Gospel of John [Joh 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 56. Joh 17:15; 1Co 6:12-13; 10:23-33.

Title: Gospel of John [JOH 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 56. JOH 17:15; 1CO 6:12-13; 10:23-33.

 

Announcements/opening prayer: 

 

 

The positive command to "walk by means of the Spirit."

 

Though thus hidden from observation, it is nonetheless the uncomplicated work of the Spirit. With the tremendous issue of the believer’s life in view, it is evident that definiteness in the matter of the believer’s attitude of trust is of major importance.

 

Yet, there is very strong opposition to this trust and resultant walk by the Spirit. The scripture discloses that the believer faces unceasingly on the negative side of his spiritual life three superior foes - the world, the flesh, and the devil.

 

On the positive side of his spiritual life he faces the superhuman responsibility of producing the fruit of the Spirit and growing to maturity, to the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ through the Spirit's filling and his consistent education in the scriptures. It's quite a life for those who take the time to see it and understand it.

 

How could such a journey be undertaken if it were not for the filling of the Spirit, the finished work and victory of the Lord, the constant comfort from the Father's plan, and the constant reminders of the promises of God who has manifested the most dramatic change to a fallen creature in the history of history?

 

There is a two-fold victory: 1) the conflict with foes. 2) the God honoring manner of life and service. Both depend on an unhindered relationship to the Spirit.

 

The victory both in the sphere of conflict with foes and in the sphere of a God-honoring manner of life and service depends wholly on a relationship to the Spirit which is unhindered with respect to the presence of evil and actively reliant on Him for the outworking of His perfect will.

 

The child of God has to confront the question of his actual dependence on the indwelling Spirit. The correct application of faith [guidance of the Spirit] will become effective spiritual living in which the yoke is easy and the burden light and the life is filled with great, divine joy.

 

There are those who rebel against this faith dependence just as there are those who rebel against the teaching that salvation is by faith. The legalist and the licentious believer err at opposite ends of the spectrum and deny a victory of life through faith in ministry of God the Holy Spirit to teach, lead, and empower. However, this does not in any way nullify the vital importance of this doctrine. It is not a matter of a few proof-texts from the scripture but is a running theme throughout the New Testament. It is taught at length and shown to be vital to the believer's life. It is never watered down in order to accommodate our weaknesses in the flesh. It spares no words in describing the weakness of our flesh and our need of dependence upon God for every step in our walk through this life. It is a sanctity of life that is truly divine and of the image of Christ Himself. It is wrought by God through a willing believer who intelligently pursues it with God in a full education of the word of God and practicing the application of that faith and word in his own life.

 

Walking by the Spirit is one of the most vital elements in this age that is characterized by the word grace.

 

A brief look at our three enemies.

 

The world system: The arrangement and order of things in which man exists, which is alienated from God and acts in opposition to Him and His revelation.

 

There is a power in the world system. The Christian standards of spiritual life become all the more difficult to attain in view of the corrupting influence of the present world system.

 

When Christ prayed for His disciples, He did not ask that they be immediately taken out of the world, but rather that they be kept from evil in the world.

 

JOH 17:15 "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

 

The believer is in the world bodily, but spiritually “in the heavenlies.”

 

I want to first discuss the differences between the world system that is the cosmos and the kingdom of God that is in Christ so that we can get a picture in our minds of the issue at hand. Then we will proceed to the scripture references.

 

Since the beginning of the Church there has been the type of Christian who has recognized in some way that the world is corrupt and opposed to the program of God and their solution has been to remove themselves from some or all parts of the system. The first monks existed barely a hundred years after the birth of the Church. They quickly became celebrities. Asceticism is not Christianity but originates from human arrogance and ignorance. Yet the believer is not to be a friend of the world. Being in the world is not necessarily being of the world.

 

While all things are perverted by the world system, the believer who knows the truth behind all things is not of the world system.

 

So a believer may partake of anything in the world that is not in a manner of sin. He may go places that are not in a manner of sin. He may do things that are not in a manner of sin. Yet every believer must determine for himself if a certain thing, place, or exploit is going to lead him into sin or failure and he alone must determine if should partake, go, or do. No one is his judge in this. Therefore, the definition of what is exactly worldly can sometimes become blurry when a wide variety of Christians are considered. As we have seen in this doctrine, rules are of little importance here. The believer's commitment to the ministry of the Spirit, the mind and person of Christ, and the Father's predestination is what is of extreme importance.

 

1CO 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

 

1CO 6:13 Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body.

 

With the illustration of food, a hot topic in his day because much of the meat sold at the marketplaces were sacrificed to idols, Paul asks, "Why should I be mastered by anything that is destined to perish?"