Sermon Tone Analysis

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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..

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.

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.