Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Galatians chapter 5 and reading
through our text this part of verse 17. Galatians 5 and verse
17, I'll read the whole verse first. For the flesh lusteth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these
are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would. And the words that are upon my
spirit are this, these are contrary the one to the other. What does contrary mean? Contrary
is something that is opposite in nature, in direction, or meaning. There were several times with
the disciples that they went over the lake and the winds,
the waves, were contrary, were opposite to them. Years ago when
I used to do sailing with my brother over in Australia. There
was one time we were sailing quite a long journey back from
where we'd gone, and the wind was contrary, and we were having
to tack every bit of the way, zigzag, trying to go opposite,
and very tiring work, and then suddenly the wind completely
dropped, and we were about to get the oars out, there's not
a breath of wind, and the wind came around completely, 180 degrees,
we put the sail right out, and we were just blown straight back
to where we wanted to go. And the difference was really
quite amazing, to have the wind, the one completely opposite,
and battling against that, And the next minute he was completely
the other way around and driven before the wind. And the disciples,
I knew what it was to have something contrary in that way, opposite,
resisting, going the other way. And this is what is on my spirit
here. These are contrary, the one to
the other. And if we have the work of God
in our hearts, then these words will mean something to us. Now if we think really on a scale
of those things that are really opposite, then We should not
be surprised that it is so inexperienced. We think of our God, pure, holy,
eternal God. And then we think of Satan. How
contrary, how opposite, how opposing is Satan's work. than our Lord. In the Lord, in him there is
light and no darkness at all, but with Satan he is termed the
Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies. So opposite from him
that is pure and holy, him that cannot lie, God who cannot lie,
and yet Satan is constantly so. Our Lord brings his word and
Satan comes along and he says, hath God said? He is contrary
in all that he says, opposing the holy, pure word of God. It was so in the fall and it
will be right through to the end. I fear very often the Church
of God Stop and consider what an adversary we have in Satan,
what an opposer of all that is good. Emrata speaks of Satan,
how that he frights me when I try. When we come to the throne of
grace, he opposes, he is the accuser of the brethren, he discourages
He tries to turn away. In everything that God would
direct his people to, invite them to, Satan opposes it. He's contrary to it. He does
not desire the good of God's people, but their destruction,
if he could. Satan says, our Lord, to Peter,
Hath desired to have thee, to sift you as wheat, but I have
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Satan's hour, the seed
of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head, is our Lord
Jesus Christ. He came to destroy the works
of the devil. that the devil is the opposer
of the people of God, of the salvation of God. When he spoke
through Peter, when our Lord was showing his coming sacrifice
and offering at Calvary, then Peter said, be not that unto
thee, O Lord. He would turn him away. from
laying down his life for his sheep, from bruising Satan's
head, from doing his father's will. But our Lord turned and
he said, get thee behind me, Satan, thou savourous, not the
things that be of God, but the things that be of men. And he
ever will be. that oppose, and we are to remember
this, that we have an adversary that is a powerful adversary,
that is an opposer of all the things of God. If
God gives him, and he is a restrained power, but we have the picture
in the book of Job, where God gave him permission to touch
Joe, but not to take away his life. And we see what he was
able to do and how that we need the Lord to be on our side. We have no strength or might
or power against Satan whatsoever. but the Lord is able. He is greater
than Satan and he is able to deliver us out of his hand. We should make us very, very
careful that we do not, as it were, tread on Satan's land or
get into where it is his dominion and where he could rightly say,
well, I found you. I found you amongst my followers. I found you in my ways. I found
you away from the ways of the Lord." Bunyan, I think, portrays
his Christians and how they went into Bypath Meadow and soon were
found in Doubting Castle, soon in ways that were not the King's
Highway, and how soon Satan would take advantage of us. Well, our text says these are
contrary the one to the other. And so I want to look at various
things that are contrary one to another and we begin with
the context here in the text. What is spoken of is the spirit
and the flesh. We read both the accounts, the
account in Romans, the account here both written by the Apostle
Paul. And this is speaking of the experience
of the people of God. By nature we walk after the flesh. We have only flesh. The apostle
speaks of this in the passage we read in Romans, where he says
that he was alive without the law once. He was a religious
man, but he was walking in a way that he thought was pleasing
to God, but it was really religion form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof. When Paul writes to Timothy,
as a most solemn word, there are things that you'd think were
contrary, and yet they are set before us not as contrary, but
as those things that actually are one together. In 2 Timothy,
in chapter 3, he speaks of the last days, perilous times shall
come. And he describes men. Men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, less famous, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God. Now you think, surely that description
could never lie straight with any godliness whatsoever. But then he adds, having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn
away. And so you have a natural religion,
and you have all of these evil things, these fruits of the flesh
as what is set before us in Galatians, and yet it's going hand in hand
with a form of godliness. A form of godliness will never
save from those things. It will never save from the fruits
of the flesh. In Galatians we had a list of
the works of the flesh. Two verses on from our text,
the works of the flesh are manifest. And there's a whole list that
is set forth there. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft. All of these things, and things,
murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. And the apostle
said, which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. And yet Paul, when he writes
to Timothy, he says, there are those that do. such things and
more, and yet they have a form of godliness. But it needs the power of God
to make that change and that difference. It's a solemn thing
if we have a form of godliness that has not separated and does
not make us have something within us that is contrary. A warfare. And this is what the
apostle is saying here. That there is the flesh and there
is the spirit. And those two are contrary. They're in opposing ways. But
there can also be religious flesh. that has not got the conflict. And so it is important to realize
this. And going back to Paul to the
Romans, he tells us what made the difference in his case. God brought him under conviction
through the law of God. He has brought him guilty The
law was given that all the world might be brought in guilty before
God. And for God's people, they are
brought to be in their own feeling sinners. That sin dwells in them,
works in them, that they are fallen, that they are truly,
as the apostle said, wretched, O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? He says, when
the law came, and he then died to hope in himself and to save
himself, he says, was the law sin? No. No, the law is holy
and righteous. and he's by the law is a knowledge
of sin. He says in verse 14, chapter
seven, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal
soul under sin. And so he sees that which is
contrary and different from the law to him as a fallen sinner
under the law, under condemnation, under the sentence of death.
And he says before us in Romans 7, how that the flesh worked. He'd been given a new nature.
He'd been shown the righteousness of the law. He'd been shown what
God requires, perfection and holiness and uprightness in thought,
in word, in deed, in every way. But he says this, that, that
which he would do, would not do, he did. That what I hate,
that I do. He says, if then I do that which
I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Very different thing from having
a law and people saying, well that's an unjust law, that's
unfair. I can't keep that and making
excuses and allowances under that law. It's a very different
thing to saying that law is right. That is holy. That is what I
would attain to. That is what I would walk in.
But how to perform it, I cannot do. One thought aright and the thought
of foolishness is sin. It is vital that we realize that
contrary nature that we have that can never ever be reconciled
to the new. And God puts his spirit in his
people He gives them spiritual life. He gives them a new spirit. He gives them that which is pure
from above. Wills to do what he requires. A love of that which is good.
A desire to do that which is good. A confessing that the law is
right and holy and just. And God's sentence against all
transgression is right. But then there's the realization
that in ourselves we cannot keep that law. We might want to, but
we can't. We cannot fulfill it. It's not
a matter of setting forth the law of God and people hear it
and then obey it. and by that obedience they get
to heaven. That is not how people are brought
to heaven. The apostle sets before us an
experience, a work that proves a willingness but an inability
and brings in a need then, a need of redemption a need of the precious
blood of Christ, a need of mercy, a need of grace. And yet this,
what the Apostle describes, is the true experience of a child
of God who has the Spirit, who has grace. is not, as the apostle
describes in Romans 6, sinning that grace might abound. That's
a very different thing saying, well, Christ has died, blotted
out my sin, and therefore it doesn't matter if I sin. It doesn't matter if I break
the law, because I'll go to heaven anyway because Christ is dying. We do not have liberty to sin. We do not, and are not set free
by Christ to allow us just to walk after the flesh. The apostle in Romans 8, he says
that if we walk after the flesh, we shall die. And if we walk
after the spirit, then we shall live. To be kindly minded is
death, that to be spiritually minded is life and peace. But every child of God will know
that which is contrary, the one to the other. You and I have
the spirit, we'll find that our flesh is contrary to that. The desires of the mind, the
fallen nature The Apostle said, if I do that which I would not,
is no more I that doeth, but sin that dwelleth within me. There are many examples, especially
in medical ways, where there may be all the willpower in the
world of doing something, but an inability to do it. You think of one that is paralyzed,
whether fully or partially. They may have a will to walk,
a will to move their limbs, but cannot do so. And you think of
those that have a broken limb. They want to use that, but they
cannot. The weakness is there. And we
are used to a willingness, but not ability to do it. We might
long to be able to play a musical instrument, to play the piano.
We might have many lessons, but just not able to do it. It's
not for lack maybe of willpower or desire, but ability and skill
is not there. And there's many, many things
that we might have that desire, but we're not able to do. And this is especially so in
salvation. God never in the gospel makes
it so that his people are able to save themselves. He shows them what they need
to be saved from. He shows them not just once,
but daily, what we need to be saved from and why. One of our hymns says, sinners
can say a none but they, Our precious is the Saviour. And
that's not saying it is those that are just reckless, careless
sinners that love sin. No, it is those that feel they're
sinners. Those like the publican, God
be merciful to me, a sinner. And that is known and how whether
we are a sinner as a careless sinner, or whether we are a sinner
under conviction of sin, and with the Holy Spirit of God with
us, is whether we prove this contrary one to another. The opposition, that which is
spoken of here, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. and the spirit
against the flesh. And these are contrary the one
to the other, so that he cannot do the things that he would. The flesh says, I want to go
in all these ways of sin. The spirit says, I want to go
in the ways of the Lord. I want to think right things,
walk right things. I want to live an upright life.
But the flesh says, no. I like to walk after the sight
of the eyes and the desire of the mind and the affections that
are by sin defiled. And they often will just carry
us away. And that conflict is an ongoing
conflict. It is a thing that is contrary. And we all know that. It won't
get less all our journey through, the flesh, is still the same
when the Lord first begins to work with the sinner as when
they come to their journey's end. It still opposes as much. Truly, the Lord does teach, instruct
His people and brings them close to Him, but that old nature is
not refined. It's destined to be laid in the to be, as Paul says, that this
corruption, this corruption must put on incorruption, this mortal
must put on immortality. And the Lord has so ordered it
that death which puts an end to life shall also put an end
to sin. But until sin is put an end to
in that way, there will be that contrary opposition known by
the people of God. On to look at it in some other
ways. Salvation. Salvation by works
or salvation by grace. The Apostle is very clear on
this. It is either grace or it is either
works. It cannot be both. If Abraham was justified or counted
free from guilt by works, the apostle says that he has somewhat
to glory but not before God. Salvation is by God's grace. Paul says to the Ephesians, by
grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. That is, faith is the gift of
God. And then in verse 9 of Ephesians
2, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so again, those
two things that are contrary, one to another. Now, I want to
make it clear on this, that it is contrary when those works
are set up as a reason for salvation. All God's children may be able
to say, Thou only has wrought all Thou works in us. Where grace
is, the fruits of grace will be seen in works. But where that
work is seen outwardly in walking in the ways of the Lord, that
person will testify with the apostle that it is not him, but
God that works in him. And it is so important that we
put the works in the right order. Works as a fruit of God's work
in us. This people have I formed for
myself, they shall show forth my praise. The Lord says in John
15 of the parable of the vine, that I am the vine, ye are the
branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, neither can ye, except ye abide in me. From me is thy
fruit found. But we must not think then that,
well, we will look on that fruit as an evidence or a fruit as
a cause of life. The gift of life is a gift. The Lord passed by us when we
were in our blood and bid us live. When we were yet sinners,
God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us and is set forth before us with Jacob
and Esau. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated, that before they had been born and not done any good,
or any evil that the purposes according to election might stand. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And it's made very clear that
it was not of works that they would do, it was of the sovereign
grace, choice, and work of God. And those things are, If it is works of our own, then
Christ has died in vain. If it is man's work, then what
need there would be of God's work, God's saving work, and
Christ's sacrificial death at Calvary? And we need to be very
clear on that. It is, you might say, another
contrary thing, For one, if he says that they are born again
of the Spirit, are called by grace, but have no works of righteousness,
there's no difference in their lives, then that is contrary,
that's opposite to the teaching of the Word of God. And yet,
the people of God know that sin All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. The hymn writer says, though
his outside be kept clean, he feels the filth within. And we are to see, by God's grace,
to walk uprightly, to speak rightly, but we will know that inside
there's many conflicts and we are not above falling like dear
David did and smarting for it too, the Lord chastening his
people because of their sins. But at this point I just want
to make that emphasis that the Salvation by works and salvation
by grace are contrary. They are opposite one to another. It cannot be both. Another thing that is contrary
is righteousness by the law or by Christ. In this same epistle
to the Galatians, In chapter 2, we have the apostle closing
the second chapter, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for
if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. He is very clear that It is the
righteousness that comes by the grace of God and not by the law. This he writes in his epistle
to the Romans and he says in chapter 10 that he bears record
of his brethren who he desires might be saved. And he bears them record that
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. They,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. And again we can see how contrary
that is. And the Apostle says to these
Galatians, either it is the righteousness of Christ or it is our own. Either it is our good works or
it is Christ's perfect righteousness. It doesn't come through the law, but through faith in Christ alone. And the apostle could see, even
though they were zealous, even though they were religious people,
yet what they were doing was actually contrary. It was not
bringing them closer to God. It was not saving. They were
going down a wrong way entirely. And we need to be very clear
on this. I believe there are many, many
brought up under the sand of the truth, many in our churches. This is the way that we will
go by nature. In Adam we are under the law
and we lean to it all the time. It is what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? A great contradiction. And yet
we want to be able to earn it, we want to be able to merit it,
but we cannot do so. Then there is the friendship
of the world. This is something that James
warns about and which is opposite, he says in chapter 4 and verse
4, He says, you adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. And our Lord is very
clear in this way as well, ye cannot serve God and mammon. Where if a man has these two
masters, he'll either hate the one or despise and cleave to
the other, or despise one and follow another. He cannot. He cannot have that loyalty to
both. And the Lord has chosen his people
out of this world. He says, they are not of this
world. even as I am not of this world. I pray not that thou hast take
them out of the world, but that thou hast keep them from the
evil. And again, we must remember this,
that the world is no friend of a Christian, a follower of Christ. The world's course is contrary,
it is opposite to that which the Lord will have his people
to go. The Lord says in John 17, I've
given them thy word and the world hath hated them. That's all that
is needed. For the world to hate the people
of God so that the people of God have the word of God and
say that they will walk according to that. And we should not be
surprised then that While the word will be fulfilled, they
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That is in an opposite way, a
contrary way. Then there is the teaching of
separation as in 2 Corinthians and chapter 6. The apostle exhorts us in verse
14, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? And what concord hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? And so he's bringing those things
that are contrary one to another. The righteousness with unrighteousness,
light and darkness, Christ and Belial, a believer and an infidel,
the temple of God with idols, those things that are really
contrary. one to another. He's highlighting
this and giving direction to these Corinthian believers. Now it doesn't mean, of course,
that we go out of the world. We live next to people that are
unbelievers. We are to be friendly and civil
in a right way to all that are around us. But what it is speaking
of is especially those close yoked or walking together in
a bond that is like a yoke. With the oxen, and it is forbidden
that an oxen and an ass should not plow together because they've
got different strengths. And where they use them for plowing
and they put a beam across their shoulders and so that they pull
together and pull the plough. Well if there's different strengths
then it's not equally shared and it just doesn't work. Our Lord says, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you
shall find rest unto your souls, but a close walking together
with those that are unbelievers, this is what is forbidden. It can be so in the case of a
marriage union, a man and a woman together. They've got to pull
together. They live together, have children
together, are blessed in that way. Decisions are made together,
bank accounts together, everything is together. If there is a marriage
union between two unbelievers, or two not called and then one
is called, then if they are happy to live one to another, then
the Word of God directs they remain together, they abide together,
and there is a possibility that the believer will be the means
of the conversion of the other and the marriage and the children
are sanctified by the one that is the believer. And there's
not to be an entering into it when you already know that there
is a real difference. And it is also in business relationships
as well. I remember many years ago now
being invited to joined in business relationship with my own siblings
and knowing that they were unbelievers, they had a different standard,
a different way of doing business. I refused to do that even though
it meant losing out on a lot of what would have been the inheritance
or estate. It cannot be that you have a
business relationship where decisions are being made. And we see the
example with when Jehoshaphat, the kings of Judah, godly kings,
tried to join with the ungodly kings, Ahab of Israel, and immediately
there's a mismatch. Jehoshaphat wants to ask of the
Lord. Ahab, he's saying of the prophet,
he never speaks good. towards me, but only evil. And
the prophets reproved Jehoshaphat for walking in that way. And
in a way, you might say Jehoshaphat would say, well, we're all of
Israel. We're all of Jacob's sons. He has ten tribes, I have
two. Can't we walk together? Aren't
our horses, aren't we the same? But no, God says, and through
his prophets, You're not the same. You're not serving the
same God. Ahab has his Baal. He has his
false prophets. You serve the true and living
God. Don't be hung together like that. And we have those examples. And so it is that close walk,
that walk in church fellowship, that walk as in a semblance of
worship together, or the idea of an ecumenical, walking together
when there cannot be a walking together. There is to be a separation,
there is to be a discernment in that way, and realizing what
actually is contrary one to another. So the apostle here, this is
in the context of that work within a sinner's heart, that difference
that God makes in giving his Holy Spirit and quickening into
life, making a new creature in Christ. and the conflict that
is within, that we can extend it and think of it in these other
aspects and ways that touches all of our lives. There's a vast
difference between one dead in sin and one alive, between a
believer and an unbeliever, one that is going to heaven and one
that is going to hell, one that is saved and one that is lost. one that is walking according
to the course of this world, and one that is seeking to walk
according to the ways of the Lord. May the Lord cause us truly
to know the secret of this Word, of those things that are contrary,
the one to the other. Amen.