In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of living by the law of the Spirit in order to hear God's voice. He emphasizes the need for daily quiet time and being sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The speaker shares a practical example of waking up at 4 am and realizing that God wanted to speak to him at that moment, but he missed the opportunity by going back to sleep. He encourages listeners to abide in Christ and remain connected to Him in order to bear fruit in their lives. The sermon is based on Romans 8, which talks about the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Well, good morning. Greetings to each one of you dear young people this morning. In Jesus Christ's name. I wonder how many of you are feeling a little tired this morning. Let me see your hands. Okay. Now you know you're supposed to get rest tonight. It's not fellowship night. It's rest night. Don't stay up till midnight fellowshipping. Just go home and get some sleep. Because I can tell you, I know, if you don't, by Friday you'll be sitting here in a daze. And some of the most important things that will be said will be being said and you'll be sitting here in a daze because you'll be so tired. So, go to sleep. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Our Father and our God, we come again, we come running to you, Lord. We run to you. We have nowhere else to go and we wouldn't want to go anywhere else, Lord, but to Thee. We come to you in Jesus' name. We come to you in our poverty. We come to you with great need. I come to you on behalf of these dear young people this morning that somehow you would open the eyes of their understanding this morning, that their hearts would be enlightened and that you would turn a lightbulb on inside of their hearts today, God, and they would get a glimpse of the reality of what a spiritual man is. Oh God, would you do that? I can't do that, Lord. No man can do that, but you can. And so, Lord, we look away from ourselves this morning and we put our confidence in Christ Jesus. Have your way in this meeting, I pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Alright, on Monday, I'm sure that you can tell we're just kind of building along here through the week in our subject of the spiritual man. We began on Monday with a definition and a challenge. If we're going to be a spiritual man, we must begin with a clear conversion. And then from there, after having had a clear conversion, there must be within our hearts a desire to go on unto Christian perfection. That's what we spoke about yesterday and left that challenge with you. You not be satisfied to sit on the bench somewhere and wait for Jesus to come, but you begin to apprehend that for which you were apprehended of Christ Jesus for. Amen? Oh, young people, if you had any idea what God would want to do with you, you would not be complacent another day. Not another day. Alright, we're going to take a bit of a turn this morning in our teaching. The title of the message this morning is The Law of the Spirit. The Law of the Spirit. Out of this clear conversion and out of this desire to go on unto Christian perfection, how are we going to get there? And maybe that's how you're feeling this morning. Okay. I know how young people think. You like a high standard. You want it real clear. But you also would like to know how to do it. Don't just have it up here floating around. Put it down here. Put the jelly on the lower shelf where we can see it, where we can get our hands on it, where we can get a hold of something that we can take home with us and do something with it. And that's what I want to do the next couple of days. I want to give you some jelly on the lower shelf that you can take home with you and do something with it. And that's the title of the message this morning. The Spiritual Man Lives by the Law of the Spirit. The Spiritual Man Lives by the Law of the Spirit. Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. I want to give you some practical instruction this morning. Romans chapter 8. That's where we find that little phrase that I took my title from. The Law of the Spirit. Now, in Romans 8 it says, The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. And that's a more beautiful definition, but it's a bit of a long title. So, the Law of the Spirit. But it's actually a spiritual man, a spiritual woman will live by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. What a glorious life that is, to live by that law. Now, Paul describes a very frustrated experience in Romans chapter 7. And we're not going to read a lot in Romans chapter 7, but just a couple of verses. Because I believe that some of you young people can relate to this very frustrated experience that Paul describes in Romans chapter 7. He says in verse 15 of chapter 7, For that which I do, I allow not. And that what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. For the good that I would, I do not. Verse 19. The good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that's the very thing I do. I'm frustrated with this whole thing. I go to church. I hear this sermon. It stirs my heart. My heart rises up and says, That's what I want. I heard that message yesterday. My heart rose up when I heard it. I heard you say, I want that mountain. And my heart said, I want that mountain. But the things that I want to do, I find myself not being able to do them. And other times there are things that I don't want to do. And those are the very things that I find myself doing. What a frustration. You ever feel that way? Well, we're in good company. Well, what is Paul describing here? What is he describing? May I say this? Not to criticize anybody, but he is not describing the normal Christian life, dear young people. He is not describing the normal Christian life. Some people would believe that, and I was even taught that when I was a young Christian. But that's not sound doctrine. I believe what Paul was describing here is two different things. Number one, he was describing the experience of a person who was trying to live by the demands of the law, but not having the Spirit of Christ. And thus, a total frustrated life, trying to live up to the demands of the law, but not having the power to fulfill them. And thus he finds himself in total frustration. And that frustration is good, like we said the other day, because it brings us, like a schoolmaster, to the foot of Jesus, where we will find all we need to live this Christian life. But may I also say, young people, that it's describing someone else here also. I believe that this experience, this frustrated experience, is also the description of a carnal Christian who is trying to live the Christian life without the grace of God. The grace of God is not flowing in their heart, in their life, but they are a Christian. They mind carnal things, but yet they are a Christian. They go to church and, you know, they hear all these sermons and all this stuff, and so they try to do this whole thing, but alas, it just ends in total frustration. And finally they get to the place where they say, O wretched man that I am, how can I get out of this mess? Do you ever feel that way? How can I get out of this mess? Many times the young people come, and it's usually the young people, the older ones have been educated enough that they put on a bit more hypocrisy, but the young people, they just come and say, the Christian life doesn't work. It doesn't work. Just consider this morning. Are you lost and without Christ, trying to keep the law? Are you a carnal Christian, bent on carnality, trying to live the Christian life? Yes, you're right. The Christian life does not work. It doesn't work that way. One young man came to me in the prayer room a couple of years ago, and he was broken to pieces, and he came to the prayer room, and I happened to get him, you know. Several of them respond, I need private counsel, and I ended up with this young man, and we went off to the corner somewhere, and I said, how can I help you? And he just burst into tears. And he said these words, I quit. I quit. I give up. I can't do it. And he was just crying. I'm sure that he expected me to say to him, oh now, come on. You can do it. Yes, you can. Don't be discouraged. You can do it. Don't give up. I'm sure that's what he expected me to say, but I looked him right in the eye, and I said, good. And he looked back at me like a calf looking at a new gate, you know. Good? Yes, my friend, good. I said, you're in the best place you've ever been. Why did you wait so long? Why did you wait so long? Finally, you are ready to give up and yield yourself unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Finally, you are ready to give up. You know, sometimes I think that's exactly how God looks at us. You know, we're down here trying to make this whole thing happen and crank it all out, and yet we just, you know, we have our own way and we have our own mind and we have our own things that we're going to do, and maybe someday I'll surrender my whole life and everything that I am and all that I ever hoped to be to God, but for now, I'm just going to kind of sail along here and it's going to be a little bit for the Lord and a little bit for me. You'll never be able to live your Christian life that way. I promise you, if it takes you 10 or 15 years, then let it take that long, but it will not work until you come to the place that that young man came to and you say, I give up. Romans chapter 8 talks about the spirit-filled life, but I chose to begin here talking about the surrendered life because you can't even begin to touch a spirit-filled life if you have never touched a surrendered life. You can't. That is step one. That is the beginning of a glorious walk with God, a surrendered life. And frankly, I know that it's so, that some of you, you're sitting here this morning and yet you still, you are holding on. You have heard many things and yet you're still sitting there and you have those private reservations in your heart about what you're going to do and what your plans are and yes, you're glad to be here and it's great to see your friends and Bible school is a blessing and I'm having some good feelings in my heart and it's a joy to sing and all of that, but still you have your private reservations in your heart and I tell you, you'll go home from here with a good feeling, but in two or three weeks, you'll be right back where you were before, I promise you. Looking for another revival meeting. That is not the way that God planned for you to live your Christian life. There's a glorious, abundant Christian life waiting for you, but it must begin with that surrender. That surrender. See, that young man, he was only half right when he said, I give up. That's right. I give up. But then, I give up to God. And maybe that's what you need and I wish that I could give you this message on Friday, because I believe that more of you would understand what I'm talking about by Friday. But it's Wednesday. May God give you understanding. Begins this life of living by the law of the Spirit. It begins with surrender. It begins there. You know, a lot of people think, oh boy, now I've surrendered. I've arrived. No, you're only on the bottom rung. You're only on the bottom rung. Now it's time to walk. You have just begun. Got this thing all twisted around. It's because people take 5, 6, 7, 8 years before they come to that place of absolute surrender to the Lord where they present their bodies and living sacrifice unto God, where they give up their life, their dreams, their plans. All of it. It goes on the altar. Maybe it takes them 7, 8 years to do that. And so then when they finally get to that place, they think, oh my, this is wonderful! I've arrived! No, you haven't. You've just begun. Dear friend, you've just begun. But I'm glad that you're there. Now let's go on unto perfection like we said yesterday. Paul begins Romans 8. Verse 1, with these words, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And today in this America that we live in, oh, everybody's hollering there's no condemnation, there's no condemnation. Oh, don't bother me, I'm free from the law. There's no condemnation. Nobody quotes the other part of the verse it seems. But Paul is not telling us today just a flat blanket statement to everybody who happens to believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. Paul is not just giving a blanket statement here. There's no condemnation! No condemnation! That's not what Paul is saying. Paul is saying there is therefore now no condemnation, and then he clarifies it to them which are in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus! And some would stop there and give their theologies about our position in Christ and say there's no condemnation. But Paul doesn't stop there. He goes on from there and says, my dear young people, this morning he says there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. To those! There's a glorious freedom to those! There's a glorious open heaven to those! There is a glorious smiling face of God upon you! No condemnation! Emancipation proclamation! There's no condemnation to those who submit themselves therefore to God and begin to walk with Him. You can live such a life of freedom and liberty. Yes, you shall be free indeed. You shall be free indeed. What does it mean to walk after the Spirit? It means to walk by the dictates of the Spirit of God, or those who walk by the promptings of the Spirit of God in their hearts. And it's good. It's good to talk about this subject in the middle of these meetings because I know how God works. I know that there's been an increase in the promptings of God's Spirit in your heart in these days. How many would agree with that? Let me see your hands. See there? There has been an increase in the promptings of God's Spirit in your heart. And that's wonderful. I'm just thrilled to see all your hands going up. But I'm going to get you. Before we're done here, I'm going to get you, but I'm glad you raised your hand. God knows it anyway. Go this way. To walk after the Spirit is to abide in the vine. As we said yesterday, to walk after the Spirit is to abide in the vine. To walk by the promptings of the Spirit of God. Go this way. Say this. Don't say that. Do you know that that is supposed to be happening all the time in the life of a child of God? All the time. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemns sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Oh my! That's an emancipation proclamation this morning. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Did you realize that it can be that way for you? That the righteous demands of the law can be fulfilled in you? We have to finish the verse in order to understand how all that happens. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And so this morning our message, the law of the Spirit, as we look at the subject of a spiritual man, of what a spiritual woman is, we have to come to this place. It is those who walk by the promptings of the Spirit of God. They hear the voice of God in their soul saying, go this way, go that way. You shouldn't have done that. Don't say anything now. Tell that person about Christ. And on and on and on it goes. Now in verse 2 here, we find two laws. We want to look at these. Number one is the law of the Spirit. And I've described that law to you already. And the other one is the law of sin and death. Now the law of sin and death, that's the law which makes you frustrated. That's the law that begins to function in your life when you don't walk in the Spirit. Then the law of sin and death begins to work and it works death in you and it works frustration in you and it works failure in you and it works sin in you. It is the law of sin and death. Now this morning I would like to illustrate how these two laws work with each other. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and the law of sin and death. I would like to illustrate it by two physical laws. The law of gravity and the law of strength. Now the law of gravity is a law and we know that. The law of gravity says, you leave this thing by itself and gravity will pull it to the ground. That's the law of gravity. A few foolish boys made themselves some wings and tried to jump off the barn, but the law of gravity taught them very quickly. It will always go down. You cannot defy the law of gravity. It will always go down unless you come up with a higher law, a more powerful law than the law of gravity. And thus here this morning, the law of strength can come in and defy the law of gravity. But even the law of strength cannot overcome the law of gravity continually because this old arm of mine just can't keep holding this and I could not stand up here for two hours and hold this little book even though it's not very heavy because the law of gravity is pushing down on it. But right now the law of strength is holding this thing and defying the law of gravity. As long as I have strength in this arm of mine, I can defy that law. But if I lost my strength, immediately that law would begin again. Just like before, it never changes. Never. That's the way it is with the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has come and made me free from the law of sin and death. Praise God! But what is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus? It's walking after the promptings of the Spirit of God. So could we say, and I believe we can, as long as we are walking by the promptings of the Spirit of God, the law of sin and death, as long as we are walking by the promptings of the Spirit of God, dear young people, that is victory. That's victory. The eagle defies the law of gravity by a higher law, the law of aerodynamics. I mean, he just puts his wings out there and flies around up there. I mean, he doesn't flap his wings or anything. He just floats around up there defying the law of gravity because of the law of aerodynamics. He defies it. The law of the Spirit nullifies the law of sin and death and breaks the power thereof. Paul said it this way in Romans 8. Again, in verse 13 and 14, he said, For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. If you live after the dictates of your flesh and you live that way and live that way and live that way, you shall die. But if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live and live and live. Do you see the responsibility in this whole thing, young people? God is calling you to a walk. He is calling you to a walk this morning. And you can walk. And you can have victory in your Christian life. You do not have to live in that frustrated condition that we read about here a little bit earlier. It is not God's will. That is not the normal Christian life for you to live like that. It is not. Oh, we must learn to walk this way and you can live in victory. God's Word says it this way in Galatians 5. Walk in the Spirit and ye will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Look at that! Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And it gives a big long list of things there that are not very pretty and we do not like. But God is telling us how we can stay away from all of that. Walk in the Spirit. Some of you are facing battles in your hearts, in your lives. I mean, there are some major battle lines that come up before you. Even you are here at this Bible school and you heard the challenging message last night and the challenges of Christian perfection yesterday and you are facing some real battlefields. Maybe you are facing battles with moral purity. Many young people do. Many. Self-abuse. Self-gratification. Fantasizing in your minds. And I tell you young people that is a battle line that is being drawn. What you do with that battle line will determine what God does with you. But you can have victory. You can have victory. You do not need to be living in the midst of all of those struggles of moral purity. Did you know that? Dear young men, did you know that? You do not have to live in the midst of all those struggles of moral impurity. There is victory. And I want to challenge you young men, bless God, do not you go get married until you have proven God in this area. Do not do it. You owe that to your dear wife, whoever she is. Do not do it. And I would say the same to you young ladies. Do not do it. How do I? How do I do it? I want to. How do I do it? Alright. Let us just walk through a little bit here this morning. I think you will understand. Here you sit this morning, some of you. Heaven is open. Heaven is open. Your conscience is clear. Maybe it was not when you came to Bible school, but you sit here this morning and Heaven is open. Oh my! It is wonderful. Your conscience is clear. The Spirit of God is not saying anything in there. There is no cloud over your conscience as you sit here today. You hear the voice of the Spirit and many have already testified that you are. The voice of the Spirit is beginning to be very clear to you. You find yourself beginning to be led by the Spirit of God. That is wonderful. That is wonderful. But what about tomorrow? What about next Monday? What about next Tuesday? Tomorrow I want to talk about a few things that will increase that sound of God's voice in your heart. But let us just go through a day. At home. Next Tuesday. We will shoot off till next Tuesday. You will all be home by then. Probably. Next Tuesday. Oh, it is wonderful. You have been at Bible school. God did wonderful things in your heart. You come home and share it with your mom and dad. You share it with the brethren back home. And everything is wonderful. It is Tuesday morning. And you have your alarm set for five o'clock because Brother Denny said you need to have quiet time. And at four o'clock in the morning, the Spirit of God says, Get up! Get up! You wake up. You look around and you wonder what? And you look over at the clock and it is four o'clock. And you know you set your alarm for five. And the Spirit of God again says, Now what are you going to do? This is real practical, isn't it? Now what are you going to do? Suit yourself! Suit yourself! But I can tell you this. When you do get up, it will be a little cloudy. It will be a little cloudy. When you do get up. And the Spirit of God will come and talk to you again and say, You know I wanted you to get up at four o'clock. And if you don't listen, He'll say it again. You know I wanted you to get up at four o'clock. And you'll get your Bible out. And He just won't go. He just won't be good. The Spirit of God will be there. Now what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Well, some people, they just go through the motions of their devotions, you know. Read a few Bible verses. Pray a few prayers. And off they go in their day. Can I do this, Brother Harold? This is how it is in their life. And so here they go off in their day. Don't laugh too much. This is very real, isn't it? Oh Lord, thank You for this day. Lord, lead me today. Thank You Lord for Bible school. Things just aren't right. Something's wrong. What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. You are not living by the law of the Spirit. You know what you need to do? When you got up, when you got up and all of a sudden things didn't seem right, and you went there and you went to open your Bible, and the Spirit of God said, you should have got up at four o'clock. You should have gotten on your knees right there and said, You're right, Lord. You're right. I missed the blessing. You were going to do something in my heart at four o'clock. You gave me the blessing, sweet promptings of Your Spirit at four o'clock. You were going to talk to me in a special way at four o'clock. Then I rolled over and went back to sleep. God, forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Wash me in the blood. Wash me in the blood. You could have opened up your Bible and went on with your devotions and had a sweet time, but you wouldn't have gotten the same thing that you would have gotten at four, but you'll have a sweet time. That's how it works. God's positive leadings, we'll call it. A life of walking after the promptings of the Spirit of God is a life of walking after the promptings of God's positive leadings in our life. You know, He may come to you in the middle of a store and say, Go say hello to that lady over there in that next aisle. And you know, she doesn't know me and I don't know her. And you explain the whole thing away. But it was God! It was God following the promptings, the positive leadings of the Spirit of God in my life. That's living by the law of the Spirit. But not only that, but it's also being open and listening to the reproofs of the Spirit of God about sin in my life, as we described there with the person who didn't get up at four when God said, Get up! And I tell you, God will say, Get up! He does! And when you listen, it's beautiful! I tell you, it's sweeter than the devotions that you plan to have. When God says, Get up! I got a blessing for you this morning. Get up early! It's sweeter. I tell you, it is. Being open and listening to the reproofs of sin. Then you get up and you start your day, and it's a wonderful day, and you're going down the road, and you're singing and rejoicing, and you know, you don't need to play the cassette player because you got a cassette player playing in your heart, you know? The song of the soul set free! You're just singing along, going down the road, young men, and go by this billboard, you know, and all that filth that's on there, and you go by, and you look, and you look away, and you look again, and you look again, and you look again, and you go down the road. But I'll tell you what will happen. You'll be driving down the road, and things just won't be the same. It's like a big cloud that came over me. Now, what are you going to do? Well, it's Tuesday morning. Maybe I'll wait until Sunday, and the preacher will have a good sermon, and shake me up a bit, and I'll make it right. Not if you're going to live by the law of the Spirit. If you're going to live by the law of the Spirit, you're going to pull that car over on the side of the road, and you're going to bow your head, and you're going to say, God, I let my eyes go where they shouldn't go, and I had a chance to turn away, and I didn't turn away. God, would You forgive me? Please, Lord, I repent. I repent, dear God. I repent. Everything will be okay again. You can do that. Can't you? Get up on Tuesday morning, and it's just sweet and wonderful, and you're singing, and doing the dishes there, and Mom comes in, and she asks you to do something that you don't particularly like to do, and you do it, but you know, you've got this disgruntled spirit in your heart, and you walk away, and mumble a few things under your breath on the way to do the job, and all of a sudden, the atmosphere changes, and you don't know what's wrong. And you know, sometimes it takes a little time to figure it out, but you know, if you will learn to walk this way, you will become sensitive, and you will think, Lord, what's wrong? And I guarantee you, you will go get on your knees and say, Lord, what's wrong? And God, by His Spirit, He will tell you, that attitude toward your brother is not right. It's not right. Get it right. And so you get it right, and everything just opens up again. It just opens up again. That's being open and following the reproofs of the Spirit of God in my life for sin. And lastly, living by the law of the Spirit is walking in obedience to the light. It's a life of obedience. God wants to take you on. He doesn't want you to stay where you are, and sometimes God will, through His Word, or through a message that somebody preaches, God will begin to deal with you about a need in your life, and you'll have to make a decision, what am I going to do with what God is telling me? You know, when I was a young Christian, just about three months old in the Lord, maybe four, I had long hair. I don't know what you do with that in your theology, but I was a Christian, and I had long hair. And God was good to me, and I was reading the Bible two and three hours every day. And one day I went to this Baptist church where I was going at the time, and so that Sunday morning, that pastor, he got up there, and he opened up the Bible of 1 Corinthians 11, and he started preaching that it's a shame for a man to have long hair. Imagine that! And I was sitting right there in the auditorium, and he preached this sermon about it. Well, I'm ashamed to say it now, but back then, I liked my long hair. And I didn't appreciate that message. And I just kind of, what does he know? But you know, the atmosphere changed around my life when I did that. And I went home going, I'm going to read the Bible two hours a day just like I was before. I didn't know what was going on. I was just a babe. Things just weren't the same. It just didn't make my heart burn. Prayer wasn't very easy. Things didn't go right. I got frustrated with my girlfriend. She's my wife now, bless God. You know, things just weren't going right. Finally, I had to get down on my knees and say, Lord, what did I do? What is wrong? And you know what the Lord said, What about your hair, son? What about your hair? And I had to say, Okay, Lord, I'll go to the barber shop. And I went to the barber shop. And I got a haircut. You know what happened? Everything was okay again. It's walking in obedience to the light that God gives you. See, God wants to take you on. You haven't arrived. Dear young people, you're just getting started. It's an exciting life out ahead. It's an adventure. God wants to lead you. You have to be willing to walk in the light. And sometimes that light goes against your grain. In fact, a lot of times it does. And you won't understand the first time God says, What do you think about these verses you just read? Oh, Lord, I can't do that. What will everybody think? That's what we always do. What about what will God think? But what will everybody think if I do that? Oh, forget about that. I want to live under an open heaven. I want to live under an open heaven. A spiritual man, a spiritual young lady will walk by the law of the Spirit. Your heart and mine is a channel which God flows through. Some people will experience the clouded conscience and live that way for days and days and days and days. I know people that will experience those clouds, that cloudy conscience because of something that they did. And it may be three months before they come around again. They end up at a revival meeting and some princy gets up and gives them a hot message and challenges them about where they're at. And all of a sudden they realize, Oh, I have lost my way completely. Listen, young people, that is not the will of God for you to live like this, you know. Oh, come on, get off the roller coaster! It's I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights I'm gaining every day. It's not supposed to be a roller coaster ride. It's supposed to be a gradual moving forward, onward, upward, into all the graces of God that He wants to give to you. Which way do you want to live? If you're going to live out this experience represented by this line up on the wall, then you're going to have to come to grips with the fact that God is laying a new law out before you. And it's the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And if you learn to walk by that law, oh, young people, God will do so many things in your heart and life. You will grow like you never grew before. You don't do much growing this way, do you? You don't. And that's probably not a good description anyway. It's more like this. Up for a little bit, down for a long time. Up for a little bit, down for a long time. Isn't that right? That's more right, isn't it? How many say amen? Let's see. That's right! You know why? It's because you lost your way. And you're living underneath this cloud. And God wants you to get right and stay right and learn to walk. Young people, this is the standard of the New Testament. A walk in the Spirit. A living by the law of the Spirit. And abiding in the vine. Remember what we said? To abide in the vine is to remain vitally connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, be vitally connected with the vine, no more can ye except ye be vitally, continually, steadfastly connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't do it. And you can take as long as you want to learn that. Five more years, six, seven, you know. Go sit on the bench for a few more years. But nothing is going to go right until you learn this lesson. You know, I thought about it this morning as I was praying for you young people. I thought, wow! If these young people would get a hold of what I'm going to give them this morning. Look out. Look out. I tell you, you'll be a challenge to your mom and dad. And that's alright. The older ones in my house are a challenge to me sometimes. Sometimes I wonder who's spiritual. Me or them. This is the standard of the New Testament. You must learn this process. You must learn to walk with God. And at first it may seem difficult. At first you may think this doesn't work. Don't do that. Don't have that attitude. Get up! Keep on going! Yield yourselves again unto God as those that are alive from the dead. And your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Get your heart clear. Make sure that heaven is open. And keep on going. If you will set the standard of your heart, if that is the standard of the law of the Spirit, I tell you, God will so transform your life. It will take some time, but He will transform your life. How many of you would say that you have had some of these very dealings that I've just described to you this very week? Let me see your hands. Sure! That's the norm. Welcome home. That's the way it's supposed to be. You walk through life, you know, somebody comes your way. Maybe they're doing something good and that feeling of envy rises in your heart and the Spirit of God prompts you. That's not right. A little cloud comes over your conscience and you say, Lord, yes Lord, I hear you. That's not right, God. That's not right. Forgive me for that envy. And heaven opens and you keep right on going. That's the way it's supposed to be. But you need to learn. And you're not going to learn if you don't rise up and say, That's for me. And I'm going to get it. Paul said it this way in Philippians chapter 3, The whole focus of my life is simply this, that I might be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is by the law, but having the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Paul said, The whole focus of my whole life is this, that I might be found in Him, vitally connected in the vine. Not having mine own righteousness, which is by the law, but having a righteousness which flows out of a vibrant relationship with Him. That's what Paul's focus for his whole life was. Now, come on! Get on board! It's no different for you than it was for Paul, that the whole focus of your life is, I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to walk with God. Yes, I have to go to work, but I'm going to walk with God. Yes, there are things I need to do, but I'm going to walk with God. Yes, I need to eat a meal, but I'm going to walk with God. I need to go to bed, but I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to keep heaven open over my life. That was Paul's focus. And the greatest challenge of his life was, I don't want to be found having my own righteousness, which is by law. Do you know what righteousness which is by law is for you young people today? It's when you get up on Sunday morning and a cloud is over your life because of something that you did, and you get your Bible, and you put on your Sunday go-to-meet-and-clothes, and you pick up your Bible, and you go marching off to church with a guilty conscience, and you sit there in the song service, and you sing the songs, and you see brother so-and-so raising his hand in worship to God, and so you put yours up there too. That's righteousness by the law! It stinks! It's not flowing out of your heart. You're just doing it because you know you're supposed to. That's righteousness by the law. But righteousness which is of God by faith in Jesus Christ is the person who wakes up on Sunday morning, and heaven is open over his life, and he gets out of bed with a joy and a rejoicing in his heart, and he picks up his Bible, and he gets his clothes on, and he goes to church with his eye upon God, and he sits in the service, and the first song is called, and his heart wells up in praise to God, and he sings the song, and his hand is hooked to his heart, and up it goes, worshiping God, and I tell you, that's the righteousness which is of God by faith. It's the righteousness which flows out of a relationship with a living God. Young people, that is the standard of the New Testament. And you can take however long you want to get all that figured out, but that is the standard of the New Testament. And you don't need to wait until you're 35 years old to enjoy that and experience it. It is available to you today. Now, with some of you, you may have one or two major issues to deal with before you get this thing down pretty steady. You may have some major issues. For some, it may be the issue of authority. You know, that's a big one. And every time you get on your feet and start to walk with God, this whole thing of authority comes in, and attitudes towards your parents, and maybe you think your dad isn't what he ought to be, and so you don't respect him, or what is mom telling me what to do for her, look at all the needs in her life, and that whole thing you're in. No, I'm sorry. Yet, you will not be able to begin to walk like this until you work through that big issue in your life. And I tell you, you can. By God's grace, you can. You can honor your father and your mother even though they're not all that you imagine that, what you think they ought to be. Who are you anyway? For why judges thou thy father and mother? God is their judge. Someone else, it may be the issues of moral purity. And I want to encourage you young people, deal with it. Deal with it. I can't say a lot for the young ladies, because I don't work with a lot of young ladies in these areas, but I can for the young men. And I'll tell you, if this matter of moral purity is a battle front for you, you're not going to prosper until you get on the other side of it. But when you get on the other side of it, fasten your seatbelt. Fasten your seatbelt. Because I've watched now, I've got 20 years under my belt of watching young people and they come face to face with this thing. Lust in my eyes, and self-abuse, and all of those things. And I mean such a heavy cloud comes over you, and you know it. But God will give you victory over that. And when He does, such a shining light will begin to shine on your life. There will be grace upon you like you never knew. Don't give up. Don't give in to the lie of the devil, who says, I can't help myself. That's a lie from the devil. You may have a big issue like that to deal with, but just keep going. Like one young man. He had a place out on the other side of the cornfield where he went. He went out there and fell on his face before God, and he wept until he was clear. He got up, and he went on walking with God. And failure came again. Back out to that cornfield he went, and he fell on his face, and he wept, and he prayed, and he cried to God. And you know what? There came a day when he got up off of his face there out on that cornfield, and he walked away from that spot, and he never went back again. Victory! Victory! You know what happened in his life? Grace. Grace. Just started shining all over that young man. See, lots of times young people, they take a start, you know, what they're going to do. And then something like that happens, and things get a little cloudy. And they just kind of stumble around like that for a while. Don't do it anymore. Don't do that for the next year, and come back to Bible school like this. Don't do it. You don't have to. A provision has already been made. Take the challenge. Learn to walk. Be being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Know what that beautiful experience is to be being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Many people wonder why they don't grow. This is why. Growth comes by the Spirit. Growth comes by the Spirit. It's not by your might. It's not by your power. It is by My Spirit, saith the Lord. So, yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments unto God for righteousness, and begin to walk by the promptings of the Spirit of God, the positive leadings, the reproofs of sin, and the walk of obedience in the light that God gives to you. And I tell you, heaven will open up for you in a beautiful way. And you will begin to become a spiritual young person. And you can do it! I want to close by reading again in Romans, a little further down. Romans 8, 13 through 16. Just to put a little sobriety over your hearts here in closing. This is not something to just play around with and say, well, maybe someday that guy, he's way over my head and I don't understand what he's talking about. I'm just going to keep on going the way I am. Maybe I'll figure all these things out later. Romans 8, verse 13 and following says this, For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But, if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Well, look at that verse. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again under fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father! The Spirit is self-bearer. Witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. As I look at these verses, I believe what God is saying is this Spirit of God that dwells in you needs to be an active agent in your life. Moving in you. Prompting you. Leading you. Witnessing in your heart. Causing you to rise up and cry, Abba, Father! This spiritual experience that we have described today of living by the law of the Spirit, it's imperative that you learn how to walk. It's imperative. For many shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? While I profess unto you, I never knew you. I never knew you. You went to church. You said the right things. You went through the motions. Everyone would have thought you were okay. But I never knew you because you never learned to walk in the Spirit. I never knew you. I never knew you. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Our Father and our God, we bring our hearts before you again at the end of this message. It has come. Light has shined. We see. We understand. Lord, I pray. Give us clear understanding. I pray for these dear young people. Father, O Lord, right in the middle of this week, many of them are finding heaven open. Many others are pondering whether they should. They're going to do. They're counting the cost. O, I pray for them all, Lord. Let's continue to work in their hearts. Take these words. Drive them home to them, Lord. Those that are clear. O God, somehow, let there be such a decision in their hearts. I'm going to go home and walk with God that their life will never be the same. I commit them all into your hands, Lord. I pray you take care of them. Savior, like a shepherd, lead these lambs in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.