02.28.2010 Galatians 5 - Deeds of the Flesh/Fruit of the Spirit

02.28.2010 Grace Summit Sermon - Galatians 5 - Deeds of the Flesh/Fruit of the Spirit from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Lord, as we present ourselves to You in obedience, give us soft hearts to do as you would ask. As John the Baptist said – we are unworthy to untie your shoes – but You have called us to much more. You are a great king – and for that we are thankful.

Jumping back a little bit to what Jeff shared last week – we see conflict – Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh – the hope – it is possible to overcome those things that hold us down.

There is a battle going on. ‘to keep you from doing the things you want to do’ – this is true on both sides of this! When you are walking in the Spirit – it keeps you from doing the things you want to do in your natural state.
I have been watching the Olympics – mainly because my wife likes it – but you think of these athletes and the pressure – they TRAIN – you and I can’t go out there and be Shaun White. You would break your neck or worse! He trains and trains. We can’t do that – we haven’t trained. If we walk in the Spirit – learning to do this consistently – at times we take a STEP in the Spirit – but we need to learn how to do that – that when the pressures of life come – you are doing well. It is easier to do well with God when – like Job, God puts all his fences around you to protect you. As we talk about walking in the Spirit – it is not something that is automatic – but learned after years of training and walking with God. You’ve probably seen the Visa commercial about Dan Jansen – getting the news of his sister’s death just hours before his big race. He was the best in his sport – but the pressures and distractions came in and he fell. We have to be careful. You hear of these pastors who fall - -who have lost this sense of caution and they cease relying on God and rely on themselves.
Spirit – Freedom – Law – Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh – the whole Law is fulfilled in one word – you shall love your neighbor as yourself. These are the same – Paul is urging them – with a righteous anger – that their desire to live under the Law is no different than trying to live in the flesh.

Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

This is not a comprehensive list – that is why he says ‘things like these’ – but what he does do, is puts them in 4 categories –
1)Sexual sin – immorality/impurity/sensuality – that is pretty clear – we understand that. That is probably the most evident.
2) Idolatry/Sorcery – these are religious sins. Idolatry is not something we deal with in the same way. In every city, there was a street with idol temples where people would submit their offerings. Think of the –isms of the world – Materialism…things that take the place of God – that we trust in – that is idolatry – trusting in something else. Be it a person, money, sports, - getting our satisfaction in life from something else.
3) Enmity/strife/jealousy/fits of anger/rivalries/dissensions/divisions/envy – Relational sins. Think of how many there are here. Give me some license here… - when the letter was read in the church – they probably got to the first part of this and said, yep – sexual sins – yep – idolatry – enmity – HEY! That is what Paul was addressing in the rest of the letter and people may try to minimize it – “I just don’t get along with that person – or like the way he did that…” – we don’t see that as a deed of the flesh – but it is just as much so.
4) Drunkenness/Orgies – sins of excess – addictions
These are the 4 areas he wants to deal with. Then in Gal. 4:22 we see the opposite:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
These are opposed to one another. You can’t love if you are dividing. If you are envying - in strife. There is a battle going on. A real brief thing – the deed(s) of the flesh and FRUIT (singular) of the Spirit. Some say that LOVE is the only fruit of the Spirit – faith, hope, and love – yes, the greatest is love. – He is saying – these things come from the Spirit – not a matter of YOU working them up. They only come from the Spirit of God – He is the only source of these things. Fruit is a matter of divine enablement – not human responsibility – and that is where this gets difficult – because it is not about training the hardest. Some of you have tried really really hard to get over something and it hasn’t happened – but that is not all there is to living the spiritual life.
Like Jeff talked about last week – there is not a science or formula to help you walk by the Spirit.
“Against such thing there is no Law” – their problem is walking under the Law.
Look at
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
If you have come to Christ, in one sense – the victory has already been won. You have crucified the flesh – those other bad deeds are destroyed – so the victory is, without question, possible – it is there for you. If you have struggled with something for 40 years – you need to believe the victory is possible because you have come to Jesus.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
There is this other side to it – and it is hard to explain – so I won’t! Like when you come home from a hard day and the kids are acting up – and the other side comes out! How do we stay on the good side more? This is the application point – but it is not a formula that will work every time for you.

John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither [can] you, unless you abide in Me.
The first thing is this – very simple – we must remain connected in our relationship and reliance on Jesus at all times. Just like a grapevine – the fruit is at the end of the branches. Those branches have to remain connected to the vine – as long as they remain connected – the fruit comes out.
It is the same for us – if we are to walk in the Spirit, we must remain continually connected and rely upon Jesus. I know that is really simple – but it is really hard to do. It is not just having a quiet time – it may begin there –
Matt asked if I had read ‘Practicing the Presence of God’ – by Brother Lawrence. I admit, I have not – but he says it is a classic for abiding in Christ.
You are in God’s presence – at all times – it is recognizing and living a life as if you know that at all times.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
How do we practice His presence? By having His WORD inside of us – listening to the Bible – or reading the Bible – or listening to radio programs or podcasts about the Bible.
Ask whatever you wish – Pray! These are real basics – but the reason they are basic – like any of these sports – you do the basics first – if you can’t skate, you can’t do a double (k)lutz…
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and [so] prove to be My disciples.
Know how much HE LOVES YOU. Sometimes that is all we have. But we drift from that – we blow it – and then you think – like a kid who thinks his parents are mad at him and he separates – we do that too. Like Adam and Eve – they hid. But when we understand how much He loves us – we abide in His love. When He says to do something – you do it.
Eph. 5: 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Attitudes and Actions of PRAISE! When we sing in church – it is more than song, but attitudes and actions of praise – often expressed in song. Being thankful.
That is often a really hard one. Give thanks produces thankfulness. Sometimes you are not thankful, but you can give thanks – and as you do, it produces a thankful heart.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. That brings it back full circle, doesn’t it? WALking in the Spirit has to do with our relationships with one another.
Trust God’s Spirit in others! It is enough that God’s Spirit resides in each of us and He is at work. It takes away the desire to control and manipulate.
Then I think of submitting – back to Galatians 5:13 – loving service to one another.
Like back to John the Baptist – unworthy to untie His shoes – and so we are unworthy to serve one another – so when He gives the opportunity – to serve someone – the Church doesn’t recognize shoe untie-ers – we are unworthy even to do that – but thank YOU that we are able to serve in however we can.

Galatians 5: - 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.
26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

These are the bookends to the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. This is the problem – they are wanting to be under the Law – there is this fighting taking place – you have a choice now, Paul says – you will either go to the flesh or to the Spirit – and that choice will be made in how you deal with your relations with one another. If you allow the conflict to continue – you have gone to the flesh fully. This is where he is zeroing in on them here. We need to not minimize as we might – relational conflict.
We started the Love and Respect series last week – he talked about The Crazy Cycle – a lot – people have good intentions when they go into marriage. But people respond wrong – creating conflicts that destroy relationships. Paul wants them to understand...