Our sermon tonight comes from Galatians 5. We'll start the reading at the end of Galatians 4. Please turn with me there. We'll start our reading at verse 19. Galatians 4, 19. Galatians chapter 4, starting with verse 19. My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you, but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one of the bond woman and one of the free woman. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai, bearing children who are to be slaves. She is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free. She is our mother. For it is written, Rejoice, barren woman, who does not bear. Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor. For more numerous are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband. And you, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but the free woman. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith, working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view, but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. But I brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves for you were called to freedom brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Pray with me. Our Lord, thank you for speaking to us, and thank you for speaking to us clearly. Give us understanding now, and give us wisdom now, as we look at what you have said, and as we look to see if this light is indeed shining in our hearts, or if there is shadow and veils that we must cast away to truly understand your salvation, to truly understand you, and to truly understand our freedom in Christ Jesus, that you would be glorified in us. Help us now for your namesake and for Christ's namesake. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We saw in the older covenant what had been taking place with Hagar and Sarai. It's an ugly story. It's an ugly story. We should look at it and we should cringe at what was taking place. In those circumstances, a woman was just so overcome with the need to have a son that she would put her husband in the arms of another woman. It's tragic, and it's sad, and it's disgusting, and it is meant to be. Well, Paul moves forward and takes that and comes to this perspective and says, is that you? Is that the kind of person that you are? Is that the kind of child that you are? Did you come from this kind of relationship? Or are you much more than that? Are you children and he takes Ishmael and says Ishmael and Hagar there were these pictures that had come from the law and he even says that law that is this bondage that law that is this ugly circumstance. He says this corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, which should stop us. We say wait. present-day Jerusalem? Isn't Jerusalem that holy city? Isn't Jerusalem that wonderful place that we should all be buying tickets for? Isn't Jerusalem that place that we're always supposed to pray for? Isn't this that? And Paul's saying, no. No, this isn't that. He's saying that is a bondage. That is under a law. That is even now under a curse. And he's saying these people who say we keep the law for the sake of being close to Christ, for the sake of salvation, these people are under a curse. And he's saying, and that's not you. And that's not you. Look with me at verse four. You have been severed from Christ. You who are seeking to be justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. So he's taking this law, he's taking these rules that have been established. In particular, he's using the example of circumcision because that's what's being put on. Because the people are saying, if you do this piece of the old law, then you can be saved. then you can be saved. And he's saying, if you take this one piece of the law, he says, then you have to keep it all. Go get your goat. Go get your goat and open up its throat. Go get your priests, put on their clothes, put on their raiment, put it all on, because if you think you're going to be justified by the law, that's where you are. And he takes it even further and says, and you are cut off. You are cut off from grace. You are cut off from Christ. You, yourself, have fallen away from grace. Verse 5, for we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. So it's a confidence, it's a faith. So what are we talking about when we say a faith? Faith that we believe that Christ has come. Faith that we say Christ has died for us. That we believe and we have conviction in these things that we have not seen. We have a hope and expectation, a fervent expectation, that this is the reality of our lives. That we have been saved, not based on what we've done, but based on what Christ Jesus has done. Now, as we talk about these ideas and how these have been accomplished earlier on, the law was being referred to as a tutor. You know, your tutor is helping you. Your tutor is instructing you. And the tutor, we could even think of it as a whip at this point, a whip that is driving you to Christ Jesus. I think I told you before about Louis Zamprini, who lived just before World War Two and in the midst of World War Two. And he was always in trouble and always in trouble and always in trouble. And his brother was watching him and thinking, there's got to be something my brother is good at, something good that he's good at, not just stealing and not running and not all of these things. And he saw him one day running from a police officer and he said, that's what my brother's good at. So he signed his brother up for track. And he helped his brother by driving him along, by hitting him with a stick to train him to run. God has done that with us. He has given us the law. He has shown us what we need. He has used the law. He has used the law to say, and you need Jesus Christ. You shall have no other gods before me. You need Jesus Christ. You shall not make or worship idols. You need Jesus Christ. You should not take my name in vain. You need Jesus Christ. You shall keep the Sabbath. You need Jesus Christ honor your father and your mother you need Jesus Christ You shall not commit adultery you need Jesus Christ. You shall not steal you need Jesus Christ You shall not murder you need Jesus Christ. You shall not covet you need Jesus Christ You shall not bear false witness you need Jesus Christ And when we come to that place and we run to Jesus, and then we say, okay, now I'm saved in Christ because these laws say it. And then we would go and say, and now I will keep this law and therefore be saved. He says, no, you're cut off then. You're cut off then. You who have been saved by faith that has been a gift, will you now maintain your salvation? by keeping the law. We can also think of this law in the older covenant like training wheels that have been put on a bicycle. Those training wheels were great, weren't they? They were great. I needed them. I needed them for a time. They brought me along and they taught me to ride. And then the training wheels were taken off and, you know, I can ride now. But now am I supposed to crash on purpose? So we come to the place then where the boundaries have been taken off that have been to lead us to Jesus Christ, but now we do not wreck and we do not crash on purpose. So now what we're talking about and the way Paul lays it out here and by the Holy Spirit, he's talking about now learning to walk in the Spirit, not in accordance with the letter of the law, but in accordance with faith and truth and love. We walk in accordance with what Christ has shown us. So the call for you tonight is to learn to walk by the Spirit. To learn to walk by the Spirit. Our first step, do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. Galatians 5.13 For you were called to freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5 24 now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires So who is he talking about? Who's he talking about here? Look again verse 24 and answer the question now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires those who belong to Christ those who belong to Christ. And this gets tough for us. I mean, so many of us and all of us to degrees, you know, we keep on in our sins. It's not something that we can be proud of. It's not something that we can show off. It's not something that we can enjoy. And it's not something that we can announced, and it's not something that we can accept, but this term is given to us, those who belong to Christ. Now, those of us who keep returning to our sin, as a fool returns to his folly, he's like a dog that returns to his vomit. It's supposed to be disgusting. It's supposed to be read out loud and it's supposed to be disgusting. For those of us who have seen it, we've cringed and we shouted and we screamed when we saw it, it was so disgusting. Sin is supposed to be like that to us. Not just other people's sin. Our own sin. We're supposed to see it. We're supposed to hate it. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and with its desires. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body." This idea in this picture is being given, this idea of the temple. If you think about the temple or you think about the tabernacle, my mind is now running to the high priest Eli and his sons, who are horrible. They were horrible. The accounts were being given that the women who were at the temple to serve the temple, they were taking them and they were being immoral with them. And when we gasp, we gasp. How could that be the case? How could that be allowed to go on? Such a thing would be happening at the actual tabernacle of God. The same comes to us as you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are the tabernacle of God. And we would keep returning to our sin. But you are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. We do not have license to sin, because we are not saved by works. But much more so, we are called to live by faith. In verse 5, For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. This is like an echo of what we had this morning as we looked forward to the resurrection. So, what is to take place and what does this look like? Verse two. I'm sorry, our second step, rather. Our second step. Through love, serve one another. through love, serve one another. Galatians 5, 13, for you were called to freedom. Brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. Now this is being given as an antithesis, as an opposite. So on one hand, you're using your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. The other side is serving one another. What does it mean to serve? Well, Jesus gave us the example when He was walking the earth. His disciples were arguing. It's time for the foot washing. It's time for everybody's feet to get washed and cleaned. We've come in from the sandy outside. We're sitting down to eat, and His boys, His disciples, they're sitting there arguing about who's the greatest, and nobody's washing everybody's feet. And he looks around, and he walks over, and he takes off his outer garment, ties it around his waist, gets a bowl, kneels down, and starts washing the disciples' feet. Bizarre picture. A bizarre picture. A master. washing his students' feet. Bizarre picture, and rightly so, but it is that picture of the heart of Christ Jesus as he has come. I doubt he looked and he scowled as he did it. I doubt he said this time, but never again. I doubt he dealt with his disciples in that way, and I doubt that he did a lousy job. but I'm certain that he did everything exactly as it was intended. This idea of love, you've heard me say a number of times that love is a commitment to one another's eternal good. I'm gonna give you a few more pieces of love now, and three pieces specifically. Three pieces of love, affection, commitment, and action. Affection, commitment, and action, as we think in our lives how we would want to be served. Is it through a clenched jaw and gritted teeth? Is that what we want from one another, from the people who are serving us? Or do we want it with a real affection? 1 John 4.19, we love because he first loved us. If we imagine in our own lives that Christ came to us when we were arguing about who ought to be the greatest and standing up for our own rights, and imagine that Christ came, knelt down, washed our feet. From that, can we move along and be angry as we would serve others? Or having seen his actual affection for us, could we not have that actual affection for others? as we consider in our own lives where our affection goes. Consider the things that you love. And we'll just imagine it's one of those, aw, kind of loves. What do you love? Well, really, we love and we have the deepest affection for those things that do not cause us conflict, those things that don't hurt us or bother us. People have talked about how popular kitten videos are and cat videos are on YouTube. Everybody looks and says, aw. and looks at them as if they can delight in them. We love kittens, don't we? And we love puppies, don't we? But how many of us have any? Right? We love them, especially when they're somebody else's. We love kittens when they're somebody else's. We might even love babies more when they're somebody else's. I really enjoy our babies in the congregation, especially when they stink and I can hand them to somebody else. We love those things that do not cause us conflict. That's what makes us go, ah, and we are able to enjoy the most. And do we look and can you look and see that there's such a selfishness wrapped up in that affection? There's a selfishness wrapped up in that affection. Rather than it being for the one who causes us the harm, the one who causes us the pain, we're the one who caused Christ the harm. We are the ones who caused Christ the pain. We are the reason that He died on the cross. Our sin, our crime, and yet He is able to look on us and love us and rejoice in us. So we love with a real affection because He has loved us that way. Another category of commitment, Psalm 51. be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgression. This love that is taking place here and the love that David is calling upon It's according to your loving kindness. It is according to your covenant faithfulness, a love that is in place that will not be undone by what the other individual says or does or doesn't do. How often in our lives is our affection conditional? I will love you this far if you are this good, this far if you are this good. and all the way if you love me and serve me this much. But we see the loving kindness and the commitment of God that is based upon what he has said, and our forgiveness is based upon what has been done for us. Our next aspect of serving one another with this true love, with affection, commitment, and the last part now is action. 1 John 3.18, Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth. Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and in truth. In walking the streets of Eastvale and having gone door to door and talking to people about who they are and talking to people about their faith, and so many have said that Eastvale is their church. Do you have a church? Yes. What? Eastvale, they say. And surprised that I didn't know that Eastvale was their church. And as I deal with them and wrestle with them, I say, OK, well, do you know what church means? And they say, well, it's that building. And I say, it isn't. It actually means assembly. It actually means the getting together. And if you're not doing the getting together, how is it yours? And you invite them to church, and we'll do the getting together thing. And it is your church if you are getting together. But in James 1, 27, it says, true and undefiled religion in the sight of God is to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by this world. The real religious work, he's saying, the pure religious work is caring for one another. in their actual need, widows in their distress, orphans in their distress. So that is the weakest people, the people that need the most, that is religion. For you were called for freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. So we would look then, and if we would say, this is our church, we'd have to look and see, are we serving one another in the midst of your church? Then it is your church. And that is the reality of the relationship. That is the reality of love. Do you love Eastvale? Is there actual affection? Do you love Eastvale? Is there actual commitment? Do you love Eastvale? Is there action in serving one another? Do you love as we are called to our next step? Number three, a bit more of how this looks. And this is that statement. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. Galatians 5, 14, for the whole law is fulfilled in one word. In the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. What does that look like? And different people take this different way. Oprah would even take this, and she would like this one. But she would go the direction and say, well, first, you have to love yourself, don't you? First, you have to love yourself. This idea of loving oneself, as we look at ourselves and we look at each other, we can see we're already pulling it off, aren't we? We're already loving ourselves, aren't we? And Ephesians 5, 28 and 29 gives us more of an insight into what God is talking about when he says this. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church. So what are we talking about? Our own needs being met. We have clothes. We have roofs. We have food. We're nourished. We're cherished. We're cared for. If someone were swinging a baseball bat at our heads, we would block it or we would duck, right? We'd nourish ourselves. We'd cherish ourselves. We would care for ourselves. In the same way, if someone was swinging a baseball bat at one of your heads, hopefully I would do something. Hopefully we would all try to do something. We would nourish. We would cherish. We would care for one another. As we are inflicting our own self-harm on our lives, our sin, Hopefully we would nourish and cherish and care for one another, preserving each other's bodies, preserving each other's minds, preserving each other's hearts, loving one another as we love ourselves. And we look at how this is to be accomplished at the end of verse 29 in Ephesians 5, just as Christ also does the church. We do this as we are following Christ Jesus. loving as we have ourselves been loved, committed to each other with affection and with action. So our fourth step now is check your treatment of one another. Check your treatment of one another. Galatians 5, 15. But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. This idea of our care and our treatment of one another. Some of the worst stories that I have ever heard have been the stories of nursing homes. Joe Caskey used to tell one about his wife and he had come in one day and he had found her laying on the floor in the nursing home when he hadn't been able to care for her. And he went and he got help. And when the help came, they said, oh, I don't know why the alarm hadn't gone off. And as he went to care for her and she was being cared for and they were cleaning her up and they put her into bed and another resident came in and said, they lied about the alarm. That alarm went off until that battery went dead. We hear that and we shake our heads, right? We hear that and we're disgusted. We hear that. And I remember the first time I heard it, I was filled with an indignation that a loved one would be cared for in that way or neglected in that way. Now we're in our own lives, in our own lives, in our treatment, in our care for one another. When we hear those alarms, It is our duty to care for one another. The alarms may be sin. The alarms may be absence. The alarms may be a neglect of God's word. But will we let the alarm go until the battery goes dead? or will we faithfully care for one another? We look at our lives and see, are we committed? We look at our lives and see, is there an action? But this other piece, he's describing it moving from a neglect to an actual attacks that are taking place about devouring one another. If you bite and you devour one another, it's hard to see, it's hard to imagine, but this language is very graphic, if you bite one another. You bite one another. What would we say if we heard that someone in our congregation bit someone else? It happens with kids. When it happens with kids, we're ticked off that it happens with kids. That child bit my child or that child bit so-and-so. We'll put it in the category of an adult biting another adult. We'd be offended. We'd be angry if such a thing happened. But he takes it further and says, and they devoured one another. But take care that you are not consumed by one another. Well, how do we bite each other? How do we devour one another in public? How do we do so politely so that we get away with it? It's the things that we would say to each other in our context, the stabs that we would take. the ways that we would hurt each other, the ways that we might embarrass each other. It's also the ways that we would talk about someone else. It had been described to me, someone said that at supper, they always had a roast they called pastor, that they would sit and talk about how bad the sermon had been, or talk about the pastor's neglect of the congregation, and that's what they did as a family every Lord's Day, would be to bad mouth the pastor. Well, it's the things we say, it's the things we don't say. It's the shots that we take at one another. Proverbs 18.21 lets us know that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 12.18, there is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Leviticus 19.16 warns us you shall not go about as a slanderer. We are not to go speaking ill of one another. As in our households, hopefully when a child comes and speaks poorly of a sibling, we'd have the practice to say, have you talked to them about it first? In our own congregation, if someone comes speaking poorly about someone else, hopefully we will have the discipline and the love to ask. Have you spoken to them about it first? In our own practice, when we are talking about one another, we should remember Ephesians 4.29, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. This idea of the biting and the devouring, when I was a little boy, on Uncle Charles's farm, they had had a litter of puppies. And of course, every little kid that sees a litter of puppies wants one. There were three of us, and three of us each wanted a puppy. Not one puppy. Each of us wanted our own puppy. I remember my brother picked the one that was smallest. He picked the runt, and we named her Runtless. Eventually, my mother said, we're going to give her a complex, and changed her name to Princess. But for years, we called her Runtless. And Runtless was this little, long, sleek, black dog. And when she would wag her tail, her tail would stay in place, and her whole body would shake back and forth like that. So tiny. Well, she grew and I think she must have gotten a complex because she was some kind of fierce, this little runt-less. And I remember one day we were walking the fields and there was a groundhog. And Runt got into this scrap with this groundhog. And I remember us watching and being amazed and cheering as this battle was going on. It was just shocking to see this fight. Well, Runt did fine and Runt got by okay with it. I was speaking to an older man a couple of weeks ago, and he was describing his dog on a farm, and his dog had gotten in a fight. It was a bigger dog with a groundhog. And, you know, a groundhog's not that big. It's just that thing that runs across the road. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. And you would expect a big dog to be able to handle that, handle a groundhog. Well, it got in a fight with a groundhog, and it killed the groundhog. Great, right? It's a varmint. It's dead. Okay. But later on, the dog died too. Took those injuries. Took those wounds. And he died too. As we consider our relationships with one another, it seems like there's quite a bit that we've gotten away with. The things that we have said to one another. The things that we have said about one another. But the wounds that we have inflicted on them and the things that they would say about us and the wounds that would be inflicted can actually kill us both. can harm us, can harm our families, can harm our congregation. This is why we are told decisively, do not let any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. So our next step as we would labor for this, is to walk by the Spirit. I'm going to add to that line there, to walk by the Spirit of Christ. Walk by the Spirit of Christ. Galatians 5.16, that I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Now if you walk down the street and ask people what it means to walk by the Spirit, I wonder what they would say. I kind of wish that I had done that at this point, to see what people would say. I think most would have the idea that it's following your feelings, that it's following your heart. walking by whatever would lead you, walking by whatever would guide you. Some would have imagined that it means being true to yourself, is what the culture would teach. But as we are told that we are to walk by the Spirit, There's other instruction that has been given about our walk. Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. We look and we see what it means to follow what God has said, and that is to walk by the Spirit as all scripture is God-breathed. Galatians 5, 19 through 21 shows us what the other side looks like. Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, that's a selfishness involved there, an impurity, sensuality, a selfishness, idolatry, which is an emptiness running to anything but to God. Sorcery or drug use could also be translated enmities, the fights, the strife that we have, jealousy, more selfishness, outbursts of anger, that lack of self-control, disputes, that would be fighting for our own rights, dissensions, making our divisions in the midst of ourselves, later here called factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But we see that the fruit of the Spirit is love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control. As I read that list, you hear it and think, I could use more of that in my heart. As I read that list, who wouldn't think I could use more of that in my house? As I read that list, who wouldn't think I could use more of that in my church? love and joy. and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control against such things. There is no law. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says, For we walk by faith, not by sight, not choosing the things that we would give to ourselves, but taking the good that has been given to us, to have love in those circumstances, to have peace in those circumstances, to have joy in those circumstances. Walking by the Spirit of Christ, we look and see who He has been, what He has given us, what He is giving us. We are thankful and we are content and we direct our feet in accordance with the light of his word. We look at this scripture in Philippians 2, 5 through 8, lets us know what we are to do to have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, emptying himself, taking on that form of a bondservant. This is what it means to walk by the Spirit. It's concrete. It's real. The example has been given in Christ. He has shown us. He has told us. This is what it means to walk by the Spirit. Look and see. Look and see. What in our lives do we need to take off? And as we have taken that off, what in our lives then, or what from the Word of God and what by Christ, what by His Spirit, shall we then put on? That Christ will be glorified. That we will see His footsteps have been turned into a way, as it tells us in Psalm 85, verse 13. And we will walk like Christ, glorifying Him, not seeking to justify ourselves. but seeking to love one another. Pray with me. Lord, again, we thank you for all of the good that you have reserved for us as we love you. Please bless us and instruct us in the way that you will have us to go. Please teach us with Your eye upon us. Please give us Your counsel, Lord, that You can direct us with gentleness, that You can direct us with grace and with mercy, and that we will give our lives to You and point others to You as we walk by Your Spirit. It is in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.