WEBVTT 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.419 and to know that we're going to share heaven 00:00:09.419 --> 00:00:11.759 together one day. And right now we're serving 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:16.199 with them on behalf of the same kingdom, the 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.359 same church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's open 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.120 our Bibles together today to Galatians chapter 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:29.579 6. Paul begins chapter 6 by addressing you who 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:33.340 are spiritual. We talked about that last week. 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:37.259 I want to ask you a question. Are you spiritual? 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:44.020 Most of us shy away from answering that question 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:47.979 directly because the word spiritual has a certain 00:00:47.979 --> 00:00:51.520 connotation to it. We seem to think it means 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.759 a person who has his Christian life all put together, 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:59.939 or someone who seldom sins, or perhaps another 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:03.259 person who thinks about God in the Bible all 00:01:03.259 --> 00:01:07.829 the time. What does it mean to be spiritual? 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:13.209 In the context of Galatians chapter 6, the word 00:01:13.209 --> 00:01:17.790 spiritual refers to one who in the first place 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:22.129 lives by the Spirit, that is one who is born 00:01:22.129 --> 00:01:29.349 again, and then that person also walking by the 00:01:29.349 --> 00:01:32.810 Spirit, that is living in dependence upon the 00:01:32.810 --> 00:01:35.900 Holy Spirit. We're walking in the line that the 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:40.700 Holy Spirit lays down for their lives. A walk 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:44.480 in submission to the Holy Spirit produces a love 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:49.180 -dominated life. A love -dominated life is a 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:53.459 way of relating to other people as Jesus would 00:01:53.459 --> 00:01:58.000 relate to them. It's the opposite of the fleshly 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.299 life, which is self -centered. self -dominated, 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.439 self -directed, self -serving, self -indulgent. 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:09.099 The love -dominated life has the arrows pointing 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:15.819 outward. He is loving one's neighbor as he loves 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:20.840 himself. Today, in the text that we look at as 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:22.939 we close the study of Galatians, we're going 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:25.099 to see a text that was written by the Apostle 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:30.000 Paul. Which is in response to false teachers 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.520 and their doctrines which had undermined the 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:37.259 faith of these Christians They had been robbed 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.300 of their spiritual freedom because of their belief 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:44.680 in this false doctrine of legalism and Whether 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.400 they're leading them toward godliness This legalism 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:53.840 had led them into a an outbreak of fleshly living 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:00.060 Legalism always does that Legalism does not lead 00:03:00.060 --> 00:03:04.719 to spiritual living. Legalism does not lead to 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:11.039 godliness. It leads rather to fleshliness. Paul 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.840 was shocked that the Galatians had deserted the 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.539 message of grace so quickly and so easily. He 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:20.360 rebuked them for it, even as he sought to appeal 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.280 to them to return to the message that he had 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:28.139 delivered to them. In conclusion, as he brings 00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:30.780 this letter to its culmination, he prescribes 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:36.120 some principles for living in the Spirit. You 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:41.659 see, the grace of God frees us from the burden 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:47.900 of our own fleshly works to live under Christ's 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:53.039 Lordship. And that's really the essence of what 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.310 spiritual living is. It is experiencing a personal 00:03:59.310 --> 00:04:04.629 and growing relationship with Jesus as the Lord 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:10.169 of one's life. One who is spiritual hasn't arrived. 00:04:11.289 --> 00:04:14.370 One who is spiritual isn't one who is without 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:20.250 sin. The one who is spiritual is growing and 00:04:20.250 --> 00:04:23.009 experiencing an ever deeper relationship with 00:04:23.009 --> 00:04:28.660 Jesus. as the Lord of His life. Now Paul lays 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:31.220 out for us in the text we're going to look at 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:35.060 at least three principles that I see that help 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:38.740 us understand what it means to live spiritually 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:42.899 with Jesus as Lord. I'm going to begin reading 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:46.800 in verse 6 of Galatians 6 where it says, and 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.899 let the one who is taught the Word share all 00:04:50.899 --> 00:04:55.069 good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived. 00:04:55.129 --> 00:04:59.170 God is not mocked. For whatever man sows, this 00:04:59.170 --> 00:05:03.389 he will also reap. For the one who sows to his 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:07.490 own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption. 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:12.329 But the one who sows to the Spirit shall from 00:05:12.329 --> 00:05:15.970 the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:21.000 lose heart in doing good. For in due time we 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.500 shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:28.860 while we have opportunity, let us do good to 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:32.519 all men, especially to those who are of the household 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:37.040 of the faith." The first principle that I see 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.560 Paul pointing to in verse 6 is the principle 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:44.720 of teaching and sharing. Paul taught in the churches 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.740 that he established that the ministry should 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:51.720 be undergirded by the voluntary giving of God's 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:56.240 people. It may be difficult to understand, for 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.680 us at least, how revolutionary that idea was 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:04.220 in that first century. Because you see the Jews 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:09.160 paid a tax to support the ministry at the temple. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.100 And the pagans were accustomed to paying certain 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:19.220 fees at their pagan temples and rites. The idea 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:26.339 of giving voluntarily was brand new. And apparently 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:29.959 there were some of the people in Galatia who 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:35.420 developed a fleshly attitude about this. They 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:38.959 became what we might call consumers in the language 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:43.120 of the late 20th century. Consumer Christians 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.639 who wanted to take and who wanted to receive 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.980 and expected ministry for themselves, but they 00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:53.939 did not want to give anything in return for that. 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:58.279 And so Paul speaks to that issue in verse 6. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.459 It's rather an abrupt change, isn't it? He just 00:07:02.459 --> 00:07:04.519 seems to immediately jump into this subject. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:08.519 But the principle is very clear, and it's found 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:10.980 not only here in Galatians, but a number of times 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:14.600 in the New Testament, that those who serve the 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:20.029 body of Jesus Christ, Realizing the calling to 00:07:20.029 --> 00:07:23.610 pastor and teacher are to make their living from 00:07:23.610 --> 00:07:27.790 that work. Paul is saying it's a voluntary matter 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:30.529 of giving, but there is in that voluntarism a 00:07:30.529 --> 00:07:34.230 certain responsibility as well. Else there is 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:39.629 an abuse of grace. In 1st Corinthians chapter 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:42.750 9 the apostle says, who at any time serves as 00:07:42.750 --> 00:07:47.449 a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard 00:07:47.449 --> 00:07:50.829 and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends 00:07:50.829 --> 00:07:53.490 a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? 00:07:54.689 --> 00:07:58.550 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too 00:07:58.550 --> 00:08:01.509 much if we should reap material things from you? 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:04.910 Do you not know that those who perform sacred 00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:08.629 services eat the food of the temple and those 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:12.310 who attend regularly to the altar have their 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:17.449 share with the altar? So also, the Lord directed 00:08:17.449 --> 00:08:20.889 that those who proclaim the gospel to get their 00:08:20.889 --> 00:08:25.449 living from the gospel. Another way of saying 00:08:25.449 --> 00:08:28.629 this is that Paul tells us as the people of God 00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:33.590 that we are to bless those who bless us spiritually. 00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:37.730 There is this tendency, especially in the culture 00:08:37.730 --> 00:08:41.230 we have today, to imagine that somehow spiritual 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:46.259 service to us ought to be free. that there ought 00:08:46.259 --> 00:08:50.059 not to be any cost related to it. After all, 00:08:50.179 --> 00:08:53.720 grace is free. Salvation is free. The gospel 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:58.720 is free. But Paul reminds us that while all of 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.340 that is true, it's free to us. It was very costly 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:06.600 to Christ and to God. And he tells us that part 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:11.039 of our spiritual duty under grace is to care 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.919 for those who teach and preach and lead. He calls 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:21.179 it here a fellowship. The word share in verse 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:25.100 6 is the word koinonia. That's the noun form 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:29.379 of it. And so Paul looks upon this matter of 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:34.059 giving as really a fellowship. He says that the 00:09:34.059 --> 00:09:36.940 one who walks by the Spirit, who is spiritual, 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.240 is one who will demonstrate this aspect of love 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:47.279 also. He does not want us to see giving to the 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.879 ministry as a legalistic burden or obligation, 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.799 but rather as an opportunity to demonstrate our 00:09:55.799 --> 00:10:00.500 fellowship, our partnership in the things of 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:04.820 God. I think that's a wonderful way and an appropriate 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:07.100 way really of looking at the way that we give 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:11.419 to God in our local church. That this is fellowship. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.659 We usually think of fellowship in terms of food 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:19.799 or of conversation. But Paul says here, fellowship 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:25.759 is also giving as we receive. Warren Wiersbe 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:29.779 said, we must remember that what we do with material 00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:34.500 things is an evidence of how we value spiritual 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:40.480 things. I need to move ahead to the second principle. 00:10:40.779 --> 00:10:43.279 verses seven through ten, and that is the principle 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.659 of sowing and reaping. Paul gives us here an 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:50.279 agronomic illustration of a spiritual principle. 00:10:51.659 --> 00:10:55.019 Just as there are inviolable laws in the physics 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:59.299 of our material universe, so there are inviolable 00:10:59.299 --> 00:11:04.779 laws in the moral and spiritual universe that 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:08.519 God has created. We cannot escape those laws. 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:10.879 And one of them is found in this very simple 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:16.580 phrase, that we reap what we sow. Is that not 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:20.360 true in agriculture? A farmer goes out to his 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:24.340 field and he sows wheat. He doesn't expect to 00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:32.279 reap soybeans or corn. He reaps wheat. And the 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:37.220 same is true morally and spiritually. That what 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:42.240 we sow in our lives is what we reap. In science, 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:48.220 it's called the cause and effect law. Someone 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:54.039 has written, sow a thought, reap an act. Sow 00:11:54.039 --> 00:12:02.279 an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, and reap a 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:12.669 character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. What 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:19.210 we sow, we reap. Paul points to two fields and 00:12:19.210 --> 00:12:24.350 to two harvests in these words. The one field 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:28.389 is the flesh. It's possible for us as Christians 00:12:28.389 --> 00:12:33.730 to sow to the flesh. The flesh, of course, is 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:39.470 that dimension in us where sin operates. It's 00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:43.710 that point of contact in us where sin expresses 00:12:43.710 --> 00:12:48.190 its desires and its lusts. As we saw in our study 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:52.549 in chapter 5, the flesh and the spirit are at 00:12:52.549 --> 00:12:56.590 war within the believer, each seeking to dominate. 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:01.169 You and I can sow to the flesh. That is, we can 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:04.620 Play with the desires of the flesh. We can feed 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:09.440 them. We can coddle them rather than crucify 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:15.440 them. And when we do, we will leap from the flesh. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:22.080 John Stott writes these poignant words. Every 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.179 time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge, nurse 00:13:26.179 --> 00:13:30.480 a grievance, entertain an impure fantasy, or 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:35.049 wallow in self -pity, we are sowing to the flesh. 00:13:36.289 --> 00:13:39.330 Every time we linger in bad company whose insidious 00:13:39.330 --> 00:13:43.509 influence we know we cannot resist, every time 00:13:43.509 --> 00:13:46.090 we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, 00:13:47.049 --> 00:13:50.750 every time we read pornographic literature, every 00:13:50.750 --> 00:13:54.330 time we take a risk which strains our self -control, 00:13:55.070 --> 00:14:01.700 we are sowing, sowing, sowing. to the flesh. 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.779 And when we sow to the flesh, Paul says we reap 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:15.240 corruption, or decay, or deterioration. In other 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.779 words, when we sow to the flesh, when we play 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:24.379 with its desires and give in to its lusts, the 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:27.480 result is that our lives begin to experience 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:35.350 decay. our character begins to deteriorate. There 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:39.289 is a destruction that begins to be carried out 00:14:39.289 --> 00:14:43.970 in our spiritual life when we sow to the flesh. 00:14:46.029 --> 00:14:48.830 On the other hand, he says, we have the choice 00:14:48.830 --> 00:14:53.710 of sowing to the spirit, the second field. The 00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:57.190 spirit here refers to the Holy Spirit who indwells 00:14:57.190 --> 00:15:02.039 our spirit, our new nature. He says that we may 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:07.580 sow to the Spirit. What does that mean? It means 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:12.860 to cooperate with the Spirit. It means to be 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:16.759 generous in giving in the context of what this 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.159 paragraph is about. That's its primary application. 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.259 But beyond that, it also means to employ prayer 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:28.799 and the Word as a means of grace. To meditate 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:33.340 on wholesome and God honoring things. And as 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:37.419 he will go on to say, to do good to all men, 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.519 especially to those who are the household of 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:45.519 faith. You see, all of those ideas are part of 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:49.159 what it means to sow to the Spirit, what the 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:54.340 Spirit wants to do in our lives. And as we do 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:58.639 that, we reap another harvest. He calls it the 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:02.240 harvest of eternal life. He doesn't mean here 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:07.419 salvation, that by sowing we earn salvation or 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:11.259 we reap salvation. Eternal life is a word that 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:14.919 is used in a number of ways, not only of the 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.639 quantity of years that God gives us in our salvation, 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.639 but of the quality of our lives. And so Paul 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.799 is emphasizing that here. He says that when we 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.340 sow to the Spirit, when we cooperate with what 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:34.559 the Spirit of God wants to do in our lives, the 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.080 result is that we experience the Spirit's fruit 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.440 of joy and peace and long -suffering and so on. 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:46.220 The Spirit begins a process of spiritual growth 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.980 and moral growth and development in our lives. 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:56.940 That's what he means here by eternal life. have 00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.980 a choice every day as to how you're going to 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:03.600 employ this principle of sowing and reaping. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:08.599 You decide where you're going to sow and then 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.440 you also must be the one who will do the reaping 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.279 because the two inextricably are linked together. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:23.099 The principle of sowing and reaping. And then 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:25.460 there is a final principle I want us to look 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:28.880 at. verses 11 through 18. I'm going to pick up 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:34.059 the reading in the text here. See with what large 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:36.339 letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.099 Paul normally apparently dictated to an amanuensis 00:17:39.099 --> 00:17:42.579 or to a secretary. But at this point he picks 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:44.980 up the pen as it were and he begins to write 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:47.299 himself with large letters. Some say because 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:50.099 of poor eyesight. But more likely Paul is saying 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:52.259 here I want you to see that I'm writing the way 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:56.000 that I am in large letters to emphasize by my 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.420 own handwriting what I have said to you and the 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.480 urgency of this message that you return to grace 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:07.960 and forsake legalism. He says those who desire 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:11.799 to make a good showing in the flesh, the legalists, 00:18:12.339 --> 00:18:16.640 try to compel you to be circumcised simply that 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.420 they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 00:18:20.049 --> 00:18:22.869 For those who are circumcised do not even keep 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:25.670 the law themselves, but they desire to have you 00:18:25.670 --> 00:18:28.630 circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:32.910 But may it ever be that I should boast, except 00:18:32.910 --> 00:18:37.069 in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through 00:18:37.069 --> 00:18:40.029 which the world has been crucified to me and 00:18:40.029 --> 00:18:43.470 I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything 00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:50.279 nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.440 who will walk by this rule, by this standard, 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:58.099 by that he means grace, peace and mercy be upon 00:18:58.099 --> 00:19:01.619 them and upon the Israel of God. From now on, 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:06.220 let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear in 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:11.400 my body the brand marks of Jesus. The grace of 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:15.079 our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:19.210 Amen. And so the letter closes with the final 00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:21.650 principle, which I've called the principle of 00:19:21.650 --> 00:19:26.250 boasting and suffering. The Judaizers, these 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:29.470 false teachers, the ones who try to impose upon 00:19:29.470 --> 00:19:33.849 the Galatians the concept of law keeping and 00:19:33.849 --> 00:19:39.990 ritual in order to please God, they boasted. 00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:44.950 They boasted about how they were able to dominate 00:19:44.950 --> 00:19:47.750 the Galatians and how the Galatians seemed to 00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:54.069 fall into line after them. Paul says, I'm not 00:19:54.069 --> 00:19:56.950 going to boast in the fact that you're following 00:19:56.950 --> 00:20:00.529 me. He says, in fact, I boast in one thing. He 00:20:00.529 --> 00:20:03.309 says, I boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus 00:20:03.309 --> 00:20:07.430 Christ. He says, it is the means by which I have 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:11.740 died to the world. and the world has died to 00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:16.859 me. I am no longer alive to that stuff. I am 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:20.220 alive to Christ and his kingdom. He says, I'm 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:25.900 a part of the new creation, the kingdom of the 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:28.559 Lord Jesus Christ, because of the new birth that 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:32.079 I've experienced. I'm a part of what God's new 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.279 order is all about. And my boasting is in the 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:41.609 cross of Jesus alone. And I believe that one 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:44.390 who walks by the Spirit, one who is a spiritual 00:20:44.390 --> 00:20:49.170 person, is also one who will boast not in his 00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:53.529 attainments, not of the number of converts that 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:57.089 he has, not of what he's been able to accomplish 00:20:57.089 --> 00:21:00.930 in his life, but his boasting will be solely 00:21:00.930 --> 00:21:05.569 in the Lord Jesus Christ and his cross and what 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:10.079 he has done on behalf of us all. But Paul wants 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:14.099 us to know that this principle is a principle 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:17.880 of boasting and suffering. Because when you boast 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:20.740 in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:27.480 in for suffering. Because the cross is an offense 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.940 to the world. It is an offense to our flesh. 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:38.289 It is an offense to our pride. He says, I bear 00:21:38.289 --> 00:21:42.910 in my body the brand marks of Jesus. Back in 00:21:42.910 --> 00:21:48.329 those days, slaves would often be tattooed, or 00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:51.509 a scar or a brand would be put upon their body 00:21:51.509 --> 00:21:56.470 to show who their owner was. Paul had been persecuted 00:21:56.470 --> 00:21:59.549 for the cross of Christ, and even now was suffering 00:21:59.549 --> 00:22:01.529 at the hands of the very people he had led to 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:06.509 Christ. And he said, my sufferings, my persecution, 00:22:07.049 --> 00:22:11.349 even the very marks in my body, these are the 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:16.690 brand marks that I am the servant of Jesus. It 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:19.329 is one thing to wear a cross around your neck 00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:23.990 as a piece of jewelry, but it is another thing 00:22:23.990 --> 00:22:27.450 to boast in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:22:28.250 --> 00:22:30.529 and to declare a message to the world that it 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:34.299 does not want to hear. And that is that human 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.599 works are insufficient to make us right with 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.819 God, and that the only way to be right with God 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:42.359 is through His work on the cross on our behalf. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:46.319 That we are hopeless and helpless in our sin, 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:50.940 and that we need a Savior. When we boast in that 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:53.279 message, and in that cross, and in that Savior, 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.819 then we are in contradiction to the world that 00:22:57.819 --> 00:23:00.970 we live in. And as Paul says to Timothy, all 00:23:00.970 --> 00:23:07.329 who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 00:23:09.349 --> 00:23:16.250 In what do you glory? And for what or for whom 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:22.089 will you suffer? What a great principle Paul 00:23:22.089 --> 00:23:25.309 gives to us here as men and women who want to 00:23:25.309 --> 00:23:30.099 be spiritual. We must apply this principle to 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:32.599 our lives and boast in Jesus and be willing to 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:37.420 suffer with Him and for Him. Sometimes I've been 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:40.579 asked the question, Pastor, how can I experience 00:23:40.579 --> 00:23:45.299 the blessing of God in my Christian life? The 00:23:45.299 --> 00:23:48.140 answer is very simple. It is this. The blessing 00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:51.819 comes when we choose to follow the principles 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:55.599 of God's Word. Because that's how we know we're 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.849 living under the Lordship of Christ. when we're 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:03.670 following the principles of the Word of the Lord. 00:24:04.710 --> 00:24:08.529 Not following them as some rigid, legalistic, 00:24:08.890 --> 00:24:13.869 have -to system, but following it with joy, applying 00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:19.410 those principles with delight in our lives. Max 00:24:19.410 --> 00:24:23.269 Lucado writes about this in his book, A Gentle 00:24:23.269 --> 00:24:29.500 Thunder. He talks about the guy who wants to 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:31.880 learn to dance in the role of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:35.799 He says this fellow who wants to learn to dance 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:38.279 is a rational intelligence sort, so he goes to 00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:41.500 the bookstore and he buys a how -to book. He 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:43.519 takes it home and he starts reading. He carefully 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:46.059 does everything it says. When the instructions 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:49.380 say sway, he sways. And when the instructions 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:51.519 say lean, he leans. And when the instructions 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:56.019 say spin, he spins. He even cuts out paper footprints 00:24:56.019 --> 00:24:58.259 and arranges them on the family room floor so 00:24:58.259 --> 00:25:02.420 he will know exactly where to step. At last he 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:04.640 thinks he's got it down pat so he calls his wife 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.299 and he says, honey watch me, with the book in 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:09.819 his hand and reading aloud so she'll know that 00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:12.319 he's done his homework. He follows the instructions 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:15.220 step by step. It says take one step with your 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:17.799 right foot and he does that. It says turn slowly 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:21.190 to the left. He turns slowly to the left. He 00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:23.349 keeps it up reading and then dancing reading 00:25:23.349 --> 00:25:26.049 and dancing through the whole thing and then 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:29.670 collapses exhausted on the sofa and Says to his 00:25:29.670 --> 00:25:32.190 wife. Well, what do you think? I've executed 00:25:32.190 --> 00:25:36.490 it perfectly To which she replies you executed 00:25:36.490 --> 00:25:41.210 it. All right, you killed it Her husband was 00:25:41.210 --> 00:25:44.910 puzzled He said but I followed the rules. I laid 00:25:44.910 --> 00:25:47.230 out the pattern. I did everything the book said 00:25:47.230 --> 00:25:52.390 to do but she sighs You forgot the most important 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:58.190 part, the music. And you know, some of us are 00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:00.730 that same way as we approach the Christian life 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:05.490 and the Lordship of Christ. And we begin to follow 00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:07.470 the principles of the Bible, and they become 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:10.069 burdensome and heavy, and we're doing all of 00:26:10.069 --> 00:26:13.670 the right things, but we've forgotten the music. 00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:17.849 And Michaela goes on to say that the music is 00:26:17.849 --> 00:26:22.400 the life of the Spirit. If you don't get anything 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.180 else out of this message this morning or out 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:27.039 of the whole series that we've done in Galatians, 00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:31.400 I hope you'll hear me in this. That it's not 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:35.119 the rules that we keep that bring joy and fulfillment 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:40.640 and glory to God in our Christian life. It is 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:45.119 living by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:51.619 And applying the principles with the music of 00:26:51.619 --> 00:26:56.039 the Spirit playing in our lives, then and only 00:26:56.039 --> 00:27:00.039 then we'll dance. Let's pray together.