John Lloyd - The Holy Spirit Is Sufficient
/Life by the Spirit: Study of Galatians
The Holy Spirit is Sufficient
Galatians 5:13-23
January 13, 2019
Followers of Jesus endeavor to live a life pleasing to God but sometimes are challenged with how. The Galatians were told they needed to double down on their religious rituals to please God. The apostle Paul teaches them another way which goes way beyond their own efforts. The Holy Spirit is sufficient to fulfill laws and commandments as well as deal with our fallen nature and impulses. Living in step with the Spirit will produce lasting fruit. Praying for 2019 to be a great year of living by the Holy Spirit!
Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Memory verse: Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Big Idea: Living by the Holy Spirit will produce a life pleasing to God.
I. Start with _________ of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Creation is awesome. God designed it to be awesome. And God designed you to take in creation’s awesome display. You are meant to be inspired and to celebrate the awesome things that come from the Creator’s hand. But as you participate and rejoice in the awesome display of creation, you must understand that these awesome things were not intended to be ultimate. They were not made to be the stopping place and feeding station for your heart. No awesome thing in creation was meant to give you what only the Creator is able to give. Every awesome thing in creation is designed to point you to the One who alone is worthy of capturing and controlling the awe of your searching and hungry heart. Paul Tripp
Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
Dolores Park Church is made up of many generations. Our prayer is that we could commend God’s glorious works from generation to generation. Our desire is to impact our neighbors near and far.
Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
John 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
May we hold the awesome glory of the works of the Lord before all we influence. The way to defeat fear is with fear (awe of God). Tripp
The awe of our Lord Jesus will fill the “hole” in our soul.
II. Living by the Spirit ________________ fallen “awes.”
Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Walk- order one’s life or behavior. Desires- strong impulse or passion Gratify- to bring fulfillment in action
It does not express a command, but gives a strong assurance that if the believer depends upon the Spirit to give him both the desire and the power to do the will of God, he will not bring to fulfillment in action, the evil impulses of the fallen nature, but will be able to resist and conquer them. Kenneth Wuest
A. Approach our fallen nature by ________________________ to God.
Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other,
James 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
“The only way to conquer the flesh is to yield to the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit implies both direction and empowerment; that is, making decisions and choices according to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and acting with the spiritual power that the Spirit supplies.” ESV Study Bible
“The Spirit is shaping us into the kinds of persons who overcome and rise above the desires of the flesh” ~ Dunnam
The Holy Spirit is stronger than the most powerful fallen desires.
The battle is won by surrendering to the Spirit.
B. Living by the Spirit will produce a life __________________ to God.
Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 10:4 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4, Philippians 4:8-9).
Flee- 2 Timothy 2:22.
Find- I Corinthians 10:13
Follow- Ephesians 5:18, Matthew 16:24.
Fill- Ephesians 5:18b, Philippians 1:9-11.
To walk by the Spirit each day we must Flee-Find-Follow-Fill
Spiritual Growth Group Questions for January 13, 2019
1. Read Galatians 5:13-18. Describe in your own words what is happening here. Why is this important?
2. Read Psalm 145:1-6, John 17:3-4. What is the psalmist trying to convey? What do you see as the goal of Jesus’ time on earth?
3. Take some time to do a personal awe check: Where do you experience your biggest moments of happiness and your darkest moments of sadness? What angers you or crushes you with disappointment? What motivates you to continue or makes you feel like quitting? What do you tend to envy in the lives of others, or where does jealousy make you bitter? What makes you think your life is worth living or causes you to feel like your life is a waste? When you say, “If only I had _______,” how do you fill in the blank? What are you willing to make sacrifices for, and what in your life just doesn’t seem worth the effort? Look at your highest joys and deepest sorrows, and you will find where you reach for awe. Share what you learned with a friend or a group member.
4. Read Galatians 5:16-17. What battle is Paul describing inside the follower of Jesus? What solution is he proposing to the Galatians? How does this solution encourage or discourage you?
5. Read Galatians 5:18, Romans 8:3-4. What is Paul teaching in these passages? Why is Paul’s teaching so much better than the false teachers who were trying to influence the Galatians? How could this be helpful in your life?
6. Read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. What does Paul teach about our thought life? What am I responsible to do with ungodly thoughts?
7. Read the quoted verses: Living by the Holy Spirit means to
Flee- 2 Tim.2:22.
Find-I Cor.10:13.
Follow-Matthew 16:24 and
Fill- Eph.5:18b, Phil.1:9-11.
Pray over these thoughts. Ask God to give you one way to implement each one. Share with a friend or group member to pray for you.