THIS BEGINS MY COFFEE SERIES- BECOMING THE CHURCH WITH A GRANDE PASSION. This first sermon was actually preached in two parts- July 15 & August 12.
July15’07
Walking in the Spirit:
Living the Life You Would Gladly Stand in Line For
John 14:25-26, Galatians 5:16, 1 John 3:9, Ezekiel 11:19
One of the great frustrations is standing in line. I am a busy guy and I do not like standing and waiting for anything. In fact, you find me spending more time looking for a shorter line than standing in one. Standing in line is my pet-peeve about stores.
What I have discovered about the Christian life is that to grow means to wait. Over and over we learn through the scriptures that waiting is crucial to growth. The Old Testament saints had to wait for the coming Promise of Christ. The disciples were told at the ascension of Christ to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And all new believers are told that we are to watch and wait for this same Jesus who will return to earth someday.
God has something better for us who wait. God has something far better for those of us impatient about his blessings or anxious for the next new thing. God has something for you today that makes waiting worthwhile.
When Naomi and I were dating we couldn’t wait for our wedding day when could finally tie the knot. Then after we married we couldn’t wait to have children. Then after children we couldn’t wait for them to go to school- all day. Then after they went to school we couldn’t wait for them to become teenagers and start carrying their wait around the house. (No laughter, please.) Then after they became teenagers we couldn’t wait for them to graduate high school. And now we are in waiting mode again: waiting for them to finish college, waiting for grandchildren and waiting for our final retirement.
Life is filled with waiting. But there is something far better than any of this. In fact, for the rest of the summer I want us to focus on the kind of life that is worth standing in line for. Like waiting for a good cup of Starbucks Coffee™ there is something far better for those who walk by faith. And today I want us to wrap our thinking around what it means to live our life by the Holy Spirit.
Let me be honest: I am tired of trying to build a church. I am tired of trying to make everybody happy- especially me. I am tired of trying to be all things to everyone and seeing no one saved as a result. I desire a fresh vision from God. I long to catch a wave of the Holy Spirit in my own life.
This past week, God gave me a fresh vision for ministry. The reality, however, is that it’s not a fresh vision but a revival of an old one. God gave me a vision of heaven during worship at campmeeting last week. “When with the ransomed in glory, I shall see his face. It will be my joy forever, to sing of his love for me!”
I long to go to heaven in a way I have not in years. I long to see my Savior, Jesus Christ, face to face. I long to sing with the heavenly chorus forever of what his sacrificial love has done in my heart and what his love has done for my life.
What does it really mean to be a Christian? What does it really mean to have Jesus Christ in your heart and the leading of the Holy Spirit in your daily life?
Where is the desire to stand in line and wait on God in prayer?
Where is the desire to stand in line at an altar of prayer confessing our sins and waiting for the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit to work through the blood of Christ?
Where is the desire to stand in line for the kind of life worth standing in line for? If I can stand in line at the Caribou Coffee stand at the Detroit Airport for a cup of black elixir then surely I can stand in line and wait on God!!
God has something better for you. And to him you’re always next in line. So what lessons does our Lord desire to teach us today?
1. There are Two Great Changes in the Christian’s life.
Remember that moment you got saved? Remember that day when Jesus became yours and you became his? Remember how he called you out of a life of sin?
It does not matter if you came from a life of crime and deep sin to Jesus Christ, or if you came from the house sitting next door to heaven. You were lost in your sin. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Just because some of you sinned real sins and some of you only thought about sinning real sins, you were all still sinners who needed Christ.
The first change is the…
a. Change from a perishing sinner into a saved believer.
I was once lost in sin- or as the old hymn goes, “I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore.” But then Jesus entered my life.
There is a great change that takes place. This is not merely switching sides or trading teams; this is a transformation of your life. You are no longer a sinner in rebellion against God but now you are a saint- one of God’s children.
The change that happens is this kind of quantum leap- from sinner to saint. The process of transformation begins at your new birth. God begins to clean up your life through the ministry of the Church and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The second change is the…
b. Change from a fleshly believer into a spiritual Christian.
God’s goal is not that you would receive Jesus Christ so that you can get into heaven, but his goal is that you would receive Jesus Christ so that he can bring heaven down to earth and into your life. In the words of Max Lucado: “He loves you just the way you are but he doesn’t want you stay that way; he wants you to be like Jesus.”
And this is where a lot of Christians get stuck. They desire to go on to maturity as a Christian, but they begin to flounder and fail. And what happens is that they settle into a life of ease. They soon forget the waiting game of faith; they forget the power that changed their heart; they forget that there is something beyond belief that God is calling them to.
And so when a pastor calls on people to evangelize or get more involved in ministry or give of your money or share your talents and gifts, people seem to be “…ever hearing but never understanding, ever seeing but never perceiving.” (Isaiah 6:9)
But there are windows of spiritual growth opportunities that every church at one time or another opens. We go through “Forty Days of Purpose” or “The Fruitful Life” or this past spring, “Spring Life.” We work hard at becoming more spiritual and more fruitful and more mature.
However, we struggle. Yes, I included myself in this statement. None of us are exempt. What is it that can truly change the fleshly believer who likes himself more than God and others and who just simply want a “Santa Claus” God to believe in? What is it that can truly make you a spiritual believer who trusts God so much that you will give up anything and everything to follow Christ?
There must be something that more to spirituality than going to church. There must be something more to spirituality than being nice to other people. There must be something more to spirituality than keeping the rules.
How do YOU become a spiritual believer? How do YOU become a spiritual person who pleases God in all that you do?
2. Only the Holy Spirit can make the believer spiritual.
During the American Civil War [I know it is supposed to be called the “War Between the States” but this is easier for people to grasp], the South started out of the gate winning battles and truly showing their courage and leadership. However, the North had a plan through President Abraham Lincoln. Say what you want about his struggles to find good generals, he had a plan and stuck to it. What was that plan? Win the Mississippi River and blockade the southern cities from doing trade with other countries. This was critical to winning the war- especially the imports. He knew that the South didn’t have the industry to keep pace with weapons and machinery to win a war. In the end, the Union achieved its goals and won the war.
One of the little known problems that exemplified the South’s struggle with winning was one item: coffee. More than tea, coffee represented whether they were successful or unsuccessful. Slowly but surely a good cup of coffee was becoming increasingly difficult to come by. So they found inventive ways to make coffee: chicory, roots and other non-coffee grinds mixed with coffee to make it last. And as the South began losing battle after battle, those of prestige and power felt its reality first-hand every morning.
Here’s the deal: coffee is coffee. You can’t make coffee out of anything else. Sure, you can add your flavors and cream and sugar, but you cannot get true coffee flavor out of anything else but coffee. The same holds true to the life of a Christian.
You cannot get true spirituality out of any other source. Only the Holy Spirit can make you, the believer, spiritual.
So how does this work? I’m glad you asked.
There are two sides to the cross that Jesus died on. These two sides make all the difference in the world for your spiritual life. You cannot live one side without the other side. Get them out of balance or ignore them- as many Christians do- and your life will be miserable. What are they?
a. The Destructive Side of the Cross.
This is the negative side of the cross. On the destructive side, the cross destroys everything that originates from the man in the Garden of Eden called Adam.
Through Adam, sin entered into the world. If you want to blame anyone for your sin problem you can blame Adam. It’s his fault. He in turn, blamed “that woman.” (Romans 5:12, Genesis 3:12)
As a sinner who comes to Jesus Christ, God begins to work in your heart. He may start by eliminating the really serious sins. I know a fellow in our church back in our college days who was in the process of quitting smoking. God was working through a process of destroying sin in his life but left this issue until later. And when later arrived, God began to work through the ministry of the church to help him come to victory over that area.
But too often, Christians want to hang on certain things. They come to a certain point of surrender but then back off. They give up certain sins like adultery but maybe they hang on to pornography. They give up certain sins like lying but they still like to gossip. They give up certain sins like stealing but then they think nothing of stiffing the paper carrier.
They fall into this “how bad can I be and still be okay” attitude.
On and on, we can go. People who call themselves Christians become poor examples of the Christ-life. Why? Well, it’s because they are not allowing the destructive side of the cross destroy the sin that so easily entangles them.
Are you free from sin this morning? Or are there some nagging sins that you have hidden in the floor of your tent? Are you truly allowing the destructive side of the cross to do the work of crucifying the sin in your life?
But wait, there’s more. There are people who have stamped out sin in their life. They have overcome every bad habit, paid their tithes and offerings and are now ready for heaven. But their lives seem to be void of power for daily living. Their faith is weak, they’re stuck in elementary issues and they have reduced spirituality to simply remaining victorious over past sin habits.
Pride is their problem. It’s a dangerous sin because it causes a subtle separation between the believer and the God he or she serves. Without realizing it they come to depend upon their self rather than the Holy Spirit.
But praise God in Jesus Christ there is another side of the cross:
b. The Constructive Side of the Cross.
This is the positive side of the cross. On the destructive side, the Holy Spirit is destroying our sinfulness and self. On that side, there is a full crucifixion taking place to sin and self.
On the constructive side, the Holy Spirit builds up everything from Christ so that you can be spiritual. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the crucifixion blood of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 15:25- “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
It is the Holy Spirit who builds you up so that you can be spiritual. It is the Holy Spirit who brings power to your life. It is the Holy Spirit who takes your old life and gives you a new life. This was Jesus’ plan for his disciples and it is his plan for you now.
The Holy Spirit is the one who entirely sanctifies your life. As you submit your sin habits and your selfishness, God the Holy Spirit moves through your spirit, soul and body and sanctifies you wholly.
This is the life of the Spirit. This is the life I would gladly stand in line for. How about you? Do you long to have the Holy Spirit do a work in your life that cleanses you of that dirty, filthy sin?
Here’s the thing: You cannot be spiritual if you are drinking stuff made from the wrong coffee beans. And the world we live in can make all kinds of imitations but it cannot perform the true work of the Holy Spirit in your heart that then sweeps through your life. This is what changes you and makes you a truly new creation in the image of God’s son, Jesus Christ.
What this means then is…
Conclusion: To be the kind of Christian you ought to be means
belonging to the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul knew what it meant to trust in God and not in our self. He warns the Galatian believers that the way of following the “Judaizers” was a way of following the power of the flesh- a person’s self-will and sinful nature. You cannot please God with sin or in your own strength. So he wrote these words: “So I say live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” To live any other way is to live by the world’s standard. But to live by the Spirit- well, that’s a life worth standing in line!
When you belong to the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit is truly working in your heart there will be evidence. We call this fruit. What is your life supposed to look like when sin is absent and God is truly God in your life?
a. There will be fruit… But where’s the fruit?
An apple tree bears apples. A cherry tree bears cherries. Grape vines bear grapes. This is what they are supposed to do. And as a Christian your life should bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
b. There will be power for all situations… but where’s the power?
There will be a strengthening of your inner spirit.
We have too many Christians who are weak in spirit. Their spirit has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, but they have allowed too much of self and sin to get into the way of Holy Spirit work.
So how does you inner spirit get stronger? Through the preaching, teaching and study of the Scriptures.
c. There will be wisdom… but are we using it?
You cannot get smarter spiritually if the number one reading item in your life is the newspaper. You cannot get true spiritual wisdom from the things of the world any more than you can from godless horoscopes.
Only the Holy Spirit can give you true wisdom to know right from wrong. How does he work?
• Through the Scriptures.
• Through your Church: Pastor, discipleship, and ministry involvement.
• Through your spiritual friends.
• Through your inner spirit.
d. There will be victory over sin… but why do we seem to be losing?
When temptation comes your way you will have a power to resist the devil and he will flee from you. The Holy Spirit has come so that you might live the spiritual life not meant for just a certain few but meant for you.
The Apostle John wrote: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God.” When you became a Christian
e. You will experience true worship… but why do we look to other means for spiritual nourishment?
Do you long to just worship God? Do you long to have worship in daily life that glorifies God and strengthens your heart? This comes by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
What about you this morning? What is it that you need to let go off so that the Holy Spirit can move through your heart and into your life, spilling over into the darkened world around?
I met a fellow at camp who has become a recent Christian with his wife at one of our churches. One of the areas that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to him about is the computer. And so, by the leading and power of the Holy Spirit, he has decided to turn off his computer for ninety days. That’s spirituality!
How about you today?
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