Galatians 5:16-26

Well, it's very good to be with you this evening, and I bring you greetings from Trinity West

! Church. They will be gathering about now and praying for us here, praying for you. So it's great to be able to express our partnership in the gospel in this way.

We're going to be in Galatians 5, the passage that was read earlier, and I think, I don't think it's controversial to say that we desperately, desperately need to hear the message

of the passage this evening. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, peace.

Well, in the developed world, we've never had so much at our disposal, and yet we've never been so restless. We're anxious.

Many of the traditional causes of anxiety, it's true to say, are in decline. Poverty, poor health, those kinds of things. But there are new triggers of fear and frustration all over the place.

Our culture's obsession with particular kind of success has created real problems. I read about a medical study recently. It was published in the 1990s,

and it said that it found that people who, quote, pursued money, looks, and status were more likely to be anxious and depressed.

The pursuit of money, looks, and status are the reasons that people in London get up in the morning.

And these things lead to anxiety. And they lead to anxiety because they're so fragile.

We get some and we're anxious for more. We lose some and we start to wobble.

We place our hopes in those things. Those things come and they go.

And so, well, that leads to skyrocketing of anti-anxiety medication, that kind of thing.

Over the last 30 years, it's gone through the roof, and the age that people are being medicated has gone down and down and down.

We're anxious. We're also angry. We've seen this on a large scale, haven't we, over the last while with the amount of protesting that there's been.

It seems that there's a protest in central London all the time.

And the news people are down there, and they say, why are you protesting?

And they say, injustice. Leadership that's really bad.

Where is this? Everywhere.

Why are you protesting? I don't know. I'm just really angry.

The general language in the media feels like it's desperately trying to stir up more conflict, doesn't it?

Politics has never been known for its kindness.

But the current tone, I think, in lots of places seems to have more spite now than ever before.

And then, of course, social media.

Well, social media doesn't just enable that spiteful and angry communication to be more widespread more quickly,

but there's something also about the format that seems to encourage it.

Maybe it's easier to say things on a keyboard that you wouldn't say to somebody face to face.

Look at chapter 5, verse 20. Galatians 5, verse 20.

Galatians 5:20

I think Twitter's tagline.

Twitter's tagline.

You know, if it happens, it happens on Twitter.

Something like that. That was their tagline certainly a while ago.

But you could say, enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions.

When it happens, it happens on Twitter.

Of course, we see it on the small scale as well, don't we?

On the roads, in our homes, in our relationships.

Tempers are short.

Offense is taken easily.

Lots of us, it seems, are living life on the edge a lot of the time.

Then, just for good measure, throw in a pandemic.

And I think it seems things have gone to a completely new level.

We're anxious about our health,

and we're angry with people who don't wear masks.

We're anxious about our freedom,

and we're angry with people who do wear masks.

We're anxious about the future,

angry about the government's handling of everything,

anxious about everything, angry with everyone.

Anxiety and anger,

they've just gone to a new level, haven't they,

over the last couple of years in our culture.

If ever there was a time that we needed

the peace that the Spirit gives,

inner contentment and rest,

it's now.

And here it is.

A bit of context.

Remember,

John chapter 15,

John 15 · chapter mention

Jesus calls His disciples to go and bear fruit.

He wants them to live lives that are fruitful.

And the call for fruitfulness comes just after He has promised to send the Holy Spirit.

So this frames what He means.

The sending of the Spirit is the means by which they will be enabled to live fruitful lives.

So Jesus is going to go to the cross.

He's going to die for the sin of the world.

Three days later, He's going to rise again to vindicate Himself as God's Son.

Death could not hold the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so as He is put to death, He then defeats death, puts death to death.

And then having completed His work, He says He's going to go back to the Father.

He's going to go back to heaven.

But when He does that, He doesn't just leave His people to fend for themselves.

We're not down here fending for ourselves.

He sends a Spirit who will live in us and enable us to be fruitful as He's called us to be.

The fruitful life flows from the work of His Spirit in us.

And in Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul outlines what it looks like.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

The fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

It is a beautiful list of qualities.

Whatever you believe about the world, whether you're a Christian or whether you're not,

these are qualities that you admire.

They're qualities that you admire in others,

and they are qualities that you wish you had more of in your own life.

I don't care what you say.

We, all of us, whatever we believe, wish that we embody these things more than we do.

And they're available to us in Christ.

And as we think about peace this evening,

I chose that because I just think it's particularly relevant.

Of course, they're all relevant, these elements,

these aspects of the one fruit of the Spirit's work in our lives,

but is it not true that peace is just particularly pressing on us?

And when we think about it, we know that we can't create it in our own strength.

The sales of Valium show that.

But Paul tells us, he says that when the Spirit of God is at work in your life,

peace is something you should expect to see.

So how is it possible?

Well, let's begin.

It starts by him creating peace with God.

Point number one, peace with God.

The human heart is naturally at war with God.

Now, you might say to yourself, that sounds a bit extreme.

Don't be daft.

I'm not at war with God.

I just don't bother with Him that much.

Maybe you're not a Christian, and you say to yourself,

all right, I'm looking into this Christian thing,

but I'm not at war with God.

I just don't have time for Him in my life.

He doesn't fit there.

But it doesn't work like that.

It doesn't work like that because of who God is.

The God of the Bible is Lord.

He is King of the cosmos.

He holds the whole world in His hands.

He controls it, and He owns all of us,

and He owns the right to our devotion and worship.

And so it is right that we acknowledge Him as that.

As those He has made, He owns us.

So when we don't acknowledge Him,

when we don't give Him the devotion that He deserves,

however politely we refuse to do that,

however passive our rejection of Him is,

we put ourselves at odds with Him.

This is how we're born.

We don't need to choose to do it.

We do it by birth.

And so the Bible uses words to describe the relationship

that we have with God by definition of being born

or our relationship to Him.

It's not a relationship we have.

Our relationship to Him,

words like alienation,

words like hostility.

And all of our problems start here.

It's like the builder getting the foundation wrong

on the structure that he's building,

even slightly off.

The problem is at the source.

And when the problem is at the source,

it means that the whole thing then that is built on that

is out of kilter.

That's us when it comes to living lives marked by peace.

Discord at source means discord in other areas of life

is inevitable.

One ancient theologian says this,

we are not at peace with others

because we are not at peace with ourselves.

And we are not at peace with ourselves

because we're not at peace with God.

So we need to get the foundation right.

How do you get the foundation right?

Well, it only comes about through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 5 verse 1,

Romans 5:1

therefore, since you have been justified by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we put our faith in Jesus,

when we hand over the control of our lives to Him,

all of the hostility between us and our Maker ceases.

It works like this.

All of the anger God feels, quite rightly,

at the way that we have lived in His world on our terms.

And all of the penalty that our sin requires,

that anger and the penalty,

it all falls on Jesus at the cross.

When we see Him being nailed up in our place for us,

even though He had done nothing wrong,

we see a man going there, as I say, for us.

He's doing that for us.

And when He does that,

justice is done.

All of God's anger

that needed to be poured out on sin

because God is perfectly holy,

it needed to go somewhere

and it went on Him in our place.

So justice is done

and God's anger is turned away.

You put your faith in Jesus Christ.

What that means is

that your punishment was taken in Him.

Your penalty was paid in Him.

And so hostilities between you and God cease.

The cup of God's anger

that we rightly deserved

was drained to the dregs by Jesus.

And so there is now none left for us.

It is the wonder of the gospel.

We are reconciled

and we have peace.

Peace with God.

What that means,

instead of Him being opposed to us,

He is now for us.

It's not just that in creating that peace

that there's this sort of neutral situation.

He's just no longer annoyed with us.

It's not like that at all.

It's not just that.

It's that He is for us.

He is positively toward us in Christ.

Instead of Him leaving us

to make the best of life that we can,

His Spirit now lives in us and helps us.

And so we're not doing it on our own.

Instead of seeing the struggles of this life

as meaningless,

He is working even those for our good.

And instead of uncertainty about the future,

God is keeping us for glory.

You can see why peace with God

is the foundation from which

all other peace will flow.

When you know that the King of the cosmos

is on your side,

whatever is going on in your life,

knowing that He's on your side,

it changes how you view your circumstances.

You no longer receive the struggles of life

as the outcome of some faceless force

that's just working its situation out in life.

The world is just sort of spinning away

and it's all a bit meaningless.

You no longer see it like that.

You see it as the God of all the earth

working out His purposes

even when you can't see what's going on,

but you know that He's for you.

You know that ultimately He is for you.

And so those circumstances

take on a new situation

when the King of kings

calls you His friend.

And He does that for all of us in Christ.

Changes how you experience

absolutely everything.

The Holy Spirit

brings Christ to us

and He gives us peace with God.

That's the point, the first point.

But from here,

He then creates what we might call

the peace of God.

Having given us peace with God,

He gives us peace of God.

You see, before He returned to the Father,

Jesus promised to send His Spirit.

And in that section in John 14,

He says this to His disciples.

He says,

Peace I give you.

My peace I leave with you.

So the same peace

that characterized Jesus' earthly life

is what the Spirit gives

to those who trust Him.

Just as Jesus' inner life

was one of contentment

and confidence in His Father,

you can't read the Gospels

but not be drawn to the fact

that Jesus seems to meet

all of the adversity of His life

with an acceptance and a peace.

Even the hardest experience in the garden,

He can submit Himself

to the Father's will.

Just as He only brought conflict

with others

when it was right

and good to do so.

And He managed to do that

without sin

in dependence on the Spirit.

So this peace,

that composure,

that poise

is what the Spirit creates

in the life of the believer.

Can you believe this?

Does this describe your experience?

In the last few days,

does that describe your life

in the last few days?

If you're anything like me,

it doesn't.

We struggle with inner conflict

and turmoil.

And when those things take hold of us,

when the inner conflict

and turmoil take hold,

it always overflows

into our relationships with others

and creates turmoil

and conflict there.

So we need to pursue

what makes for peace.

So how do we do that?

Let's start within ourselves.

Well,

when we get this peace

that the Spirit gives,

we need to remind ourselves

of what God has done for us.

And we need to pray

and trust ourselves

to His fatherly care.

There you go.

Easy, right?

Say your prayers.

Trust God.

Do that,

you just glide through life unmoved.

Easy peasy.

Trust God.

You never miss a beat.

No, that's not how it works, is it?

It's never that simple.

Life is hard.

The battle to trust God

in that hard life

is real.

It's interesting.

When I think about this,

I'm always surprised

by how things often go down.

You see,

when a big crisis hits,

and the big things come,

that's actually

when I expect people

to get scared

and kind of fall apart

a little bit.

But actually,

that's often

when they turn to the Lord

and they find

and experience

His grace

and their lives

are marked by peace.

It's very often the case

in the big crises

that people's lives

tend to display

a peace that you think,

my goodness,

how can that work

with such hardship going on

and yet your life

is much more together?

Because it's actually

the fairly trivial

or the mundane things

that seem to unsettle us,

like the never-ending

to-do list

or something

that someone said

or did

that we chew over

in our mind

that gets under our skin

and into our hearts

and unsettles us

and robs us of peace.

The big things come,

and it's as if we think,

I can't do anything else

but turn to the Lord

and depend on Him

and He brings this peace

that He promises.

It's when

that little thing

just gets in

and niggles us.

Most likely,

it's in that situation

that we get upset

and our peace vanishes.

Maybe someone has wronged you

and you allow resentment

to fester.

Or maybe they haven't wronged you

but you just think

that they're getting

a better deal in life

and so you're envious.

You just can't seem

to let that grudge

with that person go.

Say,

it's the principle.

This is a matter

of right and wrong.

And all of that anger,

there's just no peace.

Peace evaporates.

Might be true

that it's a principle.

Might be true

that it's an issue

of right and wrong.

Not suggesting

that we overlook injustice.

I'm not suggesting

that for a moment.

But when we think

like that,

it steals our peace.

We're restless,

anxious,

or angry

because we don't believe

that our Heavenly Father

cares for us

and we don't trust

that He can take

care of things.

See,

we can affirm

the right theology.

Yes,

God loves me.

Jesus died

to reconcile me

to Him.

The Spirit lives in me.

He is working

all of the circumstances

of life together

for good.

I am secure

in His hand

and I'm absolutely

rock-solid certain

that He will get me

safely to glory.

I will sign up

to that statement

of faith in blood.

But,

and it's that but,

that's where our unbelief

slips in

and creates the discord.

The same God

who knows

the number of hairs

on your head,

who holds the whole world

in His hands,

knows what He's doing

in your life.

And it's when you trust Him,

and I mean trust Him

with your life

and your struggles,

your temptations,

your doubts and fears,

your sin,

when you thank Him

for your blessings

and His kindness

in your life.

and you trust Him.

So,

you trust Him

with the reality

of your experience,

not just bringing

some bland

and generic prayers

that you think

in the moment

sound Christian.

Oh,

Father God,

thank You

for everything

that I have

and all of life

and all that stuff,

etc.

Amen.

No,

going over

all of the reality

of your experience

with Him,

it is when you do that,

when you submit

those things

to Him,

that your heart

and your mind

will experience

the peace

that the Spirit brings.

That's what the Apostle Paul

tells us

in Philippians 4,

isn't it?

Rejoice in the Lord always.

He's in prison.

Rejoice.

I say it again,

rejoice.

People are making

his life miserable

down the road.

People who are supposed

to be his brothers

in the Lord,

fellow gospel partners,

they're stirring up

difficulty for him.

And I say it again,

rejoice.

Let your reason

must be known

to everyone.

The Lord is at hand.

Do not be anxious

about anything,

but in everything,

by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving,

let your requests

be made known to God

and the peace of God,

which surpasses

all understanding.

Your life is a real struggle,

really difficult,

and yet there is this peace,

this settled inner contentment

that God is on his throne

and he knows what he's doing.

That surpasses understanding.

You can't work that out

according to the flesh.

You can't explain that

in human terms.

The peace of God

that surpasses

all understanding

will guard your hearts

and minds

in Christ Jesus.

Do you notice Paul

doesn't say,

go and be at peace?

Peace is the fruit

of other things.

So he says,

pursue joy,

trust the Lord,

bring everything,

everything to Him

in prayer,

and thankful,

be thankful.

So there you go.

Pursue joy,

trust the Lord,

bring everything to Him

in prayer,

and be thankful,

and peace will follow.

Jerry Bridges,

in his little book,

The Fruitful Life,

says this,

the great antidote

to anxiety

is to come to God

in prayer.

We are to pray

about everything.

Nothing is too big

for Him to handle

and nothing is too small

to escape His attention.

So you only say that

if you know

the God

who holds your life

in His hands.

Because if you know Him,

you know

that nothing is too big

for Him to handle

and you know

that nothing is too small

to escape His attention.

He is the God

of the big things

and He is the God

of the intimately

personal things.

The thing that is promised

when we trust ourselves

to God in prayer,

especially in times

of trouble,

isn't an end

to those trials,

but peace in the midst.

You say,

oh, it sounds great.

Easy for you to say.

It's not like that for me.

I have actually been praying

about X situation

for years

and I'm still agitated,

I'm still anxious

and I'm still angry.

Well,

remember that we're talking

about the fruit of the Spirit.

He's the one

who works it

in our lives.

So ask Him directly,

Lord, please,

give me this peace.

Please.

Please.

Make it possible

for me to get through

the day today

without worrying

or getting angry

or whatever

the situation is

that you're worried about

and push on in prayer

until He answers.

Well, that's peace

with ourselves.

How does this work out

in our relationships

with others?

Secondly,

we have strife

in our relationships

for all the same reasons.

When we don't get

what we want,

whether that's respect

or love

or appreciation,

when other people

don't treat us

the way that we want

to be treated,

we get anxious or angry,

we just get bent out of shape

in some way

and peace seems

to evaporate.

But if you know

that that person,

that relational difficulty

that you have

and the way that person

is treating you

and making you feel,

if you know

that whatever they think

of you,

God loves you,

that the Lord

of all the earth

is for you,

that He has shown this

by sending His precious Son

to die for you,

what does the opinion

of someone else matter?

If that person

is treating you badly,

if that person

is making your life difficult,

when you know

that God has given you

His Spirit

to help you endure

and He is working

this suffering

for some good end,

you can trust Him.

You can.

I think sometimes

we think,

oh no,

I can't do that

and you're right,

you can't do it

in your own strength.

But in the power

of the Spirit,

you can trust Him.

Even when that person

has sinned against you

in some way,

in the gospel,

you have the resources

to forgive

and not retaliate.

and to rest

in the goodness of God.

Because that is what

Jesus did

when He was so badly treated.

Remember,

Jesus is the man

of the Spirit,

the same Spirit

who is at work in you.

Jesus loved His enemies,

prayed for His persecutors

and do you remember,

quoted from John 14 earlier,

He says,

Peace I give you,

my peace I leave with you.

So even in conflict,

even in struggles,

even in relational tension,

you can know

the peace of Christ.

Of course,

we should see this play out

in,

well,

most of all

in the context

of the church.

Churches can get

into conflict.

This happens anywhere

where sinners

are brought together.

That's why Paul says

in Romans 12,

as far as it depends on you,

live at peace with everyone.

Romans 14,

he says,

make every effort

to do what leads to peace.

And the reason

that he can say this

is because of

the Spirit's work.

When you appreciate

that in Christ

you have been adopted

into the same family,

share the same Heavenly Father,

and participate

in the same Spirit,

you can be wronged.

You can forgive

because love covers

a multitude of sins.

And you can even admit

that you were wrong.

The church of Jesus Christ

is the one place

on earth

where discord

can be meaningfully dealt with

and where relational peace

can be a real thing.

So,

don't withdraw.

Peace isn't the same thing

as indifference

or coolness

or distance.

Those things are often

a cover.

Our hearts are churned up,

full of resentment,

but we can put on a front

of coolness

or detachment.

judgment.

Peace is what follows

forgiveness

and reconciliation.

So,

the fruit

of the Spirit

in your life

will be seen

when you pursue

peace in relationships

with others.

If there is discord

between you

and someone else,

especially in the church,

take the initiative

to put things right.

Whether you have

been the one

who is wronged

or the one

who was wronging

the other person,

it doesn't matter.

Pursue peace.

Unresolved conflict

is toxic.

It's like cancer

and just like cancer,

the longer it is left

untreated,

the worse it gets.

The best time

to pursue peace

with others

is now.

Friends,

our world

is anxious

and angry

and we often

follow their lead

if we're honest.

What Galatians 5

tells us

is that we don't

need to.

A while ago

down in

Shepherd's Bush,

I was walking

along Uxbridge Road

down there

and there was a gentleman

coming the other way

wearing a t-shirt

that said on it,

no Jesus,

no peace.

peace.

K-N-O-W.

You know Jesus,

you'll know peace.

That's the message

this evening.

If you know Jesus,

His Spirit

brings us peace

with God

and He gives us

the peace

of God.

But the genius,

the absolute genius

who designed

this garment

had more to say.

In a simple

but very clever move,

the designer

of this t-shirt,

he doubled his message.

You see,

the N-O

in both words,

K-N-O-W.

The N-O

in both words

was a different color.

Clever boy.

What that meant

was that at the same time

as holding out

the hope of peace

in Christ,

if you know Christ,

you know peace,

he held out the warning.

Know Christ,

know peace.

Absolute genius.

Jesus really is

the answer.

The Spirit

at work

in our lives

offers you

peace.

He gives it to you

as a gift in Christ.

He really is the answer.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.