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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
Morning. Thank you, Tyler, for leading us in in our worship and song this morning. I'm so glad that you're all out here. I do not have a specific Father's Day sermon. I know, man, what you expected and wanted probably this morning was a good beat down from the pulpit.
John Gunter:But we're going through a series right now, and this is something everybody can take home with them, and so we're gonna we're gonna continue to do that. Happy Father's Day. Continue to to lead and to be focused on faith, and if we can support you in any way, we wanna do that, and so thank you for being here this morning. Just as a a reminder, I kind of structures sermon summer sermons in a way that you can kind of drop in and out because we understand people are traveling and things like that, and so not that you have to be here, you know, six weeks in a row to be able to jump in and understand what's going on, but for the last few weeks, we've talked about these things. Week week one, we talked about that the marks of a true disciple, included being faith filled.
John Gunter:Week two, we talked about being love driven. We talked about being humble in spirit, and last week, we talked about being obedient in action. Now, this series isn't about getting busier for Jesus, it's about becoming more like him. You understand that? This is not something where we're just forcing this, and, you know, you just put in more effort, you you will yourself to it.
John Gunter:But if you look at this list and you think, man, that is a lot, and I I don't feel like I'm measuring up, and things like that, good. You are not meant to carry this alone. You understand that? God never meant you for to carry these things alone, because this week we are talking about being spirit led. We live, or should live as Christians, in complete surrender to the spirit.
John Gunter:I know we live in a in a place, in a culture where it feels like everything we do, we just we're independent people, we get up, we control everything, but life in the spirit and being spirit led is about complete surrender of our lives to the spirit. The holy spirit is not a sidekick to your faith. The holy spirit is not something or someone to just stick in your pocket like we talk about Jesus sometimes, and pull him out whenever it's convenient for you. He is the source of our transformation. Now, we accept that this morning, you should tell your friend who is waiting to come to Jesus, waiting to be baptized until everything is perfect, that that's ridiculous.
John Gunter:Don't say ridiculous. But if you want help with that, how about getting the very spirit of God inside you first? Let him be the source of your transformation rather than, I'm just gonna cinch my belt a little tighter, we're gonna bear down, and here we go. The Holy Spirit is never meant to be a sidekick to your faith. He is the source.
John Gunter:In Galatians five, we're gonna start in verse 16, but I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. So I wanna start with this question. Have you been trying to lead the life God wants without letting him lead you? Have you been trying to lead the life that you know God wants, but what you've left out is allowing him to lead? I control.
John Gunter:I'm gonna do this, and just pray that God blesses it. You understand? That's a different thing, rather than a posture of, God lead me in the way that I should go. Do you understand? That's way different.
John Gunter:Now, I think it's also a little more scary, isn't it? I I I don't want to be led, lead me, as the office said, when I'm in the mood to be led. No. We're not doing that. God, lead me in the way that you want me to go.
John Gunter:So I say, the apostle Paul speaking here, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. This is not the idea of some kind of autopilot, this spiritual autopilot. This is a conscious surrender, and I think what Paul says here is very relatable.
John Gunter:How many of you, maybe week after week, you know there are things you want to do that I wanna live a life that I am proud of, that I feel like is is closer to God this week, and something happens throughout the week and you realize, I did not do that well. Yes? Everybody perfect in here? Everybody's asleep. No.
John Gunter:Okay. You're awake. Good. I'll tell you, my son was baptized this past week. He needs to hear this from Christians who've been around for a long time, doesn't he?
John Gunter:Because if what you're telling my son this morning is we've got it figured out, everything is a bed of roses, everything will be perfect, and if it's not, something's wrong with you, guess what's gonna happen? He's gonna get real discouraged real quick, isn't he? Yeah. Okay. Well, that's that's what we're talking about here, living life in the Spirit.
John Gunter:Things are gonna happen even when you're trying to follow the Spirit. You're saying, I'm surrendering, things are still gonna happen then, aren't they? But it's continuous, it is, I am deciding that even when those things come up, okay, maybe we need to reset. God, I wanna give my life to you again. Sometimes that's what when people come forward, they wanna ask again.
John Gunter:Right? I wanna I wanna stop this right now. I want to feel like I'm beginning again. I wanna give my life to you, and that giving my life to you, that is surrender. Right?
John Gunter:And sometimes, we may even use the right words, but it's it's kind of a I'm gonna toe in the water type of thing. Again, lead me when I'm in the mood to be led. No. We don't we don't want any of that. We want to continue walking in the spirit.
John Gunter:If you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. So the spirit brings freedom. You understand that? You are living life in the spirit. Romans eight fourteen, Paul says this, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God.
John Gunter:So if for some reason you're here this morning, you're like, I don't know about this whole holy spirit thing, Paul's gonna disagree with you. Right? You need to be led by the spirit. Do you feel like you are led by the spirit? That's that's our challenge this morning, and I'm sure there are a lot of us, I don't know.
John Gunter:I don't think so. I I think I've been leading that, and that's okay. Okay? We're not here to to beat you down, but we're here here to encourage and exhort and point back to scripture. For all who are led by the spirit, not leading the spirit, we're not leading the spirit and telling the spirit, I've got a I've got a task for you.
John Gunter:Yeah? Here's what you need to do. No. All who are led by the spirit are sons of God. Okay?
John Gunter:He doesn't just live in you, He leads you, but the kicker is, the key is, you have to follow. We've got in our culture this this negative connotation of sheep. Right? We do, don't we? You pray you may have called somebody, oh, they're just sheep following whoever.
John Gunter:Right? But as Christians, that should be in our vocabulary as we are followers. Now, we're good at training leaders, aren't we? How many leadership seminars do you think are going on this week in America? How many follower seminars do you think are going on in America?
John Gunter:It is funny, isn't it? We are not trained to follow, we are trained to lead. And so your go to, your first thought, maybe I'm gonna do this and this way, I need to just muscle up and do it. Right? Alright.
John Gunter:Well, all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God, and that's what we should be. You don't control the holy spirit, you surrender to him. And again, he's not your assistant, He's not your copilot. He is your guide. He is controlling everything.
John Gunter:Right? The holy spirit did not come to give you some kind of spiritual feelings where you just feel a little tingly inside. He came to prepare you for a spiritual purpose. When we went through our holy spirit series, we talked about in in a couple of sermons, we talked about anointing and going through every time people had been anointed in scripture with the holy spirit, that wasn't just a tingly good feeling, I felt the presence of God. That was God is anointing you and sending you on a mission for him.
John Gunter:And guess what? All of those were easy missions, they stayed in comfy hotels, everything was great. Except, that's a lie. Right? The preacher lied to us this morning.
John Gunter:It's not true at all. Because what it means to follow God, sometimes you're gonna face difficulty. We talked in class this morning, it's easy to feel blessed when something positive happens. If I come up to you after church and I give you a bunch of money, you're gonna feel blessed. Thank you, Lord.
John Gunter:But if what happens after church is God leading you into a difficult circumstance, you may even question faith. What have I done wrong? What am I doing here? Things aren't going smoothly. What what's happened?
John Gunter:Like, we we question that. But we are, again, to be led by the spirit. And maybe out of fear of things that have happened in the past, maybe you've tried to follow God, and you feel like you've gotten burned. Maybe you felt like they're in a difficult situation that, much like the Psalms, God wasn't there for you. God, where are you?
John Gunter:But following the spirit doesn't mean we always understand. You know that? Following the spirit does not mean we always understand, it just means that we trust the one who does. Amen? Talked in class this morning, I've asked you before, how many of you have been through a difficult circumstance that right now, you couldn't in the moment, but right now, you can see the blessing?
John Gunter:Yes? Again, I want you talking to my my son over here. He's gonna face it, isn't he? His life is not gonna be all a bed of roses, he will face difficulty and things like that. Okay?
John Gunter:There are things you're gonna go through that you're gonna go, okay, I don't know the way out of this. Your posture towards God matters. Okay? Because it can be, God, where are you? I don't know what to do, and I think God's fine with hearing that.
John Gunter:We've got a whole book with a lot of that in there. Go read the Psalms.
John Gunter:But what I want you to do
John Gunter:is say, God, I don't understand. I don't feel you. I don't I don't know how we're gonna get out of this, but God, lead me. God, I'm putting my trust in you. You take you take it from here.
John Gunter:Back in Galatians five seventeen that we read just a little bit ago, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And that's what I want you to know. Even spirit filled believers even spirit filled believers wrestle with the flesh. If what you've done this morning is looked around and thought, well, they've
John Gunter:got it whipped, I wish
John Gunter:I was like them, you're wrong. Cause every single person in here has a struggle. We have issues, and what we're not creating here is some sort of, again, museum of the saints. We are a work in progress, we are a hospital designed to help. Now, every time I've said that, I I I reminded of one of my professors at Harding, he said, yes, that is true, we need to be a hospital for sinners.
John Gunter:He said, but we don't all need to be in ICU at the same time. Right. Because you know how it goes. Right? One week, you feel like, hey, I'm walking close to God.
John Gunter:The next week might not be as good. And so one week, I may need to draw encouragement from you. Another week, you may need to we may need to reverse roles. Right? I may need to give it to you because I I've walked through that.
John Gunter:Okay. Now I can say, hey, you remember my issue? Remember my issue that I I shared with you and you prayed for me, and I'm on the other side of it? Now I'm going to encourage you. But if all we do is act like we've got it worked out and everything's fine and there's no issues, guess what?
John Gunter:We're not going to have that same encouragement because we've kept that bottled up and hidden. Guess what? We all have issues, and that's alright. If you don't think God knows it, let's talk afterwards. Let's talk talk about some scripture.
John Gunter:So even spirit filled believers wrestle with the flesh. The presence of struggle remember this, the presence of struggle is not failure. The presence of struggle is not failure, it is evidence of your spiritual life. Things are going to happen. Name someone in scripture other than Jesus who lived just a completely perfect life with no sin, never questioned, never did anything.
John Gunter:The word of God that that God has given us is filled with people who are imperfect and need him. And guess what? This church is imperfect and filled with people who need him. And so that should be our cry this morning. Where in your life is the flesh still behind the wheel?
John Gunter:Because there are places, aren't there? I can give you part of my life, Lord, but this one I'd still like to hang on to the control. You you sit over here and drive that part, I'll I'll handle this. Right? Where in your life is the flesh behind the wheel?
John Gunter:Give it to him. Galatians five verses twenty two and twenty three, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, against such things there is no law. When I was in Searcy, we put Evan in a little Methodist Mother's Day out, and when he was a little, little bitty toot, he could sing this song. Now, he thought faithfulness was but it was cute. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
John Gunter:Woah. Yay. Okay. What what is this? See, these aren't character traits that we must master through discipline and just hard work, and we're just gonna go, you know, rough it up.
John Gunter:They are natural outflows of the spirit. K? It says, fruit. This is evidence that the spirit is a part of your life. This is what you will see.
John Gunter:Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. You don't manufacture spiritual fruit, you bear it. And guess what? Church folks, bearing fruit takes time. How many of you, you know what you want and you want it right now?
John Gunter:I mean, I moved down here and I was used to Amazon getting me things in two to five days. Now, I'm a little perturbed when it doesn't say this afternoon at five. I want what I want, and I want it now. Because guess what? A day or two from now, I might have forgotten I ordered that.
John Gunter:I had to have it, you know. I had to have it. Katie and I are looking at each other, did you order something, dude? What is this? Had to have it.
John Gunter:Oh, yeah. I remember having to have this that I'd forgotten now. But I want it, but okay. Well, fruit takes time, and again, it only comes from surrender. It only comes from giving God your life because that's the only way that you're gonna allow the spirit to produce this.
John Gunter:The spirit of God does not make you do this, right, against your will, tying your hands behind your back. This is an outflow, a natural outflow of, I have surrendered to God, and so this is what you're gonna start seeing. So you may see part of this list is like, I'm good at that, but I'm not real good at that. Well, that again should show you there's a part of your life you haven't surrendered to him. I need to give that up.
John Gunter:I need to allow him to take over because if he takes over, this will be the fruit. This is what you will start to see. Okay? Against such things, there is no law. John 15 verses four and five, Abide in me, and I in you.
John Gunter:As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. The spirit is the root, and the fruit is the result. I am not the root, you are not the root, the spirit and surrender to him is the root, and the fruit is the result. And so, let's ask this, am I staying am I staying connected to the one who grows these things in me? Abide in me whenever it's convenient.
John Gunter:Abide in me when I don't have so many things going on in my life. Abide in me when I get everything worked out. No. Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. Unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John Gunter:I'm going to ask you to do something I I don't do. Close your eyes for just a second. This is not a trick. I'm not going to trick you. Where do you feel the spirit nudging you towards gentleness or self control or grace?
John Gunter:Is there someone in your life who need who needs you to show more kindness? God, would you show us right now the person that we have not been gracious toward or gentle toward, and they need to see our kindness? Is there a place in your day where peace needs to take root instead of anxiety? And finally, are you nurturing the fruit of the spirit or feeding the patterns of the flesh? Alright.
John Gunter:You can open your eye. You want to know if you're spirit led? Look at how you treat people. Look at how you talk about people. Look about how gracious or not that you are towards people because that's where fruit shows up.
John Gunter:Because if you're unable to show grace and gentleness and love towards people who you might have a minor disagreement, again, how in the world can you do the same thing and show the same gentleness, and love, and self control towards someone who is your enemy? And remember, that man named Jesus calls us to love our enemy, not theoretically, if they meet these conditions, but to love our enemy. And so, where is it in your life that you need to let go of some anger, or bitterness, or hatred, or I can't believe they said that, or they believe this, or whatever? Because if you can't let that go, that is an area of your life that you have not surrendered to the spirit. That is an area of your life that you are trying to control instead of allowing our father in heaven who knows all and knows what's best.
John Gunter:You've allowed you have taken the wheel and not allowed him to work. Galatians oh, let me finish this up. I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do everything. Apart from me, you can do what?
John Gunter:Nothing. And here we are spinning our wheels, trying to do everything we can to be in control and to make the right decisions and all of those things, when the answer is, God take over. We sing the song, Lord take control. Sing those words if you don't mean it, Lord, take control. Can you say that this morning?
John Gunter:I don't wanna ask you to say it if if that's not your desire. Can you say that, church? Lord, take control. Say it with me. Lord, take control.
John Gunter:You said that in the presence of witnesses, if you said that out loud this morning. Let that be an encouragement and a guide to, Lord, take control. Take my life. Lead me in the way that I should go. Now, the spirit should set the pace, and that is the scary part.
John Gunter:The spirit should set the pace, and sometimes it's slower, sometimes it's quieter, sometimes it's more surprising or different than what we expect or even what we want, But part of surrender is being along for that ride, isn't it? That God take me where I need to go. If the only time you experience a spirit is when things go exactly how you expected, you may not be following the spirit. You may just be following your plan and calling it spiritual because I'm going to guide myself in the path of least resistance. Aren't you?
John Gunter:I like it easy, I like it nice, I want things to go well. So, is it following the spirit, or is it leading in your own way and calling things spiritual? If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit. Allow him to lead at his pace. Don't put those barriers in there.
John Gunter:We get that all the time with things like even teaching. Now, some people have the gift of teaching and some don't. Some people have the gift of teaching and they've never expressed it because they've always said no. Now, I don't know how you figure out if you have the gift of teaching if you never teach. Right?
John Gunter:I don't understand how you do that. Well, you have to learn by doing. Okay? You have to try. You have to see how it works out.
John Gunter:Okay? Let the spirit lead you into the way you should go. In Acts, 16 verses six through 10, I want you to notice this little encounter interesting, with the apostle Paul. They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. Interesting, isn't it?
John Gunter:And when they had come up to Amicia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Now, what's interesting there is that spirit of God said no.
John Gunter:Preaching the the word of God in a in a special place. But what we should take from this, I believe, is that spirit led people should be open to redirection even in good things. Let me say that again. Spirit led people should be open to redirection even in good things, like, okay, I wanna spread the gospel, surely God wants that. Right?
John Gunter:Well, Paul is led by the spirit and he sees, okay, what I don't need to do is go into that area right now. Following the spirit isn't about chasing what's obvious or what you think is right, it's about obeying what's faithful. Sometimes, the spirit says no to good plans because God has something better. You understand that? Sometimes, the spirit of God says no to even good plans, God, I know you're gonna want this, but God has something better.
John Gunter:And we miss it because we're so upset about the no that we're not looking for the yes and the better. How many of you have wanted something in life and God said no, and then later on you realize, woo, I'm glad I avoided that, or him or her. Right? Yeah. Absolutely.
John Gunter:But if you're so upset about the no because you were trying to lead, that's what that's what's there. Because I was trying to lead and do it my way, if I'm so upset by the no, I'm gonna miss the yes and the better idea that God had, the better plan that he had. Being spirit led isn't always dramatic. I think sometimes we want the road to Damascus moment, but being led by the spirit isn't always that dramatic. Sometimes it's often quiet, I think.
John Gunter:It's a faithful, it's an unseen, it's a I can't even really explain it to you. It's a name that you call to memory out of the blue. It's a feeling you have that I need to to call them, or I need to visit with them, or I need to invite them to church, or I need to change this about my life. It's not something that just shakes you, it's it's said in the quietness. Right?
John Gunter:But make no mistake, quiet does not mean weak. Sometimes I think we hear that, someone's quiet, they're just weak, they're not that strong. Surrender does not mean silence. In second Timothy one seven, for God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power, and love, and self control. And what I said a couple of weeks ago when we read this scripture okay.
John Gunter:Sometimes we fixate on the power part, and that that is the main theme here. But it's not power to run over people. It's not power to control everything. Right? This is power and love and self control.
John Gunter:That surrender to the spirit means, okay, he's got it. The spirit of God sustains us, so yes, the spirit may lead you gently, but he never leads you timidly. He leads you with power, and love, and self control. But the same spirit who whispers in the stillness and in the quiet empowers you to stand strong and to go boldly. And so, you have that same power.
John Gunter:If you're sitting here through this sermon today and you're thinking, there's no way that I stop, you're right. But there's absolutely a way that he can handle anything that you were going to end that sentence with. Right? And so who is really leading your life, or what? Is it your fear, your anxiety, your schedule, Your comfort, your ideas about how things should go or not go?
John Gunter:Being spirit led, being led by the holy spirit is not some kind of mystical, theoretical, oh, let's not deal with those people, they just believe in this whole spiritual thing. Being led by the spirit is a relationship, it is relational. We surrender to him. And so, moment by moment, surrender shapes us, doesn't it? Because if I am claiming, Lord, take control today, if I am claiming, I am surrendering to you, that is going to shape you and shift your week right now.
John Gunter:And guess what? As your week gets shaped and shifted, things are going to change for you next week. Now, you may have bumps along the road, but things are continually going to change, are they not? Bearing fruit takes time, but you continue you continually surrender to him. God empowers us to go to work for him.
John Gunter:He's not gonna ask you to do something that's impossible to do. Now, he may ask you to do something that's impossible for you to do on your own, but he's never gonna ask you to do something that's impossible to do for him. So, when was the last time you said, Holy Spirit, lead me today? I don't like that. I wanna pray, God, you know how you bless me with this and that and the other.
John Gunter:When was the last time you said, Holy Spirit, lead me today and you actually meant it. I'm gonna give you my life. I wanna end with this, if you've been trying to live for God without being led by God, surrender to him. You continue to try and lead your life, give it up and surrender. If you've been resisting the spirit's nudges and urges in the quiet and you know in your mind because you've brought it to your mind what you ought to do, surrender to him.
John Gunter:If you haven't been living a life of surrender, we're gonna offer a time of invitation for you to come. We'd love to pray with you. We'd love to surrender our lives together with you and encourage you and and build you up. If you haven't begun that walk with him, why? Come today, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, now you are empowered by him, that power.
John Gunter:Then try to live your life being led by him.