Overview
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
We are trying to serve God in the newness of Spirit. To walk the Christian walk is to walk after the Spirit. Not to walk after the flesh, or man, or religion, or tradition, but after the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. And we come across this verse that says, “Hey! If you are to walk after the Spirit, then you must mind the THINGS of the Spirit!” So we ask the question: “What are the THINGS of the Spirit?” We’ve gone through this Holy Bible and found some THINGS. What were they?
#1 Beginning
Galatians 3:3 has the expression, “…having begun in the Spirit…” One of these THINGS of the Spirit is this thing of beginning; new beginnings.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
It’s the Spirit of God that creates this new creature. It’s the Spirit of God that convicts, and woos a sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the Spirit of God that baptizes him into the body of Christ: into his death, burial, and resurrection! New beginnings are one of the THINGS of the Spirit.
#2 Praying
Ephesians 6:18 Paul admonishes us to be, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” When we bow our knees and humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God, we enter into the domain and power of the Holy Ghost. Why? Because we know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. I hear alot about the power of prayer. Do you know how much power it takes to get the space shuttle into the heavens? They had to attach this huge rocket to the bottom of that shuttle to get it out of our atmosphere. Without it, it wouldn’t get off the ground. The Sprit of God is our rocket to the heavenly throne room of grace.
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:3-4
That smoke carried up those prayers to the throne of God. How do you think our prayers gonna get there. The Holy Spirit. His THING is prayer.
#3 Worship
God is not interested in our man-made worship. God takes worship seriously:
Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Amos 5:21-23 I hate, I despise your feast days… Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings… Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Worship is also the Sprit’s THING. It’s something that we certainly cannot do without him. We ought to spend more time on worship. Everybody has their own idea of what a worship service should be like. I wonder what God thinks it should be like? Anyhow, one of the Spirit’s THINGS is worship.
#4 Waiting
Galatians 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. As we discussed last time, waiting is not just moping around doing nothing. Waiting for the hope of righteousness by faith IS waiting for the blessed hope and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We compared this to parable of the 10 virgins: five with oil, five without. They were waiting for the bridegroom. We showed how that oil they had in their lamp was a picture of the Holy Ghost, and concluded that waiting through the Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Ghost and to burn for God. Waiting through the Spirit is letting the Spirit of God have his way in your heart in this present hour. Waiting through the Spirit is a holy anticipation for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Waiting through the Spirit is looking up, and lifting up your heads, for your redemption is drawing nigh. Luke 21:28 Let me ask you this: What does a waiter do? A waiter is a servant, busy and attentive to the call of his master.
#5 Sowing
One THING of the Spirit is to sow: Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. We spent the entire message last time on this one verse. I found it necessary to read the entire context to get a better understanding of the verse. And I believe in exploring that context, we stumbled upon the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. And I really believe that it was clear that sowing to the Spirit was really and truly the same as the Spirit producing fruit in the Christian life. Sowing is the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. Paul gives us a real good example of how the fruit of the Spirit manifests itself in the life of the believer. He talked about restoring one overtaken in a fault, about bearing one another’s burdens, about proving your own work, and sharing with the brethren what the word of God has done in your life. I believe the point was that if we sow to the spirit, if we allow the Spirit to bear fruit in our life, to God, to man, and to ourselves, we shall OF THE SPIRIT, reap life everlasting. I think the emphasis was on the fact that that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. The life we now live and things we do are of a spiritual nature and have spiritual results. And we had some things to say about that ‘life everlasting’ and what exactly is Paul talking about. Is he really talking about our salvation or of the salvation of others. And I won’t get into all that again, but I will say this: Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2 What do labourers do in the harvest? They reap! He said, “Of the SPIRIT reap life everlasting!” So sowing and reaping are also the THINGS of the Spirit.
Two New Thing for Today
They that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit. So that’s what we’ve covered thus far. What other things are there? What are the other THINGS of the Spirit. I want to look two today: Speaking and Preaching in the Spirit. This is what comes out of our mouths. This topic has great significance in the life of the Christian: The Tongue. I want you to hear the words of Jesus Christ:
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:33-37
Think about this: What are the everlasting ramifications of what we let out of mouth. Do we consider the eternal consequences of simply opening up our mouth? No wonder Paul admonished the church in Thessalonica, 1 Thes 4:11 “And that ye study to be quiet…” I remember a preacher used to always say, “You’ll find out what inside, when it get’s shaken up. Whatever’s inside will come out!” And I guarantee you, it’ll come out of the mouth. Oh the tongue! Let me read a few passages from the bible, concerning the tongue.
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? Psalms 12:2-4
They say, “Our lips are our own!” Paul would say, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:19) Let me state it plainly. Our mouth, being that it is most definitely part of our body, our mouth, lips, and tongue, if we are saved, everything belongs to God. They do not belong to us. Call it our mouth, lips, or tongue; this apparatus here that produced words and sounds; it belongs to God.
Another thing I see from this passage is that there’s consequences to what we say. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things. When a person is cut off, what does it mean? It means he’s separated. The LORD said he shall CUT OFF all flattering lips and proud speaking tongues. Sound painful doesn’t it? There will be consequences to what we say. Say what you please but know the words of Jesus, “…every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Do you remember Lazarus? In hell, the rich man said, “Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool…” What? “…my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” In hell he said “Cool my TONGUE!” Oh the tongue.
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. Psalms 64:2-4
The sword is used to kill, to bring down, to hurt, to cut deep. So is the tongue. The bible compares the tongue to a sword, a weapon, a blade that is sharped for battle. It can take life, destroy, threaten, and pillage. It’s not the sword though that’s doing it, it’s the one that wields it. Much like guns today. People want to blame the guns for killing people. But it’s people that pull the trigger. It’s people that use these instruments. They can be instrument of freedom or instruments of tyranny. It depends on who is using them. It depends on who owns them. So is the sword. Likewise is the tongue. It depends on who owns it. Is it “Our lips are our own” or is it “ye are not your own”? We’re gonna have to decide. If man owns the tongue, it’s an instrument of tyranny, an instrument of hate.
The bible says that the words that come out are bitter and likens them to arrows; arrows like swords are weapons used kill, to hurt, and to destroy. The prophet Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 9:8) “Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.” He’s simply saying what Jesus was saying, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Jeremiah also was the one that said that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Let me read that again, “one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he layeth wait.” Lies and flatteries are cover for what is in the heart, deceitfulness and murder. In heart he layeth wait. That means he waits to kill, like a lion or a wolf. One may speak peaceably, but beware that it may be a trap or a snare.
The bible says that these bitter words are shot in secret at the perfect. “…That they may shoot in secret at the perfect…” Usually, we shoot our criticism at people for one reason: to bring them down in order to lift ourselves up. In other words, it’s the upright that get shot at. It’s usually the ones doing right or the ones doing better than us that are getting all the arrows shot at them. I’ve found that to be more and more true. The ones that are standing up for right, doing right, fearing God and taking a stand. Those are the ones to where the arrows shall fly! Those are the one to which the wicked take aim. And in secret? The arrows always fly but seldom can you see where they came from. When we criticize someone, we rarely ever do it to their face, do we? You say, “I don’t do that!” The bible says “That they may shoot in secret at the perfect.” That reminds me of Jesus because Jesus was perfect. You think about what they did to him. The bible says that “they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?” Those people that crucified Jesus, are a picture and a type of you and me, especially as a sinner and lost. There’s a song that the kids sing. The words go as such “Behold the man upon a cross; My sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished…” Thank God Jesus said at the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!” As long as man owns and controls the tongue, it’s an instrument of unrighteousness; a sword and and an arrow stained with the blood of men. The bible talks about having blood on our hands, yes. But what about blood on our tongues.
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things… James 3:2-5
If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. James is saying that if a man can keep from offending people in word that man is a perfect man, or a mature man. And that man is able also to bridle the whole body, or control the whole body. James is saying that if you can control your tongue, you can control your whole body. He compares it to a bit in a horse’s mouth or to the helm of a ship. It’s a small thing, but wherever that bit goes that horse goes. Wherever that helm goes, that whole ship go. If you can get that tongue to go in the right direction, most likely the whole body will go with it. But then he goes on to explain what happens when you don’t control it.
…Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:5-8
Now this does not negate what James just said. I think it better explains it. James just got finished saying that if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body. But then he says that no man can tame the tongue. He’s contrasting the two directions the tongue can take you. The tongue on one hand can control the body and steer it, or the tongue can be like wildfire and defile the whole body. I believe that James in this first part is making clear that yes, the tongue can be tamed. The tongue can be controlled. But in this second part, he makes clear that it’s not man that tames it. He can tame birds, he can tame serpents, and he can tame every kind of beast, but man cannot tame the tongue. But there is someone that can:
Speaking in the Spirit
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. Matthew 10:16-20
Who can tame and control the tongue? The Holy Spirit of God can tame the tongue. So here we have another THING of the Spirit. They that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. Speaking in the Holy Spirit is one of those THINGS. I’m not talking about other tongues. I’m talking about your tongue. He sad to take no though how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. Glory to God! For it is not ye that speak, but praise the Lord, the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. Stephen was a good example of Speaking in the Spirit. Stephen was delivered up to the council: The bible says:
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, Acts 6:8-12
And you all know what happened next. He opened up his mouth and gave that council the entire history of the Jews, from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses to David and Solomon, and when he got to the prophets he laid in on them:
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Acts 7:51-52
Of course, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and not in a good way. And what did Stephen do? The bible says that he looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God. And then he did this: he spoke. And the bible says that he was full of the Holy Ghost when he spoke. “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven…” He said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost. Stephen was speaking in the Spirit. Can I say this: Stephen was minding the things of the Spirit; he was speaking in the Spirit. You know the rest of the story. They rushed him and took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
Now I don’t think speaking in the Spirit, will always bring about our death. But rather, speaking in the Spirit ought to be our normal Christian life. Remember in Matthew 12:37 Jesus said, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” By thy words thou shalt be condemned. That’s what it says: condemned. Now I want to contrast that to what we’ve been reading in Romans. In verse 1, it says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” So being in Christ Jesus, and walking after the Spirit, our words will be affected. Make the tree good, and his fruit good. For the tree is know by his fruit. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. To be in Christ and walking after the Spirit, to be filled with Holy Ghost, is to bring forth good things. Good things. Good words, Amen? Speaking in the Spirit. Paul said, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Col 4;6)
Our words should never be used to bring other people down or to hurt them. We should always have good words, yet not flatteries and lies. Those will also only hurt people in the long run. Speaking in the Spirit
Preaching in the Spirit
I want to cover just one more THING of the Spirit, and that’s preaching in the Spirit. This is also related to what comes out our mouth, the tongue. And I believe this goes for preaching, teaching, and witnessing. I’ll say this: Should we study our bibles? Yes. Should we study our doctrines? Yes. Should we meditate and think upon the things of God? Yes. Should we take notes, or write notes? Write outlines. Write our exhortation? Edit our exhortation? Yes. But I’ll say this: Without a touch from the Holy Spirit, it’s all in vain. And I can’t speak for anyone else, but I struggle with this a lot. If the Spirit of God does not give the preacher the words to say, then there’s no use in even saying. And if it’s not God’s words, then who’s words are they? They’re man’s words. And as be already covered, what is the end of man’s words but death and destruction. Listen, Jesus said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth and flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Oh how we preachers and those that will proclaim the love of Jesus to a lost and dying world, how we need the quickening of the Holy Ghost. How are words must be given wings of flight by the Holy Spirit, lest they just fall to the ground and go nowhere. Or worst than that, cause death and destruction. We’ll either point them to heaven or to hell. The truths and subject matter that we give our people must be conceived by the Holy Ghost. Our preaching and teaching must be carried by the Holy Ghost into the hearts of men, lest it does no where. Paul said this:
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5
That’s what we need. The power of God. We don’t need man’s wisdom. I’m not saying we shouldn’t study. I’m not saying we shouldn’t plan. I’m not saying we shouldn’t go to bible college, or read other books. I’m saying that we need the power of God. Souls are at stake. People are going to hell. People’s lives are being destroyed by sin and the devil. We need the power of God in our preaching and teaching. Our people are out in the world bombarded by the other side. Day in day out, cussing, blasphemy, every manner of sin and the devil and his devils are after our people all week long, and we’re supposed to take care of it in 30 minutes. How we need the power of God.
How we need a demonstration of the Spirit of God in the church house more than ever. How we need a demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God in our life today. Preaching is not just a book report, or a speech. First and foremost, we’re laying down the terms that God has given a lost and dying world. Paul said, (1 Thess 2:4) “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak…” We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel; the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to give people the terms of redemption; the terms of salvation; to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:16-19
If Jesus needed to be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to preach, how much more do we need an anointing of the Holy Ghost. Oh we don’t want to talk about that because that’s Pentecostal. We don’t want to talk about being FILLED with the Holy Ghost, because it’s too weird, too taboo. Amen? Preaching in the Spirit? Is there even such a thing?
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