WEBVTT 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:14.580 Now that we have your attention, would you please 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:20.359 turn in your Bible to Galatians 6, verses 7 and 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:34.759 8. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.920 whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:43.759 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:48.119 the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:51.240 to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:56.020 life. It is obvious that the fruit of the Spirit 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:01.740 is not produced in the life of a believer as 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:05.579 thoroughly or completely as he might wish it 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:11.079 were. It is true that the fruit is singular and 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:14.040 that all nine qualities that we have studied 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:18.239 in previous Sundays are aspects of that one fruit. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.500 And it's true also that either the fruit is there 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.730 in all of its aspects or it's not there at all, 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:32.129 revealing the domination of the flesh. However, 00:01:32.269 --> 00:01:36.310 the degree to which the fruit, with its nine 00:01:36.310 --> 00:01:41.090 qualities, is evidenced, varies. It depends upon 00:01:41.090 --> 00:01:45.170 one's personality or temperament, upon one's 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:49.349 maturity level, and upon the demands in a given 00:01:49.349 --> 00:01:53.870 situation. It is important to understand that 00:01:53.870 --> 00:01:57.430 the fruit of the Holy Spirit can be, at least 00:01:57.430 --> 00:02:02.969 should be, increasingly evident or apparent the 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:07.530 longer that one is a believer. In other words, 00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:11.789 the new convert and the mature believer would 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:16.310 be expected to show differing degrees of fruitfulness. 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:22.129 On our farm, we planted apple trees when I was 00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:26.389 a very young child. And I remember waiting until 00:02:26.389 --> 00:02:30.669 that apple tree bore some fruit and how happy 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:32.610 we were that first year when there were some 00:02:32.610 --> 00:02:36.030 apples on the tree. But the older the tree became, 00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:40.969 the more fruit that there was. And so it seems 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:46.189 to me there is a similar phenomenon regarding 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:48.840 the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life... of 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:53.099 the believer. The more mature one becomes, the 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:57.800 more fruitfulness should be apparent. It is important 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:01.139 also to understand that you and I are responsible 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:05.180 from a human perspective for that increase in 00:03:05.180 --> 00:03:08.819 fruitfulness. In agriculture, one can increase 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:15.099 a harvest by sowing more seed. Likewise, in the 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:19.169 realm of the Spirit, The more we sow to the Spirit, 00:03:19.370 --> 00:03:24.370 the more produce of the life of Jesus the Holy 00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:28.750 Spirit can bring to pass in us. The more we sow, 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:34.569 therefore, the more we reap. We see this peculiar 00:03:34.569 --> 00:03:39.530 phrase in verse 8, the one who sows to the Spirit. 00:03:40.150 --> 00:03:45.150 What does it mean to sow to the Spirit? Well, 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:48.229 in the first place, what does one sow? Well, 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:52.770 obviously the answer is that one sows seed. What 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:57.710 happens then to seed when it is sown? It germinates 00:03:57.710 --> 00:04:03.250 and then produces a harvest of fruit. And so 00:04:03.250 --> 00:04:05.909 when the New Testament speaks about our sowing 00:04:05.909 --> 00:04:09.650 to the Spirit, it seems to me that God is saying 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:13.979 to us that we are to provide abundant seed. which 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:16.899 the Holy Spirit can use to create a spiritual 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:22.259 harvest of His fruit in our lives. We need to 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:26.000 sow to the Spirit in order to reap a harvest 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:32.199 of His fruit. We sow to the Spirit by taking 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:39.420 actions like confronting sin's expressions in 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:43.310 our lives. It was the prophet Amos of old who 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:47.029 asked the question, can two walk together except 00:04:47.029 --> 00:04:50.889 they be agreed? And of course the answer is no. 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:55.209 Fellowship is impossible when two are in disagreement. 00:04:57.269 --> 00:04:59.949 Likewise, when I am in disagreement with the 00:04:59.949 --> 00:05:04.790 Holy, underscore that, the Holy Spirit who dwells 00:05:04.790 --> 00:05:08.589 in me, when I am in disagreement with the righteous, 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:13.800 purposes of God in my life, then I am not walking 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.459 by the Holy Spirit. Two cannot walk together 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:22.100 except they be agreed. We have talked before 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:26.600 that God has provided for us to live above the 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:31.439 dominance of sin and the flesh. May I review 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.519 with you briefly? that we are identified with 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.240 Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection, 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:42.079 Romans chapter 6. We are indwelt by the Holy 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.980 Spirit of God, Romans chapter 8. And the Word 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:50.600 of God instructs us, in light of that, to first 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:54.319 of all consider ourselves dead to sin with its 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.899 temptations, to make no provision for the flesh. 00:05:58.569 --> 00:06:01.889 and to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against 00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:06.089 our souls. The Bible also says that we are to 00:06:06.089 --> 00:06:10.750 present ourselves alive to God and the members 00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:14.410 of our bodies as instruments of righteousness 00:06:14.410 --> 00:06:18.069 for His use. We are further commanded in the 00:06:18.069 --> 00:06:22.089 Bible to walk in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. 00:06:22.529 --> 00:06:26.120 So my point is, in this brief review, that we 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:30.639 do not have to fulfill sin's desires in us. We 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.459 do not have to follow after its enticements. 00:06:34.420 --> 00:06:39.120 We have been set free from all of that. And now 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.379 the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:46.740 is operating in us so that we can live above 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:52.240 the law of sin and death. But the fact remains 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.660 that in spite of all of that, we do sin. Just 00:06:56.660 --> 00:07:00.620 as John tells us in 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2, 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:04.040 he says, Beloved, I write these things to you 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:10.579 that you stop sinning. But if any man does sin, 00:07:10.779 --> 00:07:14.139 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:18.110 the righteous one. John is saying, I'm writing 00:07:18.110 --> 00:07:20.730 these things to you so that you will stop sinning. 00:07:22.649 --> 00:07:25.470 But then he recognized, but if any man does sin, 00:07:25.610 --> 00:07:28.930 and we do sin, and we have an advocate with the 00:07:28.930 --> 00:07:31.730 Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:35.970 intercedes in our behalf before the Father. When 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:41.290 we recognize that sin has had its way, when we 00:07:41.290 --> 00:07:44.149 see that sin has expressed itself, we deal quickly 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:47.110 with that. We must not allow that to become a 00:07:47.110 --> 00:07:50.730 pattern. We must not allow that to become a beachhead 00:07:50.730 --> 00:07:54.149 for sin in our lives. The moment that we recognize 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:56.629 sin, we need to deal with it. We need to confront 00:07:56.629 --> 00:08:00.990 it at that instant. We dare not accumulate a 00:08:00.990 --> 00:08:05.810 load of sins, so to speak, which are left unconfronted. 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:09.930 Occasionally I see on television an advertisement 00:08:09.930 --> 00:08:12.009 for a tractor pull. Have you ever been to a tractor 00:08:12.009 --> 00:08:21.329 pull? You see those beastly -looking implements, 00:08:21.550 --> 00:08:26.029 belching fire, throwing mud and dirt, pulling 00:08:26.029 --> 00:08:30.970 these heavy sleds. Part of the contest is that 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:34.289 the further the sled moves, the more resistance 00:08:34.289 --> 00:08:37.970 it develops. So it tests the strength of the 00:08:37.970 --> 00:08:41.850 tractor. Well, you and I dare not allow the sled, 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:44.350 so to speak, to gain resistance in our lives. 00:08:44.370 --> 00:08:47.470 The moment that we sense that sin is there, we 00:08:47.470 --> 00:08:51.649 need to confront that sin and not allow sins 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:54.669 to accumulate and develop a resistance in our 00:08:54.669 --> 00:08:57.009 walk with God. You say, how do you confront sin? 00:08:58.070 --> 00:08:59.909 Well, just briefly, I would say this. Number 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:03.789 one, by confessing it as sin. 1 John 1 .9, if 00:09:03.789 --> 00:09:07.440 we confess our sins... That is the expression 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:09.879 of the sin within us. If we confess our sins, 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:13.519 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.740 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:19.500 confess sins means to agree with God that what 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:23.059 we've done is wrong. It means to own up to our 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:27.580 actions or our words or our attitudes. But then 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:31.019 we must go beyond that to consciously submit 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:35.059 to Jesus Christ's lordship again. especially 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:40.679 in that specific area of disobedience, to put 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.139 that area under the lordship of Jesus Christ 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:45.940 anew, although sin has recently had its way. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.440 And that way we at least begin to confront sin's 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:56.600 expressions. May I ask you a question? Are the 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:00.039 expressions of sin in your life thoroughly dealt 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:04.899 with on this Lord's Day morning? Or is there 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:07.480 an accumulation of them which is dragging you 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.279 down, preventing you from experiencing the abundant 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.960 life which might be represented by the fruit 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.899 of the Spirit? It is altogether too easy for 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:21.820 all of us, including myself, to allow our lives 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:25.600 to become something like an open dump where the 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.820 garbage of sin's expressions have been left undealt 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:33.259 with. And there develop in our lives a... Repulsive 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:37.460 smell and foul odors, unsightly trash begins 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:41.620 to blow around until we confront sin's expressions. 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:47.399 We sow to the Spirit by confronting the expressions 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:51.679 of sin in our lives. Secondly, we sow to the 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:56.720 Spirit by absorbing the Word of God. A life without 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.320 regular, meaningful Bible study results in a 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:04.799 lifestyle Without the touch of God, without the 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:10.899 sweet sense of His presence, someone said, the 00:11:10.899 --> 00:11:14.179 way we treat our Bibles is the way we treat our 00:11:14.179 --> 00:11:18.600 Savior. There are those who say that that is 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.879 bibliolatry. I dare to disagree with that. I 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.100 think the statement is simply a recognition of 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:29.399 the uniqueness of the Bible, this book. It is 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:32.919 the written revelation of God who has also revealed 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:37.399 Himself in His Son, the Living Word. But this 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.240 book is the written revelation of God Himself. 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:45.039 And so my attitude toward the Bible reveals my 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:49.480 attitude toward the Lord Jesus. The Bible inherently 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:55.440 reveals the holiness and purity of God. It authoritatively 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.470 establishes His Lordship. That's why my attitude 00:11:59.470 --> 00:12:04.850 toward the Bible is so important. I sow to the 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:09.230 Spirit by absorbing the Word. Absorption is a 00:12:09.230 --> 00:12:13.789 process that takes time. It requires a thorough 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:17.990 soaking until one thing has assimilated another. 00:12:19.169 --> 00:12:23.610 And so it is with absorbing the Word. This moves 00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:27.529 us beyond Bible reading. Now that is very important, 00:12:27.610 --> 00:12:29.789 and I don't want to in any way diminish that 00:12:29.789 --> 00:12:34.929 importance. We need to read the Bible. But it 00:12:34.929 --> 00:12:37.909 moves us beyond simply Bible reading to Bible 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:42.110 thinking so that what the Bible says remains 00:12:42.110 --> 00:12:45.409 in our minds. It begins to dominate our minds. 00:12:46.389 --> 00:12:50.629 It begins to capture our thoughts so that we 00:12:50.629 --> 00:12:54.190 consider and ponder and muse the meaning and 00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:57.220 application. of the Word of God to our lives. 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:02.139 We sow to the Spirit by absorbing the Word of 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:05.600 God. How much have you been soaking in it recently? 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.759 How much has been assimilated into your mind 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:16.220 so that you begin to think Bible thoughts? We 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.460 need to be, as Spurgeon said, the kind of people 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:26.740 who, if they bleed, bleed bibline. We bleed Bible, 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:31.379 people who are soaked in the Word. I want to 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:34.559 tell you something. Unless we sow to the Spirit 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.639 of God in that way, we will sow to the flesh. 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:41.519 You can count on it. We sow to the Spirit thoroughly 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.440 by making time to pray. Time will rarely be just 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:49.899 available for this. We have to work to carve 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:54.740 it out of our daily routines. without a time 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:58.500 when we quietly wait upon God and worship Him, 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:03.600 without a time when we come before Him reflecting 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:08.799 our day's demands and our cares, a time of interceding 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:12.399 for others, then we cannot maintain a walk by 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.779 the Spirit, and therefore we will fulfill the 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:22.580 lusts of the flesh. We sow to the Spirit by making 00:14:22.580 --> 00:14:26.919 time to pray. Prayerlessness results in a loss 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:31.340 of perspective on life. We begin to see it from 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:33.639 a merely human perspective instead of God's. 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:37.000 It results in a lack of preparedness for emergencies. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.419 Some unexpected thing comes into our lives and 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.679 we're caught without power if we're prayerless. 00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:48.299 Prayerlessness results in defeat in spiritual 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:52.220 battles. Because you see, prayer builds power 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:57.860 reserves. We've said it before, it bears repetition. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:03.879 No prayer, no power. Little prayer, little power. 00:15:05.019 --> 00:15:10.460 Much prayer, much power. That does not necessarily 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:15.759 mean that we must pray for power. Rather, prayer 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:19.149 is the... Power, rather, is the byproduct of 00:15:19.149 --> 00:15:23.909 prayer. As we pray, there is spiritual power 00:15:23.909 --> 00:15:28.809 that is generated in our lives. Therefore, we 00:15:28.809 --> 00:15:31.889 sow to the Spirit when we make time to pray. 00:15:35.730 --> 00:15:38.409 I believe that we need to enliven and to enrich 00:15:38.409 --> 00:15:45.120 our prayer times. The danger of our prayers becoming 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.679 routine and dull. How do you enliven and enrich 00:15:48.679 --> 00:15:52.879 prayer? Let me suggest some things. First of 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.340 all, by listening to yourself pray. That can 00:15:56.340 --> 00:16:00.980 be discouraging at first. But listen to what 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:06.139 God listens to sometimes. And begin to notice 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:11.409 those meaningless phrases. Those cliches that 00:16:11.409 --> 00:16:13.870 you use and throw them out of your prayer language. 00:16:17.450 --> 00:16:19.470 There's one little four -letter word that has 00:16:19.470 --> 00:16:22.409 slipped into so much of our praying these days. 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:26.269 It's the word just. You ever notice that? Lord, 00:16:26.330 --> 00:16:28.669 we just come to you and we just ask you and we 00:16:28.669 --> 00:16:33.409 just this and we just that. You can cancel any 00:16:33.409 --> 00:16:35.950 word in your vocabulary for a month. Cancel that 00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:44.539 one. Especially in your prayer vocabulary. Lord, 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.919 guide and direct. I wonder if God can ever guide 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:49.559 without directing or direct without guiding. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:51.179 I don't know. Those two words just kind of go 00:16:51.179 --> 00:16:53.139 together, don't they? Lord, guide and direct. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.899 We could go on and on. There are so many clichés 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:59.620 that we use. Enliven your prayer time by throwing 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:01.799 out those meaningless ones and use some fresh 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.720 language. By the way, one way you can do that 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:08.779 is by reading prayers of other people. There 00:17:08.779 --> 00:17:10.500 are some books of these available, especially 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:13.299 books of Puritan prayers. are available these 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:16.140 days. And that will give you some new language 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:19.960 to use to make your own prayer time fresh. Secondly, 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.019 let me suggest that you can enrich your prayer 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:27.720 time by saying less and listening more. Gordon 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:31.799 MacDonald, in his book of last year called Ordering 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:36.740 Your Private World, says, I found that my prayers 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:40.190 often seemed disconnected. that I was not able 00:17:40.190 --> 00:17:44.009 to concentrate or even stay awake. I often wondered 00:17:44.009 --> 00:17:46.930 if I could ever develop a vigorous worship and 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:52.109 intercessory life. The journal provided a vehicle 00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:55.009 for writing prayers when my spoken prayers lacked 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:58.809 cohesiveness. His suggestion is that we all keep 00:17:58.809 --> 00:18:02.549 a prayer journal. He goes on to say, a key contribution 00:18:02.549 --> 00:18:05.009 of the journal became its record of not only 00:18:05.009 --> 00:18:08.009 the good moments, but the bad times as well. 00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:12.329 These became special passages to look back upon. 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:16.289 My own journals are spiral -bound notebooks, 00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:18.730 he says, which I purchased at an office supply 00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:21.750 store. I can complete one of these notebooks 00:18:21.750 --> 00:18:25.069 in about three months. I write in my journal 00:18:25.069 --> 00:18:27.170 almost every day, but I'm not overly disturbed 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:29.470 if an occasional day passes without an entry. 00:18:29.970 --> 00:18:33.670 And what is in there? An account of things that 00:18:33.670 --> 00:18:36.750 I accomplished in the preceding day, people I 00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:39.500 met, things I learned, feelings I experienced, 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:42.299 and impressions I believe God wanted me to have. 00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:45.299 I include prayers if I feel like writing them 00:18:45.299 --> 00:18:48.559 down, insights that come from Bible reading and 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.779 other spiritual literature, and concerns I have 00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:55.000 about my own personal behavior. I love to record 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:57.000 things I'm seeing in the lives of the members 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.460 of my family. All of this is part of listening 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:06.940 to God. As I write, says MacDonald, I am aware 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:09.599 that what I am writing may actually be what God 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:15.200 wants to tell me. Enliven your prayer time by 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:20.880 saying less and listening more. Third, by finding 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:24.759 a quiet, restful time and place. Remember that 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:26.839 your prayer time is not a business call on God. 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:33.640 It is a conversation with your Heavenly Father. 00:19:35.309 --> 00:19:41.750 And it should be in that kind of a spirit. Fourthly, 00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:45.190 by making periodic changes in your prayer routine, 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:49.910 your manner. Avoid the sameness of things and 00:19:49.910 --> 00:19:53.970 dullness which often sets in. And number five, 00:19:54.009 --> 00:19:57.430 you can enliven your prayer time by using the 00:19:57.430 --> 00:20:01.190 Word to prime your pump. In other words, use 00:20:01.190 --> 00:20:06.759 the Bible to lead you in your praying. Pray through 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:10.079 the Bible. Allow its own phrases to generate 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.359 thoughts in your minds that you can echo then 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:16.640 back to God. That will probably lead you into 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:21.839 more praise and less prayer or actually asking 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:25.099 of requests. So we sow to the Spirit by making 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:31.279 time to pray. Number four, we sow to the Spirit 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:37.079 by establishing transparent relationships. One 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:39.500 of the genuine hindrances to spiritual fruit 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:46.180 is the reclusiveness that most people have regarding 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:51.940 inward feelings, hidden struggles, secret defeats, 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:59.160 silent questions and unspoken fears. We all become 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.119 Howard Hughes when it comes to this part of our 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:06.549 lives. We withdraw from the public. into our 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:10.369 little rooms and lock the doors. We learn to 00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:14.390 adeptly build facades of pleasantness and confidence, 00:21:14.490 --> 00:21:18.329 of everything's okay here kinds of responses. 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:23.130 But the truth is, and God knows it, that things 00:21:23.130 --> 00:21:28.589 are different than that. And the illusion or 00:21:28.589 --> 00:21:32.609 the duplicity that we adopt with others does 00:21:32.609 --> 00:21:36.079 two things, or three things actually. First of 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:39.700 all, it retards God's work to free us from those 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:45.059 things that bother us. And then secondly, it 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:48.039 limits God's message through our lives. God wants 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.599 to say something special in our lives by those 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.759 problems that we have. When we refuse to get 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.420 them out where we can deal with them, it limits 00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:02.480 God's message. And finally, when we won't be 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:06.210 open with people, It misleads people and compounds 00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:12.049 their own battles with the same things. That 00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:14.650 does not mean that we need to be public in the 00:22:14.650 --> 00:22:17.089 sense of a worship service with all of our problems, 00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:22.650 but we do need, each of us, to establish a transparent 00:22:22.650 --> 00:22:28.309 relationship of at least one other person. Establishing 00:22:28.309 --> 00:22:31.049 an honest, what you hear and see is what I am, 00:22:31.130 --> 00:22:36.099 relationship. with a peer is an important step 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:40.480 towards spiritual maturity. We sow to the Spirit 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.819 when we are willing to do this. You say, how 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:47.579 do you do it? Well, I would encourage you first 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:51.839 of all to pray regarding that person. Ask God 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.519 to lead you to that one or two or three people 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:57.279 that could be a part of this peer group with 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:01.019 whom you could be transparent and gut -level 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:05.529 honest with. And then begin to build a friendship, 00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:09.849 if it's not there already, a friendship with 00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:15.589 trust and mutual confidence and respect. And 00:23:15.589 --> 00:23:17.549 then at the point when you get the green light 00:23:17.549 --> 00:23:21.809 from God, take the plunge and open yourself up 00:23:21.809 --> 00:23:25.230 to that other person. Or at least stick your 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:28.829 foot in the water if you can't take the plunge. 00:23:30.289 --> 00:23:34.299 But begin to be transparent. Until you can open 00:23:34.299 --> 00:23:38.220 yourself up fully. And then fourthly, commit 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:41.299 yourself to help each other with your own struggles. 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:47.119 The result of that, the result of doing that 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.180 will be almost an immediate sense of relief. 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:56.039 There will be in your life almost immediately 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.559 a breath of fresh heavenly air and a freedom. 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:04.519 perhaps what you've never known before. That 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:09.240 is the truth. If you are serious about sowing 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:13.279 to the Spirit and thus reaping eternal life from 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:16.319 the Spirit, then I want to exhort you and encourage 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:20.940 you to do that by establishing transparent relationships. 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:26.220 Finally, we sow to the Spirit by disciplining 00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:31.180 ourselves to rest. This may seem like a rather 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:35.980 strange one, but I think it's not. You see, I 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:38.400 believe that God established the principle of 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:43.920 Sabbath for mankind. Now, I can hear someone 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.160 say immediately, yes, but we're not under law 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:50.579 today. I fully recognize that there was a special 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:55.480 significance for Israel in observing the Sabbath. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:58.880 and that that no longer applies to the church 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:02.799 in this age. But please remember that the Sabbath 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.299 was established long before the law of Moses 00:25:05.299 --> 00:25:09.160 was ever given. The Sabbath was a part of the 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:12.279 very process of creation itself, for the Bible 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:15.559 tells us that God rested on the seventh day. 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:21.279 Again, I want to quote MacDonald in this area. 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:26.880 I get the feeling, he says, we are a tired generation. 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:30.839 Evidence of that fatigue abounds in a multitude 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.900 of articles about health problems related to 00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:38.059 overwork and exhaustion. Workaholism is a modern 00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:41.740 word. What is strange about our general fatigue 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:45.299 as a people is the fact that we are such a leisure 00:25:45.299 --> 00:25:49.799 -oriented society. We probably have more time 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:54.710 for leisure than we ever had before. Is the contemporary 00:25:54.710 --> 00:25:58.829 form of exhaustion evidence that we no longer 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:03.589 understand genuine rest, which is different from 00:26:03.589 --> 00:26:09.170 the pursuit of leisure? What an interesting question 00:26:09.170 --> 00:26:13.750 he poses. But Donald then in his book goes on 00:26:13.750 --> 00:26:18.049 to suggest three insights into making a meaningful 00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:22.720 Sabbath for a Christian. What does it mean to 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:27.839 have a Sabbath? Well, it means to have a time 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:32.180 when you first of all look backward. When you're 00:26:32.180 --> 00:26:34.799 able to ask yourself the kinds of questions like 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:41.680 these, what does my work mean? For whom do I 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:48.380 do what I do? How well am I doing my work? Why 00:26:48.380 --> 00:26:54.059 do I do this? A time of reflection when we look 00:26:54.059 --> 00:27:00.619 backward. A Sabbath also includes a look inward 00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:05.420 when we can ask questions like these. What do 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:11.880 I believe? What standard of truth helps me make 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:17.839 decisions in the midst of life's pressures? I 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:20.859 like the particular phrases that... Mr. MacDonald 00:27:20.859 --> 00:27:25.460 uses in his book, he calls this Sabbath a recalibration 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:29.859 of spirit, and in another place, the fine -tuning 00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:35.200 of my inner navigational instruments. There are 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:38.880 people today who are in big rushes, but they 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:42.160 don't know where they're going, because they 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:46.309 haven't considered questions like these. As a 00:27:46.309 --> 00:27:48.829 Christian, I need also a Sabbath when I can look 00:27:48.829 --> 00:27:54.150 forward. When I can ask, what is my mission in 00:27:54.150 --> 00:27:59.710 life? Where am I headed? Not to regularly ask 00:27:59.710 --> 00:28:02.950 this question, says MacDonald, is to leave yourself 00:28:02.950 --> 00:28:08.309 open to mistakes of judgment and direction. One 00:28:08.309 --> 00:28:10.250 important aspect, by the way, of the Sabbath 00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:15.089 is the worship of God with one's Christian family. 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:19.640 That is public worship. The Lord Jesus Christ 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:24.279 was the most busy person, if I may use that term 00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:26.819 in the right sense, who ever walked the earth. 00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:33.059 No one ever felt more pressure than he did in 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:36.839 every aspect of life. And yet we never see the 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:40.019 Lord Jesus Christ forsaking that time of worship 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:45.119 on the Sabbath in the Jewish synagogue. Part 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:48.940 of Sabbath for the Christian, then, is public 00:28:48.940 --> 00:28:51.539 worship with the people of God, doing exactly 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:54.759 what we're doing this morning, a time when we 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:58.400 can have that look backward and inward and forward 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:02.380 and ask these questions of ourselves. It's essential. 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:06.700 But it goes beyond that to include personal rest 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:13.200 and tranquility. Do you have even three hours 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:20.480 a week? which you spend not in mere leisure, 00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:30.339 but in rest, in reflection, in evaluation, looking 00:29:30.339 --> 00:29:36.640 backward, looking at what you're doing now. What 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:40.700 do I believe? What's important to my life? What 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:42.519 am I going to be doing in the future? Where am 00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:45.039 I headed? What does God want me to accomplish 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:49.740 in life? I believe that you and I sow to the 00:29:49.740 --> 00:29:54.039 Spirit, folks, when we discipline ourselves to 00:29:54.039 --> 00:29:58.220 rest. There may not be a harder discipline for 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:02.160 any of us than this one because of the kind of 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:05.779 world we live in. I want to challenge you to 00:30:05.779 --> 00:30:11.880 sow to the Spirit in this fifth way by disciplining 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:13.859 yourself to rest. Do you remember that Jesus 00:30:13.859 --> 00:30:17.299 did that with His disciples? On a particular 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:20.039 busy time and occasion in his life, he said to 00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:24.880 them, come apart and rest a while. And that is 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:26.619 what he's calling upon some of you to do. Some 00:30:26.619 --> 00:30:28.759 of you are not walking with God today and you're 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:32.460 finding yourself giving to the flesh because 00:30:32.460 --> 00:30:39.559 you are frankly just worn out. There may not 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:44.759 be a greater enemy of the walk with God than 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:51.900 fatigue. You and I sow to the Spirit so that 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:55.420 the Spirit then can produce His fruit, His harvest 00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:59.140 in our lives when we discipline ourselves to 00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:03.880 rest. The point that I'm making this morning 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.240 in this conclusion of the series on the flesh 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:12.839 and the Spirit is this. You and I can walk according 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:18.259 to the flesh and reap its ugly works in our lives. 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:25.980 and become corrupted. We can sow to the flesh, 00:31:26.140 --> 00:31:30.640 and the result is that the flesh even produces 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.680 a greater harvest of its ugliness in our lives. 00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:37.440 Or we can do what we are exhorted to do here. 00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:44.099 We can sow to the Spirit. At least by taking 00:31:44.099 --> 00:31:46.339 the five actions we've talked about this morning. 00:31:47.819 --> 00:31:50.240 And when we will dare do that, then we will see 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:54.299 what it means to reap from the Spirit eternal 00:31:54.299 --> 00:32:12.000 life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:16.720 you will remove from us contentment. with the 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:24.359 status quo. Deliver us from satisfaction with 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:27.660 lukewarm Christianity, which makes our Savior 00:32:27.660 --> 00:32:36.579 nauseating. And teach us what it means to sow 00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:43.599 to the Spirit, so that we may then reap from 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:50.210 the Spirit. eternal life, the quality of life 00:32:50.210 --> 00:32:57.529 that You call the fruit of the Spirit. For then 00:32:57.529 --> 00:33:00.250 we shall be fervent and boiling hot for the Savior. 00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:09.910 Lord, make us truly a Spirit -filled people. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:16.579 We pray in Jesus' name.