GALATIANS 5:24-26 | EXPECTATIONS OF WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
Notes
Transcript
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:24-26 | EXPECTATIONS OF WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:24-26 | EXPECTATIONS OF WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
INTRO
INTRO
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever had unclearly communicated expectations that led to disappointment?
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever had unclearly communicated expectations that led to disappointment?
Tressa and I traveled with a missionary couple for about a month and a half when we first started into evangelism.
We traveled up the east coast where they were from and they told us when we started that there would be lots of places to stay as we traveled.
2 weeks in and we had been sleeping on their table on a blow up mattress every night, having to go to bed at 8:30 because that was when their 2 year old daughter went to bed.
We finally made it up into New England and I believe we were at a church in New Jersey.
We just wanted out of the camper and so we asked if there was a place in the church we could put a blow up mattress to sleep for the night.
The pastor was gracious and offered to let us stay in the auditorium because that would be heated and would offer us some space
I woke up the next morning to Tressa kicking me, and as I rolled over there was a man standing over the top of us.
“What are you doing here?”
I replied, “It’s ok, the pastor said we could sleep in here.”
The man said ok, and then walked around the corner and sat down in the sound both that had a window looking right out to where our mattress was.
I guess I should have communicated that we wanted to stay somewhere that someone wouldn’t show up at at 6:30 the next morning.
I hadn’t clearly communicated my expectations.
EXPLANATION: Over the past 10 messages from here in the book of Galatians, we have weaved our way through two different lists..
EXPLANATION: Over the past 10 messages from here in the book of Galatians, we have weaved our way through two different lists..
We walked first through the works of the flesh in v.19-21.
We saw the pain and heartbreak that such a life could lead to.
And then we began to peel back the layers of the fruit of the Spirit and looked at each slice of that wonderful fruit in v.22-23!
It isn’t good enough to just have some of those slices evident in our life, but to truly display the fruit of the Spirit in our life, we must have all of those slices growing and strengthening.
And now Paul is going to wrap up his thoughts and begin to transition into his next thought that is actually connected to all he has just discussed.
As he wraps up the chapter, it seems he is communicating an expectation about walking in the fruit of the Spirit to these Galatian believers.
In fact, Paul is going to give a Clarification, a Challenge, and a Caution as he records these final 3 verses.
APPLICATION: This morning, I want us to have some clear expectations of what it will look like to walk in the fruit of the Spirit.
APPLICATION: This morning, I want us to have some clear expectations of what it will look like to walk in the fruit of the Spirit.
I want you to clearly know what to expect so you aren’t surprised when things pop up unexpectedly.
For a few moments let’s look at some expectations Paul gave for these Galatian believers.
V.24, CLARIFICATION: THIS WILL BE HARD
V.24, CLARIFICATION: THIS WILL BE HARD
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
EXPLANATION: Once again, Paul starts with a prerequisite, “They that are Christ’s.”
EXPLANATION: Once again, Paul starts with a prerequisite, “They that are Christ’s.”
These things Paul was about to mention were true to those that belong to Christ.
APPLICATION: Friend, before you worry about what it’s like to walk in the Spirit, you must first be indwelt by the Spirit.
APPLICATION: Friend, before you worry about what it’s like to walk in the Spirit, you must first be indwelt by the Spirit.
This isn’t some weird feeling or experience.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
When you accept Christ as your Savior, the Bible tells us that you are accepting the payment that Christ made for your sin.
He purchased you, and now you belong to Him!
And the Bible tells us that He seals you to prove you are His.
ILLUSTRATION: It’s like when a rancher brands his cattle.
ILLUSTRATION: It’s like when a rancher brands his cattle.
The significance of that brand is the proof that those cattle belong to them!
APPLICATION: The Bible tells us over in Ephesians 1:13-14
APPLICATION: The Bible tells us over in Ephesians 1:13-14
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
The Holy Spirit comes and dwells within you and is the proof that you belong to Christ!
Has your heart been branded by the Holy Spirit?
Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins… but you have the choice to receive or reject that payment!
God will not force you to receive it, and you can choose to reject it.
A lot of people come to that decision and they make different choices.
Some say “no, I don’t want that.”
Some say, “Not right now, maybe next time.”
But friend, can I encourage you today to make the decision to say “yes!”
EXPLANATION: After Paul gives the prerequisite, he tells the Galatian believers just what they can expect walking in the Spirit will look like.
EXPLANATION: After Paul gives the prerequisite, he tells the Galatian believers just what they can expect walking in the Spirit will look like.
You are going to have to crucify your flesh with your affections and lusts.
And crucifixion is never easy.
This was different from what Paul had said earlier in Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
That was the death of his old life that had taken place because he had a knew life in Christ.
It was something that had been done to him.
But here in v.24, the crucifixion isn’t done to us, but rather something done by us!
This is a conscious daily decision by the believer to choose not to live under the bondage of their flesh.
Paul had talked about this back in Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Paul tells them, this is a constant battle in your life that you are going to have to fight every day.
He talks about this struggle in Romans 7:15-20
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Paul says, “I know what I should do and I know what I shouldn’t do, but so often I don’t do would I should do and I do do what I shouldn’t so.”
Why?
Because when you accept Christ as your Savior, you’re soul get’s saved… but you still live in the same sinful flesh.
ILLUSTRATION: Do you ever wish you could just conquer your flesh?
ILLUSTRATION: Do you ever wish you could just conquer your flesh?
Like one day you just wake up and you just make a decision and boom it’s done!
I wish that I could just decide to be healthier and boom, I don’t struggle with unhealthy decisions any more.
But that’s not the way it works.
We decide we are going to exercise, and no matter how much we tell ourselves, it’s still difficult to do it every day.
We decide we are going to eat better… but cookies taste so good!
We decide we are going to wake up earlier or get to bed sooner, but you look at the clock and it’s always later than you planned.
Why?
Because we live in our flesh and our flesh doesn’t like to do hard things.
APPLICATION: And that’s why it’s so hard to break the chains of sin.
APPLICATION: And that’s why it’s so hard to break the chains of sin.
That’s why it’s so hard to break away from addictions
That’s why you find yourself on the other side of a decision frustrated at yourself because you said you wouldn’t be there again!
Because crucifying your flesh with the affections and lusts is hard.
Can I let you in on a secret… Walking in the Spirit isn’t easy because it isn’t natural.
Walking in the Spirit is a heavenly choice that we must constantly make on a sinful earth while living in our sinful flesh.
Paul is telling these Galatian believers, “don’t be deceived… this isn’t easy!”
You have to intentionally choose to crucify your flesh every moment of every day!
But here is one of the wonderful truths form the Bible.
While it isn’t easy to choose… it can become easier.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
God promises with time, that your mind can be renewed and those struggles you are constantly fighting can become easier to fight!
Now it will probably never become easy, but through the power of the Spirit within you, you can find the path to victory much easier!
CLARIFICATION: THIS WILL BE HARD
V.25, CHALLENGE: YOU ARE CALLED TO IT
V.25, CHALLENGE: YOU ARE CALLED TO IT
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
EXPLANATION: Yes walking in the Spirit will be hard… but it is the life you are called to live!
EXPLANATION: Yes walking in the Spirit will be hard… but it is the life you are called to live!
Paul is telling them, you aren’t called just to live in the power of your flesh!
If you have the Spirit living within you, you are called to live your life like He is living within you!
ILLUSTRATION: We talked in our small group class last week about what sanctification is.
ILLUSTRATION: We talked in our small group class last week about what sanctification is.
When I was growing up, this meant that we were supposed to remove everything out of our life and be different
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
And I took that to heart.
And for a time I just started trying to cut everything out of my life… if it came out of this world I tried to remove it.
I went to a public school and I wanted to be different.
So I would wear khakis and a button up shirt to school.
I listened to different music from the rest of the kids
I tried to keep the kids from my public school at an arm distance because I didn’t want to be contaminated!
And you know what a lot of that stuff became… WEIRD!
APPLICATION: You see the problem was, I was told that I was supposed to be separated and sanctified, but no one told me I’m not just supposed to take everything out…
APPLICATION: You see the problem was, I was told that I was supposed to be separated and sanctified, but no one told me I’m not just supposed to take everything out…
There is an extreme of not trying to live with like the world that makes you seem like you are not from this world… and not in a good way.
I’m not saying we should smoke and chew and hang with the girls that do…
We should be different from the world.
But being different from the world isn’t all about taking everything out and living like a monk!
No, the Bible tells us real sanctification includes a lot of adding things in!
Right after Paul told Timothy that about being a “vessel unto honor, sanctified” he went on to say in the next verse: 2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Paul was saying, “Real sanctification isn’t just taking everything out of your life… yes that is part of it, we should remove sinful things from our life… but it is also putting in the right things!”
What are those things?
We could call them the fruit of the Spirit!
It isn’t called the roots of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit implies it is something that can be seen.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Friend, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance evident in your life?
They should be!
If you have accepted Christ as your Savior and you have the Holy Spirit living within you, others should be able to tell.
ILLUSTRATION: I’ve shared the story before but it’s too great not to share again.
ILLUSTRATION: I’ve shared the story before but it’s too great not to share again.
There was a little girl riding in the car home from church on Sunday with her daddy.
As her dad looked at her, he could see there was a troubled look on her face.
He asked her, “What’s wrong sweetheart.”
“Well,” she began, “the teacher said when you accept Christ as your Savior He comes and lives in your heart.”
“Yea,” the father responded, still puzzled.
“Well, if Jesus is so big and I’m so little, wouldn’t he stick out?”
APPLICATION: Friend, if you have Jesus in your heart, is he “sticking out?”
APPLICATION: Friend, if you have Jesus in your heart, is he “sticking out?”
If you have the Spirit living within you, maybe it’s time to start living like you do!
CLARIFICATION: THIS WILL BE HARD, CHALLENGE: YOU ARE CALLED TO IT
V.26, CAUTION: YOU HAVEN’T ARRIVED
V.26, CAUTION: YOU HAVEN’T ARRIVED
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
EXPLANATION: It would seem as Paul reached the end of the chapter, his mind goes to those who are reading this letter and nodding their heads along with what he is writing.
EXPLANATION: It would seem as Paul reached the end of the chapter, his mind goes to those who are reading this letter and nodding their heads along with what he is writing.
The people who were sitting there pointing the finger at all the people that they hoped were getting the message
The ones who had individuals on their minds that they were going to make sure go the letter because THEY NEEDED IT
And now Paul pointedly directs his attention to them…
“You guys think you are doing so well and have it all figured out.”
And Paul didn’t say it but I wonder if he didn’t think it as he wrote this last verse.
“You checked the boxes of the works of the flesh and think you are doing pretty good… but there is one more that is really the root of it all… PRIDE.”
Vain Glory… provoking others because you think you are doing so much better… comparing yourself amongst yourselves.
In pointing the finger and checking the boxes, some of those in Galatia had found themselves in a spot they couldn’t imagine being associated with… they were acting like a pharisee!
Next week we will see as Paul starts into the next chapter that it is the humble ones who are truly spiritual and usable.
Paul wanted them all to know, “They haven’t arrived yet spiritually”
APPLICATION: Friend, can I kindly tell you this morning… You haven’t arrived yet spiritually.
APPLICATION: Friend, can I kindly tell you this morning… You haven’t arrived yet spiritually.
We should still be growing!
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in church
How many years you’ve been saved
How big of a Bible you carry
If you can teach a class or not
You haven’t arrived yet and you should still be growing.
The apostle Paul shared his testimony of how far along he thought he was in Philippians 3:13-14
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul was saying I’m still growing!
ILLUSTRATION: I love when you talk to little kids about how old they are.
ILLUSTRATION: I love when you talk to little kids about how old they are.
They are always 7… and a half
12 and a half
I’m 15, but I’m almost 16
At some point we stop doing that and start saying, “I’m 34 but it feels like yesterday I was 21”
APPLICATION: For far too many Christian, they’ve fallen into the trap of saying, “I know I don’t serve anymore… but I used to.”
APPLICATION: For far too many Christian, they’ve fallen into the trap of saying, “I know I don’t serve anymore… but I used to.”
“I know I’m not super faithful to church… but I used to be.”
Their whole life is, “Well, I used to…”
Always talking about when you used to serve God and live for Him.
It doesn’t matter how old you are spiritually in this room, you should be saying “I’m 9… but I’m still growing!”
I’ve been so encourage here lately because I have had some people come to me and say things like:
“I want you to disciple me because I want to keep learning.”
“I can’t wait until Sunday… I’m so excited to keep growing.”
“Pastor, what can I do, I just want to be more involved.”
Friend… those are Christians who are growing!
Are you growing Spiritually?
Or have you reached the point that some in Galatia had where you think you’ve already arrived!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
ILLUSTRATION:
ILLUSTRATION:
Friend, are you seeking after “vain glory” or are you pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ than you’ve ever had before!
Let’s truly purpose to walk in the Spirit!
Paul has laid out before us some clear expectations for what it means to walk in the Spirit!
Listen to the Clarification: It wont be easy
Respond to the Challenge: You are called to it
Heed the Caution: You haven’t arrived!
And let’s be a church that is growing and moving forward… filled with the fruit of the Spirit!