you see all of them in the same pattern,
but I'm too, there's something that he wanted to gain.
All of them, they are not,
all their drive is for themselves.
All the drive is for themselves
and all the drive is for what they're going to profit from it.
But note that this now is in contrast
to what we're talking about.
If they can be a walk, the walk can be in one direction,
which is anti-God, because you know that what he did here
is inconsistent and away from what God's instruction is.
And if you know that, if you think back
at what the children of Israel did in the wilderness,
know that it's the same thing.
They just put gold in the fire and then have calf,
and then they worship it and then say the same thing.
This is the God that brought us up.
You see the same pattern, they repeat the same pattern.
And this man did not just one, he did two.
He did two, and you can see that in 29 and 30,
when he set them up and then people went there
and they went as far, people sacrificed to go and worship.
So we see that there is a walk and the walk here,
you see that the way, as we said that the walk is a pattern,
is a way of living, a way of living.
And that way of living will set a stage
for how people will even live afterwards.
Well, we say that when we talk about walking the spirit,
the walk in the spirit is very different from going,
because we say it's a walk.
And that walk is not powered by our own desires,
but it's powered by God himself.
So a walk in the spirit is powered by the spirit of God.
The spirit empowers us to live a life of freedom,
empowers us to overcome whatever desires of our flesh.
And when you say being in the flesh,
being the walk in the flesh in that context,
and we'll talk about how it can be used in different,
or why you don't want to assume the same thing
every way you see the flesh.
When he says walk in the flesh,
in contrast to walk in the spirit,
he's talking about the walk that is outside of God's life,
a walk that is outside of God's life,
a walk that is not inconsistent,
that doesn't have God in it.
A walk that doesn't have God in it.
The same way what Jeroboam did was not an idea
better or inspired by God.
It has nothing to do with it.
It's something that he did of his own volition.
He did it because he wanted to have people
not go to Jerusalem.
That was what inspired that it was inconsistent
with what God wants.
And that's why he created a pattern.
If you notice, they say they did evil.
All the use of the word evil,
it says because it's anti-God,
that's why it is evil.
And the word for flesh,
this is when we're going into,
Pleszrof talks about what the walk is,
and we'll later on see that walk also,
we'll see from scriptures as we're gonna look.
Look now, we'll see that that walk has to do
with an understanding, a mindset.
That walk has to do with an understanding and a mindset.
We'll see that from scripture,
we'll see that from second Corinthians shortly.
But I want to explain first to us that the flesh,
the word flesh there is S-A-R-X.
That's the word in Greek.
That's the word flesh.
And it's also symbolizes, as I said earlier,
without God, symbolizes the sinful and old nature
that is under the law,
that's before the coming of Christ.
And then the flesh can also be the physical body.
When he speaks of the physical body,
it can also be the physical body.
So know that when we are reading,
we want to pay attention to how the word flesh is used.
Because there's certain parts of scripture
that it will say walk in the flesh.
It will say according to my walk in the flesh.
And then you'll be confused that it says,
that you should not walk according to the flesh,
but you should walk in the spirit.
So you don't want to,
you want to read it and read it in context.
You want to read it and read it in context.
And especially when Apostle Paul is speaking,
we'll see that in Romans seven.
When he's speaking and then he uses the word flesh,
he can use the same word flesh in the,
he'll use flesh in one verse.
And that means something different from the second one
he'll use in the second verse.
So you want to look at it and not be confused.
And it might look like a contradiction,
but it's not a contradiction because there's a context
what he's saying, praise God.
So I want us to look at 2 Corinthians 10.
We'll look at 2 Corinthians 10.
Okay.
2 Corinthians 10, one, two, three.
Let's go there.
2 Corinthians 10, one, two, three.
So this is Apostle Paul speaking.
He says, he says, now I Paul myself,
I'm pleading with you by the meekness
and gentleness of Christ,
who in present I'm lonely among you.
He says, but being absent, I'm bold towards you.
2 now says, but I beg you that when I am present,
I may not be bold with that confidence
by which I am intended to be bold against some.
This is the part I want to spread to you too.
Who think of us as if we walk according to the flesh?
He says, who think of us as if we walk according
to the flesh?
Then you see in verse three, he now says,
for though we walk in the flesh.
Let me take it back again so that you,
so the ending of verse two says,
he's speaking of some people who think of us
as if we walk according to the flesh.
Then in verse three, he says,
for though we walk in the flesh,
we do not walk according to the flesh.
So know that he says, those people who think
we walk according to the flesh.
And then he now says, do we walk in the flesh?
So it will mean that in verse three,
in verse three, when he says,
for though we walk in the flesh,
what that will mean is that walking in the flesh
will mean walking in the physical body, praise God.
Walking in the flesh will mean walking in the physical body.
And if you want to see how that plays
or how you want to see how that,
if you look at it from,
when you read it from the NLT,
you probably will see what it says.
It says in verse three, it says, we are human,
but we don't wage war as humans do.
So know that he's talking about the physical.
And if you look at verse four,
if you look at verse four,
from the, he says, verse four from the New King James,
it says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
The NLT will say are not bodily,
say but are mighty to the pulling down of stronghold.
So what it will mean there is that what we use to war
is not what everybody,
every other person use to war,
what we don't do from the physical things
that people use to war.
It says, but they are mighty
for the pulling down of stronghold.
Now, really from the NLT, it says,
we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons,
to knock down strongholds of human reasoning.
Now, that is where you now,
you now move the whole argument to help us understand that.
When he talks about flesh or talks about his walk
and all of those things are not something that is,
it's not, it's, when it says human reasoning
and destroy false arguments,
you don't destroy false argument by fighting the person
or by physical altercation.
You don't, if you want to destroy false arguments,
you do it because it's something that happens in the mind.
Let's look at five.
Five say we destroy every proud obstacle
that keeps people from knowing God.
We capture their rebellious thought
and teach them to obey Christ.
If you read all of this,
you can't leave this conversation thinking
if you read it from where it started
to where he had landed in verse five,
you can't leave that conversation thinking
that he's talking about something like exchanging blows.
It says we destroy, you know?
When you hear the word destroy,
you think of something decimating something.
When I say that I destroyed him,
you fuck, even when we use the word destroy,
we just say, we don't mean it literally.
We mean that I give him a piece of my mind,
or with that, you mentally,
you verbally assaulted the person.
You assaulted them with words.
So when he uses the word flesh here,
notice that he uses the word flesh
in the ending of the first verse
to mean not like without God.
And then he now goes down to,
and we'll see that, we'll see if you are still in doubt.
Note that when he used that word there,
he's talking about mindset, understanding,
and words that are spoken.
Mindset, understanding, or mindset,
or understanding of words that are spoken.
That is what he's making reference to.
Then we'll now see it in Romans seven.
And please follow in Romans seven,
because Romans seven is where a couple of people,
or where sometimes you will be thinking that Paul is,
is not like, he's saying one thing,
and then saying, he's going back on his words.
But know that if you look at the use of the word flesh
in that properly, you understand that he's using it.
And if you look at it from different,
you'll see the words used there.
So we'll look at Romans seven, verse five and six.
Romans seven, verse five and six.
So he says, for we were in the flesh,
notice the use of the word, we were in the flesh.
When he says we were in the flesh,
it means he's talking about the previous nature.
And then he says, the sinful passions,
which, and he uses the word past tense, says we were.
Remember, it says, Vandermann is a new creation.
All things are passed away.
So we were in the flesh.
So the sinful passions, which were aroused by the law,
notice that is the law, the element of the law comes in.
We're at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
Use the word, he takes the word bear fruit to death,
bear fruit with results in death.
Then six now, verse six, he says,
but now we have been delivered from the law,
having died to what we were held by,
so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter.
In the newness of the spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter.
Let me read it to Ross from the NLT.
It says, we were controlled by our old nature,
which makes it clear that the flesh there
is not speaking about physical body.
Sinful desires were working,
well, we say we're at work within us.
And the law arouse this evil desire
that produce a harvest of sinful deeds resulting in death.
Six now say, but now we have been released from the law,
but we died to it and are no longer captive to its power.
Now we can serve God,
not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law,
but in the new way,
I like the way we use the new way of living in the spirit.
So the analysis ends with,
or we serve God in the new way of living in the spirit.
And I want you to pay attention to the use of it.
I told us that in the spirit, in Christ,
all of those things points to the reality,
the new birth, the identity that we have in Christ.
It's not anything different.
It's the identity that we have,
the new identity that we have in Christ.
And we want to be reminded of this identity.
We want to be reminded of the things that has been accomplished.
So what is, when you contrast that,
don't think that Paul is saying that he is still there,
there's still law, he's still battling this and that.
You want to understand that he's talking about his past
and then he's making reference to where he's at now,
walking in the new way of living. As I said,
know that there is a mindset.
There is the walk now, is a walk of understanding that,
look, there has to be a shift in the mindset.
And as I said, the shift in the mindset
comes from our interaction with God's Word,
comes from an interaction with the spirit
that renews our mind.
The spirit of God renews our mind.
And that is why, as believers,
our goal is to consistently allow for,
when we pray, when we pray,
when we read God's Word, when we are taught God's Word,
it's the renewing of our mind that ensures
that we align ourselves to the will and the dictates
of the God that we serve,
the will and dictates of God that we serve.
So we want to very clearly distinguish what it is,
the law and what it is that happens under the law,
what the experiment is under the law.
Now, when you're reading and looking at the word flesh,
you want to know what is the context,
what are they talking about?
Is it flesh physical body or is it flesh without God
or the old nature?
And know that if it's making reference to that,
you know that we have a new nature.
So if it looks like it's contradictory,
you want to pay attention to what it's saying
when you see the word flesh.
There are many other things.
And I want you in your study of God's Word,
especially when you're reading all of that,
when it says in the body, it says flesh.
You want to be able to pay attention.
I think we'll see one more in some way,
and I'll bring attention to it when we see it.
So I want us to now quickly move
and let's look at Romans 8 verses 2,
where it says,
for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus,
for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made us free from the law of sin and death.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made us free from the law of sin and death.
Remember we say in Christ,
the spirit that we have, the spirit of life,
say the law of the spirit of life,
and that is what has made us free.
We have been set free.
So we're no longer bound to our past, has nothing on us.
We are living victoriously
because of that thing that has happened.
We are unable to live victorious life over sin
through what Christ has done by the power of his spirit.
So a believer knowing this doesn't say,
oh, I can't, it has a hold on me.
I don't know how to stop it.
I can't control myself.
I can't, you know, you don't know this.
You don't have an understanding of your identity
because you lack that understanding.
You say, oh, I don't, I'm powerless.
Anytime it comes, I'm just powerless.
I don't know why you want to come to that reality
other consciousness of the fact that the victory
that has been won has been won totally.
It's not, there's no part of the victory won.
And then when you have to pray more
and then it will not happen.
No, that is not what it is.
So that the law of the spirit means the principle
and the authority of a spirit led life.
That the, that authority, that law,
that thing that bounds, it's solid.
It's so solid that there is nothing
that you can't vacillate between it.
And your lack of, your not understanding,
it doesn't mean that it is available to you.
It, you're not, your lack of consciousness
or it just means that you will feign powerlessness
in the face of it, but you have that power
and that authority because you, that is what you have.
That is what you possess, praise God.
You see, and embracing this life means
that we are going to continue to yield to God's guidance.
We're going to continue to see the victory.
We're going to, but he's going to walk us through it.
He's going to carry us through it.
And we're going to know in favor.
And that's why relationship transformation,
all of those things work with our consciously
interfacing God's word.
And that's what God will do.
When you look into God's word, it comes at you.
You will be, you will have power.
You have understanding that will help you.
Because I said, it's a mindset thing.
That's why knowledge is needed for us to be able to,
to walk in it.
So that, that understanding that God is always walking in us.
He's always walking in us.
He's always walking on our minds,
always walking on our faculties.
He's always walking, walking, walking, walking
will help us to know that there's no time,
there's no point in time where we're powerless.
There's no point in time where we lack what,
what to do, where to go.
We're not trying, we don't come and then we say,
I don't know what God, I don't know what, what I'm to do.
I'm not, you, you, you, you, you can't say that
because you know that, that at every point in time,
God will not leave you at every point in time.
God gives you what you need.
God makes sure that you're walking in his will
and according to his will.
Philippians 2 verse 13, it says,
for it is God who walks in you.
Notice he says, it is God who walks in you.
How does he walk in us?
He walks in us by his spirit,
both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
It is God that walks in us to will and to do.
And we know that he had done that as a wish.
That is basically how we come into it.
And he continues to do that.
He doesn't go on sabbatical.
The word, the word they walk is in the jail.
It's, it's a constant, it's actively walking in us,
energizing us to do this.
We learn to do two of his pleasure.
Praise God.
We're not, we don't come and then we say,
we're powerless in the face of, of, of challenges
or we're powerless in the face of situation.
We know what to do.
We know how to do the things that we need to do
because we remember we see,
being in Christ means that every other thing is gone.
Everything without God, it's gone out of the way.
We have a new nature.
We're born of the spirit.
We're born of God.
We sing it that as a church.
And we want to sing more.
We're singing these things,
reminding ourselves, affirming ourselves of our reality,
affirming ourselves to be in dwell in,
in dwelling presence of the spirit within us.
And note that the dwelling presence of the spirit
in us produces a character and a nature consistent
with the identity that we have in Christ.
I will keep saying that and keep saying that
until the sing sin, you know,
that our new identity is tied to his presence in us.
It's not tied to anything else.
It's tied to his presence in us.
If we, if we, if we lose sight of that,
we lose sight of everything,
which is what brought us to this place in the first place.
Praise God.
And that is what will lead us to the,
the Galatians five verses 22 and 23.
We're going to spend a bit of time to look at
before we close.
We in the Galatians five to 22 and 23 says,
but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
Against such, there is no law.
And I want us to see that in Galatians, right?
And that's in Galatians 18.
In that 18, in that Galatians five is 18.
What he says is that we are, we are led by the spirit
and we're not under the law.
So what he says, but if you are led by the spirit
and you're not under the law,
I read it from the NLT says,
but when you are directed by the spirit,
you're not under obligation to the law.
It says the law of Moses.
So understand that, as I said earlier,
there's a walk in the spirit and there's a,
because your walk in the spirit means that he's the one
that word led there.
We see that same word in Romans eight verse 14.
We see that same, that word led, it's a go.
And it means that we're carried.
It means that there's the leading, the carrying,
the movement is not, we are empowered to move.
We're not motionless, we're not static,
we're not confused, praise God,
because we, the spirit of God is very much a strong
and a solid resource.
And out of that spirit, certainly we see the things
that comes that flows forth.
This is bought this fruit.
And please, when you, when we are reading,
you want to look at single and plural.
Sometimes you might not pay attention to it,
but when you keep reading, you'll see it.
It says, but the fruit of the spirit is love.
It did not say the fruits of the spirit.
It says the fruit of the spirit.
And I want you to pay attention because that is very critical
to what is being said here.
It says the fruit of the spirit.
And know that if you are looking at the fruit
and then you're, they say fruit, you should see one.
You should not start going, the fruit of the spirit is love,
is, and you know, that means that what you are thinking
it is, is not what it is.
Because if you're thinking, if you're,
if you were to read this properly in English,
you will say the fruits of the spirit is,
and then you now start going.
But since this word here is not in original English,
so we have to go to the word in it,
the word that is used in the Greek.
And the word there is carpos.
And I, anytime I say this word, it just makes me laugh
because it's like carpos.
And carpos is also a fruit, it's melon, watermelon.
The watermelon.
So it's carpos, that's K-A-R-Car and pos, K-A-R-P-O-S.
K-A-R-P-O-M, K-A-R-P-O-S.
And that's the word.
And it means to, it is to produce.
And it's, it signifies both character and outcome.
And we look at certain, we'll look at other places where,
and know that this fruit now is not a result of self effort.
And I'll keep saying it.
This is not a result of self effort,
but is the Holy Spirit walking in us and walking through us.
It's a result of the Holy Spirit walking in us
and walking through us.
We're not the ones, the same way when we say at salvation,
we, it is not our, we were not the ones
that save ourselves by ourselves.
It's what Christ has done that brings us in.
And anything that's manifested in our throughout life
is a product of what Christ has done.
It's a product of what Christ has done.
So I want us to look at certain places in scripture,
mostly the New Testament, where the word fruit is used.
And we'll see that all of them doesn't necessarily mean
the same thing.
Because when we think of fruit,
we think of the fruit that you,
well, there's certain places where it used
as the physical fruit from a tree
or physical fruit from a vine or whatever.
That's certain places.
And I'll read through the scripture
and we'll see also there are certain places
where it makes reference to action.
So one, there are places where the ways that fruit
will be described or we'll see fruit used in the Bible.
One is a place, is a physical fruit from a tree,
physical fruit from a tree.
And two, we can see it as action, deeds,
or results of an action.
And you can see the rewards or the consequences of that.
And then the last one, it will be used for descendants,
descendants or child or children.
You can use descendants, child or children.
So you can see it in mainly, mainly those three formats.
And a lot of it will be in the second,
a lot of it in the second.
So I'm just giving us these three.
So we can look at it.
So we'll look at Mark, Mark 11, Mark 11, 14.
And we'll see it used as a physical fruit from a tree,
physical fruit from a tree.
And this is Jesus, this is Jesus speaking to,
Mark 11 verse 14, this is Jesus speaking to the tree.
In response, Jesus said to it,
let no one eat fruit from you ever again.
And his disciples heard it.
So this is Jesus speaking to a tree,
but we knew the background story is that he went to look for,
he saw the fig tree was levy
and then he went to look for fruit from it.
And then he said this thing.
So this is where he's used.
Like I said, it means that we see it as that,
that you're looking for a real or a physical fruit.
And then also in Luke 13, 6 to 9,
we see Jesus speaking of a parable of a barren fig.
He is making reference to that as the fruit is so,
from the fig tree itself.
And you can, I want you to write this down.
Luke 13, 6 to 9, we'll not read it.
We know the parable and we know that what we make,
what we made reference to is the fig itself in the parable.
And then I want you to contrast it with Isaiah 5, 1 to 7.
And in your own personal study or your own personal reading,
just contrast it and see,
is the song of the vineyard in Isaiah,
Isaiah 5, 1 to 7, in contrast to the Luke 13, 6 to 9.
Then I want us to move to the action deeds
and the result of an action.
Action deeds and result of an action.
I would say the result of an action
can be rewards or consequences.
So it can be good, which is the reward
and it can be consequences,
which can be negative in a sense.
So I want us to look at Matthew.
Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
Yeah, Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
And I want us to read this says,
you will know them by their fruits.
See, you will know them by their fruits.
Do men get figs from torn bushes or figs from tisils?
Question mark.
Even so, every good tree bears good fruits,
but every bad tree bears bad fruits.
So if you look at the first bit,
it says you will know them by their fruits.
So we know that this is speaking of results of act,
like somebody's, like when somebody acts,
you can trace to it.
And then it now goes further to say every good tree
bears bad fruits.
And know that that second verse 17
will be speaking of the tree
and the fruit from the tree, physical fruit from the tree,
but know that it's making reference to individuals
that you can tell by the action.
So we say the good fruits.
And remember all of these things
are contrasting to things.
Something that is good and something that is bad.
And then also let's look at Romans 1 verse 13.
And Apostle Paul is speaking,
and I want you to look at the context
and see how it's used.
I know that all these words here for fruits
is the same capos.
So 1 verse 13, it says,
now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren,
that I often plan to come, what was in that until now,
that I may have some fruit among you also,
just as among the other Gentiles.
Know that it says some fruit.
In the NLT, it says spiritual fruit.
NLT uses the word spiritual fruit.
Know that the fruit here will be meaning the reward
or results of him preaching the gospel, praise God,
will be the reward or the result of him preaching the gospel.
So this is some,
and because I know that it's not physical fruit,
it is spiritual fruit,
like the reward of what seeds on here,
gotten a reward.
So I want us to look at Philippians now.
We'll see, Philippians 1, we'll see two verses there.
Philippians 1 verse 11 and 22.
So 11 says, being filled with the fruits,
and please look at, it says fruits of righteousness,
which are by, it says fruits, and then we see one,
it says fruits of righteousness,
which are by Christ to the glory of God
and the praise of God.
We can see that there are instances
where you can have the one word,
because even when we looked at a good tree,
having or bearing good fruit, it's a good tree.
Know that on a tree, you have many fruits of the same kind.
On a tree, you can have many fruits of the same kind.
So if it says a good tree,
and then it says just one fruit, good fruit,
it says a good fruit, it does not say good fruits.
So it means that the words can go,
you can have that because it's explaining,
it's explaining that, okay,
something that is good will produce this.
Then we say, we saw in the Philippians 1 verse 11,
where it says being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
and then 22, I want us to look at 22.
22 now is where we'll see that use of the,
we'll see flesh now.
It says, what I leave on in the flesh,
this will mean fruit for my label,
yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell.
Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell.
Remember what it says, it says,
he now, this is still a possible speaking,
he says, I leave on in the flesh.
I leave on the flesh.
But if you look at it from the,
on the different translation,
if you look at from the NLTU,
see that he, the NLT uses, in 22,
it says, but I leave and I do more fruitful work.
I don't really know which one's better.
If you look at even the 11,
let me show you the 11,
it says, now fruit of your salvation,
righteous character produced by spirit of honor.
So let's go, going back to the 22,
you know that if it says, I leave in the flesh,
it means the physical body.
It's not when it says, leave in the flesh,
it doesn't mean leave simple nature or the old nature.
So it says, this will mean fruit for my labor.
This will mean that, oh, there'll be,
there's a result, there's a reward.
There's a reward for every labor.
There's a reward, so as I said,
there's a reward for every labor.
So on this one now, you know that it's very much
not talking about the physical fruit,
it's talking about the reward of his labor.
And let's look at Romans again,
Romans 22, Romans 6, 22, sorry, Romans 6, 22 and 23.
It says, but having been set free from sin
and having become slaves to God,
you have your fruit to holiness.
It says, your fruit to holiness
and the end everlasting life,
and the end everlasting life.
For the widows of sin is dead,
for the gift of God is eternal life in Christ,
Jesus our Lord.
And if you look at it here, it says,
you have your fruit, the righteousness.
So it means that the fruit will refer to what happens
to a man when he's no longer on the scene,
no longer a servant to sin.
So this will be making reference to a man
now that is in Christ, a man that is in Christ.
And notice what it says, it says,
oh, the widows of sin is dead, but the gift of God,
remember when we talked about the gift of God,
gift of God is eternal life, a translation will say,
everlasting life, and then we see that,
it says to the end, because we have the fruit
to righteousness and the end is the same everlasting life.
So everlasting life, eternal life,
still making reference to the same thing.
So it means that if word fruit here will be making reference
to a man that is in Christ, a man that is in the spirit
or a man that has his work and has the spirit of God in them.
So I want us to look at the Ephesians, Ephesians 2,
says we'll see the same thing in Ephesians
and we'll look at it in New King James,
Ephesians 5 is eight and nine, Ephesians 5 is eight and nine.
I want us to look at Ephesians 5, eight and nine.
It says, you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Notice the work, say, walk as children of light,
means that the way, manner, character,
all of those things will be consistent with
our new reality and identity.
Say, for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness and truth.
If you look at that in New King James,
you will notice that there's on the spirit there,
you will see the, I think you depend on
which you have with you.
You will see that there's, you'll see it marked there.
If you look at it on your, on your,
on your, the subscript, you will see NU.
We say it's the Nestle, Allen Greek New Translation,
we have discussed that in the Nestle, Allen Greek New
Translation and the United Bible says,
and you see light there.
In that you see light, in that you see light.
So it means that it will be the spirit of,
the fruit of the spirit of light,
the fruit of the spirit of light.
From the NLT you see this is,
for once we were full of darkness,
but now you have light from the Lord.
Say, so leave as people of light,
leave as people of light.
See for this light, and like the verse nine says,
for this light within you produces only what is good
and right and true, praise God.
For this light in you produces only what is good
and right and true.
So the last one we should be looking at before we close
is in Acts 2.30, which is the one that has to do
with descendants, Acts 2.30.
And it says, therefore, being a prophet
and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him,
that that of the fruit of his body,
so uses the word fruit of his body,
according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ
to sit on his throne.
So the fruit there will mean descendants.
If you look at it from NLT, you see that is descendant.
And you see on that instance in Luke 1, verses 24, 42, sorry,
where we see Elizabeth speaking to Mary.
And she says, blessed are you amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And we know that the fruit of the womb there
will be making reference to the child.
We're making reference to a child.
So as I said, you can have it as the fruit from a tree.
You can have it as action deeds or the results of an action,
which can be the reward or the consequences.
And then lastly, you can have it as a descendant,
descendant or child or children.
And all of this is to the end, I will understand that
what we have in Christ or what we have by the spirit
or what we have with the spirit residing in us is from God.
And that expression of manifestation is through us,
is produced by his person in us.
And as a result of the identity we have in Christ,
it's not our walkings that makes it work.
What we are to do is as the words,
we are to make manifest that which resides in us.
And he says, living by the spirit and note that we said,
renewing our minds ensures that we are able to walk
in the fullness of what we have received.
Renewing our mind ensures that we walk in the fullness
of what we have received.
Galatians 5 verses 24 to 25 says,
and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh.
You know that when we say crucified the flesh here,
it's speaking of the old nature.
Within, we say with its passions and desires,
looks like it's passionate desires.
If we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit.
It says, if we live in the spirit,
let us walk in the spirit.
And I like the way NLT puts it, it says,
those who belong to Christ have new passion and desires
of their sinful nature to the cross
and crucified them therefore.
25 now says, since we are living by the spirit,
I love the way it says,
since we are living by the spirit,
because we are living by the spirit,
let us follow the laws leading in every part of our lives.
Let us follow the laws leading in every part of our life.
So living in the spirit is,
what it ensures that we do is that we go through a process
of allowing our minds be renewed by the spirit of God.
Meaning that there's a transformation that takes place,
our minds are renewed,
and as we daily walk in that knowledge and identity
that we have of our reality in Christ,
we think very differently, we walk very differently.
And the fruits find the expression through our characters
that renew our mind,
is anchored on what we have received.
And this manifestation happens,
and we're allowing the fruits that we have received
to be displayed in our true life.
So it means that as believers,
we're not praying or we're not looking,
we're not saying, oh, I want love to be made,
I want more love to be manifest.
That would be, you not knowing that you have
the full expression of God's divine love already.
What you should seek to do is to make it manifest.
What to seek to do is to see it from God's word.
Anybody that's doing anything otherwise
is because they have a knowledge problem,
is because we don't know,
or we refuse to act on the word of God,
what the word of God says.
And the word of God is coming to us to help us to see,
and to know that we have everything that we need for life,
we need for life,
or everything that we need for life and for goodness,
we have all of those things,
because we have gotten it as salvation,
and we are meant to walk in it.
We're not receiving more joy,
we're not receiving more peace,
we're not receiving more.
All of those things are already residing in us.
We are making them manifest.
So in closing, I just want us to just declare this word,
because I belong to Jesus.
Because I belong to Jesus, I live by the Spirit.
I live by the Spirit.
I'm empowered to follow the Spirit's leading in all things.
I say yes to his promptings.
I know, and I see,
I know, and I see every of God's resources,
or abilities manifest through my life.
I know, and I see every of God's abilities,
and resources manifest in and through my life.
My mind is continually transformed by the word,
and I grow spiritually.
My mind is continually transformed by the word,
and I grow spiritually.
God's ability is manifested in and through my life.
God's resources is manifested in and through my life
in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen and amen.
Thank you for listening to today's sermon.
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