Ghost Stories Series# 4, Fruitful Ghost

Ghost Stories Series# 4, Fruitful Ghost
With: Zach Sloane & Henry Redecop

Recap: Glorious Ghost:

John 16:8-11
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

On the basis of this scripture one must conclude that the Holy Spirit’s ministry of conviction is not directed toward me but towards those alienated from God. He convinces them that Jesus is the cure to sin… that God no longer counts their sins against them and that the ruler of this world is judged.

The Holy Spirit does not: Indict me / Judge me / Prosecute me / Convict me / Or render me guilty

Intro: Life changing, breakthrough inducing, miraculous Fruit of the Spirit. How many people think of fruit of the Spirit this way?

The Power of the Fruit of the Spirit:

We have a tendency to look for miraculous interventions externally in our environment, circumstances and in the people around us, when often the solution already lies within. What we posses internally is meant to transform the external, through us and not just for us.

Luke 17:20-21
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Hypothetical examples:

(a.) Stressful and anxious environment

(b.) A relationship:

(c.) Stressful circumstances and life situations:

The fruit of the Spirit positions us to be the change and produce the breakthrough that we are looking for.

THE FRUIT OF… THE ACTUAL HOLY SPIRIT

It’s the fruit of the Spirit because it is what is produced by the Spirit, not me.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (MSG)
“…things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

So why does it seem to be so hard to manifest these powerfully life changing attributes? Could it be a performance based reading of scriptures.

Galatians 5:16-21
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

You are never going to manifest the life changing power of God in your new nature if you believe that you are some sort of hybrid; that you have good parts that are Spirit, and bad parts that are flesh, and that your ability to be in the Spirit of God rests solely on your ability to “stay” in the spirit and out of the “flesh.”

Romans 8:9 (NKJV)
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

You are not in the flesh but in the spirit if/since the Spirit of God is in you.

(a.) You are not in the flesh anymore as long as Jesus is in you, and he promises to never leave you nor forsake you. (Rom. 8:9)

(b.) The flesh literally means: meat sack, that is your actual flesh and bones body, or sometimes by context it refers to that part of humanity that was corrupted by the fall and by sin.

Galatians 5:19-21
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

You might say, “ its obvious that some of these things are still in my life. So, I must either be in the flesh, or the flesh must be something that is alive in me…”

But…you can successfully be in the Spirit and do an act of the flesh. You can be in the Spirit yet still think or act in a way that resembles the flesh and THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE IN THE FLESH!

Don’t I have to fight the flesh everyday and put it down and crucify it? NO!

Galatians 5:24
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Colossians 2:11-12
“In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

Flesh was past tense cut off of you and your identity, and it was past tense crucified when you died with Christ. You might still from time to time act, or think opposite to the Spirit, and find your behaviours resembles something of that list of the works of the flesh.

That does not mean you are IN the flesh, YOU ARE IN THE SPIRIT BECAUSE HIS SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU, you just haven’t renewed your mind and applied faith to that particular area of your life yet.

1 Corinthians 6:17
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

LIVE IN THE SPIRIT / WALK IN THE SPIRIT – Let’s get practical!

Galatians 5:25
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Step #1 & the only step!: drop the shenanigans about trying to live in the Spirit and not the flesh. Realize/ believe, have faith that you are in the Spirit and the flesh is already cut off and dead, and then just do it!

The just shall walk by faith… thats it. God said so 4x in His word:

Habakuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 12:38
“the just shall walk by faith.”

John 15:4-5
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Don’t listen to the methods and ways to Abide and remain… anything that’s not of faith is sin.

No more striving to be like Jesus. No more stressing to become more peaceful, no more struggles to get more joy. No more working to become more faithful or kind, no more working to manifest self control.

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE: SELF – CONTROL

You may identify an area where you need more of it. You can beat yourself up, you can discipline yourself, or you can ignore it and say “nah, God will make me do the right thing,” and become super passive.

Even self control is a fruit of the spirit. And what he brings is self control not God control. Holy Spirit gives away power,

Eg.

Imagine you’ve got an issue. When it presents and you need the fruit of the Spirit, he is already present helping you to know and believe that you are one with Christ, empowered by His Spirit and grace. You hear and feel the faith of Jesus rising up in you, Holy Spirit bringing these words to your mind, you know that he is in you, that you are dead to the flesh and the law.

You acknowledge your need, you hear the word of faith that is in you, you lean into the faith of Christ, and empowered by that faith you then simply act or think or behave kindly, in love and patience, you say no to that temptation. You just do it in faith and by faith.

The consistency of manifestation will be directly related to your faith in your union, in the fact that he is in you mightily, and that the flesh is in fact dead. And even that faith is a gift that if you rest in Him you will experience Him producing you.

Great news: When you need to manifest the patience and love and kindness and self control, it’s not a baby version, a half baked, still growing patience. It’s not an immature love that needs to grow up. Its is fully formed love, self-control that can handle anything because its the fruit of the Spirit and not of you – and God’s love is perfect, his goodness complete, his patience absolute.

You recognize what God is in you to do, believe in Him, and then act and think accordingly. Don’t beat yourself up, don’t be harsh. Know that God is in you to will and to do his good pleasure , you are in the Spirt, and the nature and life of Christ, the fruit of what God can do in you is revolutionizing your life and character and personal expression right now in Jesus name. Amen!

Ghost Stories Series# 4, Fruitful Ghost, Sermon Notes to print, PDF

Ghost Stories Series# 4, Fruitful Ghost, PowerPoint Slides, PDF