Walking in the Spirit

Well, brethren, we know how important it is to go forward in faith. We talked about that yesterday.

God has called us all to go forward and to refuse to become immobilized by our fears.

God wants us to be of good courage. As Joshua was of good courage, he went into the Promised Land. He led the children of Israel there. God wants us also to be of good courage. He wants us to go in and to do His will to serve the Lord. As Joshua said, me and my house, we will serve the Eternal. So I know that's all that's what all of us here want to do. We are going to go forward. We're preparing faithfully to enter the Promised Land to inherit God's Kingdom. We know that the days of 11 bread now ended are all about putting sin out of our lives and also, of course, putting unleavened in, putting Jesus Christ into our lives, learning to become unleavened as Christ is unleavened, the perfect, wonderful sacrifice for us. Through Him, our sins are forgiven and we can be justified and made right in God's sight. So that's a wonderful blessing to understand that, to know that.

These days we just observed are all about overcoming sin and, again, becoming unleavened in our heart and minds. So that's moving forward in faith, trusting God for His strength to overcome and for repentance and forgiveness when we do slip up, when we do miss the mark spiritually, as we all will at various times. In less than 50 days, we will observe the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. We count seven full weeks from the Sabbath during the days of 11 bread, which actually was last Sabbath. So we will observe the day of Pentecost on the 50th day, this year, Sunday, June the 9th. So the countdown to Pentecost, God's next annual Holy Day, has already begun. We might ask ourselves, how does God want us to live the next 42 days leading up to Pentecost? Will we be mindful of the lessons that we are to learn spiritually from keeping these important spring Holy Days that lead up to the Feast of Pentecost? It's very easy to get back into old ways of thinking and doing things, perhaps not being as diligent and vigilant about putting the spiritual leaven out of our homes and our lives, and of course, keeping it out. As we went about our daily lives living in this world, this past week we were ever mindful of the possibility of slipping up and bringing leaven back into our homes and our lives. Yesterday, I mentioned how I had once slipped up and started to eat an ice cream sandwich. Had it in my mouth, and then I spit it out. I talked to someone, one of you, who told me they had a similar experience where they also allowed an ice cream sandwich to tempt them. And then I remember a few years ago, I talked to a woman who had been in the church over 40 years, and she had kept the days of unleavened bread many, many years, and she had never slept slipped up. For 40 years, she had never slipped up.

Then she bought an ice cream sandwich.

She took them home with her, a whole box of them.

She ate one, and she was on the second one when it dawned on her. And she thought these ice cream sandwiches are leavened. They represent sin during these days of unleavened bread. I need to put them out, and into the garbage disposal they went.

So she had also commented that her husband had slipped up numerous times during the days.

He'd been in the church a long time, but he'd slipped up numerous times. This was her first time that she was aware of.

That's pretty good, isn't it? To go 40 years with just one slip-up.

I know she wished that she had only sinned once in 40 years. You know, actually, the spiritual sin.

I'm sure she had sinned more than that. I mean, we all sinned more than that.

Now, we can go back to legally eating ice cream sandwiches now. It's okay. It's okay. You don't have to worry it. I am a little gun-shy for a few days.

I don't really eat that many ice cream sandwiches, believe it or not. But it's okay if I do now.

But can we legally break God's law? Can we sin and it doesn't count?

Well, of course not. It counts. You know, the Scripture says, be sure your sins will find you out. You know, there are consequences, obviously, for sin. So we should never take sin lightly. We should always strive to put sin out of our lives and not to allow sin to enter. So, brethren, as we overcame eating leaven this past week, we must go forward in faith, finding strength to become unleavened spiritually.

We are to actively overcome sin, and we are to actively and joyfully walk in the Spirit.

Walk in the Spirit of God rather than walking in the flesh.

Now, I don't know about you, but I like to get out every day and take a walk, or even jog some. I used to run, and then I jogged, and now I seem to walk more than I run or jog. But I do like to get exercise. In fact, I'll often listen to sermons when I'm out walking and jogging. So, if you haven't been doing that, that's really a good use of your time. You can get some exercise. You can listen to a sermon, and it's just a real good way to spend an hour.

So, walking in the Spirit must become a way of life.

Walking in the Spirit obviously needs to be your way of life. It needs to be my way of life.

It must be something that we are doing on a continual daily basis. The fruits of the Spirit are not to be just something we produce from time to time, are they? But they should become what we are. We are to become loving. We are to be loving. That should be our character. Loving people. We are to be joyful people. Not just some of the time, but we should try to be all the time. Be joyful people. We are to be peaceful people. We are to be peacemakers.

We are to be patient, long-suffering, willing to put up with trials and things that come along.

We are to be kind. And again, not just some of the time, but we should strive to always be kind, to be compassionate, to be caring. We should strive to be good, to be gentle, to be meek, to be faithful, to be self-controlled. These are the fruits of God's Holy Spirit. And when we walk in the Spirit, we will be producing the fruit of God's Spirit. And you know, it's so beautiful here in the Northwest this time of year. The flowers, the trees, the bushes. They're so vibrant, so fertile. It's just a beautiful thing. I was... first time I came here, I was shocked at how big the blackberries were. Back in where I lived, little puny blackberries. You guys know how to grow blackberries.

So I'm impressed with the Northwest. It's a beautiful area. God's blessed us with some gorgeous weather. Today is certainly beautiful. But we are to be producing the fruit of God's Spirit in abundance. So think about that this spring, as you see the abundance of the Northwest, the fertile land, we too are to be producing fruit in abundance.

So again, you know, the Scripture tells us in Matthew 5 verse 48 that we are to become perfect.

Even as our Father in heaven is perfect, God produces fruit abundantly in every way. You know, He's perfect. He in Christ never sinned. They are very fertile, you might say. They're producing fruit constantly. God's fruit of His Spirit. So let's ask ourselves just how far do we need to go? Well, that can be discouraging because we all know we fall short. By the same token, as I said yesterday, I see some very faithful people in front of me today.

I see some people who truly do walk in the Spirit. You walk in the Spirit. And that's a wonderful thing to know what that means and to go about your life walking in the Spirit. At the same time, we have to admit that there are times when we're not as loving as we ought to be. We're not as patient. You know, we're not as kind. We're not as self-controlled. In fact, sometimes we might even be downright mean-spirited. Has that ever happened to you where you found yourself being a little mean-spirited and you felt badly, you repented of that? You know, that's how we all are at times. You know, none of us are perfect. We do fall short of the glory of God. We're not God yet, but that is our destiny to become born into God's family, to never sin. You know, I'm looking really forward to that time because there is a sin that easily besets me. And so, I want to become perfect, to become as God is, to be born into His family. So, I long for that time, for that day, and I know that it's easy to walk in the flesh. Very, very easy to walk in the flesh, but I so desire to walk in the Spirit. So, we're going to talk about walking in the Spirit today. That's the title of my sermon, Walking in the Spirit. Let's go to Galatians chapter 5.

You know, it talks about the works of the flesh in Galatians 5. I'm not going to read the works of the flesh. We're all too familiar with those, the works of the flesh. Now, we're pretty familiar with the works of the flesh because we are flesh. So, it's more difficult to walk in the Spirit, frankly, than it is to walk in the flesh. It's easy to walk in the flesh. But God really does want us to be different. He wants us to learn to walk in the flesh. So, in Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, and the reason I want to talk about this is because we all know that God's Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. But, you know, most of us have been baptized for a number of years. Many of us here, we've been baptized for a long time. We have God's Spirit dwelling in us.

So, we don't have to wait to Pentecost for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

It's already come. It's living in us. God's Spirit is in us. So, we need to be producing the fruit of God's Spirit as we go toward Pentecost. So, that's the whole idea behind this, and I want us to focus on that for the next 42 days. Focus on walking in the Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, here it says, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If you're walking in the Spirit, it's impossible to fulfill the lust of the flesh.

You can't do both at the same time. Now, it's pretty easy to go from one to the other, fairly quickly, in fact. But while you're walking in the Spirit, you will not be walking in the flesh. And these are choices that we make. You know, God has made us free moral agents. We get to choose whether to walk in the Spirit or to walk in the flesh. You choose how you're going to walk the next 42 days. Notice in Galatians 5, verse 25, we're going to drop down. I said we're not going to go through all the works of the flesh. But look at verse 25. It says here, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another. Instead, let us truly love each other and care for each other. And, you know, really, I've been very impressed with this congregation. This is a congregation that really does care. You know, they do love one another. They're close-knit. And that's a wonderful thing. You know, God is certainly with you. God is in you. God will help you walk in the Spirit.

If we live in the Spirit, we shall walk in the Spirit. God says in Revelation chapter 3, verse 21, that to he who overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my throne, to he who overcomes. So, yes, we do need to overcome. We can't take it lightly. We should strive to walk in the Spirit. You have been walking with God in the Spirit, so you will sit with Him in His throne. Do you believe that?

Do you have faith in that? Is that something you believe to the innermost core of your very heart and mind? That you're walking in the Spirit and you will sit with Christ and with the Father on His throne. You'll rule and reign with Christ. Okay, that's a wonderful calling that we have, a very beautiful calling. So, that would be quite an honor, would it not, to rule and reign with Christ? To be the firstfruits. Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brethren. He is our elder brother. He's shown us the way and He's made it possible for us to walk in His steps. So, that is certainly going to be a tremendous honor to be ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ.

Now, on a much lesser scale, if the President of the United States were to ask you to share power with Him, would that not be an honor? If he reached out to you and said, I want you to be on my cabinet. Now, you may not want to be on His cabinet. I understand that. I get that. But nevertheless, it would be quite an honor, wouldn't it, to be asked to rule and for Him to share that power, ask you to be Secretary of State or Secretary of the Treasury or whatever it might be.

Again, that would be an honor in itself, but a much greater honor to rule and reign with Christ. So, what can we do to help us be overcomers?

You know, I'm sure you've probably heard the expression that we need to overcome sin, the self, and Satan. You've probably heard that, right? Sin, self, and Satan.

That's another way of saying you must overcome the temptation to walk in the flesh. We are all tempted, again, to walk in the flesh. Satan is the great tempter. He appeals to the self.

He appeals to our selfish nature. We all have weaknesses, and believe me, Satan does know our weaknesses. He knows when and in what way we are vulnerable to his temptations. Notice in Luke chapter 4 what Satan does, too. You know, Satan is an accuser of the brethren. He goes before the Father and accuses us when we sin.

But notice, again, he is the tempter as well. He tempts us to sin, and if we do, then he accuses us before God. You know, that's who we're dealing with. Duplicitous being. So, we don't—we certainly want to resist him. We don't want to draw near to him. We want to draw near to God. But in Luke chapter 4, it talks about the temptations that Satan laid upon Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was faithful through those temptations. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 both go through them. I'm not going to take the time to do that today, but I did want to show you in verse 13 that if we resist Satan, he's not going to give up. He's actually going to look for an opportune time. That's what the Scripture says, and what is an opportune time? It's when we're letting down. It's when we're weaker. That's what Satan will do. He will try to get to us in our weakness.

Notice verse 13. Now, when the devil had ended every temptation—he tried to tempt Christ, Christ did not give in to any temptation—when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Of course, with Jesus Christ, there was no opportune time because Jesus Christ has always been close to the Father. He said, I and my Father are one.

The Holy Spirit was powerful in Jesus Christ as it is in the Father. And so there was never a time when Jesus could be tempted to sin. I mean, he was tempted in every point, as it says, but without sin. He was not weak. He was strong. He was faithful. He was true. He's the one that we can count on. He is our Redeemer. We can put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. But there are times when we are weaker. So we truly have to be on guard when we've been working so hard, you know, when we've been losing sleep, you know, when life is taking its toil.

That's when Satan is going to try to tempt you and to really make inroads with you to get you to walk in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. So it is important that we stay close to God every day, you know, really emphasizing prayer, Bible study, fasting. You know, we can't really do that too much because it's easy as human beings to let down in those areas, to not pray as faithfully and as fervently as we should, to not study the Bible as faithfully and fervently as we should, perhaps not to meditate as much as we ought to.

You know, these are things that that it's very easy for us to let down in these areas. So I would encourage you these next 42 days to really strive to get in some very good habits. If your habits aren't the best right now, believe me, you can improve. 42 days would really get you moving in the right direction. I think they say 21 days, so you have twice as many days.

So if you can use these next 42 days to establish habits or continue in the habits that you've already established, that would be a wonderful thing and Satan would not be able to find very many opportune times with you. Can you think of an integral part of the sample prayer that Christ gives in Matthew 6 that relates directly to what we're talking about right now? What does the sample prayer say about temptation? And do not lead us into temptation. That's what we pray. We're told to pray. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. We have to pray to God to protect us from Satan the devil.

Again, draw near to God, he will draw near to you. Resist Satan and he will flee from you. He has no power over you unless you allow it. You know, again, you're a free moral agent. You get to choose. Paul beseeches us to walk worthy of our calling. Let's notice that in Ephesians chapter 4. It is important that we learn to walk in the Spirit of God.

Ephesians chapter 4 talks about walking worthy. A good study is to look up all the times the word walk is used in the Bible and how we are to walk daily. That's something we're to do. You know, we do. We walk everywhere. I mean, we get up when we when you leave here, you're going to walk. You're gonna get out of your chair. You're going to walk to your car. Then you're going to walk to your house.

Then you're going to walk to your bed later on tonight. So you'll be walking throughout the day. So it uses this term a lot. Ephesians chapter 4, let's go there for a moment. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, and we are all to be prisoners of the Lord. Now he was literally a prisoner of the Lord in a sense. You know, he was in prison, but we are all to be, in a sense, we're to be God's slaves or prisoners to a point. He says, I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, with bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the body of peace.

There's one body, there's 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 and through all, and in you all. You know, God does live in us, and he will allow us to walk in the Spirit.

If we go to verse 17, same chapter, notice what it says in verse 17, this I say, excuse me, this I say therefore, and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. You know, God has called us out of the world.

We're not to walk as the Gentiles walk 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, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all on cleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned Christ. You know, Christ again will live in us and will allow us to be like him, to become like Jesus Christ.

In chapter 5, verse 2, Paul says, and walk in love. Paul uses this theme a lot. He says we are 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. Verse 8, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of the light. So we are to walk as children of the light. And then in verse 15, he says, see then that you walk circumspectly, that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time. In other words, using your time wisely, having proper goals, spiritual goals, being focused, being single-minded, and following God. You know, you are responsible for your time, how you use your time. So we should all consider how we use our time. Are we truly putting God first in our lives and in our times, or are we putting other things before God? These are questions, of course, that we should ask.

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul continues this theme. 1 Thessalonians, you'll find this throughout all of Paul's writings, frankly. In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 12, he says that you would walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. So we are told that we are to walk worthy, we are to walk worthy of God. You know, God is the great everything. You know, He's supreme.

We are to walk worthy of Him, because He's called us out of this world.

He's given us His marvelous light. He's shown us His truth. So we are to walk worthy of that high and that holy calling. It is a beautiful thing to know and understand the true God and what He's doing in your life. In Romans, chapter 8, let's go to Romans, chapter 8.

Again, we read Paul's writings, continuing this type of theme throughout his writings. 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.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. No sin and death has no hold over us. Thank God for that. It has no hold over us, because we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. We've repented of our sins, and now we walk in newness of life. We walk in the Spirit. And that is such a marvelous thing to consider. For what law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh? Yeah, because we're sinners. So in that sense, the law is weak. The problem is with the people. No, we do fall short. We do miss the mark at times. For what the law cannot do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came in the flesh. He didn't walk in the flesh. He walked in the Spirit.

In the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 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. So we are not to stay in the flesh. That's where the overcoming comes in. So that's why we have to take sin seriously. We have to strive to live by every word of God. We have to know that the law isn't done away and that we are to do our very best to keep God's law. And we won't do it perfectly, but God looks on the heart. So He doesn't expect you to keep it perfectly. He wants you to try your very best to keep it perfectly. But He does know that we all fall short. If we read on a little bit further, verse 5, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. So primarily, you have set your mind on the things of the Spirit. That's why you're here today. There's a reason why you're here. It's because you have set your mind on the things of the Spirit, not the things of the flesh. You're showing that you want to be different, that you do want to come out of the world and be different. For to be carnally minded, fleshly minded, is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and it's peace. Because the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. No wonder it's difficult for us. No wonder we missed the mark. For the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So it's only through God's power. It's only through reliance upon God. Allowing God to live in us. Allowing Christ to live in us. That's how we get victory over sin. Remember, Paul said, oh wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? He said, I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Jesus Christ gives us victory over sin. So it is a beautiful, a wonderful plan. Verse 8 says, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. Now we know that God's spirit can work in us prior to baptism.

No, we make a lot of changes before we're actually baptized, because God's spirit works with us. But God's spirit needs to dwell in us. Only then will we be sealed for the resurrection.

Now God's spirit seals us for the resurrection. So it is important to go beyond just allowing the spirit to work with us. We need to actually be baptized. We need to accept Christ as our savior. We need to repent of our sins. We need to come under that watery grave. We need to come out as if we were resurrected by analogy, and then we walk in newness of life. Now we have God's spirit to guide us, to direct us, to strengthen us, and to help us. So again, it is so wonderful that God allows his spirit to dwell in his people. Now if we're not careful, as I mentioned already, we can be neglectful. We can make choices that will prevent us from really walking in the spirit. So let's get real for a moment. If you spend a lot of time watching TV, you could be stunting your spiritual growth. If you spend a lot of time doing the gaming thing, you could be stunting your spiritual growth. If you spend too much time working... Now we all have to work to make a living, and life is hard, and I know that, I get that. A lot of us have to work a lot of hours. But if we become consumed with our work, then we will suffer spiritually. So we have to take an honest look once in a while on how we're spending our time, and ask God to guide us and help us to make better choices, so that we use our time wisely, so we redeem the time, so we will walk more faithfully with God, walk with him in the spirit.

In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, it clearly says that we're saved by grace. Verse 8 talks about being saved by grace. We're not saved by lawkeeping. We've all blown that a long time ago. We've broken the law. The wages of sin is death, so that's really what we deserve.

But in God's graciousness and in his grace, he forgives our sins when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. When we repent of those sins, he allows us to be forgiven every time we sin if we are truly repentant. And God does grant us repentance based on our heart. He knows how we think. He knows if we're repentant. In verse 10, he says that we were created for good works, and we are to walk in them. So serving one another, that's a good work. Keeping the commandments, those are all good works. Obeying God's law, those are all good works. Helping anyone who's in need is a good work. In Dallas for a time, we served the homeless by a bunch of us getting together, and we would go to Fort Worth, and on a Friday, we would spend the whole day, and we would get on a bus, we would make soup, and give, you know, feed them soup, and we would take socks and jackets and coats in the wintertime. So there's things like that that this church can get involved in. I know you are already involved in, no doubt, many of these things already, and God wants us to be involved. He wants us to love all people and reach out to the community as well as among ourselves. You know, do what we can to help others because we were created for good works.

God's way is a way of life, and it's your way of life. You've chosen it. That's why you're here today. It's your way of life. God's way should consume your time.

It's okay to have hobbies. You know, God wants us to be balanced. You know, I have some hobbies.

Once in a while, I get to go hunting and fishing, and I enjoy that. You know, that's relaxing to me.

I still want to get back into playing softball, believe it or not. I'm not done yet. I want to play softball. I've played softball almost my whole life as a small child and played in city leagues in every area where I've lived, except in Dallas. I got so busy, I never did make it. For four years without playing any softball to speak of, I'd actually like to get back on a team because it's something I enjoy. So there's nothing wrong with having hobbies. In fact, we all need to have some hobbies. But again, we should be careful that we have enough time for prayer, for Bible study, for fasting on occasion, and on meditating. Of course, we can meditate throughout the day. As we go about our daily lives, God should be evermost ever-present in our minds and in our hearts. You know, I find that that's something that is a habit that I developed about 45 years ago. That God is ever-present in my heart and in my mind. And I know that's what has helped me stay faithful through all these years. God is close, very close. And He's helped me many, many times when I could have gotten myself into some huge trouble.

So it is important, certainly, and it's so easy to let down. And I have let down before, by the way. You know, we all have, haven't we? We've all let down. But again, God is merciful. God wants to restore us, and God will restore us. So, brethren, having the right priorities, setting the right proper spiritual goals, that's all important. That's something that you should strive to do. God wants us to be proactive. He wants us to learn to walk continually in the Spirit. The Bible speaks, of course, of the Spirit of the Law. Christ spoke about the Spirit of the Law when He gave the Sermon on the Mount. What is the Spirit of the Law? Well, of course, it's a number of things, but certainly it's referring to the real intent of the Law that God wants us to understand, not just the letter of the Law, not just the words on the page or on the tablet of stone, but the living intent of the Law. So, Christ cleared that up for us so we could understand. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, in essence, it is not enough to just not murder someone.

Okay, that's not enough. But you need to go further, and you need to learn to forgive them, and you need to learn to love them. In fact, Christ said that we are to learn to love our enemies and to pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us. That is the Spirit of the Law.

It's going beyond the letter, learning to love rather than hate or to be neutral. He wants us to learn to love one another. So, we do need to give of ourselves in that way.

In Romans chapter 13, it talks about how love is the fulfilling of the Law.

All of God's commandments are beautiful commandments. When we don't lie to one another, that's a wonderful thing. That is showing love. You know, if you're lying to someone, there's no love in that. So, we shouldn't lie to one another, try to deceive one another.

Obviously, murdering one another, there's no love in that. Stealing from one another, there's no love in that. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, keeping the Sabbath. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We show love and respect to God, who sanctified this day and set it apart for us. So, we love this day and we delight in this day.

So, Romans 13.10 talks about love is the fulfilling of the Law. It's a way of life, loving one another. Christ said, in essence, it's not enough to physically not commit adultery with someone, but you should not even look at a woman and think of desiring her or lusting for her.

And the same with a woman, toward a man. So, that's learning to walk in the Spirit.

That, again, is a way of life.

I mentioned the Sabbath. The Sabbath should be a delight, the Holy of the Lord, Honorable, and we should honor Him on this day by not doing our own pleasure, by not even speaking our own words, but learning to be careful what we say, how we say it, how we live on this beautiful Sabbath day. Doing your own pleasure on the Sabbath is walking in the flesh. It's not walking in the Spirit.

It's walking in the flesh because you're doing your... you're saying your words, you're doing your thing. We're told to get the plank out of our own eye so that we may see clearly to help someone else, perhaps, get just a speck out of their eye. Too often, we see a speck in someone else's eye and we fixate on that while we have a plank in our own eye. Obviously, we need to work on getting the plank out of our own eye. The Bible indicates that we ought to be stirring up the gift that is in us, the gift of God's Spirit. The Bible indicates that we ought to be very careful to not quench or to squelch God's Spirit. How does one stir up the Spirit that is in us?

Well, first of all, by not neglecting the things that God clearly shows us we should do, the prayer, the Bible study, the fasting, the serving one another, these are things we ought not neglect because if we neglect these things, then we will be squelching or quenching the Spirit of God. Again, producing the fruit of God's Spirit, becoming more loving, more joyful, more peaceful, more kind, compassionate, more self-controlled. That's stirring up God's Holy Spirit in us. That's being actively producing the fruit of the Spirit of God. In Proverbs chapter 4 verse 27, here it says, turn not to the right hand or to the left.

Turn not to the right hand or to the left. Remove your foot from evil.

So don't allow yourself to start down the path. Don't walk in that direction. Ask God for wisdom so you don't start down the wrong path.

Stay away. Stay off the evil path. Stay on the righteous path.

Remove your foot from evil. Again, don't walk in the flesh. Don't start down the path of the flesh.

Walk in the Spirit. Walk in righteousness and goodness, and you will produce the fruit of God's Spirit, like a very fruitful vine. Scripture talks about that, doesn't it? Christ is the vine. We are the branches. You know, we are tapped in, and we get strength from drawing near to God and to Christ. Now, have any of you had an opportunity to intimately know a quadriplegic? Is there anyone here that has known a quadriplegic? A quadriplegic is someone that can't move arms or legs. Quad, of course, means four. It's talking about all four limbs.

Well, I had an opportunity to meet a gentleman. His name was Bob Knapp. He's died some years ago, but he lived in a very small town about an hour from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I was the associate pastor in Pittsburgh from 1990 to 1995. So Bob Knapp lived in this very small town about an hour from where I lived, and I visited him pretty often, not just for his sake, but frankly for my own. Bob was a remarkable man. He was in his 50s, early 50s when I met him. Well, maybe mid-50s, I guess somewhere around 53 or 4. He was a remarkable man. He dove into a river when he was 16 years old. He'd been very athletic at that point, but he wasn't careful. He wasn't careful. He got careless. He dove into this river and he hit a rock with his head, and he became paralyzed from the neck down, a quadriplegic. From that one foolish choice, he became a quadriplegic. He wasn't careful about checking out the place where he would dive.

You know, he just got careless, and so he lost his ability to walk. Now, we've been talking about the importance of walking in the spirit. Here's a man who could not even walk, period. No longer, at age 16, he could no longer walk. He was confined to a wheelchair, to a bed.

He would be strapped into chairs at times. You know, he was totally dependent on others. He lost his ability to get out of bed on his own power. He lost his ability to feed himself. He lost his ability to take care of his basic needs, to use the bathroom on his own. He had to wear diapers the rest of his life. From age 16, he lived to be 55 or 56 years old, which was quite remarkable, because typically, a quadriplegic, you may remember Christopher Reeves, who became a quadriplegic. He was Superman. He played Superman, and then he became a quadriplegic, and he didn't live near that long. So this was quite remarkable, this gentleman who was in God's church. You know, God called him sometime later, and it was really quite remarkable to me. God, in His mercy, gave Bob something more wonderful, more precious than the ability to walk in the flesh.

God gave Bob the ability to walk in the spirit. I saw him walk in the spirit.

I heard him walk in the spirit.

He was quite an inspiration to me. God called him out of his physical condition.

God gave him real hope for the future. A person who had very little hope in some ways, but God gave him real hope for the future. He gave him hope for a much better life, in a much better world, and Bob believed that with his entire being.

He had nothing else to believe in, really.

He gave him hope for a much better world, a world where Bob would not only walk and run again, but a world where he could even fly like Superman, only better and faster.

Kryptonite would not be able to hurt him. Nothing could hurt him then. Then he would be able to leap over buildings in a single bound.

He would be able to not only crash through solid walls, but he could walk right through those walls without hurting or damaging anything.

Bob believed in the promises of God and His kingdom. He loved to study the Bible.

He was quite remarkable. His caretakers would get him out of bed, and he would sit at a computer most of the day.

And he was able to manipulate the computer with almost like a straw that he had in his mouth.

And he would peck away with that thing that was in his mouth, and he was able to hit the keys. He was able to maneuver around. He was better on the computer than I was.

And he was quite remarkable, really.

And he had some voice-activated things that a church member had worked up for him, so he could answer the phone by himself. He even repaired TVs.

You know, the old type of TVs. He used to repair TVs. He educated himself, went on the internet, educated himself how to do it. I don't know exactly how he did it. Maybe he had an assistant that he told to do this or that. I'm not sure how that all worked. He wasn't doing it by the time I met him, but he had done it. So Bob truly loved God's way of life. He loved God's people. He loved it when people would come and visit with him. Some of the church members were his caretakers.

They would spend hours with him. It was really a true inspiration.

You know, at that time, I had to ask myself, was I taking my health for granted?

Was I neglecting my spiritual life? Was I as zealous and turned on to God's ways as this man who was lying in bed in front of me? I was visiting with Bob during the time in 1994 and 95 when the Worldwide Church of God was going through a great deal of upheaval. Many of you lived through that time. It was very, very clear where Bob stood on doctor's feet.

Bob was providing me with the fact that he was very committed to God's ways. He was not about to let them slip away from him. He proved these things. He believed these things to the very fiber of his being deep inside. He believed in God's truth.

And even more, he believed in God's truth. He believed in God's truth.

I believe we helped each other. He clung to God's truth. He did not let it slip away. Bob died in the faith in the spring of 1995. So I got to know him in 1990, so for about five years, I would visit him, and I was always inspired every visit that I ever spent with him. So he died in the spring of 95 just a short time before Barbara and I moved to Oklahoma. Bob became the pastor there in 1995 with the United Church of God. At Bob's funeral, there was standing room only. Bob had positively affected so many people in this small community. There was a time when he actually ran a pool hall. Not a bad, tight pool hall. A good one where they actually just played pool. You know, not drunkenness and things like that going on, because he ran a tight ship. But people would come in, and it was a gathering place for the small community. He had positively affected very many people in that community. They came to pay their respects to such a man who did so much, was so little. Most of them probably didn't really appreciate the true source of Bob's greatness. God was in Bob Neff. Jesus Christ lived in Bob Neff. God was living in Bob through the power of the Holy Spirit. Bob was walking in the Spirit while confined to his bed and to a wheelchair that someone would have to put him in each day. Now, Bob was not perfect by any means. Bob had to really struggle with his circumstances. It wasn't easy for Bob. You can imagine. For example, it was in no way easy for Bob to be as patient as some of his caretakers would have liked. In fact, I think there were times when some of them wanted to strangle him. They didn't do that, thankfully. They were being tested as well. Bob had a bit of a carnal side to him, like we all do. You know, he was fleshly. He could be rather brash. He could be insensitive. He could be impatient. He could get angry. But overall, he walked in the Spirit. What better example of someone who walked in the Spirit than a quadriplegic? Sometimes, I think it was easier for Bob in some ways than it is for you and me. When you're healthy, it's much easier to take God for granted. In some ways, it's easier for us to take God for granted than it was for Bob Neff. Now, it would have been easier for him to get angry with God, to blame God. But for the rest of us, we might take God for granted. When you're healthy, you may be more independent. You may struggle with pride and vanity more than you would if you were a physical quadriplegic. It would be pretty humbling, wouldn't it? But in some ways, life was pretty simple for Bob. His condition took lots of opportunities away from him that you and I have on a daily basis to get further away from God. It's easy for us to be distracted from what's really important in life.

In John 8, verse 12, Christ said that he who follows him should not walk in darkness, but in the light. God wants us to come out of darkness. He wants us to walk in the marvelous light that he has revealed to us. That's what Bob did. He counted on God's truth. He believed in it. He lived it. I believe I'll see Bob when Christ is returning and we're rising to meet Christ in the air. Bob Neff will be there. You'll have an opportunity to meet Bob Neff. If a man walks in the day, he stumbles not. It says, let's go to John 11. Let's read that together. John chapter 11.

John chapter 11 verse 9. John chapter 11 verse 9.

Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. Obviously, the light of God's Spirit dwells in us, or it's working in us who are maybe not yet baptized, but moving in that direction. God sanctifies our children as well by believing parents. There are many other scriptures that talk about walking in the light, about walking honestly, about drawing near to God. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 16, it says, You are the temple of the living God. It's talking about you and me. We are the temple of the living God. God lives in us. God says, I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them. God promises to walk in you. That's what becoming unleavened is all about, allowing Christ and the Father to walk in you. Let's go to one final scripture, Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21 verse 24. This is talking about the New Jerusalem. We all obviously need to allow God to walk in us. Revelation 21, notice verse 24 here, And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, in the light of God. God will be their light. There will be no darkness. God will be with us. We will have been born into His family. We will also be light with the light of eternal life within us. 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. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there. There shall be no night. There will be true light. We will continue to walk in the light forever. And again, if you have God's Spirit, we all know that our names are written in God's Book of Life. So, brethren, in the time that we have leading up to the next annual Holy Day, the next 42 days, let us remember to yield to the Spirit of God that dwells in us, that works with us, perhaps. Let us yield to the Spirit of God. Let us continue to learn what it means to walk in the Spirit.