Good job. Thank you very much.
I really do enjoy this service, the recognition of graduates every year.
I think it's important that we as your church family celebrate this with you, honor you in this way.
One of my goals for this service every year is to preach a message that has some type of special application to graduates.
Well, this year, this message, it's going to accomplish that goal because it speaks to every Christian.
If you are a Christian, then what I'm going to be talking about today, what we're going to be looking at in Galatians 5,
it applies to every single one of us equally.
It's talking about something, if you are a Christian, you're very familiar with,
an internal battle, an internal struggle between a force that entices us to sin
and between the Spirit of God that so works in us, calling us to live a life that pleases God.
Galatians 5, beginning in verse 16, Paul is contrasting two types of what we could call character qualities or even lifestyles.
One will describe what we could call character qualities or actions.
One will describe what's going on.
One or the other will describe what's going on in our lives right now in terms of our attitudes or actions,
at least to some degree.
Now, when you see which list best describes how you are living,
you will discover that at this moment,
what the most powerful influence in your life is.
What we're going to see this morning,
some of the characteristics of people who live according to the desires of their sinful nature,
some of the outworkings of the Spirit of God in a person's life.
If we look at these two ways of thinking and living,
whichever list most identifies you,
that's going to show you
what is actually the most powerful influence in your life right now,
right this minute.
Let's read Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 16,
but our focus this morning will be verses 19 through 25.
Let's read it.
Paul is writing to churches in a region called Galatia.
He says,
But I say,
Walk by the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Walk by the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of your sinful nature.
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 thing you want to do.
But if you're led by the Spirit,
you're not under the law.
Now, the works of the flesh are evident.
Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,
drunkenness, orgy, 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.
But the fruit of the Spirit,
the opposite way to live.
The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such things, there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit,
let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
We're in a series from Galatians chapter 5,
verses 16 through chapter 6,
about verse 5, maybe through verse 10.
We'll see how it works out next week.
The series is entitled,
The Holy Spirit The.
Notice that, all capitals, T-H-E, underlined.
The Holy Spirit The Key
to living a faithful Christian life.
Last week, we looked at verses 16 through 18
and saw how we must depend on the Holy Spirit's power.
Well, today,
we're looking at verses 19 through 25,
and we're going to see how we must make
the Holy Spirit the dominant influence
in our lives.
There is a dominant influence over your life right now.
It's either your old sinful nature
or it's the Spirit of God if you're a Christian.
Let's begin by, with a question.
What is the dominant influence in your life right now?
What is the strongest, most powerful influence,
force, power in your life right now?
If you're a Christian,
it's either your sinful nature,
what Paul calls the flesh,
or the Spirit of God.
As we go through these verses,
we're going to look at both, both.
I want you to be honest
about what is influencing you the most right now.
Let's look at number one.
If our sinful nature is the most powerful influence
in our life, then some of the things
found in verses 19 through 21
will be present in us.
Now, we're going to look at some things
that are outrageous sins, some of them.
What I want you to do is think,
this list,
you may not be doing this publicly,
but you could be doing it privately.
You may not be doing some of these things,
actually acting on them,
but you're thinking it.
The thought is there,
the desire is there,
maybe just the opportunity
just hasn't arisen yet.
So don't just think,
this doesn't describe what I'm doing.
Does this describe what you want to do?
Does this describe some of your desires?
Let's look.
First,
I'm going to categorize these.
A lot of commentators,
they put these under some,
I like four headings,
and I think that helps us to look at it better.
So let's do that.
Look at the first one,
sexual sins.
Verse 19.
Look at those words there.
Sexual immorality, impurity.
Sensuality.
You know,
sex is one of God's good gifts,
and I want to say at the outset,
Paul is not talking about
sex in any kind of negative way.
God made us to be sexual beings
with sexual needs,
and he designed that those needs
be met in a pure and honorable
and good way in marriage,
in the institution of marriage.
But we all know
the good gift of sex
is often abused,
and that's what Paul's talking about here.
Sexual immorality is a broad term
covering all kinds of sexual sins.
He's referring to things like
premarital sex,
adultery,
homosexuality.
He's referring to you being involved
in pornography.
One of the great
under the radar,
what we think,
hidden sins of today.
But I want you to think,
sexual immorality is not limited
to just physical acts.
Jesus talks about how
lusting for someone
is the same as committing adultery
with them in your heart.
So sexual immorality
can just take place in your mind,
just your thought life,
your desires.
It can take place both
in our public world
and our private world.
Here's something we all need to remember.
When it comes to God,
there is no private world.
I've got a private world from you
and you've got a private world from me.
But nobody,
no one,
has a private world
where God is not there.
And we need to always keep that in mind.
The word impurity literally means uncleanness.
It's describing either
some kind of perverse behavior
or it could be describing
how sexual impurity
defiles and corrupts a person
which separates us from God.
Sensuality,
the next one,
this is sexual sin
without limits or restraint.
William Barclay
describes it like this.
A love of sin
so reckless
and so audacious
that a man has ceased to care
what God
or man
thinks
of his actions.
I want us to understand something.
Sometimes we can all say,
I don't care
what other people think.
And sometimes we say that in a way
that's okay,
that's positive.
You know,
we're not going to go with the flow.
We don't care
if somebody criticizes us.
We're going to do
what we think is the right thing.
So in that way,
we don't care
what people think.
But we need to all be careful
that we never develop
the attitude,
I don't give a rip
what anybody thinks,
including God.
That's a dangerous place to be.
It's a place of
doing things that
deep down,
if we'll admit it,
we are ashamed
and we don't want to be held
accountable for.
What we're going to do this morning
is not do an in-depth study
of these sins
of the sinful nature.
We're looking at sort of
the whole thing
in a nutshell this morning
and going to compare it
with the fruit of the Spirit.
So let's move on in this.
The next group
is religious sins,
verse 20.
Everyone worships something.
God made us that way.
God made us in such a way
that we would want
to worship Him.
That was the original design.
But when sin entered the world,
everything got messed up.
Everything is flawed,
including
what we worship sometimes.
Idolatry
can be defined as
worship of the creature
rather than the creator.
Idolatry is when we worship
maybe even a good gift of God
in place of God,
the giver.
Anything that takes God's place
in our life can be an idol.
If you are worshiping a person,
if you're worshiping money,
if you're worshiping power,
if you're worshiping education,
you're an idolater
according to Scripture.
Anything that takes God's place
in our life has become an idol,
which makes us guilty of idolatry.
Sorcery.
That's sort of strange
turning up in this passage,
but
it refers to any kind of involvement
with the powers of evil,
and it's used in the New Testament
sometimes to refer to
someone's involvement
with the occult.
Now, the word actually comes
from a Greek word,
pharmakon,
which literally means drugs,
where our word pharmacy comes from.
And in New Testament times,
this word was sometimes used
to describe drugs
that induced abortion.
Sometimes it's a part
of an occult practice.
So that's what he's talking about there.
Various kinds of unacceptable worship.
The third category is social sins.
Verses 20 and 21.
The things on this list
revealed our flawed personal character
and our failure in relationships.
I want you to look at that.
Verses 20 and first part of verse 21.
These words don't need
a whole lot of explanation.
He's talking about
how our sinful nature
so works in us
that we're prideful,
we are divisive,
we don't get along with people.
Just look at this list.
Enmity, that means hatred,
strife, jealousy,
fits of anger,
rivalries.
Some translations say
selfish ambition,
dissensions,
divisions,
envy.
You see what he's talking about?
Paul is talking about how
our sinful nature
so works in us
to tempt us
to be sexually impure
in some way.
Sometimes.
Not all time,
but sometimes.
And some people
more than others.
Our sinful nature
provokes us
to place too much emphasis
on another person
or a thing
in place of God.
Our sinful,
selfish attitudes,
desires,
sometimes tempt us
just to not be,
not try to get along
with someone.
Just be content,
or just be obsessed
obsessed with our way
and get angry
and lash out at people
when we don't get our way.
The fourth category
is alcohol-related sins.
Drunkenness,
you know what that is.
But the word
that's next,
orgies.
You think,
where in the world
does that come from
in this list?
It can be translated
carousing.
It can just be
referring to something
like what you would call
wild parties.
This word is used
three times
in the New Testament,
and each time
it's linked
to the sin
of drunkenness.
That's why it's here.
It's not really
out of place.
He's talking about
not just somebody
who gets drunk,
but somebody
who just goes wild
in their drinking
and drunkenness.
You know,
our nation's
number one
drug problem
today is
alcohol abuse.
it's the most
problem drug
among all ages,
but it's certainly
the most problem drug
among young people,
and you know,
you got,
you know friends
in high school
and college
who've already got
a problem with alcohol.
They've abused it
to the point
that they're drunk
more times
than not
on a weekend.
Problem
that I want to sort of
focus on for a moment
here is
it's the number one
drug problem
alcohol abuse is
in our country,
yet it is glorified
by the entertainment
and advertising industries
as if it is the key
to having a good time.
You see it in,
you know,
commercials,
advertisements,
you see it in all kinds
of TV shows and movies,
that if you really want
to have a good time,
you got to drink.
And a lot of times,
the more you drink,
the better your time is,
the more relaxed you are,
the more loose you are,
the more open
and free you are.
I want to be clear.
I have never seen anyone
where alcohol
made them a better person.
Now, if you have,
I want you to tell me.
I want to know that.
I have never in my life
seen anyone
who really liked to drink,
who made it a priority
in their life
and it made them
a better husband
or father
or mother
or daughter
or anything.
But I have seen
how alcohol
has ruined
people's lives.
I mean,
I've seen it
close,
very much
in my face,
in my family,
among people
that I know
and love
where alcohol
has ruined
their life,
destroyed
their life,
their home,
their family,
lost their career.
And I want us
to be aware of that.
I want you to be aware
of that today
as a young person
at any age.
Let it sink in.
Alcohol is the number one
abused drug
in this country.
Alcohol will not help you
to be better
in any way.
but it can,
it very well
could hurt you
and the people
in your life
that you don't want
to hurt
if you're not
very, very careful.
Now,
look at verse 21.
This list of acts
of the sinful nature
ends with a very
strong,
serious warning.
Look at it.
I warn you.
As I warned you
before,
that those
who do such things
will not
inherit
the kingdom of God.
People whose lives
are characterized
by sexual immorality,
by just,
they're just angry,
mean-spirited,
cause trouble people,
selfish and self-centered,
they worship things
instead of God,
they worship people
instead of God.
Paul is saying
very clearly here
that a person
who lives this way,
we're talking about somebody,
this is their way of life.
This is what they know.
This is how they are.
This is how they're known.
They're not going to heaven
when they die.
Now,
let's be clear.
The most faithful Christian
struggles
with some of these
on a regular basis.
All of us in this room,
the most respected,
the most godly individual
in this room,
you are tempted.
Maybe with something
related to sexual immorality.
Maybe with alcohol.
Maybe you've got
put too much value
on some things
or people,
and God's not first
in your life
truly
on a regular basis.
Maybe you're just
a selfish person.
You're very arrogant.
You're jealous
of everything
that someone has
to have something
more than you
or better than you.
You're tempted this way.
Sometimes you give in
to this.
Sometimes you give in
to it more at home
around your family
and close friends
than you do out in public.
Maybe nobody at church
has ever seen you,
but your family
certainly has seen you.
Show your rear end
because you're giving in
the desires
of your sinful nature
about getting your way,
about making sure
you get your way
and you force it
on everybody else
in your life.
You say,
we're going to be real
this morning.
We're not going to look
at this passage
and talk about
all those evil people.
We're talking about
how we as Christians
have a sinful nature
and we are tempted.
We have desires
and feelings.
There's things,
emotions
that come out sometimes.
If that's our normal
way of living
and we would say,
I just can't help
but be this way,
that means the Spirit
of God does not live
in you
and that means
you're not a Christian.
You may be a church member,
you may be a baptized
church member,
but you cannot be
a child of God.
You are not going to heaven,
the Word of God says,
if this is you
on a regular basis,
the way you think,
the way you speak,
the way you act,
let's hold that thought down.
Let's go on.
Let's look at the other
source of influence
in this passage,
the Holy Spirit.
If the Spirit of God
is the most powerful
influence in our lives,
we will to some degree
be developing
character qualities
described here
as the fruit of the Spirit.
Look at them.
The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
Now, I want you to notice
a difference
in the way Paul describes
these works of the flesh
and the fruit of the Spirit.
Verse 19,
the works of the flesh.
He's talking about
attitudes and actions
that arise
and come from us.
just a part of who we are
as fallen, sinful people.
But verse 22,
he describes
the fruit of the Spirit.
These are attitudes
and actions
that the Spirit of God
produces in
and through us.
We're going to be doing
a study on Wednesday nights
on each
of these qualities
in this list
called the fruit of the Spirit.
Wednesday night,
6.30,
over in the fellowship hall.
This coming Wednesday night,
we're going to start looking
at the first one
individually,
love.
Now, I want to encourage you
to come and be a part
of this study
of how the Holy Spirit
will work in us
to enable us
to experience
and demonstrate
love and joy and peace
in the midst of difficulty.
When life is hard
and things of that nature.
But right now,
look at the works
of the sinful nature
that we've looked at,
this list,
19 and 21,
through 21,
and the fruit of the Spirit.
Which list describes
the consistent desire
of your heart
and which is the consistent
pattern of your life?
Think about it.
all Christians,
all of us struggle
with sinful desires
that come from
our sinful nature.
It's an internal war.
It's a battle
that's going on within us.
Paul talked about it
in verse 17
that we looked at last week.
Sometimes we give in
to those desires.
Sometimes,
the most godly
in this room,
give in to those temptations,
those desires,
and you say or do
a sinful thing
that people see
and hear.
It's obvious.
Sometimes we do that
more than we want to admit.
But a true Christian
will not let that be
their normal way of life.
That will not be
their lifestyle,
giving in to the desires
of our sinful nature.
Because Paul said,
if we do,
we will not inherit
the kingdom of God.
So it means a Christian
won't do that.
True children of God
are not at the mercy
of our sinful nature.
If you're a child of God,
the Spirit of God
lives within you
and you do not have
to give in
to the temptations.
You do not have
to act on
those desires
and thoughts
and feelings
that you have
that come from within you
that you know
are wrong.
You do not have
to live a life
that is defined
by sin.
If you're living,
if you're a Christian
and dwell by the Spirit
of God,
you want to obey Him.
You want to do
what's right,
not what's wrong.
You want to please God,
not displease Him.
That's your desire
that comes from
the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Let's look now
at how we can successfully
follow the leadership
of the Holy Spirit
and live that kind of way.
Number two,
how can the Holy Spirit
become the dominant influence
in your life every day?
Well, that's what
verses 24 and 25
tells us.
It's a two-step process.
Number one,
we must say no
to the desires
of our sinful nature.
Look at what he says
in verse 24.
And those who belong
to Christ Jesus
have crucified
the flesh
with its passions
and desires.
Paul uses the imagery
of crucifixion
for an obvious reason.
Jesus was crucified.
He died for our sins.
He uses this imagery
of crucifixion
to describe
the radical break
that we are supposed
to make
when we turn
from our sin,
when we are saved,
when we do put our faith
and trust in Jesus.
He's referring to
what we did at conversion.
We repented of our sin.
We turned from our sin.
We turned away
from everything
that we thought
was selfish
and sinful
and ungodly.
Well, since that time,
since whenever it was
you were saved,
the Lord has continued
to reveal things to you
that are selfish
and sinful
and ungodly.
If you're a Christian
and dwell by the Spirit of God,
as you learn
about those things,
as you learn
what does not please God,
you'll do it.
You'll not give in to it.
When you learn
what does please God,
you'll want to do
what pleases God.
That is the desire
of everyone
who's been born again
by the Spirit of God.
That's the way to test
if you really are a Christian.
Do you love sin
and enjoy it
and have no
real serious
guilt about it?
The Spirit of God
can't be living within you.
But do you really
and truly
hate sin
and you want
to overcome it?
You want to live
a life that pleases God.
You want to honor Him.
You want to be right
with people.
That's a sign
that the Spirit of God
is working within you.
And the second part
of this process
is we must say yes
to the leadership
of the Holy Spirit.
He says,
if we live by the Spirit,
verse 25,
let us also keep step
with the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit leads us
by giving us
the desires
to live a life
that will please God
in mind and heart
and life.
The Holy Spirit works in us
to enable us
to produce
Christ-like character
qualities.
The fruit of the Spirit.
You can live
a faithful Christian life
but you cannot do it
on your own.
You need
that supernatural help
that the Holy Spirit
of God
will give you.
Chuck Swindoll
gives us some good advice
on how we can
do this way,
live this way.
Listen to what he says.
Look at what he says.
He says,
resolve each morning
to walk in the Spirit.
First thing every morning
before you get up,
commit yourself
to His control.
Swindoll is saying,
if you're really serious
about living
a faithful Christian life,
when you wake up
in the morning,
when the clock goes off,
think to yourself,
I really am a child of God.
The Spirit of God
lives within me.
Pray and just ask God,
Lord, help me
to be sensitive
to your Spirit's presence.
Help me to be obedient
to His power.
Help me to watch
what I say.
Not just say
everything I think.
Help me to watch
what I do.
Help me to watch
what my mind dwells on.
And then number two,
strive to maintain
your walk
throughout each day.
Don't turn away
from the Spirit's leading
so you can flirt
with the desires
of the sinful nature.
The Spirit will guide,
protect,
and empower you.
All you must do
is follow Him
by faith.
Begin in the mornings,
committing your life
and you in the fresh
to be sensitive
to the Spirit of God
and obedient
to His leadership.
And throughout the day,
think about that.
Recognize when your sinful nature
is tempting you
and leading,
trying to lead you
in the wrong way.
Learn to say no.
Learn not to say it.
Learn not to do it.
Learn not to look at it.
Learn to do instead
what the Spirit of God
is leading you to do.
That which will
please God.
That which will
make a positive difference
in other people's lives.
That which will
ultimately
please you.
God's Word is clear.
We can live
a faithful,
obedient,
victorious Christian life
if
we will say no
to our sinful nature
and yes
to the leading
of the Holy Spirit
every day.
All day.
The question is
do you want to do that?
Will you do that?
Let's pray together.
Dear God,
help us right now
to know exactly
how you see us,
how we really are.
Father,
show us
if we really
are Christians
but we're not
being faithful
to say no
to the desires
of our sinful nature.
We're not choosing
on a daily basis
to be obedient
to your Spirit's leading.
We're not choosing
to please you.
We're instead
pleasing ourselves
more times
than we like
to admit.
If that's the case,
Father,
help that person
to admit it to you,
to confess their sin,
to truly repent,
to seek your forgiveness
and a fresh start
today
to walk in the Spirit,
to keep in step
with the Spirit.
Father,
if there are people
in this room
who would say
while they know
they feel
the battle
every day,
they are making
progress
and following
the leadership
of the Holy Spirit.
Dear God,
affirm them,
encourage them
to keep on,
not let up,
but to keep on
relying upon
the power
that you provide
through your
indwelling Spirit.
But dear God,
if there are people
in this room
who are not
indwelled by the Spirit,
they don't have
this struggle.
They just live
any way they want
to live
with relatively
no guilt.
Help them to see,
dear God,
that if they continue
that way,
they will not
inherit your kingdom.
They'll not go to heaven
when they die.
They're not your children.
But God,
we pray right now
that you will create
within them
a desire to turn
from this way of life.
a desire to truly
trust Jesus
as their Lord
and Savior.
Father,
help them right now
to call upon Jesus
to save them.
I want everybody
to continue
in an attitude of prayer.
You listen to the Lord
and you obey Him.
Do what He's calling you
to do
in these next few minutes.
I'd be happy
to pray with you
during this time
if that's what
you'd like.
You'd like that kind of help.
If you want to talk
about these things,
I'd be happy to do that now.
I'd be happy to do it
anytime,
anywhere.
But let's make sure
as we leave here today
we are living
under the power
of the Spirit of God
who indwells us
as a Christian.
thank you.
I'm sending you
to God's Murray
through the power
of the Holy Spirit of God