Well, good morning to everyone. Beautiful winter day. We're having a pretty good winter so far. Looks like a little colder weather coming here, though. 

We are continuing our study in the book of Galatians this morning, and we are nearing the end of our study of this book. The Apostle Paul is really getting very practical now in his instruction to the believers concerning the law and grace, the flesh and the spirit, as we consider how it is that God intends that we should live the Christian life. 

We saw Paul make the clear contrast between the spirit life and the law life and the flesh back in chapter five, and we saw last week in the beginning of chapter six that those who are walking in the spirit, who are living by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, are to pick those up who have fallen to the side, who have gone back to law as a way of life and are now experiencing the fruit of flesh, fruit of the flesh and sin in their lives. 

If you look back to Galatians five at verse 16, Paul says, “I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. 

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. 

This context, this flow of thought in the writing of Paul helps us to understand chapter six and the practical instructions here as well. There was a great tension because of false teaching in the churches in Galatia. There was a disharmony, a lack of fellowship, because there was a tremendous doctrinal disagreement as to how to live the Christian life. 

As for those who had succumbed to the law teaching, the faith plus works teaching of the Judaizers, they were outside of God's grace for sanctification. And they had departed fellowship in any real sense from Paul, from their teachers who were faithful, and from those believers who were continuing in grace, walking by the spirit. In Amos 3.3, it says, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” 

We have these same issues in the church today. We see a great push for ecumenism, a laying aside of doctrinal differences so that we might all come together in unity. But the problem is, particularly when there's a false gospel of faith plus works such as the Judaizers taught or the mainline Christian denominations teach today, where there's no agreement on the gospel, then there can be no fellowship. 

2 Corinthians 6.14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness and what accord has Christ with Belial or what part has the believer with the unbeliever?” 

In verses one to five of chapter six, Paul has called on the believers who are spiritual to gently restore those who have gone back to law and are experiencing the fruit of the flesh in their lives, to pick them up, set them back on the right path, to bear their burden with them, to get them walking in fellowship in grace again. 

In our text this morning, we're going to see Paul exhort those who had walked away, those who were being drawn away to come back to the fellowship with those teachers, including himself, who were teaching sanctification by grace through faith, who were teaching these good things, and to sow to the spirit that they might reap holiness and fruit in their lives, consistent with the will of God. 

And he's going to exhort the spiritual Christians, the ones who have held fast to the good teaching, the grace, spirit-filled life, to stay steadfast, to not grow weary in doing these good things, and to be patient, looking to the reward. Do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Hold fast to the doctrine, to the truth that you've been taught. Stay in fellowship with those who teach grace and truth and the gospel. Be patient, knowing that you have a great reward. 

This is the message of our text this morning. Let's consider it together in Galatians 6, at verse 6. “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” 

I've given you four points on your outline this morning. First, stay in fellowship. Second, you reap what you sow. Third, weary in well-doing. And fourth, do good to all. 

Galatians 6, 6 again says, “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.” The instruction here is to stay in fellowship with the teachers of good things. And it speaks of spiritual things in this context. In the context, Paul is speaking of the truth that he has taught, that faithful preachers have taught in the churches of Galatia. 

You see, they were running well. It started with the gospel preached by Paul when he came to this region. Fruit abounded, churches were formed, men were taught and led by the Holy Spirit, and they preached grace. They preached life by the Spirit, and fruit flowed forth: love, joy, peace, gentleness. 

But then the false teachers came, and what did their false message of life by the law bring? Discord, anxiety, fighting, biting, and devouring the fruits of the flesh, as some sought to live by the law, as there was division among the fleshly law followers and the spiritual grace followers. 

What Paul is commanding here is to be in fellowship with the teachers of truth, of good things. Don't depart from them. Share in all these good things, these spiritual things with them. Listen to them, do what they say, follow their example, encourage and help the brethren and the preachers who are teaching grace and faith in the Spirit-filled life, and reject those who teach otherwise. 

In Romans 16, 17, Paul says to the believers in Rome, to note those, that means to mark them out publicly who cause division, not according to the doctrines which you have learned. Listen to Paul's words to Titus. In Titus 3.8, he says, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject the divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.” 

What is it that is good? What are these good works? Grace, love, peace, gentleness, self-control, the fruits of the Spirit. Paul says to Titus that grace teaches us to deny all ungodliness. 

Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy, 1 Timothy 1.3. “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” What doctrine did Paul teach? What doctrine did Timothy teach? The gospel, grace through faith for life. He says, “Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment, the purpose of the commandment to teach no other doctrine than the gospel is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, from sincere faith, from which some having strayed have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm, but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners.” 

“Teach no other doctrine, Timothy, than God's grace by faith, the Spirit-filled life. And all of you who believe Jesus, stay in fellowship with those who teach such things. Let him who has taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.” 

Next in our text, we see “you reap what you sow.” Verse seven, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” This is an inviolable physical and spiritual principle law of God. 

Now, Paul's going to move into some illustrations here that are kind of near and dear to my heart because they are farming analogies. And the words we're going to consider, especially in the next verses, are very powerful. But the point here is that if you sow certain seeds, you will reap the fruit of those types of plants. If you sow bean seeds, then you will get beans. This is an absolute truth. 

Dave, you do some gardening. You ever found that you planted some beans and you got squash? No, you plant beans, you get beans, each after its own kind. This is true in the physical world, always each after its own kind since the creation in Genesis 1. This is why evolution is false. We never see a change of kinds. Whatever you sow, that is what you reap. 

Now, Paul wants to apply this to the spiritual realm here, and he's talking to all of the believers. But the message is this: If you choose to live by the law, if you choose to sow to the flesh, then you will reap the fruit of the flesh. But if you choose to sow to the spirit, you will reap the fruit of the spirit. 

This was the great dichotomy in the Galatian churches. Some were under the spell of the false teachers. They'd been bewitched and were trying to live by the law, by the power of the flesh, and others were abiding in the grace of God, depending on the power of the spirit of God and holding fast to the truth they'd been taught by faithful preachers. 

So what we see here is a firm, clear statement of truth. You're not going to outwit God. God will not be mocked. God has prescribed that salvation in its fullness is by grace through faith. It is God who is able to perform the work of sanctification in our lives by His grace alone as we walk by faith in Jesus, abiding in Him. This is how God has determined the Christian life to be fruitful and to bring glory to Him. 

You cannot do it your way. You cannot violate the inviolable law of God. You cannot accomplish holiness by the flesh by law-keeping. Now, it doesn't matter what you think. You could think that you could fly. But if you jump off a tall building, the inviolable physical law of gravity will soon smack you in the face. 

In the same way, you can think and believe that the way to righteousness and holiness is through religion, is through rites and rituals and sacraments. But if you seek by the law, by the flesh, to be holy and righteous in your living, then the inviolable law of the fruit of the flesh will become manifest in your life. 

Holiness can only come by grace through faith, as we walk by the spirit. What you reap, you will sow. God will not be mocked. Only by His grace and power and life in us can we see love and joy and peace, and God gets all the glory. The term everlasting life here is very interesting. It does not speak to quantity of life. That's kind of how we generally think about it. It is eternal. It is forever. But the point here is really about quality of life. 

We who believe Jesus have eternal life now. We have a new way of life, a new quality of life. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5 with me, at verse 14. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14, says, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died, and he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.” 

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 

When we believe Jesus, we passed from death unto life. We died with Christ. We were buried and raised with him to a new kind of life. We are new men, new creations, and we now experience a new quality of life. Paul's point here in these verses in chapter 6 is this: if you want to experience the fullness of your salvation, if you want to experience the great and magnanimous benefits of your new quality of eternal life, then you must walk by the Spirit, by grace, through faith. 

In 6.8 it says, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” What happens when a believer in Jesus turns to the law as a rule of life, when he takes his eyes off of Jesus and looks to himself and his power, trying to keep a law for holiness? He then sows to the flesh, he then reaps corruption, sin, the fruit of the flesh. 

This is so vital for us to understand, because this teaching is so prevalent in the Christian world today, that we need the law, that we must keep the law, that we need to look to the law as a guide to life, but Paul says in 5.18, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” And he says you must sow to the Spirit, you must live by the Spirit, you must walk in the Spirit. 

Every believer is in the Spirit. For if you have not the Spirit of God, you're not His, Romans 8. But every believer does not walk by the Spirit. Because of confusion, because of false teaching, because of the sin that still dwells in us and our oft-desired to live by our own strength and power.

But if we sow to the flesh, if we turn to the law, if we seek to be holy by our power, then what we will reap is corruption. Just as sure as if I breed my bull to my cows, I'm going to get cute little calves like the one in my barn now that I fed this morning. I'm not going to get pigs, I'm not going to get lambs, because what I sow I will reap. This is absolutely true in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm as well. 

Now I want to talk briefly about what it means to sow to the Spirit, because I think this kind of language can be a little fuzzy in our minds. What does it mean to sow to the Spirit? I don't think what Paul's talking about here is the old Baptist line of feeding the good dog and starving the bad dog. I understand that thought, and there's an element of truth there—stay in the Word and fellowship and prayer and feed the good dog and get the good fruit. I understand the sentiment, but I think it's based on a bad, faulty idea. 

And I think it's vital that we be abundantly clear here about what it means to sow to the Spirit or walk by the Spirit. The underlying doctrine to the good dog, bad dog idea is that we as believers in Jesus Christ have two natures, you've all heard that. That what happened in salvation is that a new nature was added to us. So we have the old nature, the man of sin, the man in Adam, and we have the new nature in Christ. But this, my friend, is not what the Bible teaches. 

We just read this in 2 Corinthians 5, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. I would submit that it's not possible to have two natures because your nature is the essence of who you are. 

Now in Adam we were dead in our spirit, dominated and controlled by and dwelling sin. You see, the Bible language is this: the I, the inner man, the spirit, that is who I am, and sin is described as indwelling sin, sin that lives in us. The sin is not who I am; the sin is just in here with me, in this body, this flesh, these members. 

So in Adam, indwelling sin dominated me, it dominated the I, the who I am, my spirit, so that I was dead in trespasses and sins, and what was manifest out through my body, my members, was continual acts of sin. But in Christ, I, the inner man, the spirit, was released from the controlling power of sin when I died with Christ. 

You're familiar with Romans 6.6, you've heard that somewhere, haven't you? “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” So the sin did not die; it's still there, it's still living in me, but I died to sin and I was buried with Jesus, raised to newness of life, I experienced the new birth and regeneration, and I, my spirit, was quickened, was made alive, and now sin no longer has power over me to control and dictate what happens out through this physical body. 

But Jesus lives in me, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells me, and now my spirit, listen, witnesses with the Holy Spirit, and by His grace and power, I exhibit righteousness out through these members. You see, it's not that a new nature was added to me. My nature, who I am, is in Christ. I am not in the flesh. I am not that old man in part or in whole. I am a new man in Christ, alive to God, dead to sin and law and death, and Jesus lives in me and through me as I abide in Him by faith, and the Holy Spirit works in me, empowering my inner man to produce the fruit of holiness in my life. 

I am in Christ; that's who I am. Sin still dwells in me. I can choose to act contrary to who I am, inconsistent with who I am; I can go back to law living by presenting my members to sin, but this is irrational. It's irrational according to what God says about me in His Word. 

And here's the key, my friends: what does it mean to sow to the Spirit? It's synonymous with walking by the Spirit. It's synonymous with being filled by the Spirit or controlled by the Spirit. It's synonymous with letting the Word of Christ dwell in me richly. And it's a battle of the mind to walk by faith in the truth of the Word of God. 

This is why the key is in knowing the Word of God, the truth, renewing our minds to it continually and choosing to trust and believe Him, looking only to Him and off and away from everything else. That's what Hebrews 12 says. “Looking unto Jesus,” unto, that little preposition means off and away from everything else, only to Jesus. Like a runner running a race looking at the finish line. If he looks at the crowd, if he looks at the other runners, what happens? He slackens. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. 

So how does this work practically? We see many instructions in the New Testament, Romans 6, you know. We are to know the Word of God, the truth of who we are in Christ, and we are to count up those facts, reckon them to be so, and yield to the life and power of the Spirit in us. 

Know, reckon, yield. Romans 12, you know. Renew your minds. Stop being conformed by the world, but be being transformed, how? By the renewing of your minds to the Word of God. 2 Corinthians 10, you know. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God as we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, the truth of His Word. 

James 1 describes it as well. You have an emotion, a temptation, rise up within you. And in your mind, you must make a choice. Will you believe God? Will you reckon yourself dead indeed to sin, but alive to God? Or will you rationalize that sin in your mind and conceive it there? Because James says sin is conceived like a baby, and once that choice is made in the mind to yield to sin and reject what God says is true, then like a baby, it will come forth and be born through the members. 

Sowing to the Spirit is choosing to believe and trust the truth of the Word of God and trust His grace and life and power in me, depending on Him, trusting Him to produce the fruit of the Spirit through me. That's why I don't like the good dog, bad dog analogy, because its foundation is a faulty premise that I have two natures, that I am two men. 

And if I am partially still the old man, then shouldn't my expectation maybe to be living like the old man? But if I'm a new man, and this is who I am, and living holy is consistent with who I am, then what should my expectation be? Do you lack anything to live a holy life? Peter says God has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. 

What is God's expectation for your life each day as a believer in Jesus Christ? Because of what He's done in you, and because of His Spirit that lives in you and empowers you, I am in Christ. That's who I am. 

And therefore, that's how I should expect to live, by His grace as I walk by faith, and He lives through me. Don't forget the key verse to this whole epistle we're studying, Galatians 2.20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if holy living, if righteousness comes through law, then Christ died in vain.” 

I live, I walk by grace through faith, and I trust God to work in me by His power as He has promised. This is what it means to sow to the Spirit. 

So we see stay in fellowship. We see the truth, that you reap what you sow. Now let's look at weary in well-doing, verse 9: “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” 

These are amazing words as Paul continues with his farming analogy. He says, “Let us not grow weary while doing good.” And in context, the doing good is the restoration of the brother to grace living, it is walking by the Spirit, it is sowing to the Spirit, it's seeing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. And in this, there is a reward. 

But my friends, in this old, cursed world, in this sin-laden, sin-infected world of injustice, the reward and justice and what is right can seem so far off. And this world can get us down. The struggle to keep our minds on the things of God, the things above, to abide and believe and to renew our minds, as well as bearing one another's burdens, the troubling false teaching that threatens the church continually, it can all become overwhelming. 

Paul uses a Greek word here that was traditionally used to farmers. Think about the analogy here. The farmer sows in hope, but boy does farming take patient endurance. Over to exhaustion, trouble, thorns and thistles, weather, disease, suffering, death, disappointment, and sometimes failure of the long-awaited crop. 

It reminds me, I used to be an under-ice beaver trapper for a living. My partner used to say, “If you want to be an under-ice beaver trapper”—which we could apply to farming—“you have to have a size 48 jacket and a size 4 hat.” I'll give you a second there on that. 

But the farmer sows in hope, and then he must wait and patiently endure. Listen to Weiss' comments on verse 9. He says in verse 8, Paul exhorts the Galatians to govern their lives with a view to the Spirit's control over them. Now he exhorts them not to become weary in that course of actions. 

The word weary is used of farmers who are tempted to slacken their exertions by reason of the weariness caused by prolonged effort. The word faint was used of reapers overcome by heat and toil. The word means to relax effort, to become exhausted physically. The incentive to keep on working was that at the right time they would gather the harvest. 

I think the modern day term is burnout. Do not become burned out on doing good. Staying the course, abiding in Christ, ministering to your brothers and sisters, seeking to reach the lost. But it's a battle, my friends, and there's a lot of forces coming at us continually to burn us out on well-doing. 

Why do we become burned out? Why do we become weary? Because we take our focus off of Jesus. We take our focus off of God's Word, off of truth and reward. In a similar passage in 1 Peter 1.13, Peter says, “Gird up the loins of your mind and be sober, listen to this, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

Do you ever rest your hope on justice coming now in this world? That'll burn you out. Do you ever spend time on social media, immersing your mind with the great injustices of this world of politics, of evil men waxing worse and worse, which means the day is approaching, by the way? That'll burn you out. 

Do you find yourself setting your mind on yourself, your emotions and feelings, your failures and shortcomings? That will burn you out. But you know what will build you up? Set your mind on things above. As you run this race, look unto Jesus, the ultimate example of the life of faith. Rest your hope fully on the grace and the glory to be revealed when Jesus comes to take you to the Father's house. 

Wait patiently and endure as the farmer who has sown the seed, and he waits for months and months and hopes for the harvest. We experience the quality of eternal life now, day in joy and peace and hope when we set our mind on things above, when we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, when we abide in Him and live by faith and walk by the Spirit, but our hope rests fully on the grace that is yet to be revealed. 

Our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is not in this world. Our hope is not in the men of this world. Our hope rests fully on the harvest. And we live one day at a time by the grace of God as we walk by faith, enjoying the quality of life, eternal life, that we now possess. 

But we are strangers and pilgrims in this world. We are sojourners. And our city is made without hands in the heavens. This is not our home. We wait for Jesus. Our final hope is fulfilled when He comes. 

Do not grow weary in well-doing, trust, believe, be patient, and live by the Spirit and experience the great quality of life, eternal life, by the grace and power of God through faith each day. My friends, His grace is sufficient. 

And do good to all men. Verse 9, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. 

This is an intensely practical verse. He says, therefore, in light of all that we've been discussing, these great truths, the literal says make time. The word translated opportunity is kairos, the word for time. And it's a command here. It does not mean to take opportunities when they come. It says be looking, be making opportunities, literally make time. 

To do what? To do good to all. What is the good that we are to do? Particularly to the household of faith, he writes, and in the context, this most certainly has to do with walking in the Spirit, helping and encouraging those brethren who have gone astray and to come back to grace and to walk by the Spirit, restoring them in a spirit of gentleness. 

We are to help each other, we are to make time to encourage and help the brethren to stay focused on Jesus, to walk in the Spirit, but he does say to all men. And we are to make time to do good in the sight of all men, to all men. 

And this must certainly have to do with our witness to the outside, to the lost. And this comes twofold in what we say and how we live. If we are walking by the Spirit, exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit, that is loving men as God loves men. If we have peace and joy and gentleness and self-control, even in the midst of suffering and hardship and injustice in this world, that is a testimony to the transforming power of the gospel that we preach, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

You know, when people come into this church, they should sense something different than other churches they've been to. When we live in the world and work with people and interact with people, they should sense something different about us. Why? Because we're so great? No. Because we've experienced this great salvation and regeneration and God has transformed us and He's living in us and He's working out His love through us as we abide, as we walk in the Spirit. 

The clear exhortation here is to make time to do good to the household of faith and to the lost as a witness. And this is why we are here, my friends. This is why God left us in this world. 

This is the most important thing in our lives. We do a lot of things. We have a lot of interests and passions, but the main thing is the church body, is fellowship and the good things, the truth of God's Word, studying, knowing, renewing our minds, walking by the Spirit. The main thing is encouraging one another as we are built up together in one body to a mature man, no longer tossed to and fro, but steady, patient, filled with love and joy and peace, effective to go out into this world and do the work of ministry and witness to the lost. 

If this is not a major part of our life, our passion, our goal, our aspiration, then we've lost our focus. We've set our hope on other things, worldly things, temporal things. Do not grow weary in doing good, my friends. It can happen. 

Many times I've wanted to quit farming because of the difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible hope of the harvest. It's true in the Christian life, in this world, struggles, trouble, suffering, sometimes doubting the harvest or even the process God has prescribed, the method He's commanded, but we must not grow weary. Believers continue. 

And the way we are rejuvenated is to get our eyes back on Jesus, to get our minds on His Word and choose to believe Him, choose to do the good He has for us to do. And if we do this, I want to tell you something, you're going to get excited. 

You're going to remember your first love. And you will see the fruit of the Spirit in your life today and each day. And you will experience the quality of life eternal, the abundant life, the spiritual life that Jesus promised when you rest your hope fully on His grace. 

That's Paul's message here. That's what he wanted for these Galatian believers. That's what I want for myself and for our church. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for Your Word, Your truth, which is so practical, so applicable to our lives, to our time. Help us to make time to spend with You, to talk to You, to spend time in Your Word, to seek Your wisdom, seek Your power in our lives, to do Your will. 

Help us to love one another. Help us to love lost men enough to tell them the truth. Father, help us to remember while we're here that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ and that all may hear and believe and have hope in Him alone. It's in His name we pray. Amen.