Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Spiritual Life, Part 22 of 28
TEXT: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).
IDEA: We must "keep in step with the Spirit" to live the Christian life.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appropriate the power of the Spirit in their lives.
Have you ever thought about the significance of metaphors in our lives? We might argue that if we changed the metaphors that we use, we might change the way we live.
I. We always think in metaphors.
The metaphors we use change how we look at life.
When we think of life, we often think of it as some kind of a journey. We say that we've come to a crossroad or we say that we're stuck in a rut, or he has come a long way in the last five years, or he has a long way to go.
If you change the metaphor and you think of life as a climb, getting to the top, struggling up the slope, it changes how you look at things.
Look at the metaphors in Psalm 1.
The ungodly man is pictured as chaff that the wind drives away. In that regard, this is a picture of a person somewhat unsettled—walking, standing, sitting.
The godly man is pictured as a tree planted by the river of water, whose leaf does not wither and who brings forth his fruit in his season. The wicked person is doing something in contrast to the godly person who doesn't have to work at things, is solid.
II. A major metaphor that Paul uses of Christians in their relationship to the Holy Spirit is "walking," Galatians 5:16, 25.
In Galatians 5:25, the Greek word translated "walk" is a military term meaning 'in rank-and-file formation": to walk around in the Spirit, that is, live your life in the Spirit.
We listen to the voice of the Spirit and put ourselves under His direction and control.
Our interests are subject to His interests. When husbands and wives go shopping, they may not be shopping together.
III. The Spirit calls us to live with or for Him in every area of our lives and empowers us to do so.
We can either walk depending on Him, or we can walk away from His direction and go on our own.
The Spirit can speak to us, but He can't make us listen.
