Galatians 5:19-26 Spiritual Fruit

We found last time in our studies in Galatians 5:17 that the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. These words describe the warfare between two enemies battling each other – a war of life and death.

In our text this week the company of this war are described. First depicted in verses 19-21, we find the idle, useless, and barren flesh, which yields no fruit, contrasted to the fruit of the spirit described in verses 22-23. In essence these are images of what the enemies of God look like in verses 19-21 – adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; and what the friends of God resemble in verses 22 and 23 – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Paul then argues that such spiritual fruit is only borne in those who are Christ’s [who] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Philip Ryken has written,

“The Holy Spirit does not produce fruit in the Christian life without our cooperation. There are two things every Christian must do to remain fruitful. The first is to mortify the flesh (Gal. 5:24). Mortification is one of the most neglected doctrines of the Christian faith, but also one of the most important. Mortification is what Paul was talking about when he told the Romans, “consider yourselves dead to sin” (Rom. 6:11).  The spirit is engaged in mortal combat with the flesh. The desires of the regenerate wage war against the flesh. In this war there will be no truce.”

The new man makes no peace pacts with the flesh. Sin must be put to death. To the cross, with the works of the flesh!  Escort the POWs out of their cells; it’s time for their crucifixion! This is how John Stott explains mortification,

“To take up the cross was our Lord’s vivid figure of speech for self-denial. Every follower of Christ is to behave like a condemned criminal and carry His cross to the place of execution. Now Paul takes the metaphor to its logical conclusion. We must not only take up our cross and walk with it, but actually see that the execution takes place.  We are to take the flesh, our willful and wayward self, and nail it to the cross.”

This week study Romans 6 in order that you may learn and understand the forgotten doctrine of mortification.

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Psalm 9 Praise in the Midst of a Godless Nation

I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2

Psalm 9 picks up right where Psalm 8 left off with an exuberant note of praise. Unlike Psalm 8 however, in the 9^th Psalm, the Psalmist will return to lamenting before the end of his song, as he considers the reality of his turbulent earthly circumstances. The context of the Psalm clearly shows that David’s present condition is one of suffering, where any hope of deliverance lies in the future; yet the Psalm begins, and is scattered throughout, with verses of joyful and confident thanksgiving.

If we are honest and let experience tell the truth, Christians faced with turbulent times, seem to prefer to complain and talk about themselves and their problems sooner than they will praise God. It seems that in the life of many in the church, experience and circumstance trump praise. But not so for David; though he is challenged, living amidst his enemies, he nevertheless rejoices over the just Judge of all nations, and as a result sees their future final destruction and his own deliverance (vss. 3-8). Between the realism of his present trials and the equally real, but unseen future, David knows His God to be his refuge in the midst of the present tempest. In verse 9 he confesses:

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

The key to David’s confidence lies in verses 10 and 11:

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!

David knows and trusts a great God – one who is enthroned, not among men, but in the heavenly Zion; One who is set above, and therefore unaffected by the circumstances of man. It is on the basis of this knowledge of God that he can offer hope to those around him in the composition of this Psalm which praises God amidst the godless wickedness around him.

What is your experience when it comes to praise? When the music stops, is your singing sustained? I don’t ask this literally, but figuratively. When the ‘songs of glory’ end and times of joyful prosperity are over, do you sing on? The song that once was ‘America’ seems to be in its final refrain, but when its over, will you still sing? If the Israelites could rejoice and be glad in the midst of their enemies, how much more should the church, who know of the true wonders of Christ and have shared of His Holy Spirit.

This week some in the body of Christ will be lamenting due to the various circumstances of life. Some will fear the future; others will be lamenting their losses. They do so because they have been taught of a weak and shallow God. But your God sits enthroned in Zion! You are one who has been taught great Truth of a great God – go tell of His deeds among the people. There is a link between great Truth and great singing. Song is the byproduct and response on the part of the grateful Christian who understands great Truth. So sing on, Christian, and let he who would call you, ‘naïve’ do so to their own detriment. For your hope lies not in an earthly nation, for what are they but men; your hope lies in the Maker of men and nations, even of heaven and earth!

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Psalm 8 Song of Glory

This week begins the eight day celebration of Succot – also called the Feast of Tabernacles, Booths or Indwelling. The eight day festival prescribed in the book of Leviticus calls for the people of God to dwell in temporary booths constructed from the branches of various trees. These succot (the plural word of the singular succah, meaning booth) look back to the temporary dwelling places of the Israelites during their journey in the wilderness for 40 years following their exodus from Egypt. The roof of the succah is purposefully constructed with gaps between its branches so that the indwellers may gaze into the evening sky and consider the heavens, the work of God’s finger, the moon and stars which He has ordained. Such meditation in light of the fragile construction of the succah provides a striking contrast between the constancy of our eternal God and the changeability of feeble mankind. It provides a reminder of the transitory nature of life on earth, and as such stands in contrast to a future, final and eternal resting place where God and man dwell together forever. The book of Revelation chapter 7 prophesies this future time describing an innumerable assembly from every tribe, tongue and nation standing in white robes alongside the angels, waving palm branches before the throne offering eternal praises to our God and King. At that time there will no longer be any need for a call or invitation to worship, as praise will be the spontaneous outburst of a people who see and know their God.

Psalm 8 is the Psalter’s first actual praise hymn, and unlike all of the other praise psalms, Psalm 8 addresses God and God alone; there is no invitation or call for man to praise, nor is there any “because” clause offering any reasons to praise. It is perhaps the closest example of heavenly praise that we have example of in the Psalter, yet it is offered from earth. It teaches us that we must approach the throne of God with the utmost humility (vs. 3-4), but more than this it reveals to us that man is remembered and visited by God! It demonstrates that we, as His children and babes and sucklings, may without presumption expect God to hear us and take pleasure in our praises!

It is interesting that scholars suggest that the eighth Psalm was used in the Feast of Tabernacles liturgy to celebrate and worship God as Creator, recognizing that God’s creation helps us to understand the importance of our relationship with Him on earth. Psalm 8 paints a picture that belongs to earth in this age, yet it does so with great optimism. It links creation with present experience and reflects upon promises that still hold – what God intended humanity to be, what they are in Christ and what they will be in the consummation – God will complete His specific plan for man despite his fall. Like the eight day Feast of Tabernacles, the eighth Psalm looks at the eternality of God from the standpoint of human weakness and concludes that God still holds majestic power in all the earth (vss.1 & 9).

This week take one evening to spend outside, read Psalm 8 while gazing into the heavens and meditating upon God’s handiwork. Consider the privilege that He has given to you to be a part of His universe. Realize and reflect on the idea that as vast as the universe is, God is infinitely superior and more majestic. Oh Lord our Lord, how excellent is your Name in all the earth!

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Galatians 4:1-7 The Time Has Come

A new MP3 sermon from Bread of Life Fellowship is now available on SermonAudio.com with the following details:

Title: The Time Has Come
Subtitle: Galatians
Speaker: Pastor William Poss
Broadcaster: Bread of Life Fellowship
Event: Sunday Service
Date: 6/22/2008
Bible: Galatians 4:1-7
Length: 51 min. (16kbps)

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Psalm 7 Song of the Slandered

It is believed that David did not write any Psalm prior to his defeat of Goliath. The sorrows of David’s life began when he was affronted by the envy and jealousy of Saul and his house after he defeated the Philistine giant. It was the storms of persecution which awakened David to tune his harp and pen his Psalms. Psalm 7 is broadly categorized as a Psalm of lament and is believed to belong to the period of David’s life when he was persecuted by Saul’s lineage after his death. The sorrow it expresses however is not penitential in nature, as was the case in Psalm 6; there is no sin and chastening involved in David’s grief. On the contrary, his woeful cries are the result of his being falsely accused and mistreated for righteousness sake. David does not report the accusation in detail, but it seems from verses 3-4 that he was accused of doing evil to one whom he had no cause to even count as an enemy. In relation to the men who sought to take his life, David was blameless. He was conscious of his own sincerity toward God in both his intentions and conduct toward God’s anointed King Saul. In fact in this matter, David was about as devoid of malice as any public character in Scripture. His conduct toward Saul, from beginning to end, displayed meekness and a spirit far from seeking vindication. It is with this knowledge of his own motives that David, in verses 8 and 9 prays, “Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me. Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just.” This is no self-righteous statement; there is no leaven of the Pharisees here. David remains sensible of his own unworthiness before God, but in the matter for which he makes this appeal, he is blameless. Only a man who is absolutely sure of his own innocence would call upon God to judge him as David does here.

Have you ever been the brunt of false accusations, lies, slander or innuendos? How have you dealt with them? What should we do when attacked falsely? Should we respond in a like manner? Doing so only brings us down to the level of our attacker. Are we to protest openly and widely? This may only fan the flame, so to speak, and cause people to suspect you even more. But how are you going to be vindicated? If you’re completely innocent, you can’t even go to the other party and repent of anything. There is only one thing to do in such instances, and that is, take your case to God – which is what David does in Psalm 7. Whereas a false accusation may deceive others, it will never deceive God. We find David’s confidence in God’s justice and righteousness expressed in verses 10-17.

Realize that as far as we can tell, at the time David wrote this Psalm, he had not received the earthly justice he was seeking. In fact we do not know if David was ever vindicated of the matter for which he pours out his complaint, in this life. We do not know if his name was cleared of the slander which served as the motivation of this prayer. But we do know that even this sorest of evil against him served him with the occasion to sing a Psalm. Imagine if we could turn take the most wicked action against us and turn it into a song!

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Galatians 5:13-18 The Law of Love

As I have addressed the matter of freedom many times in our teachings in Galatians, one might come away with the idea that the Christian life was one glorious victory after another. We do have freedom not to sin, as vs. 16 of the text says, “You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” We have freedom to serve, as vs. 13, says “By love serve one another, and as vs. 14 says, “We have the freedom to keep the law of love, the whole law is fulfilled, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” With all of this freedom though, why is it that we continually see ourselves coming up short in these areas and continually falling?

Such failings caused Martin Luther to question his salvation. Do you question your salvation due to constant falling into sin?  Luther was helped with this problem by meditating on Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Luther used this verse to preach to himself. “Martin, you will never be completely without sin, because you still have the flesh. Therefore, you will always be aware of its conflict. According to Paul, the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. Do not despair, therefore, but fight back, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

As long as we live we will be continually pulled by the body of death (the flesh) and the Spirit; there is a battle taking place which will continue throughout your Christian life. Be encouraged, for when you are most aware of sin is when the Holy Spirit is most active in you. Your struggle with sin is a mark of your genuine Christian faith. The question to ask yourself is found in vs. 17, “And these are contrary one to another, so that you cannot do the things that ye would. Is the desire there to do the things that you would? This then I say then,” walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

This week think of ways to love your neighbor as yourself. May you have the mind of Christ in this matter: neighbor how may I love thee and bless thee?