Walk In The Spirit And Ye Shall Not...

                                             
Now, this law of the Spirit is the principle of the walk of the Christian. 

 

The walk of the Christian is supposed to be a walk in sanctification; there must be a sanctified walk. 

 

That is what it means to walk in the Spirit. 

 

The definite statement is: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16)."

 

Are you struggling, striving, fighting, not to fulfil the flesh? 

 

That is negative; you will get nowhere along that line. 

 

The way not to is to do something positive. The positive is the answer to the negative. "Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not...". 

 

It is a great principle of deliverance. God's way is always a positive way. 

 

We are occupied so much with the negative, striving and wrestling not to do this, to stop this and that. 

 

And we do not find that we get very far in that, do we? 

 

The provision of the Lord is: "Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not...".

What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? 

 

Well, it means to consort with the Spirit. You say, what does that mean? 

 

It is best understood by recognizing what we do. 

 

We, by nature, consort with the flesh: we are all the time consorting with ourselves - our poor miserable selves; occupied with ourselves, talking about ourselves, praying about ourselves; keeping ourselves, our miserable selves always in front of us. 

 

When we are so continually occupied with what we are in ourselves, that is consorting with ourselves, is it not? 

 

How far do we get that way? Nowhere at all! We make no progress at all by consorting with ourselves.

 

And I am afraid there are some Christians who consort with the devil. 

 

It is not always easy to distinguish between ourselves and the devil, but you know he is always talking to us through ourselves. 

 

If there is something that is wrong with us, he lets us know it. 

 

If there is something that troubles us, he adds to the trouble, he accentuates. 

 

Give him a little bit of his own ground, that he himself created for himself - for he created that ground of the old fallen Adam for himself and for his own purposes, to work out his own designs...

 

Give him a little bit of that which he has made for himself, and see what he will do with it. 

 

He will make everything of it, and it will not be long before people who do that will find that they are in terrible bondage to the devil through their own selves - their own make-up and faults and weaknesses and sinfulness. 

 

And that is consorting with the devil. 

 

He comes and accuses, and you listen; he makes a suggestion, and you take it on - you almost enter into a discussion with him. 

 

You consort with him, or you consort with yourself: and that is walking after the flesh.

 

Don't consort with the flesh, don't consort with the devil, have no truck with them at all! 

 

Consort with the Spirit! The Spirit is the One who has come alongside: the very meaning of His Name, 'Advocate' or 'Comforter' (Gk. parakletes) is One who is called alongside. 

 

Consort with the One alongside. 

 

Have your communion with the Spirit. 

 

Challenge yourself, and challenge the enemy, on this: Is this really of the Spirit, does this correspond to the Word of God, is this true according to the gospel of grace?

 

If the answer is: No, of course it is not! then repudiate it! 

 

That is consorting with the Spirit, always moving on the ground of grace, the Spirit of grace.

 

That is a very simple beginning, but it indicates that the Holy Spirit is positive. 

 

All that other is negative: it is pulling back, it is draining, dragging; it is all a big 'No'. 

 

The Spirit never comes on that ground; He is against anything like that. 

 

As in the first creation He moved against the void, so in the new creation He has nothing to do with, and no interest in, vacuums, voids, or anything that is negative. 

 

Take positive ground, and you will find the Holy Spirit is with you. 

 

Forsake your negative ground in your spiritual life.

 

~T. Austin Sparks~