Life by the Spirit

Lonnie Brooks

Fruit of the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Galatians 5:16–26

0 ratings

· 25 views

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Introduction

Lets begin with a question?

You know me, I like questions, why? They force us to think, evaluate and question what we are doing...

Are you walking in and by the Spirit of God, His Holy Spirit?

Are you walking instep, with Him each day?

He is inside of you, are you listening to Him, following where He is helping lead you?

Are you listening, and following Him and as a result are you producing the fruit of the Spirit?

It is crucial that you do, because He is your life line if you will with the Father. You must be walking with Him, literally in step with Him. And unless you do, you cannot produce the fruit you naturally should be producing.

So what happens when we are apart from Him and His presence in our life?

Honestly, nothing, because we are not connected to Him.

So what happens when we are apart from Him and His presence in our life? Are you connected? No!

A simple analogy is the light above your head, they are designed, literally made to produce light. but they cannot unless they are connected to the power source. So unless we are connected , walking in step with the Spirit, we will not shine like we are called too..

God knew this.....

Now let me tell you a secret?

God knew this.....

God knew we could not do the good things necessary in our life a part from Him and he also knew you would struggle with the effects of this world, sin, lust, greed, and so forth a part from Him. Sadly the worst is we will not produce the fruit of our faith.

So this morning, lets examine Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 thru 26.

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians

In the context of the passage, Paul is writing to those early believers in Galatia, now Galatia isn’t a city, it is a region, so there are many believers there, and like us today they struggled with living by the Spirit in a world filled with temptations and stresses.

Part of that stress was the Judizers, those who sought to live by the law under the grace of Christ. Essentially, they taught that salvation was not complete unless you observed the OT law as well.

Paul knew the answer, he has been talking about the freedom they have in Christ, and that freedom is from the law, from sin and death, but it wasn’t a freedom to live like you want… You were called to live for Him, by the truth of the Spirit and the truth that they could not return again to the practices of the flesh.

The only way to over come was to live by the Spirit. So lets examine that battle and the stress that we face and how to live and stay in step with the Holy Spirit.

So lets begin by looking at this first thought my friends...

1. Inner Battle

Inner Battle

The most difficult thing for us as the children of God is the inner struggle or battle that is taking place inside of us as we strive to live for God.

The mortal man, the carnal or fleshy person is at battle with the immortal, the spiritual part of our lives, and it is a daily battle that is being waged my friends.

Lets return to our text and see what Paul is saying...

Verses 16-17

Galatians 5:16–17 ESV

Do you see the battle, it is two forces, two enemies opposing, fighting one another.

Think about the boys of Abraham, you had Ishmael and Issac. One was the child of promise the other was a child of sin, a child of the flesh. They did not get along at all… there was conflict.

One child was a blessing, the other a child of division, hatred… So in that house those two sides, Sarah and Isaac, and Hagar and Ishmael were opposing one another...

So in us it is the same, two are at conflict, the Spirit and the flesh. The flesh is not the body but the very things that tempt, control and lead the body astray. They are the things of the world.

The Spirit represents the things of God, for the Spirit is the Spirit of the living God.

And these two, the flesh and the Spirit have different appetites, this is where the conflict is created. Listen to Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 3.

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Consider a couple different animals, the sheep and pigs… they illustrate clean and unclean animals...

The sheep will not eat just anything, just good grasses, no leftovers no garbage. They are clean, acceptable in the presence of God.

Pigs or hogs are different, they will eat just about anything, taking into their bodies garbage, slop, scrapes… they are unclean.

So in us the Spirit of God chases after and desires the things of God. If you are living after the Spirit, your appetite is spiritual… but if you are living by the flesh, your appetite is the carnal, fleshly, natural things of this world.

So which one describes you....

There is a war inside of you… a war that is fought each day, … Am I doing what is right, am i doing what is good or am I living for self, for the world, chasing after the desires of the flesh.

How are you handling the battle?

Let me ask you another question… Consider your battles… and don’t kid yourself, every person has a battle or struggle.

And in the midst of this battle, who’s winning? Which one are you feeding, giving your attention too? Cause that is the one who wins...

There is a battle in you every moment....

And lets jump over and look at our next thought this morning, are you ready?

The Works of the Flesh

2. The Works of the Flesh

Now why address this thought?

We need to know what we are up against, so we know what to be on the look out for, so we don’t fall prey to sin...

If we are not careful, we will get trapped… and its easy to get trapped....

Listen to Paul here in verses 18-21

Galatians 5:18–21 ESV

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now this first sentence is important… verse “18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Understand I am not telling you that you have to knuckle down and fight against the flesh in your own strength… That is impossible....

It is not your battle, it is His battle, surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and His will and you will overcome.

Remember there were many there in Galatia who sought to teach that believers had to obey the law, and all it requirements in order to be saved… these Judaizers… a works based faith that we can somehow have a part in our own salvation.

False...

If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Paul is making sure they understand what he is saying… he is not preaching some watered down legalism. And we are not doing away with the law, but remember the law is mean to teach us where we fail, it is a mirror of sorts reminding us we cannot please God in the flesh..

So the answer is Christ, He came to do what we could not, satisfy the true intentions of the law, and its punishment by redeeming us from the curse of the law.

As such we are energized, filled with the Spirit.. free to live fully for God walking in grace and peace.

How wonderful that it....

Then Paul reminds what the world, the flesh seeks to glorify…their works are..

Verses 19-21

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul says the works of the flesh are easy to find, to discover…These in verse 19 Sexual immorality, impurity and sensuality are the products of the natural man. These reveal our fallen state… an understand this isn’t all of them, Paul is just addressing those major things that hinder our Christina walk.

Now these first three sins - sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, are important for us to see, they are sins done not only against God.. but against self..

The word for sexual immorality comes from the Greek work (Porneia) and it speaks to prostitution...

Prostitutes where people who were often bought and sold on the slave markets, they belong to another.. so these sexual sins have a way of stealing your freedom and placing you in slavery....

You cannot be enslaved to this world… remember who you are..

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 ESV

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Now consider this - These sexual sins are often done in the name of love, but it is really the opposite of what true love is, true love belongs to God and it is the first of the fruits of the Spirit.

Sexual sins distort the true love of God and the love He designed for man to enjoy, but also to walk in step with Him.

Now, Paul moves next those things associated with false worship.

A. idolatry.. the worship of a false god. and you might say, now I love God pastor, so I am not guilty of that… is there anything you put before God, even self

B. witchcraft… sometimes we call this sorcery.. here is what is interesting, the root word for witchcraft is (pharamekia) where we get the word Pharmacy. It refers to occult practices where by drugs are uses to enhance the experience in their occult, pagan practices…

And in truth these practices open up the person to the demonic, destroying life and all tied to it.

That makes me think about how much the use of drugs in our communities rob people of true life… the devil steals them… leads them on experiences when they were truly made to glorify God in their own bodies…

And Paul doesn’t stop there...

He turns to those things that destroy our relationships with each other.. the second part of verse - “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy”....

enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy

Paul doesn’t say this to make us worrisome, to makes of fear or give up… no,not at all..

He wants us to see just how terrible sin is, and what it can cost us if we dabble with it… Instead live by the Spirit… live by the Spirit, and in a spirit of repentance

The saying is true… sin will always take you farther than you want to go and cost you more than you want to pay....

So live by the Spirit and produce the fruit of that action.....

So this leads us naturally to our next point...

3. The fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the SPirit

For those who have given over their lives to God, surrendered to Him, the natural outcome is the fruit of the Spirit...

Consider the natural life of a husband and life, they live for each other, loving one another, putting each other first … existing in love and the natural product of that love is two fold… a long life together and children…

It is the natural product of all of they have done together.. likewise live for God, walk in the spirit and see what you produce...

Look with me at verses 22-23....

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Now when you look at this list, you see a natural order to them...

First look at the habits of the Christian mind....

Love, joy and peace....

Love here is the word agape, it is a godly love, it speaks to being one who can show love to others just as God has revealed His love to us… this word is the foundation of all we see and know about God. Paul says this…

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is the type of love that does not seek it’s own, but it loves others in I Cor 13..

Joy is the word that has it;s divine origin in God himself and Paul tells us to rejoice and find our joy in the Lord ...

In our world today society defines joy as that place that is free from pain or suffering but that isn't right… our joy must be defined not by us but by God and what he has done in and through us in Christ Jesus… He has forever defeated death, sin and the grave… darkness and it’s prince has no power over us.. there in is my joy..

And then we come to peace… peace here is not the absence of war, strife and violence.. no peace is the well -being of loving God and others while being in a right relationship with Him..

Then we come to those which speaks to our relationship with others..

Patience is the one we joke about, Lord give me patience and give it to me know… no.. Patience refers to a state of mind, to take everything in stride… Remember that our God is longsuffering with us..

Kindness - is a characteristic of God intended to be reproduced by the Holy Spirit in God’s people…It is to remind us to treat each other in love remembering that God also loves us.

Goodness - This is a rare word, it is only found 4 times in the New Testament, it is benevolence and generosity toward another, it is going the second mile… and we must remember as God has loved us, we must to the same to others.

Faithfulness - is the committal of oneself to God.. to be loyal to Him and not give up…

After having served in India for eight years with few visible results to show for his efforts, William Carey wrote to his friend John Williams, “Pray for us that we may be faithful to the end.”

Gentleness - isn't weakness, it is having a submissive and teachable spirit in front of God. It is strength under control, power harnessed in loving service and respectful actions..

And then lastly we come to ....

The New American Commentary: Galatians (4) The Fruit of the Spirit (5:22–26)

After having served in India for eight years with few visible results to show for his efforts, William Carey wrote to his friend John Williams, “Pray for us that we may be faithful to the end.”

Self Control… If there is anything we need more of today it is self control… it is the mastery over one’s desires and passions.

In first Corinthians, Paul speaks to those who cannot manage there sexual desires, he says they should marry..

1 Corinthians 7:9 ESV

9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Men and women must exercise control over their thoughts and bodies… I think about the movies that came out 50 shades of grey several years, the responses people had with that movie reminded us that they were out of control.

People get infatuated with another over lust… and suddenly if we are not incontrol of our lives, we will find our self in sin...

Practice the fruit of the Spirit.

Now let me ask you another question.. if God gave you a test.. a test on producing and living in the fruit of the Spirit, how would you score?

Now where does it find its faith and practice.. how do we do it..

Its hard, but doable if we live and walk in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

4. Crucify the Inner Man Daily....

Living for Jesus means we must surrender ourselves daily, that is the truth we must consider every day. And I mean that, it is a every day practice.

Let me take you to verse 24-26

Galatians 5:24–26 ESV

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Someone once said the Christian life is a tug of war…between the flesh and the Spirit.

Verse 24

Victory comes when we die to the flesh daily and pursue God day after day through the help of the Spirit, walking with Him.

Do you remember when Jesus said if anyone desires to come after me, let Him take up His cross and follow me.

The same message is being applied here, Our conversation, our salvation is a action that Christ did for us, that was His work to save mankind from sin. Thus he was crucified for the sins of the world. It is a past action that has a continuing action or effect upon the world. As such, anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, today or in the future will be saved.

Here we are called to take up our cross again, we are to die to self. The daily putting to death the flesh.

By prayer, repentance, self control and discipleship… we discover day by day how we can walk with the Lord and learn to stay in step with the Spirit.

So we understand the nature of dying to self… and we must put it into practice… But how do we stay in step with the Spirit.

The phrase “Keep in step with” is a military term meaning to get in line… the Sgt and called for the soldiers to line up. Add to it the idea discipleship we know we are to conform to Christ’s leadership in our life.

So line up and follow Jesus… and by faith we follow the Lord’s leadership as conveyed by the Holy Spirit.

We wait on His words, never running ahead and never lagging behind. But staying with Him.

Remember the Scriptures tell us He will communicate only what the Father tells Him, He does not speak of hi own will, but God’s and will lead us into all truth.

We can crucify our flesh daily and follow after His leadership in my life...

Inner battle

Works of the Flesh

Fruit of the Spirit

Crucify the Flesh daily

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

Related Media

Related Sermons