Would you turn to Galatians chapter five? Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. They're obvious. Which are these? Adultery. Fornication. Uncleanness. Lasciviousness. Idolatry. Witchcraft. Hatred. Variance. Emulations. Wrath. strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. That's not the end of the catalog. It goes a lot further.

Of the witch, I tell you before, as I've also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.

Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. For the gospel of our dear son. How we thank you for the salvation that's in him. How we thank you for the manifestation of his person that you've given us the grace to believe on him and see him as altogether lovely. Lord, we ask that he might be preached. That you would give us hearing ears and that you'd give us a. A sense of awe produced by thy spirit at the greatness of thy son, the greatness of thy self, the greatness of thy gospel. Lord, we pray for our friends that are sick. We pray for your healing hand upon them according to your will. We pray for this assembly. We ask that you would give us the grace to love you more and love one another more. Lord, we're. So very grateful that all you require of us. You look to your son for a bless us for his sake. Be with all your people, wherever they meet together and Lord, forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.

Works and fruit. Works and fruit. Verse 19, now the works of the flesh. And verse 22, but the fruit of the spirit. The works of the flesh are what the flesh does. Now, if you were reading with me in that catalog, if you know yourself, you know that you've been guilty of every one of those works of the flesh. This is what the flesh does.

The fruit of the Spirit is what comes from the Spirit of God, the fruit of the Spirit. Don't you love that? The fruit of the Spirit. The works of the flesh, what the flesh does and the fruit of the spirit.

Now by flesh, Paul means fallen human nature. The carnal mind, Romans 8.6, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Now what an indictment of the natural mind. It is. It's not at enmity with God. It is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. And this is what is meant by the flesh. There is none righteous. No, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that doeth good. No, not one. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins and all the works of the flesh are sin.

Now, these things listed, and he says, and such like, there are many others, many others. It would take the world's history to name all of these things, but this is what the natural man does, the works of the flesh.

Now, the natural man may do many good things, noble things, heroic things, and we're thankful for that, aren't we? Aren't you thankful for neighbors that are good to you? Aren't you thankful to be in a position where you like your coworkers? They're nice. It's enjoyable to be around. I'm not saying that everyone is out murdering people and so on. I'm thankful for the good that is done in that sense. And don't you want to be a good person? You know, as far as good to people, merciful, kind, gracious, be an example in how you ought to conduct yourself in this world? Sure we do. That's what we want.

But he's speaking of the works of the natural man, and this is including the good works. This is including the good works. They're all sin. They're all sin. The best message I could possibly prepare to preach because I did it, sin is in it. And that's scary. Sometimes when I'm preparing a message and I think, oh, this is good. I think, oh no, that's just a bad, that's bad.

Genesis 6, 5 says, God saw the wickedness of man was greater than the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now that is the flesh. That is the works of the flesh. By one man, sin entered the world and death by sin. So death passed upon all men in that all have sinned.

Now, if there were no God, There would be no moral absolutes, would there? Who's to say if there were no God? If there's no God, who's to say it's not wrong for me to take what's yours? Hey, survival of the fittest. That's kind of the evolutionary principle, isn't it? If there's no God, who can make these moral judgments?

But if God is, There are moral absolutes that are not up for debate. And when I read that passage of scripture with regard to that list of sins, everybody knows, because the law's written in our heart, that those things are sin. We know it. Somebody may say, I don't see that. Yeah, you do. The law of God is written in everybody's heart.

Sin is the transgression of the law. God's holy law, the Ten Commandments. Sin is coming short of the glory of God. What a definition of sin. To come short of the glory of God is sin. The respect of persons is sin. Giving someone some advantage over somebody else because of some personal connection because of their relationship with you and what they can do for you. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it's sin. Whatsoever is not of faith, I'm quoting scriptures, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Anything that is not derived from faith in Christ is sin. That's what the Word of God says. If I don't have faith in Christ, every action is sin.

The thought of foolishness is sin. Somebody says, God, I won't be judged for my thoughts. Yeah, you will. Yeah, you will. The thought of foolishness is sin. And I think this is In some respects, the most light about sin, the plowing of the wicked is sin. I think that plowing seems to be such a wholesome thing to be doing, going out and plowing, maybe to get food for the poor, to help people, but the plowing of the wicked is sin. If a wicked man does it, it is sin and all sin is against God.

David said against thee and thee only have I sinned. Now believe that because it's what the Word of God says. You don't need any other reason. The Word of God says sin is against him. David said against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight and the flesh he is speaking of is the flesh described in Verse 16 of this text, this I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.

I love that passage of scripture. I would. Be without. Seeing. Would you? Is that what you desire? I would be without sin. I can't. I would be and I'm ashamed to even fill in the blank on it. But I can't. The spirit Lusts against the flesh. So I'm talking about the Holy Spirit. That's talking about the nature given to every believer. The spirit lusts against the flesh, the flesh lusts against the spirit. They're contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things you would.

Now look in verse 19. Now the works of the flesh. Or manifest. Which are these? I think it's interesting. The first thing he mentions is sexual sin. And when we think of the sins of the flesh, that's the first thing that comes to our mind. And yes, it is sin. Adultery. A relationship with someone outside the covenant of marriage. It's sin. Fornication. That's all forms of sexual sin. And you know, when I was thinking about this, it's so sad the Lord Made sex, the intimate act between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage. And it's so beautiful and how men debase it. It's sad, isn't it?

Uncleanness. The impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living, recklessly extravagant and wasteful is what the word means. Lasciviousness. unbridled lust, excess, shameless wantonness. Then in verse 20, he speaks of idolatry. Now, any God, that's not the God of the Bible. If I make that a God it's idolatry. If I worship a God that is not sovereign idolatry. If I worship a God that's non-independent, it's idolatry. If I, um, worship a God in a religious system where there's such a thing as free will, it's idolatry and nothing more. Anything that is not God, the God of the Bible is idolatry. It's the worship of a false God.

Verse 20, witchcraft. Now, when I think of witchcraft, I think what you think. We think of witches and casting spells and all that kind of stuff, and maybe that kind of stuff is involved. There are witches, I suppose. There's a religion of, I can't remember what the name of it is, but this is where we get the word pharmacology from, sorcery. Really quite often the use of drugs is included in this thing of witchcraft. That's what they did. They would cast their spells with drugs.

Witchcraft, hatred, enmity, ill will, variance, debate and strife and contention, quarreling, fighting. This is the works of the flesh. Emulations. Fervent malice, zealous malice, wrath, losing your temper, anger tantrums, popping off in anger, strife. I think this is interesting. When I looked up this word, it means electioneering. Running for office, trying to push yourself, trying to promote yourself, trying to sell yourself. Electioneering, like a politician that's listed as a work of the flesh.

Seditions, divisions, dissension, discord, heresies. I think this is so interesting. You know what heresy means? A choosing. That's all it means. If you believe the truth, you believe it because it's the truth. That's your reason for believing it. You ought to believe the truth. There's something true. You ought to believe it. Amen. Whatever God says in his word is the truth. If you believe something that is not the truth, you choose to believe that. That's what a heresy is. It's choosing to believe something that is not what the Bible teaches. And that covers so many areas.

Heresy. Just yesterday, I wrote a gentleman who's who was making some kind of objection and to what the Bible clearly teaches. And I wrote him back. I said, what this is, this is a heresy. You are willfully not believing what the Bible teaches. Now, heresy, that's a work of the flesh in beings. What is more base than envying somebody? Feeling unhappy at their prosperity or their blessing and you feel like it ought to be coming to you. That's such a base, wicked work of the flesh. Anybody free from that? Murders. And that's not just talking about killing somebody's body. It's talking about killing somebody's character. It's talking about being mad without a cause, without a reason, drunkenness, alcoholic intoxication, or any other kind of intoxication. You can be intoxicated with pride. You can be intoxicated with yourself. Revelings, that's the, let's party. That's what that's talking about. Partying, the thing that goes on with drunkenness and the partying that goes on.

Now he says with regard to these things, verse 19, let's read them again. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. They're obvious. Nobody can deny this, which are these adultery, fornication. uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, endings, murderings, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. I haven't exhausted the list. This is what he mentions. Of the witch I told you before, as I've told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. What's that mean? exactly what it says. They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, somebody says, but I've done such things. They're in my heart right now. I've done such things. Well, remember the context of this passage of scripture. You cannot do the things you would. You can't take these where you would. You want to be holy. You want to be like Christ. And it's also true that they that do such things without the gospel, they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Those who do such things without God, the spirit, making them a new man, they won't inherit the kingdom of God because they're not really saved.

Now, I have to be honest. You say, well, I see envy in my heart. I see pride in my heart. I see these things in my heart. I know you do. I know you do. That's very real. Does that mean I won't inherit the kingdom of God? Well, if you won't, I won't, nor will anybody else. But what that's talking about is James 1. Turn there for a moment. Verse 13. Let no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God. God's trying to tempt me to commit sin. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted. You know, just the ability to be tempted shows a sinful nature, doesn't it? You know, Christ was never tempted to sin. He never thought, am I going to sin or not? Which direction am I going to go? That never entered his mind. He's impeccable. He's immaculate.

Well, what do you mean, or what does the Bible mean when he was tempted in all points like as we are? It means he experienced everything of the horridness of sin except the commission of it. He experienced the guilt, the shame, You feel guilty? He's felt more guilty than you've ever dreamed of feeling. You feel shame? He's felt more shame than you've ever dreamed of feeling shame, in that he bore my sin in his own body on the tree, and he felt all that stuff. It's not like he was tempted to sin. No. He's God. Can God sin? No. Can Jesus Christ sin? No. He's immaculate. He's the holy, spotless Son of God. Every man is tempted, verse 14, when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed, then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it's finished, it bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Now back to our text, and I'm gonna spend a lot more time next week on this, but let's read the fruit of the spirit. But the fruit, now the works of the flesh. A man is sent to hell because of his works. Not because God ordained him to hell. He goes to hell because of his works. The great white throne judgment demonstrates that every man is judged according to his works, according to those things written in the books, the works of the flesh. And everybody here knows what that means.

The works of the flesh, but the fruit, the fruit, uh, fruit doesn't work to produce desert. It's fruit. What's an apple tree produce? Apples. A good tree bringeth forth good fruit. An evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Now remember, this is the fruit of the Spirit. It's not something you're trying to work up. It's not something you're working for. It's something that You have because of who you are.

Every believer without exception has the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit is so beautiful. The fruit of the spirit is love. I've heard some say that that is the fruit of the spirit and it's manifested by the next eight things he mentions. That could be the fruit of the spirit of love, love to God. You love him for who he is. You love his attributes. You love His sovereignty. You love His independence. You love His holiness. You love His immutability. You love who He is. You love His Son. You love His way of salvation. You love Him being the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, coming in time and putting away your sins. You love all those who love Him. He that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that's begotten of Him.

The fruit of the Spirit is love. You know, the law never produces love. It can't produce love. Only resentment. God's too hard on me. God's too strict. He's expecting things out of me that I can't come up with. There's no love there, just resentment. The law only produces hatred. That's it. But the fruit of the Spirit is love.

Joy. This is what comes out of this love. joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against such. I love this statement. Against such, there is no law. With the works of the flesh, we've got to have laws to protect ourselves from ourselves, don't we? But with regard to the fruit of the spirit against such, there is no law. All the Galatians were so into law. Remember this, the law was not made for a righteous man. You don't have to have laws against anything written here with regard to the fruit of the spirit.

And I, I read once where, uh, somebody said, uh, the fruit of the spirit can be divided into three different branches. fruit toward God, love, joy, and peace. You love him. You rejoice in him. Listen, the gospel is a thing of joy. He said, my joy I give unto you. Doesn't it make you joy to know that Jesus Christ is all, that he's the first cause of everything? That he is your salvation and you need nothing else? That it is finished? Joy in that. Every believer has joy. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The fruit of the Spirit. is love, joy, peace. Oh, the peace we have because of the Prince of Peace. And then toward men, the next three. Long-suffering, gentleness. You don't hold people's feet to the fire. You don't give them a different standard than you give yourself. You realize that they're just Fellow sinners with you and you're gentle toward them, not putting them under law because you sure don't want to be put under the law. You want to be found in Christ.

Good, gracious, merciful. And here's the fruit toward our selves. Faith. That's what I need. Faith. Faithfulness. Meekness. You believe that whatever God does is right. Whatever he brings your way is right. I mean, there's things you want that you wish it would be that way, but if God doesn't give it to you, you know it's best. You submit to his holy providence, his holy will as best. You may rather be some way, but you know you're a sinner and you know God knows what's best and whatever he does is good, right, just, and true.

And with meekness, there's humility. Humility because of who God is. How can you be anything but that in light of who he is? You have a humility with regard to salvation. You know it's of the Lord and you love that. Humility is a just estimate of yourself, not an inflated estimate of yourself, but a just estimate of yourself, who you really are.

Meekness, temperance. Now remember, this is the fruit of the Spirit. Temperance, control from within. The new man. Temperate. Temperate in eating and drinking, yes, but temperate views of yourself. As a matter of fact, that's the first thing Paul speaks of when he speaks of proving that good and holy and acceptable and perfect will of God. He said, let every man think soberly and not think too highly of himself. Romans chapter 12, verse 3. That's temperance. The fruit of the spirit is temperance.

You know, this fruit is not by your works, but because of who you are. You've been birthed by the spirit of God and bear this fruit. Now, remember the parable of the four grounds of here's the wayside, the stony ground, the thorn choked and the good ground. What did the good ground bear that none of the others bore? Fruit. Every one of them. The fruit of God, the Holy Spirit.

And Lord willing, next week we'll consider verses 22 and 23 in more depth.