Overcoming by Walking in the Spirit

Now, brethren, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, I gave a sermon about the importance of going forward in faith, not fear. You may remember that. I had a big sign that I held up a few times. It said, No Fear. Remember that? Well, before I get any further, I did want to say hello to a couple people that are listening in. First of all, to Olive Heller, who's here in Lawton, listening in. And I believe Alan and Mary Van Schuyver. I had hoped to see all three of these people here today, but sorry you couldn't make it. But very glad that you're listening in. And I understand Navi Booker may either be in the hospital or getting out of the hospital.

She's home now, I guess, but may not be listening in because she just got back from the hospital where she had a pump that they put internally that pumps up pain medication into her system that helps her with her back pain. So if she's listening in, we say hello to Navi as well. But I hope things are going well for her. So back to the sermon. I gave this sermon about the importance of going forward in faith, not fear.

And in the sermon, I talked about how God has called us all to go forward and to refuse to become immobilized by our fears because we all face certain fears. Every last one of us wrestles to some degree with a variety of fears. We are to be going forward, as I was already mentioned in the first message today, we're to go forward, we're to faithfully prepare to enter the Promised Land. In fact, that's what the children of Israel were supposed to be doing, right? They were heading to the Promised Land.

They wanted to inherit the land that God was giving them. And we also are heading toward the Promised Land. We want to inherit the Kingdom of God. So we need to go faithfully forward. Mr. Ledbetter talked about walking, in a sense, walking toward the Kingdom. We do need to be doing that. It ties in well with what I'm going to be talking about today. We know that the days of Unleavened Bread are about putting sin out of our lives and also keeping it out. It's certainly not enough just to put it out and then go right back to it, is it?

No, obviously, even though we will go back to eating leaven, we're not supposed to go back to sinning. You know, that's something that we are permanently to put away as best we can with God's help. So these days are all about overcoming sin, and it's all about becoming like Jesus Christ, allowing the bread that comes down from heaven, the Unleavened Bread, to actually dwell in our hearts and in our minds, so that we might have Unleavened Attitudes, that we might have an Unleavened Spirit.

So moving forward in faith, we need to trust God for His strength to help us overcome, and also to grant us repentance and forgiveness when we may, perhaps, fall short. We all will, at one time or another, be human. We will miss the mark. We will fall spiritually at sometimes, hopefully, less and less and less as we learn to be overcomers. Now, in less than 50 days, we will observe the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. In fact, we're told to count seven full weeks from the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread, and then to observe that 50th day, the Day of Pentecost. Now, this year is going to be Sunday, June the 12th, so that's about 43 days from now.

So it started on that first Sabbath, which happened to be the first day of Unleavened Bread. There is no other Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. This ends the Days of Unleavened Bread, so you have to obviously start from that very first Sabbath. So we're only about 43 days away now, and then Pentecost will be here. So the countdowns of Pentecost is something that is important. It's something that we should take note of right now and consider. What does God want us to be doing these next 43 days as we go forward to another Holy Day?

This past week and before the Days of Unleavened Bread began, we were diligent. We were vigilant in putting the leaven out of our homes and also in keeping it out during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Hopefully no one slipped up.

Hopefully no one ate a donut in here by, for example. I actually heard a rumor that someone may have eaten a donut in this very room. You don't have to confirm that.

The word doubt that someone slipped up and had a donut. You know, it's funny. I remember once I ended up forgetting about the Days of Unleavened Bread as I was driving home. I popped in this gas station, got some gas, and bought me a good ice cream sandwich. I took a bite or two. I was headed down the highway and it dawned on me. I threw that thing out the window just as fast as I could once I realized I'd been eating leaven. And that reminds me of a woman a few years ago in Tulsa. She'd been in the church for 40 years, and she told me that she slipped up for the very first time because she was aware of, like, that 40th year when she also bought a whole box of ice cream sandwiches.

Took them home during the Days of Unleavened Bread. I guess she put them down at the garbage disposal and disposed of them that way.

So she said, once she realized that these things are unleavened, they represent sin and I need to put them out. So she did that immediately. She got rid of the evidence. She also commented to me that her husband had slipped up numerous times.

In those 40 years, but to her knowledge, she'd only messed up once. And I thought, I'll bet she wishes she'd only sinned once during those 40 years.

This evening after sundown, we can go back to legally eating ice cream sandwiches if we want. You can go out and have one in honor of this sermon.

You don't really need to do that. But of course, we are not to go back into sin. We can't legally break God's law. We can't sin and not have it count against us.

As we overcame eating leaven this past week, at least most of us, we overcame eating the leaven this past week. Now we must go forward in faith, finding the strength to become unleavened spiritually. That's really what we should focus on the next 43 days. As we actively overcome sin in our lives and as we learn to actively walk in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God, of course, was given on the day of Pentecost. And so, since many of us have been in the church a long time, we've received God's Spirit at baptism. We have the Holy Spirit. Now we're to stir it up and learn to overcome ever more faithfully and put sin out of our lives. So let's do that this next 43 days. Let's continue to work on overcoming sin, putting it out of our lives, and doing so by learning to walk in the Spirit. So that's essentially what we're going to talk about today, is overcoming by walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit must become a way of life. It is something that we should think about, really, every day of our lives. It must be something that we are doing on a continual basis, a daily basis, a moment-to-moment basis. The fruits of God's Spirit are not to be just something that we produce from time to time, but they're to flow abundantly from us. That's the kind of fruit that we should be producing continually on a daily basis.

We are to become love. We're to be loving. That's the way we're supposed to be. It's not just that we do some loving acts every now and then in between being a nasty person. That's not the way it's supposed to work. We're supposed to continually produce the fruit of God's Spirit by being loving toward each other, by being joyful, by sharing joy with one another, by being peaceful and learning to be peacemakers. These are all fruits of God's Spirit. We are to learn to be patient within one another. That's something that should become a natural thing. A way to react is to be patient, not to fly off the handle and become angry right away, short-tempered. We're supposed to be long-suffering, learning to take it, learning to be self-controlled, learning to be gentle, to be kind, to be good like God is good. That's what we're supposed to be striving for, and we are supposed to be producing that fruit in our lives. We are to be faithful people that we can count on.

So, have we gotten there yet? Are we all perfect?

Now, we are to become perfect, as it says in Matthew 5, 48, become you therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. That is a goal that we should strive for. But is that really the way we are right now? Are you holy? Are you perfect? Or, at times, do you find yourself being the opposite? For example, becoming very angry, having a short temper, being unkind at times, even cantankerous, nasty, mean-spirited, harsh, doubtful, fearful, being undisciplined, lacking self-control. So, are much that way than you ought to admit to yourselves that you've been doing more walking in the flesh than you have been walking in the spirit. And, frankly, it's easier to walk in the flesh. We're all fleshly. It's easy to walk in the flesh. It's difficult to learn to walk in the spirit. So, let's go to Galatians chapter 5, where it talks about the works of the flesh, and it talks about the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. So, in Galatians chapter 5, in verse 16, it says, I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another. They don't go together. They're contrary to each other, one against the other, so that you do not do the things that you wish. And, of course, the Apostle Paul talked about that. He said, O wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? Because the things that I want to do, I don't do, and the things that I should do, I'm... or the things that I shouldn't be doing, I'm doing, and things I ought not... I don't know why I can't ever get that right. It's not that complicated. Paul said, the things that I don't want to do, I do, and the things that I should do, I don't do. So it's not very sense of omission and sense of commission. We're guilty of both. Sometimes we should be doing things, and we just don't do them. We omit to do them because we're weak and we're not focused spiritually. So we omit to do things that we ought to be doing, like prayer, like praying more faithfully, fasting on a more regular basis. Those things are easy to omit and just not do. To pray for one another, to pray fervently. You know, these are things that are fairly easy to neglect.

Of course, the things that you shouldn't be doing, you know, the lust of the flesh, and it gives all kinds of them here. Look at this in verse 19. The works of the flesh are evident. They're adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and anything like those things. So that covers a lot of ground.

The difference, though, is that we are not to walk in the flesh, we're to learn to walk in the spirit. So we're called to a life of overcoming. We all have to struggle with the same issues. You know, we're all in the flesh. We may have different weaknesses. Some of us may be stronger in some areas than others, but we're weaker in some areas as well. So to contrast that again, the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, those are the things that we need to be doing and producing in our lives. In Ephesians 5, verse 25, it says, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit, and let us not become conceited, provoking one another, and being one another, again, walking in the flesh. We're to learn to walk in the spirit and to produce the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.

In Galatians chapter 2, it gives us the key to learning to walk in the spirit. What is the key? We've just kept the Passover. It pictures the sacrifice of Christ. We're very grateful for that sacrifice. We've accepted that sacrifice. We're grateful for the forgiveness that comes to the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And then we know that Christ is that Unleavened Bread, and that's basically what it's talking about here in Galatians 2.20.

I've been crucified with Christ. Paul is saying this. I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. See, that's the key to overcoming. That's the key to putting the sin out and keeping it out of your life. That is the key to becoming Unleavened, and to learn to walk in the spirit, is when Christ lives in you. And Christ lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, God the Father has the same exact spirit, the Holy Spirit. That's their divine nature. It's their power. And they've given us a bit of that spirit. Those of us who are baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit, it's the spirit that dwells in us, that gives us victory over sin, that helps us to overcome and grow and put sin out of our lives, and helps to be repentant people when we do slip up. So back to Galatians 2, verse 20, It is no longer I who live that Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So, rather than the key, is to stir up the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Father, God's Holy Spirit, to stir that up within us, and be ever mindful each and every day of our lives that that is our calling. That's what our calling is all about, to not just give this lip service, not just talk about it, but to actually begin doing it. And I know you have been doing it, but of course we all realize we can do better, can't we? I've often said that it's, we can't even do our best. We can try to do our best, but it's, I mean, I've never been able to do my very best. I know I can do better than I do. I can, I know, but I haven't, because I've just made some bad decisions at times. I could do better. We can strive to do our very best, but are we ever going to really do our best until Christ returns?

We should keep trying, however, and if we do that, we will grow, and that's the important thing. To He who grants, to He who overcomes, will I grant to sit with me. That's what Christ said on Revelation 3, verse 21. I will grant to sit with me on my throne. Now think about that. That would be quite an honor, wouldn't it? To sit on the very throne with Jesus Christ. I will grant to sit with me on my throne. In other words, we will share rulership. We will share that authority that God gives us. That would be quite an honor. Even here, humanly, if we were asked to be the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of the Treasury, or some cabinet position, that would be quite an honor. But how much more of an honor would it be to share power with Jesus Christ? To sit on the throne with Christ and the Father, and to do that for the rest of eternity. See, that's our calling. That's the kind of honor that God has in store for us if we learn to humble ourselves now, and apply ourselves, and learn to live by every word of God. So what can we do to help us overcome? I know that you've heard people say that we are to overcome sin, we're over to come ourselves, we're over to overcome Satan. All of these things are true. We should learn to put sin out of our lives, to learn to control ourselves, and also to resist Satan, to flee from Satan, and not give into his temptations.

So this is another way of saying that we must overcome the temptation to walk in the flesh.

Tempted to walk in the flesh, Satan is the great tempter, and he knows how to stir up things within the flesh. He's our weaknesses. He knows when and in what way we're vulnerable to his temptations. I was always, I mean, it just struck me when I was reading the book of Luke about the temptations of Christ, when Christ tempted him, it said he left him after, when Jesus would not give into temptation, Satan left him hoping to come back at an opportune time. See, that's what Satan does for us. If we win the victory against Satan, if he's trying to tempt us, and we're strong, and we're faithful, and we don't give in, then he's just going to come back later on at an opportune time when we're weaker. Satan the devil, he'll look for times when we're weakest. If we haven't been praying, if we haven't been studying God's Word, if we have our minds off of God and doing it God's way, then Satan will find an opportune time to tempt us. And as the Scripture says, he'll try to assist us as weak. He is our adversary, he is the enemy. So we have to always be on guard against Satan and his temptations. The sample prayer in Matthew 6 say about temptation, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. That is a prayer that we should pray daily. Father, deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from Satan the devil because he's surely a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour. He wants to devour you. He wants to devour me. And if we forget about him, then he's going to be able to do that. So we have to be mindful that Satan is that roaring lion. He is seeking to devour us.

The thing about our lives is a person continually goes about his daily life walking. We all walked here. We drove too. I mean, we didn't walk the whole way. Mr. Ledbetter and I would still be walking at least. It'd be a long time before we got here. But once we parked the car, we walked in here. And we've been walking around. Some of you went to the restaurant, drove your car there, but then you walked into the restaurant, walked back out. We do a lot of walking in our lives. And frankly, I get tired of sitting. I like to get up and walk. If I'm home and I have to work at my computer and in my office on the phone, that sort of thing. I like cell phones because I get up and walk. I can walk outside. I can talk. I really try to get up and walk as much as I can. So, one thing that we should be mindful of is that we will be either walking in the spirit or walking in the flesh throughout the day. You're going to do one or the other. You're going to either walk in the flesh or you're going to walk in the spirit. You get to the side, which it is you're going to do. Of course, God tells us that we are to be doers of His law, not just hearers only, but doers. Walking is a very active thing to do. So, we are to learn to walk with God and to allow Him to guide us, show us the way to go. Let's go to Ephesians 4, where it does talk about our calling. It talks about how we are to learn to walk worthy of our vocation, our calling. Ephesians 4, God wants us to walk worthy of our calling. God saw fit to call you out of this world, out of seven or whatever billion people, and you're going to walk worthy of our calling. God saw fit to call you out of this world, out of seven or whatever billion people we have now.

He saw fit to call you, and He says, you're to walk worthy of this calling.

Okay, well that's a tall order, isn't it? Because this is a calling that leads to eternal life.

It's a calling that leads to ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ, with God the Father, with learning or with becoming perfect. Now this calling leads to perfection.

We want sinners. As long as we stay faithful to this calling, one day we're going to be perfect, like God, born into His family, changed into His Spirit. So walking worthy of our calling, that's a tall order, because it is a high and a holy calling. So we should think about that. Only therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. Now this is essentially talking about the fruits of God's Spirit in a different way, but some of them are mentioned here. Gentleness, long suffering, love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Peace is another one of the fruits of God's Spirit. There's one body, one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, through all and in you all. Let's go down to verse 17. See what it says here, verse 17. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. We're not to follow the footsteps of the Gentiles in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts. Now, we're no longer blind. God has opened our mind. We're not to be like the pagans who are ignorant of God's truth. They're not being called now. This is not their day of salvation, but it is our day of salvation. It's your day of salvation. It's my day of salvation. It's all wrapped up in this calling that we have at this time. So we learn to walk worthy of this calling in chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love. The Bible uses the word walk quite a bit. Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. We are to walk with God. So think about this as you go throughout your day, as you go walking through your home, as you go walking through your office at work, wherever you go. We go shopping. You're walking behind a shopping cart, wherever it is.

Remember that you're to walk in love. As Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. I'll go back down to verse 8. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so walk as children of light. When we walk in the light, we can see clearly.

If we walk in darkness, then we're blinded. We can see clearly. So we have to come out of the darkness, into the light. The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. That should be our continuing goal, is to know God's will and to fill it in our lives, to fulfill the will of God for us. In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2 and verse 12, again it talks about the need to walk worthy of God. That's another tall order. How? You know, to walk worthy of God? God's perfect. Walk worthy of God.

1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 12. Speaking about Christ, it says, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised you from the dead. I'm not in the right place. I'm in the book of Colossians. I want to be in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 12. That you walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. So now it's told that we're supposed to walk worthy of God. That's our calling. God's perfect. We're to walk worthy of Him. We're to strive for perfection. We're to become holy as He is holy. We're to become perfect as He is perfect. In Romans chapter 8, again, we hear Paul in his writing hear what he says about walking not after the flesh. Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So obviously there is some condemnation in those who walk in the flesh, right? If there's no condemnation for those who walk in the Spirit, then the reverse of that is if you walk in the flesh, then there is a certain condemnation in doing so, especially if you're called now and God has opened your mind, He's given you His Spirit. So now you have to be faithful to that calling. So do walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Again, Paul is talking about the fact that Christ died for us. He paid the penalty for us. He paid the death penalty. The wages of sin is death. This is what we all deserve.

But thankfully, Christ paid that penalty for us. We're no longer under the death penalty.

We've forgiven because we've accepted Christ as our Savior and because we've repented of our sins and because we are striving to put the sin out. And God looks on our heart and He knows whether or not we are repentant because He's the one that grants us repentance. And He does it when He sees our hearts. Do you have the desire? Obviously, you have a desire or you wouldn't be here today.

You know, why not here on a Friday? Most people aren't here. You know, they don't get it. It's not that we're any better. It's just that God solved it to call us right now. We are the ones who are called. But along with that comes a great responsibility. So we mustn't shrink back in fear from this great calling that we have. Now, we need to learn to rise to the occasion. And it all gets down to whether or not we have faith in God. Do we trust Him because it's only God in us that's going to give us victory in this life and into the next. So it does get down to faith. Walking in faith, trusting in God, believing in Him, knowing who He is, and then doing our very best to become like Him. So it is, again, a high, a holy calling. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Let's read a little bit further. Verse 3, for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, because we break the law, don't we? Sometimes we break God's law by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. He didn't give people license to sin. No, He condemned sin in the flesh. He's against sin. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. You see, we do need to come out of the flesh and learn to walk in the Spirit. We are in the flesh, yes, just like we're in the world. We're in the world today.

God hasn't removed us completely from the world. We work with people that are not called right now. We work with people. We see people. We shop with people. So, in a sense, it's the same thing. We're in the flesh today, but we should not walk in the flesh and walk in the Spirit. That should be God's Spirit who motivates us, who guides and directs us, not the God of this world. We're to come out of this world. Satan's the God of this world. And, frankly, Satan is the one that stirs up carnal human nature. He stirs that up. He tempts us and tests us. And we have to refuse direction. We have to allow the Spirit of God to be what guides and motivates us and helps us make right decisions. So, if we're not careful, if we're neglectful, we can make choices that will prevent us from walking in the Spirit. We'll stay up late at night, perhaps, watching sometimes mindless TV.

Sometimes, if you're really tired and stressed out, sitting in front of the old TV, for a few minutes might be a good thing if it's a decent show. But to spend hours and just get that just gets us off the track, doesn't it? Spiritually, it doesn't stir up the fruit of God's Spirit in us. Typically, it does the opposite.

You know, Hollywood isn't known for its moral integrity.

I mean, you know, they're not the ones who are leading the way when it comes to integrity, righteousness. It's not to say that now and then there isn't something edifying that we can watch on TV. I'm not saying we have to give up watching all TV. I think, you know, using the right proper balance, then it could be a good stress release to a point. But we have to be honest with the kind of influence that it has on us. If it's positive and good and godly and right, then it's probably a good thing to do. But if it's a waste of our time, then our time should be spent in more productive things, and we should make other decisions. Or if it leads us down a path to temptation, then that thing that we should also resist and not go down that path. So, you know, most people go throughout their day without, you know, they don't think a whole lot about God. Many people don't. I think we do.

God is probably on your mind a lot, I would guess. I mean, I think about God pretty much all day long. And I try to analyze whether He would want me to do this or do that or do the other thing. Sometimes I don't always listen, and I do what I humanly, carnally would prefer to do me, as opposed to what God might have me do. But I do try to think about God, whereas so many people in the world, they don't even believe in God. You know, they don't have a thought toward God as they go throughout their day. We need to be different, of course.

So, again, it gets down to the proper balance. You know, what is balance? What is Godly balance in your life?

Distractions that take you further away from God are not good distractions. It's as if we need a distraction because we're stressed out, life is hard.

Taking a nap might be a good distraction, you know, and we might really need to take a nap to get renewed, to be reinvigorated, to just take a nap sometime during the day, if we can.

Sometimes I'll lay down on my office floor and take a 20-minute nap. That's a good distraction. It helps rejuvenate me, especially if I got up at four o'clock in the morning and only got five hours' sleep. You know, it's good to try to get a nap sometimes. It's a good distraction.

Ephesians 2, verse 10, it talks about how we were created for good works and that we are to walk in that. We're to walk in these good works. You know, that's what God wants us to do.

People walk in good works.

Pretty much know what good works are. You know, good works are doing loving, kind, compassionate things for others. It's sharing, encouraging others, sharing our joy with one another. You know, there are many good works, things that are helpful and good and right that God would be pleased with. It says, Ephesians 2, verse 10, that's why you were created. You were created for good works. So we should strive to spend a reasonable amount of our time trying to do good works, trying to do that for which we were created. Now, we all know that a true Christian does need to spend some time in God's Word. And that's a given, that the Bible is a powerful tool for every Christian. So if you don't have a good habit of studying the Bible, then you should stop compromising because that's what that is. When you don't do it, it's called a compromise.

If you know better and you aren't doing it, you are compromising with what you know to be true. So, as Mr. Armstrong used to say, blow the dust off your Bible and read it. Study it.

And make sure you find some time, make that a priority in your day. That's learning to walk in the Spirit because you're eating yourself spiritually. Even if it's just 20 minutes a day.

I mean, life gets so hectic that I'll bet there are times when you probably don't even do 20 things. But either times that I haven't, you know, and I've gotten so busy, you know, it's just time gets away from you. Great to spend an hour every day.

Yeah, that's worse than that would be. A healthy thing. That's only 1 24th of the day.

It doesn't like much, does it?

So praying.

I know if you didn't neglect prayer, sometimes we get weary and well-doing. If we've been praying for 40 years, it's easy to begin to think, well, I don't know if it's that necessary or that. God knows my mind. He knows that I'm praying for these people, even though I'm not praying for them.

And it's like, I don't think that's good reasoning. I think God wants us to actually do the praying and not just allow him to assume that you meant to pray.

I don't think it works that way. Prayer and Bible study, fasting on occasion, these are all good works, and it is walking in spirit.

If you get on a routine of fasting regularly, whatever that is for you once a month or once every couple of weeks, you'll definitely see the power in that. That's walking in spirit. When you take a day, you dedicate yourself to God, you stop eating physical things.

You're not going to live very long if you don't eat several days in a row, but it helps you realize how dependent we are on God to provide for us. There are so many good benefits in fasting. So that's learning to walk in the spirit. Maybe you should take a day or two between now and the day of Pentecost. Find the time to fast. Show God that you are sincere about learning to walk in the spirit. So God's way is a way of life. It should be our way of life. It should be your way of life. God's way should consume your time. It should be what you're living about, living for. Again, we do have to work and provide for our families. We have to cook and clean and take care of children. On and on it goes. I understand that. And again, it's not an easy thing to do at all. The priorities are so important, so we need to put those spiritual priorities at the top of the list and trust God that the other things will work out. We don't have to become workaholics so that we're not spending time in prayer or Bible study or fasting. God will provide for us if we put Him first. We don't have to work every waking hour. God also wants us to enjoy some hobbies, have interests in things that we enjoy that help deal with the stress of this life. It is a stressful life. Sometimes I think going fishing is a healthy thing. It's a healthy thing. I keep telling myself it's a very, very healthy thing.

Of course, I could overdo that. Go fishing every day. That would probably not be the best use of my time. But on occasion, it's a good healthy thing to do. It helps clear my mind. I'm out there with God in nature. Snakes are out there that make me the symbolic of Satan the devil.

You've got to look out for Him. I saw like nine snakes this week. That's a lot of snakes. Yeah, I go out jogging every day, and I jog by this reservoir, and there's a lot of snakes.

If you didn't see the picture, I've got a six-foot water moccasin that I saw. I was fishing a month or so ago. Before we went to Alaska, and there was a six-foot water moccasin signing itself on some lumber in front of me. And it was as big as my fist, too. Six feet long, and part of it is big as my fist. It was a huge water moccasin. So it made me think of Satan the devil, how it's going to be out there in the woods, and out in the trees, and out in the water from time to time. But seriously, having some kind of hobbies, that's a good thing. Again, it's the balanced life. God wants us to learn to have balance in our lives. We know that the Bible speaks about the Spirit of the law. God wants us to learn what the Spirit of the law is, and how to apply it in our lives. Christ spoke about the Spirit of the law when He gave the Sermon on the Mount, the Spirit of the law. Well, it's referring to the real intent of the law that God wants us to understand, not just the letter of the law, but the actual intent not just the words on the page or on the tablet of stone, but the living intent of His law.

Christ cleared that up for us so we can understand it. He said, you know, the Scripture says, thou shall not murder.

You that if you harbor hatred or resentment, you've murdered someone in your heart. So that's actually a more binding law. It's not enough not to kill a person. If you hate them and you want to kill them, but you know you're going to go to prison, if you do, so you restrain yourself, you still sin because you've murdered the person in your heart. Start storm storm out there. So that is important for us to consider.

13 verse 10, it talks about how love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13 verse 10, love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is a way of life. You know, God is love and we are to become love.

It should motivate what we do.

And to forgive those who have wronged us, who've sinned against us, who've hurt us. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. That's what Christ said when he was being crucified. That's what Stephen said when he was being martyred, when he was being stoned to death. We also need to learn to take on that approach.

Father, forgive them. They really don't know what they're doing. Rather than get all angry and want to get back at them and have revenge. And put them in their place.

Times, again, to stand up against evil.

I believe in that. I believe that we should make ourselves known in a proper, godly balance. But there is a time when we just have to pray about it.

Once you've said your peace and you try to get through to them, if it's not working, then just pray for them and pray that God will one day bring them to repentance, help them see the error of their ways because no doubt they're miserable in certain ways because of the water breaking.

Christ, in essence, it is not enough to, again, physically, it's not enough to not commit adultery if you have it in your mind to do this even though you may restrain yourself for a variety of reasons. A little committed adultery.

So then we have to go and ask God to forgive our thoughts to help us stop thinking in ways that are selfish and ungodly and fleshly, lustful thoughts. God, help us help me get over this type of wrong thinking. Those are things we have to repent of and ask God to forgive us for even our thoughts. What does Scripture tell us?

Bring every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Christ. Christ was perfect. That means He brought every thought into captivity. He never allowed Himself to go beyond a thought. He brought it into captivity before it became a sinful act.

Too often we don't bring our thoughts into captivity. We allow ourselves to dwell on our thoughts. And long we're acting out our thoughts. Love is a way of life.

Making the Spirit is a way of life. The commandment says to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all of your work.

But it's clearly not enough to just not work on the Sabbath. But further than that in Isaiah 58, verses 13 and 14, says we're to call the Sabbath a delight and look at it as a holy day, the day that God has sanctified and set apart, the day to worship Him.

These are important days. These annual holy days and the weekly Sabbaths are days when we do need to be careful not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together whenever at all possible to try to be there so that we might be instructed by God and that we might be able to fellowship with God's people.

Keeping the Sabbath in the proper Spirit, not just the letter of the law, but the Spirit of the law, is important. How we observe the Sabbath, the example that we set for one another, and how we keep the Sabbath. We're not to do our own pleasure on the Sabbath.

Now there are things that we should just simply not do on the Sabbath. We can do them on the other six days if they're, you know, like, I don't place off all on the Sabbath. I don't go fishing on the Sabbath. Those are things that are reserved for six days but not the seventh day. And the thing is, our marriages, you know, how we live with our mates, how we treat our mates, how we show love and respect toward them, are important that we learn to get along with our mates as best we possibly can and help each other get the plank out of your own eye so you can see clearly to help your mate grow and and and don't near to God. So again, these things are important for us the the way we choose to with our mates, with our children, how we treat our children.

Walk in the Spirit. Do it God's way with your children, with your wife, with your husband. The Bible does talk a lot about stirring up the Spirit in us.

We need to stir up God's Spirit. Again, prayer, Bible study, fasting, all those things help stir up God's Spirit. They help us be more focused spiritually. Proverbs 4 verse 27 says, turn not to the right hand or to the left. That's Proverbs 4, 27. Turn not to the right hand or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. Your foot from evil. In other words, don't walk in down that evil path. Remove your foot from evil. Walk the other way. Walk in righteousness and in goodness and faithfulness. Walk in the Spirit. Ezekiel 33 verse 11 says, God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He says that we all should turn from our evil and live. That's what God wants. God wants all of us to repent of our sin. He loves everybody out there. He wants them to eventually repent. He'd be very happy if they did it right now, but he knows that now is not the day of salvation. Most people are not going to do that because we do have an opportunity to turn from evil and live. There are many scriptures that do talk about walking in the light, for example. God's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We're to walk in the light. Christ is the light of the world. Christ, again, is to live in us, to motivate us, to inspire us, to become like Him. 1 John 1 verse 7 might go there for a moment. 1 John chapter 1 verse 7 says, If you walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. If you walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another. So we do have a unique opportunity in this room and throughout the world, those who are God's chosen ones, who keep His annual Holy Days, who keep His Sabbath, who come together in fellowship. If you walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ does cleanse us from our sins. We can have confidence and faith in Christ's sacrifice for us.

And when Christ truly lives in us, we are overcomers. We learn to overcome. We learn to grow. Scripture says that we are to walk even as Christ walked. That's 1 John chapter 2 verse 6. You are to walk even as Christ walks, or as He walked when He walked His earth. He did a lot of walking around Galilee, all around Jerusalem, and all the environs of Caesarea of Meritima. I'm sure He was all around that area, walking up on the mountain, by the Golan Heights, up at Mount Hermon. He walked all over that area. He says, not to walk even as He walked, and Christ walked perfectly.

As He went throughout His daily life, He never sinned.

2 John 1 verse 6, and this is love that we walk after His commandments.

Love that we walk after His commandments. Use the word walk. Walk after His commandments. Have no other gods before the true God. That's some active. We're not to put anything before God.

God should be our priority. We're not to bow down before graven images. We're not to take God's name in vain as we go throughout the day.

What comes out of our mouth says a lot about who we are and what we think. We need to be careful how we speak. Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy.

You can work six days, but now on the seventh day. That's the special days, sanctified by God. Learn to honor your mother and your father. That's one of the commandments.

Commandments.

He says, and this is love that we walk after His commandments. We keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. That's what true love is all about, learning to keep God's commandments and to walk in every one of them, not lying, not stealing from one another, not committing adultery. These are fundamental commandments of God. That's how we are to live.

In 3 John 1, verse 4, John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth.

We're to walk in God's truth. We're to be students of the Bible. We are to know the truth of God and then walk in it. Romans 13, verse 13 says, Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting or drunkenness, not in strife, not in envy, but let us walk honestly.

Walk in the truth. Tell the truth. Walk in the truth. Be honest. Don't be hypocritical. Paul says, when a person is baptized, they come out of the watery grave. And how are they to walk in this of life?

From then on, whether they're in their church 40 or 50 years, they're still supposed to be walking the saint in newness of life, different from what they did before they were converted, before they were baptized. We're to walk differently. We're to get stronger as we go on in life.

Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll wrap this up pretty quickly now. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1.

My brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal. This is what Paul says to the church at Corinth. As to babes in Christ, I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you're still not able.

For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? We've seen some of that in God's church over the years, hammering. Still divisions, still strife, still things going on in God's church.

We are carnal, behaving like mere men. For when one says, I am of Paul, and other, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? We're all to be of Christ. Christ is the one that we follow. We're not to pick sides with other men who divide the body of Christ.

We should clearly see where Christ is leading and follow Christ.

We're familiar with the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5 or 7. We walk by faith. We by sight. We walk by faith. We learn to trust God and put our faith in Him. We don't have to take everything to ourselves. We can wait on God. If we're not clear about something in God's church, put it in God's hands. Pray about it fast, put it in God's hands, and wait for an answer.

Don't get impatient. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16, where God says, He's going to dwell in us. 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6, verse 16, 3.

3. Bremen has the temple of God with idols, for you are the temple of the living God. 4. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 5. God wants to be our God. He wants us to be His people.

6. I will walk among them. I will be their God. God walks among us. 7. God walks among His people. God here for you. He walks among you. You're to learn to walk in His Spirit. His Spirit.

So, do the walking in you. That's basically what I'm saying. Let God do the walking in you. He wants to walk in you. We just saw that. We are the temple of the living God. Christ lives in us. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

Christ is that unleavened bread, so Christ will help us put sin out of our life and keep it out.

One last scripture in Revelation 21, verse 24, where it talks about the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21, verse 24. Now let's read verse 22 first. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple, speaking of the New Jerusalem. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

The gate shall not be shut at all. By day there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall be, by no means enter it, anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, that only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life are going to be in the New Jerusalem. I can assure you that that will be an awesome place to be for the rest of eternity. With God the Father and with Jesus Christ, with there will be no longer darkness, Satan will be completely banished forever. At that time, we'll have been born fully into God's family as the children of God, ruling and reigning with Christ, first on this earth for a thousand years, but then to the rest of eternity. And who knows what's happened for eternity?

In the time that we have leading up to this next annual Holy Day, the day of Pentecost, about 43 days from now, let us remember to yield to the Spirit of God in us and let us continue to learn what it means to walk in the Spirit.

Well, it's been really nice getting together with all of you today.

I've enjoyed it a great deal. It's really nice to see some of you from Oklahoma City that haven't seen and since I left.