Walk by the Spirit

January 6, 2024

PBSC 2024 | Dr. Alfred Poirier

Westminster Theological Seminary | Philadelphia

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

Topic: I Have Been Crucified with Christ

If you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to Galatians chapter five, and I'll be preaching from verses 16 through 25.

Fight the Good Fight

And let me begin with a story. On a trip to Cambridge England, my wife, Trudy she was here two years ago. She and I took lunch at a wonderful little pub called The Eagle. Maybe you've heard of it. The Eagle. It's in Cambridge. And it was established in 1667, no less. It's one of the oldest ongoing pubs around quite, quite amazing.

That's where Francis Crick and James Watson announced that they had discovered the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. But for me, more important than why I was there was actually because I knew that during World War II, the Royal Air Force used this pub, the Eagle, as something of a hangout.

And behind the darkened windows, you can imagine behind the darkened windows of the pub, these RAF pilots would gather and they would await new assignments there, talking and chatting. They would greet those friends of theirs that had just come off of their missions, flying over Nazi Germany, bombing.

They would grieve. They would grieve over those who never returned, and they would encourage one another to fight the good fight, and they were there not to die, but to live. And when I was there, I realized, you know, the eagle is, it's kind of like the church here. We gather with friends here. We gather and we hear reports of people who have gone on missions and come back are excited about God's work.

Galatians 5:16-25

And here, too, within the church, we grieve over those who have. Gone astray, left the faith, and we encourage one another to fight the good fight. And we too, like those RAF pilots, We too are not here to die, but to live. Well, Galatians 5, 16 through 25 is about war, and it's about life. It's about the war against the flesh, and it's about life lived in the spirit.

So with that in mind, I want to begin to read from this passage. And I'm going to make two notes. He's going to use the word flesh here. And in this context, flesh doesn't mean your material body. It means your sinful nature that still remains though it doesn't reign over us because of Christ. And the word spirit here that he uses is not our individual spirit, but it's the Holy Spirit.

So, with that in mind, hear now the word of the living God. Galatians five, beginning in verse 16.

“16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

And so ends the reading of God's Word. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for redeeming us through your own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As your children, teach us how to walk by the Spirit. As we wage war against sin, that we may bear the fruit of the spirit to your glory, and we pray this all in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.

Justification by Faith in Christ Alone

Well, during your conference yesterday, I got Pastor Alex's sermon. It was great because he was preaching from the same epistle of Paul, Galatians, from chapter 2, verse 16 in particular, and he told us how we are justified. Not by works, but by faith alone in Christ alone. And thank you so much. It was so edifying to me. Isn't it great that we're justified? The question for us today, and it was one for Paul, is if we are justified, how do the justified live? If we have this new life in Christ, And are right with God. How do we live? What's the precise character of this new life lived by faith in Christ? Christ who loved us and gave himself for us.

The War and the Walk

And this passage, Galatians 5, 16 through 25 is really Paul's answer to that. And in summary, he's basically telling us this is what it looks like. Those who are justified walk by the spirit as they wage war against the flesh. And those are my two main points today, the war and the walk, the war and the walk.

The Christian Life as a War

So first let's look at what he says about the war. The Christian life is a war. Look at what he says in verse 17 for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Three things.

1. The Present War

I find in that first that there is a war not was, but is it's present now, you know, a frequent question I was asked over my, when I was a pastor by new believers or people just unfamiliar with the Christian life was, you know, pastor, why do I keep on sinning? I try and then I stumble, have I lost my salvation?

And I would often tell them, no, what you are experiencing is the war. Your very fight against sin, your growing hatred of sin, right? It's proof that itself is evidence that you are walking by the spirit, that you are in Christ, you belong to Christ. And they would often ask, well, how so? And my answer was very simple.

Dead men don't fight, right? Those who are spiritually dead to God. And dead in sin, don't fight. They don't detect their sin. They don't examine themselves. They don't confess their sin. They don't seek to be holy dead. Men don't fight. However, at times, Christians, sadly, and all of us have given, we give in to sin, or we try to make a truce with sin.

I'll often hear it. I was pastoring or counseling people. They'd say, well, you know, pastor, that's just the way I am. I'm not rude. I'm just honest or what do you mean? I have to ask forgiveness. I didn't do anything wrong. Well, such is a false peace, and false peace is deadly. September 30th, 1938, the Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, had just returned from Nazi Germany from a meeting, and when he came up from his plane to a waiting crowd, he had a document in his hand, and he waved it.

And this is what he said. He said, “This morning, I have talked to the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler. And I have in my hand, this paper bears his name upon it and mine also. It was an agreement. Peace with honor. Peace for our time. And everybody clapped. We're gonna have peace. We've made truce with Hitler.” It was a false peace, wasn't it?

Within a year, Hitler would invade Poland and England would wake to war. Chamberlain, the so called man of peace, proved very naive, if not a fool. But listen, many of us Christians are like Chamberlain. We make a truce with sin. So what are you? Are you aware of the war that you're in? There is a war.

2. The War Within

Secondly, this war is a war within. Notice again, in verse 17, Paul points us not simply to the battle between flesh and spirit, but he speaks of their desires. The matter's deep in the heart. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. Do you understand what that means? This warfare Is within and that means it's at the level of our desires, not just outward behavior. People can act quite nicely outwardly, but inwardly. And it also means you can't escape it. It's within you. It follows you wherever you go. It's not to say that a few have tried. There's a great example from the early church.

One of the great biblical scholars of that time and for many centuries after and one of the great Bible translators. His translation lasted over a thousand years. His name was Jerome and he was born in a Christian family and he was sent to study in Rome. And there he struggled greatly against temptation and lust.

So he thought to remove himself far away from this world. This war, this corrupting city, and he did, he left Rome, he went to the Middle East, he went to Bethlehem, and he went into the desert to live, and he thought he was going to be away from this war. Do you think he escaped it? Not at all. He himself confessed later, he said, Oh, how often when I was stationed in the desert, I imagined that I was in the midst of the pleasures of Rome. I, who, because of the fear of hell, had condemned myself to such a hell, living in the desert, often thought I was dancing in a chorus with girls. My face was pale from fasting, but my mind burned with passionate desires. Jerome? Well, he discovered what many Christians have.

This is a war, where? Within. Within and it's a war of desires. You don't assume that when Paul is speaking here of the desires of the flesh, he's merely talking about sexual or sensual desires. Notice again in verse 19 through 21, what are the works of the flesh? Listen, verse 20. Idolatry. Idolatry is trusting in anyone or anything as a substitute for God. Sorcery. The use of illicit drugs for sinful purposes. Enmity. Strife. Jealousy. These are relational sins. Fits of anger. Rivalries. Dissensions. Divisions. In my work with Peacemaker, I had to go to many churches that were split. Divided within the church. We're not talking about believers versus unbelievers. We're talking in the church. He goes on envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. In other words, he could continue to still list them. Now, some of these sins are very hard to hide, like a fit of anger. But notice, many of these are silent. They're silent sins. They work in a stealth mode. Like envy, jealousy, selfish ambition.

3. The War Between Flesh and Spirit

So do you see then, not only are we in a war, But it's a war within and finally, it's a war. Notice again in verse 17, he speaks of the flesh and spirit against or contrary to. And he uses another word. He says they are opposed to each other. In other words, this is no minor altercation or skirmish or dispute. This is war. And as war, there is no. common ground. No place for compromise in a war. The desires of flesh and spirit contend against each other for every inch of ground. A foot gained by one side is lost by the other. They are in constant opposition. Listen, even now, as I am preaching, do you sense the war going on in your own hearts?

Have you ever wondered why sometimes it's hard to hear? Preaching. I do. I sit like you many, many Sundays. And my mind wanders. I think about the following week. I think about a relationship that I'm struggling with. Have you ever tried to pray and it's immediately, you have ten things that you need to do before praying? Why is this? Why is this? Do you recall Jesus parable of the sower? That when the seed is sown, he says, Like a bird, the devil dives in and tries to snatch away the word of God from your heart. Or, when a seed is sown, he says, The worries of life, like thorns, right, choke, distract you, so it doesn't take root.

You ever get distracted during a sermon? I do. And therefore, prior to going to a service, I will try to prepare my heart. And say, Lord, there's a fight within me, help me to yield myself and trust you and to listen. Well, it's a battle within, for they are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Verse 17 to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And listen, this war means that even the godly people that you will admire can have great. can fall greatly.

Do you remember David? We all know the story of David, don't we? If there ever was a man loved by God, it was David. David was chosen by God. The Lord called him his servant. The Lord said of David, he's a man after my own heart. What a way, God that said, you're a man after my own heart. And yet, who doesn't remember what David did? Adultery and murder. But I don't think that's the most important truth. Do you remember when he did it? When did he do it? Not when David was converted. Not when he took those five smooth stones. To slaughter Goliath, not when he fought the Lord's battles, not when he, he ran away from murderous Saul. When did David sin most egregiously? It's when he thought he was at rest. Remember he stayed at home. Everybody else went out to fight. David stayed home. He wasn't in the fight and he lies down on his bed and he gets restless. And then he wakes up and he gets back on his, on his roof, walks on his roof and he looks down and he sees Bathsheba bathing. And we know what happened. That momentary glance he gave into his flesh and what quickly followed, adultery, lying, deceit, murder from David.

Let that picture remind you. of sins power. Paul says elsewhere, let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Sometimes we can think that, you know, I'm mature enough I got this together I'm holy enough. Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. So what have we learned? We've learned three things.

That there is a war. That it is a war within and you cannot escape it. Don't try like Jerome did right? And finally that it is a war. It's a real battle. And you will fight this battle until the day you die or Christ's return. You don't get over it when you turn 25, or when you turn 45, or 65, or 75, or 85, or 95.

The War in Your Life

You never get over it. So let me ask you, do you sense this war in your own life? Does your life look like you are at war? At battle? When you pray. Do you cry out, Oh Lord, help me to put to death the desires of my flesh. Do you recognize yourself when you sing the hymn, Come Thou Fount? Do you sing the hymn, Come Thou Fount, Every Blessing?

There's a wonderful line in it. The writer writes, Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. And think of what's at stake. What is at stake in this war? Everlasting life or everlasting death. Paul, who was a consummate pastor, says that he warned them multiple times. Look at verse 21. I warn you, that's when he's writing.

I warn you as I warned you before. That those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Good pastors warn, right? Good parents warn their children. They warn of the dangers. Not once, but multiple times. And that's what Paul did. Because he knew what was at stake was eternal life.

Now, all of this about the war leaves us wondering, well then, what does it mean to live, right? How, how do we fight against sin? And Paul knows that. And that leads really to the second point of this message. It's Paul's second main point of this passage. Walk by the Spirit. There's a war. Therefore, let's walk by the spirit.

Walk By the Spirit

And how do, how do we do that? What does that mean? Well, Paul says two things, two main things in verse 24 and 25 that walk looks like we crucify our sinful nature. Verse 24. And secondly, that we keep in step with the spirit. Let's walk through those. Verse 24, Paul says, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Remember the flesh is your sinful nature. The old saints called this mortification. It's an old Latin. Latinized word. We just say putting sin to death, right? And Paul says this happened, right? Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. When did that happen? Well, it happened when you came to Christ.

When you were converted. When you were united with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, by faith, you were joined with Him. That's why Paul earlier says, I have been crucified with Christ. And he says here, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, but it's not just a one off event. That's when you begin, you're crucified.

You make a decisive breach with sin and sin's dominion over you and you become alive, right? Dead men don't fight, but now in the spirit, you are alive to Christ. And now daily you crucify the flesh. Do you recall Jesus? He's asking his apostles, who do you say I am? And right after Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Crucifying the Flesh

Jesus says this, if anyone would come after me, this is Mark 8 34. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. So what does he mean by take up the cross? Or sometimes you'll hear it as bear the cross. Many people sadly get confused and they think bearing the cross is enduring suffering, right?

Enduring a hardship of life. But that's not what Paul means. Remember what the cross is. It is the method of. Your execution. One of the things I really appreciate today is when I came in, somebody has set up a whole thing on crucifixion in the back, whoever did that is just absolutely beautiful, stunning.

I've never seen anything like it. That's what crucify, that's what bear the cross means. It's not merely enduring suffering or hardship. It was the instrument, the cross is the instrument of your death. So how do you crucify the flesh? I, I think Paul doesn't here tell us how. But Christ does, and we see it best when he was tempted.

Do you remember the passages of his temptation? Matthew 4 is a great passage. Matthew 4. Three things you'll find in Matthew 11 of how Jesus himself resisted, right, temptation. The first thing is he detects temptation. In verse 10, he says, Away from me, Satan. He calls it out, right? He calls it out. So you name the sin, you name the temptation.

That's an evil thought. It's a proud thought. It's a lustful thought. It's a discontent thought. It's a slothful thought, right? In Christ, remember who you are. You're an adopted son or daughter of the living God.

Do I? It's something else. Okay. Excuse me. I thought just as long as it's not me.

Remember who you are. You call out the sin. You call out the temptation as Jesus does. You remind yourself, I've been bought with a price. The blood of Christ. I must honor the Lord with my body. Secondly, counter temptations. Look again, what Jesus does when he was tempted to turn the stones into bread, he countered that temptation and every temptation that follows in a very similar way and in Matthew four, four, he says, it is written, that's the first thing out of his mouth.

It is written man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And he does this three times in each temptation. It is written, it is written, it is written. And he's actually citing scripture each time, right? They're all from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 8, 3, Deuteronomy 6, 16, and 13. And why is that? Well, what's the sword of the Spirit? The Word of God. The Word of God. Does that ever amaze you when you go to that temptation of Christ? Here is the Son of God in the flesh. And when the devil himself, Satan himself, attacks him. Christ resists that temptation, fights against that temptation because he thinks the only powerful weapon, the only weapon powerful enough to resist Satan is the Word of God.

If Christ uses the Word of God to fight temptation, who are we not to? And to me, Jesus looks like a young boy coming out of Sunday school who's been memorizing scripture. It is written, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. It tells you something. He had to store that in his heart.

He had to think about that. He had to say, when would I use that? And what temptations would I use it with? So you name the sin, call it out, away from me Satan. You attack it by scripture. You recite scripture. Thirdly, you replace that wicked desire with a godly desire. What would be a godly desire? Well, Paul tells us here in Galatians.

Godly Desires

It's the fruit of the Spirit. Oh Lord, hear I'm being tempted. Grant me the desires of your Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Fix your minds on those desires. But what if sin entraps you? What if sin really has caught you? Maybe you're here today and sin has really laid hold of you.

Jesus in Matthew 5 says, take radical violent action. Against your sin. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. Right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. He doesn't mean literally. We know that. But he says, you just don't sit there and bemoan that you're caught in sin. You do something radical. You take radical action.

So that's how Jesus fought against sin. We're asking, how do you crucify the flesh daily? And I'm saying, look at Matthew four, three things, name the sin, attack that sinful temptation with the word of God that's appropriate to it. And then fix your heart on the desires of the spirit and crucifixion, crucifixion of the flesh. It's not a once for all act. It's a regular daily regimen. One of the late Puritans, John Brown, says, Crucifixion produced death, not suddenly, but gradually. So crucifying the flesh is a discipline of holiness. I remember the first time I got a really good glimpse of athletic discipline.

I was pastoring in Eugene, Oregon. And the University of Oregon was well known for its track team. And a number of the guys in the NCAA track team were members of my church. And I was mentoring some of them. And one guy in particular, Kevin ran the 800 meter. It's a very difficult runs. It's not too short, like a hundred meters.

It's not too long. It's in the middle. So it's, it's, it's quite, quite difficult. And I asked him one day, I said, you know, what is your training look like? And without skipping a beat, he pulled out of his pocket, a notepad and he flipped it open and he started reading. And he showed me right there, right?

There were a list of his meals. There was a list of things that he had to remind himself not to eat. There were a list of his sleeping patterns, when he needs to get to bed and when he needs to rise. There were a list of his practice runs, when he ran, what day, what time, how fast he did on this day or that time.

All the way down to the detail. And as he's telling me this, I realized this is what the apostle Paul is saying. In first Corinthians 9:26-27, remember how Paul, he himself tells us a little bit of his regimen. He says,

“26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

Living by the Spirit

So my question to you are Christian Are you a disciple? Are you training? Are you training to be a disciple? What, what are those sinful desires that you are putting off saying no to?

What are those beautiful desires of the spirit that you're saying yes to? Lord, I want to grow in love and in patience and in joy and in self control and gentleness and kindness, right? So that's the first part of walking in the spirit, crucifying the flesh. The flip side is keeping in step with the spirit.

You need both, right? It's not one or the other. You need both. Look at verse 25. If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit. The spirit leads, we follow. He directs, we go. And here again, I think many people can get greatly confused because they think keeping in step with the spirit is, they confuse it with forms of what I would call spiritual mysticism.

They equate keeping in step with the spirit as kind of following spiritual hunches, feelings, or impressions. I think God told me to.

J. I. Packer, who wrote a wonderful book called Keep in Step with the Spirit. Reminds us, he says, the spirit works through means, through the objective means of grace, namely God's word, biblical truth, prayer, fellowship, worship, the Lord's supper, and with them through the subjective means of grace. Whereby we open ourselves to change.

We examine ourselves, thinking, listening, meditating, reflecting upon God's word, warning ourselves, admonishing ourselves, sharing what is in our heart. So let me ask you, are you making much of the objective and the subjective means of grace? The very means the Spirit uses. Are you making much of the objective means of grace, right?

In your Christian life, Do you have times where you're devoted to reading God's Word, to prayer, gathering with the saints and the subjective means of grace? When you read God's Word, do you reflect upon it? Do you put yourself in it and say, what is God telling me now? Do you examine your life? Do you confess your sins?

Father, forgive me for just neglecting to help that person today. They needed my help. I was so busy. I just. I went on my way. Are you examining yourself, confessing your sin? Do you warn yourself? You meet somebody and you go, Oh boy, that person, they don't love the Lord. They love sin. I better keep from them, right?

Think of what the psalmist says. How do we do it? He says, how can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. And then in verse 11, he says, I have hid your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. So, are you hiding God's Word in your heart? Are you hiding God's Word in your heart?

Do you meditate upon it? Think of it. When you put your head down at night, is the Word of God just, just reflecting on the beauty, power, goodness of God's truth? Oh, how wonderful it is when we do. What happens? Well, that's how we begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit. And remember this about the Spirit. The Spirit never says listen to me.

Look to me. What does the Spirit actually do? The Spirit always says, look to Him. Listen to Him. Even the Father does that. Do you remember in the Mount of Transfiguration? Jesus is showing His glory. The cloud covers. There's Peter, James and John and a voice comes from the cloud. It's God the father. And what does he say?

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. Listen to him. So brothers and sisters, do you belong to Christ? Then you're at war. Never forget it. Be ever vigilant. Never forget that that night of the Lord's Supper, when the 12 apostles were around Christ and he instituted the Lord's Supper.

A few hours later, one would betray him just a few hours later, one would deny him and all would desert him. They weren't vigilant all but Judas went to that supper, unaware of how they would soon be tempted and all fall. So be vigilant. Brothers and sisters, do you belong to Christ? Then keep in step with the spirit, walk in the spirit, fight the good fight of faith.

And do this together. I cannot say what encourages me so much about you is you gather together. Every verb here in this passage, when he says you, you, you, it's not singular as much as it's plural. We do this together. I can't live the Christian life without my brothers and sisters in Christ, and you can't live the Christian life.

You can't fight the good fight without your brothers and sisters in Christ. And then all together, let us set our eyes. On our beautiful Lord, Jesus Christ, we just sang it, didn't we? I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives where? In me. And the life I now live in the flesh, in this mortal body, I live by faith.

Faith in whom? Faith in Jesus Christ who loved me and gave himself for me. I live by faith in Christ who loved me and gave himself for me. Brothers and sisters, if you're in Christ, He loves you. He gave himself for you. Then fight the good fight for Him. Amen? Let me pray. Father, we thank You this day for Your Word.

From Galatians chapter 5. O Lord, we pray. Seal this word of yours to our heart, cause your spirit to search us and find any offensive way in us and lead us in the way everlasting, that we may glorify you, O Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Dead men don’t fight.
— Alfred Poirier