Our sermon this morning is liberty, love, and
the fruit of the Spirit. Let us go before the
Lord and ask him for the blessing of the preaching
of his word. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father,
we give thanks unto you that day after day, your
mercies are new every morning. We thank you that
we move and live and have our being in you, so
that there is nothing strange or ungodly that
can ever befall us. For your hand is always upon
us. Your purposes are always revealed in all
the experiences of our life. So that in Christ
Jesus, we are more than conquerors, ever victorious
in the face of all adversities. Teach us to know
you in every circumstance. Great and marvelous
are your ways, oh Lord, and we praise you. Blessed
this morning as we give ourselves to the study
of your word, grant us your peace, and now make
the words of my mouth. and the meditations of
all our hearts to be acceptable in your sight
for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen. This morning's passage is from Galatians
chapter five, beginning in verse 22. But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long
-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness. self -control. Against such there
is no law, and those who are Christ have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another
and envying one another. These are the words
of Almighty God. Receive them in your hearts.
Ideas or lenses that I want you to see this passage
through this morning are these The Christian
life is a life of liberty the Christian life
is a life of liberty The Christian life is a
life of love the Christian life is a life of
love and the Christian life is a life of cultivating
the fruit of the Spirit. The Christian life is
a life of cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.
In our study of Psalm 37 last week, we were admonished
to trust in God and do good. We came to understand
that trusting God in all our circumstances is
for us to stand our post, that is our God -given
post. that to do good is to cultivate the fruit
of the Spirit. This morning we will expand in
our teaching into the cultivation of the fruit
of the Spirit. Psalm 37 also reminded us, and
really it's God himself reminding us, that Jesus
is the Lord and King of heaven and earth. We,
God's covenant people, are marked with his name
in baptism that is we are carrying his name we
are acting in his name pausing just a moment
there if you god's name has been placed on you
when you are carrying his name and you consider
all your words and actions in the past week were
you a good representation of god in this world
We each have been given our own portion in his
kingdom to guard and to cultivate Taking what
he has given us and we stand in our post and
then we Transform it into the will of heaven
on earth that is acting in the name of Jesus
As one commentator puts it in the kingdom God
re socializes us into a new way of life as heirs
of the kingdom. We are called to prefigure and
proclaim the future kingdom in the present. We
show there is a new way of doing business, a
new way of being human, an alternative city,
an alternative culture. We show the world has
a new king and a life lived under his lordship
is the way things ought to be. Remember, the
kingdom of God is not heaven. It is the world
remade and glorified by God. It is the new creation.
God does not intend to scrap this world. He's
going to transfigure it into a perfect, flourishing
world so that we are in harmony with God, each
other, and the rest of creation. This harmony
is what the Old Testament prophets called shalom
or peace. Here this morning, we need to know
that God is speaking to us. Dearly beloved, God
has chosen to use his people, the church, to
accomplish this transformation by the work of
Jesus Christ on the cross and the power of the
Holy Spirit. Turning to our text, Galatians chapter
five is nearing the end of Paul's letter to the
church in Galatia. But our passage and no passage
should be studied in isolation to the rest of
the book or the letter or the gospel. Galatians
chapter one and verse three begins with this.
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ. who gave himself for our
sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil age according to the will of our God and
Father. To him be glory forever and ever. And
he ends this with amen. Paul greets the church
in Galatia evoking the grace and peace of God
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave
himself for our sins to deliver us from the evil
present age. He marvels though that they so quickly
are turning to another gospel a false gospel
propagated by false prophets and false teachers
Paul is clear that the peace of God comes to
Jews and Gentiles alike Paul makes it Clear that
the Old Testament law and sacrifices cannot save
for they are works Now in the book of Galatians
Paul makes two appeals not to abandon the gospel
of Jesus Christ and the beginning of chapter
5 is part of the second appeal Galatians 5 one
says Stand fast therefore and the liberty by
which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled
again with the yoke of bondage That is for freedom
Christ has made us free Stand fast, therefore.
Here Paul is calling the church in Galatia first
to stand fast, to stand at our post in the freedom
that we have in Christ Jesus from the bondage
of sin. Trust Jesus and do good. The corrupted
and now empty liturgy of the ceremonial law is
fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Do not turn back to
the shadows and images that point to Jesus. Stay
steadfast, looking to salvation and liberty in
Jesus. In verse 14, Paul quotes Leviticus 19,
18, and he introduces it by saying, for all the
law is fulfilled in one word or one idea. Even
this, and this is where he quotes Leviticus 19,
you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And
then he goes on and clarifies, but if you bite
and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed
by one another. If we trust God, if we trust
Jesus in all circumstances, it transforms us
from our inward self -seeking. self -preserving
evil heart to a new heart and a new mind which
means Excuse me which means New godly attitudes
and actions so when we are in Jesus when we are
trusting in God when we are trusting in Jesus
And we go to do good if we're loving our neighbors
God calls us away from our selfishness, our own
desires, and we are given these new godly attitudes
and actions. God promised in Ezekiel 36, I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit within
you. I will take the heart of stone out of your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. This was
fulfilled in Christ Jesus on the cross and completed
in us by the power of the Spirit. Following Christ
as his disciples means that we must be baptized
and taught all that Jesus has commanded. Not
just an intellectual knowing of God's Word, but
one that proceeds with humility and grace in
all of our actions and attitudes. love your neighbor
as yourself. Paul warns that we should not bite
or devour one another, lest we consume and ruin,
that is literally destroy one another. Can you
imagine actions, words, and emotions that consume
and destroy the people of God? Yes, there are
truly false teachers who come in from the outside
to corrupt the people of God So do not turn away
from the gospel of Jesus Christ But there is
an enemy within the church Many of you are familiar
with the saying we have met the enemy and it
is us Saints of God we are called to love one
another. What does this mean? What things are
we to do? What things are we not to do? What
attitudes and actions are loving one another?
And what is biting, devouring, and consuming
one another? Paul rightly understood that God
uses relationships as grace and a means of sanctification
in our lives. Every person that you come into
contact with, every person you talk to, every
relationship in your job, in your household,
your extended family, God is using those relationships,
even your government, to what end? As a grace
and a means of sanctification in your life. All
relationships in our lives challenge our selfish
desires. Some think that living like the desert
fathers as an isolated monk in the wilderness
will assist me in holy living. Now I'm not saying
that there aren't times where things get really
hot and it's good to in a relationship and it's
good to step away for a moment and go pray and
read the Bible. But you can't run away from what
God is doing in your life. We know how that worked
out for Jonah, right? This desire to be isolated,
even by those who are lifted up as those desert
fathers, this is a grievous error. The Christian
life is not to be lived in isolation. For all
of us, every Christian has a call by God in the
redemption of the world. Every one of us in this
room has a call for the redemption of the world
in Christ Jesus. You know, we know that the church
are trees that are producing fruit all year long
with leaves for the healing of the nations, fed
by the river of life. That is in the Holy Spirit.
Now this is important. This is not some idea
that's far away from you This is your call and
the immediate life that you have in the immediate
circumstances that you're in you are called to
stand your post and Follow God follow Jesus be
fruitful and multiply taking dominion in your
realm in your responsibilities Paul goes on and
says that we are to walk in the Spirit and thus
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We are not
in bondage to sin any longer if we're led in
the Spirit. Dearly beloved, you're not in bondage.
You're in Christ Jesus. You have liberty. You
have freedom. So those things which so easily
entangle you, cast them off. Stop turning back
to them. Stop doing those things. Galatians 519
says, the work of the flesh are evident, which
are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions.
heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries,
and the like, of which I tell you beforehand,
just as I have told you in times past, that those
who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. Now following a similar list
in First Corinthians chapter six, Paul says,
beginning in verse 11, and such were some of
you. But you were washed But you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the spirit of our God We should
humbly recognize that we may have been in bondage
to these sins before but we are now washed that
is baptized we're sanctified that is being saved
to do good works and justified made holy by the
work of Jesus on the cross, and worked out in
our daily lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8, 5, and 6 tell us this, for those who
live according to the flesh set their minds on
the things of the flesh, but those who live according
to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For
to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. We must set our mind
not on the ways of the sinful heart, but our
minds on the things of the Spirit. What are the
things of the Spirit that give life and peace?
Verse 22 of chapter five. But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long -suffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self -control. Against such, there is no law.
Dearly beloved, we are to live according to the
Spirit, setting our minds on things of the Spirit,
thinking and living according to the Spirit.
You know, cultivating anything takes intentionality.
We must learn about cultivating something that
is use our mind. I can't just say I want to go
plant corn I know a story of this my wife and
I some years ago lived over in Gamberl's and
we lived up on this big hill and there were some
older folks that live up there and We built this
put in this really large garden and a part of
what we were doing there Was putting in some
rows of corn? And we talked to the old man who
lived next door, and he says, you can't grow
any corn up on this hill. Trust me, a lot of
people have tried. Well, it was already in the
ground by then. And you know what? He was right.
We grew lots of other things, but corn just wasn't
happening. You need to study. You need to learn.
You need to do things so that you are preparing,
saying this is the target. This is what I'm going
for. We might even say part of this is morning
prayer. If you go your entire day without praying,
are you prepared? Are you making a plan in the
Lord Jesus Christ? And I hear all the time, lots
of people say, I just don't have time. I'm too
busy to do it. Then I do it all at the end of
the day. Well, outside of a few circumstances,
what's the reason that we don't have time in
the morning? Let's be honest. I'm too tired from
the day before. Well, you probably need to rearrange
your plans. Obviously sometimes emergencies happen.
A pipe bursts. A pastor gets a call in the middle
of the night. You're an emergency worker, those
kinds of things. Yes, your kids are sick at 2
a .m. I know that. But what is your plan? How
are you going into it? Are you starting your
day rightly? in submission to God. That's part
of learning and cultivating, and it's part of
taking the action. Because here's the thing.
If you go to cultivate something, and you say,
I'm going to do it, and I know what I'm doing.
I've watched a few YouTube videos. I'm ready
to go. If you wait till 9 AM to get started,
well, around here it's not too bad. But I'll
tell you, in Louisiana, if you wait till 9 AM,
in the springtime or the summer to get out there
on your cultivation job? Man, you are hurting.
The sun is beating down hard. The humidity is
terrible. The wind's hardly blowing. That's what
life's like. Get up early. Make plans. And again,
budget, be living grace. Don't get caught up,
oh man, my day's ruined. No, because of the emergency
at 4 a .m. Okay. But is that the norm? The exception.
So we also have to plan. We have to work it out.
And then we have to execute the work in cultivating
things on a daily basis. Now, how this translates
into your daily life is this. It is attitudes
and your actions. If you're going to cultivate
the fruit of the spirit, you must think about
how it applies with your attitudes. and your
actions. Sometimes we do the actions, but our
heart is grumbling and complaining to God. And
you know what? How does that come out? We complain
to our spouses. We complain in front of our children.
We complain in front of our friends. We are just
grumbling. God's put me here and I'm gonna stay
on my post, but I'm not happy. You can't do that.
It's both attitude and action. And this attitude
and action change that you've planned, that you're
taking action on, it belongs in all of our relationships
and circumstances. We must measure both the health
of the fruit and the volume of the fruit. Again,
this morning and evening. Prayers. Right? If
you start out with a morning, you're saying,
God, I need to have the right heart. I gotta
do these things. And then if you do your evening
prayers, it's an assessment. Again, Lord, forgive
me of the way I've fallen short. Show me what
they are. Am I measuring what fruit is growing
today in my household? Am I measuring how much
of it, how abundant it is? Am I measuring what
kind of fruit it is. The cultivation of the fruit
of the Spirit has worked into us to work out
of us. So for each one of you, you start with
yourself. That is your first realm. That is your
first kingdom in your life. How do I work and
cultivate the fruit of the Spirit to abound in
me? But it's not just that I can become the holy,
you know, I get the saint. You know, the halo
up there. No, no. It is so that my abundance
works in me to work out of me towards others.
Remember, Ezekiel 47, 12 and Revelation 22, one
and two both speak of trees bearing fruit 12
months of the year with leaves for the healing
of the nations. You want to see? your spouse
transformed, cultivate the fruit of the Spirit.
You want to see your children transformed, cultivate
the fruit of the Spirit in your life and in theirs.
You want to see the nations turned, cultivate
the fruit of the Spirit in your family's life,
in your church's life. And what will happen?
The church will grow, will bear this fruit. and
it will heal the nations. Now, here's the thing.
In the cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit,
there is no place for coasting. How did God put
it? These trees are bearing fruit when? 12 months
of the year. 12 months of the year. There is
no gap. One day of slack is as Proverbs 24 tells
us. that our laziness causes thorns to grow up
and weeds that cover our fields and that the
very walls that are there to protect us are broken
down and our poverty and our neediness will come
upon us like an armed man. That's kind of different
when you think about that poverty and neediness
because you lack the fruit of the spirit. But
when you look at your children, parents, and
you're considering them, when you look at your
spouses, husbands and wives, when you look at
these things, do you see my child is needy? They're
poverty stricken in this idea of following Christ,
at least in that moment with that sin, right?
Don't let it grow. Don't let the weeds come up.
Pull them up every single day. If you don't go
out and pull the weeds every day, it gets unmanageable
really quick. Don't be slack. Don't say, oh,
I'm giving my kids a pass today. They can just
be feral. You know what that is? If you're honest,
I'm not going to do my job today. I'm not going
to stand my post. I'm not going to cultivate
the fruit of the Spirit. So stand your post.
Trust God. and do good. So let's take just a
moment and consider what we are to cultivate
in ourselves and all who are under our authority.
First of all, there's love. And I'm not going
to go into these in a huge depth. So I've tried
to work it out fairly tightly, but I think it's
important. And this is all leading up to the
rest of our summer series. So we talk about marriage.
husbands and wives, parenting, our relationships
with one another. This is all building up. That's
why I said it's a summer series. These are all
building on top of each other. So love. We are
to love God. Trust and obey. Trust and obey.
That's love. And in that, love your neighbor.
Be like Jesus. who stooped low as a servant.
Now here's the thing, a lot of times in America
we hear love, oh you're just being soft. Was
Jesus soft? No, he stooped low to serve, to do
what? To tell them the truth for their deliverance.
He not only told them their truth, he not only
stooped low coming down from heaven, but every
day, even washed their feet. Walked the road.
He didn't just come down to earth and say all
right Answers right here. Just come here No,
he he walked long and dusty roads Went in the
wilderness and prayed Went to synagogue every
week But he stooped low in service told the truth
and yet Provided deliverance through himself
And you know when I said this the fruit of the
Spirit is to be worked into us to be worked out
of us You know in Galatians chapter 6 so right
after this passage that we read today What does
it say it says if any man is overtaken in any
trespass? You who are spiritual that is mature
are to restore him in meekness Considering yourself
so you owe God such a great debt and he stooped
low for you. We too are to be like him. So the
fruit grows in us and the fruit grows out of
us. Joy, because our sins are forgiven. In confession,
our joy is restored. Contentment in God's providence.
Are you content in God's providence? I know you're
joyful when you think about what God's done for
you, for your sins, but are you content in His
providence both before you were a Christian and
especially now? Or are you discontent and angry
about your history and your real fathers, your
government fathers, your church fathers? Are
you in discontent? True joy is found in savoring
all that is true, beautiful, and good. Delighting
in the Lord and all of the benefits of His creation.
It isn't just, oh, I'm happy with my circumstance.
No, I'm gonna be joyful out of gratitude. And
then I'm gonna turn and look. Have you ever had
a day that was so hard? And you were wiped out
from all of the stress and difficulties. And
you walked outside. And you saw a single flower.
And you thought, what beauty. Or the sunset going
down in God's masterpiece. Or how about the vanilla
bean that gives us great ice cream and coffee
and desserts. Are we delighting in God and all
his spiritual benefits, but also the abundance?
Yesterday, I'm sure you all ate some type of
fun food for the day. That feasting. Today you're
gonna leave church. You're feasting on so many
great delights that God has given you out of
the abundance of His grace. Now here's a warning.
And everyone listen up, children, you too. Adults,
self -pity is the great enemy of joy. Man, it's
all loaded on me. We sang it this morning. Jesus
words. It said what? His burden is light and
easy. Self -pity is I don't have an easy burden.
I'm all alone. I have nothing. It's all so bad
for me. Self -pity is the great enemy of joy.
Put that aside and delight in God and His wonderful
abundance of grace and all those things found
in His creation. Peace. We're to cultivate calmness
and rest. in Jesus, no matter the circumstances.
You know, that goes back to, you know, you have
these list of rules. Here's the rule. You start
here. And then the second rule is a line, and
it says, go back and see rule one. Get to three.
You see a rule. Go back and see rule one. Well,
this is sort of what we have here. If you believe
in the love of God or to love others, you can
have joy. Oh, wait. No self -pity. Oh, I can
now trust in God and do good, and I can be calm
and rest no matter the circumstances that I find
myself in. The next one, long -suffering. Now,
many translations have patience. You know, I
think in our American experience, at least how
I see it, patience is something that I endure
for a moment. Lord, give me patience in this
circumstance. But I expect that circumstance
to be resolved right quick Right, that's not
really the meaning of this word here. It's long
suffering It is steadfastness with perseverance
Steadfastness stay in your post do good Long
suffering with every relationship Kindness that
is a wholesome quality that promotes Health Think
about that kindness is A wholesome quality that
promotes health again the goodness of God this
fruit that comes in you that Transforms you it
then goes out it promotes the health of others
Goodness uprightness and attitudes and actions
imitating Jesus Faithfulness Fidelity to God.
Jesus. The Word of God. We have fidelity to Him.
And someone who is faithful is one who can be
relied on. Mom and dad, can your kids rely on
you? And how do they rely on you? A difficulty
happens. Well, this is terrible. Right? How are
you being relied on? Do they hear you say, well,
this is difficult, but we're thankful for God's
providence and his care. You know, have you ever
sat in that traffic and are just like out of
your mind, man, this is awful, right? How about
turning around saying thank you, Lord, for protecting
me from what I don't know? I don't know how this
is all gonna work out. I don't use it as an excuse
to be late. If you were slothful in your preparations,
you were slothful out the door. Fix the slothfulness.
Right? Man, I caught every red light. That's
why I'm late to work. No. No, you were late because
you didn't get up on time. Be honest. But what
can your children rely on you for? How about
your wife or your husband? Gentleness. Again,
here's another place where it's really not the
best where we think of gentleness and, you know.
Like a small baby and we're back there. We're
so careful. That's part of it But in reality
it's a meekness. It is great power restrained
mercy and grace received and given We have great
power to exact on some people Difficulty and
hardship. Are you pausing and asking yourself?
How has God been gracious and merciful to me?
How then should I dispense that to others? And
how do I not look for my justification, for my
vindication, but rather put aside my right to
vindication so that others may be drawn to the
Lord Jesus Christ in a deeper way? And then self
-control. the virtue of temperance, chastity,
and charity. Do you exercise rule over your desires?
What about your emotions? What about anger? Do
you exercise self -control there? Or, thinking
back to this idea of what you're teaching your
children, when something happens, do they go,
oh, man. I'm ducking out of here because mom
or maybe it's dad. I'm staying out of the thing
because I saw this, something happened. I'm out
of here because I don't want to be any part of
what's about to come, right? Do you control and
exercise self -control over sex, food, alcohol,
tobacco, sleep? You know, there's two kinds of
ways. We stay up too late doing frivolous things,
and we don't have the strength or mind capacity
to be full of self -control. I know when I'm
tired, my self -control comes down. Excuse me.
And here's the thing. If it's beyond your control,
that's one thing. But if you are self -inflicting
to yourself about why you're so tired, that's
a different problem. How about this one? What
about your mouth? Do you exercise self -control
over your mouth? The book of Proverbs, the book
of practical wisdom, just in one category of
talking about things proceeding from your mouth,
if you look up the word lip, so he's talking
about your mouth, what you're saying, 41 times,
gives instructions for the words that you speak.
And like I said, I could have looked at so many
other words that it uses. But just in that one
word, right? 41 times instructions on the word
you're speaking. Are you providing self -control
there? Are you flourishing in self -control in
these areas, but especially your mouth? All of
this, all of this now takes courage, confession,
strong fidelity. That is steadfastness. Stand
in your post and work on cultivating and making
fruitful the fruit of the Spirit. We need to
cultivate all of these, the fruit of our Spirit,
in ourselves and in our households. This means
we must walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit,
and live by the Spirit. These are not ethereal
things. Like, I need to be led by the Spirit.
Let me close my, no, no, no. He gives us instructions.
And it's worked out. It starts here. Well, it
starts with the new heart. But then it goes to
you're thinking about it. You're planning it.
You're executing it. You are asking God for help
in the beginning. And you're assessing the results
at the end of the day. It means, dearly beloved,
that in this, Let's be honest. Sometimes we are
feeling overwhelmed like we cannot grow and Colton
cultivate faithfulness in these things I hear
something really good. I heard a Somewhere in
my reading and studying this way. I came across
this line. I forgot to attribute it But for the
metaphor it says this right God is not telling
us in these things to make bricks without straw
He's not telling you do this spiritual thing,
but I'm not giving you anything to make the bricks
out of no He gives us the spirit Jesus on the
night he was betrayed in John 14 says if you
love me keep my commandments which sounds overwhelming
and I will pray the father and He will give you
another helper that he may abide with you forever
the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive
because it neither sees him nor knows him but
you know him for he dwells with you and will
be in you I will not leave you orphans I will
come to you he doesn't say do all these things
grow in all these things take dominion be fruitful
and multiply stand your post do good he doesn't
say all this and leave we leave you with no means
to do it The church is not left to fend for itself.
You can have the mind of Christ because Jesus
went to the cross for your sins. Therefore, the
Spirit has given you a new heart. You are not
in bondage to sin any longer. You have a life
of liberty. You have a life of love. And you
can, by the power of the Spirit, take your post,
taking dominion and becoming fruitful and multiplying,
flourishing in the fruit of the Spirit, in yourself
for the glory of God and for the benefit of others.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for
calling us your people, for placing your name
on us because of the great and merciful and gracious
work of your son Jesus on the cross. Please help
us, we pray, to be led and to live in the spirit.
Make us, we pray, fruitful trees by the river
of life to your glory. and the fruit of the Spirit
that the nations may be healed. We especially
pray today with thanksgiving and righteous fear
for mercy for this nation and its people. Reform
us and your whole church that the unbelieving
world may see our good works and be converted
and thus give praise to your holy name forever.
We ask all this for the sake of your son, Jesus,
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world
without end. Amen.