Turn back with me to Galatians
chapter 5. In Galatians chapter 5 verse
13, the Apostle Paul reminds the believer that he's called
unto liberty. God has called him unto liberty. He didn't evolve. to this place. Circumstance didn't work by luck
and leave him here. He was called of God on purpose,
for a purpose, unto this liberty. And in Christ, by the Spirit
of the living God, every believer has been called. That's how he
become a believer. God called him. He called him. Oh, what do you mean God called
him? He called him out of darkness. That's where he was at. If you read Acts chapter 17,
if you read Paul's sermon there to those wise men at Morris Hill,
those philosophers, he said that man was blind and fumbling about. lest happily he might find God. He pictured man as totally blind
with his hands out in a strange place, feeling around, trying
to find God. That's where God finds His elect. He calls them out of darkness. They're just fumbling around
with their hands out and their eyes closed and their minds shut. They're walking in the vanity
of their minds. Believing this to be so. Believing
that to be so. Going on this principle. Going
on that principle. They are in darkness. And God
calls them out of darkness into His marvelous light. And
He calls us out of ignorance into divine wisdom. Christ is
our wisdom. God hath made Him to be unto
us Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He's our wisdom.
When a man comes to know Christ and know something about Christ,
then he begins to see the purpose of creation. He begins to see
the order of God's authority. He begins to see something of
the character of the living God. He calls Him out of ignorance
unto wisdom. And He calls him out of spiritual
depravity and makes him meet. That is, enables him to receive
these divine gifts. The world does not receive these
things. The world doesn't receive these
things. I can preach all day to worldly men and women and
accept the Spirit of the Living God move on them. It's not going
to have any effect on them whatsoever. It doesn't matter how much I
study. It doesn't matter how good my arguments are. It doesn't
matter. Our calling of God is by an effectual
call. An effectual call. The old writers
called it an irresistible call. A call which cannot be ignored. A call which cannot be stifled
or suppressed. We're called with an effectual
calling. It's a call to the heart and
mind. It's a call that brings with
it the conviction of sin. The convincing of righteousness.
and of judgment satisfied. And there is something in this
call which convinces the sinner of his desperate situation. He
becomes desperate. And the end of this calling is
liberty. God sets him free. Sets him free. Freedom from the
bondage of sin and of Satan and of the law. If I be Christ and
He be mine, then all my sins are gone. All my sins are gone. Taken away. That's the language
of Scripture. Taken away. Your sins and iniquities, God
said, I will remember no more. I remember them, but He doesn't. Great sins. Everyday sins. Sins of ignorance. Sins of anger. Sins of greed. He bore our sins
in His own body on the tree. once the Scripture said, in the
end of the world, as he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. It's not that I do not sin. John tells us over in 1 John
1, if we say that, if we say we have not sinned, we make God
a liar. It's not that sin is no longer
in me. If I say I had no sin, I deceive
myself. But Christ has suffered in my
stead and satisfied the justice of God concerning my sins. My
sins have been charged to my head. My sins have been laid
on my substitute. And He bore my sins in His own
body on the tree. He satisfied the justice of God. He honored the law and exalted
the law because He is the lawgiver. And the lawgiver came down and
satisfied the law in his own death on that cursed tree. And
I'm free from that law. I'm free from that bondage of
sin. And I'm free from Satan in so
much as his lies and deceits have been made known to me. We
know something of the wiles of the devil. The Bible has exposed his evil
ways to us. We see them now. We didn't see
them at one time. At one time, I believed that
there was good, no matter what the denomination was, no matter
what they taught, no matter what that organization stood for. I believed that it was good because
they were trying to get men to quit drinking and quit smoking
and quit gambling and quit doing all those things that were dishonoring
to society. And they were trying to help
folks, folks in need. They gave them food and gave
them that. And I thought, man, there's good in all of this.
What's everybody fighting about? What's all the separation about?
I couldn't see that. Didn't understand that. That's
how Satan twists man's mind and heart in false religion. He doesn't see that these things
that they're teaching is contrary to God. I'm free from Satan inasmuch
as his lies and deceits have been made known to me. Satan's
primary workplace is in religion. 2 Corinthians 11, 13 said, for
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ. That's no marvel. For Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it's no great
thing if his ministers, whose ministers? Satan's ministers. How do they appear? They're transformed
into ministers of righteousness, whose ends shall be according
to their works. Satan's power is in the power
of deceit and lies and twisting the truth. And those who walk
in the light of Christ are free from that deceit and those lying
ways of Satan. They know. They know better. And the believer is free from
the law. The law has been honored and exalted on their behalf by
their divine representative. And we are all free. We're free
from these outward ceremonies and sacrifices and rituals, understanding
now what they pictured and Him who fulfilled those things. I
don't keep a Sabbath day. Do you? Christ is my Sabbath. There's no rest in a day. The
rest is in Him. The rest is in Him. That's what
He tells us over in Ephesians chapter 1. who first trusted
in Christ, who first rested in Christ. That's what that first
Sabbath was all about. It's about Christ. We're free from all these outward
ceremonies and sacrifices and rituals. Christ is our Sabbath,
and we rest in Him. Christ is our Passover. Christ
is our refuge. Christ is our jubilee. He is
our first fruits. He is the Lamb. So you see what
Paul is saying here. The end of the Christian calling
is liberty. God has set you free. And these
people here in Galatia were being deceived again. Actually, Paul
called it witchcraft. Who hath bewitched you, he said,
that you should not obey the truth? before whose eyes Christ
has evidently been set forth crucified among you? Who hath
bewitched you? Who hath brought you back under
this bondage? You've been called unto liberty. It is the working and presence
of the Holy Spirit revealing the truth to you that sets you
free. You're going to go back into that bondage again? You're
going to go back into that A tyranny again? Back into the darkness
again? We've been called unto liberty. The end of the Christian calling
is liberty. But the doctrine of Christian
liberty can be abused. It can be abused. And if we use
this doctrine as an excuse to fulfill the lust of the flesh,
if we ignore the teaching of moderation, or if we use our
liberty in such a way as to place a stumbling block in the way
of weak believers, we're abusing the doctrine of Christian liberty. The calling of God under Christian
liberty does not simply call us and then turn us loose to
live any way we please. It does not simply teach us certain
things and then leave us alone and let us do whatever we figure
is right. Believers are born of God, and
the Holy Spirit of God dwells in them. He has come and taken up His
abode in us. And we are led by the Holy Spirit. Led. Turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8, and let's begin
reading here in verse 1. There is therefore, that is by
the rule of faith, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. Now I want you to listen to this.
Because this is exactly what Paul is teaching over here in
Galatians chapter 5. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law, that is the principle,
the fixed rule of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath
made us free from the law of sin and death. Believers walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8 verse 5. For they that are after the flesh,
what do they do? They mind the things of the flesh.
Isn't that what you did before you were born of God? You minded
the things of the flesh. You did what your heart dictated
for you to do. You did what you wanted to do.
They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit, they mind the things of the Spirit. What are the things of the flesh?
Look with me back over here in Galatians chapter 5. What are these things? Galatians
chapter 5, verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these, adultery, the defiling of the marriage
bed, the breaking of our covenant union, fornication, that's sex
out of wedlock, uncleanness, In general, this means all unchastity
and motive, thought, or deed. But here in particular, it has
to do with unnatural lust, like sodomy, and so on. Lasciviousness. This word takes
in, I've had several people ask me, what is lasciviousness? Lasciviousness
is a word that takes in everything that leads up to these things
I've just mentioned. Everything that leads to that.
Some call it wantonness. Like impure words and filthy
gestures and pornography and on and on and on it goes. It's
the things that lead us to these things. And idolatry. This is the works of the flesh.
Believing in, bowing to, worshipping false gods or graven images.
Witchcraft. We don't even think about witchcraft
anymore, do we? We've been told by Hollywood
so long that witches ride around on brooms. We don't know what
witchcraft is. We don't have a clue what witchcraft is. What's that movie they had? Harry
Potter. I was working with a young man.
He's a Southern Baptist. I was telling him what our pastor
preached on, what Brother Don preached on that Sunday, and
I asked him what his pastor preached on. He said he preached on Harry
Potter. I said, boy, I'm glad I missed that. Witchcraft. What is witchcraft? Witchcraft is any real or pretended
league with the devil. That's what witchcraft is. seeking
unlawful knowledge, soothsayers, palm readers, that type of thing. It's seeking unlawful knowledge.
If God wanted us to know what was going on next Thursday, He
would have told us in His Word. This is what's going to happen
in April on Wednesday at this time. He would have told us.
It's unlawful knowledge. We want to know what what God
intends to do in the future so we can do something about it.
It's seeking unlawful knowledge. It's seeking to know the future
which is not even in the realm of Satan's ability to tell you
to start with. It's seeking power to do harm
to others without consequence. Sticking pens in dolls and that
type of thing. And all of these things contrary
to the will and purpose of God. That's witchcraft. Here's another
work of the flesh. Hatred. Hatred. Did you know hatred is linked
to murder in the Scriptures? We think it's okay to hate. It's
not okay. It's not okay. To hate your brother without
a cause would be guilty of murder. It is linked to murder in the
Scripture. 1 John 3, verse 15 says, Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer. In the original text, the word
hatred in Galatians 5 is the exact same word as enmity over
in Romans 8, verse 7. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It is hatred. It is murder. We hate God. And when God appeared
in this world in the person of Jesus Christ, what did they do?
They hated Him without a cause and they murdered Him. That's
what Peter told them they did. And then this, here's the work
of the flesh, variance. What does that mean? That means
contentions, fighting, quarreling, scolding. Emulations. What is that? Ignorant zeal. The Jews had a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. And speaking of his past, Paul
said concerning zeal, he persecuted the church. Emulation is a boiling,
it's a raising up of the spirits and passion in a bad way, the
way the chief priests did. when that day came and Pilate
said, according to your law, I'm to release one unto you and
I'll just release Barabbas. I mean, I'll release Jesus and
we'll take Barabbas. They said, no, give us Barabbas.
Why did they say that? Because the chief priest went
out and stirred them up. That's what the scripture says.
They stirred them up. Emulations is inciting men and
women to do something contrary to law and truth. to satisfy
their flesh. What is the work of the flesh?
Wrath. Wrath. Wrath is a violent emotion
of the mind seeking revenge and satisfaction. And strife. Strife is the work of the flesh.
Strife is constant, continual contradiction. Oh, no, it is
not. Oh, no, it's not. It's not really
like that. That's strife. Constant, continual
contradiction. And then here's another work
of the flesh. Seditions. That is, divisions and factions
and schisms. Like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
they went into the body of Israel and formed factions and made
sedition in Israel over the rule of Moses. Heresies. These are bad principles and
concepts of doctrine. Things which are contrary to
sound doctrine, contrary to the character of God and the Word
of God. Heresies. Verse 21, end beings. Someone said, this is distressing
tortures of the mind over the good of others that they should
be in some way blessed more than they are. Envy. Envy. Murders. We've already talked about that.
Drunkenness. That's a work of the flesh. Drunkenness. Drinking to excess. Drinking
to the point where we begin to act out of character and lose
control of our mind and emotions and our mouth. Drunkenness. And revelings. What's that? That's riotous partying, drinking,
dancing, singing, ungodly celebration with ungodly companions. That's
revelings. And these are the work of the
flesh. These make up the nature, the character and lives of ungodly
men and women. And if this be the tenor of your
life, are you listening to me? If this be the tenor of your
life, if this is the bend of your will, Paul tells us this,
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. Did you hear what I said? But the fruit of the Spirit,
that's the works of the flesh. That's the works of the flesh.
The fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.14. Listen to what he says here.
We are talking about the fruit of the Spirit is love. That is
the first thing he tells us about love. In Galatians 5.14, all
the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. To love God and one another is
to fulfill the whole law. Pastor, I want to honor the law.
I want to exalt the law. Then love God with all your heart,
and love your neighbor as yourself. That's what it is to fulfill
the whole law. And while we cannot love to divine
perfection, we do love. Love is what motivates us. Love
is what constrains us. Every believer loves God, and
he loves his brethren. In 1 John 4, verse 8, it says,
He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. You can't know God, John, and
have God in your heart, God the Holy Spirit indwelling you and
not love because God is love. Without love, our professions
are just totally insignificant. That's what the Scripture says.
Insignificant. Salvation is to be born of God,
to have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, leading you, working
in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Preaching
without love is like sounding brass. It's like somebody just
sitting there beating on a piece of brass or tinkling cymbals. I like to hear cymbals in the
band, but I don't like to just sit and listen to a man clang
on the cymbals. Preaching without love is like
sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. And faith without love, he said,
is nothing. Nothing. It's meaningless. And all of our sacrifices without
love, even if we give our bodies to be burned as martyrs, is nothing. Love. That's the fruit of the
Spirit. Joy. Joy. Joy is that which fills
the heart with gladness with a clear understanding of Christ
and our God. That God loved us and gave Himself
for us. That God has made everlasting
provision for us. Clothed us with His royal robe
of righteousness. Took away our sins and justified
us before men and angels. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. He's
justified us. Our Lord sits even now at the
right hand of God making intercession for us, ruling over all things
for the glory of God and the salvation of His elect. Believers
worship God in the Spirit. Now listen, rejoice in Christ
Jesus. and have no confidence in the
flesh. Joy. That's the fruit of the Spirit.
Joy. Peace. Not that we have peace
with this world or peace in this world, but we have peace with
God. I have peace with Him. And this
world is about that big compared to eternity. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. He'll
never see this. He'll never see peace. He doesn't
know what peace is. And he never shall until he looks
to Christ. He is our peace. Man cannot perceive life because
he denies its source, denies its wellspring, and therefore
he cannot have. true peace. Preachers are out
there crying, peace, peace, where there is no peace. They're crying,
peace, come down the aisle and get peace, have peace, make your
peace with God. You can't make your peace with
God. He made our peace with God. And He alone can apply what He's
done in your heart. And it said, the wrath of God
abides on Him. may abide on him with a false
peace like that of the Jews who denied Christ. Peace is the gift
of God. Did you know that? It's God's
gift. He said, peace I leave with you.
My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God. We have peace with God. There
is an applying of the blood of Christ to the conscience of man,
and it leaves him in a state of peace. And then here's the
fruit of the Spirit, long-suffering. What is long-suffering? It's
a patient, enduring, oppressing evil being strengthened by the
Spirit through faith. Long-suffering, that's what it
is. That's what it is. This is the victory, Paul said,
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Long-suffering is
patience exercised in hope, knowing what must shortly come to pass. Goodness. Here's another fruit
of the Spirit. Goodness. And goodness like love,
mercy, and kindness are experienced in the heart and then give evidence
of that which we've experienced, and faith. Listen to this familiar
definition. There's no telling how many times
we've heard this. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, We
are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Is faith not a good
work? Is love not a good work? Is joy
not a good work? Is meekness, temperance, all
those things, are those not good works? We are created in Christ
Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. Faith, Paul said, is the substance
of things hoped for, and it's the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the fruit of the Holy
Ghost. Paul said, I know your election
of God, because my gospel came not unto you in word only, but
it came in power and in the Holy Ghost. It's a product of His
indwelling, His teaching, His convicting, His convincing. were buried with him, Paul said,
in baptism and risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God who hath raised him from the dead. The act of faith is
here and in other places described as one being raised from the
dead. That's what faith is, a resurrection
from the dead. And then in Galatians 5, verse
23, he gives this fruit, meekness. Meekness is not to be misconstrued
as weakness. Moses was a meek man, the meekest
of all men, our Lord said. But he was anything but weak.
He was not a weak man. Meekness is humility and lowliness
of mind and heart, realizing that we are what we are by the
grace of God. It's the character of a man who
has knowledge of his true condition. It leaves him humble. It leaves
him humble before God. And then the last fruit mentioned
here by the apostle is temperance. Temperance can be defined in
two ways. Chastity. He tells us to keep
ourselves unspotted from the world. Chastity and moderation. Believers are to exercise moderation
in everything that they do. Now these are the works of the
flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot
do the things that you would." Now listen to this, verse 24.
And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with its
affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. To live in the Spirit is to recognize
and follow after the Spirit, to readily, lovingly receive
the things of the Spirit, to avail ourselves of any and all
opportunity to read, to worship, to fellowship, and to hear the
gospel of Christ. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh. They've seen its works and values
nailed to a tree in the person of Christ. That's our representative. God's treating him as He will
treat the rest of this world. He poured out His wrath on him
unto death. Unto death. They that are Christ
have crucified the flesh. They see what the flesh is. They
see it at its best state in their representative, dying on the
cross. They've seen its works and values.
And they justify God in His condemnation of it. And they receive His testimony
concerning it. And therefore, they turn from
it. They turn from it. If we live in the Spirit, that's
how Paul said we live. God called us unto liberty. We
have no liberty apart from being led by the Spirit of God. And
He's called us unto this liberty. And if we live in the Spirit,
He said, let's walk in the Spirit. Let's walk the same way. Let's
live the same way. Let's act the same way. And here he defines all of these
things. All of these things. He defines
the fruit of the Spirit. So, cultivate that. That's what Paul is saying. Cultivate
this, not this. We know what this is. We know
its results. We know its danger. We know its
hideousness. So let's leave this and cultivate
this. You see what I'm saying? I'm
not talking about a work salvation. I'm talking about the fruit of
the Spirit. We go out and plant a tree. That
tree don't work. A tree just sits there and produces
fruit, don't it? And that's what he tells us will
happen when we're grafted into the true vine. We produce fruit. If you're not grafted into the
vine, you couldn't produce fruit. All you can produce is thorns
and thistles. But being grafted into that vine,
which is Christ, we produce true fruit.