Galatians chapter 5 Galatians
chapter 5 Be looking this morning at verses 19 to 21 Galatians chapter 5 mainly would
be looking at verse 21 this this morning the title the message
is the evidence of grace the evidence of grace. The scripture says, now the works
of the flesh are manifest, which are these adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling and such like, of the
which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Now, the works of the flesh,
we have been studying on these for the past month or so. These are very important. The
Spirit of God places them here. And I'll tell you, when we look
at this small list, when we look at this small list, we can see
our conscience, the conscience of every man should be pricked
just at the sight of these sins. Now, we know that all men, all
men by nature are born with a carnal and corrupt heart, a carnal and
corrupt mind, and a carnal and corrupt will. We are born dead
in sins. And therefore, because we are
born dead in sins, Because we are born dead in sins,
therefore we are dead to all righteousness by nature. By nature,
man is dead to all righteousness. He can do no righteousness in
himself. I want you to see this. Hold
your places here. Go to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 6. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 6. The scripture says, from the
sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundness in
it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not
been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. This is speaking of our natural
man. He is full of wounds that have
not been healed, that have not been bandaged, that are just
pouring out sin constantly. Constantly. In Jeremiah 13, 23,
the scripture asks, can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard
his spots? Neither can you who are accustomed
to doing evil do good. We can't. No one here expects an apple
tree to produce strawberries. Nobody. Why then do men expect
that from themselves a corrupt defiled tree that they should
produce any righteousness acceptable to God? There is no hope of that. And therefore, these works of
the flesh are plainly displayed. They're clear. They're not clouded. We know these sins because we
can testify in our own conscience that we ourselves have committed
these sins. These sexual sins, sins of lust. Scripture says these are the
works of the flesh. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness. These things are in our hearts
and our minds. If we have not committed them
with our bodies, we surely have with our minds. Idolatry, witchcraft. Every one
of us, before we were saved by the grace of God, we walked in
our own way. We served our own God of idolatry. A God of our own making. Every
one of us. Hatred, variance, emulation,
strife, wrath, seditions. These things are daily occurrences
in our heart. Daily occurrences in our nature.
And now then we're going to look at, just briefly, look at the
last of these works of the flesh. Envying. Envying is a work of
the flesh. This sin truly does begin in
the heart, but it never stops there. If envy that begins in
the heart is entertained, it will always come out with a spiteful
action. A spiteful action. Envying is something done in
the heart, but it is produced in our actions against others
who have advanced or receive something that we have not. Is
that not pride? When someone receives something
and we are jealous, we are envious of that thing, is it not our
pride that says we deserve that and they don't? It is. We want what they have because
we think we're better than them. And that produces jealousy. You're
working for a long time in a company and all of a sudden someone who
just comes in gets promoted and gets a raise and you're passed
over. You begin to envy that man. You
begin to envy what he has. And you say, I'm better than
that. That's envy. That's envy. It's wanting what someone else
has. And then if that is nurtured,
if that is continually thought of, it will produce actions that
are spiteful against that person to try to destroy him or to take
what he's got. This is our nature. It's who
we are. And believer, let us be aware
of this sin of our flesh. These works of the flesh, Paul
is talking to believers. He is talking to us in the church.
Because I know that our carnal nature is not completely eradicated. We still have this sin nature.
And envy is tempting to us. It's alluring to this flesh. To envy the wealth and success
of this world. Is that not an envy? We see the
We see the unrighteous. We see the wicked prosper. Isn't
that the thought of Asaph in Psalm 73? When he said, I see
the wicked prosper, my foot nigh well slip, because he envied
them. He envied their boldness. I'll
tell you what, there's nothing bolder than atheists in our day. There's nothing bolder. They defy God in every single
way. I'll tell you this, it's possible
for us to envy so much of others that we seek to take things that
belong to those who are among the brethren. I'm not talking
about the things in the world. I'm talking about among us. Among
us. I know of a pastor, very faithful
man of God, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and he got sick.
And another man came in to fulfill that role while he was getting
better. And the whole time he was getting
better, that other man was trying to steal his church and did. And did. He envied the office
that was given to another man. And there was a great deal of
hurt between those two men. There was a great deal of hurt.
So don't think we can't do that because we can. We are capable
in this old flesh to do such things. And we should guard against
it. Pray that the Lord keep us from
envying. Now, second of all is murder.
This is the fulfillment of envy. This is a fulfillment of wanting
or desiring something for self. by taking the life of another.
Isn't that what Cain did? Cain, because of envy, slew his
brother Abel. Murder is taking of another's
life. Now let me ask you, in this nation,
isn't murder a common thing? I mean, you cannot see it. I
mean, every time you turn around, somebody has killed somebody
else. And I'll tell you what, we don't
even hear of half of the murders that take place in this country.
And I'll tell you, the law is not becoming stricter on those
people, it is becoming less strict. They're worried more about the
rights of the murderer now than they are the rights of the person
that they killed. We live in a day where murder
is common. This is because life in our day
has no value. It has no value. Life in this
day is not seen as a gift of God, but looked upon as a meaningless,
expression of evolution. It's a meaningless, valueless
thing that just happened. It has no meaning or purpose
and therefore life is meaningless, purposeless. So if someone kills
someone else, what's the big deal? This is why women in our day
are able to walk into a clinic and kill their own child and
walk out legally. That's murder. I don't care how
you say it, how politicians spend it, it doesn't matter. When a
woman has an abortion, it is murder. And everyone involved
is guilty of murder. Her, the doctor that does it,
the man that approves it, the government that allows it, guilty. Murder. But all murder is sin before
God. All those are sin. Only God is
allowed to give life and take life. He said, I am God and there
is none else. I wound and I heal. I kill and
I make alive. That's it. God does that. God
does that. It's his prerogative. When we
are believers, we say, well, you know, Pastor, I'm not ever
going to murder anybody. I don't have that in me. Yes,
you do. Yes, you do. Yes, I do. And if
you think you're above that, you know the scripture gives
us many illustrations of murder, even by believers, especially
David. Would anybody have thought that
David would have murdered a man to have his wife? David was a
man after God's own heart. He was chosen of God. He slew
Goliath. He brought peace to Israel. You think that he could have
any woman he pleased, and yet why would he kill a man for his
wife? But I'll tell you this, we are all capable of that sin.
Don't think you're above it. You put us in the in the right
situation. I'll tell you what. We can commit
murder. Third is drunkenness and reveling. Now, this is the sin of being
intoxicated or abusing alcohol and drugs to intoxicate one's
body or mind. Now, I'll tell you this, we should
not listen to anybody who denies or says that alcohol or
drugs are sin in themselves. That's not true. Alcohol and
drugs have their purpose in life, in our society. They're necessary things. God
has given them to us. The scripture said, wine maketh
the heart of man glad. God gave wine. There's nothing
wrong with wine. If I put a glass of wine on that
table, that wine is not sin. There's nothing wrong with that.
If you put medicine that takes away pain, if you put that on
the table, there's no sin in that medicine. The sin is in
the man, not the substance. The sin is in the man. And to drink wine is not a sin. I know many of you take medications. I mean, is it a sin for us to
take medications if we're sick, if we have need? No. Is it a sin to drink wine? No. It is a sin to be intoxicated.
It is a sin to go to excess in these things. And believers are
capable of such sins. Noah. What's the first thing
that Noah did after he offered the sacrifice? He built the winery
and got drunk. Lot. God saved him from Sodom
and Gomorrah, led him out by angels, and he went into this
mountain, and what did he do? He got drunk. Samson. What happened to him? He got
drunk. Well, let me ask you what happened
to these men after that. Would anybody, can anybody not
see the destruction it brought their family? The total destruction
of their name? Who wants to be lot? Who would
like to follow after lot? who committed incest in his drunken
stupor with his own daughters and had children by them. Who
wants that? Who wants to be a Samson whose
strength was taken from him and put in a pit, blinded? Who would want to be Noah to
lose his son? who walked in on him naked and
was cursed. Friends, there are consequences
to our sins. There are consequences. There
are no free rides when it comes to sin. There's always a hook. There's always trouble. And I'll tell you, we should
be very careful concerning these things. If you can't drink a
glass of wine and leave it alone, don't do it at all. Just leave
it alone. There's no sin in the wine. The sin's in us. We couldn't
do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. If we cannot do these things
in moderation, then put them aside as works of the flesh. How can we overcome these things?
If a person is taken in alcoholism or drug addiction, how do we
overcome these things? The same way we overcome every
other work of the flesh. It is just another sin. It is another work of the flesh. How do we overcome these things? Only by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. That's it. That's it. Only by
the power of the Spirit of God, by looking to faith in Jesus
Christ. How do these things grow strangely
dim? How is it that these things pass
from us and their allurement from us? By focusing on the beauty
of Christ, isn't it? Isn't it by looking to faith
in Christ that things of earth grow strangely dim? I'll tell you, last night I had
Had a rough evening. Very dark cloud. Very dark. And the only thing that gave
me light was to focus on Christ and His person and work and love
for me. That's it. I could not endure
that on my own. I needed His power. His strength to overcome this
sin, just like I need His strength to overcome any sin. Next is rioting, reveling. We also see this in our day in
this generation that is taken to protesting in the streets.
Can we not see that? Can you not see the things that
people are doing in these protests and marching against this and
marching against that and breaking into people's stores and stealing
things and rioting, just having a rioting spirit? I'm not mistaken, I read that
some people were trying to storm Buckingham Palace. It's rioting,
trying to get in. I'll tell you, we have, by nature,
a heart that is riotous. You know, in those cultures in
the Middle East that do rioting most of the time, it's usually
because nobody has anything else to do. Their jobless rate is
so high that, you know, you get about three or four people yelling
in the streets, and pretty soon, you got the whole group of people
yelling in the streets. That's the way it is here. Tell
you what, individuals may be smart, but you put them together
and they become a mob. These are public displays of
rioting. And this should not be named
among the church. This should not be among the
church of God. This has crept into the church.
in what they call now the religious right. That is a political movement
in a church and that is not our mission. We're not here to change
government. We're not here to change laws. We are here for one purpose and
that is to witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our business
to riot in the streets. I tell you, do your civic duties,
do what is required of you. Yes. Did not our Lord, when He
fished the coin out of the fish's mouth, He said, hey, give that
to Caesar, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
to God the things that are God's. What's God's? We are. We belong to God. Everything
we have belongs to God. And we're not to riot or protest
what God does with His creation, what God does with His world.
I'll tell you, the man that's in office right now is the man
that God put there. And I'll tell you, that's offensive
to most people, but that's just true. Just as God put Nero at
the throne in the same time that Paul was in prison under the
Roman government, but you didn't see Paul protesting. You didn't
see Paul do anything against the government. What was his
purpose? His purpose was to preach the
gospel, to send forth the light of the gospel to the lost. That's what we're to be about. And I'll tell you, that changes
nations. That changes people, not rioting. That doesn't change anything.
It's not our business. And it is a sin that we who are
in the church should avoid. Now then, having dealt with all
these sins now, I want us to briefly look at the evidence
then of grace. We know that salvation, who believe
on Christ, we know that salvation is of the free, sovereign grace
of God. We did not merit it. We did not
earn it. God gave it to us from eternity. He accomplished it in time by
Jesus Christ. And then He applied it to us
at the appointed time. And we believe on Christ because
of grace. In Titus it says, not by works,
it says, but after the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared.
You know what that word appeared means? It means light that shined
out. After the kindness and love of
God shined out in salvation. This is the same thing as when
Paul speaks of salvation. He said, the light has shined
out of darkness into our hearts. God hath commanded the light
to shine out of darkness into our hearts, giving us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
You see, salvation is a command of God to shine light into the
hearts. How does a person get light in
the heart? You can't. God has to shine it in your heart. He has to commend it in your
heart. And when He does, this is what
we understand, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy, He saved us. That's what we see. The moment the light comes on,
that's what we see. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done. Why? Because we see no works
of righteousness which we have done. We see that only, I believe only
because of the grace of Almighty God in my heart. That's it. Therefore, this kingdom of God
that Paul speaks of, go back to your text and look at this.
He said, they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. This kingdom of God This kingdom of God is speaking of
eternal life. It's speaking of heaven. And this kingdom is only a kingdom
that is given. It's only a kingdom given. You cannot merit yourself to
be a citizen of this kingdom. You can't merit it by abstaining
from these things I just mentioned. If you try to go through this
list and you start checking it off and you say, well, I haven't
committed adultery. Check. I haven't committed fornication. And you go down this list and
you try your best to obey this and put away these sins, it'll
do you no good. It'll do you no good. This kingdom is not inherited
by the deeds of the law. You know flesh can be justified
by the obedience to the law. Why? You've already sinned. What good is your so-called righteousness? What and if you could obey the
law from here on out? What will you do with the sins
before? You're already guilty. This illustration makes it plain
in my mind. If a murderer is found guilty,
he killed the person and he goes before the court and the court
says the death penalty. And he goes to the judge and
says, OK, judge, from now on, I won't commit any more murders.
Now on, I'll just let me let me do some community service
for you. I'll feed the hungry. I'll do
well, I promise, from now on. No. You are guilty. And therefore, no flesh shall
be justified in this sight. Nobody's going to inherit this
kingdom by works. Nobody. And this kingdom is inherited
kingdom. It's an inherited kingdom. If we receive something from
somebody by their will, they have the last will and testament,
and you've been given something in this will, you've been named
in this will, you have received an inheritance,
whatever that is. My parents assure me that I'm
going to receive an inheritance of debt. So that would be my inheritance
from my parents and that's okay. But you receive an inheritance
and this is only by the will of the person that is giving
it. Salvation only comes because
God has prepared a place for His people from before the foundation
of the world. The only reason there is a heaven
for us is because God has willed it so. Willed it so. He willed it. And Christ came
and He prepared it. He made it by His own blood and
righteousness. And now He gives it to everyone. that is listed in that will. The scriptures assure us that
there is a Lamb's book of life and everyone whose name is written
in that book will inherit the kingdom of God. That's the only way to have it,
is by inheritance. And believers, we are not heirs
because of our works, we are heirs because of His grace. And
every believer, we confess that in our flesh dwelleth no good
thing still. You know, I still don't have
any good works in myself, still. I still can't produce anything
righteous, still. But by the grace of God, we do
love righteousness. You see, when God comes and shines
that light, there's a difference. There's a change. Something new
is created. Something holy is created. It
is a new nature, a new life, a new heart. And that new heart
has a desire to do holiness, to do righteously before God,
to please God, to love God, to worship God. These things are
the desire of every true believer in Christ. Does not Jesus Christ tell us
we are the light of the world? He doesn't say you will be if
you just do good enough, you'll be the light of the world. Is
that what he says? No. You are. You, believer, are the
only light in this world. Is that something? And if we are a light of the
world, He said, this light's not going to be hidden. You see, I don't understand anything
about a secret Christian. I don't understand that. Where
you just live to Christ in your home and in your family and then
out you live like you did before. That's not a believer in Christ.
It's not. Jesus said, let your light so
shine among men that they may see your good works. See, Christianity
is not just something in the heart, it is in the heart. But this, a new heart will always
overflow in our actions. It will always come out. I always
loved this. A lady came to Ralph Barnard
and she said, Brother Ralph, the Lord saved me. The Lord saved
me. And she said, well, that's great,
sweetheart. That's good. And she said, well, what do I
do? I feel like I got to go tell somebody. He said, don't worry,
it'll get out on you. It'll get out on you. Believers not only believe inside,
they also believe outside. And these works, we are not saved
by our works. But I'll tell you this, we are
created unto good works, which the Lord hath before ordained. Just as He ordained to save us
and redeem us, He also ordained to call us and to keep us and
to produce in us good works." I was talking to Brother Donnie
Bell, and he said, there are two things that'll tell out on
a person who professes faith in Christ and doesn't have it.
He said, one, they have no love for the worship of God. And number two, they will not
give. He said, those are two major
signs that there's something definitely wrong with that person,
something definitely wrong with their faith. You see, there is always evidence
of grace. But those who continue in the
pattern and tenor of the flesh, they will not. They will not inherit the kingdom
of God. Only those who are in Christ
and by Christ do His will, obey His word, serve
Him in love for Christ and love for each other. I pray that God
will bless this to your hearts. We're dismissed.