Well, we're back in Galatians, and this time Galatians chapter 6. And I think there'll probably only be this and maybe one more message, but we'll see how we go. Galatians chapter 6, the Spirit's fruit in action. I want to look just at the first 10 verses, and mainly the first five of those. Always remember why it was that Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians.

He was in house arrest in Rome, we believe, and these people had heard him preach years before, and there was a group of churches in the middle of what we now call modern-day Turkey. And they were heathens, they were Gentiles, they were idolaters, but like the Thessalonians, they had turned to God from their idols to worship the true God and to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. And he'd heard from his house imprisonment in Rome that false teachers had come in amongst them. Teachers claiming to be from HQ in Jerusalem with the real deal of the proper religion and the Mosaic Pharisaical obedience and they'd come to try to get these believers to come back under the yoke of Mosaic law bondage.

Paul wrote the letter to try to correct them. He wrote the letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So what we have in front of us is the Word of God. And he wrote it to guide Christians away from error, back to divine truth. What divine truth? The truth concerning the narrow way to the Kingdom of God. Is that not the mission that the people of God are on? Is that not the pilgrimage that we're on? We're on that narrow way. to the kingdom of God, to that eternal inheritance, to that place that is prepared for the people of God in Christ. But to inherit the kingdom of God, we must be qualified to enter the kingdom of God.

We must have been made the righteousness of God, for nothing else will do. We must have the sin debt that we incur in the flesh by nature of being the children of Adam. We must have that debt paid to the full. The law and the justice of God must be satisfied concerning us. It must have nothing outstanding that it can bring against us as an accusation. The accuser of the brethren, Satan himself, must be totally disarmed from any accusation he can bring against God's people.

And all of that is accomplished by God in Christ for all who were united with him from before the beginning of time. when he, as federal head, representative head, substitute head of his people, when he died, as the law and divine justice demanded, the soul that sins, it shall die. And as the federal head of his people, he died for his people.

And he paid with his lifeblood. Who paid with his lifeblood? God paid with his lifeblood. Look after the church of God which he purchased, God purchased with his own blood. How did God purchase a church with his own blood? By becoming man and shedding that blood.

And he was raised as proof of satisfaction, as vindication that the sacrifice was accepted. He was raised from the dead to prove that God has accepted it. We look at that resurrection and we know he is raised from the dead. He is raised for our justification that we might stand before God. Accepted in his sight, accepted in the Beloved. And he gives faith. He gives faith, which is the sight of the soul. To apprehend those things, those facts. And to do what? Just this. To look. To look. Because you're saying, that's just a New Testament concept. What about the Old Testament? There's an awful lot of Bible in the Old Testament. What about that?

Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none other. This is in Isaiah 45 verse 22. There, the people of God are called to look. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, just as he lifted up that serpent, that thing which was a symbol of that which was killing the people, the bronze serpent, lifted it up on a pole. And what were they to do? The ones bitten, what were they to do?

Look. Look, look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, there's none other. Well, you might be tempted to think fatalistically, if I was in him from the beginning of time, then I am saved whatever I do. But no, not quite, not quite, not by a long way.

If I was in him, then I will do what it says in Ephesians 2.10.

What does it say in Ephesians 2.10? You only need to turn a page.

Ephesians 2.10, we are his, God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. The good works that are ordained by God that his people should walk in them. My eternal state in Christ will be manifested, shown, in my life now. But how, is the question. The answer is this.

All those that Christ redeemed from the curse of the law, in time, will be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, will be born again of God, will be given a new man, a man who repents, not just remorseful about sin, but repents of sin, and believes Christ, and follows Christ, desires to follow him, and bears the fruit of that new spirit of God within, at the same time as the flesh The flesh from Adam, the flesh that we all inhabit from birth, flesh begets flesh, and flesh continues to lust against the Spirit of God. It lusts against it. Verse 17 of chapter 5, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.

Read Romans 7 if you want an amplification. of that whole idea, until the day that I leave, what it calls at the end of Romans 7, the body of this death. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The answer is simple. The answer is this, O wretched man that I am, because I can't ever do what I really want to do, because there's this war going on within me. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I thank God. through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. You see, it's through Christ Jesus, our Lord, that I am delivered. And I'm delivered now from its power and bondage. Do I still sin? Of course I still sin. I'm still in the flesh. I'll sin, I'll be a sinner until the very day I die. That will never get any better. but I'm delivered by Christ from the power and the bondage of sin.

Let's think for a minute about cause and effect, because we've spent time looking at the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. in chapter 5. And then when we come into chapter 6, the first few verses talk about how we should behave to one another, how we should deal with one another. But before we progress, before we progress further, just let's remind ourselves about verse 16 of chapter 5.

This I say then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. How do I stop fulfilling the lust of the fresh? Walk in the Spirit, is what the Word of God says. Now let's try and understand that. You may say that I'm complicating, you know what it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3, the simplicity that is in Christ. And Paul warns there that there are people always coming along seeking to complicate it. You may say I'm complicating the simplicity that is in Christ. But true believers grow in grace and knowledge.

That's the last verse of Peter's second epistle, 2 Peter 3.18. grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We grow in grace. We're exhorted, we're encouraged, we're empowered to grow in grace and knowledge as we go through this life on this narrow way to the celestial city, to grow in grace and knowledge.

I didn't say to grow in holiness and sanctification. Do you know why I didn't? Because in Christ Jesus, all the people of God, He is made unto them wisdom from God and righteousness. and sanctification and redemption. I've told you before, I once got into an awful lot of trouble for stating that verse in a church meeting.

And they said, oh yes, he's wisdom from God. Oh yes, he's righteousness. Oh yes, he's redemption. But he cannot possibly be our sanctification. That's our job. That's what we've got to do. No. The Bible's clear. The word of God is clear. Christ is our sanctification. but we grow in grace and knowledge.

So here's the point to think about, and you might need to chew it over a bit, meditate on it, pray about it. The fruit of the spirit that indwells the true believer, the fruit of the spirit, those things, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against which there is no law, the fruit of the spirit is the effect of the spirit's indwelling, just like the branch of a vine, of a grape bush. Just as the branch of a vine bearing grapes, that bearing of grapes is the effect of that branch being connected to the vine rootstock and the sap of the rootstock flowing up to the branch.

If we, as believers, desired to bear the fruit of the Spirit, now here's the point. we shouldn't actively seek evidence of the fruit in our lives. We shouldn't seek evidence of it. We should focus, rather, on what causes the fruit to be born. The focus shouldn't be on what is the fruit that we are bearing. The focus should be on what is the cause of the fact that the child of God bears the fruit of the Spirit. You see, to look for evidence of fruit, in yourself and in others, is to walk in the flesh and not in the spirit.

It's to have a judgmental attitude. It's to make it a legalistic thing. I remember a series being preached on the fruit of the spirit, and it's 20 years plus ago now, and I won't name names, but I was deeply disturbed by that series. It went on for several weeks.

However many fruits are mentioned here, there was a sermon on each one. And the preacher made it into a legalistic flesh work, looking for evidence that you are bearing the fruit of love. And do you know that you'll have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account if you have not been bearing love? And joy, joy, you have an obligation to... And it went on like that. And I was deeply disturbed that that was completely not what this is saying here. It was made an obligation to be judged, to be measured, to be compared.

Look what it says in verse 26 of chapter 5. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another, comparing how good is the fruit you're bearing with the fruit I'm bearing. Oh, my fruit's better than your fruit. I'm going to have a bigger crown with more jewels in it than you are. Look at this, verse 15 of the same chapter. Biting and devouring one another. Beware that you be not consumed one of another. Remember the error that the Galatians had fallen for.

They'd fallen for the error that the Judaizing teachers from Jerusalem had come, saying that Mosaic law works were needed to make up this almost, well, it is blasphemous to propound this idea, but I'll say it anyway. You need Mosaic law works to make up the shortfall in what the cross of Christ accomplished. That's effectively what they were saying. You believe so far, but then you need to do these Mosaic law works, circumcision and all of the other things that go with it.

Because only when you do that with your flesh will you be saved. Look what it says. Let me remind you. We'd spent time on this, but let me remind you. Verse two of chapter five. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised and put anything else in there, which is a work that you do seeking to gain favor of whatever sort from God, if ye be circumcised, Christ will not be pleased that you're trying your best. No, Christ shall profit you nothing. I testify again to every man that is circumcised, or does any of those things, if once you start on that track, that you're a debtor to do the whole law.

You've got to do the lot. Look at verse four, Christ. Do you want Christ to be of effect to you? When you leave this life and you go into that eternal inheritance, you want Christ to be everything for you. But it says, if that's what you've been doing, Christ is become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified by law, you are fallen from grace. The grace that you thought you stood in, if you go following that line, you are fallen from it. That way will never bring anyone to the kingdom of God.

This is what Paul is saying. This is why in chapter one, he was so condemning in what he was saying about those false teachers. If we are an angel, or it doesn't matter how good they seem, if they preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached, he doesn't just say, you know, turn aside from it. He said, let them be accursed. It's such a serious thing.

So then, Give us examples of how we should live, Paul. Give us examples. Well, here in verses one to five. Bear one another's burdens. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Brethren, brethren. At the start, we read Psalm 133. How good it is when brethren live together in unity. It's like the oil running down Aaron's beard. It's such a good thing. Brethren, think about this.

True believers, on the same basis in Christ, on the same standing, brothers and sisters in Christ, together, brethren. preaching and there was a crowd in the room listening to him. And they came and they said, oh, your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside. They want to see you. And he said, look around here. Here are my brothers and sisters. Here they are. This is my family.

He said, Peter said to him, we've left everything for you, Lord. What will we have? And Jesus said this, he who has left Husbands wives children brothers for my sake and the gospels in this life will have that Those of you that have traveled a bit to where there are other believing people, you'll know that you'll know that You've got homes all around the world You've got places where you're welcome all around the world because that is what it's like for brothers and sisters in Christ people evidently, for whom Christ died, are members together of the Lord's body. He is the head. We're members together of the Lord's body. So, what do we do? We look out for the state of each other. And what do we do? What was that fundamental rule that Jesus said sums everything up?

Do unto them as you would have them do unto you. Do unto them as you would have them do unto you. as saved sinners in flesh that constantly lusts against the new man of God's spirit within, we are all equally prone to be overtaken in a fault. There it is. Don't come, ye high and mighty, proud, I'm holier than thou, stand not near me. No, we're all equally prone in the flesh to be overtaken in a fault. And how might that fault manifest itself? Oh dear. This isn't an advert for it, but there it is, the works of the flesh, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. And you say, well, I haven't physically done those on the outside. And Jesus said, if you've thought it in your heart, as far as the law of God is concerned, you've done it, you've done it.

We're all prone to those things. If and when we become aware of a believer being overtaken, being overpowered by fleshly lust, how should we respond? How should we respond to it? Religion, legalistic Christianity, responds with church discipline. It responds with saying, you've got to have a good structure of church discipline. And what does it lead to? Well, it leads to excommunication, and we've got to put them out, and we've got to isolate them, and we've got to ban them from this, that, and the other. And they quote 1 Corinthians chapter 5, where there was the man in Corinth that had come to Paul's attention, was in an incestuous relationship and he was saying you've got to tell him he's got to stop and if he doesn't listen you've got to put him out from among you. Yes, in extreme unrepentant cases, yes.

Do you know I once heard a man who's got quite a reputation in legalistic Christianity, and he was talking about what marks out a true church. What is the mark of a true church? And this is what he said. He said, the mark of a true church is that it has a rigid structure of church discipline. What? What?

What about faithfully preaching Christ? Is that not the mark of a true church? What about faithfully preaching Christ? What about Galatians 6 verse 14? God forbid that I should glory, not in church discipline, but in the cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I unto the world.

That should be what we master in. That should be the thing that is our main hope of glorying. You see, punishment, seems to be their method. They're like dogs, you know, rounding up sheep. I've often told the story that there's a difference between English sheepdogs, and I'm not saying they do it wrong, but it's just, you know, you might have seen the programs, what's he called, One Man and His Dog, that sort of thing, you know, the rounding up sheep, and the dogs, they bite at the heels of the sheep to round them up, and the sheep are frightened of the dogs.

And I remember once, we were, many, many years ago, we were on a holiday in Spain, and we were driving along one of the motorways. And as we're driving along, there's a bridge from one side of a farmer's land to the other. And the farmer is walking ahead, and the sheep are all following the farmer. They weren't being chased by a dog. They were gladly following the farmer. But in these circles, they tend to view it that you've got to be constantly snapping at the heels of people.

The true gospel precept of how to deal with those that are overtaken in a fault is in verse 1. Restore. Restore. Restoration. Gently bring back the brother or the sister to the narrow way, to the way to eternal life. Gently do it, realizing that you're just as prone to it yourself.

It says do it in a spirit of meekness, not in a spirit of moral superiority, not in a spirit or in a position of ecclesiastical authority. I've been in situations where churches, well there's not so many of them these days, but large churches with a big cohort of elders. And I've seen the situation where the elders were effectively the pastor's henchmen to maintain this sort of discipline around.

To me it's completely contrary to the spirit of what Paul is talking about here. He's talking about in a spirit of meekness. And you know meekness is not weakness, but it is lowliness of mind. In Philippians chapter 2 verse 3, Paul encourages them to each esteem others better than themselves. You think about that. You think about how we relate to one another. Do we esteem others better than ourselves?

Rather than pointing the finger at the one overtaken in a fault, rather than doing that, it's realizing that your flesh is just as capable of the same sin and worse. Don Faulkner, is reported as having said, I'm sure I heard him say it, whatever you've heard about me, in fact it's worse, it's worse. Because I'm a sinner and nothing at all.

Here's a brother overtaken by a fault and struggling under a heavy burden. Share that burden. Don't condemn for that burden, share that burden. Try to lift the burden off him. Help him to get out from under it. Why? Because, look, verse two, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Judaizers were coming in saying, you've got to fulfill the law of Moses. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Christ Jesus. Oh, the law of Moses was good, and right, and proper, and served its purpose in the revelation of the true gospel of Christ. But this is the law of Christ. Fulfill the law of Christ.

In Galatians 5, 13, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but what? By love serve one another. By love serve one another. The law of Christ is the fruit of love produced by a vital union with Christ. That's it. By that vital union with him and the fruit that comes from that, love is the first one of those fruits. The law of Christ is the fruit of that love being produced from that vital union with Christ.

So what do verses four and five mean? You see, he says, verse three, if a man think himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. And there's the other thing which is, which Christ raises in the Sermon on the Mount, that, you know, being very picky with one another about the splinter in your brother's eye, do you not see the fact that you've got a huge great pole in your own eye? Deal with that first before you start picking out splinters out of other people's eyes. But then he goes on to say, verse four, but let every man prove his own work. And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own Burden. Every man shall bear his own burden. What does that mean? Many say it means to measure your own degree of personal progress in sanctification. But I want to point out, if you've got a marginal Bible, look what the marginal reference is to verse 4. It's 1 Corinthians 11,

28. Do you know what that is?

It's the letter man examine himself for worthiness to partake of communion. What's the worthiness that we must have? Have I been good enough? Have I done enough works of righteousness to qualify me as somebody who's fit to take communion? The only worthiness that that passage talks about is discerning the body of Christ. It's discerning, discerning what he has done in his substitutionary atonement for his people. The self-examination for worthiness to partake of the Lord's Supper is, not am I sufficiently holy in my works, but am I discerning the Lord's body?

Am I looking only to Christ, who redeemed me from the curse? He is the cause of the Spirit's fruit in the believer's life. If you can see that, you are looking only to him. you are glorying in his cross. As I quoted before, that verse 14, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.

Doing that is rejoicing for what he has done for you in his substitutionary atonement, in his life and in his death and in his resurrection and everything else. You rejoice that in him your name is written in heaven. He sent out the disciples and they came back rejoicing that the spirits were subject to them. And he said, don't rejoice in that, rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven.

And don't judge the state of others because that's for them to deal with. Verse five, every man shall bear his own burden. Let everybody else check with themselves as we're encouraged to do with the communion thing in 1 Corinthians 11. examine himself, whether he be in a fit state, and that state is a spiritual state of discerning the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, well let's go on to the next bit, verse six. Verse six, let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. So finally then, today, spirit fruit evidenced in an attitude of giving.

It's not an attitude, it's not being subject to the law of legalistic tithing, giving a tenth. You see, that was a very practical thing in the Old Testament, in the Old Testament with the tribes. One tribe was set aside, and yes, there were 12 tribes, but Judah and Benjamin were often regarded just as one. So 10 gave to the support of the Levites, and that's where the principle comes from.

But no, it isn't a rule of legalistic tithing, but it is a rule of living in the light of what God has given for his people. It's in awareness that all that we possess, all that we possess in providence in this life, money, money, not just money, but strength, bodily strength, time available, All of our situation, all of that is from God.

And it's like seed to be sown for a harvest. So if you sow to the flesh, if you spend it on the indulgences of the flesh, you shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit, and the work of the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life everlasting. If you sow to the works of the flesh, the harvest will only be corruption, because the flesh is always corrupt. But if to the Spirit, that's laying up treasure in heaven.

Don't misunderstand me in this. In this issue of giving, and of course in the situation we've got here, with me having had a secular career and pensions now, there is no need for the collection to support the pastor. But there are situations where that is the case. If one is set aside for that from secular employment, then that should be acknowledged.

And the people of God should do that which it says here. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Because God is not mocked. But don't misunderstand, in all of this, we have responsibilities to provide and care for families. We have responsibilities to maintain, how can I put it, it's hard to think of the right word, but to maintain public decency. You know, there's a level of not bringing scorn on the assembly of the people of God by our modus operandi, the impression that we give to people around. But having done all of that responsibly, then to invest in the kingdom of God.

You know, there are situations where huge financial pressure is put on people to neglect their family responsibilities and give to a religious situation. No, the scripture's clear. The one who doesn't look after his family properly is worse than an infidel, it says. It's worse than an infidel. It's not the responsibility of the people of God to be constantly using all of their money to support those who should be supporting themselves.

Those that have got widows, family responsibilities, let the family look after it, is what the Word of God strictly says, it really does. But nevertheless, there should be this attitude of, as in all things, in all things of love for brethren, brethren together, helping one another, doing unto the other as you would have them do to you. He says, let them do good, verse 10, as we have opportunity, as opportunities present themselves, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith. Obviously, we have the situation of our believing brethren in this world as paramount in our thoughts and in our considerations.

So then, what is it that constrains it? What is it that constrains it? The love of Christ constrains us. That's what it says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, I think. It isn't the threats of the law. It isn't the promises of the law that if you do this then you'll avoid punishment or you'll get a bigger reward. No, it's the love of Christ. We love him because why? He first loved us. It's the love of Christ that constrains the behavior of the child of God.

So then, this is it in summary. What we do has no effect on our eternal standing in Christ. What we do has no effect. It's settled for eternity. I stress that the last two weeks in chapter five, I stressed as much as I could that The things we do have no effect on our eternal standing in Christ. That's settled. Christ settled the account for his people once and for all. But, but, our eternal standing in Christ, if we are his, if we are truly his, it has a profound effect on the way that we live it out to one another and to the world in general. Amen.