Peter Tan-Chi - Finish Well, Walk by the Spirit
What’s the message last Sunday? It’s called, Finish Well, Live in God’s Presence. That’s last Sunday. You live in God’s presence. You remind yourself God is with you in good times, in bad times. If you are always aware of God’s presence in your life, can I tell you something? It will impact the way you work. It’ll impact the way you study. It will impact your public life. But more than that, it will impact your private life, your moral life, when you are all alone and nobody will find out. It will affect the way you decide because God’s presence will impact your private life, your moral life. And God’s presence will impact the way you think. It will impact your family. It will impact your legacy.
Today, part two of Finish Well. To finish well, walk in the Spirit. It is the flip side. It’s the same coin but the other side. To live in God’s presence, you need to walk in the Spirit. What does that mean? The Bible tells us, once you come to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit enters your life. The most neglected person in the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The day you come to Jesus, the Bible tells us, the Holy Spirit enters your life. He promised not to leave you. The only problem is this: Is He in your life today? If He is in your life today, is He in control of your life today? He can be in, but you put Him aside. You are not surrendering your life to Him.
Today, I want to look at the life of King David. How King David began by walking in the Spirit, what happened to him, how he blew it, and then how he recovered. «walk by the Spirit»; «Walk» is a command, it is not a suggestion. To walk means what? You live by the power of the Holy Spirit. You walk day by day. It’s a lifestyle of being aware of God’s presence. It’s a lifestyle of surrender to God’s leading through the Holy Spirit. So «walk by the Spirit» is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Understand?
So to walk in the Spirit simply means it’s a lifestyle of obedience. It’s a lifestyle of submission to God’s Spirit because God’s spirit is real. The only problem is, are you aware of His presence? Are you listening to Him? So that is the meaning of this word 'walk'. It is a command. Number two, it is not a suggestion. And number three, it is present tense. Walk, moment by moment, day by day. You don’t walk with God on Sunday and then walk with the devil on Monday. This is day by day walk with Jesus, moment by moment, alone or not alone. That’s the grammar. Keep walking by the Spirit. Capital S, the Holy Spirit. And what is the promise? You’ll finish well. You know why? The promise: «…you will not carry out the desire of the flesh».
You see, temptation is real. Do not allow anybody to deceive you that once you come to Christ, you don’t have temptation anymore. That’s not true. Temptation becomes more powerful. That’s why you need the Holy Spirit. Remember I keep saying? The Christian life is not what? It’s not hard. It is impossible. The Christian life is not difficult. It is supernatural. Example: How can you love your enemies? The Bible tells us, «…love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who curse you…» (Luke 6:27–28) How can you do that without the Holy Spirit? Many Christians are defeated today. Many Christians are defeated. I’m sad. According to Billy Graham, 93%, I don’t know where he got his statistics, but according to him, majority of Christians are living a defeated life. They have no power. Very simple. You know why? You are not surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
You see, the Holy Spirit gives us power. Acts 1:8, the Bible tells us, everybody read, «You will receive power…» That’s why you have the word «dunamis», dynamite. You’ll receive dynamite. You have power in your life. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Now, question: Do you have the Holy Spirit? Yes or no? The Holy Spirit gives you power to overcome sin, but you need to surrender to Him. So, three important words I’d like you to remember today, okay? Number one. To finish well, you’ve got to walk in the Spirit, lessons from David: number one, dependence. When you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, you are dependent. And I’ll show you in the life of David. Number two, the most important, repentance. If you don’t learn repentance, how can you recover? And many Christians don’t know repentance because very few pastors will teach on repentance.
Today, if you look at all the messages, it’s all feel-good, feel-good messages. You produce shallow Christians. You need to learn, theologically, how do you repent? And then true repentance will lead to worship. 1 Samuel 16:13. When he was a teenager, when he was a young boy, the Bible tells us, «Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward». The Bible tells us, David, when he was chosen by God, God gave him an amazing presence, His own Spirit. You notice something in the Bible? God’s Spirit is given for power to serve Him, for power to witness, for power to live. What are the manifestations of somebody walking in the Spirit?
You know, when you are controlled by the Holy Spirit, your confidence is in God, not in yourself. It’s a dependent life. When David was a young man, teenager, he was able to face Goliath. Do you know how tall Goliath is? How tall? I suggest you look at YouTube, and you look at giants. They have discovered real giants. The Bible is not exaggerating, when the Bible talks about they were giants and Goliath was one of them. They’re big, they’re huge. But you know, everybody was scared of Goliath, except David. Why? He was walking in the Spirit. Look at what David said. (1 Samuel 17:45–47) «David said to the Philistine 'Goliath, You come to me with sword, a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel'», (v.46) «'This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands… that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel.'»
When you walk in the Spirit, you are God-centered, God-conscious, and you are full of God’s confidence, not self-confidence. (v.47) «…All this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’s». My friend, in your life, sooner or later you’ll have problems. You’ll have obstacles. I call them Goliaths. How many of you have Goliaths right now in your life? No, it’s not your mother-in-law, okay? But we all have Goliaths, okay? Problems. Sometimes they are people, sometimes they are your bosses, sometimes it’s your own self, but you have Goliaths. Now, how do you face them? Just like what David said. I cannot, but God can. Amen.
So let me ask you, is Goliath big? Is God bigger? Is God bigger than your Goliath? All right! Don’t be scared. That was David. He was able to overcome Goliath. For some people you have cancer, financial problem. I know because we pray for people, and my heart goes out for you, but have good news for you. God is bigger than your problem, provided, you are able to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Surrender your giants. Surrender your Goliath. When David was young, he was prayerful. What do I mean? Because when you are walking the Spirit, you are prayerful, you are dependent. What do I mean by dependent? David, when he was running away, he was having problem.
You know who turned against David? He’s own mentor. King Saul got jealous. I want you to imagine now, okay. You are public enemy number one in the Philippines, example only, public enemy number one. The whole power of the government, military, police intelligence, they have one mission: to kill David. David was able to overcome Goliath. He was able to overcome the fear of the king. Sometimes you have Sauls in your life. They betray you, they don’t like you, they want to destroy you. That was David. His only solution is to be prayerful. As he was running away, he kept asking God. Notice, he was running away from King Saul, yet, let’s look. (1 Samuel 23:2) «David, inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go attack this Philistines? '» He was already running away from King Saul, and yet he was willing to serve God.
«The Lord said to David, 'Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.'» (v.4) «Then David inquired of the LORD once more and the Lord answered Him, 'Arise, go down to Keilah…» In other words, David was prayerful. I want you to read another verse about David. Okay? You know the Bible tell us David was hiding in the cave. He was hiding. One day King Saul had to go to the toilet. King Saul went to the biggest toilet in Israel. It’s the biggest toilet. It’s a cave. So he went to the toilet. He did not know that David was inside the toilet. So when the men of David saw this guy in the toilet, you know what they told David? «Let’s kill him». But notice what David said. (v.6) «Far be it from me because of the LORD…»
You see, he was motivated by pleasing God. «…that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he’s the Lord’s anointed». Even to touch his clothing, David is saying, that was wrong. You see David honored God so much. King Saul was anointed by God to be the king of Israel. And David said, as long as he’s the Lord’s anointed, even though he was a bad king, he became bad. David said, I’m not going to kill him. The Bible tells us adversity draws men to God. When you have problems, you become very conscious of your dependence on God. Yes or no? People that have cancer, financial problem, business problem, marital problem, they become, they begin to be prayerful. But once all your problems are solved, once everything’s okay, what’s our tendency when everything’s okay? What’s our tendency? Self-sufficiency.
That’s exactly what happened to David. This happened when David was already over 50 years old. He became king when he was 30 years old. Let me repeat. He was running from King Saul as a young boy, as a young man, kept running, running. God had to train him to be a good king. He became king at the age of 30. Okay. Now, he’s over 50 years old, height of his power. Man, this guy’s got everything. So now I’m warning you now, you know why people fall into immorality? You know why people fall into sin when you become careless? When you become complacent? And that’s exactly what happened. «It happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah».
By the way, Rabbah is still there today, if you go to Jordan. These are real places. «But David stay at Jerusalem. When evening came, David arose from his bed, walk around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance». (2 Samuel 11:3) «David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, 'Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? '» Right here and there. Right there. David should have stopped. You know why? David knew who is Bathsheba. David knew Bathsheba was married. What else did he know? The Bible tells us, «the daughter Eliam». Who is Eliam? Well, let me show you a chart.
David knew Bathsheba was married, the wife of Uriah. Number two, Uriah is one of David’s mighty men. He’s a loyalist. He will die for David. He’s his inner circle. Next Bathsheba is the daughter of Eliam, Eliam was one of David’s inner circle also. Not only that, she’s the grand daughter of Ahithophel. In other words, this girl, Bathsheba comes from a royal class, well-known, respected. David, right then and there, should have said, «You know what, this is bad. The wife of my trusted men, the granddaughter of my closest advisor». But you see, sin blinds you. You can walk with God, but if you are not careful, if you don’t guard your heart, you will make the worst decision of your life. You know what David did? He made a choice. What was his choice? Let’s read.
2 Samuel 4 «David sent messengers and took her. She came to him, he lay with her». And then the Bible tells us, (v.5) «The woman conceived». You know how I wish, I have a time machine, and I’ll go back in time and I’ll tell David, «David, before you give in to your lust, before you give in to that temptation, can I please tell you what’s going to happen to you»? You know what happened to David because of his sin? Remember, forgiveness is different from consequences of sin. What are the consequences of David’s sin? Bathsheba got pregnant. What else? David had to begin to cover up. When you commit adultery, it is not one sin you need to cover up. When you cover up, you need to lie. And then when you lie, whatever you need to do now? You have to scheme, you have to deceive people. And then what happened to David? He had to make a plot. Eventually, he had to kill.
You have to murder your most trusted man. That, to me, is painful. Why will a man do that? But that’s not the end because if you read the Bible, the consequences of David’s sin, you need to know what is repentance. Repentance brings forgiveness, but it does not always remove the consequences of sin. You know who died because of what David did? His daughter was raped, his son, Amnon was killed. His other son, Absalom, led the rebellion. There was civil war, and Absalom was killed. And then his other son, Adonijah was killed. Because of one sin, collateral damage to the entire family. The family was never normal again. when David was committing sin and hiding it, was God speaking to David? Yes or no? Where do you find that? Psalm 32.
Look at Psalm 32:3-4. God was speaking to David. David said, «When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me». Notice, «when I kept silent about my sin», he did not confess, he did not repent. The Bible says, «my body is affected». Many people have physical problem without realizing the root problem is spiritual. That’s David. «…my groaning all day long. Day and night, Your hand…» God’s hand was against David. God was speaking to David. The Bible tells us, (v.4) «…my vitality was drained…»
Friends, I’ve never seen a real Christian who can joyfully, successfully live with sin. Let me repeat. Never in my life have I met a real Christian who can sin successfully without grief, without pain. One of the assurances that you are a child of God is when you commit sin, you feel awful. Yes or no? You know why you feel awful? Cause God’s spirit is in your life. The day you stop feeling awful, I’m scared of you. Perhaps, you don’t have the Holy Spirit. Whom the Lord loves, He what? Disciplines. You know, what did God do? Because God loved David so much, He sent Nathan. Look at that verse. The Bible tells us, (2 Samuel 12:1) «The LORD sent Nathan…» You know why God sent Nathan?
I want you to imagine now, you are Nathan, and you see the king sinning, or you see your best friend sinning. What will you do? You know, I praise God for Nathan. Nathan risked his life. He risked his entire future by confronting David. How many of you have Nathans in your life? My friend, I praise God. I have many Nathans in my life. I give them permission to correct me. Some of you don’t have Nathans. You are not part of any small group. You need to have people who love you so much that they are willing to risk their friendship. You see, many times when we see somebody in sin, you keep quiet. You know why you keep quiet? Because you love yourself more than you love your friend. You are afraid your friend will reject you because you don’t really love them. You love yourself. God tells us we are to help each other. Do you have Nathans in your life? I praise God.
In CCF, we have a system: accountability. And I tell you, every time Nathans come to my life, and they correct me, it’s always painful. I never like listening to correction. But when I’m corrected, I learn. Just keep quiet. You know what Nathan told David? Straight. Nathan told David, «You are the one in sin»! Because Nathan came up with an amazing story to touch the heart of David. Nathan prayed. How should I tell the king? Nathan came up with an amazing story. He talked about the story of a family, a poor family with only one lamb, and everybody liked the lamb, and they ate with the lamb, they fed the lamb. And then, the neighbor is very rich. The neighbor has a guest. When the guest came, the neighbor did not kill his own lamb. The neighbor grabbed the lamb of the poor man and killed the lamb.
When David heard this, remember David was a shepherd, he got angry. He said, that’s wrong. The rich man must die. And then Nathan said, boss, you are that man. You know when David heard that, I want you to hear what David said. David said, «I have sinned». Wow. Look at chapter 12, verse 13. David said to Nathan, everybody read: «I have sinned…» In the Hebrew language, it’s only two words. Very simple. «I have sinned». No excuses. And then Nathan said, «The LORD has taken away your sin…» When you confess and you repent, boom, forgiveness is immediate. However, consequences is different. (v.13) «The Lord has taken away your sin; you shall not die». (v.14) «However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born of you shall surely die». There are consequences.
Now, the Bible tells us, you know what? David prayed. I want to show you his prayer, Psalm 51:1-3, how he repented. Very simple. You want to learn how to repent? Very simple. The four A’s: 'A', Admit. You sin, admit. Number two, Assume responsibility. Don’t blame others, assume responsibility. Number three, Accept the consequences. And number four, Appropriate God’s forgiveness. What do I mean? Look at his confession. He admitted. Let’s read. «Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of your compassion blot out my transgressions». You see, David knew God. David knew that the basis of His forgiveness, is not about him. The basis of your forgiveness is the grace of God. «Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness».
The reason why I know I am forgiven, is not because I deserve it. It’s God’s grace, God’s lovingkindness. Look at his prayer. «According to the greatness of your compassion». My friend, when you sin, Satan tells you, God hates you, you are finished. No. God is waiting for you to confess, to admit. True repentance according to 2 Corinthians 7:10, «For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance…» Repentance is from the word 'metanoia'. Metanoia is composed of two words, meta: change, noia: thinking. You change your mind, you change your thinking. «…without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death».
Some people are repentant, not because of sin, but because of the consequences of sin. They are embarrassed. They were exposed, they got caught, they lost their job. That’s not enough. You repent because in your mind you realized you have sinned against God. So this is the meaning of true repentance. True repentance, it’s a change. Everybody read this. So repentance is this: once upon a time, I was headed in this direction, towards sin, and then the Lord spoke to me, the Lord convicted me, I changed. I now follow Jesus. Repentance is not perfection. You are not saying you’ll never sin again, but it’s a change of direction. A change of mind, knowing that sin is horrible. It affects the heart. Why? Because sin is ultimately against the love of God. That’s why it’s very serious when you commit sin, you are hurting the very lover of your soul.
You know, how often should you repent? Do you know repentance is a command and a gift? Let me repeat. Repentance is a command and a gift. A command. God tells us, (Acts 2:38) «Repent». Repent. That’s a command. «Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins». It’s a command. At the same time, it’s a gift of grace. Let’s look at that gift. (Acts 11:18) «When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, 'Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life'». You see, the grace of God will grant you power to repent. So repentance is a command, at the same time, it’s an act of God’s grace. Amen. So how often should you repent?
Well, let me suggest, how often should you repent. Look at this amazing quotation. «Our Lord and master Jesus Christ… willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance». Wow! Your entire life must be one of repentance. You know why? Because 1 John 1:9 tells us, «If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness». You see, the Christian life is a life of repentance. You may not have to repent about adultery anymore. What about lying? What about anger? What about bitterness? What about the critical spirit? What about gossip? What about the love of money? What about disrespect? You need to repent daily. Repentance is not once in your lifetime. It’s daily. As the Holy Spirit convicts you, you say, «Lord, this is wrong». «The Christian who has stopped repenting has stopped growing».
So, my friend, at the end of repentance is worship. You know why you will worship God? Because repentance changes your direction in life. You are touched by the love of God, and you end up worshiping. What is worship? «Worship is», everybody read, «is our proper response to who God is, what He has done, and what He continues to do through us and for us». A person who experiences forgiveness will have joy, will have peace; because of what God has done for us, He has forgiven us, you will want to worship Him. Look at Psalm 51, how David experienced worship. Remember, repentance without worship is not yet true repentance. Look at his experience because of his prayer of repentance and forgiveness.
Psalm 51:10 «Create in me a clean heart…» He understood. Sin begins with the heart. «…Renew a steadfast spirit within me». A new spirit. Do you need a new heart? Do you need a new spirit? You pray. (v.12) «Restore to me the joy of Your salvation…» You see, he experienced joy. «…Sustain me with the willing spirit». Friend, that’s the Christian life, Holy Spirit-centered. By the power of God’s Spirit, He will give you joy; He will not only give you joy, He will give you a willing spirit. And then he said, (v.13) «I will teach transgressors Your ways», you are forgiven to bless others, «and sinners will be converted to You». And then, you know how he ends in Psalm 51?
Look at what he said, (v.15) «LORD, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise». (v.16) «You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I’ll give it to You; You are not pleased with burnt offerings», everybody read this, (v.17) «The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart… You will not despise». You want to finish well? You want to finish well? Learn to repent. And when you repent, you come to God with your broken heart and you offer to God as an act of worship, «Lord, here I am, broken heart». It’s called humility. Humility will offer to God a broken heart and a broken spirit, broken by the awfulness of sin. And the Bible tells us, God delights in that kind of worship.
You see, God does not delight in superficial worship. People think worship is coming here, «Praise God!», you sing. My friend, I want to go deeper. Would you like to finish well in your life? You worship God from the heart, and the way to worship God from the heart is live a life that’s pleasing to Him. And you be honest with God. «Lord, I love to sin, but I know it’s wrong. Change my heart». Ask God to change your heart. Ask God to open your eyes to see the horror of the consequences of sin. You are destroying yourself, but above all, you are destroying His love. Do you know what God has to say about David at the end? Let’s read this, in closing. The end of David’s life. You know how God described David? And I pray that’s how God will describe you.
Acts 13:22 «I have found David», everybody read, «'…I found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.'» God described David, «a man after His heart» in spite of his foolishness. You know why? David repented. David began well, made a stupid mistake, but he recovered by repentance. And you too can finish Well. Look at what God described David. (v.36) «David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation…» Would you like God to describe your life like this? At the end of your life, in the tombstone, I pray God will write down, «Mr. So-and-so, Mrs. So-and-so, Ms. So-and-so is a man, a woman after My heart, he will do all My will and he served Me in this generation». Friends, can you finish well? Yes! How do you finish well? You walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Dependence upon God. When you make a mistake, repent. And then, worship. Let’s bow our heads and pray.
Lord Jesus, I pray for this group of men and women who have decided as of today, no matter what they’ve done in the past, no matter what horrible things they have done, assure them that You have forgiven them because You died on the cross for their sins. Assure them that their sins You will remember no more. Give them a humble heart to understand consequences are there to keep us humble, to make us holy, and above all, Lord, to remind us how we need You. So I pray, that you help everybody here to live a life of worship, not just to dwell in the past, but to look forward to serving you as an act of worship. Everything we do starting today, Lord Jesus, let it be an act of worship because we love You and because You love us. Bless everybody here, and those who are listening to us all over the Philippines, over the world, be the One to touch their soul. Give all of us a humble heart that we offer to You, a broken heart and a broken spirit. And Lord, I thank You. You are pleased with our worship, if we offer to You as is where is. In Jesus' name, we all pray, Amen and amen.