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[0:00] Be spiritual. Be spiritual. That's my message this evening. And a contrast between the flesh and the spirit.! The flesh and the spirit. They're two contradictory competing powers, elements. And it's common through the word. We see this battle going on between the flesh and the spirit.

[0:23] And many of these scriptures might be familiar to you. And yet, as much as this is somewhat elementary, it bears repeating and refreshing of these vital truths.

[0:37] Essential truths, really, of scripture. Our Lord tells us about the flesh and the spirit flashing, banging heads together, fighting and combating, struggling within.

[0:48] And as Paul talks about that struggle within two, between the flesh and the spirit, there's battle going on. As someone has said, of the heart of man, there's these two, as it were, two dogs fighting.

[1:02] These two dogs fighting, the flesh and the spirit. And it's the dog that you feed the most that wins. And what are we feeding? Flesh or the spirit? Those two dogs fighting, as it were, within us.

[1:14] And our Lord tells of this flesh and spirit battle. We see that in Matthew 26. And the garden, garden of Eden, of Gethsemane, rather. He was in the garden there praying, earnestly praying such that his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground in earnest prayer.

[1:38] And he says to his disciples at this critical hour, he says, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

[1:53] It's this battle and this battling, this fighting between the spirit willing, yet the flesh weak. And the flesh and the spirit are contradictory.

[2:05] They're opposites. As it were, the positive and negative and a magnet. They're just poles apart. They're contrary to each other. And this battle is within us.

[2:17] Certainly it's within me. And it will be till my dying day, when ultimately he'll totally deal with the flesh. But for the meantime, we still battle with the fleshly, carnal man, the carnal nature.

[2:29] And I put to you this, contradictory, contrary forces are constantly at battle within us. Contrary to each other. As our Lord says, it is the spirit that quickeneth, makes alive.

[2:42] The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

[2:53] Tells of the spirit of his word. The words that he speaks, the words that he gives are spirit and they are life. And he says the spirit makes alive. The flesh profits nothing.

[3:06] And some people we know in this world we live, they pour their life's blood, their life's energy, their life's focus into the flesh.

[3:17] And yet, they have nothing for it, really. Nothing that really matters. Amen. Their lives are spent after the flesh. You know, some, their lives are consumed with fleshly things.

[3:30] But at the end of their lives, there's nothing of substance. There's nothing lasting. It's all left behind. It's all futile and vain.

[3:41] And these words, our Lord says, these words are spirit and they are life. You can be truly spiritual, I put to you today. You can be truly spiritual. And the Bible urges us to be spiritual, to be a spiritual people.

[3:55] Because really, there's only two kinds, isn't there? When it boils down to it, there's the spiritual and there's the carnal. There's the spiritual and the fleshly. Two options, really.

[4:06] We can have a carnal mind or we can have a spiritual mind. Carnal means fleshly. The Bible urges us not to be minded on the flesh, but to be spiritually minded.

[4:21] Point number one, spiritually minded. See, Romans 8.5, Paul says, And he says this very telling truth.

[4:40] For to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Something to aspire to. To have life, to have peace. The question for all of us is, where do we set our thinking?

[4:54] Is it on that which is carnal, which is death, or that which is spiritual, which is life and peace? Do we set our mind upon him? Our thinking upon him? On things of God?

[5:06] On things of the spirit? Or is it what is carnal and fleshly? Another familiar scripture would be Colossians 3 verse 2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

[5:20] Set your mind upon him. And here is where we find life and peace. It's in Christ. It's in knowing him. As we set our mind upon him, we find his will.

[5:31] We get spiritual understanding. I had a look through the word of God. The phrase, the term spiritual. Spiritual. And one occasion is here.

[5:43] Colossians 1 verse 9. Where Paul says, For the Colossians he said, Pray for this cause we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will, and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

[5:59] Pray for the Colossians that they might know his will, that they might have that spiritual understanding, that wisdom, to be spiritually minded. Friends, today he makes us spiritual.

[6:11] We know it's not something that we're inclined to, but he makes us spiritual. He impresses us.

[6:21] He leads us. He guides us. If we will but hear his voice. He gives us the knowledge of his will. And he extends spiritual understanding as something we can know, that we can realise, that we can have.

[6:35] How? By his word. This is how we know the will of God, through the word of God. And his leading is through his word. And it tells us that we can have spiritual discernment.

[6:46] Here's that word again, that sense again, spiritual. He says, In the word of God, our Lord says to us through Paul, The natural man, the carnal man, receives not the spirit, the things of the spirit of God, but they are foolishness unto him.

[7:03] Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So some, when they open this book, it's not understood by them, because it is spiritually discerned.

[7:21] They need spiritual discernment. We need the Holy Spirit to discern, to understand it, to fathom it, to plumb the depths of it, to perceive the truth of it, and to partake of it.

[7:35] We need spiritual discernment. And then it says, But he that is spiritual, on the other hand, he judges all things. Yet he himself is judged of no man.

[7:45] For he hath known the mind of Christ, the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ. It's saying here that he's spiritual, judges all things.

[7:58] In the sense that we analyse, we investigate, we search, we explore, we discern it, we fathom the depths of it, we are intent upon it.

[8:17] There is that testing, and that evaluating, and that sorting of what it is, such that we judge things.

[8:28] And the Bible commands that for us, and with anyone that would hear a message, or receive some teaching, or read some book, or watch some sermon, or hear it, that we should search, and check it, and make sure it stacks up.

[8:45] Some people, it says, they cannot receive, they cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Their foolishness, they're spiritually discerned. They don't have the Holy Spirit. And so, no wonder they can't even believe it, or receive it.

[8:59] But for those who are spiritual, it says, they search, they judge, they discern, and they can understand, because they have the mind of Christ. So, it's like there's these two polar opposites again.

[9:11] The carnal cannot receive it, the spiritual will judge it, and discern it, and absorb it. It's like there's two spiritual wavelengths here. Some will tune in, some will tune out.

[9:24] And there's many examples, through the Bible, we see this kind of feature, of the flesh and the Spirit, that work constantly, through the Word of God. We can give, and consider many examples, of men and women, through the Bible.

[9:36] Men and women, who are examples of the flesh, men and women, who are examples of the Spirit. Some acting carnally, some acting spiritually. Mind you, the ones who act spiritually, act carnally sometimes too.

[9:47] So, there's that aspect too. But we, for example, we think of those who act carnally. Those who are of the carnal, of the flesh. And one example would be, for example, a man called Demas.

[9:59] Demas was fleshly. We read of him in 2 Timothy 4 verse 10. Demas, it says, he loved this present world, and he forsook Paul.

[10:10] Demas was fleshly. He was carnal. He forsook Paul. You know, he was on mission. He was in the ministry. He was serving. And yet, he forsook Paul, and he loved this present world.

[10:23] He left Paul behind. And, it's interesting, the name Demas, means popular. Popular. Some people like to be Mr. Popular, don't they? They're just a, kind of, Mr. Nice Guy, just kind of following the world.

[10:36] Fitting in with the world. Just, acting just like the crowd, the worldly crowd. And people can get like Demas. In other words, carnally minded. So, it's that, you think, what's the difference here?

[10:49] You know, I've been talking with someone lately, talking frankly, he's got quite a foul mouth. And it's like, well, he's professing Christ, but he's swearing all the time.

[11:03] People can get like Demas, where they act like the world, they're popular, Mr. Popular, Mr. Demas, you know, popular man, and just wants to fit in, and flow, and go with the flow, fit in with the crowd, and, it's like he's a chameleon.

[11:19] And, just wants to act, just like, the crowd that he's hanging around with. Now, as a younger Christian, I was a bit like that. I'll be honest with you here. I was a bit like that. A bit like a chameleon, just sort of fitting into the culture, of my mates at school, and, wasn't really much to see, that was different about me.

[11:40] And, I came to that realisation, no, I can't be like that. And, I knew I had to stand for Christ, and God had to give me a new tongue, and a new way of living, a new way of thinking, a new way of acting around others.

[11:54] And, we can't be like Demas, people. We can't be like Demas. We can't be carnal. Demas just wants to fit in with the world, not to stand out, and, and, and, and not to come out from under the spell, of the world.

[12:07] They're under the spell. Many don't want separation. But, this defines those, of us who are spiritual. We're defined by this. There's a sense where we are called out.

[12:19] We're a called out people of God. We're called out. God calls us to make a break. And, you know, that can be tough and hard, when your family situation, friends who know you, you think, well, what's different?

[12:31] What's happened to you? You're a different person. That's what we should be, isn't it? Amen? Isn't it? What we should be. And, in 2 Corinthians 6, 17, it says, therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and you will, I will be a father unto you, and you will be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

[12:57] It's got to take that conscious decision, I'm actually going to die to self. That flesh is going to die. It's going to be nailed, nailed, nailed, such that it dies, such that it is dying, such that I die daily, that I put the flesh to death.

[13:12] God commends us to think of certain things, think differently on the crowd. Not to be like Mr. Demas, Mr. Popular, Mr. go along, go with the flow, go with the crowd kind of man, but to go with God.

[13:26] Follow the cloud, not the crowd. Amen? And Bible commends us to think of certain things, to train our brain to think differently, to rewire the brain, such that we not just rewire it, but renew it.

[13:41] And we see this shift in thinking, that happens, the Christian, the man of God, woman of God, get a whole new mindset. And I've talked about the mind, of recent messages I've talked on, it's just a subject, that kind of really grips me, to think, this is important.

[13:59] The mind needs to be, totally, re-changed. It needs to be, remade. And, you know that, lovely familiar scripture, of Isaiah 26, verse 3, thou wilt keep him, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed, on thee, because he trusteth in thee.

[14:18] Now perfect peace, shalom, shalom, it's perfect, perfect peace, peace, peace. That will keep him, in perfect peace. His mind is stayed, on thee. Now some people, we know, have what they call, mental health plans.

[14:32] Mental health plans, it's a big thing these days, and you can go to your doctor, and get one, and sometimes it can be beneficial. Mental health plans. I want to assure you today, that the best mental health plan, is this, isn't it?

[14:44] The best mental health plan. Amen? This is the best mental health plan. This is the best medication. This is from Dr. Jesus, you know, and that's not to discount, some people might need, other medication, but this is the mental health plan, from God.

[14:58] It's his word. This is the one, who's made your mind, the one, the maker of your mind, has given us, the manual for the mind. And if our mental energy, can be channeled here, what a change it can make.

[15:11] Amen? Can't it? This is where, God can change us, we can channel, our mental energy, and we will see great benefit, from the word. Because, the maker of your mind, has given you, the instructions for life.

[15:25] And how to fashion your mind. And how you can realise, a great, deep, and lasting, eternal peace. By, putting your mind, focusing your mind, on what matters.

[15:37] They can be, as those, as Demas, have forsook Paul, he loved this present world, just went shipwrecked, down the gurgler, down shipwrecked.

[15:49] Or we can, run with God, and know, your sail is set, to catch his wind, take you where he wants you to be, and to, focus on what counts.

[16:01] Not on vain things, but on spiritual things. And here's another familiar scripture, for many this would be familiar, but it bears, hearing again, I urge you today, take a hold of these words of God.

[16:12] For example, this one is just a lovely scripture, and, as it all is really, but, but one that we can take to heart, and, and take application, and put into practice.

[16:23] Says, Paul says, be careful, or in other words, don't be full of care, don't be full of care, for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let, your requests be made known, unto God.

[16:41] He's commending prayer here. Now this is the great, glorious privilege that we have to pray, isn't it? To lay, lay our hearts, bare before our God, our maker, and to not be full of care, about anything at all.

[16:57] Lay all our cares at his feet, give it to him, cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee, in everything, by prayer. Don't let anything, escape that, that's covering of prayer, that everything, everything, is, such that you can bring it, in prayer to him, to his throne, and make your requests known, unto him.

[17:21] And then, the peace of God, that passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts, and minds, through Christ Jesus. Don't you want that, the peace of God? Nothing beats that.

[17:32] No, there's no artificial eye, that this, worldly, planet can offer you. There's nothing that compares, nothing that, can stand, in any, comparison to that, the peace of God.

[17:47] That it can keep, it passes understanding, all understanding, keeps your hearts, and minds, through Christ Jesus. And he says this, he says, finally brethren, whatsoever things are, true, whatsoever things are, honest, here's the things, to dwell upon he says, whatsoever things are, just, whatsoever things are, pure, whatsoever things are, lovely, whatsoever things are, of good report.

[18:15] If there be any, virtue, if there be any, think on these things. Now, you look at, what the, the popular, gossip magazines have, on when you go shopping, and they're there, in front of your face, when you get to the checkout, what the, what the gossip magazines have, it's usually the exact opposite, of all of this, isn't it?

[18:37] It's, it's not what's just, it's the opposite of that. It's not what's pure, it's the opposite of that. It's not what's lovely, it's the opposite of that. It's not what's of good report, it's the opposite of that. It's not of virtue, it's the opposite of that.

[18:50] But God says, think on these things. And all the while, friends, without us even realising it, you might even not be conscious, of this, but I put to you, that we are, conditioning our minds.

[19:04] Our minds are being conditioned, constantly. When we go shopping, when we, when we're out, interacting, mixing with people, that our minds are being conditioned, and constant messaging is going on.

[19:17] Our minds are being shaped. So we do well to, take heart, what am I going to put, my mental energy into? What am I going to think on? Think on these things, these things here, that Paul tells of.

[19:31] And again, another familiar scripture, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[19:43] And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

[19:54] There's a mind shaping going on, and there's a conformity going on, and there's a transforming available. And then it goes on to say this, it says, by the grace given unto me, to every man is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man, measure of faith.

[20:17] You know, we ought to think soberly, in the sense that, let's not get too high an opinion of ourselves, that we should be sober, and think not more highly than we ought to think.

[20:33] Friends, there's a shaping of minds going on, and it's a training. Think of it like, we've got a bit of a vine at home, on a trellis, and we shape that vine by training the vine, trailing the branches such that when those branches are thicker, there's no changing it, it's set.

[20:51] And we're changing the course of that plant as we train the trailing vines onto the trellis. And it's like that with you and me today, isn't it?

[21:03] We're training. We're in training. There's a mind training going on. And we can determine, I'm going to be spiritually minded. I'm going to determine to think on these things. I'm going to determine to think soberly.

[21:14] I'm going to determine to not think of myself more highly than I ought to think, but to think soberly. And I'm going to think on those things that he tells me to think on. And he calls us to this.

[21:25] How do we get to be spiritual then? How do we get to be spiritual like this? How can we have a spiritual mindedness? This is not just some concept that is not achievable. God says it is something we can realise.

[21:39] We can attain it. And it's going to take a work of God's spirit. God's spirit fills us. He fills us with himself. He fills us with his spirit, his own spirit. And so it's a blessing to be spiritually meek.

[21:54] See, my first point is spiritual mindedness. Second point is spiritual meekness. Spiritual meekness. Now, I put to you, this is another hallmark of the spiritual.

[22:08] Sometimes our pride is the biggest thing that's going to get us into trouble. I know for me it is. And I look at myself and I compare myself with our Lord and our Lord is meek.

[22:20] Our Lord is humble. His spirit is a spirit of meekness, of love, of care, not of pride, not puffed up or braggartly. This is Christ our Lord.

[22:31] Look at Christ our Lord and see how he lived. The spirit of Christ should be the spirit that we are filled with and we impart, that we show forth the spirit of Christ.

[22:47] Who is he? He is meek and lowly. And look at this scripture here, Matthew 11, another familiar one. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest.

[22:58] He invites us to come. Come unto Christ. If you've yet to come to him, I urge you to come to him. Simply come. Simply come. I was talking with someone earlier today and trying to grasp and grapple with this concept of how do I know I'm a Christian?

[23:15] How do I know I'm saved? How would I know that I've received him? He says, come unto me. Just come. He says, receive. Receive the gift.

[23:27] And it's simple faith. This is not something that is complex. It's very simple. Trust him. And it's simple to come.

[23:39] Isn't it? Lord, I'm coming to you. You've invited me to come. I'm coming unto you. He says, come to me and I will give you rest. And he says this. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me.

[23:51] I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is fine. I like to think when I read this scripture, I'm doing something for God and it's a heavy yoke and maybe it's not his.

[24:10] Sometimes we can put ourselves through such that we're trying to do a ministry that we're finding is heavy that that is not given to you by God.

[24:23] His yoke is easy and his burden is light. There's a sense where there's a lightness still, I guess, an expenditure of energy but there's a lightness.

[24:37] There's a blessing. There's a comfort in your service for the Lord when it's the burden that he gives you, when it's the yoke that he gives you. Now that's a comfort for me.

[24:49] Sometimes we have to say, ask ourselves, what is it God's putting on my heart to do? Something that is burdensome, that is a heavy burden, or is it something that our Lord will help me and ease that burden and heighten that load?

[25:03] Our Lord is humble is the point I'm making here. He's the perfect example of humility that he stepped down from heaven's glory and came and became a man, a servant, perfect man, the perfect God man.

[25:15] He is the perfect example of humility. When we think of the great teachers that have come and gone, there's no one greater in humility than our Lord, that he would bear our sin, that he would bear the shame, the curse of the cross, the very curse of the death of the cross for us.

[25:31] And another example is Moses. One of the great mighty men of the Old Testament time was Moses. And what was said of him? He was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

[25:45] And so, likewise, Moses, he was gentle, he was kind, he was humble. And I put to you today that to be spiritual, we need to be spiritually meek.

[25:56] Well, be willing to be one who's spiritually meek and such that when we see someone who's going off track or needs some urging to faith, that we don't come under their, that they come under our thumb and we browbeat them and that we act holier than thou, you know, but rather we come alongside and we try to lift them.

[26:25] That's my heart, that we would have that heart, heart of Jesus. Our Lord says to us, learn of me. How do we learn? How do we learn a language one word at a time? Don't we?

[26:35] I know someone's learning Spanish lately that I know and it's one word at a time. And, friends, it's like, how do we learn of Christ one word at a time?

[26:47] Learn of him. Learn of me, he says. And this is really the greatest learning of life. You know, we can undertake, I know there's some people learning to be a pilot, there's people learning all kinds of training programs and all kinds of qualifications we can take our life's journey.

[27:04] The very best training program that you can enter is the school of Christ, isn't it? The school of Christ. He says, learn of me. Not only is he the teacher, he's the subject, the school is Christ, he's the one who teaches it, he's the subject of the training program, the school of Christ.

[27:23] Let's enter into that. Now, the Lord commends meekness. As he said, Moses was commended himself as the perfect example. And to put this in the context of being spiritual, for example, we look at this verse here.

[27:37] He uses the word spiritual again, Galatians 6 verse 1. Paul says to the Galatians, if someone's overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

[27:52] So Paul's saying the ones who are spiritual are the ones who will have the heart to reach out. We that are spiritual, God helping us, you that are spiritual, the ones who are spiritual will have a humility such that but for the grace of God, I could be where they are.

[28:09] You know, I see, you know, we've seen some sad situations, people in gross error, in moral failure.

[28:20] We think, how can we restore them? How can we be Christ to them? How can we reach out to them such that God helping us, we're not going to come across as, I'm better than you but let me encourage you, let me lift you, let me help you, let me spur you, stir you back, let me enter the gospel race.

[28:42] And we that are called to be spiritually minded are meant to be spiritually meek. So I said, we'll have that heart, but we'll learn of him, the perfect one and we'll be like Christ to others.

[28:53] And as this, the spiritual work doesn't stop there either. The spiritual mindedness, the spiritual meekness, there's a spiritual growth, the spiritual meat to partake of.

[29:04] Because friends, as a spiritual man, as a spiritual woman, the spiritual training program that is life for us, it's not something we can say that we've arrived.

[29:14] Like Paul said, he's still running the race. He says, not that I've attained yet, not that I've apprehended yet, I'm still not quite there yet. And then ultimately he did cross the finish line, of course, but the spiritual is a growing, there's a training, there's a spiritual growth that is a time where we grow from glory to glory.

[29:41] Because that sense as a spiritual man, a spiritual woman, that God wants us to grow. This spiritual growth is something that is continual. There's a continual learning. And the Lord wants us to be such a people that we're continually learning, growing spiritually, not staying as babes in Christ.

[29:57] That our spiritual growth comes from spiritual food. Now the Bible, here's another reference to the word spiritual, that it tells of the people of God, of the children of Israel, that they did eat the same spiritual meat.

[30:12] So we talked about being spiritually minded, or being spiritually meek, and just lastly, spiritual meat. We need spiritual meat. And it's been truly said, you are what you eat.

[30:24] Now it's a wonder I don't look like a chocolate bar, because I like eating chocolate, you know. It's true, isn't it? You are what you eat, and it affects you. And I know I'm being constantly told I should eat more healthy.

[30:37] We should eat healthy so we can grow healthy, shouldn't we? And it's the same spiritually, isn't it? What are we partaking of? What are we eating? What is our nutrition level?

[30:48] What's the star rating? This is a five. We need to grow spiritually. We need the word, don't we? We need to grow spiritually, to have spiritual growth.

[30:59] We need spiritual food, spiritual meat. And we're feeding our spirits with something all the time, aren't we? Some people, they're down at the skip bin to get their food.

[31:14] That's a sad thing, isn't it? That is the reality. And some Christians are like that too. They're eating spiritual slops. Some of these TV preachers, you wonder, they're probably better off without some of that.

[31:28] But we're feeding our spirits all the time. When we turn on the TV, when we're capturing images and social media and messaging from here, there and everywhere, it's feeding, isn't it?

[31:40] Feeding. Feeding. What does it say? Garbage in, garbage out. And we are like a sponge, aren't we? Every one of us. There's food going in. Spiritual food. Some of it unhealthy.

[31:51] And we're absorbing stuff. We're like a sponge. And so are our children. Amen? Watch what your children are doing. What's their atmosphere teaching them?

[32:01] What are they feeding? What are they absorbing? And sometimes too, it's about the company we hang with too. The birds of a feather flock together, it says, isn't it?

[32:12] The popular saying. And so we hang with people who are not spiritual, they're carnal, then it rubs off on us. And likewise, what we eat matters.

[32:26] And I sort of thought of it, we eat what we grow and we grow what we plant. And that's true spiritually, isn't it, as well? I look down at my veggie patch and I've got some tomatoes growing there.

[32:39] I just wonder, why is there only tomatoes growing there? Because I haven't planted anything else. It's the same, isn't it, spiritually? Why am I not growing spiritually?

[32:49] Well, I'm not sowing into my life, I'm not investing, I'm not planting, and so there's no growing there. So what you reap, you reap what you sow, don't you?

[33:01] And likewise, what are we planting into our lives? And we're doing that here tonight, God helping us, I pray, that there's something being planted here. And it's the word of God.

[33:12] It's more that than what I say, it's his word. And what is planted, what is implanted, will bring fruit. And we have to determine to do some planting spiritually too.

[33:27] It takes a decision to invest time, to put spiritual energy, to determine. There's some good godly Bible school training courses here offered by a Bible school in Victoria.

[33:43] And you can tap into that. You can watch it online, you can do online lectures, you can watch it and participate without going to Victoria.

[33:55] And what a blessing that is, that you can tap into that which is going to feed your spiritual life. It's got to take the decision to plant. Say, I'm going to do that because that's going to be good for me.

[34:08] It's a determination to invest in Bible study, in spiritual study, in spiritual truths. And then we'll have a spiritual harvest. So friends, just to think further on this point of spiritual food, Peter writes, lay aside all malice, all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings.

[34:29] It says there's some things to get rid of. Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the spirit, also talks about the works of the flesh, or the carnal fruit, if you like.

[34:42] And Peter says here, lay some things aside, put them away, don't have this in your life, put it away. Malice, which is like hatred, guile, deception, and falsehood, hypocrisies, be fair dinkum with God, envies, get things sorted if you've got problems with other people, evil speakings, don't speak evil.

[35:06] And then it says, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, you may grow thereby. Have a hunger and a thirsting and a desiring of the word. Feed your faith and you starve your doubts to death, what someone said.

[35:20] Feed your faith and starve your doubts to death. And the more we feed our faith, the more we partake of spiritual meat, spiritual food, the more we'll grow and we'll be transformed and we'll grow stronger in our faith.

[35:33] That's my prayer for you. That's for our church here today, that we will be a spiritually fruitful people. So friends, we see here in Galatians verse 7 through 10 of chapter 6, there's a reaping and there's a sowing.

[35:51] And God is not mocked, whatever man sows, that shall he also reap. We're going to bear fruit and it depends what is planted, what is sown, what is put in the ground.

[36:03] What we invest our life energy into is going to bring a harvest, a reaping. a result. And it says, he that sows to his flesh, there's that fleshly carnal, fleshly mind, the fleshly thinking, going to reap of the flesh corruption.

[36:21] But he that sows to the spirit, spiritual mind, spiritual life, he will reap life everlasting. And it goes on to say, and let us not be weary in well-doing, for we shall reap.

[36:39] In due season we shall reap if we faint not. So therefore let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

[36:50] Friends, just to wrap this up here, we reap what we sow. We reap what we sow. Our life is a planting, it's a growing and it's investing in either the flesh or the spirit.

[37:04] When you boil it down to it, really you're either of the flesh or of the spirit. The people are minded after the flesh, they can't discern this stuff. This is just a foreign language to them.

[37:17] It's spiritually discerned so they can't fathom it and it's gobbledygook to them. And I pray I'm making it reasonably understandable and simple enough that you can capture that this is spiritual meat.

[37:29] This is spiritual food. It's something we need. The milk of the word, the meat of the word, that sense of study, of research, of doctrine, of Bible training, it's spiritual meat for us.

[37:43] And there's a need for us to be spiritually minded in a world that's preoccupied with fleshly mindedness, with fleshly thinking. There's that need for that. And there's a need to keep that spiritual meekness such that even as an advanced Christian, as many of you are, more advanced, more knowledgeable than me.

[38:02] Many, potentially. That whatever our spiritual state and standing, we don't ever come to a place that we are spiritually proud, but we'll keep spiritually meek.

[38:13] There'll be that spirit of meekness such that we'll have that heart to reach out, to see souls won, to see Christians lifted, to see others edified and nurtured.

[38:24] And we want to nurture that planting that is spiritual, that is within us. Let's plant what is spiritual and eat that. And pray for me with my chocolate addiction that I'll be set free.

[38:37] That's a, you know, but there's a sense where spiritually though, what is it that we're addicted to that is not good for us spiritually? Isn't that more important? You know, really?

[38:50] Let's feed that spiritual man. That we can grow spiritually healthy. that God will take us to a higher level spiritually. That we can know a spiritual breakthrough.

[39:02] We can go deeper in the love of Jesus. That we can seek his face more earnestly. That we can yield more to him. And friends, I'm really speaking to Christians, but you might say, I've not even taken the first step yet.

[39:15] I'm not a Christian. Or I don't think I am. It takes one step. Trust him. One step of faith. It takes one step.

[39:28] Like I was talking earlier today, someone that was grappling with this and trying to make it more complicated than what it really was. Really, it's simple faith. Simple faith.

[39:41] It's just the first step. Man, there's a whole journey. There's the Christian walk. Just step after step after step. As we draw closer to him, to his coming or his taking of us, that the path of the just, what does it say?

[40:00] It gets brighter and brighter. The perfect day, doesn't it? That sense where, look, as a newborn Christian, it's all going to be a lot to take in.

[40:12] But that's the journey, isn't it? That's the amazement of it. That's the wonder of this treasure. This treasure that we have that we can, by his spirit, it will be spiritually discerned.

[40:26] We'll understand it because he will guide us to understand it. So let's get deeper in our faith. And it's going to take that decision to battle the flesh.

[40:37] First thing that Elijah had to do as he battled the prophets of Baal, he had to rebuild the altar. The altar had grown, had been forsaken.

[40:48] The altar needed to be built again. And we need to rebuild the altar and say, we're in a spiritual battle here. Prophets of Baal are all around us.

[40:59] They outnumber us. But Elijah had to rebuild the altar. And it's like that with us spiritually. We can have times of spiritual low points.

[41:10] And even as one who is spiritual, we're battling the flesh still. It's still a battle. Elijah rebuilt the altar and God brought the blessing.

[41:22] And it's like that with you and me in our spiritual lives. That resolve, that sacrifice, that letting go to be spiritually minded. You know, just to use that kind of bit out there kind of example of the chocolate.

[41:39] Things that I've got to say, no, that's not actually good for me. What about spiritually? Same, isn't it? Things spiritually we can, you can sit back and kick back and absorb all the signals and messaging of the world just like your neighbour who doesn't know.

[42:00] Or you can be, there's some spiritual in our number who actually think, well, I can use my time better than that. I can do better than that.

[42:10] I can do better than clicking through the Facebook or the TV channels and actually flick through the book, God's book. That would be better for me, wouldn't it? And we have to determine what we set our affection on.

[42:21] Not to be like Demas. He was, got off track and he was, we don't want to be like Demas, do we?

[42:35] Be like him. Don't be Mr. Popular. Be a committed Christian. And be spiritually meek such that you have his heart, the heart of Christ.

[42:48] And you might be hearing all of this and you might say to yourself, I can never be spiritual like that. Too far out of my reach, I'm just too inclined to fail. God can help you get the victory.

[43:02] There's a victory here that's available for you. And friends, every Christian is in this battle. Sometimes I like to say when some people say that kind of thing to me, that all the more reason that God is working.

[43:19] And you've got that conviction. When you know, oh, I'm not where I should be. There's things I've got to let go of. Oh, I'm not a very good Christian. Well, actually, the Holy Spirit is convicting us, isn't it?

[43:31] The Holy Spirit convicting us. Yes, Lord. Okay, you've pointed that out to me again. And I'm hearing you, Lord. I'm hearing you and I humble myself.

[43:42] I ask for your help. And when we realise, when we look through the word of God, we see the flesh and the spirit. We see fleshly men and women. We see spiritual men and women.

[43:53] And even those, we see the kind of people that God used and someone put this which is kind of a little tongue in cheek. that even those who have failed, God can use.

[44:06] God can use anyone. And isn't that a wonderful assurance to you? You might say, preacher, I failed. I failed. You know, I'm a castaway.

[44:17] I'm, God's finished with me. I'm far gone. Even those who, those who have failed in the word of God, God set them back on track again and he can with anyone.

[44:30] By his grace extended and received, we can know his restoration. Think of those that God used despite their failings.

[44:41] Moses stuttered. David's armour didn't fit. The boy, shepherd boy, who would think to battle a giant. John Mark was rejected by Paul.

[44:55] Paul virtually wrote him off because he left him in the lurch. Timothy had some ulcers, whatever it was, some stomach problems. Maybe medically he wasn't fit, served.

[45:09] Amos' only training was in the school of fig tree pruning. Now, he wasn't particularly qualified to be a prophet. He didn't go to the Harvard University of his day.

[45:21] He was pruning fig trees. God got a hold of Amos, farmer Amos. Jacob was a liar. He would have chosen Jacob.

[45:32] David had what the world would call an affair. He was a fornicator. He fell into grievous sin. David, surely they'd wipe off David, count him out.

[45:44] God didn't. Solomon, you could say he was too rich. All of the worldly system, he had and made many mistakes of course too. God still had a hold of Solomon.

[45:57] He's written some of our books here. Abraham, some would say he was too old. You might think I'm getting a bit old and long in the tooth. Abraham was too old, people would say.

[46:09] But no, God doesn't have an age limit. There's no retirement plan. David, you could say was too young. But no, God used David, young David.

[46:19] there's no one too young here today. Lazarus, dead. God even got a hold of him, amen. So there's hope for you.

[46:32] If you feel like you're on death's door, Lazarus was dead. Naomi was a widow. Some might think a widow, well, they might write them off. No, write anybody off.

[46:44] Paul was a murderer. Effectively, he was an accomplice to murder, wasn't he? How could he even be a Christian, let alone be an apostle of the Lord? God doesn't write people off.

[46:57] God takes the failures that we are. I am. Jonah ran from God. I think Jonah, he was a wasted time. Surely, God, the word came to Jonah a second time.

[47:11] Amen. Sometimes God's words got to come to us a second time, a third time, a fourth time, until we finally get it. And Miriam was a gossip. They would say, Gideon and Thomas both doubted.

[47:24] Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Elijah was burnt out. Martha, you could say, was a worrywart. Maybe you could, this might be reading into it here, but Mary may have been lazy, in contrast to Martha at least.

[47:40] And then Noah got drunk, and worse, and so on and on you could go, couldn't you? The Bible tells the stories of human beings just like you and me, warts and all, doesn't it?

[47:52] And they think that God can use any one of us. Can't he? Amen. Don't you believe that? If we were back in Moses, Amos' David's, Peter's day, that we could have been alongside, labouring, serving, used of God.

[48:14] And if it could have been true back then, why not of today, of now, of your life, right here, right now, what life you have left to give? Friends, God can use anyone.

[48:27] It's about that battle between the spiritual and the carnal. It's saying, God helping me, I want to be on this side, I want to be on the spiritual side. And not that you want, but there's a sense where I want to be on the spiritual side, amen, not on the carnal side.

[48:41] I want to make a decision, I'm going to cross over, I'm going to cross that line, I'm going to stand in the gap. So friends, just to recap, these thoughts about the word spiritual, very important truth, be spiritual, isn't it?

[48:59] It's very, very critical that we are a people who are minded to be spiritual, be spiritual. It's very, very important. How do we get spiritual? It's really, you've got to be born again first.

[49:10] That's the ultimate, absolute. Know that you know him, trust him. Take that simple step of faith, yes Lord, I believe, I believe you, I believe you died for my sin, rose again, I trust you, I receive your salvation gift.

[49:27] Then that's that walk of faith, that spiritual walk, where we still battle with the carnal man, the carnal ways and influences all around us and it's in us too.

[49:38] And we've got to constantly nail the old man, don't we, to the cross again, to have that spiritual mindset, to have that be spiritually minded such that we're actually going to decide, we're going to think spiritually, to determine that my mind is going to think on these things, my affection is going to be set on things above, my thinking is going to be shaped by this book, by his words, I'm going to be spiritually minded, I'm going to be spiritually meek such that even when I am a strong Christian, even when I am strong and fervent and walking closely with my God, I won't ever get so proud that I'll always have a spiritual meekness such that I've got an eye out to other people to help and lift others and that you'll have a heart for spiritual meat such that this will count, this is something you want to feed on, this is something you can't really get enough of, the word, the word of

[50:41] God, spiritual meat, spiritual food, let's pray, Lord we bless you that you are the one that saves those who come unto you, Lord we thank you for that promise, we can come unto you, we pray each one here might know that truth, personally know that they have come to you and they have received your gift, they know you have died for them and they have trusted you, your promise for them, that you will not cast away anyone who comes unto you, Lord we pray for each one here that will have that mind, that heart, that affection, spiritually trained and nourished and growing and you'll keep us meek and humble in heart and you'll give us that yoke that is easy, that burden that is light, Lord you'll give us that training that we need for life's journey and for the spiritual walk that we must have and help us Lord to fight the flesh at every turn, help us to recognise it and to hate the flesh, to despise it that is in us,

[51:45] Lord that you can be glorified in each one here tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

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