It's an honor to preach God's Word to you. I'll ask you, if you have your Bibles or a few Bibles in front of you, if you'd open it to the letter Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 5. There's probably several here that have heard of the Barna Research Group. George Barna, for the last quarter of a century has been making a name for himself by spending his time taking surveys, national surveys of professing believers in all different areas of life, what they believe, what they practice, what their church affiliation is. And at the end of 2006, which is, of course, this last year, he issued what he called a list of the 12 most noteworthy results of 2006. All throughout last year, he'd been making these surveys and doing these studies. And at the end of the year, he produced what he thought in all those studies to be the 12 most significant results. Let me read you a couple of those 12. The very, I think this is the very first one, was this, that only 15% of those who regularly attend a Christian church rank their relationship with God as the top priority in their life. Only 15% of those, not of just anybody, of regular church attenders. Another one was this, and I quote him, the notion of personal holiness has slipped out of the consciousness of the vast majority of Christians. Only one out of every three, that's 35 percent, believe that God expects people to become holy. Again, these are Christians by his definition, and only 35 percent believe that God expects us to become holy. Another one was this relatively few people. About one out of every six or 18 percent believe that spiritual maturity is meant to be developed within the context of a local church or within the context of a community of faith. Only 18 percent of adults firmly embrace the idea that spiritual maturity requires involvement in a community of faith. Now, he says this. The figures emphasize how soft people's commitment is to God. Americans are willing to expand some energy on religious activities, such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves that they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short. We want to be, quote, spiritual and we want to have God's favor, but we're not sure we want him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we've worked so hard to produce. End of quote. Now, it seems to me the readiness. That what is being said here is that the so-called. Christian life. Or even. As he will refer to it as the born again life. in America is really not much different than any other life. And yet the point of our scripture text and this whole section of Galatians is that the true Christian life is indeed a remarkably changed life. Indeed, Paul's point here in our passage is that if a so-called Christian is not living a life that is remarkably different, then he's not a Christian in the first place at all. Christian life, you must understand, is not just a matter of a new record in heaven. That is certainly a glorious aspect of it. But the Christian life is more than that, not only a new record on earth and in heaven, but a new character on earth. In fact, the new covenant came with both these promises, not only that the sins would be forgiven, they would be put far behind as far as the east is from the west and that he would remember them no more. That's justification, but that he would put his law in our hearts. And that we would be transformed from the inside out. The Christian life is not only a declaration of justification, but it's a process of transformation. The Christian life is a new standing in Christ. The Bible pictures it that way. We're to stand firm, having on our head the helmet of salvation that no one can shake. It's an interesting picture when you think of Adam and Eve standing as they were in their nakedness, innocent nakedness. And then after the fall, of course, that became a shameful nakedness. Every time you put on clothes in the morning, you ought to think about that. You're covering up your shame. If you were to walk out naked, people would say, for shame to stand in your shameful nakedness. But you go back to the original creation when all things was perfect. They were naked in their own natural nakedness and innocent. But when you see the saints pictured in heaven, They're always pictured as clothed in white robes given to them by Jesus Christ. The robes that picture His righteousness that is granted to us. And so, as saints in heaven, we will not stand naked in our own shame, but we won't even stand naked in innocence like Adam and Eve. We will stand clothed in Christ's own righteousness. It's a wonderful thought. The Christian life is, on the one hand, a standing in Christ, but it is also, on the other hand, a walking in the Spirit. Not only does my heart have a new master, a new owner, but it has a new resident. The Spirit of God lives within me, as we read in 1 Corinthians 6. It's like that illustration we used a couple of weeks ago about the new factory. You have an old factory and one day a new manager is brought in. The old manager is kicked out and the new manager comes in and he begins to change the way things operate. And the old workers and employees, they don't like it. They like the old ways better and they fight against it and the old machines still work poorly. And they aren't greased well, and they don't run as they should, but they've got a new manager, and he's insisting on change, and he's working for change. He's trying to clean up the mess. And when someone comes to Jesus Christ, it's like accepting a new manager into your life. There's still the old flesh that wants to resist it. And the flesh is weak, and it's obstinate, and it wars against the Spirit. But we have a new manager in our lives, and he's cleaning things up. He's cleaning the house. And he's working for a transformed character. And if your heart doesn't have a new manager, you don't have a Savior, is the message of the Bible. Romans 8.14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. In fact, look at verse 18 of Galatians 5. But if he be led of the Spirit, the Spirit of God, he are not under the law. Now, what does that suggest about those who are not led by the Spirit? That they're still under the law and thus under its condemnation. In case you're doubting that, verse 19 begins a list of practices of those who aren't led by the spirit, but instead are led by the flesh. That is, they don't have a spirit-managed life. They have a flesh-managed life. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these. And he lists 15 different things. Now, notice the end of verse 21, though. the kingdom of God. It's not a matter of being a fleshly Christian. It's a matter of not being a Christian. What then is a Christian? A Christian is someone who walks by the Spirit, who is led by the Spirit. Not perfectly, but as we'll see in a moment, obviously, apparently to others. See, walking by the Spirit is not for super saints. It's not for the revolutionaries, which is the term Barna gives to Christians who live like Christians. What does he do with this minority of people who actually live like they believe? He calls them revolutionaries. We have the whole book on the revolutionary Christian. Well, this is not for revolutionaries. This is for Christians. So, I'd like us to read through this text. We'll begin back in verse 13 for context. Our actual text for this morning will be verses 19-21. Galatians 5, verse 13. For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only do not use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, for an outlet for your flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this statement, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say, then walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit of God, that is, but the Spirit of God lusts, he battles, he sets his desires against the flesh, and these two are incontrary to one another, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would, that your flesh would naturally do. But, verse 18, if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Take a breath. Of 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. But, verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh and the affections and the lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, and let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another and envying one another." See how practical it is? There's obviously bitter strife in these churches. He's saying what's coming out is flesh. Now, before we look at the list of flesh-produced works, Let me just make several general observations about both these lists, and I think there are four of them. The first observation is this, and they're simple, but it's good to be reminded, is that these lists are representative. They're representative. They're not exhaustive. You'll notice in the middle of verse 21, if you look in your Bibles, that he says, and such like. That's like saying, etc., etc. He gives this whole long list, 15 different things, and he says, etc., and such like. These are not all the works of the flesh, is what he means. This list is representative, it's not exhaustive. The flesh is far more creative than these 15 things. And it can demonstrate itself in far more creative ways than even what is listed here. This serves simply as a representation of what the flesh is like, not as an exhaustive list. And the same is really true of the spirit. The spirit is more prolific even than these nine aspects of the fruit. These lists are representative, not exhaustive. Secondly, just kind of the other side of the coin, these lists are descriptive, not absolute. My first point, in saying that the flesh and the spirit, these lists are representative, I'm trying to say that there's more than is here. But in saying that they're descriptive, I'm making the point that one will not necessarily see all that is listed here in every flesh-managed life. We couldn't bring up here, Exhibit A, this is a flesh-managed life, and find all of those aspects in his life. It's not absolute. It's not saying that every flesh-managed person evidences all 15 of these things. The opposite is very well true. There are believers who seem to manifest very few of these at times. And the reason that is, is because of common grace. We distinguish between God's saving grace, which is for believers that come to Christ, and God's common grace, which he shows to all people. I mean, the fact that the sun came up, you might not have noticed it because of the rain, but it came up this morning right on time. And in a 24 hour period, it's going to come up on everybody in the world, regardless of who they are. That's God's grace. The rain coming again is God's grace. And the fact that God restrains people from totally just giving into their own flesh is also a work of God's common grace on all people. The Bible says that He's put His law in their minds. He calls it our conscience. And the conscience in even unbelievers restrains them from fulfilling all the desires that their flesh naturally wants to fulfill. You'll notice if you read Romans 1, that as people consistently and progressively resist God and press down the truth, suppress it in unbelief, that God, what does it say repeatedly in Romans 1? He what? He gives them over progressively to the lust of their flesh. So these lists are descriptive. They're not absolute. No one person will probably have time in a lifetime to fulfill all the desires of his flesh. And the same is true with the fruit of the Spirit. Not every Spirit-managed life exhibits all nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit to perfection. A spirit-managed life can even exhibit fleshly influence. But the difference is this, if you look down in chapter 6 and verse 1, the difference for the spirit-managed life, that that is a fall, not a walk. It's a fall into the flesh, not a walking in the flesh. In fact, the Bible says in 1 John, speaking of the Christian, that his seed, God's seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. That means he cannot go on living in sin. And so you'll find a true Christian who does fall into the flesh, that soon he'll be grieving and repenting and returning to the Lord. Thirdly, the list are distinct in their origin as well as in their activities. They're distinct in their origin, keyword there, where they come from, not just their activities. It's not just two works coming out of the same machine. It's not two kinds of fruit coming off the same tree. What's really emphasized here, even more than the actions themselves, is the source of those actions. So that you have all these 15 actions that are listed there at the beginning, and the source of them is the flesh. It's called the works of the flesh. You see that? That means the natural outworking of my flesh. This is what my flesh can do. My flesh can do a lot of things. You know what it can do? It's listed here in verses 19, 20, and 21. But you'll notice in verse 22 that the adder is called, and he doesn't even use the word works. He uses the word fruit, and it comes not from my flesh. It comes from who? The Holy Spirit. And we know what every farmer knows about his own crop. That he can till the soil, put down fertilizer, sprays and pesticides. And yet in the end, in the end, the fruit that he gives is a gift. It's not the work of his machination and working. And in the end, the fruits of love, joy, peace are not our works. They're the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit of God within our lives. So, the lists are distinct in their origin. One comes from without of me, from out of me. As Jesus said, it's out of the heart of man that come all these things, such as adultery and murder and all these things. But the other one doesn't come out of my heart. It comes from God's Holy Spirit. So, the lists are representative. They're not exhaustive. They're descriptive. They're not absolute. The lists are distinct in their origin as well as in their activities, and fourthly, the lists are discernible. Not secret. And this I get from looking at verse 19. Look at that verse in your Bibles, now the works of the flesh are manifest. That means clear. So, I mean, when I say they're discernible, they're not secret. You know, some people fear because their age is showing. Now, their age is their age, and there's nothing they can do about it. But we would rather that our age not be apparent. I remember seeing the title of a book. It was catchy. I've never read it, but I remember the title. It was something like this. Don't look now, but your attitude is showing. It's apparent. It's visible. Did you know that your flesh makes itself visible? It makes itself apparent. In fact, in the Greek, that word is pressed to the front of the sentence. Manifest are the works of the flesh. I mean, it's obvious. It's clear. I say that because some people, and you probably know this, they take it as gross arrogance for you to question someone's profession even in the face of undeniable fleshly activity. For you to question my profession is gross arrogance on your part. In fact, I remember a few years ago sitting with my wife in a fast food restaurant with who professed to know the Lord, professed that everything was well, and I took her not to 1 Corinthians 6 or to Galatians, but to Romans 1, where there's the list, another list. And there were some things in there that were perfect. I mean, just descriptive of this lifestyle to a T. And yet it wasn't long before I got a phone call later that day from someone else who had heard about this. And as the expression we used, we used to use in our family, I got raked over the coals for having questioned someone's profession based on undeniable fleshly activity. But the point is, dear people, the Bible says it's obvious. Listen, this comes from Barna again, the same article. Quote, when pastors, OK, this is pastors, this is not the pew, this is coming from the pulpit. When pastors, he says, when pastors describe their notion of significant faith driven life change, that's those are his words. How would a pastor describe significant faith driven life change? He says the vast majority, more than four out of five pastors, focus on salvation but ignore issues related to lifestyle or spiritual maturity. The fact that the lifestyle of most church adults is essentially indistinguishable from that of the unchurched people is not a concern for most churches. Whether or not people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior is the sole or primary indicator of life transformation, regardless of whether their life after such a decision produces spiritual fruit. End of quote. If Jesus said by your fruit, you shall know them. Now, one modern observer of Christianity says this, and I like it. This is often Christians will share the gospel with an unbeliever. and then encourage him to pray a written prayer. People may indeed repent and believe in this way, but then the well-meaning evangelist will encourage the quote new believer that, well, if you pray the prayer and sincerely meant it, then congratulations, you are now a child of God. That praying a prayer is never offered in scripture as a ground of assurance, nor is sincerity. Jesus tells us not to look at prayers and sincerity for assurance, but at our action, the fruit of our lives. Matthew 7, John 15, 2 Peter 1. The New Testament tells us to look at the holiness of our conduct and the love that we have for others and the soundness of our doctrine as the key indicators of our assurance. What this means is that we should encourage people to feel assured in their salvation based simply on a prayer prayed with no observable fruit of repentance in their lives. The product of this kind of no-evidence-required assurance is that people are taught to look at a prayer prayed twenty years ago as a reason they think they are saved, with no thought of the contradiction between their lifestyle and profession now. We may be filling our churches with false converts. We need to realize that people can pray sincere prayers and walk aisles after sermons without ever genuinely repenting and trusting in Christ. They've been doing it for 2000 years. The only external evidence that the Bible tells us to use in discerning whether or not a person is converted is the fruit of obedience. Now, I'm not talking about how you get saved. It's only by faith. But how do you then discern whether you're truly saved? And the Bible says their fruits are obvious. So the lists are discernible, they're not secret. And this is not to say, please understand this, this is not to say that it is always readily apparent who has a flesh-driven life and who has a spirit-managed life. We can't just go down and say flesh-managed, spirit-managed, flesh-managed, spirit-managed. I'm not saying it's that obvious. It's not because of two things, because on the part of the unbeliever, there's the factor of hypocrisy, which can present himself to others as being different than he really is. And on the part of the believer, there's the consideration of the fall. And it would be dangerous to come up on a believer who's down on his face, fall into the ground and accuse him of walking, of having a flesh managed life. That might be a fall and not a walk. But what this is saying is that there are works which, when they evidence a walk, are proof positive that that person will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's what it's saying. There are works. That when those are evident, not as a fall, but as a walk, it's proof positive that that person shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This goes counter culture, doesn't it? And that's why this morning. I want to preach to you on evidences of a flesh managed life. I know I'm not just beginning my sermon, but I'm just giving you the title. Evidences of a flesh managed life. We saw last time. God's divine expectation, which is walking the spirit. Coupled with that dazzling encouragement, that promise that comes the precept and the promise, you'll not fulfill the desires of the flesh. He follows that up in verse 17 and verse 18 with a detailed explanation of how that works, and no, rather why that works, because the Spirit is battling our flesh. So you have this expectation, then this encouragement, then this explanation that is given. And now beginning in verse 19, you have what I'm calling distinguishing evidences. These are evidences which distinguish you as either flesh-managed or spirit-managed. And it's worth taking the time to examine our lives. The Spirit of God put them there for a purpose. I believe the purpose He put them there was so that we would go through that list and we would use that list as a flashlight, if you will. To look into our own lives. To discover if the spirit of God truly manages. Or if our flesh reigns as supreme. These works describe your walk, you're not led by the spirit of God, and if you don't have the spirit of God, you are none of his. Verse 19-21 described that factory with only the old manager. The Spirit of God is not the dominating factor of this life. And don't think, as we already said, that every sin listed here is found in every unconverted person. But where any of these sins are found habitually, it is proof that that person is devoid of spiritual management and therefore lost and therefore damned. Now, he divides these Fifteen things into four different categories, so they're easily discernible. And the first category is the category of sexual sins. Beginning in verse 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these adultery, fornication and cleanliness and lasciviousness. Now, adultery is not in the best Greek manuscripts and and thus it's not found in any of our other English translations. The word fornication is also translated sexual immorality. It's more the general term for any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage. The Greek word is this, pornea, from which we get our term porn or pornography. When you look at pornography, you're looking at fornication. When you let that pornography seep into your eyes and into your mind, you're letting fornication take control of your spirit. That is a work of the flesh. Then he says uncleanness, or you might have impurity. This is the opposite of holiness. It's what prevents fellowship with God. It may, in the context, refer specifically to impure conduct in sexual relationships. But we know this. We talk about dirty jokes, impure jokes, unclean jokes. And our flesh likes to laugh. And then he says. Licentiousness. Which carries the idea of licentiousness or perhaps indecency, sensuality, debauchery it's translated. This refers to sexual excess of any kind. It's people just giving them over. I was shocked when on AOL, right there on the front page, on Valentine's Day, There was five hints for a good love life. One of them, one or two, was this. Don't let anyone, not the culture, not your family, or even the church, tell you when or when not to have sex. Right there, public news. That's lasciviousness. That's sexual excess. And what we must be careful, you know, we look at this like, well, you know, this is not not us. What we must be careful to do is not to regulate this only to the external. We must apply this to the internal. Jesus, when he was preaching his great sermon on the mountain, Matthew, chapter five, Verse 27, He said, You have heard that it has been said of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. And of course, yeah, we've heard that. We'll stone anybody that we find that does that. Jesus said this. Listen to this, man. I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. In other words, Jesus saying is adultery can be committed in the heart. Fornication can be committed in the mind. Uncleanness and licentiousness can be things that remain shrouded in the brain and never are audibly or physically expressed to anyone else. And yet there are people. who appear very holy on the outside like whitewashed tombs, who inside have no control over their fleshly thinking, who let their mind wander and gallop into excess of these sinful, lustful thinking. This is not only true of men, this is possible with women. You look at the news lately and you find plenty of women that have just given themselves to this. And it can happen in a young life or in an older life. That in the mind there's no control. I don't think there would be a person here who said the battle isn't great. Nor would I ever say that the falls don't happen. But if the Spirit of God is in your hearts, there's a war going on. And if you can just give into this in your minds, then you have a flesh-managed life. There's a remarkable testimony to this by Jerome. Last week I had to take a church history course, and one of the questions I wasn't prepared for was list all the people significant to the monastic tradition up to the year 950 A.D. One name I came up with was Jerome. Jerome became a monk in the early days of the church. He's best known today for his translation of the scriptures from the Greek into into the Latin. It became the Latin Vulgate, and it was the translation of Europe for more than a thousand years. Jerome left Rome, the city and all its lurid temptations and trying to become holy, he excluded himself in the desert. He went down actually in the Palestine and excluded himself in the desert trying to live a holy life. And listen to what he says. And this is not 21st century, this is 4th century. Oh, how I often imagined that I was in the midst of the pleasures of Rome when I was stationed in the desert, in that solitary wasteland which is so burned up by the heat of the sun that it provides a dreadful habitation for the monks. I, who because of the fear of hell had condemned myself to such a hell, and who had nothing but scorpions and wild animals for company, often imagined that I was dancing in a chorus with girls. My face was pale from fasting, but my mind burned with passionate desires within my freezing body, and the fires of sex seized, even though the flesh had already died in me as a man." End of quote. See, it doesn't matter where you are. The flesh can have a heyday in your soul. Now, let's talk about that. Let's talk about your eyes. How can some of you, and I don't know, I don't have anybody in mind, but how can some of you professing Christians read some of the papers you do or watch some of the TV programs that you do and laugh and enjoy it? It's only because our affections must be set on those things. It's so obvious what the world delights in. It's so tragic to see a professing believer delight in the same kinds of things. So, sexual sins. The second category, the beginning of verse 20, or in verse 20, are what we call religious sins. He mentions idolatry and witchcraft. Idolatry is any worship that is not commanded. I think he's using this in a general term. Witchcraft refers to sorcery, contact with the evil spirits. Now, I was reading that article by Barna that I referenced earlier. And another one of the 12 significant findings for 2006 is this. Listen. Quote, three out of every four teenagers have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft related activity. Three out of every four in America. Among the most common of these endeavors are using the Ouija board, reading books about witchcraft or Wicca, playing games involving sorcery or witchcraft, having a professional do a palm reading, or having their fortune told." I was on the internet this week and I saw an article in a college newspaper, the University of Buffalo, on the pagan society in their university. And the whole thrust of the article is that This girl, whatever her name was, she's a junior, she's just like all of us, she just happens to be a Wiccan. It went on to explain and quoted the girl saying, well, we do just like the Christian students do. They get down before a test and they pray to God. We get down and we put four candles on either side to keep away the spirits of the East and West and North and South. And we pray to some god or goddess or to some dragon or to some figure. The whole point of the article is to get you to think, they're not. In fact, one quote she said, what's nice about this is that whatever you want, it's OK. I also read about a former Pentecostal chaplain in the United States. I forget what branch, but he was over in Iraq and he wanted to switch his affiliation from Pentecostal to Wiccan. And the military kicked him out, sent him back home. This happened just last week or the week before. This is all around us. It's all around us. And it was around in Paul's day. And Paul's point is, you get into that, that is flesh driven. That's a spirit managed life. France is known as a Catholic country. I've heard that there are more registered witches in France than Catholic priests. This is taking over the world. But it's nothing new. So religious sins, and then he lists social sins. This is verse 20 and 21. Here are eight things which show the breakdown in personal relationships. There in verse 20 you have idolatry, witchcraft, and then you have hatred. It's in the plural. You'd almost think of hatreds or enmities. This is one who cherishes the hostile thought and performs the hostile act. It's opposite of Jesus' teaching to love your enemy. This is someone who harbors resentment and hatred. Let me ask you, do you have unbridled hatred for somebody? We just see, and there's no spiritual restraint of that. Some people glory in that. There is something about just being able to let go, isn't there? Just something... Our flesh just craves. Hatreds, then he says variants. That refers to strife or discord. It's translated a contemptuous temper. This is mentioned by Paul in Romans 1.29 as characteristic of pagan society. Then he says emulations. That's an old English word. Think of it as jealousies or envies. Someone who's full of jealousies or envies. And it doesn't matter what he's jealous about. Position, prestige, car, person, whatever. The fact is that there's jealousies or envies. It says wrath, or wrath, or anger, translated fits of rage, or outbursts of anger. That's what it has reference to. Someone whom you're afraid will just lose it, and then there's no telling what he's going to do. That's a flesh-managed lie. Now, in church you can hold it, but when he's at home, beware. He'll just let go. It might not happen very often, but when it does, you remember it. We used to have a young man in our, stayed with us for a while in France, and his father was a singer. In fact, we had several of his tapes. And his father had passed away at a rather young age, but he told us about a big dent in the wall where his dad had taken a framed picture off the wall and thrown it across the room at his mother. Well, it sounds like Saul with David. strife in the King James, or factions, or selfishness, or selfish ambitions, or disputes. Some of these words obviously overlap. This is also in the plural. The word is derived from the word erithos. It means a hireling. It originally meant working for pay, but it came to connote the idea of canvassing for office, trying to get something for yourself. Paul uses it elsewhere of competing parties in the church. And thus, probably the best idea here is selfish ambitions. You're conniving, you're working because you have some selfish ambition that is underlying the pretext that you are demonstrating to others. That says seditions. It's best understood as divisions or dissensions. The New Testament speaks of people who cause dissensions or they cause divisions. So a division, when it occurs, was always fleshly motivated. And then the King James says right there at the end of verse 20, heresies. Heresies. It's not speaking so much about false doctrine, it's speaking of heresies meant a shoot-off, a party spirit, party intrigue, intrigues of factions. That's a good term. People in different factions, each displaying a party spirit. That's the idea. He's creating in the church, I think he's probably thinking in the church here, because he's writing to the churches of Galatia, different factions. And, you know, when he wrote to Corinthians, you know, he said, some of you are following Paul and some of you are following, who was it? That wasn't Silas. Apollos. Thank you. And some Peter and some say, you know, you're for Jesus only. So these things are not so to be. These are factions. And you think it's over some noble point of doctrine, perhaps, or from some noble injury that you have received, but it's all flesh. And then in verse 21, he says, and beans. It's that idea of jealousy, except the difference from the earlier word is that this is always used in a negative context. The idea of regarding another person with ill will because of what he has. or because of what he is. So you actually look at someone and you regard them with ill will because they're in a position you would want to be or possess something you would want to possess. And then in the King James, you have murders, which is not in the other manuscripts. So we have sexual sins, we have religious sins, we have social sins, and finally, you have sins in the realm of drink. in temperance, we would call it. Now, we know that in the New Testament, there are no dietary laws, and thus the scripture does not forbid the use of alcohol per se, but it does forbid its excesses in all its forms. And so you have here drunkenness translated one version drinking bouts. I mean, someone, you know, he's coming down, he comes back on Saturday night drunk. And then the next Saturday night, He comes back and he's drunk again, and this is just the way he is. But he's a really nice guy. And then the last word there, revelings, carousings, orgies even. This refers to someone who just loves one party after another. They're always living for the next party. And you know, I have neighbors like this. It's like, that's their life. It's, you know, working up to the next party. And you find out what goes on at those parties. And you find out why they enjoy those parties. And you realize that's a flesh-managed life. And then he adds, "...and such like." That is, we could go on and on and on and on and on and on. But now notice the end of verse 21. of which I tell you before, and I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." There is a solemn warning One modern student of Jonathan Edwards said this, quote, The use of threats or warning and preaching to Saints is rare today for at least two reasons. One, it produces guilt and fear, which are considered to be unproductive, and it seems theologically inappropriate because the Saints are secure, don't need to be warned or threatened. Jonathan Edwards rejected both reasons. When fear and guilt correspond with a true state of things, it's reasonable and loving to stir them up. And the Saints are only as secure as they are willing to give heed to biblical warnings and persevere in godliness. Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10, 12. Edwards said that God set things up in the church in such a way, quote, that when their love decays, fear should arise. They need fear, then, to restrain them from sin and to excite them to care for the good of their souls. But God is so ordered that when love rises, then fear should vanish and be driven away. Preaching about hell is never an end in itself. You can't frighten anyone into heaven. Heaven is for people who love purity and not for people who simply loathe pain. Nevertheless, Edwards said, quote, Some talk of it as an unreasonable thing to fright persons to heaven, but I think it is a reasonable thing to endeavor to fright persons away from hell. It is a reasonable thing to fright a person out of a house on fire, end quote. Therefore, good preaching will deliver the biblical messages of warnings to congregations of saints, as Paul did when he said to the Galatians, I warn you that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Our text, verse 21, or when he said, quote, Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. Romans 11, 20. Peter added, If you invoke as father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. First, Peter 117. Such warnings are the somber tones Which help good preaching to display with lavish colors the magnificent promises and pictures of heavens. And so I warn you. Those of you. That practice such things. In the mind. Or in the life. You shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. And we do not say that a Christian cannot fall into these things, as we'll see in chapter six. But if they do, it is a fall, it's a contradiction of their deepest desires, and it's not long before they're crying out for help and mercy. And he may fall off, and the Bible says the righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets back up. It's a contradiction of who they are inside, but those who do it without it being a lapse, without spiritual remorse, without repentance, are not Christians at all. And here's the point of the passage, that only the Holy Spirit, only the Holy Spirit can truly set us free from the law. and subdue our flesh within us. That's the point we looked at last time and it's the point we've got to end with today. It's not a matter of you changing. No, your flesh can't do that. That's the point. This is you coming out. You've got to have a power from without implanted within. I remember struggling as a high school student with some of these things and writing next to my bed on the wall, I will not. I remember it didn't work. It's got to be the Holy Spirit battling our flesh. How does that happen? First of all, you have to have the Holy Spirit. You have to have Him indwelling you. You have to have Christ, as Christ pictures it, as John the Baptist said of Christ, actually baptize you with the Holy Spirit. some ecstatic experience that happens after conversion, this is what it means to be saved. When you come to Christ and you come in faith and you repent of your sins and you turn away from your flesh and you ask for salvation, He gives you His Spirit. He says, if I haven't given it to you, you're not mine. And then if you have the Spirit, you know, you know the struggles. I'm sure you do. But your response must be to walk by the Spirit, to allow yourself to be led by the Spirit, to plug yourself in conscientiously to God. And in the midst of temptation, just bow your head and say, Yes, Lord, I submit. I submit. If you do, you'll not fulfill the lusts of your flesh. He is the one who gives us the Spirit. We're not saved through the works of the flesh. That's the point. The works of the flesh are all evil. And yet there's some people trying to take that evil flesh and trying to use it to get them to heaven. That's not the way. The way is to reject all your works, to acknowledge them as filthy rags and to come running to Jesus Christ and He will save. So let's sing number 543, Jesus, I come. It's an invitation that we sing to each other. And I hope we'll sing it. I hope we'll respond in our hearts to the invitation that we sing. Let's stand, please, and sing.