Speaker 1: 1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado.
Speaker 1: Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
Speaker 2: This morning we are going to be in Galatians, chapter 5.
Speaker 2: So if you want to start turning over that way, I'll give you a little bit of context while you're on your way there.
Speaker 2: It's a familiar passage with you.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk a little bit about the fruit of the Spirit this morning.
Speaker 2: I think it's important that we look at context as we get into this, because there is an issue that is here in the church of Galatia that Paul writes about here in Galatians.
Speaker 2: Now, as you know, paul writes several letters to several churches addressing issues that arise in the church.
Speaker 2: Issues arise in every church and it's important that we take hold of those and face them and deal with them.
Speaker 2: And Paul writes this letter to Galatia.
Speaker 2: Galatia has a little bit of an identity problem, in my opinion, and to do this story, to tell you a little bit about it, I'm going to reference a movie that you are probably familiar with Beauty and the Beast.
Speaker 2: Is anybody unfamiliar with Beauty and the Beast?
Speaker 2: Great, okay.
Speaker 2: So here's the thing.
Speaker 2: We in our household are in our Disney princess era, okay.
Speaker 2: So Maggie Grace has started getting her dress up dresses from Disney.
Speaker 2: We miraculously, or thankfully, I don't know have kind of taken a break from the Frozen soundtrack so we don't have to hear as much about Elsa.
Speaker 2: But now we are in our Beauty and the Beast soundtrack era, and what I mean by that is that track number four on the original soundtrack is called Gaston, and if you know the song Gaston, it's all about the bad guy of the film.
Speaker 2: Know the song Gaston?
Speaker 2: It's all about the bad guy of the film, spoiler.
Speaker 2: Sorry, you should have seen it by now.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing If you play that song, I could probably quote you the middle part of it.
Speaker 2: I did on the way back from Monroe a couple nights ago.
Speaker 2: There's a little dialogue part.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to do it right now because the soundtrack's not, I don't have time, but there's this part I could tell you like we are deep in the beauty and the beast.
Speaker 2: We'll get to that later.
Speaker 2: But Galatia has a little bit of an identity issue.
Speaker 2: See, what's happened is they have started looking at the law and the church, two different aspects of how they're supposed to live their lives.
Speaker 2: So on one hand, they want to be holy and just in God's eyes, but also, on the other hand, they want to be morally correct.
Speaker 2: How are we going to deal with certain social issues, certain cultural issues.
Speaker 2: How are we to do that and how does that relate to the kingdom?
Speaker 2: And so Paul talks a little bit in the first part of Galatians, chapter five.
Speaker 2: We're going to be here just for a second, the scripture won't be on the screen, but if you're following and taking notes, this is where point number one comes in.
Speaker 2: Point number one is that we are supposed to be sanctified by the spirit, and what that word means is that we are to be set apart.
Speaker 2: We are saved by Christ so that we are set apart from the world.
Speaker 2: And Paul addresses this issue, this identity issue, here at the beginning of chapter 5.
Speaker 2: And so here's what it says, from verses 3 to 7.
Speaker 2: It says again I testify to you, to every man who gets himself circumcised, that he is obligated to do the entire law.
Speaker 2: You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ.
Speaker 2: You have fallen from grace, for we eagerly await, through the spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness.
Speaker 2: So Paul takes some time to kind of address the issue.
Speaker 2: Right here he mentions circumcision being a cultural issue, but I can't help but think that he has several other issues that he is addressing Like this may be the main thing that he's addressing, but, as every church, as every society does, there are several things that are probably the underlying cause of these issues that have come up.
Speaker 2: It's a disagreeance amongst people in the church.
Speaker 2: Do we follow this law?
Speaker 2: Do we have to do steps A, b and C in order for God to love us more?
Speaker 2: Do I have to be this holy and follow this certain practice for me to be part of the church?
Speaker 2: How do I do that?
Speaker 2: How do I navigate that?
Speaker 2: And Paul reminds us and reminds the church there, in verse five, of common ground.
Speaker 2: Amongst all the disagreements, there's common ground.
Speaker 2: He says this for we, the church Christians, the body of Christ, for we eagerly await, through the spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness.
Speaker 2: By faith, we believe in Christ, we live for Christ.
Speaker 2: We have a common goal, but we have this hope of righteousness that, all of these cultural things, all of these disagreements that we have in the church, we have this hope, this knowledge of Jesus coming back and making all these things irrelevant, all of these things right, no more disagreements, but a common ground, a common worship, a common practice amongst not only this church but amongst all the churches.
Speaker 2: And he continues on verse 6, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything, but what matters again is faith working through love.
Speaker 2: Verse 7 says you were running well.
Speaker 2: Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth?
Speaker 2: This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
Speaker 2: Paul references running this race, and he does this a few times throughout scripture and you probably have a couple other that are popping into your head.
Speaker 2: But Paul references this race and he says Church, you were running the race well, you were doing good.
Speaker 2: Who amongst you has caused this division?
Speaker 2: Who has brought up this question that is starting to sway people away from their main focus?
Speaker 2: That is not from the one who calls you, who guides you, who leads you, who loves you, who wants you just to have a common ground of worshiping him.
Speaker 2: Paul encourages, throughout the first part of Galatians 5, that we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that we have a common focus, a common goal, and that is, as I've said a couple times already, to love Christ, to love others, to worship together, to love Christ, to love others, to worship together and not to cause division amongst each other in the church.
Speaker 2: Warren Wiersbe gives us this chart in one of his commentaries and it's a good chart.
Speaker 2: I don't have it up here, but let me tell you a little bit about his chart.
Speaker 2: He has two different views.
Speaker 2: He has a scripture view and he has a legalistic view, and I think it's important that we understand exactly what it is that the church is dealing with through this chart.
Speaker 2: So on one hand he has this legalistic view through the first half of chapter five, and here's what Weersbe says about it.
Speaker 2: He says that if I obey these rules, I will become a more spiritual person.
Speaker 2: I'm a great admirer of this religious leader, so I now submit myself to his system.
Speaker 2: That's a legalistic view.
Speaker 2: So Taylor comes up and he's a great preacher and we say, hey, we're going to listen, we're going to do as he says to the T.
Speaker 2: So if Taylor says, hey, after this we are all going to go and we are going to cannonball off of whatever bridge Is there a bridge in El Dorado that we can cannonball off?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 2: If he tells you that, a, don't do that.
Speaker 2: B, he's not going to tell you to do that, because that's not from the Spirit, that's not what God is leading him to do, but the scripture view, part of that that Wiersbe says is that we have been set free by Christ.
Speaker 2: We're no longer under bondage of the law.
Speaker 2: Going off of that, another example is from a legalistic view, I believe that I have the strength to obey and improve myself.
Speaker 2: I do what I'm told and I measure up to the standards set for me.
Speaker 2: But scripture tells us differently.
Speaker 2: Scripture says that we need something, we need someone to control our life from within, that someone, of course, being the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: Paul encourages the church to continue running this race.
Speaker 2: He says remember, these things that you're doing are not man-made.
Speaker 2: These goals, this thing you worship is not a man-made thing.
Speaker 2: This is a thing from something greater.
Speaker 2: Don't cause disruptions amongst yourselves just to try to settle some cultural difference, but focus on what's important, and that's the worship and the production of Christ and the kingdom.
Speaker 2: So Paul encourages the church to continue running this race according to the Spirit.
Speaker 2: And going off of that, we find our second point, which is we are to bear and produce fruit.
Speaker 2: Paul talks about this race a few different times throughout scripture through his letters, and what this race is.
Speaker 2: If you haven't figured it out or did not know already, it's this marathon of life he talks about.
Speaker 2: If we are going to run the race, we are going to have to be prepared for the race.
Speaker 2: We're going to have to be equipped to do this marathon correctly.
Speaker 2: For example, after church this morning, you probably are not going to look at me and say, hey, right now, you, me, main Street, we're racing.
Speaker 2: We've blocked off the stop signs.
Speaker 2: We're running this race today.
Speaker 2: A, you will beat me in that foot race.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to accept your challenge.
Speaker 2: B, you're not equipped for that.
Speaker 2: You and your Sunday best is probably not going to go outside and say, hey, I'm ready, just to sprint down Main Street.
Speaker 2: We're not equipped for that.
Speaker 2: We haven't trained for that.
Speaker 2: We have not prepared for this race.
Speaker 2: And Paul tells us that we need to be equipped.
Speaker 2: We haven't trained for that, we have not prepared for this race.
Speaker 2: And Paul tells us that we need to be equipped.
Speaker 2: We need to be ready for this race.
Speaker 2: We need to prepare ourselves.
Speaker 2: And he does that a few different ways.
Speaker 2: One you probably have thought if you're running a race, you need the right equipment, right, you need the right shoes, the right gear, things like that Spoiler.
Speaker 2: Paul talks about that in Ephesians 6, the armor of God we are to be equipped for this race.
Speaker 2: In Hebrews we're also supposed to be.
Speaker 2: We are supposed to have endurance, to build up our endurance.
Speaker 2: In Hebrews 12, it mentions that we are to throw off the sins that ensnare us, throw off the things that distract us from Christ, move away from the things that hold us back from pursuing Christ with everything in our lives.
Speaker 2: But also we are to have the right mindset.
Speaker 2: If I'm not mindfully ready to run a race, if I am not well-equipped, my spirit is not ready for this race, I'm not going to give it everything that I have.
Speaker 2: And here in Galatians 5, paul gives us that mindset.
Speaker 2: So, going on to bearing and producing fruit, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18.
Speaker 2: This will be on the screens.
Speaker 2: If you don't have your Bible with you this morning, here's what Paul says.
Speaker 2: I say then walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh, for the flesh desires what is against the Spirit and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh.
Speaker 2: Those are opposed to each other so that you don't do what you want.
Speaker 2: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Speaker 2: So Paul talks and he starts with this three words.
Speaker 2: I say, then that can translate to here's my advice.
Speaker 2: We all have someone in our life that we probably get advice from, whether it's through relationships, through its job, career opportunities, through the way that we are raising our kids, how to get healthy, how to cook, whatever.
Speaker 2: We have someone that we probably run to for advice and that advice we take to heart.
Speaker 2: And we take to heart in one of two ways.
Speaker 2: One, if that advice lines up to what we are doing and affirms us, we're encouraged by that.
Speaker 2: We say, hey, not too bad, I'm doing okay.
Speaker 2: On the other hand, that advice sometimes makes us step back and think about what it is that we're doing.
Speaker 2: Maybe that advice makes us step back and say, hey, maybe I could love in this way, maybe I'm not grieving correctly, maybe I need to do this to better present the gospel to my family, to my friends, to those who are around me.
Speaker 2: We all have someone we take that advice from, and the church has Paul.
Speaker 2: Galatia has Paul to give them the advice.
Speaker 2: So what he says right here in verse 15, or verse 16, I say then walk by the Spirit.
Speaker 2: And then he gives this promise and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Speaker 2: He tells us hey, set your mind on the Spirit and let the Spirit take you away from all the things that tempt you.
Speaker 2: Set your mind and your life on the Spirit and let the Spirit guide you not towards sin, but away from it, towards his kingdom.
Speaker 2: Walk in the Spirit and experience, as we sang about earlier, the freedom that we have in Christ.
Speaker 2: Paul continues on and he tells us that freedom is important and what it is.
Speaker 2: I think we hear Paul talk about freedom a lot, and sometimes it gets a little redundant.
Speaker 2: And here's what I mean.
Speaker 2: I think we hear Paul talk about freedom a lot and sometimes it gets a little redundant.
Speaker 2: And here's what I mean is that we hear him in prison say, hey, I may be in chains here, but I'm free in the spirit.
Speaker 2: Or hey, I may be going through a hard time here, but hey, I'm free in the spirit.
Speaker 2: At least I am free.
Speaker 2: And I think a lot of the times we take that for granted and we don't really take to heart what it is that Paul talks about.
Speaker 2: When Paul says he's free, it means he is spiritually free.
Speaker 2: I mean Christ has broken his chains away from the slavery of sin and moved him towards something greater.
Speaker 2: And we say well, yeah, of course, but I want you just for a second to think back to the road to Damascus and think about what freedom means to Paul, as Saul we see going on the road to Damascus to go and to persecute Christians, to turn them into the government, to murder Christians in some instances.
Speaker 2: What we see is this moment that God takes Saul and turns him into what we know as Paul, maybe the greatest missionary that we have ever read about and studied.
Speaker 2: And what happens is the reason freedom is so important to Paul.
Speaker 2: This spiritual freedom is because that changed his life.
Speaker 2: No longer is he in captivity to sin, but now he is free in the Spirit.
Speaker 2: He's free to go and tell other people about Christ and, no matter what circumstance he goes through in life, he knows that God has freed him and has set him apart to do something greater.
Speaker 2: Translating to us, I want you to think back to the moment that God adopted you into his family, where he adopted you and called you away from sin and into freedom in him.
Speaker 2: This is true freedom.
Speaker 2: Paul talks about freedom so much because it is super important to him.
Speaker 2: It's important to us as Christians.
Speaker 2: We no longer are in bondage to sin.
Speaker 2: We no longer have to run to sin to make us feel better.
Speaker 2: We no longer have to dwell on these things because we have Christ, who calls us to him and allows us to experience freedom and life within him.
Speaker 2: We can grieve to Christ, we can pour our hearts out into Christ, we can dwell in Christ and not in sin.
Speaker 2: Paul talks here in the next section, verse 19.
Speaker 2: It says this now, the works of the flesh.
Speaker 2: They're obvious Sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and anything similar.
Speaker 2: I'm warning you about these things, as I warned you before that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Speaker 2: Paul gives us this big list of things and he says hey, the sins here that I'm listing.
Speaker 2: They're super obvious because they are in everyday life, because we see them often, because the people around us do it.
Speaker 2: Maybe we dwell on those things sometimes.
Speaker 2: These things are obvious.
Speaker 2: And he kind of alludes back to verse three when he talks about doing the entirety of the law.
Speaker 2: And here's why Paul warns us not to dwell on these things.
Speaker 2: Paul says hey, if you're going to follow one thing of the law, you have to follow all the things of the law.
Speaker 2: And here's where that becomes.
Speaker 2: A problem for you and me is that if we mess up and we fall under the law, if we sin or trip up or break some law, whether it's a big law or whether it's a small law, if we are supposed to follow each law in its entirety of this, the moment we slip up we have fallen from grace.
Speaker 2: And what Paul says is hey, if you follow this entire law not saying go and break the law.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying is, if we are so focused on this legalistic view of saying, okay, I have to be perfect in this way, in this way, in this way in order to obtain Christ, there leaves no room for error for us.
Speaker 2: That's not what true freedom is.
Speaker 2: Now, christ calls us to a higher standard.
Speaker 2: Christ calls us to live free in him.
Speaker 2: But what Christ also says is there's forgiveness for your sin.
Speaker 2: The law doesn't say those things.
Speaker 2: The law says that you are sinful, that you have broken the law, that you are now condemned.
Speaker 2: But Christ says hey, you've broken the law.
Speaker 2: But I love you and I can forgive you.
Speaker 2: If you will let me, if you are willing to accept me into your life and to follow me, I will forgive you.
Speaker 2: And that's what Paul wraps up chapter five with.
Speaker 2: He says this in verse 27,.
Speaker 2: But the fruit of the spirit we see that transition word.
Speaker 2: But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Speaker 2: He lists off these things, these nine things that we should look forward to, that should dwell within us and not only with us, but we should go and show other people these fruits of the Spirit.
Speaker 2: It should be a lifestyle.
Speaker 2: And get this, the second part, right there in verse 23,.
Speaker 2: It says this right after self-control.
Speaker 2: He says the law is not against such things.
Speaker 2: That's awesome, because now not only are we following law, are we seeing what the laws of the land are, but we are able to do those things bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker 2: So now, if we mess up, we can show kindness as we make amends with each other, we can go and show love to one another.
Speaker 2: As we're talking about cultural issues Remember, earlier I talked about beauty and the beast a little bit.
Speaker 2: Here's a conversation that I had with Maggie the other day.
Speaker 2: She said Dada, why was the beast mean?
Speaker 2: I said well, and before I could give her my answer, she said why did the beast throw Gaston off the roof?
Speaker 2: And I said, well, we're not going to talk.
Speaker 2: Let's address the first question first before we talk about the rest, which that's an old Disney movie that blew my mind the other day.
Speaker 2: Anyway, here is what I said.
Speaker 2: I said because maybe the beast was not shown love and she thought for a second and she goes, but Bell showed him love and Bell was kind to him and then the beast became Prince Adam again and was kind to other people.
Speaker 2: And here's why that's important is because not only are these fruits of the Spirit for us, they're for us to show other people.
Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying that you're going to go, because not only are these fruits of the Spirit for us, they're for us to show other people.
Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying that you're going to go and transform someone's literal life and image by going and showing them kindness, but what you do is you're able to go and teach them.
Speaker 2: Hey, here's what Christ's love means to me.
Speaker 2: Here's why it's important that I'm kind to you, that I forgive you, that I love you, that I'm patient with you, that I show self-control.
Speaker 2: As you are learning about Christ, it's important and I'm reminded, you know, if a three-year-old is able to grasp that concept, how much more should we as a body of Christ, grasp that concept as well To love one another, to teach other people about Christ and just to bear the fruits of the Spirit so that other people may know him as well.
Speaker 2: I brought another book, I think.
Speaker 2: Last time I preached I read a sadder book, if you remember, if Jesus Came to Visit Me.
Speaker 2: This one is not as tear-jerking as the other, but this is a book by the Daily Grace Company, written to toddlers, called the Fruits of the Spirit, and I just want to read it to you very quickly, just to kind of break down each of these and see what it means at its most basic level to a child.
Speaker 2: It says this God is love and he loves us.
Speaker 2: Because we know his love, we love others too.
Speaker 2: God's love shows us how to love others.
Speaker 2: We serve others, we are kind to others.
Speaker 2: We are selfless in our actions.
Speaker 2: We are offered much joy in the Lord, god.
Speaker 2: God is the only one to give us true joy In God's presence.
Speaker 2: There will always be joy.
Speaker 2: When we come to him in prayer, worship and reading his word, we are given joy.
Speaker 2: God gives us peace.
Speaker 2: His peace is different from the world.
Speaker 2: When we are fearful or troubled.
Speaker 2: We can pray and ask him to give us peace.
Speaker 2: His peace is enough for us.
Speaker 2: God's timing is not like our own.
Speaker 2: God's plan is good and we show our trust in him by being patient.
Speaker 2: I think patience is probably one of the harder fruits of the Spirit that we have to learn and dwell in.
Speaker 2: But when we're patient, we show others that we depend on and trust in God above anything else.
Speaker 2: God has shown us kindness by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we could have forgiveness.
Speaker 2: Because he has shown us kindness, we are kind to others, we show compassion, we humble ourselves and we forgive others.
Speaker 2: God is all good, pure and holy.
Speaker 2: When we imitate him, we can produce goodness too.
Speaker 2: We dislike the things that aren't like God.
Speaker 2: We hold on to the things that look like God.
Speaker 2: Faith in God is believing in him.
Speaker 2: Though we can't see him In faithfulness, we trust that God is who he says he is.
Speaker 2: We are saved by God's grace.
Speaker 2: Through faith.
Speaker 2: We learn how to be gentle by looking at Jesus, who is lowly, humble and meek.
Speaker 2: When we show others gentleness, we teach them about who Jesus is.
Speaker 2: And finally, there is value in self-control, because we know that something much better awaits us in heaven.
Speaker 2: We show self-control when we are disciplined, when we run from sinfulness and show honor to God in all things.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing Paul writes these letters not just to correct the church, not just to fix issues, but also to encourage believers.
Speaker 2: This part is a reminder that Remember, there are all these divisions, there are all these things that will step in your way, there are these things that will arise among you.
Speaker 2: But also remember this that you are called to freedom and to have the fruits of the Spirit dwelling inside of you, but also being produced by you so that other people may see those as well.
Speaker 2: All the fruits of the Spirit should live within us.
Speaker 2: And here's what Paul closes his chapter with the last two verses.
Speaker 2: This is where we'll turn to a time of invitation, but here's how Paul closes.
Speaker 2: He says now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have been crucified or have crucified the flesh, with its passions and desires.
Speaker 2: If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit.
Speaker 2: Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying each other, and here's what Paul challenges us to do.
Speaker 2: Yes, there are differences and there are issues that arise within the church.
Speaker 2: Yes, there will be cultural opinions or decisions that are going to affect, maybe, relationships with other people, but, at the end of the day, relationships with other people, but at the end of the day, here's what we have in common is that we are an imperfect people striving to serve and love a perfect God with everything that we have.
Speaker 2: These fruits of the Spirit are a perfect tool for us to use, to look at and to measure out where we need to focus our faith in.
Speaker 2: So here's what I want to invite you to this morning.
Speaker 2: Maybe, as we move into a new year, you're starting to set your goals, your new year's resolutions.
Speaker 2: I'm going to run more.
Speaker 2: I'm going to lose some weight.
Speaker 2: I'm going to read my Bible more, I'm going to whatever.
Speaker 2: Fill in the blank.
Speaker 2: Maybe along with that or before that, we say okay in 2025, here's the fruit of the spirit that I need to work on.
Speaker 2: Here's the fruit of the spirit that I'm going to say okay, god, this year give me patience.
Speaker 2: God, this year, let me love others before I love myself.
Speaker 2: God, this year, let me have more self-control throughout my daily life, whatever it is.
Speaker 2: I pray that God reveals that to you and, yes, it's challenging, it's hard sometimes, but I pray that God looks at that and says, hey, here's where you need to grow, and he helps you grow through that.
Speaker 2: For those of us that are Christians, maybe it's time for us to take what Paul says and say, hey, let's focus on the fruit, let's go and bear fruit, let's teach others about Jesus, let's invite somebody to church and let's just dwell on that fruit.
Speaker 2: For those of you that aren't Christians in this room, maybe today God is saying, hey, I want you to know more about who Jesus is.
Speaker 2: This whole thing that we're reading through through the Bible, through scripture, there's one key character, one main focus, and that's the worship of Jesus, and maybe you don't know who Jesus is and you need that conversation.
Speaker 2: Maybe today you learned about who Jesus is.
Speaker 2: Taylor's going to be down front to receive you and talk to you and he'd love to tell you more about Jesus.
Speaker 2: Maybe you're looking for a church home.
Speaker 2: This morning you say hey.
Speaker 2: This morning I've been trying to figure out where it is that God is calling me and he's calling you here this morning.
Speaker 2: If so, let me tell you we love our First Baptist family and, as Saylor says, the church is better once you're a part of it.
Speaker 2: Whatever it is that God is calling you to this morning, I encourage you and I challenge you and I pray that you will respond to that call with boldness, as God has called you.
Speaker 2: Let's pray together as we move into that invitation time.
Speaker 2: God, we thank you for this morning.
Speaker 2: God, we thank you for your word and we just thank you for the fruit of the spirit.
Speaker 2: God, as we look to and we practice, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, gentleness and self-control.
Speaker 2: God, as we look to those, let us be filled with those.
Speaker 2: Let us tell others about those, but, most importantly, let us show others who you are through those things, so that we not only benefit from knowing who you are, but the people around us benefit from knowing how good you are as well.
Speaker 2: God, we love you, we praise you.
Speaker 2: We thank you for this morning that we got to dive into your word.
Speaker 2: We thank you for this church where we can freely worship God.
Speaker 2: We love you, we praise you.
Speaker 2: In your name, we pray Amen.