Sermon – Walking By the Spirit Feb 5, 2006

Intro - GPS
I have a new gadget for my laptop computer. It is a Bluetooth wireless GPS. It communicates up to satellites to keep track of precisely where it is and then uses wireless Bluetooth protocol to relay that information to my computer. By setting this little device on the dash of the car, the computer points with a map program to show right where I am and the correct route to my destination. We used this on our trips to Southern Calif. and Washington. It was great because as we drove along, a gentle voice on the laptop would tell us, “Turn right in 0.1 mile.” Whenever we took a wrong turn, the voice said, “Off route, off route!” Dani commented how nice it would be if she had a GPS for her life. Every time she made a wrong decision, a voice would tell her, “Off route.”

Romans 7:7 to 8:4
Today we are studying in Romans Chapters seven and eight and we will discover that what Dani wished for—a Global Positioning System for life—is already invented and ready for use.

Rom 7:7-8:4
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Road Maps
I want to laugh every time I read that, for two reasons: first, because I so identify with what Paul is saying, “The evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing,” and second because of the humorous way he repeats the irony of the situation, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…” What makes this passage so confusing is Paul’s detailed analysis using legalese to describe the interaction between the law and the human nature. To help us understand his meaning, I have re-written the passage as though it applies to reading a map. The law is very much like a road map. It is a great reference tool if you know how to read it and where you are, but if you are direction-challenged like me, a map sometimes adds confusion and makes you even more lost. So permit me to re-read this passage with a few changes:

Rom 7:5-8:4 (Re-write)
7 What shall we say, then? Is the map wrong? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known how lost I was except through the map. For I would not have known I was not at First and Elm Streets if the map had not said, "Here is where First and Elm intersect."

8 But disorientation, seizing the opportunity afforded by the map, produced in me an acute awareness of how lost I was. For apart from the map, locating yourself is impossible. 9 Once I was happy without a map; but when the map came, disorientation sprang to life and I was lost. 10 I found that the very directions that were intended to bring guidance actually brought confusion. 11 For disorientation, seizing the opportunity afforded by the map, confused me more, and through the map got me really lost. 12 So then, the map is accurate, and the directions are accurate, true and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, cause me to be lost? By no means! But in order that lost might be recognized as lost, it produced disorientation in me through what was good, so that through the map I might realize how utterly lost I was.

14 We know that the map is right; but I am wrong, sold as a slave to disorientation. 15 I do not understand where I am going. For where I want to go, I do not go, but where I hate to go, I go. 16 And if I go where I do not want to go, I agree that the map is right. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who go there, but it is disorientation living in me. 18 I know that no sense of direction lives in me, that is, in my clueless nature. For I have the desire to go where I need to go, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For where I go, is not where I want to go; no, the wrong place to which I do not want to go-this is where I keep going. 20 Now if I go where I do not want to go, it is no longer I who go there, but it is disorientation living in me that goes there.

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to go where I need to go, disorientation is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in going to good places; 23 but I see another law at work in my sense of direction, waging war against the law of my good intentions and making me a prisoner of the disorientation at work within my brain. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from wandering the streets forever? 25 Thanks be to God-for the GPS, or Global Positioning System!

8:1 Therefore, there is now no embarrassment for those who are using a GPS, 2 because through the GPS the law of exact orientation set me free from the law of lost and confused. 3 For what the map was powerless to do in that it was weakened by my total lack of a sense of direction, engineers did by sending satellites into space to replace my sense of direction. And so they abolished disorientation in confused men, 4 in order that the exacting directions of the map might be fully followed by us, who do not navigate according to the disorientated nature but according to the GPS.

Remain Connected
I hope my silly analogy helps us understand what Paul is getting at. The GPS represents the Spirit—the Holy Spirit. Paul says we live according to the Spirit, and down in 8:26 he says it is the Spirit Who intercedes for us. So just as the GPS talks to the satellite then relays the data on to the computer, the Spirit is always connected to God interceding for us and then relaying the information on to us. The Bluetooth protocol between the GPS and the computer represents prayer. Prayer is our vital connection through which we have a Voice that lets us know when we are off route. Paul said:

1 Thess 5:17
pray continually

However, like the Bluetooth communications between the GPS and the computer, prayer needs to travel both directions. We need to learn to listen to the Spirit as much as we talk to Him.

According to Acts 2:38 we receive the Spirit when we first accept Christ:

Acts 2:38-39
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.

We have the gift of the Spirit but it takes practice to learn His language and His agenda. One of the amazing realities of becoming a Christian is that we participate in God’s agenda. Jesus said:

John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

This is what Paul meant when he said:

Rom 7:6
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

The New Way of the Spirit
Under the new way of the Spirit we do not obey rote laws out of guilt but we gladly follow Jesus because we are part of His agenda. Through the Bible and the Holy Spirit, we are given insight to understand how sinning is a part of Satan’s dark kingdom and has no place in our new home. On top of learning the Spirit’s agenda, we also learn His language through prayer.

Classical Influences
The single event in my Christian walk that launched the most growth was when I began learning to pray bi-directionally. I did a lot of research into this and I would like to share a few excerpts from classical Christian writers.


Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)
The Inward Conversation of Christ with the Faithful Soul
I WILL hear what the Lord God will speak in me.
Blessed is the soul who hears the Lord speaking within her, who receives the word of consolation from His lips. Blessed are the ears that catch the accents of divine whispering, and pay no heed to the murmurings of this world. Blessed indeed are the ears that listen, not to the voice which sounds without, but to the truth which teaches within. Blessed are the eyes which are closed to exterior things and are fixed upon those which are interior. Blessed are they who penetrate inwardly, who try daily to prepare themselves more and more to understand mysteries. Blessed are they who long to give their time to God, and who cut themselves off from the hindrances of the world.
Consider these things, my soul, and close the door of your senses, so that you can hear what the Lord your God speaks within you. "I am your salvation," says your Beloved. "I am your peace and your life. Remain with Me and you will find peace. Dismiss all passing things and seek the eternal. What are all temporal things but snares? And what help will all creatures be able to give you if you are deserted by the Creator?" Leave all these things, therefore, and make yourself pleasing and faithful to your Creator so that you may attain to true happiness.

Brother Lawrence (1605-1691)
Brother Lawrence, was a monk on 17th century France and the one who coined the phrase “Practicing the presence of God.”

I have ceased all forms of devotion and set prayers except those which my state requires. I make it my priority to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I maintain a simple attention and a fond regard for God, which I may call an actual presence of God. Or, to put it another way, it is an habitual, silent, and private conversation of the soul with God. This gives me much joy and contentment. In short, I am sure, beyond all doubt, that my soul has been with God above these past thirty years.

Jeanne Guyon (1647-1717)
I like this author because she breaks the concept of continual prayer down into clear practical language.

I especially address those of you who are very simple… You may think you are the one person most incapable of this abiding experience of Christ; but in fact you are the one most suited to know Him well.

You see, the only way to be perfect is to walk in the presence of God. The only way you can live in His presence in uninterrupted fellowship is by means of prayer, but very special kind of prayer. It is a prayer that leads you into the presence of God and keeps you there at all times; a prayer that can be experienced under any conditions, any place, and any time. A prayer that does not interfere with your outward activities or your daily routine.

Turn to the Scripture; choose some passage that is simple and fairly practical. Next, come to the Lord. Come quietly and humbly. There, before Him, read a small portion of the passage you have opened to. Be careful as you read. Take in fully, gently and carefully what you are reading. Taste it and digest it as you read.

The mind has a very strong tendency to stray away from the Lord. Therefore, make use of the scripture to quiet your mind. First, read a passage. Once you sense the Lord’s presence, pause. You have paused so that you may set your mind on the Spirit. Turn your heart to the presence of God. How is this done? You turn to Him by faith. By faith you believe you have come into the presence of God. Once your heart has been turned inwardly to the Lord, you will have an impression of His presence. You will be able to notice His presence more acutely because your outer senses have now become calm and quiet. Your attention is no longer on outward things or on the surface thoughts of your mind; instead, sweetly and silently, your mind becomes occupied with what you have read and by that touch of His presence.”

Leanne Payne (Current) Book: Listening Prayer
We begin with the practice of the presence of God. To learn to acknowledge always the God who is really there—immanently with and within us as well as transcendent over and above us—is a way of praying continually as the scriptures exhort us to do. When we do this the eyes and ears of our hearts are opened to receive the word He always speaks. We enter a path of listening obedience we could not find through striving (for example, keeping the law perfectly), a path of freedom where we joyfully realize and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and carry out His will.

But the acknowledgement that God is always with us—even when we are least aware of it in our sensory being—requires discipline. To acknowledge the Unseen Real requires a concentrated effort of our wills at first.

The practice of the presence, then, is simply the discipline of calling to mind the truth that God is with us. When we do this consistently, we are given the miracle of seeing by faith. We begin to see and hear with the eyes and ears of our hearts.

My personal spiritual life made a big jump when I began trying to keep an inner dialogue with the Holy Spirit. Notice I say “began trying;” I am still very imperfect at this but I wanted to share the results of my meager attempts at practicing the presence of God. It brings huge joy and peace no matter what is going on externally. The difference between living according to legalistic rules, and living under the new way of the Spirit—listening for Him—is like the difference between living as a slave in a dark prison and living as an informed son in the free clear air.

Praise God that Dani’s wish for a spiritual GPS is available to us through constant dialogue with the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Father we praise You for the incredible privilege of serving in the new way of the Spirit; of walking moment by moment with You. As we learn to push away the things of the world and quiet our hearts, we ask that we might hear You loud and clear. Please sing Your love into our inner spirit.