Liberty, Love, and the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-26) (7/5/26)

Our sermon this morning is liberty, love, and

the fruit of the Spirit. Let us go before the

Lord and ask him for the blessing of the preaching

of his word. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father,

we give thanks unto you that day after day, your

mercies are new every morning. We thank you that

we move and live and have our being in you, so

that there is nothing strange or ungodly that

can ever befall us. For your hand is always upon

us. Your purposes are always revealed in all

the experiences of our life. So that in Christ

Jesus, we are more than conquerors, ever victorious

in the face of all adversities. Teach us to know

you in every circumstance. Great and marvelous

are your ways, oh Lord, and we praise you. Blessed

this morning as we give ourselves to the study

of your word, grant us your peace, and now make

the words of my mouth. and the meditations of

all our hearts to be acceptable in your sight

for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen. This morning's passage is from Galatians

chapter five, beginning in verse 22. 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 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

and envying one another. These are the words

of Almighty God. Receive them in your hearts.

Ideas or lenses that I want you to see this passage

through this morning are these The Christian

life is a life of liberty the Christian life

is a life of liberty The Christian life is a

life of love the Christian life is a life of

love and the Christian life is a life of cultivating

the fruit of the Spirit. The Christian life is

a life of cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.

In our study of Psalm 37 last week, we were admonished

to trust in God and do good. We came to understand

that trusting God in all our circumstances is

for us to stand our post, that is our God -given

post. that to do good is to cultivate the fruit

of the Spirit. This morning we will expand in

our teaching into the cultivation of the fruit

of the Spirit. Psalm 37 also reminded us, and

really it's God himself reminding us, that Jesus

is the Lord and King of heaven and earth. We,

God's covenant people, are marked with his name

in baptism that is we are carrying his name we

are acting in his name pausing just a moment

there if you god's name has been placed on you

when you are carrying his name and you consider

all your words and actions in the past week were

you a good representation of god in this world

We each have been given our own portion in his

kingdom to guard and to cultivate Taking what

he has given us and we stand in our post and

then we Transform it into the will of heaven

on earth that is acting in the name of Jesus

As one commentator puts it in the kingdom God

re socializes us into a new way of life as heirs

of the kingdom. We are called to prefigure and

proclaim the future kingdom in the present. We

show there is a new way of doing business, a

new way of being human, an alternative city,

an alternative culture. We show the world has

a new king and a life lived under his lordship

is the way things ought to be. Remember, the

kingdom of God is not heaven. It is the world

remade and glorified by God. It is the new creation.

God does not intend to scrap this world. He's

going to transfigure it into a perfect, flourishing

world so that we are in harmony with God, each

other, and the rest of creation. This harmony

is what the Old Testament prophets called shalom

or peace. Here this morning, we need to know

that God is speaking to us. Dearly beloved, God

has chosen to use his people, the church, to

accomplish this transformation by the work of

Jesus Christ on the cross and the power of the

Holy Spirit. Turning to our text, Galatians chapter

five is nearing the end of Paul's letter to the

church in Galatia. But our passage and no passage

should be studied in isolation to the rest of

the book or the letter or the gospel. Galatians

chapter one and verse three begins with this.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and

our Lord Jesus Christ. who gave himself for our

sins, that he might deliver us from this present

evil age according to the will of our God and

Father. To him be glory forever and ever. And

he ends this with amen. Paul greets the church

in Galatia evoking the grace and peace of God

the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave

himself for our sins to deliver us from the evil

present age. He marvels though that they so quickly

are turning to another gospel a false gospel

propagated by false prophets and false teachers

Paul is clear that the peace of God comes to

Jews and Gentiles alike Paul makes it Clear that

the Old Testament law and sacrifices cannot save

for they are works Now in the book of Galatians

Paul makes two appeals not to abandon the gospel

of Jesus Christ and the beginning of chapter

5 is part of the second appeal Galatians 5 one

says Stand fast therefore and the liberty by

which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled

again with the yoke of bondage That is for freedom

Christ has made us free Stand fast, therefore.

Here Paul is calling the church in Galatia first

to stand fast, to stand at our post in the freedom

that we have in Christ Jesus from the bondage

of sin. Trust Jesus and do good. The corrupted

and now empty liturgy of the ceremonial law is

fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Do not turn back to

the shadows and images that point to Jesus. Stay

steadfast, looking to salvation and liberty in

Jesus. In verse 14, Paul quotes Leviticus 19,

18, and he introduces it by saying, for all the

law is fulfilled in one word or one idea. Even

this, and this is where he quotes Leviticus 19,

you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And

then he goes on and clarifies, but if you bite

and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed

by one another. If we trust God, if we trust

Jesus in all circumstances, it transforms us

from our inward self -seeking. self -preserving

evil heart to a new heart and a new mind which

means Excuse me which means New godly attitudes

and actions so when we are in Jesus when we are

trusting in God when we are trusting in Jesus

And we go to do good if we're loving our neighbors

God calls us away from our selfishness, our own

desires, and we are given these new godly attitudes

and actions. God promised in Ezekiel 36, I will

give you a new heart and put a new spirit within

you. I will take the heart of stone out of your

flesh and give you a heart of flesh. This was

fulfilled in Christ Jesus on the cross and completed

in us by the power of the Spirit. Following Christ

as his disciples means that we must be baptized

and taught all that Jesus has commanded. Not

just an intellectual knowing of God's Word, but

one that proceeds with humility and grace in

all of our actions and attitudes. love your neighbor

as yourself. Paul warns that we should not bite

or devour one another, lest we consume and ruin,

that is literally destroy one another. Can you

imagine actions, words, and emotions that consume

and destroy the people of God? Yes, there are

truly false teachers who come in from the outside

to corrupt the people of God So do not turn away

from the gospel of Jesus Christ But there is

an enemy within the church Many of you are familiar

with the saying we have met the enemy and it

is us Saints of God we are called to love one

another. What does this mean? What things are

we to do? What things are we not to do? What

attitudes and actions are loving one another?

And what is biting, devouring, and consuming

one another? Paul rightly understood that God

uses relationships as grace and a means of sanctification

in our lives. Every person that you come into

contact with, every person you talk to, every

relationship in your job, in your household,

your extended family, God is using those relationships,

even your government, to what end? As a grace

and a means of sanctification in your life. All

relationships in our lives challenge our selfish

desires. Some think that living like the desert

fathers as an isolated monk in the wilderness

will assist me in holy living. Now I'm not saying

that there aren't times where things get really

hot and it's good to in a relationship and it's

good to step away for a moment and go pray and

read the Bible. But you can't run away from what

God is doing in your life. We know how that worked

out for Jonah, right? This desire to be isolated,

even by those who are lifted up as those desert

fathers, this is a grievous error. The Christian

life is not to be lived in isolation. For all

of us, every Christian has a call by God in the

redemption of the world. Every one of us in this

room has a call for the redemption of the world

in Christ Jesus. You know, we know that the church

are trees that are producing fruit all year long

with leaves for the healing of the nations, fed

by the river of life. That is in the Holy Spirit.

Now this is important. This is not some idea

that's far away from you This is your call and

the immediate life that you have in the immediate

circumstances that you're in you are called to

stand your post and Follow God follow Jesus be

fruitful and multiply taking dominion in your

realm in your responsibilities Paul goes on and

says that we are to walk in the Spirit and thus

not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We are not

in bondage to sin any longer if we're led in

the Spirit. Dearly beloved, you're not in bondage.

You're in Christ Jesus. You have liberty. You

have freedom. So those things which so easily

entangle you, cast them off. Stop turning back

to them. Stop doing those things. Galatians 519

says, the work 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 have told you in times past, that those

who practice such things will not inherit the

kingdom of God. Now following a similar list

in First Corinthians chapter six, Paul says,

beginning in verse 11, and such were some of

you. But you were washed But you were sanctified,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord

Jesus and by the spirit of our God We should

humbly recognize that we may have been in bondage

to these sins before but we are now washed that

is baptized we're sanctified that is being saved

to do good works and justified made holy by the

work of Jesus on the cross, and worked out in

our daily lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8, 5, and 6 tell us this, for those who

live according to the flesh set their minds on

the things of the flesh, but those who live according

to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For

to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually

minded is life and peace. We must set our mind

not on the ways of the sinful heart, but our

minds on the things of the Spirit. What are the

things of the Spirit that give life and peace?

Verse 22 of chapter five. But the fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, long -suffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

self -control. Against such, there is no law.

Dearly beloved, we are to live according to the

Spirit, setting our minds on things of the Spirit,

thinking and living according to the Spirit.

You know, cultivating anything takes intentionality.

We must learn about cultivating something that

is use our mind. I can't just say I want to go

plant corn I know a story of this my wife and

I some years ago lived over in Gamberl's and

we lived up on this big hill and there were some

older folks that live up there and We built this

put in this really large garden and a part of

what we were doing there Was putting in some

rows of corn? And we talked to the old man who

lived next door, and he says, you can't grow

any corn up on this hill. Trust me, a lot of

people have tried. Well, it was already in the

ground by then. And you know what? He was right.

We grew lots of other things, but corn just wasn't

happening. You need to study. You need to learn.

You need to do things so that you are preparing,

saying this is the target. This is what I'm going

for. We might even say part of this is morning

prayer. If you go your entire day without praying,

are you prepared? Are you making a plan in the

Lord Jesus Christ? And I hear all the time, lots

of people say, I just don't have time. I'm too

busy to do it. Then I do it all at the end of

the day. Well, outside of a few circumstances,

what's the reason that we don't have time in

the morning? Let's be honest. I'm too tired from

the day before. Well, you probably need to rearrange

your plans. Obviously sometimes emergencies happen.

A pipe bursts. A pastor gets a call in the middle

of the night. You're an emergency worker, those

kinds of things. Yes, your kids are sick at 2

a .m. I know that. But what is your plan? How

are you going into it? Are you starting your

day rightly? in submission to God. That's part

of learning and cultivating, and it's part of

taking the action. Because here's the thing.

If you go to cultivate something, and you say,

I'm going to do it, and I know what I'm doing.

I've watched a few YouTube videos. I'm ready

to go. If you wait till 9 AM to get started,

well, around here it's not too bad. But I'll

tell you, in Louisiana, if you wait till 9 AM,

in the springtime or the summer to get out there

on your cultivation job? Man, you are hurting.

The sun is beating down hard. The humidity is

terrible. The wind's hardly blowing. That's what

life's like. Get up early. Make plans. And again,

budget, be living grace. Don't get caught up,

oh man, my day's ruined. No, because of the emergency

at 4 a .m. Okay. But is that the norm? The exception.

So we also have to plan. We have to work it out.

And then we have to execute the work in cultivating

things on a daily basis. Now, how this translates

into your daily life is this. It is attitudes

and your actions. If you're going to cultivate

the fruit of the spirit, you must think about

how it applies with your attitudes. and your

actions. Sometimes we do the actions, but our

heart is grumbling and complaining to God. And

you know what? How does that come out? We complain

to our spouses. We complain in front of our children.

We complain in front of our friends. We are just

grumbling. God's put me here and I'm gonna stay

on my post, but I'm not happy. You can't do that.

It's both attitude and action. And this attitude

and action change that you've planned, that you're

taking action on, it belongs in all of our relationships

and circumstances. We must measure both the health

of the fruit and the volume of the fruit. Again,

this morning and evening. Prayers. Right? If

you start out with a morning, you're saying,

God, I need to have the right heart. I gotta

do these things. And then if you do your evening

prayers, it's an assessment. Again, Lord, forgive

me of the way I've fallen short. Show me what

they are. Am I measuring what fruit is growing

today in my household? Am I measuring how much

of it, how abundant it is? Am I measuring what

kind of fruit it is. The cultivation of the fruit

of the Spirit has worked into us to work out

of us. So for each one of you, you start with

yourself. That is your first realm. That is your

first kingdom in your life. How do I work and

cultivate the fruit of the Spirit to abound in

me? But it's not just that I can become the holy,

you know, I get the saint. You know, the halo

up there. No, no. It is so that my abundance

works in me to work out of me towards others.

Remember, Ezekiel 47, 12 and Revelation 22, one

and two both speak of trees bearing fruit 12

months of the year with leaves for the healing

of the nations. You want to see? your spouse

transformed, cultivate the fruit of the Spirit.

You want to see your children transformed, cultivate

the fruit of the Spirit in your life and in theirs.

You want to see the nations turned, cultivate

the fruit of the Spirit in your family's life,

in your church's life. And what will happen?

The church will grow, will bear this fruit. and

it will heal the nations. Now, here's the thing.

In the cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit,

there is no place for coasting. How did God put

it? These trees are bearing fruit when? 12 months

of the year. 12 months of the year. There is

no gap. One day of slack is as Proverbs 24 tells

us. that our laziness causes thorns to grow up

and weeds that cover our fields and that the

very walls that are there to protect us are broken

down and our poverty and our neediness will come

upon us like an armed man. That's kind of different

when you think about that poverty and neediness

because you lack the fruit of the spirit. But

when you look at your children, parents, and

you're considering them, when you look at your

spouses, husbands and wives, when you look at

these things, do you see my child is needy? They're

poverty stricken in this idea of following Christ,

at least in that moment with that sin, right?

Don't let it grow. Don't let the weeds come up.

Pull them up every single day. If you don't go

out and pull the weeds every day, it gets unmanageable

really quick. Don't be slack. Don't say, oh,

I'm giving my kids a pass today. They can just

be feral. You know what that is? If you're honest,

I'm not going to do my job today. I'm not going

to stand my post. I'm not going to cultivate

the fruit of the Spirit. So stand your post.

Trust God. and do good. So let's take just a

moment and consider what we are to cultivate

in ourselves and all who are under our authority.

First of all, there's love. And I'm not going

to go into these in a huge depth. So I've tried

to work it out fairly tightly, but I think it's

important. And this is all leading up to the

rest of our summer series. So we talk about marriage.

husbands and wives, parenting, our relationships

with one another. This is all building up. That's

why I said it's a summer series. These are all

building on top of each other. So love. We are

to love God. Trust and obey. Trust and obey.

That's love. And in that, love your neighbor.

Be like Jesus. who stooped low as a servant.

Now here's the thing, a lot of times in America

we hear love, oh you're just being soft. Was

Jesus soft? No, he stooped low to serve, to do

what? To tell them the truth for their deliverance.

He not only told them their truth, he not only

stooped low coming down from heaven, but every

day, even washed their feet. Walked the road.

He didn't just come down to earth and say all

right Answers right here. Just come here No,

he he walked long and dusty roads Went in the

wilderness and prayed Went to synagogue every

week But he stooped low in service told the truth

and yet Provided deliverance through himself

And you know when I said this the fruit of the

Spirit is to be worked into us to be worked out

of us You know in Galatians chapter 6 so right

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

after this passage that we read today What does

it say it says if any man is overtaken in any

trespass? You who are spiritual that is mature

are to restore him in meekness Considering yourself

so you owe God such a great debt and he stooped

low for you. We too are to be like him. So the

fruit grows in us and the fruit grows out of

us. Joy, because our sins are forgiven. In confession,

our joy is restored. Contentment in God's providence.

Are you content in God's providence? I know you're

joyful when you think about what God's done for

you, for your sins, but are you content in His

providence both before you were a Christian and

especially now? Or are you discontent and angry

about your history and your real fathers, your

government fathers, your church fathers? Are

you in discontent? True joy is found in savoring

all that is true, beautiful, and good. Delighting

in the Lord and all of the benefits of His creation.

It isn't just, oh, I'm happy with my circumstance.

No, I'm gonna be joyful out of gratitude. And

then I'm gonna turn and look. Have you ever had

a day that was so hard? And you were wiped out

from all of the stress and difficulties. And

you walked outside. And you saw a single flower.

And you thought, what beauty. Or the sunset going

down in God's masterpiece. Or how about the vanilla

bean that gives us great ice cream and coffee

and desserts. Are we delighting in God and all

his spiritual benefits, but also the abundance?

Yesterday, I'm sure you all ate some type of

fun food for the day. That feasting. Today you're

gonna leave church. You're feasting on so many

great delights that God has given you out of

the abundance of His grace. Now here's a warning.

And everyone listen up, children, you too. Adults,

self -pity is the great enemy of joy. Man, it's

all loaded on me. We sang it this morning. Jesus

words. It said what? His burden is light and

easy. Self -pity is I don't have an easy burden.

I'm all alone. I have nothing. It's all so bad

for me. Self -pity is the great enemy of joy.

Put that aside and delight in God and His wonderful

abundance of grace and all those things found

in His creation. Peace. We're to cultivate calmness

and rest. in Jesus, no matter the circumstances.

You know, that goes back to, you know, you have

these list of rules. Here's the rule. You start

here. And then the second rule is a line, and

it says, go back and see rule one. Get to three.

You see a rule. Go back and see rule one. Well,

this is sort of what we have here. If you believe

in the love of God or to love others, you can

have joy. Oh, wait. No self -pity. Oh, I can

now trust in God and do good, and I can be calm

and rest no matter the circumstances that I find

myself in. The next one, long -suffering. Now,

many translations have patience. You know, I

think in our American experience, at least how

I see it, patience is something that I endure

for a moment. Lord, give me patience in this

circumstance. But I expect that circumstance

to be resolved right quick Right, that's not

really the meaning of this word here. It's long

suffering It is steadfastness with perseverance

Steadfastness stay in your post do good Long

suffering with every relationship Kindness that

is a wholesome quality that promotes Health Think

about that kindness is A wholesome quality that

promotes health again the goodness of God this

fruit that comes in you that Transforms you it

then goes out it promotes the health of others

Goodness uprightness and attitudes and actions

imitating Jesus Faithfulness Fidelity to God.

Jesus. The Word of God. We have fidelity to Him.

And someone who is faithful is one who can be

relied on. Mom and dad, can your kids rely on

you? And how do they rely on you? A difficulty

happens. Well, this is terrible. Right? How are

you being relied on? Do they hear you say, well,

this is difficult, but we're thankful for God's

providence and his care. You know, have you ever

sat in that traffic and are just like out of

your mind, man, this is awful, right? How about

turning around saying thank you, Lord, for protecting

me from what I don't know? I don't know how this

is all gonna work out. I don't use it as an excuse

to be late. If you were slothful in your preparations,

you were slothful out the door. Fix the slothfulness.

Right? Man, I caught every red light. That's

why I'm late to work. No. No, you were late because

you didn't get up on time. Be honest. But what

can your children rely on you for? How about

your wife or your husband? Gentleness. Again,

here's another place where it's really not the

best where we think of gentleness and, you know.

Like a small baby and we're back there. We're

so careful. That's part of it But in reality

it's a meekness. It is great power restrained

mercy and grace received and given We have great

power to exact on some people Difficulty and

hardship. Are you pausing and asking yourself?

How has God been gracious and merciful to me?

How then should I dispense that to others? And

how do I not look for my justification, for my

vindication, but rather put aside my right to

vindication so that others may be drawn to the

Lord Jesus Christ in a deeper way? And then self

-control. the virtue of temperance, chastity,

and charity. Do you exercise rule over your desires?

What about your emotions? What about anger? Do

you exercise self -control there? Or, thinking

back to this idea of what you're teaching your

children, when something happens, do they go,

oh, man. I'm ducking out of here because mom

or maybe it's dad. I'm staying out of the thing

because I saw this, something happened. I'm out

of here because I don't want to be any part of

what's about to come, right? Do you control and

exercise self -control over sex, food, alcohol,

tobacco, sleep? You know, there's two kinds of

ways. We stay up too late doing frivolous things,

and we don't have the strength or mind capacity

to be full of self -control. I know when I'm

tired, my self -control comes down. Excuse me.

And here's the thing. If it's beyond your control,

that's one thing. But if you are self -inflicting

to yourself about why you're so tired, that's

a different problem. How about this one? What

about your mouth? Do you exercise self -control

over your mouth? The book of Proverbs, the book

of practical wisdom, just in one category of

talking about things proceeding from your mouth,

if you look up the word lip, so he's talking

about your mouth, what you're saying, 41 times,

gives instructions for the words that you speak.

And like I said, I could have looked at so many

other words that it uses. But just in that one

word, right? 41 times instructions on the word

you're speaking. Are you providing self -control

there? Are you flourishing in self -control in

these areas, but especially your mouth? All of

this, all of this now takes courage, confession,

strong fidelity. That is steadfastness. Stand

in your post and work on cultivating and making

fruitful the fruit of the Spirit. We need to

cultivate all of these, the fruit of our Spirit,

in ourselves and in our households. This means

we must walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit,

and live by the Spirit. These are not ethereal

things. Like, I need to be led by the Spirit.

Let me close my, no, no, no. He gives us instructions.

And it's worked out. It starts here. Well, it

starts with the new heart. But then it goes to

you're thinking about it. You're planning it.

You're executing it. You are asking God for help

in the beginning. And you're assessing the results

at the end of the day. It means, dearly beloved,

that in this, Let's be honest. Sometimes we are

feeling overwhelmed like we cannot grow and Colton

cultivate faithfulness in these things I hear

something really good. I heard a Somewhere in

my reading and studying this way. I came across

this line. I forgot to attribute it But for the

metaphor it says this right God is not telling

us in these things to make bricks without straw

He's not telling you do this spiritual thing,

but I'm not giving you anything to make the bricks

out of no He gives us the spirit Jesus on the

night he was betrayed in John 14 says if you

love me keep my commandments which sounds overwhelming

and I will pray the father and He will give you

another helper that he may abide with you forever

the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive

because it neither sees him nor knows him but

you know him for he dwells with you and will

be in you I will not leave you orphans I will

come to you he doesn't say do all these things

grow in all these things take dominion be fruitful

and multiply stand your post do good he doesn't

say all this and leave we leave you with no means

to do it The church is not left to fend for itself.

You can have the mind of Christ because Jesus

went to the cross for your sins. Therefore, the

Spirit has given you a new heart. You are not

in bondage to sin any longer. You have a life

of liberty. You have a life of love. And you

can, by the power of the Spirit, take your post,

taking dominion and becoming fruitful and multiplying,

flourishing in the fruit of the Spirit, in yourself

for the glory of God and for the benefit of others.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for

calling us your people, for placing your name

on us because of the great and merciful and gracious

work of your son Jesus on the cross. Please help

us, we pray, to be led and to live in the spirit.

Make us, we pray, fruitful trees by the river

of life to your glory. and the fruit of the Spirit

that the nations may be healed. We especially

pray today with thanksgiving and righteous fear

for mercy for this nation and its people. Reform

us and your whole church that the unbelieving

world may see our good works and be converted

and thus give praise to your holy name forever.

We ask all this for the sake of your son, Jesus,

who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world

without end. Amen.