Walking In The Spirit

The story is told about the founder of the Salvation Army, his name is William Booth. Many years ago they were having an international conference of the Salvation Army workers and, because of sickness, Mr. Booth was unable to attend the congregational meeting that they had and actually sent a letter to be read to all the congregants as they gathered together in their meeting. When they opened the letter to read it, everyone was waiting with bated breath to see what William Booth would have to say to his army of soldiers. He had just one word on that letter, and that word read “others.” That statement really impacted all those that were there to remind them that they were there to serve others; that God had saved us by His grace not so we can focus on self or that we can walk in the flesh but that we could live and give our lives in service to others.

I want you to go back into Galatians 5:25-26. I want you to look at two key statements. Paul says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also,” here’s the first one, “walk in the Spirit.” The title of my message tonight is: Walking In The Spirit. If we live in the Spirit—we’ve been born of the Spirit, we’re filled with the Spirit—then we should all walk in the Spirit. He’s going to talk to us tonight in Galatians 6:1-10 about life in the Spirit, what it means to walk in the Spirit, and what it looks like to walk in the Spirit.

There’s a second key phrase in verse 26, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking,” and here’s the phrase, “one another, envying,” again, “one another.” Then again in Galatians 6:2, we have the statement, “one another.” The New Testament contains many different “one another’s,” and we have some of them here in this passage. We’re to walk in the Spirit, Galatians 5:25, and we’re to do it in a way that we bring blessing to others, living for one another. It’s living in the liberty that is filled with love toward others in Christian service.

What does that look like when we walk in the Spirit? There are simply five marks in these ten verses, if you’re taking notes, of what it looks like when we walk in the Spirit. Remember in Ephesians 5:18, we pulled that reference when we were in Galatians 5, that Paul commands us as believers to be filled with the Spirit, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess,” debauchery, “but be filled,” it’s a command, “with the Spirit.” Being filled with the Spirit is synonymous with being empowered by the Spirit and walking in the Spirit as we see it there in Galatians 5:25. Walking in the Spirit results in these marks that I’m going to share with you tonight.

This is not exhaustive. There could be other points drawn from the text, but these are the primary thrust of what Paul is saying because in this section of Galatians, I remind you, he’s actually talking about how the justified individual lives. The Christian’s life starts with justification and then develops into a life of sanctification. The moment you’re saved, you’re declared righteous. That’s justification. Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner to be righteous, and He does it based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It’s God declaring you righteous. That is a positional standing or truth. It doesn’t mean that you are necessarily living righteously, it leads to righteous living. What it leads to is actually the second phase of our salvation which is sanctification. We’ve been justified—declared righteous, our standing is complete in Christ—now we’re living a life that is to be holy or sanctified.

The word “saint,” “sanctify,” and “holy,” huios in the Greek, all come from the same root word which means to be set apart and made holy. Technically, you can even say that justification, sanctification, and glorification are all encompassed with this word “sanctify.” When you are saved, you are declared holy; when you’re sanctified, you are made holy; when you’re glorified, the third phase of your salvation, you are perfectly holy like Him. We will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is; and there’s actually coming a day when we’re in heaven with Christ that we will no longer have any sin. Amen? What a glorious thing that will be! Right now we wrestle with sin, we struggle with sin, we fall into sin, and we have 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We’re talking about this stage of the believer’s life, how we live in holiness or how God sanctifies us by His Spirit through His Word.

“…ye which are spiritual,” we’re going to see that phrase in Galatians 6:1, and so the marks of he that is spiritual. Write them down. First, those that are spiritual, or walking in the Spirit, seek to restore sinning brethren. If you are a Spirit-filled Christian, you’re walking in the Spirit, you are going to be concerned about brothers and sisters in Christ that fall into sin. You’re going to want to try to restore them into fellowship with God. Look at verse 1. Paul says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,” there it is, “restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Notice he’s talking to brethren, which is the generic term for sistren as well, so ladies don’t feel slighted. He’s talking to brethren and sistren—he’s talking to the family of God. These are family matters in the fellowship of the believers in the family of God when someone falls into sin.

What a contrast in the context of Galatians is the spiritual individual who’s walking in the liberty where Christ has freed him to not be self-absorbed or self-focused, not be self-righteous, not be living in legalism or license but walking in liberty and love toward your brother. What a contrast to the legalist which actually condemns the person who falls into sin, “Well, you can’t keep the law, you can’t keep the standards. You’re not as good as I,” and if someone falls into sin and I’m a legalist, it makes me feel pretty good because I’m not as bad as that person. I’m better than they are, and I’m doing pretty good in my legalistic standing before God. If I’m into liberty, then I find gratitude that you’re sinning just like I am; so we’re one in the same as opposed to being filled with the Spirit and wanting to live holy lives, going to them in love, and seeking to restore them back into fellowship with God.

It’s been often said that, as Christians, we’re the only army that shoots its wounded. Many times when the devil attacks somebody and they fall into sin, then we will kind of do them in by criticizing, gossiping, telling others about them, or rejecting them rather than in love going to them in humility and seeking to restore them.

Paul says, “Brethren,” he’s speaking to the family of God, “if a man,” or a person, “be,” here it is, “overtaken in a fault.” Each of these phrases you need to understand. The word “overtaken” has the idea of stumbled or fallen into. The “fault” is a sin, and it could also be thought of as a transgression. The question is: Did something happen unintentionally in a moment of weakness? Some great Greek scholars that I highly respect say that’s what it denotes—the idea of somebody in a moment of weakness, a moment of temptation, not purposely or intentionally, fell into a sin. It also could have a broader application of just simply…(not trying to soften it in any way, sin is sin) of someone that transgressed or stepped over the line, which is a willful deliberate sin. I think the best way to view this is that basically it’s a brother or sister that has fallen into sin. Whether it’s unintentional or deliberate, it doesn’t matter, they’ve broken God’s laws and fell into sin.

Now, Paul doesn’t tell us what the sin is, but God wants us to be holy as even He is holy. How are we to respond to those that have fallen into sin? He says, “…ye which are spiritual,” they have fallen, they’ve been overtaken in a sin or a fault (in the English translation), so the first qualification is, “…ye which are spiritual.” Some would back up and say that you have to be a Christian, a brethren, he is addressing believers; and secondly, you should be spiritual. Not all brethren or sistren are spiritual. Now, this is actually an imperative. It’s a commandment. It’s not optional. What Paul is telling us to do here is not, “Well, I’m not into restoration. I’m not into helping other people get back right with God. You know, they made their bed, let them lie in it. They should’ve known better,” and “Too bad they’re not as spiritual and holy as I am.” We’re all commanded here to seek to restore them. If you’re spiritual, not the legalist, they don’t; not the man or woman living in license, the carnal Christian, they can’t; but those who are walking in the liberty where Christ has made them free, so we need to be actively reaching out to others.

In Matthew 18, there’s that famous passage where Jesus said, “If a brother or sister sins against you,” in this case, “go to them and seek to restore them by winning them back to fellowship,” not to gossip or tell others about them. Sometimes we have the so-called spiritual phrase of, “Oh, we need to pray for so and so.” “Why?” “Well, I hate to tell you, but let me tell you. This is what they’ve done.” “Oh, that’s terrible. Let me go tell some other people.” It’s kind of like sanctified Christian gossip—which isn’t sanctified Christian gossip, it’s quite carnal and in the flesh. If you know somebody that has sinned or has sinned against you, then the job for you is not to talk to others about them but to talk to the Lord and go to them directly. I think that a lot of Christians just lack the courage and boldness to do this, and it’s so sad. We need to be filled with the Spirit, we need to speak the truth in love and not be afraid—if we care about others in the body of Christ—to confront and go to them when they have fallen into sin. We restore them.

The word “restore,” I’ve always loved this, is actually a medical word. It was used medically for the setting of a broken bone. Now, I’ve never broken a bone, praise God! If I ever do, I guess I can’t use this as an illustration anymore in my sermons. I’ve often thought, If I ever break a bone (I’ve heard about how painful), I want them to put me out for about a week. Just put me under, put me to sleep. I don’t want you to set it when I’m awake. I’ve heard the stories of the doctor, “Well, we can pull it,” and they straighten it, you know, set the bone. I’m thinking, AHHHHHHHH! I really don’t like pain, so if I ever break a bone, just put me out. I don’t want to wake up for six months until it’s all good again, you know, because I’ve heard just horror stories about how painful this is. In that concept of setting a broken bone, if I went to a doctor I’d want him to be gentle. I’d want him to fix it, but I’d want him to fix it painlessly, right?

What we do so often is we go to a brother or sister that’s overtaken in a fault, “Oh, you sinned, huh? You wicked, vile, wretched sinner! Well, let me just fix it for you!” (Errrrr, ahhhhhh!) We don’t go with tenderness and compassion.

The word was also used, and this is a neat illustration as well, for a torn fishing net that needed to be mended back together. The concept is that our lives brought back into fellowship with Christ can then be used to become fishers of men and used for the glory of God. You’re supposed to restore them in coming back into fellowship.

It says that we do it in a spirit of meekness. We don’t go with pride or haughtiness or that we’re better than they. Paul says that we should do it, “…considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” I’ve always felt that this is one of the greatest ways to be motivated to have compassion on those that have fallen, to realize that but for the grace of God go I, and that I’m a sinner, saved by God’s grace. If we focus on God’s grace and realize that God has forgiven us, then who are we not to go and be compassionate and kind and forgiving toward others.

Now, we’re not to compromise with sin, but we’re also to go with compassion, gentleness, and meekness. He says, “…restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.” Remember last Wednesday when we studied the fruit of the Spirit, that the fruit of the Spirit is love, and love manifests itself in meekness. The Holy Spirit gives us agape love, and one of the things that agape love brings is meekness. Meekness is power under control. It’s also tied in with humility. It’s not thinking highly of yourself, it’s not thinking lowly of yourself, it’s just simply not thinking about yourself but yielding yourself to the Spirit and to His control. If you’re going to be restoring others who have fallen, you have to do it in the spirit of meekness, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is motivated by God’s love. This is what spiritual individuals do, and remember all the time, “lest thou also be tempted.”

One of the greatest illustrations of this in the life of our Lord Jesus is John 8. Remember when the Pharisees, the legalists, and the scribes, the religious leaders of the Jews, brought a woman to Jesus who, it’s said in the Bible, “was caught in the very act of adultery.” They threw this woman there at the feet of Jesus and said, “This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses says that she should be put to death. She should be stoned.” They did this on purpose and intentionally. It’s possible that they actually set the poor woman up because the man, if she were caught in the very act, should have also been brought with her. They let him escape. They brought her as a pawn, but all they wanted was to trap Jesus and to get Him to say something contrary to the law of Moses. If Jesus, who was preaching love, grace, and mercy said, “Oh, that’s too bad. Just let her go. Don’t worry about it. It’s okay.” They would’ve said, “Well, He’s speaking against the law of Moses,” and the Jews would have turned against Him. If He would’ve said, “Yes, stone her,” then the common people would have turned against Him because He was preaching God’s love, God’s grace, and God’s forgiveness. They thought, We’ve got Him! Of course, we know that that’s an impossibility to get the Son of God in a pickle, right?

Jesus stooped down, and this is the only time anywhere in the Bible or in the life of Christ where it indicates He wrote something. It’s the only time it ever says in the Bible that Jesus wrote something. He wrote with His finger in the sand. They would do that quite commonly because they didn’t have pen and pencil. They didn’t have phones they could put in their notes, type it out type thing. They couldn’t write it down. They couldn’t dictate to their phone, so they would write in the sand, and of course that could be wiped out quite easily. He writes down with His finger in the sand, and He didn’t say a word. They kept pressing Him, “Moses commands that she should be stoned. What do You say?” Then, Jesus stood up after writing in the sand. What He wrote in the sand we do not know. It could be that He was writing the Ten Commandments or the names of some in the crowd and the sins that they’d committed. Maybe He wrote, “Rabbi Hillel, adultery,” and all of the sudden Rabbi Hillel saw that in the sand and said, “I have a dental appointment right now. I need to go,” and he slithered out from the crowd.

As they kept pressing Him, Jesus stood up, the woman being there, and said, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone,” isn’t that great? “Okay, whoever is sinless in the crowd, whoever has never sinned before, you can throw the first rock.” Of course, no one in the crowd could throw the stone. No one was qualified, only One, and that was Jesus. Everyone slithered away, and Jesus is standing there alone with the woman. Jesus said, “Woman, where are thine accusers? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No man, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you,” but He didn’t stop there. He said, “Go, and sin no more.” He didn’t say, “Go, and be a little more discreet next time.” He didn’t say, “Go, but don’t get busted next time, okay?” He said, “Go and sin no more.”

When we repent of our sins, and we’re forgiven our sin, God wants us to go into holiness—not go and sin again, go and sin no more. Notice how gracious, merciful, kind, and tender He was. He knew that He would go to the cross and bear the sins of this woman and carry them away. He says, “I don’t condemn you. Go and sin no more.” How marvelous that is!

The second characteristic, write it down, of those who are walking in the Spirit, those who are spiritual, is in verses 2-5, they bear other’s burdens. It’s all about others and how they live for others. Notice verses 2-5. He says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ,” that law of love and living for others. Paul, in Philippians 2, talked about, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Verse 3, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work,” or literally his own responsibility, his own calling and responsibility, “and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” Fix your eyes on Jesus and His calling and plan for you. Don’t be looking at others. Verse 5, “For every man shall bear his own burden.”

Paul starts, verse 2, by telling us that we should, “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” In Genesis 4, it was Cain who had slain his brother. The Lord came to him, and he said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer is yes. As a believer, we are to be our brother’s keeper. He says that if you do this, bear one another’s burdens, “and so fulfil the law of Christ.” The law of Christ being that we should love God with all our heart, soul, strength, mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves. We should follow the example of Christ who gave Himself for others.

A couple of things that are assumed in this statement. First, we all have burdens. All of us have burdens. Someone said, “Be kind to everyone you meet because we’re all fighting battles.” Remind yourself, “Everyone of us has our struggles. We all have our burdens.” The second thing that is assumed in this passage is that we cannot carry them alone. We all carry burdens, and we cannot carry them alone. Everything we read in this passage is about the context of the brethren, the family of God. There are people that are burdened down and filled with care. The legalist would not lift a finger to lighten their load or their burden but actually puts a yoke of bondage or burden upon them. Jesus said, “Come to Me, for My yoke is easy, My burden is light.” We do have the Lord to cast our cares upon, but God wants to use you, God wants to use me, God wants to use us to be burden bearers. God may not take the burden away from a person, but you can certainly come beside them and become like the parakletos, the Holy Spirit, and seek to encourage, strengthen, and comfort them. You do that by loving them patiently and praying for them.

I have three thoughts with what it means to be a burden bearer. When you go to someone that is needing to be lifted up, be real. Secondly, be quiet and listen. Thirdly, be available. Obviously, again, this list is not exhaustive, but I think they are some great suggestions. Sometimes people say, when someone is bereaved or lost a love one and you want to reach out to them, “I don’t know what to say,” so you don’t say anything instead of just saying what comes natural, what you feel in your heart. Don’t try to say something trite or some kind of packaged little Scripture that you can give to them, just speak the truth in love. Just say, “Hey, I’m praying for you. I care about you. Sorry for your loss.” Just try to express concern and care for them.

Secondly, be quiet and listen. Sometimes people just need someone to be with them and to listen to them. We always get the idea that we need to talk, that we gotta have something to say. Again, in all my years of ministry, being around those that are bereaved and are grieving the loss of a loved one and burdened with that, I’ve learned that it’s so important just to be there, just to be with them, just to be by them, just to let them know you’re thinking of them. You don’t have to have some fancy word for them. It doesn’t take a theologian. It doesn’t take theological knowledge. It just takes a loving heart.

Be with them, listen to them, and be available to help out in any way you can. Sometimes it’s better not to ask them, “If they need anything,” or “Can I do anything,” but just decide what you know they could use and need and then take the action to try to help them out. We’re going to see in verse 10, when God gives us opportunities, that we should do good, especially to those who are of the family of God, the household of God, building up by lifting others who are burdened down.

Those who think too highly of themselves, verse 3, they’re not going to be burden bearers. They’re going to be burden makers. They’re going to be ones making burdens heavy for others. He “think himself to be something,” and I love it, verse 3, “when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself,” self-righteous, legalist. In this case, they were Judaizers and were influencing the Gentile Christians in Galatia. They were becoming self-absorbed with their legalistic laws, rules, circumcision, and their Judaistic standards. They weren’t really caring and loving toward others as they were put under a burden.

You should be focused, verse 4, on your own ministry, calling, and task, “and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone,” looking at your own heart, your own motives, what God has called you to do, and doing it as unto the Lord for His glory. Remember when the Lord turned to Peter in John 21 and said, “Peter, you’re going to get old and go where you don’t want to go. People are going to lead you where you don’t want to be led.” He was predicting Peter’s death. Peter turns to John, the apostle, and says, “Well, what about him?” Jesus kind of said, “Well, we’re not really talking about him right now, we’re talking about you.” Isn’t it funny when the Lord calls us to do something we’re always, “Well…well, what about that person? What about that person?” The Lord says to Peter, “Don’t worry about John. What is that to you? If I will that he lives until I come again, that’s not your issue. Your issue is to just hear what I’ve called you to be and do, and you focus on that.”

This leads to verse 5, which confuses some people because Paul says, “For,” rationale, reason, “every man shall bear his own burden.” It’s really an explanation of verse 4. The work that God has called you to do, you are responsible for; so be a blessing to others and don’t be self-absorbed other than saying, “Lord, help me to be a blessing. Help me to do what You’ve called me to do.”

When it says in verse 5, “For every man shall bear his own burden,” some feel that it’s a contradiction to verse 2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” but they are two completely different and distinct Greek words. Verse 2 is talking about a heavy weight, burden, a problem that is weighing someone down. It may be a weakness in their life that we need to help lift up and encourage. In verse 5, the burden is used for an individual pack and connotes the idea of individual responsibility—that God has called you particularly and specifically to do something.

One of the secrets of a fruitful Christian life is knowing what God has called you to do, getting your eyes off others, and doing, obediently, what God has called you to do, not getting hung up worrying about others, what they think or what’s happening with them. It’s really a form of being self-absorbed or jealous; that’s why, back in Galatians 5:26, Paul says, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory,” which is to compete. It’s the idea of being conceited, empty conceit, “…provoking one another,” which is competing with one another, “envying one another.” He then goes right into Galatians 6 about how we should build up and seek to restore one another.

The number one quality of walking in the Spirit is that we are restoring sinning brethren and that we’re bearing one another’s burdens. Thirdly, write it down, verse 6, they are giving support to the teaching and teachers of God’s Word. This is a unique statement here in verse 6, “Let him that is taught in the word,” that “word” is a reference to the Scriptures, “communicate unto him that teacheth,” that word “communicate” has the idea of support or to give them remuneration, to give them financial support. If you’re being taught in the Word, you are to actually share in participation in the teaching of that Word by giving “…unto him that teacheth,” you, “in all good things.” If you are being taught the Bible, you are to support the Bible teacher, “…him that teacheth in all good things.”

I would encourage you, I don’t have them all in my notes tonight, but I looked up several versions—the NASB, the New English version, or other different translations—and it will shed quite a bit of light on this verse here, verse 6. What he’s basically saying here is that if you’re spiritual, it will affect what you do with your money. Somebody said, “If you want to know if someone is spiritual or not, look at their checkbook or their pocketbook.” What do they do with their time, their talent, and their treasure? What do they do with their finances or their giving? If you’re a Spirit-filled believer, if you’re walking in the Spirit, then you’re going to be using your finances to get out God’s Word and the preaching of God’s Word. You’re going to support him that is teaching you all good things.

In Ephesians 4:11, it actually says that God has given to the church, “…apostles, prophets,” and then makes this statement, “…pastors and teachers.” In the Greek it’s actually a hyphenated statement referring to one individual. Pastor-teacher is one person. It’s not pastors, and then over here teachers, so that you can have a pastor who is not a teacher. Now, you can have a teacher, because it’s a gift of the Spirit, that’s not a pastor; but you cannot have a pastor that’s not a teacher. Did I make that clear? In Ephesians 4:11, pastor-teachers, why? “For the perfecting,” maturing, “of the saints, for the work of the ministry.”

The word “pastor” is actually a Latin word which means shepherd. It also conveys the idea of feeding. The very word “shepherd” inside of that word is the concept of feeding, so it conveys the idea that one of the primary jobs and responsibility of a shepherd is to feed the sheep. Paul told the elders at Ephesus, “Feed the sheep which are among you.” Peter said, “Feed the sheep, taking the oversight thereof.” How do the pastors feed the sheep? They feed God’s sheep with God’s Word—by teaching God’s Word. A pastor must be a teacher. If you have a pastor-teacher, and you’re being fed the Word, you’re being taught the Word; then you, if you’re spiritual, then you’re going to partner with that, you’re going to join with that by supporting that to keep that Word of God going forth.

I didn’t bring it with me, we’ll kind of read it one time, but this week Aaron sent me an amazing e-mail from India. Don’t ask me where in India. He told me where, but I couldn’t even pronounce the word. He’s a pastor, a church planter, and an evangelist. He was preparing a sermon from a passage in Luke (I think Luke 7 or something, he said), and somehow, some way, he found my sermon on YouTube on the passage. He listened to it and was thoroughly blessed. He gained kind of an idea of how to preach the passage and used the sermon to preach the Word. He was telling me, “What a beautiful sermon, and thank you for helping me with my sermon.” He said, “We’re planting churches almost weekly.” He said, “We’ve planted forty churches.” He said, “We just planted another church, and many are coming to Christ.” He went on about how that the teaching at Revival was being used in India to equip them to plant churches in India. What a blessing that is! He ended up signing the letter, “Your Indian brother.” I love that! Perhaps we’ll see him someday in heaven, and he’ll shake your hands for supporting the work of teaching God’s Word, which also goes to other parts of the world.

Write down a couple cross-references, and then we’ll move to the next point. Jesus in Luke 10 said, “…for the labourer is worthy of his hire.” He said, “When you go into a town to minister the Word, let them feed you, take care of you, let them put you in their house, and said, “…the labourer is worthy of his hire.” Write down 1 Corinthians 9:14. It actually says there, “…they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” That means that they should be supported to do the work of preaching the gospel. In 1 Timothy 5:17, in this pastoral epistle, Paul says to Timothy, “Let the elders,” which is a synonym for pastors, “that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” That statement…and you can research all this, I’m not hitting this point because I need a salary or a raise or anything like that. The Lord takes care of me. He’s actually saying there that if you have an elder that is laboring, and it means to labor to the point of wearisome toil—he’s exhausting himself in the study of God’s Word and he’s teaching the Word—that he should be “…worthy of double honour,” which is actually double pay.

In Philippians 4, Paul was writing to the church that supported him. He said, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.” They were the only church that supported Paul, not because he couldn’t get support or it was wrong, but because he voluntarily, willingly, chose to forego being supported and worked with his hands making tents so that he wouldn’t be a reproach or stumbling to anybody. He certainly argued that it’s okay to support those who preach the Word, and he allowed the Philippians to do that. When Paul said to the Philippians, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” he was actually talking to a church that had sent him money to support him, and he was actually saying that God would take care of you.

We’re going to see in just a moment, whatever you sow, you’re going to reap. If you sow to the Spirit, you’ll reap life everlasting. If you sow your giving to get out God’s Word…find ministries that are getting out God’s Word. Find missionaries that are getting out God’s Word and support that because that’s where the fruit is going to come in getting out God’s Word. What are you sowing to?

My fourth point about those that are spiritual, verses 7-9, is those that are walking in the Spirit, they sow to the Spirit and not to the flesh. He says, verse 7, “Be not deceived,” which the legalist and the Judaizers were, “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh,” his sinful Adamic nature, “shall of the flesh, reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary,” exhausted, which could be also conveying the idea of giving in to evil. Don’t give up and sin. Don’t “…be weary in well doing: for in due season,” God’s perfect timing, be patient, “we shall reap, if we faint not,” or do not faint. Paul uses this principle from sowing seed. It’s an agricultural image of whatever you sow, that shall you also reap. If you plant carrot seeds, what do you get? Duh, carrots. You don’t say, “Man, where’s my apple tree? Where’s my corn?” “What kind of seed did you plant?” “Well, I planted carrot seeds, but what does it matter?” It matters. Whatever you plant is what you get.

There’s a second principle, too: How much you plant is how much you reap. If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. If you want a bountiful crop, you sow bountifully. There’s another principle, too: In whatever it is you sow, there is seed in what the fruit produces for more seeds so that the seeds will multiply and continue and go on. It’s a simple biblical concept of if you sow to the flesh, sometimes we use the expression, “feed the flesh”—if you watch too much of the wrong television, if you watch too many wrong movies, if you read wrong books or magazines, if you look at wrong images, listen to wrong music, you hang out with the wrong people, you think the wrong thoughts—you’re sowing to the flesh. If you turn those things off and you sow to the Spirit by reading God’s Word, spending time in prayer, listening to edifying Christian music that builds you up, and you sing and worship throughout the day; then you’re sowing to the Spirit. If you come to church on Wednesday night, you’re sowing to the Spirit. You’re investing in your spiritual life. You’re subjecting yourself to hearing God’s Word and the worship with God’s people. Whatever you sow to is what you’ll reap.

You might wonder, Well, why am I feeling so tempted, and why am I so weak? Why am I so vulnerable to temptation or discouragement or depression or anger or unforgiveness? Because maybe you’ve been sowing to the flesh, and that’s what you’re reaping. You’re meditating on those things rather than God’s holy Word. It’s a simple principle of whatever you sow, you’re going to reap. We should sow prayer, Bible study, fellowship, worship and praise, and seek to seek the things which are above. Paul said in Colossians, “Set your affection,” your mind, “on things above, not on the things on the earth.” “I just don’t know why I’m having nightmares every night.” “Well, what do you do?” “I watch horror movies before I go to bed.” You dodo bird. I don’t need to watch horror movies to have nightmares, I need to read the Psalms. I need to read the Word of God to get my mind on things above because your mind wants to go wherever it wants to go, dominated by the flesh. But we’re walking in the Spirit, and what a benefit it brings into our marriage.

If you weren’t at our marriage conference a couple of Saturday’s ago, listen to the audio teachings or watch the videos on our website under “Conferences.” I did a session on what it means to be filled with the Spirit in your marriage, a Spirit-filled marriage. It’s so very important to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, “…for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Verse 9, “And let us not be weary in well doing,” the great V. Raymond Edman used to say, “It’s always too soon to quit.” Satan is always going to want us to throw in the towel and give up. It takes time for God’s fruit to grow, so don’t be weary, “for in due season,” God’s time, “we shall reap, if we faint not.” We look to God in prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus said, “Man ought always to pray and not to faint.” I love that. What do we do? We faint because we don’t pray. If we pray, we will not faint.

Here’s the last, and fifth, mark of he that is spiritual or walking in the Spirit. They use every opportunity to do good, verse 10. This, in a sense, is kind of a summary of everything. They’re just using every time God opens a door, they do good for His glory. “As we have therefore opportunity,” the word “opportunity” means season, as God has given you a door that’s open in the season in your life. Paul used that same expression in Philippians 4:10 when he says, “…ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity,” then God gave the Philippians an opportunity, and they gave by sending an offering to Paul who was in prison in Rome by the hands of Epaphroditus.

Notice Paul says, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,” so when God opens the doors for us to do a good deed or do a good work toward even non-Christians, unbelievers, unsaved individuals, we should do that. Then, it says, “…especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” It means that we should do good to all people. We don’t discriminate and say, “Well, we only help Christians,” but there should be a priority placed upon believers. The Bible says, “If a man doesn’t take care of his own family, he’s denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” We should also start with the family of God. If we can help believers, if we can reach out to Christians who are in need, then we should do that. We should take care of them.

Write down James 1:27 where James says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God…is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Again, that holy living results in caring for widows and those who are orphans and those who need help, and especially those, as he says, “who are of the household of faith,” which is a concept that the body, as we saw in verse 1, is a family. We’re brethren and sisters in the household of faith, so you give your time, your talent, and your treasure to do good.

In Galatians 5, turn back there with me and we’ll wrap this up. Look at verses 13-16. It’s amazing how this fits with what we just read. He says, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty,” not license, not legalism, liberty, “only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Paul just keeps kind of hammering home that concept of we’ve been called to liberty, liberty that walks in love, which began in the Spirit and must continue in the Spirit.

In Ephesians 2:8-9, you know the verse well, Paul the Apostle said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast,” then verse 10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” That word “workmanship” is a beautiful Greek word. It’s the Greek word poiema. You are God’s poiema. We get our word poem from it. It means something made. It was used for anything that was made, like a thing of art, but the word became used for poem, poiema. You’re God’s work of art or God’s expression.

God saved you by His grace, He sanctifies you by His Spirit, and He wants to use you for good works for His glory. Amen? God saved you for a purpose—for good works. Jesus, on the sermon on the mount, said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” That’s what it means to live the Spirit-filled life. Let’s pray.