One in the Spirit

 Read Ephesians 2

God chose a people for himself.  These people were to show others the God that they knew.  God took a special interest in them.  He blessed them with gifts.  They received:

Distinction as his people

Deliverance from slavery

His law and directives

A sign in the flesh

A land promised to them

That the salvation of the world would come through them—through the seed of Abraham.

We must understand that God did not disown the rest of his creation when he chose a people.  He just set a different time for all to come to know him.

That time arrived with the advent of the Christ. Jesus came to redeem the lost sheep or Israel.  Some of those lost sheep were genetically Hebrews.  Others were not, but all would be called to be one family in God through Christ.

Once there were God’s Chosen People and the rest of the world—generally considered pagan and ungodly.  Now that division—that dichotomy—is gone. 

Christ himself has made these two groups into one family. In so doing, he has set aside the law as it had been.  What was master before became our guide, our mentor, and our friend, but reconciliation with God and with each other came in Christ alone.

In Christ, Jew and Gentile become one tabernacle in which the Spirit of God dwells.  The law separated.  Christ and the Spirit unite.  We are one in the Spirit.

We should study the Torah and the Proverbs and the Psalms and the prophecy of the Old Testament but we are governed by the Spirit of God himself.

We are to repent of lawlessness but that does not mean the law governs us.  We belong to Christ and we stay in step with his Spirit.  God directs our steps through his own spirit.

Listen to Paul’s words once more.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

All who have received this gift of grace by faith have access to the Father through the Spirit.  It is one Spirit.  There is not one spirit for Jews and another one for Gentiles.  We are one in the Spirit.

What is it that we sing most Sundays?  We sing the same thing twice in a row, so it must be important.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

Just who is this we?  It is everyone who has received the gift of grace by faith regardless of lineage, race, geography, age, or good looks.  We are one in the Spirit.

Amen. 

By Grace through Faith

 Read Ephesians 2

Let’s set the playing field.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  That’s a true statement and the fruit of that condition is death.  We were dead in our sins.

At one point, Satan could claim us as his own.  We gratified the flesh. We followed the ways of this world.  We were disobedient.

Death should have been our destiny—domed by our sin and carnal desires, yet here we are living with the promise of more life to come.  We seek more than survival.  We seek abundant life.

We were dead in our sins but because of the great love of God, we are alive in Christ.  We live because God loves us!

We deserved the wrath of God but he gave us mercy and grace instead.  We are not only saved from the condemnation that we deserved.  We are raised up to be with Christ.  We are not just surviving wrath.  We are celebrating life and life abundant and life eternal because of what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.

Jesus paid it all.  All to him I owe.  Here’s how Paul put it.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast

God did everything for us.  We are in right standing with him.  Our own works had nothing to do with our salvation.  It’s all about the love of God.

Paul adds so that no one can boast.  Think about our human nature.  If we had just a little bit to do with our salvation, our human thinking would take over.

Yeah, I did my one percent and God did ninety-nine percent.  God’s love is awesome.

A year later, we might be saying, Yeah, I did ten percent.  God did ninety percent.  That’s a really good deal.

In two years, our human nature would have us saying, I did my half.  God did his half.  It’s like a matching 401K—still a good deal.

Not much farther down the road, we would be saying, I did ninety percent of the work needed for my salvation.  God through in his ten percent for good measure.  I mean I did slip up once or twice, but otherwise, I earned my way to heaven.

Paul said get this and get it good:  You are saved by grace through faith so we know that we had no part in our own salvation.  We simply received the best gift ever and we did it by faith.

You might wonder, shouldn’t we have been required to do at least a minimum amount of good?  Shouldn’t there have been a minimum standard?  How will people know that we follow Jesus if there was no test to pass?

Consider more of Paul’s words.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Paul is telling us that we were created to do all sorts of good and great things.  We do them in response to this wonderful gift that we know as grace.  We finally get to live up to the life that God made us to live.

Do we need good works for salvation?  No.  Our good works proceed from our salvation.  They are the fruit of our salvation.

Our good works could never get us to salvation but they should abound in our salvation.

God loves us so much that he didn’t make us get fixed in order to receive his salvation.  His love did all of that for us, but now that we have received this gift, we should truly be a light unto the world so people can see our good deeds and bring glory to God.

God designed us special.  We are made to do good works.  God made us a list of things to do even before we knew that we would get to do them.

We were destined by God to do these good works and we get to do them because God loves us so much.

We are saved by grace through faith.  Our salvation is all from God and not by our own works.

Now that we are saved, let our good works be known to all so that they may bring glory to God.

Amen.

Lighten the Load

 Read John 20

We remember the exchange between Mary and Jesus on that morning of the first day. I will pick up at the point where Peter and another disciple—likely John—have left the tomb and Mary looks in and sees two angels.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

 

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

 

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

 

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

 

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

 

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

 

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

 

Jesus told her to go and tell the disciples what she had seen.  In other gospels Jesus adds meet me in Galilee or to remind Peter that this message is for him too.

It seems that Mary was the first person to see the resurrected Lord.  She couldn’t give him a big hug because he told her not to—he had yet to ascend to the Father.

Mary did as instructed but it appears nobody returned to the tomb after this. Jesus appeared to them—all except Thomas—on the evening of that same day.  We know the story of Thomas having to see for himself and he got that opportunity a week later.

We remember Thomas not needing to put his finger in the holes in the hands of Jesus or in his side.  Thomas was convinced immediately—my Lord and my God.

I love the words of Jesus that followed.  You believe because you have seen.  Those words applied to all of the disciples not just Thomas. Jesus continued, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

What wonderful words that followed the resurrection, but I would like us to consider what happened to kick this day off.

Mary had gone to the tomb.  The stone had been removed.  Evidently, she didn’t look inside, or maybe she did. She ran back to tell the disciples and told them that they have taken the Lord and we don’t know where he is.

So, maybe she did look in the tomb or maybe she drew her own conclusions. In either case, it was enough to prompt Peter and John to race to the tomb.

Long ago and far away, I was the commanding officer assigned to train and prepare a reserve infantry company to mobilize and go to war.  That day came with the first Gulf War.  When the reserves returned, their first sergeant remained on active duty for a few months.

Every day at noon we would go for a 5, 6, or 7-mile run.  As we were returning to my office and nearing the end of our run, I would ask if we were going to the sidewalk or the flag pole for the end of our run.  The first sergeant would say one or the other and I would sprint ahead of him to that point to make sure I finished first. Yes, I have always been that ornery.

After a couple months we entered the Dam to Dam 20 K Run.  It was 20 kilometers as you might suspect.  We paced each other for the duration.  This probably helped us go a little faster than we might have on our own. 

As we neared the end of the race, there was tape along the sides of the route that narrowed our running lane so the person at the finish line could take our tags and record the order of finish.

As we approached that point, the first sergeant asked me, is that the finish line? I said, I think so. I had never run this race before so his guess was as good as mine, but he sprinted in front of me so the person at the end of the funnel took his tag first.

He got me.  When it counted and our names would be listed, his should appear first. Years later, I googled the run and the year and found a list of finishers.  I was listed as something like 1,012 of over 9,000 runners (maybe more, maybe less—a whole bunch of people) and the first sergeant was listed as 1013.  Somehow, my tag got put on top of his. So for all posterity, I got to the finish first, not that anyone will ever check or care.

John—this gospel’s author notes that the other disciple—probably John himself—beat Peter to the tomb. He stopped but didn’t go in. Peter caught up but didn’t stop.  He went in.

John followed.  Jesus wasn’t there but his burial garments were.  The gospel says:

They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

So what did these two disciples do?  They went home, or at least to their home away from home in Jerusalem.

Upon hearing Mary’s report and seeing for themselves that Jesus was not in the tomb and his burial clothing was left behind, they rejoiced in his resurrection and started singing He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!  Not exactly!

They still didn’t get the big picture, even though Jesus told them more than once what had to happen.  Jesus even chewed out Peter when he said he wouldn’t let it happen.

These two men who would become pillars of the church were dumbfounded.  They didn’t get it.  They did the only thing they could think of—they went home, wherever that was in Jerusalem.

Maybe there would be a little coffee left or half a bagel. If they had stayed in a first-class joint, maybe some yogurt.  They went back to where they were staying.

Other than having a little chuckle at these disciples’ expense, why do I point this out?

There are two things that I will challenge you to do in celebration of today.  The first is begin a year-long celebration of the resurrection.  Yes, find a way to celebrate the victory of Jesus over death every day.  He took away our sins and conquered the grave.  We can look forward to life because of this.

Amen!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Oohrah!

We should celebrate today.  It is special not because it’s the actual date on the calendar but resurrection is special, and the love that sent Jesus to the cross is special. We are special to God.

The second thing is that I want you to cut yourselves some slack.  Yes, the Holy Spirit lives within us.  Yes, that same Spirit brings us to conviction when we do something wrong or fail to do what we should have done.  The Spirit is a blessing but very demanding.

It is tough to live up to the right standing that God gave us in the blood of Jesus.

On occasion, consider Peter and John on that first morning.  Despite the great things that they did in the days and years to come; they were somewhat confused.  They didn’t get it.  They were at a loss as to what to do so they went home.

Cut yourselves some slack every once in a while, when you don’t have everything figured out.  Take a breath when you don’t have all the answers.  Just chill every so often and know that God is God and he does have this figured out.  He knows the next steps.

Trust him and quit beating yourself up every time you miss the mark.  We still confess to God where we fall short.  We still aim high desiring to bring glory to God, but we are going to stop beating ourselves up and feeling down when we don’t quite have an explanation for everything—when we are not exactly sure what the next step is.

Who can understand the ways of the Lord?  Who can grasp the whole picture?  Sometimes, we know exactly what we must do, and sometimes, we wait for the Lord to reveal our next step.

We need to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and what he has in store for us as his disciples.  We need to be known by our love and be a light in the world, and we need to lighten our load a little and stop carrying around the need to know exactly what to do right now.

Sometimes, we are to wait upon the Lord.  Sometimes we just trust and see where he leads us.  Sometimes we just go home, but we must never despair for we know with certainty that God loves us more than we can understand and will never stop loving us.

Let us celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Let’s lighten our load.  The Lord will direct our next steps in his time.

Amen.

Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed

 Read John 20

The morning of the first day brought revelation but not complete understanding.  Jesus was no longer in the tomb. His body had not been taken as was Mary’s initial concern.

Mary had subsequently seen and spoken with the resurrected Jesus, and told the disciples.  We have no evidence that they returned to the tomb.

It seems they were scared.  Jesus had been killed. He told them that he was giving his life but in their minds, they could be next on the cross.  They were scared.

Gathered in one place—well everyone except Thomas—and behind locked doors, they gathered for their evening meal.  They were surely fearful of a knock at the door.  The Sanhedrin could come calling any minute, and they would not come alone.  Their guards—soldiers if you will—would be with them.

They got what they wanted with Jesus.  They had their way. They even got the Romans to do the dirty work. The religious hierarchy and the Roman government had no idea that they were parts of a bigger plan.

The disciples wondered; would they be next?  Would they come tonight? Imagine trying to settle in and get comfortable for the evening meal knowing that there might come a knock at the door.

Or would they even knock?  Would they just kick in the door and seize everyone inside?  I’m not sure what the rule was on No-Knock Warrants back then. 

You might feel better being in a locked room but you had no peace.  Jesus had appeared to Mary, but the disciples had only her word for it.  They were still scared.

And then came Jesus.  He didn’t even knock.  He just appeared in the locked room. 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit

That initial appearance packed a big wallop. 

·       Peace to you

·       You are commissioned to go into the world—you are sent

·       Receive the Holy Spirit

Surely, the disciples experienced joy, but it might take a bit for them to know peace.  They were gathered and scared, but Jesus told them as his Father had sent him, he was sending them.  He had discussed this in the hours before his death.

And finally, he gave them the Holy Spirit.  Hold on.  I thought the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, some 50 days later.  Jesus gave the Spirit at this time but it would not be fully manifested in them until that day of Pentecost.  Some things take time to produce fruit.

They would be filled with the Spirit in a few weeks, but Thomas missed this meeting.  Thomas did not accept the accounts of his fellow disciples.  He needed convincing.  He had to see for himself.

Thomas was not asking for more than the others had received.  Thomas wanted to see the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes.

That’s the model the world uses:  Seeing is believing.

We have a different model:  Believing is seeing.  Paul would say that we walk by—live by—faith not sight. 

Thomas wanted the world’s model.  He wanted to see for himself.  After all, the others said they had seen.  Thomas got what he asked for.  Jesus arrived in the locked room a week later and Thomas was there.

I’m guessing that the other disciples having seen Jesus in his resurrected body still thought it prudent to keep the door locked, but that’s a separate discussion.

Jesus appeared to Thomas and told him to touch whatever he needed to believe it was his Lord.  Thomas fell to his knees proclaiming my Lord and my God. Further inspection was not required.

Jesus spoke to Thomas and surely the other disciples, but he spoke of us.  He said you believed because you saw.  Blessed are those who didn’t get to see me first hand but still believe.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We have not seen; yet we have believed.  We are blessed for we have believed.

We move from this encounter to the first of John’s short epilogues. There is another at the end of the next chapter, but this one is especially for us.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name

We were not there.  We did not see first hand but we have these accounts in the gospels so that we might believe and have life in Christ.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Amen.

A Prayer for the Church in Ephesus and for Us

 Read Ephesians 1

The second half of this chapter is a prayer of thanksgiving and petition.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Paul is talking to fellow believers.  He gives thanks to God for these faithful people.  He petitions God that these believers receive these blessings:

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation

That God will open the eyes of their hearts

That they know the hope to which they have been called

That they may know the richness of their inheritance

That they may know the awesome power of God—power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead

That they may know the awesome power of God—that sets Christ Jesus above all authority, power, and dominion

That they may know that the church is the body of Christ

That they may know that the church manifests the fullness of Christ Jesus in their mission

Paul wanted these believers to realize how much they have been blessed, how much they have been trusted with the work of the Lord, and how great their inheritance is.  Paul prayed for what we might call abundant life in Christ.

Is this also not a prayer for us, that we know the Spirit of wisdom and that we have eyes to see God’s revelations to us.  Are we not called to hope as well?  Is hope not an indicator of our Christian maturity?

Don’t we also need to know with certainty that God has an inheritance for us.  Is our blessed assurance not enhanced when we are certain of the awesome power of God?

We are not the Galatians who abandon faith and sought the governance and slavery of the law, but we might resemble the Ephesians in that we need to have eyes to see the richness of our relationship to the Lord and the significance of being a believer.

Is there not liberty in knowing that we are a slave to God and Christ Jesus is our head.  Are we not enriched by fulfilling our part in the body of Christ?  Do we not need to know that as the church we manifest the fullness of Christ Jesus in this world?

This prayer for the Ephesians is a prayer for us. We should live so abundantly.

Amen.

In Christ

  Read Ephesians 1

The church in Ephesus received a lot of first-century attention.  They were trying to stay the course and press on towards the goal.  They were trying to grow in grace.  Part of that growth would come through Paul’s long-distance counsel.

It’s interesting to note that this church was also the recipient of one of the letters in Revelation, noting they had lost their first love. They were counseled to consider how far they had fallen and repent. The church to whom Paul wrote, still seemed to be living in the love of Christ and seeking his kingdom.

In its original form, the first half of this letter to the Ephesians, after the salutation, might have been one long run-on sentence. The language is more formal, yet softer than what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Listen to this first part as Paul expounds on the richness of blessings that we have in Christ—in Him.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Let’s go from the narrative to the Kiplinger style as we delve into these blessings.

In Christ, we:

Are blessed with spiritual blessings

Are chosen before the beginning of the world to be holy and blameless

Are predestined to be adopted as sons

Are to live according to his will and bring glory to God

Are given grace

Are redeemed through his blood

Are forgiven of our sins

Are granted wisdom and understanding

Have eyes to see the mystery of God’s will revealed

Are part of the plan

Are marked in him

Are sealed with the Holy Spirit

Have the guarantee of an inheritance

Are part of God’s perfect timing

We are blessed because God gave us life and he loves us.  He loved us so much that he gave his Son for our redemption and fullness of life.

In Christ we are blessed beyond measure.

Amen.

May I Never Boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

 Read Galatians 6

I know that you are excited.  How could you not be?  We have another chance to talk about circumcision.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.

What is it to be persecuted for the cross of Christ?  This is what Paul did for a while.  We knew him as Sault back then.  It’s more than that.

The cross tells us that all fall short of the glory of God.  Jesus was nailed to that cross because of our sin that we could not reconcile with God.  Only Jesus could do that and he did.

You either receive the cross as one of the main symbols of your salvation or you must fight against it and hold fast to the law, even though the law had no efficacy when it came to salvation.

The law permitted religious leaders to exercise control over people.  The law made them feel like masters and those whom they should have been shepherding, they turned into slaves. Christ set us free.  Why would anyone want to return to slavery?

Circumcision was just the most obvious and newsworthy point in this dichotomy. We also see Paul plant a seed that he will develop further in other letters, that of the new creation.  The old is gone.  The new has come.

Let’s jump to Philippians to see what Paul says about his old self.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

All of the religious credentials that Paul had acquired counted for nothing as far as he was concerned when it came to righteousness with God.  That didn’t mean that he denounced being a Pharisee.  He used that status to get him into having an audience for the gospel in synagogues, but his religious status did nothing for his right standing with God.

Paul was a Hebrew.  He was circumcised as required by the law.  He was a Pharisee.  He scored as close to perfect on the abiding by the law test as anyone one of his contemporaries. 

He noted that all of these things, all of the outward signs, all of the metrics of religion didn’t count for diddly. What counted was that his old self was crucified to the world and world to him.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.  I am a new creature.  I am a new creation.  I am a new person.

Here’s the bonus as we go forward.  We will talk a whole lot less about circumcision and a lot more about being this new person that we are in Christ.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.  I am a new person!

Amen.

Let us not grow weary

 Read Galatians 6

It’s Palm Sunday.  We read of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  The children went all over the sanctuary with their palms. You know those little stringy things that come of the fronds?  We will be picking those up until Thanksgiving.  It’s Palm Sunday.  We observe that context, but we press on to finish Paul’s letter to churches in Galatia.

Paul is still writing about living by the law and living by the Spirit, but we get some practical counsel in the midst of these two broad approaches.  Like what?

Everyone should carry their own load.  We should do what we can to make it in this world, but if someone is having trouble, help them.

In the armed forces, there is an offense called malingering.  It’s Article 115.  It means that the person is doing things—feigning illness or disability—to avoid doing his part.  In the all-volunteer force, we don’t see much of this anymore.

There are plenty of folks like this in the world.  Some have jobs and get paid.  I didn’t say that they worked, just that they have jobs and get paid.  They work at not having to work. We read plenty about the lazy and the sluggard in the Proverbs.  Elsewhere, the term might be slacker. 

We get it.  There are people trying to get out of doing their fair share.  But what about people who are trying—genuinely and sincerely giving everything their best effort and still coming up short?

If someone is trying to carry his own load but is struggling, help them.  Help them.

Let’s try this nugget. We should not sin, but if someone does and we know it, we should help bring them home. If they were running a good race and someone—including the person himself—got them off course, we should help them get back in their race of faith.

 We are not to be the voice of condemnation but of reconciliation. We don’t walk around with a pocket full of yellow penalty flags looking for offense.  We are equipped with invitations to come home.

Remember the joy in heaven is much greater for the lost or the sinner who comes home than for those that didn’t need much help.

Remember that the flesh and the Spirit that live within us are at war.  If the flesh wins a battle or two, render aid to the believer who is struggling.  Help restore them.  Remind them that God has not given up on them and neither have we.

Anything else? We are to inspect ourselves.  We are to let the Spirit of God who lives within us examine out thoughts and actions.  Before we interact with others, we must undergo inspection by the Holy Spirit.

What is being inspected?  Surely our thoughts and attitudes and also our weapons and equipment.  We will get to that in the next book we are set to study.

Paul reminds us to take care of our instructors.  If we put God’s words into practice and are blessed, share that blessing with your teacher.

When we cruise or go someplace new, we enjoy picking out something for our grandchildren’s teachers. When you put God’s words into practice and are blessed remember those who helped put you on this path.

Some of you still remember the people that put you on the right course.  Remember them and bless them while they are alive. God will reward them, but let them know that they made a difference in your life.

We are at war with the flesh.  Sometimes the flesh tries to convince us that we can try to get one over on God, but it is an impossible task.  We can fool ourselves but we can’t fool God.  God will not be mocked.

Sometimes it seems that we just keep on trying to do good and we don’t see any fruit from our efforts.  We don’t see any progress.  It gets hard to stay the course. We grow weary and wonder if it’s really worth it.  Listen to Paul’s counsel once more.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

A harvest is promised.  There will be fruit that comes from your good efforts.  They are not in vain.  You might have to practice trust in the Lord and patience, but a harvest is coming of your good works.

Remember, your good works don’t get you to salvation, they come out of your gratefulness for your salvation.  They are the fruit of our new nature.

So, don’t give up. Press on towards the goal. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Continue to live by the Spirit and by love. Live by faith not sight.

Let your light shine before people.  They will see the good that you do and this will bring glory to God.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I am reminded of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who said never, never, never give up.  If you say never three times you must really mean it.  Here’s another one.

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.

We should continue, press on, and never give up in doing good to all, but especially to those within the body of Christ. 

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Paul wraps up this chapter and this letter by reminding his readers not to let anyone cut them off in their race of faith.  Yes, it’s another short bout of how worthless circumcision is to the one who has come to God by faith.

Paul reminds these Galatian believers that circumcision and the other demands of the Judaizers are made only to bring them back to living in the flesh, in slavery, and to deny the work done on the cross. These people only want you as a notch on their belts, and these are belts of slavery.

Paul brings forth a recurring theme.  I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.

Paul began this letter with a harsh tone but concludes in a way that says I love my family in Christ.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Some of you are thinking, I can’t believe that we talked about circumcision for 6 weeks.  Others may remember different things.

There is no other gospel.

Salvation is by grace through faith.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

The law is no longer our guardian or governor.

If the law could get you to salvation, Christ died for nothing.

You are on the right path when you live by faith.  Don’t let anyone cut in on you or cause you to veer off course.

Keep doing good.  Harvest is coming.

We continue with Paul’s letters in the order they come in most of your Bibles.  We are on to Ephesians.  Here are some seeds to start your thinking.

What do I have in Christ?

We are saved by grace through faith. Yes, I jumped the gun on that one while we were still in Galatians.

Did you know that we are God’s workmanship created to do good?

May we approach almighty God with freedom and confidence?

Can we grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God that we know in Christ?

Think about the number one.  One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.  Two can be as bad as one, but the loneliest number… That was Three Dog Night.  Some of you are too young to know that you missed the best music ever in the sixties and seventies.

Paul says something about the number one as well. One body.  One Spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father of all.

Here is more that we will discuss in Ephesians.

Putting off the old self and putting on the new self.

Live a life of love.  This one seems to show up everywhere. It’s a recurring theme in God-inspired authors.

Counsel to husbands and wives and children and parents.

Last but not least, putting on the full armor of God.

All of that and more is compressed into six chapters.

We will celebrate resurrection next Sunday and then it’s headfirst into Ephesians.  We should celebrate both.

For now:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Amen.