the Scripture with you, I would invite you to turn with me to the New Testament book of Galatians, Galatians chapter number 5 this morning. Galatians 5 and 6, as was read just a moment ago. I hope that you've come eager to be taught, to be fed, to be charged and changed by God's Word. Galatians 5 verse number 16. Galatians 5 verse 16 commands us to walk in the spirits. Galatians 5 verse 25. repeats the command, again, to walk in the Spirit. That is, we are to live our lives by means of the Holy Spirit of God who dwells within us. The Holy Spirit ought to fill or control us, Ephesians 5 verse 18. The Holy Spirit ought to lead or guide us, Romans 8 verse 14. The Holy Spirit ought to convict us of sin and teach us all truth, John chapter 16. And when we obey the command to walk in the Spirit, we will experience the fruit of the Spirit that are named, that are listed here in Galatians 5, verses 19 through 21. And we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, listed here in chapter 5, verses 22 and 23. But ultimately, beyond simply listing these vices and these virtues at the end of chapter 5, Paul makes it clear that it is the practical relationships of life that best reveal our walk, our walking in the Spirit. And this is my proposition from this text this morning. I propose that it is our actions and it is our reactions among one another and in relation to one another that are the greatest indicator of whether or not we are walking in the Spirit. Let me defend that premise in general this morning as we begin before we examine our text in specific detail. From the context of Galatians chapters 5 and 6, notice with me the relationship responsibilities that we have toward one another. Your Bibles are open before you now. Galatians 5 verse 13, look there. It is through love we serve one another. Look at verse 15, chapter 5, verse 15. We are not to attack one another. Look at verse 26, Galatians 5, verse 26. We are not to compete against one another. Chapter 6 verse 1, we are to restore one another. Chapter 6 verse 2, we are to bear one another's burdens. Chapter 6 verse 10, we are to do good to all, especially those of the household of faith, one another. All of this is in the context of the command to walk in the Spirit. Now let me show you this very same phenomenon in another context. If you turn just a few pages ahead to the book of Ephesians, Paul's letter to the Ephesians, look at Ephesians chapter five, verse 15. In fact, this was the subject of our Sunday school class, our adult Bible fellowship. This morning from Ephesians chapter five, we are to walk, circumspect, or carefully, verse 17, this is God's will for us that we walk in this way, being, verse 18, controlled by the Spirit. So once again, Ephesians 5 now, just as in Galatians 5, the theme is walking in the Spirit, being filled by the Spirit as evidenced in these ways. Look at Ephesians 5, verse 19, speaking to one another. in worshipful ways. Ephesians 5 verse 21, submitting to one another. Verse 22, and following is the husband and wife relationship. Chapter 6 verses 1 through 4 is the parent-child relationship. Chapter 6 verses 5 and following is the servant-master relationship. All of this flows from the command in chapter five, verse 18, to be filled with the Spirit, and it precedes the command to dress for spiritual warfare, chapter six, verses 10 and following. And so both in the book of Galatians and in the book of Ephesians, I propose to you that it is the practical relationships in our lives that best reveal our walk in the Spirit. How we act, how we react among one another most reveals whether we're walking in the spirit or walking in the flesh. If you are married this morning, if you have children this morning, coworkers, fellow church members, every relationship in your life is a measure of your spiritual walk. In fact, relationships are the case study. for walking in the Spirit. You can turn back to Galatians chapter five, from which I have prepared a message titled, Walking in the Spirit, a case study. The case study is relationships. Let me pause for prayer, and then we'll unpack our text together this morning. God in heaven. Our hearts are filled with thanksgiving. And we sing, thank you, Lord, for saving our soul. We declare that you are good. You are so good to us. And God, this morning we've assembled as a fellowship of believers in praise and thanksgiving, in gratitude, with hearts of gratitude for all that you've given us. God, this morning as we study the Holy Scripture, we understand the command to walk in the Spirit or walk by the Spirit, to keep step with the Holy Spirit of God. It's our heart's desire, but Lord, so often we stumble in that walk. We trip and we even fall in that walk. But Lord, as we understand that it's the relationships of life that best reveal our walk, I pray that you would give us understanding, insight by your spirit from the scripture, so that we might be obedient in these matters. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. This morning our text is Galatians 5 verse 26 through chapter six, verse number five. Disregarding the chapter division flowing from one thought right into the other, let's pick up in Galatians 5 verse 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If you have the English standard version, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit, which was really the title of my message last week, verse 26. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Number one in your notes, the problem is self. The problem is self. Our actions and our reactions, our conduct toward one another is determined by our opinion of ourselves. And the conceit of our minds and our hearts causes us to mistreat one another in two ways. The first problem of self is this. we have a superiority complex. That is, we provoke one another, provoking one another. When we think that we are great, when we are conceited, this is chapter five, verse 26, or boastful is how the New American Standard translates it, or desirous of vainglory is the old King James we all grew up with, right? When we are desirous of vainglory, we will provoke or literally challenge one another as in a contest. When we think that we are superior to one another, when we're conceited, we want to demonstrate that by challenging others to dispute it and have us prove it, our superiority. It's like the famous line in Annie Get Your Gun. Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you, right? There were three boys in the schoolyard that were bragging about their fathers. The first boy said, my dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper. He calls it a poem, and they give him $50. The second boy said, that's nothing. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, and he calls it a song, and they give him $100. The third boy said, I got you both beat. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper. He calls it a sermon, and it takes six ushers to collect all the money. Right? Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. My father can beat up your father is really the spirit there, and we have this sense of superiority, this conceit, this vainglory, and it causes us to provoke one another, even here in this place, perhaps, at Fourth Baptist Church. The second problem of self would be the opposite. This is inferiority. And again, from the text there, the end of verse 26, Galatians 5 verse 26, envying one another. You see, let us not become conceited, either provoking one another, that's your superiority, or envying one another, that's the inferiority, and when we think that we are less than we ought to be, or less than the other, we envy that other, we become jealous of that other, they have more possessions, they have better positions, and we resent the other, and we want for ourselves what they have. That's a problem for every one of us, or at least for me. Inferiority, envying one another. So generally speaking, we adopt one of these two attitudes toward each other. Superiority, inferiority. And in both cases, folks, it is a consequence of our own conceit. We are proud. We are puffed up. We are arrogant. We consider ourselves superior to other people. We challenge them. We consider ourselves inferior. These are two sides of the same coin, you see. And the reason I'm inferior, I feel that is because I'm actually proud, you see. And my insecurity is really a function of my pride. And so we challenge those when we think we're superior or we envy those when we consider ourselves to be inferior. And folks, these attitudes are not part of the list of the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22 and 23. Look there, look at verses 22 and 23 and find them for me. It's not there. Rather, these attitudes are found in the lists of the fruits of the flesh. back in verses 20 and 21, as we have contrasted these things in the previous weeks. And so the problem is self. The command to walk in the spirit, but the problem is self. The problem is the flesh. Only when we walk in the spirit of God are we able to have right relationships with one another, as characterized by those fruit listed in verses 22 and 23. All right, number one, if the problem is self, number two, the principle is service. The principle is service. And allow me to skip chapter six, verse number one, and go straight to verse number two. We'll come back to verse one in a moment. But Galatians six, verse number two, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now, this follows a theme that's established back in chapter five, verse 13. Look back to chapter five, verse 13. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. But here it is, here it is. Through love, serve one another. And now in chapter six, verse two, bear one another's burdens, serve one another here and fulfill the law of Christ. So simply stated, we ought to serve one another out of love, serving one another by bearing their burdens. Now, there are two presuppositions that we can make at this point. The first presupposition is that we all have burdens. I think I'm safe in acknowledging that presupposition. All of us are burdened. I doubt there's a single person here this morning that is not carrying a burden. If you have no burden this morning, would you raise your hand? Anybody? I'm not seeing anyone. We are all burdened, a relationship that is broken, or a need that is unmet, or a fear, or a hurt. We are all carrying burdens. There's another presupposition, and it's this. God does not expect us to carry our burdens alone. We know that to be true because we're told in Psalm 55, 22, cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. We know 1 Peter 5, 7, cast your cares on the Lord because he cares for you. Jesus himself invited those who were heavy laden to come to him for rest. And so we acknowledge these presuppositions. First, we all have burdens. We've acknowledged that. And secondly, the divine burden bearer God himself has promised to care for us, but then there's a third presupposition we can establish, and it's this. God has purposed to use us, to use you and me, in helping one another care for one another. We are His instruments, instruments in His hands to carry one another's burdens. And when we walk in the Spirit, we share and serve out of love to care for one another's burdens. So how do we do this? Well, we don't do it perfectly. There's always room for improvement. However, let me explain some practical ways in which we have organized ourselves formally as a church to care for one another and bear one another's burdens. We have New Testament deacons who serve. Our deacons serve our church leadership, our pastors, and our church membership, each of us. They serve us beyond a call or perhaps a card to those who are hurting. They're custodians of funds that we give to help those with financial needs. And for the sake of discretion, these things aren't publicized, but every month, every month, our deacons are serving our membership with distributing those funds. We call it the deacon care fund, the deacon fund, the benevolent fund. And they serve us in that way. In addition to New Testament deacons, we have deaconesses. And this is not a formal New Testament office, I believe. However, these are women who serve our membership and they call or they send a card or they visit. They provide assistance to widows and shut-ins and families. And you never know what's going on, but they're active in this way. We have a church office staff who coordinates and communicates needs of the body so that our congregation is aware of one another's needs. They prepare and weekly print a midweek prayer sheet with various needs and they coordinate the distribution of meals to perhaps those that are laid up for a time. Our adult Bible fellowship classes that meet at 9.15 on Sunday mornings, they have close relationships, they keep up with one another in those small groups. And for that matter, all of the small groups of our church family, whether it's the women's fellowships or the mom's groups or the men's Bible study, those are places where needs are shared and burdens are carried. There are discipleship meetings, and there's biblical counseling that's taking place each week, and each of you, independent of any organized, structured, formal coordination, you demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit as you bear one another's burdens, walking in the Spirit, caring for one another, and serving one another. It's a beautiful thing. In fact, I have at times wondered, what does the world do What does the unsaved, unbelieving world do without a church family? I don't know that I could function. The greatest support group in all the world is the body of Christ caring for one another. And I've been the beneficiary of that many, many times. And I assume that you have as well spirit-filled believers who serve one another in their local church caring for one another. And by doing this, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. Galatians 6 verse number two. Now, I think that when the Apostle Paul is writing this, verse number two, I think he's casting a sideways glance at the Judaizers. For this reason, there is an interesting link between the notion of burdens and the law. Okay, now follow this. Instead of imposing the Mosaic law as a burden upon others, which is what the Judaizers were doing, right? Rather than that, fulfilling the law of Moses, Paul says we should rather help each other, serve each other out of love by walking in the Spirit and fulfilling the law of Christ. You see that little play on those themes, the law of Moses, the law of Christ, the burden of the law, and carrying one another's burdens out of love and service. What does a Spirit-filled Christian look like? What does a spirit-filled church look like? This is it. Those that serve one another by carrying one another's burdens. And I would commend you, for I've observed you in these very ways. Look at verse number three. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, When he is nothing, he deceives himself. So once again, we've got the problem of self is identified again here, this conceit and this arrogance. When we have a high opinion of ourselves, we will not bear one another's burdens because we're too self-consumed. The problem is self, the principle is service, verse number four, but let each one examine his own work. and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, not in another. So rather than comparing ourselves to our neighbors, either with superiority or inferiority, we evaluate ourselves for we are responsible before God for our own load, verse number five, for each one shall bear his own load. Now, I get confused at this point because it appears to me that there's a contradiction in the text. Verse number two and verse number five. Compare verse two and verse five of Galatians 6. But there's not a contradiction because here's what Paul is saying he's saying there will come a day when I cannot carry your load and you cannot carry my load. You see there will be a day when we will personally stand before God and be personally responsible for our own walk our own life and at that reckoning day we won't be able to lighten our load by comparing ourselves to a fallen brother or sister. Remember what I said last week, it's not my brother, it's not my sister, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. I explained that I had a problem with one in our church, a member of our church that's always been a problem for me, and it was me, right? We need to worry about ourselves, our work, our walk, because we've established the problem is us, it's me, it's self. We've considered the principle, it's service. And someday we will stand before the Lord and give an account for ourselves, not for the other wretch that was also part of the same church that we were part of ourselves. So how does all this work out? Verse number one, we skipped it, but this is the model to follow. And I'm gonna call it number three, the pattern. The pattern is walking in the Spirit. This is the case study for walking in the Spirit. Galatians 6 verse number 1, That is, walking in the spirit, if you will, the larger theme of this context, restores such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. So let's ask some questions here about verse number one. First, what do we do? What do we do in verse number one? The answer is restore. And I don't have it in your notes, but you can put it there just in the white space. Restore. What are we to do? We are to restore. Outside of the scriptures, the word here translated restore was a medical term that described the setting of a fractured or dislocated bone. Within the scriptures, the word restore that's translated here, used among other places in Mark 1 verse 19 to describe the disciples mending their nets after a night of fishing. So it's either to reset a bone, it's to mend a net, and the idea is this, when we discern that our brother or our sister has stumbled and fallen, we do not despise them or condemn them, saying, serves them right. They had what was coming to them. They deserved it. Wait till I tell so and so. Rather, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 14, put that in the margin of your notes. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 14, we are to warn the unruly. We are to comfort the faint hearted. We are to uphold the weak. We are to be patient with all. These are some of the ways in which we restore that brother or sister. I've told you many times in Psalm 23 when the shepherd boy David celebrated the good care of his own shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd. I'm the shepherd of this flock, but the Lord is my shepherd. David went on to say that he restores my soul. He restores. That idea of restoration or restoring, many times a sheep would find itself on its back. Unable to get up, its feet in the air, its wool was wet and heavy or caught in a thicket and there was maybe a depression in the ground where the sheep had laid down. The sheep could not get itself back on its own feet, leaving it vulnerable. So what did the shepherd have to do? The shepherd had to come along and restore the sheep. He restores my soul, putting that sheep back on its feet. And folks, that's what we are to do with one another. There are times when we need to be restored. By others? Help me, I'm on my back. Or there are times where we come alongside of another and we help them to get back on their feet. That is what we do. the pattern of walking in the spirit. What are we to do? We're to restore. How about this question, who is to do it? Who is to do it? And the answer there is the spiritual people. You say, okay, pastor, who's that? Well, I have a short list here of the spiritual, I'm not gonna read any names, right, no. Who are the spirit-filled ones among us? Who are the spiritual ones among us? I hope that it's your pastors I hope that it's your deacons. I hope that it's the seminary professors, hopefully. I don't know. It should be each and every one of us who are walking in the Spirit, in step with the Spirit. You don't need to be a pastor, a deacon, or a seminary professor. You need to be a born-again believer who is walking in step with the Spirit. You are filled with the Spirit of God. You are following after the Spirit. Those walking in the Spirit are evidencing the fruit of the Spirit earlier in chapter number five. And so the adjective there in chapter six, verse one, is simply describing those characterized by the Holy Spirit. That is any one of us who demonstrate the fruit in chapter five, verses 22 and 23. I hope that's all of us. All of us have this responsibility toward one another. See, this is the case study. What does walking in the Spirit look like? Does walking in the Spirit look like living in a monastery? Only ever always praying and reading your Bible? Maybe humming a Gregorian chant? No. Walking in the Spirit is a matter of relationship with one another, in this case, restoring one another. What should we do? We ought to restore. Who should do it? The spiritual. There's another question here, letter C. How is it to be done? How is it to be done? There are two ways here in the text. And if you're looking closely, I think you'll find it in verse number one. It's sub point number one in gentleness in gentleness gentleness is by the way one of the fruits of the spirit listed back in chapter five verse twenty three. It speaks of meekness under control. And spiritual believers ought to be gentle and humble and gracious as they minister to a Christian brother who is overtaken in a fault, in a sin, in gentleness. Most of you never had the opportunity to know my father, Daniel Morell. My father was a gentle man in this sense. He was a meek man, power under control. He was a gracious man. And I rise up and I call him blessed for that in gentleness. And I witnessed my father even fight battles, if you will, with a spirit of gentleness. At the same time, it demands confrontation and correction. You have to go to the other and speak truth into their lives. You need to go to the other and perhaps rebuke or admonish or confront, but you do so gently and in love. It demands correction. It assumes risk. If the other is defensive and unrepentant, then the poison of their bitterness will defile you and many others. Hebrews 12 verse 15 talks about, Proverbs warns that if you rebuke a fool, he'll hate you. Folks, I would lament that there are times in pastoral ministry where I have made efforts, imperfect as I am, to admonish, to correct, to rebuke, to shepherd, to restore, And as I reach out my hand, it gets bit. And as I, in a spirit of gentleness, try to provide counsel, I get, if you will, smashed in the face. And that's a painful thing. It assumes some risk. But we do so out of love and service for one another. It demands confrontation and correction. It assumes risk. How about this? It provides for growth. And these aren't sub points. These are just my thoughts as I'm analyzing this case study. It provides for growth. Growth in the life of each party. One another. Your relationships. In fact, that's the purpose and the goal of this very thing. A model given in Matthew chapter 18. You gain your brother. and there is growth. So how do we do this? We do this gently, but then this must also be done carefully. Look at the end of verse number one, chapter six, verse one. Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. The ESV reads, watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. And so I would offer this, it's to be done with carefulness, with gentleness, with carefulness. Why must we be careful to consider or watch ourselves? in this case study. I believe that the chief temptation of the one who is attempting to restore another, a good friend, a fellow church member, a family member, one who has fallen, they're ensnared with a fault, with a sin, here is the danger. The temptation is to walk in the flesh. To bite and devour one another back in chapter 5 verse 15. Or to provoke and envy one another, chapter 5 verse 26. Or maybe to think of oneself as something special, chapter 6 verse 3. You see, the antithesis of walking in the Spirit is walking in the flesh, and walking in the flesh is it's all about me. I get conceited, I get arrogant, I get proud, I get puffed up, and if it were not for God's grace, I too would need to be restored But I don't think of that, I think of my own good standing as I'm confronting you. It's the beam in the eye, the speck in the eye matter, right, that Jesus taught about. So my premise this morning is this. There at the top of your notes, it's the practical relationships of life that best reveal our walk. In fact, the relationships of life are the case study for us walking in the spirits. And I call you to live a spirit-filled life in your relationships so that your relationships reveal that you're walking in the spirit. A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out. I'll conclude with this. A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out. A subjective person came along and said, I feel for you down there. An objective person walked by and said, it's logical that someone would fall down there. A Pharisee said, only bad people fall into pits. A mathematician calculated how deep the pit was. A news reporter wanted the exclusive story on the pit. An IRS agent asked if he was paying taxes on the pit. A self-pitying person said, you haven't seen anything till you've seen my pit. A fire and brimstone preacher said, you deserve your pit. A Christian scientist observed, the pit is only in your mind. A psychologist noted, your mother and father are to blame for your being in that pit. A self-esteem therapist said, believe in yourself and you can get out of that pit. An optimist said, things could be worse. A pessimist said, things couldn't be worse. And then, a spirit-filled Christian took the man by his hand and lifted him out of the pit. That's the case study for walking in the spirit. Let's pray. of God in heaven above, we humbly bow our heads and our hearts before you in submission to the teaching of this Scripture text, the command to walk in the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, to keep in step with the Spirit of God in our relationships with one another. God, I pray that you would give us humility, not conceit, humility to see and to hear, to understand how we might serve one another and so fulfill the law of Christ. I pray, Lord, for the Fourth Baptist Church family, that we might be a church that is characterized by the fruit of the Spirit in these ways. For I pray it in Jesus' name, amen.