0:20 Good morning brothers and sisters. Um the Lord has uh laid a burden um to share today from the background I came from. 0:36 I born and raised in a a farmer's home. I did farming till um I joined in a engineering college. Um so before uh we 0:52 uh meditate on these few burdens the Lord has asked me to share. Uh let us pray and prepare our hearts like farmers prepare 1:07 um their land before they go and sew the seed. Our dear heavenly father, we thank you so much for the work 1:25 you have done and continue to do in our lives. Thank you for the wonderful and precious um promises and the purpose you have for our 1:42 individual lives as families and as a church. Father, before even I was born in my mother's womb, you have a purpose for my life and our lives. Help us to remain humble and have a 2:01 reverence for your presence so that we may have your life and riches. We ask and receive all these things in Jesus precious name. Amen. [snorts] Um 2:26 we see two fields here and uh one choice. Um the field two fields here mentioned are the flesh and the spirit. 2:43 And the seed is a choice. The choice we make every day in our individual lives. Every day we are planting seeds in one or the other uh two fields. You see it 3:03 here. Either we sow to our flesh or we sow to our spirit. And the harvest is guaranteed without 3:18 exception. We see uh and we reap what we sow. Please uh turn with me the book of Galatians um Paul's epistle written to the 3:38 Galatians church here in chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 7 8 9 three verses I read here verse 7 do not be deceived God is not mocked 3:57 for Whatever a man sws, this he will also reap. For the one who sws to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sws to the spirit will 4:15 from the spirit reap eternal life. Verse n. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Verse seven says we 4:34 cannot fool God. The harvest always comes. Verse eight, the field we sew into determines the harvest we get. Verse nine. 4:52 The spirit's harvest takes time. Don't quit. Keep sowing in spirit. Harvest is going to come. Every choice is a seed. 5:08 Every seed is a vote for the one of the two harvests. We reap eternal life if we sow in spirit. And we reap decay and death if we sow in 5:27 sinful nature. It's also called our flesh. Adamic nature. What we have received from our forefathers. Now before Paul wrote these words to Galatians, 5:45 he had lived this this war within himself and he did not hide it. He wrote about it with a painful honesty. 6:02 And um we read it in uh Romans chapter 7. Before you go there, if anyone of you are thinking about what is this flesh or children are thinking about uh what is this spirit quickly, I will read it uh from 6:21 Galatians chapter 5. If you flip one page back where you are right now, Galatians chapter 6, you read it. Galatians chapter 5:E1 17. The flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. You see 6:38 there is no middle ground. They are opposite each other. Either we sow to the flesh or to the ground. If you continue to read there, if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are 6:53 evident which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enemities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, fractions, envying, drunkenness, 7:12 carousing and things like these of which I forewarn you just as I have for warned you forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And next verse we read the fruit of the 7:30 spirit. Verse 22 is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control. The against such things there is no law. Now we go to Romans chapter 7. Here we see Paul's honest confession 7:54 uh verse 15 to 25 Romans chapter 7 in this um uh few verses here in this uh passage he is writing his autobiography. 8:12 What he writes in Romans 7 is one of the most honest and raw confessions in the scriptures. Verse 15. What I am doing I do not understand. 8:30 I am not practicing what I would like to do but I am doing the very thing I hate. Verse 18. I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For 8:48 the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Verse 19. The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Verse 24. 9:10 wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? This is the Apostle Paul writing, the man who planted several churches, 9:29 the man who wrote half of the New Testament. And he is saying, "I do the very thing I hate. I do not do the good I want to do. This is not the confession of a weaker believer. 9:46 This is the honest testimony of a mature man who understand the flesh, the sinful nature within. This was my story too. I lived exactly what Paul is describing 10:05 from 2000 year from 2001 from the year 2001 I was going to church and I I had heard the gospel I prayed but I was living two lives. One version of me sat in church on 10:24 Sunday. The other version was out with bad friends, with bad habits. I was not taking my studies seriously, wasting my years and finances. The hard-earned money which my 10:43 brother and mother, a widow mother sent. I knew what was wrong and I also knew what was right. I want to do what was right, but I kept 10:58 doing the very thing I hated. This is Romans 7:15 lived out. Paul is describing everyone of us who 11:15 has ever tried to be a better person through willpower and rules, religion and everything is failed. The problem was not the information, not the lack of information. I had enough information. 11:34 The problem was I had no power. And Paul ends the Romans chapter 7 with the right question. Not what new rule or a new habit or a new program 11:53 I need to follow. It is not what but who. Who will set me free? the question who is everything because Paul telling us the answer the 12:11 next verse Romans chapter 7 the last verse thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and next verse we read it 12:28 the spirit's deliverance therefore There is no there is now no condemnation. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 12:47 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death which is flesh. Once again, for the law of the spirit of 13:05 life in Christ Jesus has set all of us free. Free from the law of sin and death. Romans 7 was the war. Romans 8 is the victory. The difference between these two 13:23 chapters is one thing that is the Holy Spirit. If all of Romans 7 and see that not even once the Holy Spirit was mentioned. Paul is trying to win the battle 13:43 with his own strength. But in Romans 8, the Holy Spirit is mentioned over 20 times. That is not an accident. That is the answer. The answer. Romans chapter 8 verse 5 14:02 you see the conflict here we see the conflict of the spirit with the old nature. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who are according to the 14:20 spirit, the things of the spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Notice what the Paul says here. He does 14:39 not say those who work harder, those who follow more rules, those who try more. He says those who set their minds. The battle is in mind. The choice is in what we set our 14:58 attention on, what we feed, what we feed, and what we meditate on each day. We do not overcome the flesh by fighting the flesh harder. We overcome the flesh 15:17 by feeding the spirit more and more. Paul had to make the choice. In 2004, a friend took me to a Christian retreat. And at that retreat, the Holy Spirit 15:36 broke me. Not a preacher's argument. Not a new set of rules, the Holy Spirit himself. I repented, not just words, but a genuine turning. I gave my heart to Jesus completely. I left the bad 15:53 friends, the bad habits, the double life. In May 2005, I was baptized in water. Publicly declared, I am the follower of Jesus. That decision was not the end of 16:10 the flesh. The flesh did not die that day. The war did not end. What changed was I was I stopped fighting alone. I stopped relying on my willpower. 16:29 I started relying on the Holy Spirit. That is the shift. That is the power shift we're talking about from Romans 7 is trying to live in my own strength to Romans 8 living walking by the spirit every single day. I want to share briefly 16:55 what walking in the spirit meant to me. And to be practical, Romans 8 5-6, we saw we set our mind. That is not one-time decision. It is an 17:14 active repeated choice in the moment when the flesh rise. So what do we actually at that moment that seed 17:31 will determine the harvest. First recognize what voice is speaking. Who is speaking? Romans 8:6, the mind set on the flesh is death. The 17:49 mind set on the spirit is life and peace. So when a thought rises, when a temptation comes, when a an emotion frays, we ask ourself one question. Does this 18:09 lead towards the death or towards the life and peace? Is that satisfying my fleshly desire or is it fulfilling the God's purpose? 18:26 We ask a question. That question alone cuts through the noise immediately. The flesh always promises a quick reward, 18:42 a passing pleasure, but it delivers death. That's a seriousness. The spirit always leads towards life and peace. It may looks hard. It is difficult. It may look sometimes you may have to stand 19:01 as odd man out. But at the end when you say yes to the spirit the harvest is life and peace. And the other blessing what the Lord has given us is Romans chapter 8:15. For you have not received a spirit of 19:25 slavery leading to fear again, but you have a you have received a spirit of adaption as sons by which you carry you cry out aba father. It is not he did not give us a spirit of 19:45 slavery. slavery to our old bad habits. But he has given us a spirit to cry out in our weakness, in our lack of strength. Aba, father, help me. The dependence on 20:07 him, not strong people go and ask for help. the weaker, the humble, and who has seen lack in strength to stand, lack in producing the fruit of the 20:28 spirit, habituated to producing the death and flesh. We cry out. Sometimes we lack in words. Holy Spirit will cry out, "Aba, father, 20:44 help me." Daddy is the most intimate word a child could use for their father. It is not a formal prayer. It is not a religious language. 21:03 In the moment of temptation, in the moment of anxiety, in the moment the flesh pull is so hard, just cry out, "Father, help me." Brother Michael reminded about 21:19 it. Peter crying out, sinking deep. Just one word. Jesus help me. I'm sinking. That is sewing in the spirit in real 21:41 time. That cry is itself an act of choosing the right field. The other one is let the spirit intercede when we have no words. 22:00 Romans chapter 8 verse 26. Romans chapter 8 26. In the same way, the spirit also helps our weakness. 22:18 For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Some moments the flesh is so loud and we 22:41 are so weak that we do not even know how to pray. Paul says, "The spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words." Sowing to the spirit sometimes means 22:59 simply going quiet before God and saying, "Holy Spirit, I have nothing. You pray through me. I don't know exactly to pray in this moment. That is not spiritual weakness. 23:22 That is the the the deepest form of sewing to the spirit. A complete surrender for a single moment. You are held. You are not alone. The spirit is praying. 23:40 There may be no one with you physically to present I think that every day when I get a call from my mom, my mom is alone um in the home where my parents built the comfort which comforts me is that my 23:59 mother is not alone. He has guarding angels. His guarding angels around. His spirit is with her. The father is listening. Those are not those idols which we woripped before. 24:17 It's real and that outcome is already decided. So brothers and sisters recognize the voice. Cry out. Cry out above father that such an intimate relationship he has given to 24:35 us by sending his son Jesus Christ. Surrender. Let it go. Forgive. Surrender to his intercession. 24:53 These are not complicated. Looks very simple but practiced in that moment consistently repeatedly, choice by choice. Morning 25:12 sowing is not enough for the afternoon. So consistently helplessly be dependent on the Holy Spirit's leading. Say no. Say no to the flesh. They are the daily daily 25:30 reality sowing in the spirit. where the spirit is taking us. Romans chapter 8 verse 29. For those whom he forneew, he also 25:54 predestined. you know many of us uh uh using uh GPS in our phones um to go to new places and all before uh 26:10 we head we put a destination address he did it for us already what is the predestination what is spirit is helping to become Rich. 26:27 Yes. Rich in spirit. Rich in his his presence. He predestined us to become conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. Romans 8 does not just tell us 26:45 that the spirit helps us to win our daily battles. It tells us where the spirit is leading. The ultimate goal, the destination 27:02 should give you a great a great hope. This is the destination. This is where every daily choice, every seed you sow, every prayer you do it, every choice 27:19 to sew in the spirit is taking us not just to a better life and a comfortable life, comfortable retirement as brother Sun said, not just to a peaceful home but to the image of Jesus Christ. That is the destination. Every time we choose the spirit over the 27:41 flesh. Every morning we seek to be filled with his spirit. Every night before we go to sleep, confessing and making our conscience clean. Every moment we set our mind on the things above, we are being changed. 27:59 transformation. It is slow you know um when you plant a seed immediately the fruit is not coming. It is slow but consistently like the compound growth what we 28:16 discussed last time seed by seed we are being conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. This is the harvest of sewing to the spirit. Not just victory over sin, Christlikkeness. 28:34 The very image of Jesus. This is what God is working toward in every one of us to keep choosing his spirit. Don't grow weary. Don't give up. The harvest is coming and the harvest is 28:54 worth it. For closing a reminder what we read from Galatians chapter 6 7-9. We cannot fool God. The harvest always comes. 29:12 The field we sew into is determines the harvest we get. Are we sowing in the flesh or we sowing to the spirit? Verse nine. The spirit's harvest takes time. Don't quit. Keep sewing in spirit. It is 29:30 coming. We saw Romans chapter 7. Paul writing from a real pain. He knew what is it is to try and fail. 29:51 He knew what it was to do the very thing what is right and then but he was kept doing what he hated then he found the answer not a religion not a new rule not you know that's not an answer not a willpower 30:08 but a person the very real person holy spirit is the answer and from that place he wrote some of the 30:26 most triumphant words in all of the scriptures in New Testament. There is no condemnation, life and peace. The spirit is interceding for us conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. The same Paul who cried wretched sinner 30:47 I am wretched man that I am is the same Paul who later wrote I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That is not a a kind of uh a contradiction. That is a transformation what he has 31:07 seen in his own life. That is what happens when we stop sowing to the flesh and start sowing to the spirit by surrendering more fully to the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sister, ask him to fill you. Start your day with him. End 31:25 your day clean. Set your mind on his things. Let him pray through you when you don't have words and watch seed by seed, choice by choice the harvest begin to grow. 31:43 Dear young people, I know the flesh pulls loudly at your age. The pressures are real. The pressures are very real. friends, social media, relationships, career related anxiety. 32:02 I was there and I let the flesh win for years. What I wish was somebody had told me then the Holy Spirit is not a backup plan for when my willpower failed. 32:19 He is the plan. Seek his fing every single day, every single morning. Start there. Everything else will follow. Those who seek him will diligently will find him. Those who honor him, he will honor. Don't worry about 32:39 and don't be anxious. Dear single brothers and sisters, the waiting season is one of the hardest place to sow to the spirit instead of the flesh. The loneliness is real. The 32:55 temptations are real, but this season is not a wasted time, but it is a seed planting time. What you sow here will determine the kind of the spouse, the kind of the parent, the kind of a disciple you will 33:14 become. So well, so in spirit. 1 Corinthians 7:7 Paul says, "Every person has their own gift from God." In the context of marriage, he's talking some for singleness, some for marriage. Either way, it is a gift from the same 33:33 God who loves you, who is your heavenly father and who is very faithful. He knows your gift and he knows his timing. He who looked at Adam and said, "It is not good for man to be alone." 33:52 He saw me and he provided and he sees you, too. Don't be discouraged. Dear parents, our children are watching which field we sow now. More than our words, more than our 34:13 rules, they are watching our daily choices. Do they see us sowing in spirit, confessing quickly, forgiving freely, casting our worries in our father? Our daily sewing to the spirit is the most 34:33 powerful disciplehip we will ever do. Keep going. Don't grow weary. The harvest is going to come. To our older brothers and sisters, you have a lifetime of seed planting behind you. 34:51 Some of it you are proud of and some of it you wish you could redo. God redeems all of it. We heard last Wednesday Job walked so faithfully, blamelessly in the fear 35:10 of God. But he slipped too. He did mistakes. But one word, we read it in Job chapter 42. He repented immediately. God was so quick to forgive him and then he made him such a way he could forgive 35:29 his friend's sins. God tells Job's friends, "Go to my servant Job. He will pray for you. Then your sins will be forgiven." Holy Spirit has changed your decades of 35:48 your sewing the seeds. One of the most powerful things this church has you dear older brothers and sisters. You are example. We need to hear it. Keep sewing. Finish strong. Some of us are carrying many burdens 36:07 right now. from illness, from anxiety, from a situation that feels impossible. Romans 8:26 is for us. The spirit himself intercedes for you with a groaning too deep, too deep for words. 36:27 You do not have to find the right prayer. He is already praying for you. Rest in that. Rest in that. He is in control. Our heavenly father is in control. You are not alone. Choose the spirit. Seek his fing. Walk in his power. The 36:45 harvest of that choice is Christlikeness itself. Amen. These are powerful 37:05 verses, powerful reminders. um Galatians chapter 5 he started with um [clears throat] walking by the spirit when we say walk by the spirit it's not 37:22 just taking few steps and and doing our own way but we are saying walking with the spirit is always following his leading I think in the beginning slides David has put listening to his voice and doing what he says says 37:38 um Galatians 5:16 says if we walk by the spirit then and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Um it's a choice we have uh whether we want to fulfill the desires of the flesh or listen to 37:57 the Holy Spirit and do what he says. It's uh the the next verse the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. This struggle is real. Anyone who wants to please God, who is serious Christian 38:11 will see this struggle. It's actually KJV says um the flesh lusts against the spirit and spirit lusts against the flesh. There's a constant uh tug of war pull on both sides and the more we feed to the flesh uh in the 38:30 times of testing the flesh will take over. If you feed to the spirit um then in the times of temptation the spirit helps us to have the victory and all the things that um he read about the deeds of the flesh. Think on these 38:45 things. Is there anything that strikes or some something stands out? Is anything that I need to work on? Um even some of the things that I mentioned outbursts of anger, envying, factions, dissensions, disputes 39:05 and then the warning is those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. If we have any doubt, Paul is making it clear and again he says in Romans um chapter 8 that we read verse 13 for if you are living according 39:24 to the flesh you must die. No matter what you have done in the past today you continue to live according to the flesh you must die. But the verse does not stop there. But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, 39:39 you will live. For all who are being led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They're becoming mature, not just children of God, sons of God. And I heard a story of u uh and David mentioned about small choices, right? 39:55 That makes huge difference. Small choices, small choices. The law of harvesting is always true. what we sow that's what we reap God you cannot mock God you cannot say okay I am saved I made a sinner sinner's prayer I gave my 40:12 life to Jesus and I can live the way I want according to the flesh do not be deceived God cannot be mocked what we sow we will reap and I heard the story of u David Wilkerson I think many of you know um uh he's a he I think he was 40:29 growing up in Pennsylvania and he was watching TV um and regularly and then he had a prompting to stop watching the TV and to pray and he didn't know what it is all about but he obeyed the voice of God. So the time of 15 20 minutes 30 40:47 minutes whatever he was watching TV he converted that into your time of prayer. Then God has put him put in his heart a burden to for some teenagers in New York who are going through a trial and he goes there and he starts a ministry 41:02 teens challenge I think and then he starts a church. Many people are blessed. Many people are blessed by his ministry and if you look back it all started with that obedience to that prompting of the Holy Spirit. Stop watching and start praying. If he had 41:19 not done that, he would have missed out and many people would have missed out the blessing. So in our own lives, there are many choices we make. Uh if we are carefully listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, uh some of the things we 41:32 must stop doing, some other things we need to start doing. Again, we cannot put any confidence in the flesh. Uh if we try to do again things according to the flesh, with our power in the flesh, we'll get frustrated. uh just like Paul 41:45 had to go through that and all of us will go through that. Whatever we want to do, we will not be able to do. But thank God the solution God has given through the filling of the Holy Spirit. It's not just one time thing from the 41:58 morning until night. Um listen carefully listening and following his leading and doing what he says. Uh what a wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit. And David explained um the spirit of adoption. Aba father even if I am very busy at my work uh 42:17 when I'm working from home if my little one calls dad I need your help I tell you I stop everything and run to him because I love him so much how much more my heavenly father would do when I say daddy aba papa father in whatever in 42:35 your culture however you call your dad and it will move his emotions you see that when the prodical son has come back. How the father's heart was moved. He ran towards him. He hugged him. That's my father. That's your father. My 42:52 dear brothers and sisters. And the times when I don't know how to pray. I think all of us would have that experience. I had many. I don't know. I just I'm silent in the stillness of my soul. The Holy Spirit is praying and groaning. I 43:06 don't know. I'm just groaning. I don't even know how to put those things in the words. the Holy Spirit's ministry helping me crying out Lord help me help me at least the word help me God help me this is too much for me you I need your 43:21 grace I need your wisdom please help me what to do what to say there are things nothing is we don't have a verse for every situation sometimes but it is the holy spirit that will help us to do what we need to do but what thing that we 43:36 need to do is a preparation preparation prayer preparation in reading the word of God, meditating on it. These are the things that we sow to the spirit when we when the times are good. My dear brothers and sisters, let's use the time to build us 43:51 build ourselves in the word of God in prayer uh so that in the times of uh testing in the times of temptation holy spirit has something uh to help us if I don't read the word of god if I don't spend time with him even if holy spirit wants to help what 44:08 verses he can remind you if I don't even read the bible so let's make use of the times of ease times of rest to uh to store to um to grow in the faith to grow in the word of God to grow in the intimacy with the Holy Spirit. So in the 44:26 times of testing we know we can recognize it's the voice of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord help us. I saw a burden for all of our church to grow in the power of the Holy Spirit and continuously being filled because in the 44:39 later part of Romans chapter 8 we see what what it means to be uh following uh following the Holy Spirit and walking in the spirit. It is like we are called to be more than conquerors. The promises is that nothing shall separate us from the 44:54 love of God. In all these things we are overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. Nothing. I'm convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, 45:08 nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the promise for those who walk in the Holy Spirit. May the Lord help us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the 45:23 promise of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for sending us your spirit lord into our lives and who dwells in us. Uh Lord the life that you are calling us to live it is impossible not difficult it is impossible to do in our own flesh. We 45:39 recognize our weakness and thank you thank you for this gift of the holy spirit you have given to us to the church to each one of us. Help us Lord each and every day to walk in the spirit to listen to you and to do exactly what 45:53 you want us to do uh through your help through the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of the flesh so that we can please you. Help us to recognize there is an enemy in our flesh Lord. The man who sets his mind on the 46:06 flesh or the carnal mind is eneity towards God hostile. help us to recognize that so that we feed not to the flesh but to the Holy Spirit that when the times of testing the Holy Spirit will always help us and um that we'll will not please the flesh at the 46:22 times of testing help us to bear fruit Lord the fruits of the Holy Spirit all of them all of them Lord in each one of our lives help us to grow into your image day by day as we hear and do things that please you uh thank you Lord 46:37 for this promise that we could that we are adopted as your children so that we can call you Aba, father, daddy. Thank you uh Holy Spirit for groaning for listening to our groanings and helping us in the times we don't know how to 46:53 pray and interceding for us and helping us. Help us Lord um to hold on to these promises until the end of our lives to grow in your image and thank you for the calling that we are overwhelmingly conquerors Lord through him who loved us 47:10 so that nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Thank you for this promise of overcoming life through the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things and we pray that um these promises would 47:22 become true in each one of our lives in our church. We ask all these things in your mighty and precious name. Amen.
