This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16

This verse is Paul’s advice on how to avoid sin.  This is the simple solution to the issue plaguing the church today.

I call it the Million Dollar Question, that is, why are new testament believers not living according to their new creation nature?  We know why the world does, because it’s in ’em.  But, why does a Christian?

Obviously, many things need to be taken into account.  2 Corinthians 10:6 says that every disobedience is only punished once our obedience is made perfect.  That is, only once we know better.  God wants our obedience established on the basis of His love and His wooing.  He works in us to both will and to do according to all His great purpose (Philippians 2:13).  Add to the issues of teaching, deliverance, history, etc.  Yet, 2 Corinthains 5:17 says we have a new nature.  Romans 8:3 says its a done deal.  Romans 6:11 gives similarly simple advice, reckon yourself dead.  That word reckon is an accounting word.  It does not mean “pretend”, it means, account as though accounting for payroll.  It means, because it is so, mark it down in your book that you have died, because you have.

For we were crucified with Christ, and it is no longer us who live, but it is Christ in us (Galatians 2:20).

But, Jesus said that you could not see nor enter the Kingdom unless you were born of the Spirit (John 3:3-5).  If the natural man can see it, it’s not the Kingdom.

If we brush aside simple nonsense such as “don’t be too heavenly minded”, and look Beyond to what He is calling us to.  Realize that the most heavenly minded person is God Himself, and He cares about every single sparrow.  See that that Spirit realm of the Holy Ghost is with us always.  See Beyond into the dimension of Eternity, and into the heart of God, and listen to His voice.  If Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, how much further do we have to go?

Much of the current prophetic movement is simply getting used to the realm of the Spirit.  It is merely getting sensitized to the flows and presences and realms.  There are some that are very advanced, but as a movement, people are not pursuing fully the hidden realms of the Spirit, where the only Light is the Counselor, and the only Bread is His presence.  That is where the altar of incense is, and beyond that, through His blood, is His Glory.

I am speaking of the tabernacle of Moses, for it was their pattern because it is His pattern.  As in all of the Old Covenant, types and shadows were employed to show an earthly picture of the Heavenly truth, namely Christ Jesus Himself.

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men (John 1:4).  Inside that temple, where there was no natural light, dwelt a presence so Holy, that if a man entered it without blood, he died, and sometimes even with blood.  But now, the curtain separating Daddy’s favorite chair (the mercy seat) from the rest of the living room has been removed!  And we have access to come boldly before His throne to receive mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

When we fail to recognize the realm of the Holy Spirit, that it is ever with us, ever amongst us, ever in the life of the Believer, we fail to see God in our midst.  Why did the Jewish leaders miss Jesus while the entire demonic realm recognized him instantly?  Because the leaders saw the flesh, but the demons His Spirit!  They knew who He was.

This is why Isaiah prophesied:

Matthew 13:14-15 (portion)

You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

(quoting Isaiah 6:9-10)

The hearts of the people had grown dull, calloused, or, literally, “fat”.  With heavy ears and dazzled eyes.  The had become hard of hearing, that they could not hear the voice of the Spirit whispering.  They had grown to have dazzled eyes, because they could no longer perceive the realm of the Spirit, and the angels and the more subtle things of God.

Even at the baptism by the river Jordan, only some heard the voice, and some said it merely thundered.  They could no longer perceive the depths of God.

They could no longer discern between the holy and profane, they had little to no operative discernment of the spiritual realm to determine what was good and evil.  They had no light among them, no clarity of vision to see who Jesus was.  For, as John wrote, He was in the World, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him (John 1:10).  He was their very creator, the one who made their very frame, and because they were dull, because their hearts were calloused, they did not recognize Him.

Yet, as two men walked down a road towards a city named Emmaus, talking to a complete stranger, they found their hearts burning within them as the Spirit of the Eternal, though unrecognized in the flesh, spoke to them (Luke 24:32).  Theirs hearts had begun to recognize the One Thing upon which the entire universe turned.  The creator of creation, though unrecognized, spoke the words of Eternal life, and their hearts within them knew that voice!

If we fail to recognize the invisible, we have failed to recognize the Eternal.  If our church services are primarily composed of what we can see, they are primarily composed of materialism.  If our services are primarily organized by man, it is primarily organized by the flesh.

One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 6:33:  Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.  It doesn’t matter so much if you start out going in the right direction in terms of “seeking”, because there is a difference between the thoughts and intents of the heart.  But, if the intent of your heart is towards God, with sincere heart motivation, He can work on getting the thoughts of your heart in line with that.  If the thoughts and intents of the heart are upright, your speech will change.  If you change your speech, you’ve moved your rudder (James 3:6), and your course will change.

This is why repentance is so crucial in this hour.  The only way the deep down places of the heart will change is Christ giving you His heart.  It is the revelation of any part of His heart that is not in full accord with His, and the repentance unto faith, and the faith to walk in His heart.  He changes us, as we come to Him, submit to Him, worship Him, and offer ourselves to Him.  Yet, if we miss the voice of the Spirit along the way, it will be much harder, if not impossible to make it to our destination.

It is a time to walk by the Spirit, and that means walking in a way not our own.  As the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount points out, it is precisely the places where you are NOT doing Matthew 5-7 that you are NOT built upon the rock, not rooted in Him and His Spirit and His love.  If we made the Spirit our focus, as Matthew 6:33 says, and decided to love His discipline and hate the leadership of this life, we would see instant transformation.