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Lacking the Fruit of the Spirit

9/5/2021

Last time we discussed the dangers of neglecting the Holy Spirit. This week I would like to look at the proof, or indicators that a church or person has followed in the path of the Galatians and is serving God in the power of the flesh. Is there a danger that you and I have jumped the track and are unwittingly trying to following Jesus in our own strength?
The answer is really very simple. Religious self-effort always ends in sinful self-worship. What were the Galatians trying to do? They were trying to be justified by the works of the law. They wanted to follow God's law, but somehow had ended up quarreling and trying to devour each other.
Paul uses more than twelve different descriptions to describe their lack of love for each other. Things like envy, jealousy, bitterness, strife, and the list goes on. Chapters four and five of Galatians is a perfect description of trying to serve God in their own strength, and they failed miserably! All of their religious effort was a utter failure. They got caught up in what they did and ended in a more dangerous state than before. This state is more dangerous because when we get to this state we no longer see our wretched condition. We are caught up in what we do for God, and we have lost sight of what God wants to do for us.
This is a very heavy thought to me! Where am I? This is the question we must ask ourselves. Has my desire to live for Jesus and keep God's precious law led me to seek the Holy Spirit's presence in my life? Has this filling of the Holy Spirit filled my life with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Or has my desire to keep God's law become about what I am doing? Do I find my myself comparing my walk with Jesus to others walk? And if their walk does not agree with mine, do I find myself being judgmental, critical and
trying to make them live my way, in my church? There is a danger of it becoming about what we do for God; instead of what God can do in us and through us as we are filled by the Holy Spirit.
As we examine ourselves we may have to admit that what God begun in the Spirit has been derailed and jumped track. We may have to admit that our religious life has become more about us, and having it our way than about God's way and being led by the Holy Spirit. The great and glorious news is that when we can grasp our great need, and give up trying to live for Jesus by our human efforts. When we will wait on the Holy Spirit to come with all His omnipotent and enabling power, then our Church will be the blessing in our community and in our families that we see in the early Church. Then our lives will demonstrate the love and joy and peace and all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God longs to pour out on us through the Holy Spirit. I long for that day! Next week we will look at what it means for you and me to yield to the Holy Spirit.

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Neglecting the Holy Spirit

8/16/2021

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We have been spending a lot of time looking at the Holy Spirit; and I am so thankful that we are. This is all important in the Christian walk and has eternal consequences in each of our lives. Last week we looked at the necessity of receiving the Holy Spirit, and this week I want to discuss the danger of neglecting the Holy Spirit!
We are all familiar with what it means for a train to switch tracks. A locomotive with its long line of cars headed in one direction; and coming to an intersection they may switch to another direction. If this takes place at night in the dark, or if there are passengers and they are sleeping; they may not even realize they have changed directions for some time.
In our walk with Jesus the Holy Spirit is the locomotive that gives the power so we can keep heading in the right direction and moving forward. We cannot live a godly live for even one hour without the power of the Holy Spirit. We may live a proper, consistent life of good works and service; but to live a life acceptable to God, with all the fulfillment of God's salvation an love; to live a new life in Jesus - this is an impossibility unless we are guided by the Holy Spirit every second of every day!
You see, there is a danger! The Galatians received the Holy Spirit, but what began by the Spirit they tried to perfect by their own effort. How did this happen? They listened to the Jewish teachers who told them they had to be circumcised. They began to seek their religion in what they did! Paul then says about these Jewish teachers, "they sought to glory in their flesh."
What does Paul mean when he says, "in the flesh?" Put simply, he is talking about our human nature. We can be very active in church work, and have our life wrapped up in our religion, and somehow get our direction
confused, and begin to try and serve God in our own strength. What a sobering thought that we as believers can, without realizing it, be switched from the line of the Holy Spirit onto the line of the flesh; that we can be very diligent and make great sacrifices, and yet it is still in the strength of our human will! We must ask ourselves the all important question: is our religious life in the power of our flesh, or in the power of the Holy Spirit? We may be Christian workers and people tell us we make great sacrifices for God, and yet still live our life for ourself. It is a sobering thought! If there is weakness in our lives and in our church it is because of this one word - flesh! Self! This is our greatest enemy!
And, the flesh may show itself in many different ways. We may talk about God's word and God's kingdom continually to feel good about ourselves, or to look good to others; and yet the power of the Holy Spirit be absent from our lives. We may wonder why we don't see more people in our community and in our families converted by the beautiful story of Calvary? Why is there so much work and effort and yet so little results for eternity? Why is there so little power to build us up as believers? And why don't we see Jesus shining from our lives as we did the early church? There can only be one answer: We are not filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And why is this? We know so much; and we have so much opportunity, how can this be? There can only be one reason: the flesh and human effort have taken the place that the Holy Spirit ought to have.
This happened with the Galatians and Corinthians. We dare not allow ourselves to think that we are different; that there is no danger we would ever fall for this old trick of the enemy. Paul was very pointed when he said to them: "I cannot speak to you as spiritual men; you ought to be spiritual men, but you are carnal." Strong words for sure! Are they words that Paul would say to you and me if he came to visit our church?

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Receiving the Holy Spirit

7/3/2021

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Last week we discussed Having begun in the Spirit. This week we are going to look at Receiving the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul was a great proponent of justification by faith, but he didn't stop there. His writings tell us again and again that as justified people we cannot live a life of victory in Jesus unless we are filled and sealed by the Holy Spirit. He tells us:
"How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Was it by the preaching of the law, or by the preaching of faith?"
He could point back to when there was a great revival through his teaching. It had such a impact on the Galatians that they had to confess:
"Yes, we have got the Holy Ghost: accepting Christ by faith, by faith we received the Holy Spirit."
Friends, it is my concern that many of us as Christians don't really grasp that when we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we received the Holy Spirit. We readily admit that we received forgiveness and that gives us peace, but I wonder how many of us, if we were asked; if we have received he Holy Spirit, we could readily say, "yes I have." And even if we do confess to
have the Holy Spirit, do we really even know what it means to walk in the power of the of the Holy Spirit? I hope each of us can take hold of this all important truth: The beginning of our walk with Jesus starts when we receive the Holy Spirit. And my responsibility as your pastor is the same as Paul's — to remind you that when you gave your life to Jesus you
received the Holy Spirit and it is our duty and privilege to allow Him to guide and demonstrate His power through our lives!
If the Galatians who received the Holy Spirit in all the power of the early church were tempted to try and perfect themselves by their efforts when they begun in the Spirit, how much greater danger are we, who hardly even recognize that we have received the Holy Spirit? Or even if we do recognize it as a matter of belief, we hardly think to praise our Lord for this great and awesome gift! Next week we are going to explore the dangers of Neglecting the Holy Spirit.

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Having Begun in the Spirit

5/30/2021

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I would like to begin our study today by looking at Galatians 3:3. In fact, let's begin in verse two; "among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"
When we talk about spiritual growth in our walk with Jesus, we are forced to admit that it is often a weak and sinful mess, and we find ourselves crying out: "Lord, help me! I am not what I should be!" If we honestly look at our church we also see many shortcomings and failures, and we are tempted to ask: Why is this? How can a community of people who claim to be crucified with Jesus be so self-centered and fall so short of the example He has given us? Shouldn't we as God's people be living continually in the strength and joy of our Lord?
I feel confident that I'm not the only one who believes in my heart that it is possible for everyone of us to enjoy that joy and crucified life in Jesus.
Then comes the haunting question: then why is God's Church as a whole so feeble, and why are most of us not living up to the great and wonderful privileges that our generous Father wants to give us? Hasn't God given us
His Almighty Son to live in our lives as an ever-present reality? Where we can say; "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;" God has given us His Son, and His Spirit, so why do we not live up to our privileges?
We find our answer in the writings of Paul. Like first Thessalonians where he encourages them to "grow and abound, to increase more and more." These were young Christians with many lacking in faith, but they were growing and they brought him great joy. In a number of places he writes "I pray to God that you may abound more and more; I write to you to increase more and more." But there are other places, like his writings to the Corinthians and the Galatians that he takes a very different tone. He tells these churches in several different ways that they are not living as children of God should live; that they are under the power of the flesh. Back to Galatians 3:3; "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"
Paul reminds them that by the preaching of faith they have received the Holy Spirit. They had accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit with power. But then something happened? Having begun in the Spirit, they tried to perfect the work that the Spirit had begun themselves, by their own effort.
In these verses we discover; as people who have been with Jesus for some time, what our great need is. God has called you and me to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and most of us are living in the power of our human flesh. We put out great effort and energy trying to look and feel good about ourselves, but we are doing it apart from the Holy Spirit.
As your pastor, if I could give just one message, it would be this: If we as a church, and as individuals will recognize that the Holy Spirit is our strength and help, and we will put away any barriers and surrender everything, and wait for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We will be filled with unimaginable love, joy and peace and we will see the glory of God shine out of our lives! This is my one message if I could have no other: Nothing will help our lives unless we come to understand that we must live every single day under the power of the Holy Spirit.
God wants to live in each of our lives, so that every hour of every moment of every day the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives! In short my friends, the beginning of the Christian life starts with receiving the Holy Spirit. We must never forget that we are to live by the Spirit, and not the flesh. Next week we will look at Receiving the Holy Spirit.

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The Miserable Man

3/28/2021

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So far in our study of Romans seven and eight we have looked at the Regenerate Man and the Impotent Man.
This man is not only regenerate and impotent, but he is also a Miserable Man. He is utterly unhappy and completely miserable; and what is it that makes him so completely miserable? It is because God has given him a
new nature that loves his Lord. He has fallen in love with this loving, caring God who has given him the hope of salvation. And is miserable because he is not obeying this God's law that he loves so much. Finally with a broken heart he cries, "But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." Romans 7:17 (NCV) Friends we are very blessed when we get to the point where we cry: "What a miserable man I am!" When we experience this kind of pain for hurting our Lord and Savior, then we are on our way to the eighth chapter of Romans.
The other side of this is that it is all to easy for us to use this confession that Paul makes here in Romans seven as an excuse for sin. We are tempted to say, "Why, if Paul had to confess his weakness and utter inability to live a life of victory then what hope do I have to do better?" And at this point in our walk with Jesus there is a great temptation to quietly set our call to be holy and live a life of victory in Jesus aside. It is my great hope that everyone of us can voice these words "What a miserable man I am!" In the spirit in which they were written here in Romans 7:24. Where if we are unkind or think an immoral thought we scream out; "What a miserable man I am!" And every time we gossip or criticize we kneel down to God with the understanding that this was never the state where God means for us to stay. Andrew Murray speaking on this very verse said it this way,
"Would God that we would take this word into our daily life, and say it every time we are touched about our honor, and every time we say sharp things, and every time we sin against the Lord God, and against the Lord Jesus Christ in His humility, and in His obedience, and in His self-sacrifice. Would to God you could forget everything else and cry out: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of death?" Why should you say this whenever you commit sin? Because it is when a man is brought to this confession that deliverance is at hand." Absolute Surrender p. 75-76
I have lived the experience of being impotent and captive in my spiritual life, and if I am honest I often still do, and it makes me realize my miserableness and wretchedness. But the thing that causes me the most pain is hurting my Lord and Savior Jesus! I can relate to this man Paul is talking about and I am thankful that being sinful in God's sight is unbearable and I often cry out: "Oh Miserable Man that I am!" Because it is when every sin grieves us and makes us indescribably miserable that we are not only pushed to ask: "Who will save me from this body that brings me death?" But we cry out in hope: "I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

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The Impotent Man

2/27/2021

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That brings us to The Impotent Man. There is a common mistake made by many Christians: they think that if we have a renewed will, that is all we need; but that could not be further from the truth. Again, Paul this regenerated man in Romans seven tells us: " I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them." (New Century Version) It is so easy for us as self-reliant people to think, if we can just set our mind to it, we can do whatever we will to do. If that was true I believe I would not need Jesus to accomplish my salvation. And please understand what I mean by that! My point is that my will is very strong to reach a physical goal, and if a strong will could gain my salvation I think I would have a chance; but that is just not the case. Many of us have strong wills, and we are the ones in the greatest danger of never coming to the end of our selves.
Paul was probably as determined as any man could be, and yet he confessed: "I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them." (NCV) You may be asking the question: then why has God given us our will? We as created beings are only to be empty vessels for God to demonstrate His power? It is our part as created beings to seek God's will whatever that might be. That is what it means to die to self! You remember that in Philippians two it tells us that God's work is "to work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." And yet it appears that Paul is saying, "God has not done His work in me." But we are taught that God works both to will and to do. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?
If you have read through this passage of Romans 7:6-25 you may have noticed that the name of the Holy Spirit and Jesus do not occur even once. This man is wrestling and struggling to keep the law. And the law on the other hand is mentioned nearly twenty times. We see the believer doing everything in his power to obey God's law with his will.

You also may have noticed that the little words, I, me and my, occur more than forty times. This struggling regenerate man is still all about what he can do - self! This regenerated, impotent man, seeking to keep the law without being filled with the Holy Spirit. And if we are willing to be totally honest, this is the experience of almost everyone of us! After we are converted we begin the battle, and we fail; but the good news is that we do not have to continue to fail at every turn. Will we make mistakes? Yes! Because we do not continually allow the Holy Spirit to have His way with us. If we received the Holy Spirit in His fullness and self stayed dead - we would never fail!
But, if we will allow the Holy Spirit to do so, through this failure He will teach us that we are utterly impotent. Through this struggle He will show us our utter sinfulness! This is God's way of bringing us to the end of ourselves! He allows us to fight and struggle to keep the law, and if we don't give up on ourself, or on Jesus, we finally come to this: "I am a regenerate child of God, but I am utterly helpless to obey His law."
Notice again what strong words Paul uses all through this passage to describe this condition: "but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I were its slave."; "That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner."; (NCV) and then this cry for help: "What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?" (NCV)
This believer that Paul is describing is utterly unable to obey God's law - "What a miserable man I am."
Next week we will look at the Miserable man!"

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The Regenerate Man

1/31/2021

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This week we continue our study of Romans and how it relates to your and my walk with Jesus. First let's consider The Regenerate Man.
In Romans 7:14-23 we see a lot of evidence of regeneration. "But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." (New Century Version): this is the language of a man who is being regenerated. A man who is absolutely sure that his heart and nature has been renewed, but that sin still has power in him that is not of himself. Verse twenty-two: "In my mind, I am happy with God’s law." (NCV) Again the language of a man who has been regenerated. He even dares to say when he does evil; in verse seventeen: "But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." (NCV) This is very important that we grasp what this is saying!
In the first two sections of Romans, Paul is dealing with justification and sanctification. In his dealing with justification, he lays the foundation for the doctrine of sin in the plural form. Sins, as the transgressions that we commit. Then in the second part of the fifth chapter he begins to talk of sin, not as a transgression, but as a power! Can you imagine what a terrible loss it would be for you and me if Paul had not written this second half of Romans seven? Without this understanding of the sinfulness of the believer, that we can have a renewed heart; and still, sin at times has power over us. Without this vital truth, I would personally still be a miserable Christian totally confused and completely caught up in perfectionism. We would have missed the answer to the question we all want answered as to sin in the believer.
And what is the answer? As believers, as Regenerate people, we have been renewed; and we can say with Paul, "In my mind, I am happy with God’s law." (NCV)
Next week we will expand on these verses and consider the Impotent Man.

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What A Miserable Man I Am, Part 2

1/9/2021

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This week we continue our study of Romans and how it relates to your and my walk with Jesus. First let's consider The Regenerate Man.
In Romans 7:14-23 we see a lot of evidence of regeneration. "But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." (New Century Version): this is the language of a man who is being regenerated. A man who is absolutely sure that his heart and nature has been renewed, but that sin still has power in him that is not of himself. Verse twenty-two: "In my mind, I am happy with God’s
law." (NCV) Again the language of a man who has been regenerated. He even dares to say when he does evil; in verse seventeen: "But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." (NCV) This is very important that we grasp what this is saying!
In the first two sections of Romans, Paul is dealing with justification and sanctification. In his dealing with justification, he lays the foundation for the doctrine of sin in the plural form. Sins, as the transgressions that we commit. Then in the second part of the fifth chapter he begins to talk of
sin, not as a transgression, but as a power! Can you imagine what a terrible loss it would be for you and me if Paul had not written this second half of Romans seven? Without this understanding of the sinfulness of the believer, that we can have a renewed heart; and still, sin at times has power over us. Without this vital truth, I would personally still be a miserable Christian totally confused and completely caught up in perfectionism. We would have missed the answer to the question we all want answered as to sin in the believer.
And what is the answer? As believers, as regenerate people, we have been renewed; and we can say with Paul, "In my mind, I am happy with God’s law." (NCV)
Next week we will expand on these verses and consider the impotent man.

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What A Miserable Man I Am

12/12/2020

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(Romans 7:24, 25.) "What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (New Century Version)
We are all familiar with this passage in Romans, but have you noticed where this text is placed in this wonderful writing of Paul? It is right at the end of the seventh chapter and is the segue into the eighth. Then in the first sixteen verses of the eighth chapter we find that Paul uses the name of the Holy Spirit sixteen times. In these sixteen verses we find the description and the awesome promise that we as children of God can live in the power of the Holy Spirit. This starts in the second verse: "Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free from the law that brings sin and death." (NCV) Then Paul goes on to tell of the great and wonderful privileges we have as the children of God; and just as important that we are actually led by the Holy Spirit. And the gateway to all this is the twenty-forth verse of chapter seven. "What a miserable man I am!"
Here we find the words of a man who has come to the end of himself. And I have to ask the question: Have you gotten there yet?
In the previous verses of chapter seven Paul describes how he had struggled and fought on his own to obey the Holy law of God, and had failed miserably! But, then he answers his own question: "I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (NCV) From there Paul opens to us what that deliverance is that he has found.
So let's take a look at how you and I can be led from this life of misery and spirit of bondage into the spirit of freedom in Jesus. Paul tells us in verse fifteen, "The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear;" (NCV) Again and again we are warned that this is a great danger for us as children of God; to fall back into a life of spiritual bondage to the law.
The next four weeks I would like to try and share with you how we can get out of this bondage, by looking at the four persons that Paul is describing in this all important passage. Next week we will look at The Regenerate Man; then The Impotent Man, then The Miserable Man, and last The Almost-Delivered Man. Paul's experience has been my experience as well, and maybe you can find help in your walk with Jesus too.

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God Works in Us

11/15/2020

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For the last few weeks we have been discussing Luke 18:27; "But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” We have seen that with our salvation, and walk with Jesus we do not have a chance of living a victorious life on our own. Then we saw that with God it is possible! And, today I would like to look at how it is that God works in us! As we consider what that means to you and me, we end up right back at the question of absolute surrender. If we are honest with ourselves this lack of absolute surrender is our greatest hindrance, and the need of absolute surrender is the greatest need in our lives, and our walk with Jesus. This is why the Holy Spirit cannot fill us, set us apart for His use, and give us the victory in Jesus that turned the world upside down in the early Church. This is the reason the self-life continues to control our lives, and in turn we fight for control to feed our love of self. It is self that leads us to believe that we have it all together when in reality we don't have a clue what it means to be absolutely surrendered to God as Jesus was.
I find myself wondering, can I ever be absolutely surrendered to Jesus as my heart yearns for? Is there really hope for me? That is why I am so thankful, "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." That is the thing about faith and trust; with God when we can believe it, it is a reality! The other side of that is that if we cannot truly believe it is true for us personally, it is not a reality! Friends, if we can take God at His word and believe Him when He says He will make us men and women of absolute surrender, then it is a done deal! Because our God promises He will not only give us this absolute surrender, but He will keep us there!
If we can believe our Lord is able to raise us up every morning with the assurance that He is in charge, and He is working out our life for us. Then
it is already a reality, even if we cannot see it yet. That is the promise of Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Some of us are weary of thinking about sanctification. We pray, we long and cry for pure hearts, and loving, caring thoughts that truly put God and others before ourselves, and yet it seems so far off!
Friends, the one truth about sanctification that is totally scriptural, and totally effective is: "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." It is only God that can sanctify us! Paul, tells us that God will give us, "according to the riches of His glory." When we consider the riches and glory of God, can you imagine just how much God is offering us through life in Jesus; if it is according to His riches and glory? He is offering the power of an almighty God to fill our lives! He is offering you and me the gift of an indwelling Savior! Can our God offer us anymore than this?
Let me leave you with a passage from "Absolute Surrender" page 68,69
""The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." All around you there is a world of sin and sorrow, and the Devil is there. But remember, Christ is on the throne, Christ is stronger, Christ has conquered, and Christ will conquer. But wait on God. My text cast us down: "The things which are impossible with men"; but it ultimately lifts us up high - "are possible with God." Get linked to God. Adore and trust Him as the omnipotent One, not only for your own life, but for all the souls that are entrusted to you. Never pray without adoring His omnipotence, saying: "Mighty God, I claim Thine almightiness." And the answer to the prayer will come, and like Abraham you will become strong in faith, giving glory to God, because you account Him who hath promised able to preform."
As we absolutely surrender, and if we can truly believe His promise - it is already a don’t deal.

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Pastor Brad

Pastor Brad Traxler is the pastor of the Wrangell SDA Church. Brad Traxler is the husband of forty years to Cheryl, father to Kimberly and Ryan, and grandfather to Brad, Kevin, William, Eamon, Zairhen, Seraphina, and Zeelyah. He holds a BA in Theology and has been pastoring churches for twenty years. The greatest passion of His life has been to share Jesus.

Pastor Brad

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