Galatians 6

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0:00 That little section from the Gospels is always a good one, the flowers of the fields and the birds of the air. And it goes with our Psalm. If you caught that Psalm this morning, or just a few minutes ago for the call to worship, it says, blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever,

0:33 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. Blessed is he whose help is there. Right before that he says, don't trust in the princes or the rulers. All their plans are going to fail when they die anyway. Trust in the God of Jacob who does not die, who made the earth and sustains it, who holds it together. It's crazy to me that we don't know who wrote the Psalm, we don't even know really the context of the Psalm, and yet it applies so directly to today, doesn't it?

1:08 What do you put your hope in? We need better policies, we need better laws, we need new tax strategies, of course. Listen those plans end when the people die. Our hope is not in the strategies of the world, but in the God who made the earth and holds it together and always has been. Whether we had crazy kings or crazy presidents or royal monarch figureheads, whatever we

1:44 have, right, whatever our people have been, whatever form of government they've been under, their hope is in God and the encouragement for you this morning and for these little ones. Is life goes better when we trust in God instead of ourselves or the people of the world? And that comes into our New Testament reading for this morning, which ends in Galatians, the last verse of Galatians, it starts with Galatians chapter 5 verse 45.

2:18 And it's like a kind of a meaty section, Galatians chapter 5 verse 25 all the way through 6 verse 10. Anytime you read that much of the Apostle Paul, you could write a book, right? He's like so dense. I don't know how he does it. It makes me wonder if you wrote drafts and like mash them together or if it just fell out of his brain this complex, you know, it's like Paul and Mozart, supposedly Mozart

2:50 just sat down and wrote his pieces, didn't write drafts, like popped out of his head, perfect, right? And when you read Paul, it's like he must be like that. He has this whole orchestra of theology in his head and it just kind of comes out. And so undoubtedly when I went through this a couple of times, I thought we can't answer every question that will pop in your mind as you read this. So save them and you and I can talk about them later and let's all try and move through. The first thing to get some context for this is what's happening in Galatia.

3:26 Galatia is a larger group. It's a region. It's not just one town. It's not like Corinth or Philippi. He's writing through a region of small churches. And there's some sectarian divisions, some like classists stuff happening there and mixed in with the classism in Galatia. Is this like theological debate? The Israelite tradition that Paul came out of, remember he was a Pharisee of Pharisees educated by Gamaliel, the highest like Rabbi of his day.

3:58 It's like going to Harvard if Harvard takes 12 dudes, right? It's like very exclusive. And so he was educating the whole thing in the most scholars, most theologians figure that in the first century Israelites understood that they became the people of God just by grace, free election. There's no explanation or understanding of why God would pick Abram and then stick with Abram through Egypt and bring them out of slavery and across the Red Sea and through the desert

4:31 when they're so crazy and then stick with them through the judges and then the kings and the divided kingdoms and bring them back out of Babylon. By the time we get to the first century everybody's like, look, there's no reason that God would have picked Israel. He just did only thing we can point to is his free grace. But the way that we stay Israel is we follow his laws perfectly. Some Israelites in the first century even believed that if we could get all of Israel to keep the Sabbath perfectly once, Messiah would come back and we could shut this whole

5:06 thing down, right? It was so such a focus on we don't know why we were elected but we were praise God. Now let's keep the laws and stay in. And so when Paul goes out to Galatia and announces that the Messiah has already come and he's been crucified, raised, ascended, reigns now and forever and you can live under his reign now. There is a school of thought that's like cool, he's elected everybody now.

5:39 Now everybody is in. Now we stay in by keeping the law, right? And that's what's happening in Galatia. They're like, okay, you guys are in, come on in. Now you just get circumcised and here's our 613, just get cracking, right? And so Paul writes the letter back. That's what's happening largely in Galatia because what happens then is the Israelites who understand and know because they have the head start on the laws are better at keeping them and can look down their nose at the Galatians who don't know them as well and are trying

6:13 to figure out, should I really do this? Do I have to do this? How could I do this? I'm an adult, do I have to get circumcised? And circumcision is just like big thing, right? And then that lays over top of their like cultural distinctions already and kind of fortifies it. So you see how the church like plays into this like crazy kind of nationalist, exclusivist, racist works thing. And there is nothing new under the sun, right?

6:44 This keeps playing over and over again. We've got to trust in the king or God. We've got to like believe the gospel unifies rather than divine. And so Paul is not there, but he writes a letter back. And if we were to take the time to read the whole letter, like it was probably read the first time you would catch all of those themes. But today we'll just use that introduction as a way to get into the relation chapter 5 verse 25. Oh, the last thing I wanted to tell you before we start there is sometimes it's nice to be

7:21 told what to do, right? I was thinking about that. Sometimes it's nice to just like, listen, I don't have to think about it. You just tell me what to do. Years ago, I remember how many years ago, maybe seven or eight years ago, I remember how many years ago, maybe seven or eight years ago, I had this friend named Lewis. And Lewis was telling me about his workouts he was doing with this guy. He called him Willie.

7:52 Willie Big Guns Herring. Did you work out with Willie Ellis? Yeah, yeah. Willie Big Guns Herring. He's talking about his workouts with Willie Big Guns Herring. And we were just, we were still in the coffee shop on Sunday mornings and moving to that warehouse at 1300. And I wasn't doing much working out, but I liked Lewis and it sounded kind of fun. And Willie Big Guns Herring was like a semi pro boxer and a big guy.

8:24 He's called Big Guns because he had big guns standing on his arms. First workout I went to with Willie was at this gym over on Orange Avenue, thereby by Lake Ivanhoe. And we were like out running around in circles and doing air punches and stuff in the parking lot to get ready for the workout for about 20 minutes. We could go with the 20 minutes. He's like, okay, that's a warm up.

8:54 Let's get started. That's a warm up. I was about to lose my lunch, you know, from the warm up. And it was, it was like you would work out for about an hour and 15 minutes. And I'm not kidding. I was like early 30. It was, I would work out for an hour and 20 minutes a week with Willie. And that's all the workout I ever, I did all week long and just get ready for it again next week. But there was something amazing. He would keep you moving all the whole hour, right?

9:24 And you keep you energized and you had to do in all these different things. And I can't remember how much I love every other place in my week. I had to figure out what to do with myself. That hour and 20 minutes, all I do is get myself there and Willie would just tell me what to do. I didn't have to think. Willie would just tell me what to do. Sometimes it's nice to just be told what to do. When you think about the frustration of Paul coming back to the Israelites over and over

9:55 again, coming back to the Jewish folks and the Gentiles coming into the faith going, he's going to go, who broke in on you? Why do you keep coming back to this works? Why do you keep thinking you have to do it? But it's been given. Why is your holiness dependent on your capacity to live well? Why do you judge other people's holiness based on their capacity to live well? If someone would have told them, look, it's just easier. Paul, let's see where we stack up.

10:27 Okay, that's enough intro. Galatians 5 verse 25. It's weird that they give us this. I looked back and realized last week they gave us the 10 verses before, but we didn't read them. So it makes more sense when we take a step back. So we're going to have to do that. Sorry, guys. We're going to have to start at verse 5 and we'll go back up from him.

11:04 He says in chapter 5, right at the beginning, for freedom, Christ has set us free. And do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. You hear what I'm saying? He's like, hey, you've been selected by election and the way that this rain works, everything you get is again. You're welcomed in as a gift and you stay in as a gift. This is different. He's like, and the reason he gets there is because he's so blown away that the severity of sin is such that the Messiah had to become a human and die.

11:39 This is the notion of sin is so much deeper than they thought in the first century. They thought if we just do follow some rules, we'll make up eventually for the wrongs we have done. And Paul says, you can't make up for the wrongs that you have done. It is so severe that the Messiah had to become a human and die on your behalf. But then he said he did die and rose from the dead. So the solution is way more severe than you could ever imagine. So you're brought in by grace and you're held together by the great work of Christ

12:13 greater than anything you will ever pull off in your life. Just relax. And he says, it is for freedom. You are set free. No more obligation. No one telling you what to do. The law of Moses has been satisfied and fulfilled, put to rest. You are no longer subject to the law. It is for freedom that you have been satisfied. Do what you want.

12:45 Then if you start down this road of the law, it's backing you up. So verse 7, he's like frustrated and he's like, you were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? The persuasion is not from him who called you. He's like, don't just take a little bit of works and make yourself feel holier. Verse 13, where you were called to freedom brothers only do not use your freedom as an

13:17 opportunity for the flat. Okay, this is where he starts getting into it. He's like, you can do whatever you want. Now, what would you like to do? It really was like, hey, we're here. We're here. You want to get stronger, healthier? What do you want to do? The only one I would like to do is eat three dust and drink some other lights.

13:50 So he says, cool. Right? Well, this says cool. Have a seat, man. Here I got your Fritos and your Miller lights. In the end, Paul is saying, that's not really what you want to do. He and Miller lights and Fritos are not really what you want. Where does Miller lights and Fritos get you? Look, he says, verse 16 of chapter 5.

14:23 What I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit against the flesh. Okay, blah, blah, blah. Verse 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, adultery, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

14:57 Things like these like Miller lights and Fritos. This is the work. This is what your flesh will accomplish for you. This is what your flesh will earn you. This is what squandering your freedom on the passions of the flesh lead to for you. If I sit and eat Fritos and Miller lights, it feels nice in a minute, but I feel crummy the rest of the week. And Paul says, it is for freedom. You have been set free. Now, what do you want to do with your freedom?

15:30 Then that's where he says, then, I want you. Bro, verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, and loose gentleness, self-control against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. He's saying, but if you walk into the place and listen to the voice of the Spirit, punching

16:04 combinations and time planks, you get the fruit of the Spirit. This is what's unique. He says that the flesh produces works. You earn the things that you work hard for in the flesh, but they lead to jealousy, fits of rage. They don't get you what you want, but the fruit of the Spirit, paying attention to the Spirit yields things naturally larger than you could earn on your own.

16:38 And he says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. That's the thing that I want with my freedom. If I have been set free for freedom, I want my freedom to yield love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. That sounds like way better than the other ones, right? Also in Marathi, impurity, sensuality, adultery, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger. I've had fits of anger. It's cathartic in the moment, but it doesn't get me anywhere.

17:12 It just makes me more angry, usually. So then our text for the day, if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envy one another. If anyone is caught in any transgression. He starts to go into then, how should we live? If we can live however we want, how should we live then?

17:44 And the fair question for you. What's the guiding principles for you? How do you decide what to do with yourself? I mean, there are some things maybe that you feel obligated to do, that those aside for

18:16 a second. We might end up questioning all of our things we feel obligated to, the deeper we move into the kind of thing we're encouraging our children to trust in God, to put inside the worry. You might end up questioning all obligations, but for the sake of thought experiment this morning to make it easier, set aside the things you feel obligated to do. And how do you decide, what do you make decisions with what you'll do with the rest of your

18:48 time? How do you engage in the friendships that you have? What kind of force are you in your friend's lives? How do you engage in your neighbors? Don't think about your physical neighbors. Think about the people that you come across in life. Known acquaintances and unknown folk. What kind of force are you in your communities and your neighborhoods? What do you do with yourself?

19:18 What Paul's about to say in a little bit complex is you might as well take up the way of God in those places. Not because you have to or even because you're obligated to. Not even because you're driven to be right or perfect, but because for heaven's sake the way of God in your friendships, in your neighborhoods, in your communities, in your

19:50 home, the way of God just works better. Love Joy-P's patience kind of students, faceless, dental, and self-control. It's better than the Miller light and three-done. It's better than doing satisfying your basis, desires, and your quickest instincts, your knee-jerk reactions, the way of God just works out better. He goes into it here. He starts out kind of backwards.

20:21 He's like, when you see your friends, it starts outside of yourself. When you see your friends making choices out of compulsion or squandering their freedom on their basis and things, and when you see them not following the workout, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Hey, man, let's do something else being here.

20:56 To store them in gentleness. He's like, think about the force that you are in the friendships that you have and move into it with intention and forth thought. Because it matters for you and for them. He's like, then he says, watch yourself when you sit down next to the guy, squandering the workout, that you're not tempted to squander your workout as well. There are one another's burdens, he said, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

21:28 For if anyone thinks he is something, okay, go down to verse 6. One who has taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. It did not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows that he also, that will he also reap. For the one who sows in his own flesh will from the flesh, reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.

22:01 Here's a kicker. There's a lot of kickers in faith. Here's one of them. You can continue to come back to God and get forgiveness. Oh, I'm telling you, you cannot exhaust the forgiveness of God. God will always and forever give you a new start. You cannot wear God out of forgiveness. However, you can wear yourself out of returning to God.

22:35 The danger in living a life where we just sit on the couch, where we squander the freedom that we've been given is not that God gets tired of forgiving us. It's that we get less and less interested in the things of God, where we're not interested in his forgiveness at all anymore. You can keep it. This is what he's saying. God will not be mocked. He is not a fool. When you sow into the way of life of the flesh over and over and over again, eventually

23:06 you reap the corruption of the flesh. You don't care. You don't have the capacity to get up and work out with big guns anymore. God, interest in. Just stay on the couch. And this is true for you as well. Relationships that are unhealthy and unhelpful, left alone, manipulated over and over again, extracting things from each other over and over again will codify into bad behavior and

23:41 unhelpful destructive forces in your lives. He's saying, don't continue in the ways of the flesh that lead to jealousy and fits of rage and envy. Not because you can't. You could. Not because you want to be right. You'll never be right enough. But because for heaven's sake, love joy, peace, patience, kindness, patience, faithless, self-control are over here, not over here.

24:11 And this is a better way to live, especially when we're destined for forever. In the end, this is part of the promise of the gospel. You are headed to forever. What kind of forever do you want? See envy, fits of rage, sent you out. All these things fall over here forever in downward spiral and love joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithless, faithless, general self-control are over here with the way of the spirit.

24:45 Paul calls it the way according to God. So he goes on and says, let us not grow weary. For the ones who sow it, the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. Last part. Really, nobody but you and God know which choices you are stacking up, where you are sowing

25:19 seeds. I don't know. If you're interested in keeping it quiet, people in your house won't know where you are sowing seeds. If you're interested in keeping it quiet, your friends won't know where you are sowing seeds. If you want, you can sow seeds wherever you want. But Paul is saying for your own sake, oh, some seeds in the spirit of God.

25:51 This is where the fruit is. So then he says, we have an opportunity. Oh, wait, right before that verse 9. And so let us not grow weary of doing good, or in due season we will reap if we do not give up. I've been, Aaron got me on to swimming in the summer of 2020.

26:21 I've been running a bunch and news flash, we only get older. And so it was like thinking about running five or six days a week. It was like, I don't know how long this is good for me. And some of them will be like, oh, it's really good. So that was the summer of 2020. I've been swimming almost three days a week since then, since the summer of 2020. It's like I'm just getting somewhere.

26:52 There's a lady, maybe early 70s, who backstrokes about as much as I do in the pool just back stroke. A couple months ago I started beating her reliably. Now there's a girl who swims next to me, never puts her head under the water for an hour, just like this, back and forth. I have to focus to beat her. I mean, I have to decide she's not going to beat me on these next two laps.

27:24 Or I'm not stopping till I catch her. But I can feel over the two years the change in the way I breathe, the change in the posture. I'm into it for a long term benefit. Paul says that the way of God is that. It is a long term payoff. So seeds of the spirit when no one is looking. Though the benefits are not clear.

27:58 Though you don't know, though you don't get the satisfaction of perfection or the self righteous rush of being more right than the person next to you because you're not doing it to be perfect or to be better than your neighbor. You're just doing it because for some reason inside of you is the growing conviction and faith that like the Christ who rose from the dead, you will raise and live forever. And when you do, your life will be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

28:28 students, faithful and self-control. The reason your faith is encouraged is because the longer you sow those seeds, you get longer and longer windows, bigger and bigger glimpse, larger and larger appetizers of those very things. Joy deepens, peace broadens, self-control expands, gentleness becomes a knee jerk reaction. Go into the spirit, Paul says, and leave behind the works of righteousness or self-righteousness

29:01 or perfection sow into the seeds of the spirit and reap the fruit of the spirit. Okay? Let's pray. Hey, Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us. You know, your faithfulness is without end or in your faithfulness, in the spire, our faith. It just does sow seeds with you.

29:32 These according to the spirit of peace, love, justice, mercy, generosity, fidelity. That we might reload your food. Jesus, name your prayer.