[0:00] I want us to have a think about today, Christian freedom. What is freedom? What is Christian freedom? What does it mean to be free as a Christian?
[0:12] I don't know whether it's like this in Cork, but if you come over to where I live, near where I live, we have a park and there are all kinds of dogs and all kinds of dog walkers.
[0:25] And basically, I've noticed, if you go around our park, there are four types of dogs. One, let's call him Spike. Spike the dog, number one.
[0:38] Now, this dog is not allowed off the lead. He's on a leash. He's always pulling. He's got a big leather collar on, might even have a muzzle on.
[0:50] He's pulling away from the master, constantly pulling, dragging, straining. The master's pulling back, choking. The dog coughs. The owner sometimes whacks the dog on the head with the leash and pulls back and that's dog number one. Ever seen a dog like that? Yeah, that's Spike.
[1:10] Dog number two, let's call him Buster. Basically, he is Spike, but he's not on a leash. And he hurtles around the field, totally out of control.
[1:25] You know, runs after the rabbits, runs after the squirrels, jumps up on walkers with muddy paws, never listens to the owner who's calling him back all the time.
[1:36] Buster! Buster! Come here! Come here! Come here! Doesn't seem to listen and just does his own thing. That's dog number two, Buster. Dog number three is, let's call him Max.
[1:47] Dog number three is, let's call him Max.
[2:17] And he's looking at the master all the time, not on a leash. Here's dog number four. Now this may be unique to my area because this is my neighbour's dog.
[2:30] He is in fact called Benji. Benji, when he goes for a walk, doesn't walk. My owner carries him. And carries him around the walk and then puts him down and he just about wobbles to go to the toilet against the lamppost.
[2:49] And then she picks him up and carries on walking. He's just got no passion. He's got nothing. Which dog represents the Christian?
[3:02] And which dog are you? That's the question. Now, in Galatians, one of the big themes that Paul, who writes this letter to these Christians in Galatia, is freedom.
[3:14] As I said, freedom. Christian freedom. What does it mean? He's shown us that we're saved by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not down to our works.
[3:27] That we're saved and freed from our sins. We're freed from pagan idolatry. From following false gods. We're freed from the power and the guilt of false religion.
[3:39] We're freed from that. We're freed even from the Jewish laws. The laws that are placed upon us. That some people have been coming into the church and saying we need to go back to.
[3:53] Like circumcision. All kinds of laws that people were saying that the early church needed to go back to. We're free from those laws. He's saying. We're really free from these.
[4:03] Really big on that issue. So how do we then define the Christian life? We're free from religion. We're free from religious rules.
[4:15] We're free from outward rules that just pull us back. And so it's now at this point in the letter. In the reading that we had. That we're forced to ask the question.
[4:28] Well what does Christian freedom really look like then? What does it mean for me to be free? And the answer is. We're free to walk.
[4:40] We're free to walk. We're free to walk. In the spirit. Look at verse 16. Of chapter 5. So I say live.
[4:51] Actually it would be better to translate that word. Walk there. So I say walk. By the spirit. And you'll not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
[5:04] So Paul's talking about the Holy Spirit here. And he says the Christian life is not a matter of imposing outward rules. But it's a matter of living.
[5:18] It's really born again. It's a new life. Live. So I say live. Look at verse 25. Since we live.
[5:29] Now that word is live. That word is the sort of born again word. That word is you've come alive. By the spirit. So we live by the spirit. Let us keep in step with the spirit.
[5:43] So freedom. Is when we live. Like we're born to live. Like the new nature that we've been given in Christ. It's not just outward rules.
[5:55] There's a life. The life of God is in us. We live by the power of the Holy Spirit. In us. And that means we can then walk by the spirit.
[6:07] That's what he's saying. Not by the sinful nature. So freedom is when we live how we're born to live. Yeah. That's what he's saying here.
[6:18] So the Christian life. Is pictured as freedom. Therefore we're not like dog number one. Spike the dog. Or we shouldn't be if we're real Christians.
[6:30] We're not just mastered by a leash. Of religious duty. And religious laws. Just pulling us back. Choking us. You see at the end of the walk.
[6:42] Spike hasn't run after the rabbits. He hasn't eaten the rotten food that dogs smell out and eat. You could say well he's been an obedient dog.
[6:57] But his heart hasn't changed has it? There's no new life in him. It's just rules. It's just law. It's just the leash that's holding back.
[7:08] There's no change in his life. We're not like Buster the dog. Who just has a dog nature. Completely dog. He's led completely by his desires.
[7:22] Smells the rabbit. Off he goes. Smells the horrible food. Off he goes. We're not like Buster. And we're not like Benji. That has no desire at all.
[7:35] That doesn't really sort of care about anything. Just leaves everything to the master. Just to be carried. Christian freedom is walking.
[7:49] Christian freedom is being kept in step with the spirit. Christian freedom is gazing at the master.
[8:01] Not outward laws. Not outward rules. Not following our natural desires. But gazing at the master. And so the Christian freedom that I want to suggest is like dog number three.
[8:16] Max. Now it doesn't mean to say, and this is what I want us to get to, that Max doesn't have any dog nature. It doesn't mean to say that when he's walking with the master, he doesn't smell the same rabbit as Buster and Spike.
[8:36] It doesn't mean to say that he hasn't got the sniff of the squirrel or the bad food or sees the other dog and feels angry towards it.
[8:49] Now he has all of those feelings. But he's captivated by a bigger vision. Love for his master. See the difference?
[9:00] See the difference of what a Christian is? So with that illustration in mind, let's just get into this passage. Let's have a look. And the first thing I would like us to see from this passage, and it's a very, very important thing, is conflict.
[9:13] If we're going to walk the Christian walk, if we're going to know Christian freedom, we're going to know conflict. And that's the first point I want us to see.
[9:27] Conflict. The situation for us as Christians in this freedom is warfare. Conflict. Look at verse 16 again of chapter 5.
[9:38] So I say live, walk. So I say walk by the Spirit, and you're not gratified the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
[9:56] They are in conflict with each other. So that you do not do what you want. Verse 26. Since we live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit.
[10:10] If we're going to keep in step with the Spirit, there's going to be conflict. Conflict in our lives. Every Christian, every real Christian, has two natures.
[10:23] It's like a, if you know the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have that in us. Or if you don't know that story, then just follow with my illustration. We have Max the dog that loves the Master.
[10:37] We have one nature in us, which is love for the Master. But we're a dog. And we have a dog nature that sniffs the rabbit. You see? And we have these two natures.
[10:50] And when we become a Christian, there's a war in us. There's a battle. There's a fight. It's one of the ways you know you're a Christian.
[11:01] If there's a battle in you. If it's just easy to be a Christian, you're probably a bit like Benji the dog. You don't care. There's no life.
[11:13] But when you're a Christian, there's a battle. Look at verse 17 again. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit.
[11:29] And the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other. So you do not do what you want. It's vitally important for the Christian life to know that the battle, Christian battle, is normal.
[11:45] It's normal. The Christian life is not easy walk in the park. It's normal to battle these two natures.
[11:56] We're forgiven? Absolutely. We're forgiven by all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're cleansed and washed by the Spirit of God. The payment for all our sin has been paid.
[12:10] Absolutely. We're children of God. Absolutely. That remains a fact. The penalty for sin is paid. But the presence of sin in our life still lingers on.
[12:24] Don't you know that? As a Christian? Still lingering there? The difference is we're now forgiven people who've been given the Holy Spirit.
[12:34] And the Holy Spirit leads us into conflict. Leads us into battle. And so there's a struggle. So I want to say to you here, if you're a Christian and you struggle to be a Christian and you're struggling with sin in your life and you're frustrated because you think, how long have I been a Christian and still this is going on, I want to say, if you're struggling, that's a good sign.
[12:59] I want to encourage you in that because that's the Christian life. The fact that you battle encourages you.
[13:11] That you've got these two natures. The Spirit of God is working in you. The poor of the world.
[13:22] And you do what you don't want to do. And you love the Master, but you smell the rabbit. Notice where the conflict rages.
[13:33] Just where it rages. Verse 16 again. So I say live, or rather I say walk. I say walk by the Spirit and you're not gratifying, here we go, the desires of the sinful nature.
[13:45] Verse 17. For the sinful nature does not, for the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
[13:56] They're in conflict. The area of battle is this desire. And as I say, a sign of whether you're indwelt by the Spirit is that there's a battle going on with your desires here.
[14:08] Walk by the Spirit, he says. Stay close to the Master. Watch the battle. Watch your desires. Here's Max the dog there.
[14:20] He's walking without a lead by his Master. He loves his Master. He loves his Master. He's looking up at his Master. But then he smells the rabbit.
[14:32] Or he sees another dog that he's never liked. And he's off. There's a battle between the two natures.
[14:44] Love for the Master. Hate for the dog. And off he goes. And his feet start moving forward and he starts running. And then the Master says, Max!
[14:57] Max! Boy! Boy! Reminds him who he is. And reminds him who the Master is. And the dog pulls back and comes back.
[15:09] See the tension between the two desires? Here I am. Walking down Cork High Street. Whatever it's called.
[15:19] Main street. I don't know what it's called. And I see a very pretty girl in a short skirt. And my sinful nature calls out to me, Look! Imagine!
[15:32] And the desire to run from the Master is strong. It's strong! As Max's desire for the rabbit. My name is Christian.
[15:45] And Jesus died for me. A sinful person after all these years of even being a pastor. 48 years I've been a Christian and I'm still tempted by this sort of thing.
[16:00] How pathetic am I? How weak am I? That my desire is still appalled in that direction. But then the whole scene reminds me of the love of Christ for me.
[16:13] that he died for me, a sinner. That even after all these years of following him, there are these sinful desires still playing around in my heart.
[16:27] And I understand that he has grace and patience and love for me. Even now. And I hear my name, Christian, come back. And I look to him with gratitude and the desire to please him.
[16:45] And the fruit of the Spirit grows a little in that conflict. My love for him grows a little bit more. My hatred for lust and the way you treat people and look at people falsely grows a little bit more as I love Jesus a little bit more in the battle.
[17:06] You see it? You see the desire? And the next day I wake up and walk down Cork High Street or Main Street or whatever it's told and I've got the same conflict.
[17:19] It's the same conflict, the same desire. And I look at Jesus and say, you still love me? After all these years? And it makes me love him more that he would love me like that.
[17:36] I'm listening to how successful another pastor is. Going on about how great this pastor is. Best preacher in town. You know.
[17:48] And the desire to run from my master to jealousy or selfish ambition or I want success he's strong.
[18:00] He's so strong. Is he better than me? Then I hear the word. You couldn't be more loved. You couldn't be more secure.
[18:11] What are you worried about people being better than you? You're loved by me. I died for you. A sinful person that after all these years of battling still the sniff of jealousy works in my heart.
[18:32] How pathetic am I? 48 years. Been a pastor for years. Hardly grown in my desires in one sense.
[18:42] And yet I hear him call me back. I hear his love for me and I think wow. And a little bit of the fruit of the spirit of joy grows in me as I hate jealousy.
[19:01] The next day same thing happens. Conflict. You see that? Isn't that the question in life? Conflict.
[19:13] Am I the only one who feels like this? Conflict. Secondly my second point is contrast. Just look at the contrast. Look at verse 19 again. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.
[19:25] Sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambitions dissensions factions and envy and drunkenness and orgies and the like.
[19:39] I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God but the fruit of the spirit listen to the difference is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law the contrast is amazing isn't it the contrast look at verse 13 and contrast it with verse 15 you my brothers were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature rather serve one another in love the entire law is summed up in a single command love your neighbour as yourself if you keep on biting and devouring each other watch out or you'll be destroyed by each other you've got these two this contrast this sinful nature here is horrific isn't it and the fruits of the spirit here the contrast is immense when we first started out in Kingston we bought a double-decker bus and an old London bus and we kitted it out with sort of a coffee bar so that we could invite people on because Kingston at that time had lots of nightclubs in and we would take the bus down into Kingston Centre to talk to the people that were coming from the nightclubs mostly drunk mostly high to some degree but we wanted to sort of reach out to them in some ways and this was having a go at it but we had sort of big boards up to try to get some discussion so we'd invite them on for tea or coffee or just a chat and we turned it into you know little tables and things like that but we had big boards up and when we first did it we had we had the acts of the sinful nature big board with all the words written up all those things we just read and then the fruit of the spirit and
[21:46] I found that because I would always just try to talk to the blokes and British blokes when they're slightly drunk open up I'm not saying it's a good thing but they sort of open up if they're too drunk you can't talk to anyone but when they'd had a few drinks they would open up and we found that the blokes would get incredibly emotional when you said look these are the acts of the sinful nature do you want that and I mean look at them witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambitions and here's the fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience look at the contrast and we found blokes would cry and say I'd love that I'd love that and then you say well that's why Jesus came this is why you need Jesus you know which one are you are you just like
[22:48] Buster the dog or you could be like Max so there's a contrast here but there's another contrast here that we should see as Christians and that is that one is produced by the sinful nature it's sort of human but the other is the spirit it's the fruit of the spirit you can't get love joy peace patience gentleness kindness self control you can't get that by just looking within I mean it's extraordinary so in England at the moment I don't know I guess it's similar here is we're telling young people you need to find yourself you need to go within you need to look in you need to discover who you are inside well genuinely if you really discover who you are inside you'll find discord jealousy fits of rage won't you you don't find love joy peace patience inside you have to go outside and it's a fruit of the spirit this is the good news brothers and sisters we have for this world that is so lost the fruit of the spirit do you want to know love joy yes don't people need love joy peace patience kindness gentleness in their hearts faithfulness faithfulness so this is a fruit of the spirit it's not a fruit of the nature our nature you can't work hard at these things it's a fruit it grows and it takes time it's not a pot noodle you know it's not an instant cup of soup where you just pour hot water and there's your meal fruit grows it takes time that's why when someone becomes a christian don't expect them to know everything and be everything you know immediately it takes time to grow patience doesn't it how do you grow patience by having someone who's a bit irritating around you it grows and it's the fruit of the spirit it's not fruits so we're to be growing all of this sometimes our fruit is a bit distorted it's all banana shaped or whatever but you know it's the fruit of the spirit so we're to be growing love joy peace patience this is one fruit of the spirit that we're growing it's not that Fred is brilliant at love and you know
[25:17] Sarah is wonderful at joy we should be growing these things it's growing in us brothers and sisters it's not gifts of the spirit they're totally different it's the fruit of the spirit our very characters should be growing in this so you've got the contrast you've got the conflict the contrast here's my third point the context the context now we've seen that the fruit of the spirit in its immediate context is this spiritual battle but there's a wider context I want you to see that the fruit of the spirit is seen in the context of the church of Christian fellowship here the passage comes right in the middle the passage that we read comes right in the middle of a section that starts at chapter 5 verse 13 and finishes at chapter 6 verse 10 so if we understand the beginning and we understand the end we're going to get an understanding of the middle let me just read the beginning verse 13 of chapter 5 you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature rather here it is serve one another in love don't use your freedom to indulge yourself don't do that very easy to do but don't do that yeah that's the beginning then look at the end of the section chapter 6 verse 10 if you've got a
[27:00] Bible therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially those who belong to the family of believers so it's loving our brothers and sisters and it's doing good to our brothers and sisters and to all people it's other people centered you see that it's not all about me yeah so this fruit of the spirit is obviously relational but it's church white I don't know you as a church I think it's fantastic that this is I love all this stuff that you've been here since 1601 or whatever it is yeah and some of you have been here since 1601 but have you grown have you grown I'm not talking about numbers I'm talking about in the spirit is the church growing so many churches stagnate you know that
[28:06] Peter they stagnate you go to you preach around I'm sure you go to a church and you think wow this church had a name once it was big it was it was alive and it's now just a name Jesus does that when he goes to the churches in in revelation doesn't he he comes and says you're alive and now you're dead you know the fruit of the spirit is not just me individually growing love joy peace it's as a church are you as a church growing it's lovely to see different nationalities there and that's a very good sign that's a very good sign because you have to learn to love different nationalities because we we do things differently you know me as an Englishman could really upset you Irish I'm sure we could because we've done it for years so it's easy to do that you know so you've got to learn to love and sometimes it's just a cultural difference it's nothing to do with sin it's culturally different so we have a lot of
[29:16] Asians and we have Africans in our church and Africans and Asians you know they've got they're very different characters but we're in Christ and we've got to love and enjoy the differences and just laugh at them and enjoy them yeah every church is like a fruit display or you know a fruit shop you're on display when a visitor comes in you're on display as a church are you growing are you growing are we growing in love and joy and peace and patience and in caring for a lost world that believes such nonsense then my last point okay my last point the actual change itself now we've we've already seen that we change the fruit of the spirit as we grow and we grow as we battle so as we battle we grow
[30:25] I hope I made that clear as we battle we grow so those illustrations I gave of myself as I battle that's the opportunity to grow when I'm tempted that's the opportunity to see how much Jesus loves me and grow do you understand that it's so so important I think but we're to walk as well we're to walk we're not to be like Benji yeah we're to walk the fruit of the spirit is really a description of Jesus isn't it that that's Jesus isn't it that's the one we love isn't it that's the master and what the spirit does he shows us Jesus and he's always doing that the spirit takes the spotlight off himself and he puts the spotlight on Jesus that's the spirit's job the spirit doesn't bang on about himself he says look at Jesus and the fruit of the spirit is really
[31:25] Jesus isn't it there's no one like him he's the one isn't he that had love I mean how much love I mean we could spend each now we could go on each of the fruit of the spirit and do a sermon on each one of them couldn't we easily the love of Jesus the joy of Jesus the joy set before him he endured the cross you know the faithfulness of Jesus the gentrowness of Jesus all those things it's the Lord Jesus Christ Spurgeon see it Spurgeon I'm in a Baptist church so I have to quote Spurgeon do you quote Spurgeon regularly I hope you do can't get away from Spurgeon he said I looked at the cross and the dove flew in that's the spirit I looked at the cross Jesus work and the dove flew in I looked at the dove and he flew away I love that in other words what the spirit does is to focus us on Jesus and when you focus on Jesus the Holy Spirit is being revealed the dove comes in but when you focus on the Holy Spirit you know and forget Jesus then no no no it's all about Jesus anyway here's Jesus he's the master we're walking with him keep looking at him keep that's why
[32:46] Peter's always going to go always bring you to Jesus he'll always preach the Lord Jesus he'll always preach the gospel you know he's constantly going to bring the gospel into your mind because that's how you walk because he's so he's so wonderful but walking does mean going somewhere it doesn't mean just sitting there's no way you can walk if you just sit you can't be a Benji and as a church you'll be stagnant you'll be a Benji that's carried around who wants that no passion no love no desire just wheeled here and wheeled there or carried here and carried there but no no we're to move forward and you move from one place to another when you walk that's what you do it's one foot in front of the other you leave stuff behind and you move forward you leave the old nature and you move forward into the spirit of God and that's what we need to do as a church we're constantly pushing forward how do we reach the lost how do we show the love of Christ to the world how do we grow as Christians how do I as a member of this church help the church grow it's not it's not it's not just me saying why doesn't the church as a pastor over many years
[34:20] I've heard many people say to me why doesn't the church do this and you think well you're a member of the church why don't you do it you know and why not because one person can't do everything so if you think like that let's do it let's walk in the spirit let's move let's take the gospel out the wonderful wonderful saying that you may well know from John Newton he said this I'm not what I want to be anybody here are you what you want to be I'm not what I want to be I'm not what I should be I'm not what I one day will be in heaven but I thank God I'm not what I once was is that you in other words you're growing and just one quick word if you are a person that doesn't know the spirit if you've never asked the
[35:34] Lord Jesus to be your Lord and saviour and asked that he would send the spirit to make you alive in Christ and not just religious why not today why not ask him to be your Lord and saviour let's pray father help us with the things that we've heard to bring glory to your name as we love our master Jesus amen