WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.700 Good morning, everyone. So I'll just tell you a little bit about our church, because maybe you 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:12.259 don't know. We're a very young church plant. We did start in January. It's an English church in 00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:19.559 Gatineau. There aren't really many or any English churches in Gatineau, but there's a growing English 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:25.060 population over there. So if you know, if you have a friend who lives in Aylmer or Buckingham, 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:31.839 tell them to come join us. We meet in the afternoons, which has its perks. Like, I get to 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:35.780 come be here with you in the morning, and then I get to go preach at church this afternoon. 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:42.980 But we're a mix of English and French. So we just read the Nicene Creed. We do that in English 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:48.000 some weeks. We do that in French other weeks. We're mostly English, but we've got a large percentage 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:53.420 of our church that is francophone. It's very much an immigrant church as well, so it's about as 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:59.280 diverse as you can get, which comes with tons of challenges. We struggle with the language thing, 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:04.500 but it's also part of our, you know, DNA of what we want. We want to see the Lord Jesus reconcile 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:09.819 all things in the universe. And so we're really putting all our chips in that Jesus basket, and 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:15.900 we're going for it. But we're a very young, small church. We appreciate your prayers. So remember us, 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:25.640 please, pray for us. But I came here to tell you some really good news, some really wonderful news 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:31.840 from Galatians chapter 5 that we just read. So I've spent some time studying today's text, and man, 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:37.439 I really believe that this can be a life-changing passage of Scripture for you. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:47.099 And I'm serious when I say that. And hang with me, and I think you'll see why. The passage today 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:55.659 sets before us two ways to live, either dependent on God or dependent on ourselves. And I say two ways 00:01:55.659 --> 00:02:01.060 to live, not two ways to think. You can have all your theological ducks in a row, but you can still 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:09.819 just be in bondage to the law. If you go and read the entirety of the letter to the Galatians, 00:02:09.920 --> 00:02:15.759 you're going to learn a lot about the nuances between circumcision, uncircumcision, between the 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:22.960 child of the slave woman, child of the free woman, between law and faith. But ever present in the 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:30.099 background of this letter by Paul, like the sustained note of a bagpipe's drone is the gospel. 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:37.300 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by paying the penalty of our sins on the cross 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:43.680 so that we could be free. That's grace. Maybe you love grace. Maybe you're all about grace. 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:51.680 I do. But be honest. What occurred in your heart a moment ago when Daniel read that passage from 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.900 Galatians aloud? When you heard that list of vices and virtues? Some of you are like, oh no, I wasn't 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:01.939 really paying attention. Well, you can look right now. Look at verse 19 and onward. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:10.580 Did you not check yourself to see how you did? Like, what's your score? Okay, I'm doing reasonably 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:17.460 well with sorcery, but eek, I think I'm a little too angry. Or I've been messing up on the sexuality 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:24.879 stuff, but I'm not divisive in the church, so where does that leave me? Y'all, we can tell ourselves that 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:30.740 we aren't legalists all day long, but you put a list like Galatians 5 in front of us, and we will go 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:38.740 through every line of it checking ourselves. See, how well did we do? See, we often think of legalists 00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:44.120 as the snobby legalists who have their lives all nice and tidy, everything's put together. 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:52.980 But it is just as legalistic to beat yourself up all the time. Shame is not a virtue. 00:03:54.920 --> 00:03:59.140 Okay, now some of you might be feeling ashamed. Let's deal with that. Let's get into this. This 00:03:59.140 --> 00:04:06.540 passage can change your life. Paul shows us the amazing, unstoppable work of the Spirit of God 00:04:06.540 --> 00:04:13.460 in those who have faith in Christ. Now, some of you may not have faith yet. It is great that you're 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:20.480 here today. I ask you just for a little while, just try faith on. Think with it. Track with me as 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:26.500 much as you can, and I think you'll see why so many people are obsessed with Jesus. Everything 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:33.480 depends on Him. So in this text, we don't see Jesus' name per se. Whom do we see? We see the Spirit. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.660 It's the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. It's all the same God at work. And just to note, 00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:45.020 Paul mentions the Spirit in this text like seven times. That's about half the total usages of the 00:04:45.020 --> 00:04:51.439 word Spirit in Galatians. This passage is a hotbed of spiritual activity in the letter. 00:04:52.580 --> 00:04:59.060 So where am I going with this? The main takeaway, the big idea here is that we must depend on the 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:05.280 Spirit. Stop depending on ourselves. We must depend on the Spirit and stop depending on ourselves. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:11.899 Only He can pull us out from under the law, the law that's crushing us. 00:05:13.239 --> 00:05:19.339 Now, we're going to study these verses under three headings. First, the war inside. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:30.539 Second, from death to life. And third, get up, soldier. The war inside, from death to life, 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:38.220 get up, soldier. Okay? So part one, the war inside. This is verses 16 and 17. Christians talk a lot 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:43.580 about having peace, but it's not like having like peace with the universe or being stoic and just 00:05:43.580 --> 00:05:51.020 kind of cool with everything. It's actually peace accomplished through warfare. Paul describes the 00:05:51.020 --> 00:05:57.939 Christian life as one of war, internal war. There is a war going on inside every believer. 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:05.219 There's good news, though. You're not fighting alone. God's Spirit is with you. Paul starts, 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:10.000 look at the first verse there. He starts by telling the Galatians to walk by the Spirit. 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:17.699 He's going to start the other section similarly. Look at verse 18, being led by the Spirit. Or verse 25, 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:24.120 keep in step, walk with the Spirit. They must remember that they're not alone. God Himself, 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:31.340 the Holy Spirit, is with them every step of the way. And because they're walking with the Spirit, 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:35.319 they don't have to fear the war. They don't have to fear whatever comes their way. 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:44.259 And even if it is a war on the inside, the Spirit is with them. So now things, I find, 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:50.019 start to get a little interesting. Look at verse 16. Paul says something peculiar. He says that 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:56.759 because they're walking with the Spirit, they will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:04.259 Desires of the flesh. That may sound carnal when you first hear it, but it's all those things that 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:10.839 were read earlier, all those things that include like rivalries and dissensions, divisions, those are 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:19.639 all desires of the flesh. So it's all said in the passage. But let's stop here. How is it that Paul 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:25.740 can just say this sentence so matter-of-factly? Like, walk by the Spirit and you won't chase after 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:33.579 these sins anymore? Like, if I came to you and I said, look, I've been really struggling with sin 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:40.060 lately. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. I could really use some prayer. And you said, Frankie, 00:07:40.159 --> 00:07:45.060 all you got to do is just, you just got to walk by the Spirit, man, and you won't desire those things 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:52.180 anymore. You'll be fine. If you said that to me, I would walk away so discouraged. I'd be so confused 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:57.319 about the Christian life. Like, what does it even mean? It just sounds like one of those cliches. So 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:05.759 what is Paul saying here? Well, verse 17 clears it up. Look at 17. The Spirit is opposed to the flesh, 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:13.040 and the flesh is opposed to the Spirit. They are at war. And it's war that is serving a purpose in the 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:19.040 Christian life. That last phrase in verse 17 is important. Look at 17. It's war in order that, or 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:27.800 to keep you from doing the things that you hate to do? No. That you want to do. Yeah, you want to sin. 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:34.220 Yeah, I want to sin. And you know what? In war, you have bad days. 00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:44.040 You have days where you lose. But God's Spirit is at work in your heart right now, 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:49.759 waging war on your sin. See, we go through life thinking that if we're going to get God, 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.800 we have to just sort of like clean up our act first. And even if you know the gospel, you still 00:08:53.800 --> 00:08:58.240 live like that. You still live afraid of Him, afraid to run to Him after your sin. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:02.539 But that's the reverse of what Christianity is. 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:11.240 You can only clean up your act. You can only have any victory over sin if the Holy Spirit is with you, 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:18.779 in you, at work. It is Him who is working. It is He who is making you even notice a problem with sin. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.740 See, a believer who struggles with sin is a real believer. 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:31.060 And a believer who doesn't struggle with sin is not a believer at all. 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:33.320 You hear me? 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:43.159 A believer who doesn't struggle with sin is not a believer. There's no internal warfare going on. 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:46.480 You must have conflict. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:53.539 If you don't have an internal war with sin, then whatever peace you have in your life, 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:59.539 it's like the Pax Romana, you history buffs may know, that the Romans, they say, would make peace 00:09:59.539 --> 00:10:05.539 by going into a city and turning it into a desert, killing all life, quashing any life. 00:10:06.560 --> 00:10:12.600 But you who struggle with sin, who may feel weighed down by it so bad, even this morning, 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:16.420 you walk in this room feeling like a fraud because you hate what happens in the dark. 00:10:17.420 --> 00:10:25.000 You who struggle with sin are like a city in which God is throwing a spiritual coup, 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:33.080 redeeming it, buying it back. There is a battle. It is a battle to win you. 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:35.740 It is a battle in your heart. 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:40.920 Now, this is not something Paul's making up. He's getting this from the Old Testament. 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:44.900 You go read the prophecy of Ezekiel, all these words about like flesh and spirit, 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:49.280 waging war and fighting and interacting. That's coming from the prophet Ezekiel. 00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:54.900 And a lot of you may, maybe your favorite passage, if you know Ezekiel, is that valley of dry bones, 00:10:55.400 --> 00:11:00.879 where it's revealed that the problem is not that Israel isn't just trying hard enough. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.879 It's that they need new hearts. They're dead bones. They need to be brought to life. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:11.779 And that is an act of God. That's how they obey the law. It is through God's grace at work in their hearts. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:18.639 God himself must give them new spiritual life. This is where our dependence on God starts to come in. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.639 We must see him as our source of life, our source of obedience. 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:29.779 You know, if we don't have him at work in us, like we just continue to destroy ourself. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.279 And this is what the false teachers in Galatians didn't really understand. 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:39.259 You go read the book and they're all fighting about rituals and circumcision and stuff. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.480 See, they may have been paying lip service to Jesus, 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:47.480 but by making something like the law or circumcision to be like the front door to God, 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:49.720 it's a grievous error. 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.200 Because God doesn't wait for you to get your life in order before you come to him. 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:58.480 It's like going to a graveyard and waiting for somebody to come out of a tomb. 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:02.200 See, God has to be the one who comes to us. 00:12:02.540 --> 00:12:05.180 He has to be the one who draws us closer to him. 00:12:05.700 --> 00:12:07.680 He is our only hope in our fight against sin. 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:15.259 See, the problem the Galatians are facing, it's much deeper than religious rites. 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:18.620 It's about the very nature of how God interacts with man. 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:20.659 It's either by works or it's by grace. 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:26.120 Now, some of you really need to take this to heart this morning 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.060 and reevaluate the war that is going on inside of you. 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:31.879 You feel like an imposter. 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:37.240 You feel increasingly annoyed with yourself, increasingly annoyed with others. 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:39.700 You're just another hypocrite in church, 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:42.539 waiting for what you've done in the dark to be brought to the light. 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:46.939 And look, generally speaking, like everybody, regardless of your religion, 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.679 faces some sort of inner turmoil, some sort of self-doubt. 00:12:51.339 --> 00:12:57.039 But how you deal with that is very telling of your spiritual state. 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:03.500 Maybe some of you are sort of setting yourself as the standard of what a good human is, 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.719 like, if somebody seems better than me, well, that makes them a good person. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:09.719 If somebody's, you know, worse than me, well, that makes them a bad person. 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:11.279 You're the standard. 00:13:12.539 --> 00:13:17.519 Or maybe some of you are just walking around feeling awful about yourself all the time. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:19.219 You're just never good enough. 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:24.959 But there's something peculiar happens whenever you're a Christian. 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:30.500 We misinterpret this turmoil in us to think that we're fake. 00:13:32.579 --> 00:13:34.000 But I want you to hear me. 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:39.860 There is nothing that will cause you more turmoil of heart 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:43.180 than the flag of God planted in your soul. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.500 There's nothing that will cause you more turmoil of heart 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:53.019 than the flag of God planted in your soul. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:00.419 Your anguish over sin is the spiritual coup where God himself is overthrowing the old regime. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:05.100 The old guard, your sin, tries to fight to keep you thinking you're enslaved. 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:08.340 But God's flag is not going anywhere. 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:16.000 God looked at you at your worst, your weakest, your worst day. 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.120 And he said, this is my city now. 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:22.980 She's mine. 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:24.960 He's mine. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:29.240 The war you feel on the inside is God's war to win you. 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:31.460 And his spirit always wins. 00:14:31.560 --> 00:14:32.180 Don't you fear? 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:35.100 He's broken your chains. 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:35.500 Get up. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:36.220 Walk with him. 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:39.759 So part one, the war inside. 00:14:39.900 --> 00:14:41.460 Part two, from death to life. 00:14:41.900 --> 00:14:45.259 Here we're going to be studying the bulk of the passage from verses 18 to 24. 00:14:45.560 --> 00:14:47.960 We're going to take a little bit more time here than in the third part. 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:48.780 So look at 18. 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:54.080 But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:56.200 Being led by the spirit. 00:14:56.280 --> 00:14:59.600 We're going to come back to this verse, verse 18, by the way, so memorize it now. 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.480 If you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:07.879 This has a Psalm 23 sort of undertone. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:19.120 The Lord is our shepherd who is leading us through the valley of the shadow of the penalty of the law and into the bright fields of the kingdom of God. 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:21.460 His spirit leads us. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:22.200 Hold on to that. 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:26.360 Paul then describes what he calls the works of the flesh. 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:30.200 It's a list of sins that lead to death in our lives. 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:34.759 These are the things that those who are under the law will be judged by. 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:35.659 Look at verse 21. 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:41.059 Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 00:15:42.219 --> 00:15:50.679 So what things are so bad that if somebody does them, it results in them being barred from the kingdom of God, really being sent to hell? 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.959 Well, it's pretty much everything bad. 00:15:55.059 --> 00:15:57.879 Paul lists three sins of a sexual nature. 00:15:58.299 --> 00:15:58.879 Look at 19. 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.539 Sexual immorality and purity, sensuality. 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:03.599 Then verse 20. 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:06.179 Two sins of a religious nature. 00:16:07.199 --> 00:16:07.699 Idolatry. 00:16:08.199 --> 00:16:08.679 Sorcery. 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:10.639 Then, get this, get this. 00:16:11.079 --> 00:16:14.240 Eight sins of how we treat one another in the community. 00:16:18.319 --> 00:16:18.799 Eight. 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:19.599 Enmity. 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:20.240 Strife. 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:20.939 Jealousy. 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:21.740 Fits of anger. 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:22.740 Rivalries. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:23.379 Dissensions. 00:16:23.939 --> 00:16:24.459 Divisions. 00:16:24.599 --> 00:16:25.079 Verse 21. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:25.719 Envy. 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:30.800 Then there's two sins of debauchery, drunkenness and orgies. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:40.019 And that last one is probably less how it's translated here and more like a crazy frat party vibe where the sexuality is included, but it's not the main deal. 00:16:40.019 --> 00:16:51.819 So, look, whenever we look at a list of this, we may want to just focus on the things that we don't do, like we try to keep ourselves away from the sins that would sort of scare us to think we're going to hell or something. 00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:52.939 But, okay. 00:16:53.179 --> 00:16:54.679 Say you're not a wild partier. 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:56.340 How's your anger? 00:16:58.939 --> 00:17:03.720 Eight of those sins, the majority of those sins, were relational things. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.059 Maybe you don't drink, even. 00:17:07.420 --> 00:17:14.120 But how much rivalry is churning under the surface of that grudge you're holding against somebody in the room? 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.620 Most of the sins here are relational. 00:17:18.120 --> 00:17:22.220 And frankly, none of us are making it through this list alive. 00:17:24.100 --> 00:17:26.860 But what did verse 18 say? 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:29.720 Have you forgotten it? 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:33.360 If you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:36.700 Are you under the law? 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:38.660 No. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.620 If you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:46.799 See, it's not that sin is excusable. 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:48.880 It's so bad it spoils everything. 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:49.880 It destroys everything. 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:51.100 It kills us. 00:17:51.860 --> 00:17:57.279 But the King of the Kingdom has grabbed a hold of you with his unbreakable chains of grace, 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:01.660 and he is pulling you out of the muck of sin into the bright fields of the Kingdom of God. 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:04.040 Out from under the law. 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:13.779 If you depend on him, he's paid the law's penalty for you by dying for you on the cross. 00:18:13.879 --> 00:18:14.619 It's done. 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:18.220 It's he who does it. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:19.940 It's his work. 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:20.819 It's not your work. 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:22.799 I mean, what are the works of the flesh? 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:24.980 Paul calls sin here works of the flesh. 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:29.299 But God's work here is something completely different. 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:30.640 This rescuing work. 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:34.839 And then what it does in our lives is it brings us from death into life. 00:18:35.299 --> 00:18:38.579 It grows fruit in our lives. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.240 See, Paul doesn't even call the good things here works. 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:43.200 We're used to calling good things works, bad things sin. 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:43.779 He flips. 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.559 He's like, your works are sin, but here's the good thing. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:47.339 Here's the life. 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:48.200 Here's the fruit. 00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:49.940 See that in verse 22. 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:50.960 It's fruit. 00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:52.480 What is this fruit? 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:53.579 Some of you have it memorized. 00:18:53.819 --> 00:18:55.759 Maybe some of you kids have a little song. 00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:01.140 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:02.700 Fruit. 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:05.920 This is such a rich biblical imagery. 00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:07.680 This is what humanity was made for. 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:08.599 Think of the Garden of Eden. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:09.240 What was the goal? 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.140 Spread the life. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:13.660 Spread the fruit over the earth. 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:16.559 You get to the temple of God, his holy place. 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:17.559 How is it described? 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:20.240 It's like pomegranates on the wall and stuff. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:20.759 Fruit. 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:20.799 Fruit. 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:22.940 Life-giving sustenance. 00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:28.619 And look, you don't need to be a Christian to look at the list of vices and virtues here 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:32.700 and say, yeah, vices are like death and virtues are sort of like life. 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:35.759 But it's just like in Deuteronomy. 00:19:35.879 --> 00:19:41.599 After Moses gives the law to the people of God with all of its judgments, he tells them 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.279 two words. 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:44.220 Choose life. 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:47.359 I want life. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.899 I'm tired of death. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.000 I'm tired of the death in my life. 00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:57.279 I'm tired of what sin is doing to me and to everything I touch. 00:19:59.139 --> 00:20:01.299 But God wants life for us more than we do. 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:03.719 It's why I became a man. 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:10.000 It's why he gave his life so that we could be brought from death to life. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.160 I want you to consider the fruit. 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:14.180 Love. 00:20:15.859 --> 00:20:20.180 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son to save it, to save you. 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:21.500 Joy. 00:20:22.660 --> 00:20:26.700 It was for the joy set before Christ that he endured the cross. 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:29.240 That joy was you. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:31.440 Peace. 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:37.980 Only a man of the deepest eternal peace would have put himself in such a miserable place 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:42.860 of torment to rescue those of us who are trying to mess up his life. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:45.440 He loves us with such peace. 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:47.200 Patience. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.819 Now, some of you this morning feel very impatient. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.380 You're impatient with yourself or your kids. 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:56.460 We can hardly stand ourselves sometimes. 00:20:57.460 --> 00:20:59.240 But he is so patient with us. 00:21:01.020 --> 00:21:01.940 So patient. 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:04.700 He's not in a rush with you. 00:21:05.020 --> 00:21:07.600 Like, you're in such a rush to get your life cleaned up and everything. 00:21:07.840 --> 00:21:08.640 He's not in a rush. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:09.360 He's patient. 00:21:10.020 --> 00:21:11.200 He knows he's going to win. 00:21:13.320 --> 00:21:13.760 Kindness. 00:21:16.060 --> 00:21:18.800 God doesn't shame us into acting better. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:23.659 Paul tells us that God's kindness is what is meant to lead us into repentance. 00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:24.460 Wow. 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:25.940 Who's like this? 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:27.299 You see where we're going with this? 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:30.019 This is the life of Christ at work in his people. 00:21:31.099 --> 00:21:31.539 Goodness. 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:35.419 It is his goodness, the goodness of God that he gives to us sinners. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:41.240 So that just like in the Garden of Eden, one day we could be called very good because of him. 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:43.019 Faithfulness. 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:43.259 Faithfulness. 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:43.339 Faithfulness. 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:47.379 All of us have been like an unfaithful bride to God. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:50.279 Yet he stays with us. 00:21:50.879 --> 00:21:53.259 He keeps our vows for us. 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:56.519 Gentleness and lowliness. 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:00.319 Calling all of us to come and drop our birds at his feet. 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:03.400 To take on us the way of grace and life. 00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:05.180 Self-control. 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:13.960 The book of Proverbs tells us that the person who has self-control is stronger than a warrior who conquers a city. 00:22:15.580 --> 00:22:21.720 Jesus faced temptation after temptation and didn't give in an inch. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.340 He is the mightiest of most warlike of self-controlled people. 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:32.180 And he did that because you and I are so indulgent. 00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:35.400 Our hearts are so easily entangled in sin. 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:37.180 But he was our champion. 00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:39.360 He defeated that for us. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:40.920 He has self-control. 00:22:41.360 --> 00:22:47.279 The fruit of the Spirit is the very life of Jesus that God is putting into the hearts of his people. 00:22:47.740 --> 00:22:49.180 In order to give us life. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.779 We are passing from death to life because of him. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:54.680 That's how Paul can say in verse 24. 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:55.380 Look at 24. 00:22:56.060 --> 00:22:57.600 He's like those who belong to Christ. 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.460 They've crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:02.160 They've died already. 00:23:03.500 --> 00:23:04.680 They've passed through death. 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:05.579 They're going to life. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:09.279 See, we see our sins so clearly sometimes. 00:23:09.600 --> 00:23:10.759 Never, never fully. 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.779 But here's how we need to see our sins. 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:17.200 We need to see our sins like Paul sees them in 24. 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.160 They've been nailed to the cross to die. 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:22.440 The flesh has been nailed to the cross. 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:27.340 See, our sinful flesh, it may wail and howl. 00:23:28.059 --> 00:23:29.279 But it is crucified. 00:23:30.360 --> 00:23:35.100 It may yet breathe and torment us, whispering to us, you'll never be free of sin. 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:36.240 You'll never be free of me. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:37.420 But it's crucified. 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:40.980 Your flesh may shame you. 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:42.660 It may tempt you. 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:50.480 But you have crucified it by entrusting yourself to your crucified king. 00:23:51.580 --> 00:23:56.000 You experience now only the death throes of a dying beast. 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:58.080 Fear not. 00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:02.279 Stop your wallowing in self-pity, self-loathing. 00:24:03.540 --> 00:24:06.980 Don't you know that those nails will never be removed? 00:24:06.980 --> 00:24:11.519 Our sin will never come down from that cross. 00:24:12.120 --> 00:24:13.259 It is dying. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.400 And now it is his life at work in you, bringing you to life. 00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:21.740 The spirit leads you from death to life. 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:24.539 The war inside, from death to life. 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:25.160 And now part three. 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:26.039 Get up, soldier. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:29.799 We're going to finish our text by studying the last two verses. 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:34.319 So Paul so far talked about walking by the spirit, being led by the spirit. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:36.960 And now he says, keep in step with the spirit. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:42.240 Or maybe in your Bible it says walk, but I think keep in step is a better translation. 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:48.460 See, this is the kind of walking where you're walking in ranks and files, marching. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:51.000 Y'all, this is military language. 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:54.660 I find this very fascinating. 00:24:54.860 --> 00:24:56.319 Look at the beginning of verse 25. 00:24:56.420 --> 00:25:00.120 He says, if we live by the spirit, let's keep in step with the spirit. 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:00.980 If we live. 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:02.980 Who is it that lives? 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:04.819 Let your eyes go back to verse 24. 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:09.980 It's those who have crucified the flesh and they now live by the spirit. 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:13.720 Those who have died now live. 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:18.500 Now rise and rank and file, keeping in step with their king, their commander. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.159 A resurrected army, just like that valley of dry bones. 00:25:22.299 --> 00:25:23.519 That is you, church. 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:26.480 That is what the Lord is doing for you. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.700 You're not hopeless and dead for sins. 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:33.360 Don't act like it anymore. 00:25:34.740 --> 00:25:37.079 You have a new heart, bursting with life. 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:37.819 God's in it. 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:38.759 God's saving you. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:42.420 God's making you his warrior, rising and rank and file. 00:25:42.539 --> 00:25:43.379 Get up, soldier. 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:45.859 Keep in step with your shepherd king. 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:49.720 Now look, this is not something we do alone. 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:52.200 Paul knows we do this in community. 00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:53.279 Look at verse 26. 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.500 He goes back to those relational sins again. 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:57.279 He says, don't become conceited. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:58.279 Don't provoke one another. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.039 Don't envy. 00:25:59.980 --> 00:26:01.920 See, those ways of death are behind you. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.680 They are nailed to the cross in your flesh. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.240 You're to love one another now. 00:26:08.279 --> 00:26:10.400 You're to march together now. 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:14.560 The people of God are to be like that ancient Greek phalanx. 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:15.720 Do you know the phalanx? 00:26:16.180 --> 00:26:21.320 It was a way of organizing your troops in battle where they'd all be in a block and they'd have 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:27.200 their shields all overlapping lined up and you'd have your spears all overlapping lined 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:31.900 up and you would march together, march onward, onward, together, rank and file together. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:38.560 The phalanx only works if you stay together, if you march as one. 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:43.560 You are one with those sitting in the room with you today. 00:26:44.800 --> 00:26:47.740 What reason do you have to look down on anybody here? 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:52.580 What benefit is it to you if any one of you fall? 00:26:55.080 --> 00:26:59.460 What is the point of distancing yourself from any of the other people here? 00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:01.140 None. 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:10.840 You are one learning to keep in step with your shepherd king together, following him into 00:27:10.840 --> 00:27:11.620 eternal life. 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:15.860 May this church never be a place where the gospel is on your lips, but it's not okay to 00:27:15.860 --> 00:27:16.480 make mistakes. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:24.060 May the fruit of the spirit of God, his life, remove the shackles of the law which keep any 00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:29.779 of you in chained, inciting your sin against one another, making you feel competitive against 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:30.339 one another. 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:36.899 May every one of you leave here today just a little bit lighter, a little bit freer, more 00:27:36.899 --> 00:27:40.839 of a team, happily entrusting yourself to the spirit. 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:42.980 Get up, soldier. 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:45.339 The way of the law is over. 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:48.639 Remember, the way of grace is set before you. 00:27:49.199 --> 00:27:49.839 Walk with him. 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:51.699 Be led by him. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:53.799 Keep in step with him. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.139 Depend on him. 00:27:56.140 --> 00:27:59.900 Come out from under the law. 00:28:02.820 --> 00:28:03.380 Let's pray. 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:11.880 God, we are so wearied from our sin, our flesh, that you've set before us a way out from 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:12.540 under your law. 00:28:13.280 --> 00:28:13.920 What a treasure. 00:28:14.060 --> 00:28:15.200 What a gracious, loving gift. 00:28:15.320 --> 00:28:15.740 Thank you. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:16.600 Thank you. 00:28:17.560 --> 00:28:22.260 Help us to see ourselves as you see us, as saved, as loved, as being healed, being rescued, 00:28:22.260 --> 00:28:24.900 forgiven, all through the work of the spirit of Christ. 00:28:25.580 --> 00:28:26.480 In whose name we pray. 00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:27.420 Amen.