Barnhouse, Donald Grey: Walking By The Spirit ~ Gal 6

Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee, our Father and our God, and in the Holy Spirit. We ask thee that today thou shalt guide us, that thou shalt fill us, that thou shalt speak to us. We want to live Christ as well as talk about him, and for this we need that thou shalt take possession of our being, that thou shalt teach us by thy spirit, that we may know what it is to walk in thee. Bless each heart as we listen and speak together, in Jesus' name, amen. We come now to the ninth and last of our studies in the Epistle to the Galatians, chapter six. Having concluded the main doctrinal portion of the epistle, the apostle now gives practical counsel on Christian living. In verse one, we read, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Now here we learn how we're to live as a group of believers. This verse reveals our Lord's desire for oneness and for love within the body of Christ, even as he pointed out in the thirteenth of John, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. And in nothing is Christian love more evident than when it covers up sin in others, shields the guilty from the tongues of gossip, and lifts the one who has fallen and helps restore him to a place of usefulness in the church. First, this passage shows that it is not abnormal for a true Christian to slip back into sin. Here is no condoning the sin, here is no lawlessness, there is no antinomianism. The Bible nowhere teaches that a saved man may relax and need not concern himself about sin. Everywhere the opposite is taught. Nevertheless, the fact remains that sin does sometimes overtake the believer, and when such a situation arises, the brethren who are spiritual are to do everything possible to restore the sinning one. The Greek word translated restore was a medical term in classical times, a medical term for setting a bone when there had been a broken arm or leg, so that the fractured member could knit and be restored to complete usefulness. And this is what God himself does, for we read in the Psalms, make me to hear joy and gladness, so that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. The Lord invites the spiritual believer to participate in this divine process of bone setting. Sometimes, for reasons of pride, the members of a family will unite to protect the family reputation by paying back money that's stolen by one member. The true Christian is to be as zealous to protect the reputation of the sinning fellow believer, not for pride, but for meekness, recalling that he himself is capable of the same sin. Verse two, bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. The spiritual believer will show love toward every other believer and will seek to help, to strengthen, to build, to restore, to comfort. And it's in this way that he fulfills the law of Christ, the only law for any follower of the Savior, the law of love. Having shown that all other law is hateful to God, Paul now reveals that love is the fulfilling of the law. Furthermore, if a Christian does not turn outward in love toward others, he turns inward in love for himself. For verse three says, for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. There are many believers that live as though Christ had said, without me you can't do very much. But what Christ really said was, without me you can do nothing. A well-known Bible teacher once said to a venerable missionary, oh, pray for me that I may be nothing. And the wise man answered, you are nothing. Take it by faith. Any believer who does not know this truth deceives himself. And now verse four and five. 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. You see, this is the other side of the coin. Only when a believer recognizes his own nothingness can he have the joy of knowing that God works through him. And this is the way that we're to test our own work, and then we may rejoice that our work is in God through us, and that none of it has any human origin. Each believer answers to God alone and is to stand before him alone. Every believer must do all that he can to help every other brother in Christ, and yet no individual should be a parasite. And thus, although we bear one another's burdens, we must be careful to bear our own burdens. Yet one phase of the work of the whole body of Christ must have special consideration. One chosen by God to teach the gospel is to live by the gospel. In the Old Testament, contrary to popular belief, there were thirteen tribes in Israel. For although Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, not he, but his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, became heads of tribes. There were twelve tribes that had title to land, but the thirteenth, Levi, had no land. Its portion was the Lord, and the Levites were his priests. Now, under the New Testament economy, although the elder or the minister is not a priest, he is nevertheless to receive his living expenses, as did the priests of the Old Testament era. And so we read in verse six, let him that is taught in the word communicate, give unto him that teacheth in all good things. Put very plainly, the congregation is to maintain the pastor teacher. The old word communicate is better rendered share. Those who are taught in the word of God are to share their material possessions with their teacher. The father of the late President Woodrow Wilson was pastor of a small Presbyterian church in Virginia, and he drove a beautifully groomed team of horses. One day he hitched them up in front of the general store, and as he turned to enter, he passed a group of men who eyed his patched trousers and worn shiny coat, and one of the men said, preacher, your horses look better than you do. And Mr. Wilson replied, I take care of my horses, and my congregation takes care of me. There are thousands of faithful ministers who serve their people devotedly and put in a hundred-hour week for less compensation than that received by carpenters, plasterers, and electricians for a thirty-five-hour week. This situation dishonors the Word of God. When we understand this, we shall not make the usual erroneous interpretation of verse seven, which is often taken to refer to loose living and high sinning. For the verse refers to the financial obligations of believers to support the cause of the Church of Christ. It says, 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, and especially to them who are of the household of faith. Now, this does not refer to sowing wild oats, but this passage refers to how a Christian uses his money. If you want a text to show that the sowing of wild oats is followed by a harvest of thorns and briers, you must not use this paragraph as your authority. You may turn to Proverbs twenty two eight, he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity, or as the revision has it, he who sows injustice shall reap calamity. Hosea says that those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind, but our text in Galatians six refers to offerings in the church collection and not to wild oats. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap, means in the measure that a Christian gives money to spiritual causes, he shall reap blessing from God. The one who is taught in the word is to share with the teacher in all material things. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a Christian plants when he spends his money, that shall he also reap. The believer who spends most of his money on himself reaps no more than the frittering rottenness that goes with selfish spending. Our text is the Holy Spirit's application of a passage from the Sermon on the Mount to the life of the believer. Spending money on things that are merely of the flesh brings no satisfaction. In fact, it's a divine principle that God makes all things unimportant in the eye of the Spirit. We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Temporal things will all be left behind. What we send ahead will be on deposit for use in heaven. The distinction set forth here is that some people have their heaven in a bank, and others have their bank in heaven. Moreover, the believer is not to sigh and moan when a cause is presented or another offering requested. They're not to say, oh, another collection. The Bible says we are not to be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. The principle set down here may require self-sacrifice, but it leads to complete satisfaction. And verse ten has to do with priorities. What are you to give to first? And it says, as we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith. Now there are a thousand good causes asking for every dollar that we can afford to give. How shall we decide among so many things? Church, radio broadcasts, Bible societies, Red Cross, community chest, cancer fund. God tells us that we need not be perplexed if we follow him closely. We love all the human race, and we are to be as open-handed for famine relief in India as for the local hospital. We are to give as readily to relieve orphans in Korea as the support of an orphan down the street. But then the Bible here gives the standard of choice, as we have opportunity. Now, this means that if you have a million dollars, you can distribute gifts to a wide range of activities, but if you do not have a million dollars, you are to confine your giving to the needs of those who are of the household of faith. If I have a dollar and many hands are stretching toward me in order to get it, I think along these lines. Suppose that cause A has a serious deficit. Can its officers appeal to Jew and Gentile, Christian and non-Christian? If so, then I do not give to that cause. But if cause B is so Christian in its outreach and impact that no unsaved man would be interested in it, to that cause I give my dollar. Only very wealthy believers are to support causes that do not minister directly in the name and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, and even they are to give priority to Christian causes. Every cup of cold water that we give is in the name of our Savior God. Now, at this point in Galatians, the subject matter changes. Did Paul write the entire epistle to the Galatians with his own hand, or does he begin at this point to write the postscript in his own handwriting that characterizes all his epistles? Paul always finished a letter in his own sprawling script, written painfully by a man who was almost blind. Perhaps Paul himself did write the entire epistle by his own hand, or perhaps he began at this point. At all events, he calls attention to his own handwriting. As the Revised Standard Version puts it, verse eleven says, "See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand." He had already reminded them in chapter four that they would have been willing to pluck out their own eyes if that would have enabled him to see. And I'm inclined to believe that Paul's own handwriting began here, because in the next verses he reviews and sums up the argument set down in the earlier chapters. Taking the pen in his own hand, he resumes his attack on the legalists. In verse twelve and thirteen he says, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised, that they make glory in your flesh. The whole conflict between law and grace boils down to its true source, the desire of the individual for credit. Man is incurably addicted to the idea of doing something for himself. He wants to take credit for what God has done, to feel that he has a part in his own salvation, or that he is keeping himself saved. And all this is because he wants a good showing in the flesh. It certainly is not to the glory of God. And although the Galatians Gentiles had submitted to circumcision, they were not keeping the law. As it was then, so is it today. Entire denominations exalt law keeping as a condition of salvation, yet neither leaders nor followers have ever kept the law. Even though they themselves do not keep the law, the leaders of these groups desire to involve their followers with them in this dreadful business. The man who gains a convert to the idea that there is no salvation for those who have not been water baptized has carved something out of the convert's soul and consumed it, fattening upon it to his own glory. The same is true of those who convince others that they must keep the seventh day or Sunday as a Sabbath, or bow to ecclesiastical authority. And Paul wanted none of this, because the Holy Spirit wants none of it. Now, verse fourteen: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. He who knows the truth of grace alone must turn to Jesus Christ and give him all the glory. Christ on the cross, not the cross itself, but Christ in his act of immolation, redemption, expiation, propitiation, reconciliation, salvation. Christ created a state of death between the believer and the world. Because of Christ's death, the world, with its ravenous appetite for self, must condemn the true believer to death. And just as surely, because of Christ's death, the believer who has been raised with Christ to newness of life counts the world as dead, and himself as dead to the world. So in Christ Jesus, our life is not legalism or non-legalism, but the life of Christ within us. We have become partakers of the divine nature, and we must let God's life be our life. Paul is now about to pronounce his benediction, not the false benediction which calls down the blessing of God on saint and sinner alike, as though we were saying the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, whether you're good or bad, saved or lost. But Paul's benediction is selective, dividing men into two groups, the saved and the lost, those who trust in Christ alone and those who do not trust him, or who trust in him plus something else. For he says, and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Now, this verse contains the reason why I always ask God to give restlessness to those who have not been born again, and to those who are walking far from him, and to give peace to his yielded own. The blessings of God belong only to the people of God, those who, by faith in Christ alone, have become the spiritual children of Abraham. The epistle is finished. Paul has delivered his soul. It has been a terribly hard letter to write. It has caused deep pain, like the pain of a woman in travail. It has meant severe analysis of the Galatians and severe criticism of them because of their practices. These are the people whom he has loved. Could it be that they are tares instead of wheat? He thought they were founded in the truth. Is this a fact? And in verse seventeen, he says, from henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Now Paul had a right to set himself over against these false teachers. He had stood for the truth. He had been stoned and beaten for his stand against legalism, and the scars were upon his body. He knew that he was in the right. His scars showed that he was willing to die for the truth of Christ alone. So in verse eighteen, he says, Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Paul's heart goes out to the Galatians in one last thought of love. Oh, how wonderful this is when we recall how sternly he spoke to them at the beginning. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you unto another gospel. This was his opening rebuke. And again, oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? But now, as he says farewell, his great heart yearns for them to know the fullness of the Spirit in their daily lives. And thus we have his great benediction. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Indeed, they were brethren. They had been born again. They had been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. They were dear to the heart of God, even though they were entangled in the meshes of a dead law. Paul wrote this letter so that they might understand that their new birth had begun in the Spirit, and that they were to continue living in the Spirit. If any of you listening today has become entangled with the law, the grace of God can cut you free and enable you to live for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the honor of God and to the blessing of those around you. And our God and Father, we pray thee that the Holy Spirit shall take these great truths to us, and we may know what it is to stand fast in the freedom wherewith Jesus Christ hath set us free, that we may never again be slaves of law, but rather that the glorious liberty of the full flowing spirit of Christ may be manifest in our lives. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.