Well, please turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. I'll read the chapter and then our focus is on verses 19 to 21, the works of the flesh. Then God willing, next Sunday evening we'll take up the fruit of the Spirit, or the fruits of the Spirit.

I want to read beginning in Galatians chapter 5 at verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love.

You ran well, who hindered you from obeying the truth. This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind.

But he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, then why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross is ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off.

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.

I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word and we pray again for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Word.

We know all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. We acknowledge its profitability in our lives and we pray that You would make it such this evening. This is a very important passage of Scripture. Certainly, as believers, we are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love.

And we would ask that You would hedge us in and that You would restrain us and keep us and cause us to know the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit so that we may indeed obey Your holy law. We ask that You would just fill us now with the Spirit, guide our minds and thoughts, again forgive us for all of our sins and transgressions, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction: Galatians and the Judaizers

Now the apostle is dealing with the believers in Galatia and very specifically this was a group of churches in a particular region. It wasn't just one church called the Church of Galatia, but rather Galatia was a region and there were several churches there. Paul visited these churches and he established these churches on his first missionary journey. So Paul goes in, he preaches the gospel, sinners get converted, they plant these local churches.

Well, not long after Paul leaves, there was a group of people called the Judaizers. And they would come in to these churches and they would essentially say that what Paul says is good, but it's not enough. In other words, you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to see him as Israel's Messiah, you need to close with God through Christ, but you also must keep the law of God. You must keep the ceremonies of Moses.

The big issue, specifically in the book of Galatia, focuses upon circumcision. Because it was a religious obligation to Old Covenant Israel, these Gentiles are being told by the Judaizers, you need Jesus plus these works. That's the point that Paul is addressing in the book of Galatians. He is highlighting it's not Jesus plus anything.

It's Jesus alone in order for salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. You see evidence of this in verse 3. Notice in Galatians 5, I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

What he is saying is that if you think that by your circumcision you merit favor with God, you have become a debtor to keep the whole law. In other words, there's only one of two approaches to God. It is through Christ, or it's through your own obedience. If you try to mingle the two of them, you move Christ right out of the equation.

That's the point that the Apostle is dealing with, and if you drop down to verses 16 to 18, I think it helps us to understand what he says in verse 18. But note in verse 16, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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.

But, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. I think there is this faulty understanding that believers have no relationship whatsoever to the law of God. Well, it is obvious in what follows, it is obvious in what precedes, there is a law and believers are not to break it. When he says here specifically in verse 18, if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law.

You're not under the law as a covenant of works. You're not under the law as a means by which you are trying to gain acceptance with God. But you're certainly under the law if you have, by the grace of God, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit now indwells you.

The Spirit uses the law as the means by which you understand what God requires and what God despises. So if you read verse 18 and you end up in Antinomian, you're not reading it in its context and you're not understanding Paul's argument. He's not suggesting that believers have no relationship to the law. They are not related to the law, as I said, as a covenant of works.

It's not the case that we try to get to God by our own law-keeping. So that's the sense in which he speaks. But notice, in verses 16 to 18, he introduces this whole idea of the Spirit and the flesh. He has called the Galatians to walk in the Spirit.

He highlights the ongoing battle in the life of the believer in Galatians 5.17. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. There is this battle going on in the heart of the believer. Paul describes it in Romans chapter 7.

The good that I wish to do, I don't do. And the evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing. That's the doctrine of remaining corruption. In other words, when a believer, when a man comes to the Lord Jesus, he is justified freely by grace, but he has remaining corruption on this side of heaven.

And then Paul deals specifically and identifies what the works of the flesh are and what the fruit of the spirit is. Fung says, to illustrate, Fung is the name of a commentator, to illustrate the state of opposition between the flesh and the spirit, Paul provides representative lists of their respective activities. So he sets forth the works of the flesh, he sets forth the fruit of the spirit, so that believers have, may I say it, law that would indicate how they are to function or how they are to live.

Identification of the Works of the Flesh

So let's look at verses 19 to 21 under two considerations. First, the identification of the works of the flesh, and secondly, the condemnation of those who practice these works.

The Works Are Evident by the Law

Note, in the first place, this is evident. Paul says in verse 19, now the works of the flesh are evident. How are they evident? I would argue they're evident by the law.

In other words, what the law condemns, it exposes as a work of the flesh. Look at what he says concerning the fruit of the Spirit. Verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Now note the end of verse 23.

Against such there is no law. There's no law that stands against you saying, don't be joyous. Don't be peaceful. Don't be longsuffering.

Don't be faithful. Don't be self-controlled. Against such fruit there is no law. What is the clear implication?

There is a law that condemns these works of the flesh, and that law is the law of God, written on the heart of man at his creation, summarized at Sinai in ten commandments. that abiding revelation of God's moral law concerning His creatures. So that's what he says in verse 19. The works of the flesh are evident. They are evident because God has shown us through His law what is condemnable in His sight.

And as we look through this specific works of the flesh, I think it breaks down into four categories. In the first place, there are the sins of the flesh. Secondly, there are the sins of religious apostasy. Thirdly, there are the sins related to personal relationships.

And then it ends with the sins of intemperance. Again, certain things that we ought to remind ourselves often as we live in a debauched age, as we ourselves have remaining corruption, we ourselves are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love We ought to, by His grace, strive to walk in the Spirit and not to engage in these works of the flesh.

Sins of the Flesh

Let's look at the sins of the flesh. The first is the sin of adultery. Now, the New King James and the other versions differ here. I'm following the New King James.

Adultery has the list for the Apostle Paul. Now, obviously, that is sexual relations with another person when you are married. It is a violation of the covenant that two persons swear before God. I don't think we fully appreciate what happens in a wedding ceremony.

I mean, there's a lot of pomp, and a lot of show, and a lot of pretty dresses, and handsome tuxedos, whatever you'd call it. There's a lot of things that oftentimes take our minds off of what really is important. It is a solemn oath sworn before God to love and to cherish and to be there for one another in the good times and in the bad times. Adultery is a vile trashing of that particular covenant.

It is to break it, it is to stomp on it, it is to ruin it, it is a violation of God's holy law. The seventh word says, you shall not commit adultery. I think the Westminster Larger Catechism, as I have read scripture and several other things concerning the law, I think Westminster Larger Catechism is one of the best explanations of the sin of adultery. It says in 138, what are the duties required in the seventh commandment?

In other words, what are we supposed to do? This was the traditional, reformed way of dealing with the Ten Commandments. What are the duties required and what are the sins prohibited? That's a good way to get at the teaching of the commandment.

So, what are the duties required in the seventh commandment? The duties required in the seventh commandment are chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior. and the preservation of it in ourselves and others, watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses, temperance, keeping of chaste company, modesty in apparel, marriage by those who have not the gift of continency. In other words, if you're not celibate, you ought to be getting ready for marriage, the prevention of uncleanness, is helped by, or the prevention of uncleanness is one of the blessings that marriage affords. And then it says, conjugal love and cohabitation, diligent labor in our callings, shunning all occasions of uncleanness and resisting temptations thereunto.

Then it asks in 139, what are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment? Now, you may just think this is a rehearsal of the, you know, an antiquated law of God. Brethren, look around us. If something needs to be preached frequently, it is the seventh commandment.

If something needs to be preached often, it is sexual purity, because we live in a sensual age. We live in a day and age where sex is all over the place, outside of the covenantal context in which God has provided blessing. Sex was given by God, and it is a blessing, provided it is used in its proper context. It says, what are the sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment?

The sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, besides the neglect of 138, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts. all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections, all corrupt or filthy communications or listening thereunto, wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel, prohibiting of lawful and dispensing with unlawful marriages, allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, stew there means a house of prostitution, it doesn't mean what you have for lunch, keeping of stews and resorting to them, entangling vows of single life, undue delay of marriage, having more wives or husbands than one at the same time, unjust divorce or desertion, idleness, gluttony, drunkenness, unchaste company, lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays and all other provocations too, or acts of uncleanness either in ourselves or others?" Again, that's a pretty extensive listing concerning that particular commandment. But if you reflect upon it, you have to consider the fact that they are not far astray. Notice how both of these questions address the issue or include the issue of drunkenness. I think I mentioned to you several weeks ago, David was no fool.

I mean, it was diabolical, but David was no fool when he plied Uriah with alcohol to get him drunk so that Uriah would then go into his wife. That stuff lowers inhibitions. That, along with drugs, gets people to a point where they're far more open to those sorts of things condemned in the seventh word, gluttony. Andy Hamilton well said, if we don't control our passions in each area, we're not going to control them in any area.

So he has recommended, I remember, some of the most helpful stuff I heard on sexual purity was many, many years ago by Andy Hamilton. He says, be moderate with food, be moderate with drink. Be moderate with those things, because it bleeds over. If you're not pursuing holiness universally, if you are approaching it piecemeal, I want to really be godly here, but I'm not going to give so much attention there.

You're not going to be godly here. It is a holistic approach. We seek to glorify God in our minds, in our hearts, with our souls, and with strength. So adultery is condemned, and the shame, and the ruin, and the hardship, and the difficulties that it inevitably brings to families.

Don't do it. Resist the temptation. Resist the spirit of the age. Guard your hearts, guard your minds, and flee from it.

Be like Joseph in Potiphar's house. For him it wasn't. Well, it was adultery because she was married. But he ran.

How can I do this wickedness and sin against God? It's better to run than to engage in this particular activity. The second sin of the flesh he mentions is fornication. He moves from adultery to fornication.

Any type of sexual sin, really. This is very broad. The language is, or the Greek word is, porneia, which encompasses sexual immorality. And it's a very broad category.

It's not just one particular thing, but it is extensive. It is somewhat comprehensive of all manner of wickedness when it comes to this whole issue of sexuality. Fung, in his commentary, makes this observation. Paul also begins his catalogue of vices with sexual sins in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Ephesians 5, and Colossians 3.

Their prominence in these lists is due to their prevalence in current society. There is ample evidence to show that the sexual life of the Greco-Roman world at the time of the New Testament was sheer chaos. Sheer chaos. So it's not the case that, you know, we're the worst that there ever has been.

They were bad, too. We might be the worst that there ever has been, because it's more prevalent, in some sense, in that wretched Internet. Not that the Internet is evil, but the Internet is used for evil intents, and it is a means by which people fornicate. It's a terrible use of a good resource.

On the one hand, you can read Spurgeon sermons, and on the other hand, see that base, terrible, wretched stuff that God despises. Guard your hearts, all of us. We need to guard our hearts. We live in a decadent, debauched, and wretched age.

Notice after adultery and fornication, He speaks to uncleanness. Now, uncleanness could have a general connotation. Perkins, in his recently republished commentary, says this is the incontinency against nature, as incest, the sin of Sodom, and such like. So, basically, what Perkins says is that it's incest, which is clearly forbidden by the Bible, and as well the sin of Sodom.

That would be homosexuality. Now, we know that homosexuality is pretty blatant in our generation. And there are even so-called evangelical defenses of homosexuality. The argument goes like this.

Paul really didn't have a problem with legitimate, monogamous homosexual relationships. What Paul has a problem with is promiscuous homosexuality. Now, Paul had a problem with homosexuality. It reflected his understanding of Old Testament law.

The Scriptures clearly declare that it's a sinful practice. Leviticus chapter 18, Leviticus chapter 20, Paul rehearses in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy chapter 1. In other words, this is not condoned by God. This is not a legitimate expression of one's sexuality.

You are to guard your hearts, you are to guard your minds, and you are to forsake that desire and seek by the grace of God to mortify the deeds of the body. This is a work of the flesh. It is sin. It is condemned.

And then Paul speaks to lewdness. He's got adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and then lewdness. This is unrestrained living. Unbridled acts which shock the public, sexual excess, and indulgence.

I remember reading Edie's commentary on the book of Ephesians. And he gave some particular illustrations of such things. Public acts of wickedness. Public acts of vileness.

Well, you see that today in these pride parades. You see that today in a whole host of ways. And Paul says that lewdness is wicked. It's a work of the flesh.

We need to guard our hearts. We need to guard our minds. And just because we want to do something doesn't mean it's okay to do it. Now, let's just suppose for a moment that we have sinned in this particular regard.

Let's just suppose for a moment that we have strayed, we have wandered, we have rebelled against God, and we have embraced one of these works of the flesh. What is the answer for us? Repentance. Forsake it.

Proverbs 28, 13, whoever confesses and forsakes it, forsakes his transgression, will find mercy. Don't cover it. Don't continue to hide it. Don't continue to visit it.

Don't continue to indulge it. But rather, stop. In some sense, brethren, we've got to take seriously these things. So the necessity of repentance, as well the necessity of abstinence.

Repentance and Abstinence as Remedies

Look at two passages that speak to this whole issue. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I hope you're listening, young people. Not that old people or older people are immune from this particular sin. David wasn't a 17-year-old when he went into Bathsheba.

But this is a peculiar challenge to young people, young men, testosterone, young women with their emotional desires and needs. This is a real, live issue. And if you don't listen to what God's Word says concerning this particular issue, and you transgress, I'm not suggesting there's no hope for you, there's no forgiveness with Jesus for you. It's not the unpardonable sin, but it's a vile thing, it's a wretched thing.

And the more that you pamper your flesh, the more your flesh wants to be pampered. The more you feed your sinful inclinations, the more they want to be fed. You've got to starve that stuff. You've got to starve the sumo.

Don't feed him the 9,000 calories that he wants each day. Notice in 1 Thessalonians 4.3, for this is the will of God. Your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality. That's the will of God for each and every one of us.

If we are not married, we don't have that legitimate expression of covenantal union. If we don't have that, what's the answer? Abstain. Don't do it.

That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. If we have fallen into these things, we need to repent.

We need as well abstinence. 1 Peter chapter 2 at verse 11. You know, sometimes young men or young women say, I'm struggling with these thoughts, or I'm struggling with the internet, or I'm struggling with this, or I'm struggling with that. Memorize 1 Peter 2. The lost art of Scripture memory.

What does the psalmist say concerning its value? Thy word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Perhaps if 1 Peter 2 or 1 Thessalonians 4 was in your heart, when you reach for that mouse in order to click onto something you ought not to be looking at, the Spirit will use that passage to stop you from engaging in such activity. Notice in 1 Peter 2.11, "'Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts.'" Notice what they do.

They war against the soul. You're not going to have joy and communion and union and blessing and delight in the Lord God Most High when you harbor sin. What's the psalmist saying in Psalm 66? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

If I rebel against Him, if I resist Him, if I practice the works of the flesh instead of manifesting the fruits of the Spirit, I'm not going to get His smile. I'm not going to get His blessing. I'm not going to know joyful communion. I'm going to know His absence.

I'm going to know this war against the soul. And He says, "...having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." So repent, abstain, or get married. You know the best thing young people can do is to get a job or get their education, work hard, and get ready for marriage. I'm just struggling with lust.

Then find a wife. Find a man. That is a blessing given by God to deal with this particular issue. I often joke that, you know, that's not the way that people view marriage today.

A man doesn't come to a woman and say, I really want to marry you for the prevention of uncleanness. Wow, he's so romantic. People don't Facebook that. He said he wanted to marry me for the prevention of uncleanness.

It just doesn't fly, does it? But that is a vital element. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. It's vital. It's not just man and woman, it's woman and man.

Find you somebody that by the grace of God you can marry. Marriage is a good thing. Marriage was ordained. Second London Confession, 25-2.

It was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and the preventing of uncleanness. Again, young men probably don't want to use that in your sort of proposal to the young woman, but these are objective reasons why people should do these things. It's not all just about this wave of romance. Get that out of your head.

God's law is far more important than romance. And then, the necessity of faithfulness within marriage. Isn't it intriguing? We read it not too long ago in the book of Ezekiel.

When the Lord God is giving a sign to Israel concerning the destruction of their temple, the desire of their eyes, in Ezekiel 24, the Lord God says, Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke. Isn't that an incredible way that God describes Ezekiel's wife? Think about it. The desire of your eyes.

Not your soulmate, though I'm sure Ezekiel and his wife had that connection. Not that, you know, one that helps you prevent uncleanness, though I'm sure they had that connection. She was the desire of his eyes. Ezekiel didn't say, which one, Lord?

Because, you know, I've got this entourage. I've got a whole bunch of women that I think are the desire of my... No, it was his wife. Ezekiel was a faithful man.

Ezekiel looked upon one woman. Ezekiel was faithful. Turn to Proverbs chapter 5. Proverbs chapter 5.

I think in Proverbs 5 there are three R's to sexual purity. Those three R's are found in verse 8, verse 18, and verse 21. Three R's of sexual purity. Verse 8, remove your way far from her.

Just like Joseph in Potiphar's house. He removed his way far from her. He ran outside. I love what he goes on to say, do not even go near the door of her house.

He doesn't say don't go near the bed of her house, don't go near the door, because son, if you go near her door, it won't be long before you go to her bed. The second R is in verse 18, and I think this is imperative with reference to guarding against adultery. Verse 18, let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Yes, the rejoicing there means having a nice supper together or walking in the park, but the context is one of sexuality.

And then the third R is remember. Verse 21, For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all His paths. You need to remember that wherever you find yourself, God is watching. He's pondering your path, and if you're going in, to a woman or a man that is not your own, God sees it.

The eyes of Yahweh are in every place, beholding the good and the evil."

Sins of Religious Apostasy

Now notice, as we get back to Galatians, the next category are sins of religious apostasy. We're going to move heresy from verse 20. the end of verse 20 and put it at the beginning of verse 20, just to help our categories here. But there are three things indicated in the sins of religious apostasy. The first is the sin of idolatry.

Note, the works of the flesh are evident. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry. That is when we worship another God. That is when we have another God before God.

The first commandment tells us, you shall have no other gods before me. No Moloch, no Baal, no Asherah, no Mammon, no sex, no drugs, no rock and roll. There is nothing that ought to come first. There is nothing that you ought to spend more time and more money on than you do on the living and true God.

I'm not saying you spend money on God, but I think a very good indicator of what's important to people is where do they spend their money, where do they spend their time. And if you are giving all of this devotion to a particular item or a particular thing, it might be an idol. So the commandment, the first word tells us we are to have no other gods before God. The second commandment tells us we're to worship the true God properly.

See, that's a sin too. When Aaron fashioned those calves, he said, that was Yahweh. When Jeroboam fashioned his calves, he said, that's Yahweh. Yahweh says, do not fashion calves and call them Me.

He always says, do not make for yourselves an idol. Do not make for yourselves a representation. Do not try to capture the Creator and put Him on a canvas. Don't try to capture the Creator and put Him in an image.

So the second commandment says that we can worship the true God in the wrong way and be guilty of idolatry. This is why we oftentimes speak about what's called the regulative principle of worship. In the final analysis, our desires, our felt needs, and our emotional release is not primary in worship. It's our obedience to what God has revealed so that we do not offer strange fire to Yahweh when we're supposedly entering in for worship.

So, Paul says here, this is a violation of the first commandment. The second commandment, it is a work of the flesh. Notice, secondly, he says, sorcery. Sorcery.

Now, this is a neutral word. It's the word pharmacy, literally. And it denoted a use of drugs in connection with magic and witchcraft. It's used similarly in Revelation 9, Revelation 18.

And of course, witchcraft is prohibited in Leviticus chapter 20, verse 27. But it is intriguing. They would use drugs in order to contact the spirit world. Paul says that's wicked.

That's a work of the flesh. You're not supposed to use drugs, certainly not supposed to use drugs, to try and conjure up familiar spirits. Certainly, if you're under a doctor's orders and you have medications that are prescribed, by all means, those are drugs that you are to use under the supervision of a doctor. But you're not supposed to use drugs other than that.

The Sixth Commandment gets detailed treatment in the Westminster larger as well, and it speaks of the responsible use of physics or medicine. You don't just willy-nilly take handfuls of pills because, you know, I want to see what this will do. No, that's wrong. It's a work of the flesh.

And if you're using it to try to come into contact with the spirit world, this is witchcraft, and it's wrong, and it's prohibited, and it is a work of the flesh. So certainly, the practice of occultism, I like Perkins' description, witchcraft signifies all curious arts wrought by the operation of the devil. And then in the third place, with reference to religious apostasy, as I said, we'll move heresy from the end of verse 20 to the beginning of verse 20, just so we can niftily categorize it with idolatry and sorcery as a sin of religious apostasy. Now, heresy.

Heresy is a work of the flesh. In this context, it may have had the connotation of a party spirit. Certainly, the Judaizers coming into these Galatian churches would have a party spirit, and through their heresies, in terms of, you must believe and obey in order to be saved, this would cause party spirits. It would cause divisions among the people.

It would cause a rift among the people. That might be the narrow definition or connotation in context, but heresy is broader, isn't it? Heresy is religious error of a damning nature. Not all Bible error is necessarily damning.

Vis-à-vis Matthew 24, we probably differ, some of us differ on how we interpret that. You can interpret that differently and still end up in heaven. But if you deny the Trinity, you deny who Jesus Christ is, you deny the way of salvation by grace through faith, that's heresy, and that will land you in hell. Jesus said, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

Again, what Perkins says, it's an error in the foundation of religion. And he cites several examples, some of the numbers that we've run up against in 1 and 2 Samuel. We're going to see them in 1 Kings as well. You see a bit of a difference in terms of numbers, say, for instance, in Samuel versus Chronicles, or men interpret those differences in numbers a bit differently.

That's okay. We can do that and still be justified freely by grace. But if we deny the way of salvation by grace, we have broached religious heresy. And again, it's intriguing to me how many times pastors, rightly, will be fired for adultery, and they should be.

But heresy? Oh, come on, you're being unkind, you're being narrow-minded, you're being harsh. I submit that if a man gets up behind a pulpit and never explains the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, if he's a do-gooder moralist, that's heresy. That is heresy.

He ought not to occupy a Christian pulpit. It's bad. It's like a hip doctor trying to work on your brain. No, no, no, don't do that.

Your specialty is with big hip bones. Don't get in there and start messing with my brain. You might have the skills to be a motivational speaker, to go around and rally the people all over the place to a better quality of life, to harder work in their workplace, but to preach the gospel, you ain't got it. Heresy is something that the church ought to take seriously and start to apply the scriptures to.

Sins Against Personal Relationships

Third category, the sins related to personal relationships. I mean, there's a whole host of things here. Note the sin of hatred. the sin of hatred or enmity, as the old King James has it. Again, Perkins describes it this way, it is a perverse disposition of mind whereby men remember injuries, discourtesies and unkindnesses and carry about them a purpose and desire to requite like for like.

I love the way the New International, the NIV, renders 1 Corinthians 13. It says that love keeps no record of wrongs. It doesn't have a list in its wallet. I remember when I was studying with Whitfield Seminary and you had to have all these books and I wrote all the books on a piece of paper and I kept it in my wallet.

So if I was in a thrift store or I was in a used bookstore and I spied a book I thought I might need, I'd pull out my wallet and I'd look at my list and I'd say, oh yeah, I need that one and I'd cross that off and put the list back in my wallet and get the book and be a happy camper, maybe do a little jig there because I found something that was really nice. I think sometimes we do that with people who have offended us. We have a list in our wallet, and, you know, 19 years ago, you said this, or you smiled, you didn't smile at me. This is the disposition that Paul says, don't do.

Enmity, hatred. It's keeping a record of wrongs. I mean, God doesn't do that with us. God takes our iniquity and He casts them into the depths of the sea.

Now certainly we need to maintain short accounts with God. We repent before God. The Lord is gracious. He's merciful.

He forgives us. But if we confess our sins, we ask for forgiveness. What does He do? He forgives us.

If we extend forgiveness to someone, we need to cross it off the list. Don't keep bashing them over the head with it. Paul says it's a work of the flesh. Don't do this.

Christians, I've said many, many times, it's probably not Cam or me going to come up here and preach that Jesus is a creature that will destroy this church. It's this kind of stuff that Paul is condemning as works of the flesh in this section of Galatians 5. The sin of contentiousness. After hatred, contentions.

Paul wants it out of the churches. It is strife, it is discord, it is quarreling. Does God give us a remedy or a means by which we can limit, reduce, or remove the strife, discord, or quarreling that we have? He does.

It's called talking through situations, confessing your sin, and being willing to forgive sin. As the people of God who have the Spirit of God, certainly we ought to be able to deal with the sorts of things that rise up in our lives. I tell the people that I'm going to marry that one of the things, if you can communicate, then you can deal with problems. If you can't communicate, it's going to be very difficult.

If you can't talk, you can't open Scripture, you can't be rebuked, you can't rebuke, then it's going to be quite tough to make this go, to make this work. You see, we need to be able to rebuke people, but we also need to be rebuked. One of the things that I think is very difficult to try and deal with are people that are hyper-defensive or people that just don't see that they've ever done anything wrong. I mean, brethren, come on!

We've all got, you know, massive lists of things that we have done. People don't know the half of how bad we really are. I think that attitude displayed by Spurgeon or those old brothers, when somebody says, you know, I've got to tell you something, there's something wrong with you. He said, if you knew the half of it, you'd probably explode.

The sin of contentiousness. Notice, thirdly, the sin of jealousy. Again, a neutral word that can speak to the proper type of zeal. In a vice list, however, it refers to sinful jealousy.

Sinful jealousy. It's just a wretched disposition too, isn't it? Why would we be jealous of somebody? Because we don't acknowledge the earth is Yahweh's and the fullness thereof.

We don't acknowledge that God is sovereign over all things, and He has given to some beauty, He's given to some riches, He's given to others not so much beauty, and others not so much riches. Being jealous about stuff isn't going to fix your life. It really isn't. Man, I'm just so upset that that person has this and I don't.

Okay. What now? That's not going to get you anywhere. And Paul says in the church, it can hurt, it can ruin, it can bring disharmony, as it is a work of the flesh.

Notice, fourthly, outbursts of wrath. Outbursts of wrath. And I have several passages next to each of these quick definitions to other epistles of Paul where they're fleshed out or they're explained in a bit more detail. If you're interested, email me.

I'll send you the notes so you can do some further research or study. But for the sake of time, I felt like I kept you in that dentist chair way too long this morning, and for that I apologize. So I want to move through this without getting bogged down too much. But outbursts of wrath, that ought not to be.

The people of God ought not to be outbursting with wrath. They ought to be outbursting with joy, and with praise, and with adoration. Not screaming at the top of their lungs because a light's red. not screaming at the top of their lungs because somebody goes so slow in front of the Royal Hotel. Outbursts of wrath shouldn't be in church meetings.

Outbursts of wrath shouldn't find themselves in annual general meetings. We've had very blessed annual general meetings over the last few years. They weren't always like that. There were some really hard ones and really difficult ones.

We're not wanting wrath in our general meetings. We just want to rehearse the blessings of God and give Him glory and praise. Outbursts of wrath are terrible. Notice what he goes on to say.

Selfish ambitions. Again, why? Why? Why would we have this?

Why are we selfish and ambitious? Why are we adonijous? Remember 1 Kings 1 from the other night. David is old, he's about to die, he can't even keep warm, so they get Abishag to nestle up to him and to keep him warm.

And then the scene shifts, and we have Adonijah acting like the king, exalting himself like the king, getting horses and getting soldiers and getting all the pomp and glory to assert that he is the king. Problem was, he wasn't the king! Talk about selfish ambition, talk about folly, and yet sometimes in the church there's this selfish ambition that drives us. It's love to God and love to men that ought to motivate us to do the things that we do.

Not so people will see me. Hey, he was at prayer meeting three times today, or he was at all three meetings today. I don't have a list at home. I don't keep attendance.

If you are here, you're not. I don't check you off. There's no bonus points or credit at the end of the week or a star. That's not what happens.

And I hope people are here. I hope that, you know, sheep come to the table when the meal is served. I mean, I think that's just the way sheep ought to function. Me being a sheep, too.

Whatever the word is, the sheep ought to be bang after it, right there, lapping it up. There's no bonus points for doing what you're supposed to do. Selfish ambition ought not to drive us in our conduct in the church. And then the sin of dissensions.

Again, this division, this divisive spirit addressed by Paul in several places. Certainly its application here would be those who listen to the Judaizers. What would happen if Paul didn't write Galatians and didn't deal with the situation facing these churches? What if you had some who held to Paul's doctrine of justification by faith alone, and then you had this other party spirit that said, no, we need to have faith in Christ, but it's not alone.

We need to mingle it with our circumcision. We need to mingle it with our law-keeping. That would cause great dissension in the context of the church. That's why, you know, sometimes you say, oh, there's all these different denominations of Protestantism, all these different people, all these different things.

Well, that's for a reason. Christian churches seek to agree on the most amount of truth they can together. We're not saying by having this confession of faith or drawing our line in the sand that everybody else is unconverted. We have just seen the benefit and the joy and the aid of agreeing on a whole host of cardinal truths together.

The dissension would cause, or these things would cause dissension. And then the sin of envy. The sin of envy. Envy is not just like jealousy.

Jealousy is when I want your car. Envy is when I don't want you to have your car. Isn't that diabolical? I mean, sinners are like that, aren't we?

It's bad enough that we're jealous, but we've got to add another darker dimension. It's not only that I want what you have, but I don't want you to have it. Terrible, isn't it? We're told to rejoice with those who rejoice, not hope they lose it and it ends up in my parking lot.

Envy is just wretched, horrible stuff. Bruce says it is the grudging spirit that cannot bear to contemplate someone else's prosperity. It's the grudging spirit that cannot bear to contemplate someone else's prosperity. If somebody said in the prayer meeting, Hey Brethren, I want to publicly praise God because I got a raise at work.

And you in your heart of hearts are saying, He doesn't deserve that raise. That's not fair. That's not right. I should get...

That's not right. You're supposed to rejoice with those who rejoice. Socrates, the philosopher, said the envious are pained by their friend's successes. They're pained by their friend's successes.

Don't be that way. This is what Paul is saying. These are works of the flesh, and he ends the list. Again, there is a textual variant here.

It's in the New King James. It's not in the ESV or NIV, I suspect. But murders. Now, murder doesn't necessarily mean causing someone's heartbeat to stop.

Certainly, murder does include causing someone's heartbeat to stop. But as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, we murder when we sin with anger. We murder when we sin with name-calling. We murder when we hate somebody.

This is the manifestation of it. John treats it in 1 John 3, verses 10 and 12. We're not to be like Cain who murdered his brother in the context of the imperative of brotherly love one to another.

Sins of Intemperance

And then the fourth major category is the sins of intemperance, the sin of drunkenness. You're not supposed to drink to the point of drunkenness. The Bible does not condemn the moderate use of alcohol. The Bible condemns the drunken use of alcohol.

It's just wrong. Be not drunk with wine, Paul says in Ephesians 5, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. You're not supposed to get drunk. Your Christian liberty isn't about getting drunk.

You may have a beer, you may have, you know, I'm not here to be the licensed police and check your credentials and all that sort of thing. But the Bible prohibits drunkenness. That much is absolutely, positively clear. And Paul highlights that it is a work of the flesh.

And then he ends with revelries. Revelries. This is essentially carousing or orgies. This is precisely why the Westminster Larger includes drunkenness in the prohibition.

Drunkenness has the propensity to lead to carousing and orgies. Luther comments on this as well in his commentary on Galatians. And I said that was it, but

The List Is Not Exhaustive

notice there's a catch-all. The end of verse 21, or towards the middle of verse 21, after the revelries, he says, and the like. And the like. This is not an exhaustive list of the works of the flesh.

You can't say, well, none of those really describe me, so I'm okay. No, and the like. You're guilty probably under and the like. I've told you before, the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the U.S.

Service has Article 134. And basically what Article 134 is, if 1 to 133 didn't get you, 134 will. You've done something wrong, and 134 will expose it. It's the general article.

I mean, if you look at an officer wrong, you'll probably get done for. Article 134. Paul does this, and the like. If your particular sin or your particular work of the flesh was not mentioned conspicuously, don't pat yourself on the back as some specimen of absolute holiness.

No, it's, and the like. The list is suggestive. It is not exhaustive. So that is the identification of the works of the flesh.

Condemnation of Those Who Practice These Works

Quickly, quickly, quickly, notice the condemnation of those who practice these works. The end of verse 21, he says, Just as I told you in time past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You need to note the language employed by the Apostle Paul. Galatians 5.17 deals with remaining corruption.

The flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against the flesh. The two are contrary to one another so that you don't do what you want. In other words, as you want to do something that glorifies God, the flesh rises in opposition. The moment you want to pursue something that is wicked and ungodly, the Spirit brings conviction, so that you don't do the things that you want.

That's remaining corruption. That's the life of the believer. That's the one who's justified freely by His grace, living in sanctification. But Paul specifically notes in verse 21, those who practice such things.

Verse 21 is not remaining corruption, it's what's called reigning corruption. In other words, if you have indeed done something indicated in this list, do not immediately conclude there's no hope for you. There's hope in the Gospel, there's hope in the blood, there is redemption in Christ Jesus. Listen to Calvin.

He says, but in this way we shall be told, all are cut off from the hope of salvation. For who is there that is not chargeable with some of those sins? I reply, Paul does not threaten that all who have sinned, but that all who remain impenitent shall be excluded from the kingdom of God. The saints themselves often fall into grievous sins, but they return to the path of righteousness, and therefore they are not included in this catalogue.

All threatenings of the judgments of God call us to repentance. They are accompanied by a promise that those who repent will obtain forgiveness, but if we continue obstinate, they remain as a testimony from heaven against us. Fung says the participle, the particular word that's used, denotes not an occasional lapse, but habitual behavior. So don't write yourself off immediately when you see that you have indeed done one of these works of the flesh.

Remaining Corruption vs. Reigning Corruption

There's a difference between remaining corruption in the life of the believer and reigning corruption in the life of the unbeliever. If you have sinned, we have a Savior. If you have sinned, which we have, I don't know that anybody can say, well, you know, none of this describes me. I'm just such a, like that rich young ruler.

What good thing should I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus says, you know the commandments. Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal on your father. What does he say?

All these things I have kept from my youth. Wow. Congratulations, you sterling specimen of a human being. That's why Jesus says, go sell everything you have.

Give the money to the poor and follow me. He's not preaching a different way of salvation as we're reminded by Pastor Porter in our recent scripture reading in that section. He's preaching the law. It's telling him, you're a covetous man.

You've broken commandments. The ones I've cited just don't happen to be the ones you've broken. But that tenth word always stands as a sentinel over your wretched and lawless heart. So brethren, if you have indeed found yourself identified in this category, this vice list, then by all means confess it to God, seek forgiveness through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and be assured that you will receive it.

It's the beauty of 1 John 1. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I suggest that you take your wallets out, get rid of the list that has all the names of everybody who has ever done you bad or done you ill, and put instead on that particular list Psalm 25, 11, Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4, 1 John 1, verse 9. Write those texts on your list, put that in your wallet, and when you sin against God, look at those passages, own them as your own, and thank the Lord God Most High, they're in the Bible, and that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

Appeal to the Unbeliever

And if you are not a believer here this evening, this law, these words, these works of the flesh are probably indulged in frequently by you. And this law of God ought to show you your sin so that you will see the need for the Savior. This is what the Reformers called the pedagogical use of the law. It's a child tutor.

It's a teacher. It's a leader. It's a helper. We don't see just how bad we are until we come face to face with God's holy law.

It shows us that thou art the man. That hopefully, by the grace of God, we see that Christ is the man who saves to the uttermost, all those who have broken this law, all those who by grace look to Him in faith. So don't pillow your head tonight being content with these works of the flesh. If you're a believer and you have engaged in this stuff, repent, forsake it, resolve under God not to do it anymore.

If you're an unbeliever, make your peace with God through Jesus Christ. Come to the Savior and find everlasting life.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. God, we thank You for this, Your Word, we thank You for what the Apostle says in this context, and I pray that You would help us to receive these things, and that Your Word would have its convicting power in our lives, and that You would bring us to that place where we do repent, and we do forsake, and we don't ever engage in the practice of such things. But may we find mercy and grace from on high, and may we find fresh supplies of the Holy Spirit, so that we may walk according to that law, which is our rule of life. Go with us now, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20:3; 20:4-6; 20:14
• Leviticus 18; 20; 20:27
• Proverbs 5:8; 5:18; 5:21; 15:3; 28:13
• Psalms 25:11; 66:18; 119:11; 130:3-4
• Ezekiel 24
• Matthew 5:21-22; 19:16-22; 24
• John 8:24
• Romans 1; 7
• 1 Corinthians 6; 7; 13:5
• Ephesians 5:18
• Colossians 3
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3
• 1 Timothy 1
• Galatians 5:1; 5:3; 5:16-18; 5:17; 5:19-21; 5:22-23
• 1 Peter 2:11
• 1 John 1:9; 3:10-12
• Revelation 9; 18