Pastor Kenneth Stewart of Glasgow RP Church of Scotland preached the following sermon titled, The Need To Triumph. It is about walking in the Spirit.
However, this sermon differs from many on this topic because it gives specifics on sowing-reaping; how to notice your own sowing; what to do about that; how sowing impacts your walking; things one needs engage in to promote a spiritual life that lends itself to walking in the Spirit….
Sermon HIGHLIGHTS [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:
- Ephesians 4:17ff; Galatians 5:16 – 6:10 (Galatians text theme of sermon)
- Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh…
- How do we walk in the Spirit and ensure we are walking as a true Christian, an heir of God?
- How do we become stable, self-controlled Christians we are called to be?
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
- What is sowing? How do we sow?
- The heart / mind is the place of sowing; Proverbs 4: 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life
- As you think in your heart, so you are; that is the real you
- Matthew 12: 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- Worldly proverb that is in line with the biblical idea of cause and effect; root, fruit:
- Sow a thought; reap an action; sow an action; reap a habit; sow a habit; reap a character; sow a character; reap a destiny
- What we think in our minds is linked to heaven and hell
- Biblical sowing is a voluntary action; involuntary thoughts explained
- The sexual sins listed in Galatians 5:19 are the fruit of sowing to the flesh; that is, one sowed lustful thoughts in his mind enough that they became an external reality
- An example of Jesus confronting the Pharisees about lust, sowing and reaping: Matthew 5:28 [ESV2011] But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Jesus also explained in Matt. 5, that anger in the heart is the seed of murder, and it is charged as that sin
- Every decision becomes a brick in the wall of your character, forging the real you
- The battle between the flesh and the Spirit is being played out in your thought processes every day
- Gal 5:16 [ESV2011] But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Developing a spiritual life will enable you to have less trouble with the flesh; this begins in your mind
- Ephesians 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness
- Verse 23, renewing of the mind, defines the putting off and putting on, how it occurs
- What does it mean to renew the mind?
- It occurs when you meet God in true worship; in His word and prayer; Spirit to spirit; His word reaches you and your prayers reach Him
- Something happens then; that encounter becomes a channel of God’s transforming grace
- Every time you have such an encounter, you change; you may not be able to observe or quantify the changes in you, but they occur if you are approaching God rightly
- When a pastor calls the congregation to worship, he calls them into the covenantal transforming presence of God to experience His power by faith
- If you do not come in faith, then the service will wash over you and you will leave unchanged, but more accountable
- It is appropriate to expect to meet God; to have faith that it will occur
- That is not what happens if you approach with the notion that you are meeting an obligation and then you will leave and go about living the Christian life in your strength
- 2Cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
- Private worship should also be approached with an expectant heart, as though you are in God’s presence, as when you are called into corporate worship
- As you truly worship, God changes you by applying the word to you; forgiving you; cleansing you [I thought of this verse – John 15: 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you]
- This is the first day of the rest of your life: there will be many new starts; many opportunities. Christians are called back by faith after they fall; again and again and again…
- By the above worship, the power of sin is mortified in your life
- Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
- Jesus said if you know these things you are blessed if you do them
- Take seriously the renewal of your own mind by the word and prayer daily; participate in living worship, as described above [examples from the Bible]
- Relevant texts briefly noted and related in closing: Romans 13:14; Romans 12:1; and Colossians 3:1ff
Link to his sermon [it is of very poor quality, but the content is wonderful]:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=911181954257
The following link is to the 4 sermons of a mini series he did in a conference; I listened to all 4 today; although the above sermon stands alone, the other three provide much relevant information:
I became aware of Pastor Stewart’s sermon because I subscribe to the YouTube site: Christian Sermons and Audiobooks. A notice of the 3rd of 4 sermons was sent to my phone; after listening to it, I followed the link to Stewart’s site, it happened that the series was posted on SermonAudio….
I said that so as to say that I highly recommend subscribing to Christian Sermons and Audiobooks; they send out several sermons a week, C H Spurgeon; John Owen; Jonathan Edwards…and contemporary pastors such as Pastor Stewart.