Well, it's a joy for us to gather
back together and have this time of worship and fellowship and
instruction in the Word of God. And I trust that the Lord is
greatly enriching your faith yesterday and today. And that
by the end of the day, as you go back to your churches and
back to where the Lord has called you to live, that you will be
renewed in your faith and that your roots will be set yet deeper
in the Word of God and that you will be encouraged and equipped
and edified and built up in your most holy faith. So I trust that
God is doing all of this in your life. Well, as we come now to
this session and as we are talking about standing firm, it's the
call for us as believers to stand firm against the opposition that
we receive in the Christian life. And we are surrounded by all
types and forms of spiritual opposition. We've talked about
the opposition from atheism that is pressing around us. And we've
talked about the opposition from those who would deny the authority
of the Word of God. And in just a little bit, with
Dr. MacArthur and Dr. Sproul, we
all will be taught regarding opposition that we face in this
world regarding the exclusivity of Christ and so many other truths. But the greatest opposition that
we face is always the war that goes on inside each and every
one of us. Our own hearts are a battlefield,
and there is a great spiritual conflict that each of us find
ourselves in. Before we were saved, there was
not this conflict on the inside, because on the inside, our flesh
was set towards the things of this world and towards sin, and
there was no pushback except our own conscience. And that
had perhaps become even seared as with a hot iron. But as soon
as we enter into the kingdom of God, as soon as we are birthed
and enter into walking with Christ, we suddenly find ourselves now
in the state of a new conflict. As we now have become a new person
in Christ, the old things have passed away. Behold, new things
have come. We become new people in Christ. But we still retain of fallenness
about us. And we know what it is to face
on a daily basis this conflict. We never grow and mature in our
Christian life beyond this conflict. We never hit a second plateau
in the Christian life where temptation is behind us and the lust of
the flesh is no longer something that we have to deal with. In
fact, if anything, the longer we walk with the Lord and the
closer we draw to the light who is our God, the more we become
aware of our own imperfections and there is an escalation so
many times of the war within ourselves. And so that's what
we want to talk about in this session, that we must stand firm
against our own sin. And it's so much easier for us
to launch our guns at the enemies that are out there. against unbelief,
against liberalism, against atheism, against all of these other false
cults. But we must always remember that
the greatest battle that we face is always the internal conflict
of the Spirit lusting against the flesh and the flesh against
the Spirit. So I want to invite you to take
God's Word and turn with me to the book of Galatians, to Galatians
chapter 5. And we want to talk about standing
firm against our own sin. And the truth be known, each
one of us needs to be all the more militant against our own
sinful flesh. In Galatians chapter 5, I want
to begin reading in verse 16. And Paul, in these verses, really
gets at the heart of the Christian life in so many ways. In Galatians
5 and verse 16, Paul writes, walk by the Spirit, and you will
not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its
desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may
not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law. For the deeds of the flesh are
evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes,
dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things
like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned
you, that those who practice such things will not inherit
the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such things there is
no law. Now those who belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk. by the Spirit. As Christians, we are all in
the process of growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and this spiritual growth is what we call sanctification. That's a biblical term as well
as a theological term, and it speaks of our growth in Christlikeness,
of our daily growth in grace. And the shorter catechism of
the Westminster Confession defines sanctification this way. Sanctification is the work of
God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man
after the image of God, and we are enabled more and more to
die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. That is the two-fold
work of sanctification that is taking place inside of us. There
is the tearing down of the old and the building up of the new.
There is this ongoing dying to sin that must take place in our
lives. And there is an ongoing living
unto righteousness that must be our continual and constant
experience. And so this is what God is doing
in our lives. And as this is being carried
out, there is great conflict that we experience within us
on the inside. And that conflict, in one sense,
is good in that it becomes a confirmation that I truly have become a new
person in Christ. Because before I came to Christ,
we were living wide open towards sin with some resistance by our
own conscience and some outward resistance by the convicting
work of the Spirit, perhaps, but now that we are in Christ. We have now this internal struggle,
this internal war that is taking place within us. It is critically
important that we declare war upon sin in our own lives. The Pharisees were experts at
noting sin in the lives of others, but they failed to look into
their own hearts and into their own souls and to deal with that
which was within them. We do not want to be like the
Pharisees. We want to be like the Lord Jesus
Christ in following Him. So, I want us to look at these
verses, and I think that they will be very instructional and
very helpful to us as we consider declaring war against sin in
our own lives. Beginning in verse 16, I want
you to note first the picture of the Christian life, the picture
of the Christian life. It's been well said, a picture
is worth a thousand words. And here we see an important
picture of what the Christian life looks like. In verse 16,
he says, but I say, walk by the Spirit. And there are many pictures
of the Christian life. One of the most frequently used
ones is that of walking. Christian life is like a walk. It is, in a sense, because there
is a point of beginning, and that is when we began the Christian
life, when we were birthed into the kingdom, that began the walk,
and we never arrive as long as we are in this world, right?
As long as we are involved in this process of sanctification,
we're always in route. We're headed somewhere and that
goal is ultimate Christ-likeness, which will occur when we are
taken to heaven and we are made like Christ completely. This picture of the Christian
life is a walk. It's a call for effort. It's
not that we are to just sit in the Christian life. It's not
a pacifistic approach to the Christian life or passive. It's
not let go and let God. No, it is a call for effort on
our part, and we are responsible for God, to wake up every morning,
and spiritually speaking, put one foot in front of another,
and move out from where we are. And we are to follow after the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are to walk in fellowship
with Christ. There's direction in our spiritual
life. There is purpose in our spiritual life. All of that is
represented by this metaphor or this analogy of walk. It's the verb. He says, walk
by the Spirit. In the present tense, that means
that we are to be always walking by the Spirit. There is never
to be a moment in your spiritual life in which you are not walking
and moving out and moving forward in Christ's likeness. It's in
the active voice, which means I'm responsible to walk. No one
else can walk for me. My wife cannot walk for me. My
husband cannot. My parents cannot. There is only
one person who can do this Christian walk for me, and that responsibility
is laid at my own feet. And you should also know that
this is in the imperative mood. It is a command. God is, by Paul
the Apostle, is giving this imperative to us. Either we are walking
by the Spirit, or we are living in disobedience to God. Either
we are walking by the Spirit, or we are walking in the flesh. There is no other option. And so God commands us to be
ever and always walking by the Spirit. This theme is throughout
the entire New Testament. Let me give you some cross-references
just to affirm what Paul is saying here. In Romans 6, in verse 4,
Paul writes, as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory
of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." We
are not to walk as we once walked. We are not to walk as worldlings
or sinners walk. There is to be a distinctive
about our lives. We are to walk in this newness
of life. Ephesians 4 and verse 1, Paul
says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk
in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
There is a high call upon our lives, therefore we are to walk
accordingly. There is to be a regality and
a nobility about our walk. We are to reflect the kingship
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is to be a humility about
our walk as well. High calling, lowly walk. In Ephesians 4, verse 17, Paul
says, "'So this I say and affirm together with the Lord, that
you walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk.'" Because we've come
to faith in Christ, our lives are dramatically changed and
transformed. Someone as well said, if your
religion hasn't changed your life, you better change your
religion. because the real thing will change your life. There
is no way you can tell me that you have met Jesus Christ, the
sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and that you are walking
with Him and your life has not changed. No, it is a true transformation
from the inside out, and we no longer walk as we once walked. Ephesians 5 verse 2, Paul says,
walk in love, just as Christ also loves you. Our lives are
to be flooded with this supernatural love that God has now given to
us, by which we now love our enemies, and we love those who
are without Christ, and we are to be reaching out to my brothers
and sisters in Christ. Ephesians 5 verse 8, walk as
children of light. That we are now children of light
refers to the holiness of God and the truth of God. And we
are now to walk as children of light. We once were children
of darkness. We have come out of the darkness.
We have been called by the Spirit out of darkness into light. And
we are now to walk in the light as children of light. We are
to walk in purity and holiness and godliness. And in the truth,
Ephesians 5 verse 15 says, be careful how you walk, not as
unwise men but is wise." We are those who now have supernatural
wisdom from above that has been given to us. We have a Christian
worldview. We see everything differently,
and we are to now walk in this wisdom. We once walked in foolishness. We now walk in the wisdom of
God. One other text, 1 John 1, verse
7, is really worth our hearing. Yet again, John writes, if we
walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another. In other words, as I draw near
the light, and as you draw near the light, we share this common
ground in the light. The closer I am to Christ, the
closer you are to Christ, the closer our fellowship is one
to another. And so, our fellowship with one
another is a part of this walk. We walk with our brothers and
sisters in the light of God's Word. So, this is the picture
of the Christian life that Paul is giving to us. And this walk,
as I've said, it is a following after Christ. Jesus, more than
any other command, gave this command, follow Me. That's what the Christian life
is. It is leaving behind where you are in the world. It is getting
up. Repentance is turning away from
that. And faith is a step of faith
and then an ongoing walk of faith. whereby we follow Christ. It's
an entirely new direction. We have a new master. We are
walking after Christ. We are following the person of
Jesus Christ. It's not just that we have religion,
we have a relationship with Christ. We know Him, and He knows us. And we talk to Him in prayer,
and He talks to us in His Word. We are to be turning a deaf ear
to the lures of this world. And as we walk after Christ,
we are to be imitating Christ. We are to be obeying Christ.
We are to be pursuing Christ. We are to be growing to know
Him yet closer and closer. It is living for Christ every
moment of every day. In summary, the Christian life
is Christ. It is following Christ. That's what you and I are doing
every moment of every day. We are Christians. We are little
Christ's. And we are following after Christ. We're not following church. We're
not following necessarily regulations and rituals. We are following
the person of Jesus Christ. That's the picture of the Christian
life. Paul says, but I say, walk. Walk by the Spirit. I want to
ask you this question. Does this represent your life?
Are you truly a follower of Jesus Christ? Are you walking with
Christ? Are you walking after Christ?
Is there an emulating of Christ that is taking place in your
life? Can you truly say, for me to live is Christ? That the entirety of your life
can be succinctly summarized in Jesus Christ. That's what
it is to be a Christian. It's not just to be in a religious
meeting. It's not just to be at a Christian conference. Those
things are important and good in their rightful place, but
that will not put you in the kingdom of heaven. It is to believe
in Christ. It is to know Christ. It is to
love Christ. It is to follow after Christ. That is the picture of the Christian
life. Now second, I want you to see
the power of the Christian life. If you'll notice verse 16, Paul will tell us by what power
we are to carry out this walk. Paul says again in verse 16,
but I say to you, walk... Now notice this next phrase,
by the Spirit. That is to say, walk by the power
of the Holy Spirit who indwells you." Every true believer has
received the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19, what? Know you not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Spirit of God? At the moment of regeneration,
the Holy Spirit of God has invaded our lives and has come to live
inside of us. Galatians 3 verse 14 says that
we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. And Galatians
4 verse 6 says, because you are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. which is
an Aramaic way of saying, daddy, father. It speaks of the intimacy
that comes in our relationship with God. But it is God who has
sent the Holy Spirit to come live inside of our heart, at
the very depth of our being, at the very innermost center
of our soul. That is where the Holy Spirit
has now come to reside. In Galatians 5, in verse 5, Paul
says, for we through the Spirit by faith are waiting for the
hope of righteousness. All this is to say that at the
moment that we came to know Christ, And that in reality was by a
powerful work of the Holy Spirit of God, as the Spirit of God
convicted us of our sin and drew us to Christ, and He sovereignly
gave us the gifts of repentance and faith. And He opened our
eyes, and He opened our ears, and He opened our hearts, and
He took out our heart of stone, and He put within us a heart
of flesh, and He wrote the Word of God upon the tablet of our
heart. And He has caused us now to walk
in obedience. to the Word. This is a work,
it's an inside job. It's not external religion, it's
internal regeneration and internal sanctification that's working
its way from the inside out of our Christian lives. It's been
well said that the Christian life is not hard, it is impossible. There is only one who has lived
the Christian life in a way that is perfect, and that is the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. And in our own strength and in
our own efforts, we cannot live the Christian life. Jesus said
to His disciples, apart from me, you can do nothing. That's
not a whole lot. But Paul writes, I can do all
things through Christ. who strengthens me. And this
strength that we receive now to walk, to move out for God,
to grow and to pursue Christ, it comes from the internal indwelling
of the Holy Spirit of God, who is the third member of the Trinity,
who is co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the
Holy Spirit. You heard about that in the lecture
by Dr. Sproul on the Trinity. This third
person, capital P of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, has come to
reside within us. and that which we cannot do,
He is fully sufficient to be able to do, for He is omnipotent,
and He has might and power, and He enables us to put one foot
in front of the other and to move out in the Christian life.
It is our responsibility to walk, but it is the power that the
Holy Spirit of God supplies on the inside that enables us to
do this. Paul recognized this in his own
life. In Colossians 1 verse 29 he says, I labor, striving, agonizing,
pushing myself like a marathon runner, never giving up, pressing
on to what lies ahead. I labor, striving according to
His power which mightily works within me. If you're a true believer
in Jesus Christ, if you have been born again by the Spirit
from above, it is not as though God has merely saved you and
now it's up to you on your own to live the Christian life. Oh yes, He has saved you, but
all whom He has saved, He indwells and He grants to us the supernatural,
all-sufficient power by the Spirit to follow after Christ. What an encouragement this should
be to us today. I mean, the Lord has planted
us all in very difficult places with great demands upon our Christian
life, with much resistance against us. We are surrounded by temptation
on every side. There are difficulties that we
all face that are thrown in our way, and were it up to us We
could not press on. We could not put one foot in
front of the other. The Spirit is willing, but the
flesh is what? It's weak. But it is the Holy
Spirit of God that in our weakness, His strength is made perfect. Every one of us qualify for that,
do we not? It is my weakness by which we
are made strong by His supernatural power. So that's the power of
the Christian life. And we might say, man, it seems
like everything is clear sailing at this point. The Christian
life is a cakewalk. It's just a cruise into glory. Well, I want you to note third,
not only the picture of the Christian life and the power, but I want
you to note third, the problem. The problem of the Christian
life, because the Christian life is not all clear sailing in this
world. We face Three great superpowers,
the world, the flesh, and the devil, do we not? The world refers
to that evil world system that is all around us, over which
Satan, who is the god of this age and the prince of this world,
he presides over. It is an evil world system that
has removed God from the center and has man on the inside. And great spiritual powers are
in the kingdom of darkness in the world order. And then there's
the devil. The devil is a real spiritual fallen angel, and he
is surrounded by legions of demons who bring about great opposition
and In Ephesians 6, we read that we wrestle not with flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness
in the heavenly places. Every one of us who are in Christ,
we find ourselves with this conflict from Satan. But there's a third
foe, and this foe is within us. There is the world around us.
And there is Satan over us as the God of this age, but there
is the flesh within us. So we read at the end of verse
16. Let me start at the beginning of
verse 16, but I say, walk by the Spirit. and you will not
carry out the desire of the flesh." That is to say, there is still
within us the desire of the flesh. From our perspective, we would
long for the desire of the flesh to no longer be within. And that
will be part of the glory of heaven. When we finally enter
into a state in which our flesh is eradicated and only the new
man in Christ remains, and we appear faultless before the throne
of God, and we shall behold Him in that moment, and we shall
be made like Him, and there will no longer be the lust of the
flesh, the desire of the flesh. but presently we still have this
inward enemy. This enemy is in you, and it
is in me, and we need to be alert and aware because often this
is the most deadly danger that we face. What is the flesh? It's
our unredeemed humanness. It is our unredeemed It is our
corruptible nature. It is our fallen humanity that
is still within the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the boastful pride of life, 1 John 2, 16. And notice it says
at the end of verse 16, the desire of the flesh. This word for desire
is a very strong word in the original language when Paul wrote
this. It's not just a small craving,
but a strong compulsion, a driving force. Now, it is no longer dominant
in our lives. Christ is dominant, and the new
man within us is dominant. But nevertheless, there is still
this desire of the flesh. It is our inward inclinations
and driving desires within us for sin. The difference between before
conversion and after conversion is that the desires of the flesh
are still present. It's just that they're no longer
predominant. as they once were. The desires
of the flesh are residing, but they are no longer truly reigning
as they once did. So, beginning in verse 17, Paul
now describes this conflict on the inside. of each one of us
who are believers in the Lord. There is a great war within us,
and this war is between the Holy Spirit who has come to indwell
us and the flesh, our fallen humanity that still remains a
part of our mortal bodies. So in verse 17, you'll note how
verse 17 begins with the word for. That introduces an explanation
of what he just said. He had just talked about at the
end of verse 16 the desire of the flesh. Paul knows that there
needs to be further explanation given, and so Paul now does that
and enlarges our understanding. He says in verse 17, and he gets
at the heart of the problem, for the flesh sets its desire
against the Spirit. This is within a Christian. This
is within a believer, that our sinful flesh opposes the work
of the Holy Spirit of God within us, as the Spirit of God would
seek not only to empower us, but to lead us into holiness. There is now the flesh. that has set its desire against
the Spirit. And then he says, and the Spirit
against the flesh. The Holy Spirit is not passive
in our spiritual lives. The Holy Spirit is mightily active. And the Holy Spirit counters.
And the Holy Spirit has set itself against our flesh. And there
is this This war within us between the Spirit and the flesh, and
the flesh and the Spirit, and this is operative as long as
we are on this earth in our present state, this ongoing struggle. He goes on to say in verse 17,
he speaks very specifically about this. He says, for these are
in opposition to one another. There is a state of declared
war, one against the other. They have set themselves in opposition. The Spirit and the new nature
are on one side, and the flesh are on the other side, and they
are, Paul says, in opposition. We would add in fierce opposition
to one another. The Holy Spirit who indwells
us is never indifferent towards sin in our own lives. He is very set against all that
does not conform to the image of Christ in our lives. And He
is bringing about conviction in our lives. And He is pruning
us and enabling us to mortify the deeds of the flesh. The Holy
Spirit of God is set against everything that is unholy in
our lives. and the flesh lusts for that
which is unlawful before the Lord. And this is being played
out within us. At the end of verse 17, he gives
the result, so that, here's the result, so that you may not do
the things that you please. Is this not so often the case
in our spiritual lives? It's more frequent than any one
of us even know. This is exactly what Paul was
talking about in Romans chapter 7. In Romans 7, beginning in
verse 15, Paul says, for what I am doing I do not understand,
and I'm not practicing what I would like to do, but I'm doing the
very thing I hate. This is Paul talking as a believer,
as a Christian. He finds himself doing those
things that he actually hates. In verse 16, but if I do the
very thing that I do not want to do, I agree with the law,
confessing that the law is good. The law says, thou shalt not,
but I find myself doing that which the law says thou shalt
not. And the law says, thou shalt, and I find myself not doing what
the law says thou shalt. The law is good. It speaks only
the truth, and it leads us into holiness and godliness and purity. So verse 17, so now no longer
am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good
dwells in me. And he's talking about his fallen
humanity. Now there is good in Paul. He's a new man in Christ. There's
much good in the new man. And the Holy Spirit of God lives
in Paul, and Jesus Christ lives in Paul. No, this is not a holistic
statement. It is referring to His flesh. For I know nothing good dwells
in me. And now He qualifies it, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in
me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want,
I do not do, but I practice the very thing that I do not want. If I'm doing the very thing I
do not want, I'm no longer the one doing it, but sin dwells
in me." I think we understand what Paul is saying to us, do
we not? We find ourselves in this constant
struggle and war and fighting against ourselves, against our
own inclinations, against our own desires. And if we say, that
is not within us, we're living in denial of reality. We need to be as passionate about
resisting sin in our own lives as we are passionate to defend
the gospel and the exclusivity of Christ against the foes of
Christ from out in the world. I want you to note fourth, the
prompting of the Christian life. In verse 18, Paul now concludes
these verses on a note of triumph. regarding the Spirit's work within
us. It says in verse 18, but if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And when he
says you're not under the law, he is not meaning that the law
has no place in our sanctification because the law is good and points
us in the direction of holiness. It reveals the character of God
to us. It becomes a restraint against
sin. But what he is saying is that
as we are led by the Spirit, We are no longer simply trying
to keep the law in our own efforts and in our own strength, but
we are being led by the Spirit. And when he says in verse 18,
we are being led by the Spirit, he is not talking about decision-making
in the Christian life. He is not talking about, I'm
coming to an intersection, and what he is referring to here
principally and primarily is not, should I go to the left
or should I go to the right? He is talking about, in this
context, being led into personal holiness, being led into godliness. And, of course, that doesn't
involve decisions. And it does involve turning away
from that which is sinful and turning towards that which is
pleasing to God. William Hendrickson is a great
commentator of the Scripture, and in his commentary on the
book of Romans, he writes at this point, what is it to be
led by the Spirit? Paul, excuse me, Hendrickson
writes, quote, It is that constant, effective, and beneficial influence
which the Holy Spirit exercises within the hearts of God's children,
whereby they are being directed and enabled, directed and enabled
more and more to crush the power of indwelling sin and to walk
in the way of God's commandments freely and cheerfully. In other words, we are being
led by the Spirit to keep God's Word, not grudgingly, not as
though it were sheer outward conformity, but it is a conformity
from the heart, a desire to pursue the glory of God, a desire to
please God. That is what the Holy Spirit
is producing within us. What he is saying in verse 18
is that we are to be led by the Spirit into personal holiness,
and he refers to the controlling power of the Spirit to achieve
Christlikeness in our lives. This is the prompting of the
Holy Spirit. B.B. Warfield, a great Reformed
theologian of the nineteenth century, wrote this. It is the
Holy Spirit's part to keep us in the path and to bring us at
length to the goal. But it is we who tread every
step of the way, our limbs that grow weary with the labor, our
hearts that faint, our courage that fails, our faith that recedes,
our sinking strength, our hope. It is the Holy Spirit of God
who instills new courage into our souls as we toil up the steep
ascent." Close quote. He is our paraclete. He is called
alongside of us. In fact, He is in us. And as
Romans 8 verse 14 says, for all who are being led by the Spirit
of God, these are the sons of God. Do you see the Spirit of
God at work in your life, enlarging your heart for the things of
God's Word? Is God at work within you, both
to will and to work for His good pleasure? Do you see that He
who has begun a good work in you is in the process of perfecting
it until the day of Christ Jesus? This is the presence of God in
your life by the Holy Spirit. He is the one who is enabling
us to live in such a way that we may overcome the conflict
that we feel on the inside, the lures of the world, the temptations
of Satan, the lusts within our own flesh that must be mortified,
Colossians 3 verse 5, which says that we are to put to death the
deeds of the flesh. It is done by the power of the
Holy Spirit of God who indwells us and enables us to live in
ever-increasing conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. Have you begun this walk? Do
you see yourself involved in this walk of faith? Have you
taken the first step of this walk? Have you entered through
the narrow gate? It may be for some of you here
today that your toes are right up to that gate, but you've not
taken yet that final step of faith and come through the narrow
gate, which is Christ, and entered into the kingdom of God. And
maybe you've seen others take that step of faith and come through
the narrow gate, but you yourself, you've not yet taken that step.
I would urge you, if that is describing you at this very moment,
I would urge you to take that step of faith. Commit your life
to Jesus Christ. You will be received with open
arms by a loving Savior. And you'll begin now this new
adventure of walking down the narrow path that leads to life. When you walk through the narrow
gate, it never leads down a broad path, does it? It's a broad gate
and a broad path. It's a narrow gate and a narrow
path. And for us who have entered by
grace through the narrow gate, it now leads down a narrow path. It is carefully defined. There
are out-of-bounds that are not lawful for us as believers. We
are to keep our feet on the narrow path as we walk. And as we do,
it is so often uphill. and the wind blowing against
us, and storms that come crashing into our lives. But God has a
purpose for it all, and God is sovereign over it all. And God
is using even the storms as we walk on this narrow path to deepen
our faith and develop our resistance to sin. Have you come through
the narrow gate? Have you begun this walk of faith?
If not, I would urge you to do so this very moment within your
own heart and soul and make that commitment to Christ. And if
you have made this commitment to Christ, then within your own
heart say that I want to walk by the Spirit and I want to walk
in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. I don't want to walk
like the world. That is behind me. I want to
now walk in a manner worthy of my calling. Let us be reminded
that there will be this conflict within us. Do you sense this
within your own heart and soul? I believe that every one of us
as believers, we face this struggle on the inside. We cannot give
up. We cannot give in. We cannot
just say, well, He forgives. It doesn't matter. It does matter. Everything in your Christian
life matters. I pray that God, by His Spirit, will lead you
ever forward down this narrow path. and that your life will
be an example to others, that your life and your walk by the
Spirit will encourage others to walk in a way that brings
honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every step of your Christian
life is of great importance to God. There are no little steps.
There are no unimportant steps. And the most important step is
the next step that you have to make. in your Christian life. Each one of us will be going
back to vocations and houses and neighborhoods and children
and bills and problems and all kinds of difficulties. How critically important it is
that as we move out from this moment on, that we will walk
in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. that we will rely exclusively
upon His grace. We will fulfill our responsibility
to obey and to pursue and to buffet our bodies and to make
it our slaves. And we will run the race to win,
and we will not become entangled by the things that would trip
us up. We must purpose this, but we
can only do so by the grace and the strength that the Spirit
of God provides to each one of us. There is a great conflict
within us. But the conqueror, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is even yet greater. And there is not a conflict that
any one of us will ever face who are present here today, but
that Christ is not greater. You may say, well, this is an
entangling sin. I just cannot be free from it. Oh, yes, you can. by the power
of the Holy Spirit of God who indwells you. And where sin does
abound, grace does much more abound. And He will give you
the victory in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. May God enable
each and every one of us to walk by the Spirit and to overcome
the desires of the flesh within us. And may we bring great honor
and glory to the name that is above every name, the name of
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.