1 00:00:06,470 --> 00:00:10,560 Father, thank you again for the fact that you are a rock, that 2 00:00:10,570 --> 00:00:14,370 you are unchanging God, that you're reliable. 3 00:00:14,380 --> 00:00:17,250 But also, Lord, thank you for the your mercy, the fact that 4 00:00:17,260 --> 00:00:20,360 you don't treat us like we deserve to be treated despite 5 00:00:20,370 --> 00:00:22,030 who we are and the things we've done. 6 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:26,690 You've provided a way for us to connect to you through Jesus 7 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:28,200 Christ. Well, we just pray for Andrew 8 00:00:28,210 --> 00:00:30,670 this morning as he brings your word to us. 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,090 Well, we just pray for, yeah, we thank you for his diligence in, 10 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:38,190 in, in studying that out and working it out and communicating 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,050 with you to, to figure out what it is that the important parts 12 00:00:42,060 --> 00:00:44,150 of this message that we need to know. 13 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,870 And Lord, we just pray for us this morning that we would have 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,510 our, our hearts and minds open to, to listen, to be changed by 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,470 your word, maybe be rattled by a little bit, but whatever it 16 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:56,590 takes all we want to be closer to you. 17 00:00:56,660 --> 00:00:58,470 And so we just pray for that this morning. 18 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,850 Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to give an offering 19 00:01:01,860 --> 00:01:05,170 to you and, and, and we present that offering to you now, Lord, 20 00:01:05,180 --> 00:01:07,730 And thank you that we know it all comes from you. 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,630 And as a token, we, we want to demonstrate that throughout 22 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,070 offering as an act of worship. And we thank you for the 23 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,910 opportunity to do that, Lord, thank you that you're a God who 24 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,790 who sees every little detail in their lives and cares about it. 25 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:24,500 And we thank you for that. Thank you for a chance to 26 00:01:24,550 --> 00:01:27,350 together worship and learn and grow this morning. 27 00:01:27,430 --> 00:01:29,510 Pray these things in Jesus name, Amen. 28 00:01:30,450 --> 00:01:33,500 Great. Good morning everyone and 29 00:01:33,510 --> 00:01:37,220 welcome again if you're a visitor especially and what a 30 00:01:37,230 --> 00:01:40,480 special day it is. I thought I was fairly safe 31 00:01:40,490 --> 00:01:46,050 volunteering for this little message on Galatians Chapter 5. 32 00:01:46,060 --> 00:01:50,110 And then of course, we had the baptism arranged as well, and 33 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:53,550 fellowship lunch and everything else too, so that we've got a 34 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,010 real small dashboard today and it's just such a bonus. 35 00:01:56,020 --> 00:01:59,130 So thank you for your support. Thanks for flying in to hear the 36 00:01:59,140 --> 00:02:03,290 message and we'll look forward to God's Word. 37 00:02:03,340 --> 00:02:04,970 Nothing to do with me whatsoever. 38 00:02:06,380 --> 00:02:10,310 Please turn to Galatians chapter 5 and we're going to take a 39 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,560 reading 1st and then we'll have some words of introduction. 40 00:02:14,870 --> 00:02:21,970 We're reading from Galatians 5 verse 16 when I say, walk by the 41 00:02:21,980 --> 00:02:25,510 Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 42 00:02:26,580 --> 00:02:30,570 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the 43 00:02:30,580 --> 00:02:33,260 desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. 44 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,330 For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the 45 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:41,060 things you want to do. But if you are led by the 46 00:02:41,070 --> 00:02:43,200 Spirit, you are not under the law. 47 00:02:44,390 --> 00:02:46,880 Now the works of the flesh are evident. 48 00:02:47,270 --> 00:02:53,430 Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, 49 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:58,400 enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, 50 00:02:58,410 --> 00:03:03,340 dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things 51 00:03:03,350 --> 00:03:07,030 like these. I warn you as I warned you 52 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,280 before, that those who do such things will not inherit the 53 00:03:11,290 --> 00:03:16,540 Kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 54 00:03:16,890 --> 00:03:21,320 patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 55 00:03:21,390 --> 00:03:25,340 self-control. Against such things there is no 56 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:30,410 law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the 57 00:03:30,420 --> 00:03:33,220 flesh with his passions and desires. 58 00:03:34,590 --> 00:03:38,020 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the 59 00:03:38,030 --> 00:03:41,280 Spirit. Let us not become conceited, 60 00:03:41,430 --> 00:03:44,880 provoking one another, envying one another. 61 00:03:44,970 --> 00:03:49,530 This is the Word of God. These verses that we have read, 62 00:03:49,540 --> 00:03:54,520 especially concerning the fruit of the Spirit, well known to 63 00:03:54,530 --> 00:03:58,240 many and very much enjoyed by many. 64 00:03:58,310 --> 00:04:01,900 And I'm sure you'll be thinking, well, that would be just a 65 00:04:01,910 --> 00:04:05,550 lovely subject to go ahead with today. 66 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:09,140 You see, everybody, as far as I know, likes fijos. 67 00:04:09,290 --> 00:04:11,780 Is anyone here in the room who doesn't like fijos? 68 00:04:12,700 --> 00:04:14,990 Excellent, excellent. I'm with you. 69 00:04:15,070 --> 00:04:18,980 I'm not a future fan who likes fijos. 70 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:26,720 OK, wonderful, wonderful. So most most enjoy a message on 71 00:04:26,810 --> 00:04:30,800 Fiji on fruit. And here's a photo of grandson 72 00:04:30,810 --> 00:04:33,320 Daniel. And he just loves fijos. 73 00:04:34,540 --> 00:04:38,250 For technical and logistical reasons, his mother only allows 74 00:04:38,260 --> 00:04:44,430 him to have one a day. But today I actually want to 75 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:50,620 focus on fate, not fruit. You see the book of Galatians 76 00:04:50,630 --> 00:04:55,520 has a lot to say about walking and this chapter in fact 77 00:04:55,530 --> 00:04:58,800 Galatians 5 is actually all about walking talks and verse 78 00:04:58,810 --> 00:05:03,770 one about standing talks about running well and verse 7 verse 79 00:05:03,830 --> 00:05:07,980 16 to walk and verse 25 to keep in step. 80 00:05:09,550 --> 00:05:15,710 Little Daniel is in this photo not just enjoying the future, 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,390 but he's actually almost about to walk. 82 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,540 In fact, just a week ago he started to walk and he's on the 83 00:05:22,550 --> 00:05:24,460 way to catching up with his friend Boaz. 84 00:05:24,470 --> 00:05:26,130 So that's going to be an interesting journey. 85 00:05:27,740 --> 00:05:31,650 Just like in Christian life, there's progress, there's 86 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:34,870 failure, there are old ways to give up, and there's new lessons 87 00:05:34,940 --> 00:05:37,230 to learn. And today, of course, we are 88 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:42,620 witnessing the baptisms of James and Kate and Jasmine. 89 00:05:42,710 --> 00:05:48,100 And for you, my prayer is that this will be a an important step 90 00:05:48,190 --> 00:05:52,400 in your journey of faith. This step of obedience will be 91 00:05:52,490 --> 00:05:58,300 part of a continuing walk of faith, of freedom and bearing 92 00:05:58,310 --> 00:06:02,620 fruit in Christian life. So to understand this passage, 93 00:06:02,630 --> 00:06:06,800 we need a little bit of background and we need to review 94 00:06:06,810 --> 00:06:09,010 the journey of Paul to this stage. 95 00:06:09,020 --> 00:06:11,420 And we're going to call it Paul's footsteps. 96 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:15,990 And please stay tuned because as we do that, we'll actually 97 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,810 discover how it was Paul also made the decision to be baptised 98 00:06:22,060 --> 00:06:29,070 and take that step of obedience. So first of all, Paul was a 99 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,450 Pharisee. He was brought up in the ways of 100 00:06:33,660 --> 00:06:41,010 Judaism and he was a an expert in that field, so much so that 101 00:06:41,020 --> 00:06:46,250 he was at a young age sent away from home, from Tarsus to 102 00:06:46,310 --> 00:06:50,610 Jerusalem to study at the feet of a famous rabbi called 103 00:06:50,620 --> 00:06:53,680 Damelio. And he was an absolute 104 00:06:53,740 --> 00:06:58,110 intellectual giant. He was well versed in the ways 105 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,190 of Judaism. Of course, Judaism is a very 106 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:05,560 important religion of the Jews. Where their way of faith and 107 00:07:05,570 --> 00:07:08,260 living is based on the first five books of the Bible, the 108 00:07:08,270 --> 00:07:14,090 Torah, and as part of that they also add in other rabbinical law 109 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:21,620 and various ways of living of diet and also the right of 110 00:07:21,630 --> 00:07:26,340 circumcision. And as part of that, they are 111 00:07:26,650 --> 00:07:30,390 trying to follow God's will for them. 112 00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:35,610 Now, by the way, there's actually nothing too wrong with 113 00:07:35,620 --> 00:07:38,630 law, is there? I'm actually quite pleased that 114 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,660 there's a common community law at the roundabout here at at 115 00:07:42,670 --> 00:07:46,150 Clarkin Rd. And I quite like the fact that 116 00:07:46,220 --> 00:07:54,220 here in New Zealand we pretty much respect queues at the bank 117 00:07:54,990 --> 00:08:00,610 and at the supermarket and especially when we have lunch 118 00:08:00,620 --> 00:08:02,530 afterwards. You know, it's quite good to 119 00:08:02,540 --> 00:08:06,980 have laws that actually teach us the right way and keep us on 120 00:08:06,990 --> 00:08:10,790 track. But the problem with the way of 121 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,710 Judaism and the problem for Paul was that he was advancing in 122 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,530 such a way that he actually was becoming radicalised. 123 00:08:21,020 --> 00:08:26,840 And part of the way of Judaism is a way that feeds the thought 124 00:08:26,900 --> 00:08:32,039 of achievement, of keeping regulations and going down a 125 00:08:32,049 --> 00:08:36,700 certain pathway and as a result, potentially becoming very proud. 126 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,909 And so Paul was actually a very good man. 127 00:08:42,309 --> 00:08:48,920 He was an intellectual, he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, he was a 128 00:08:48,930 --> 00:08:53,380 Hebrew of Hebrews. He was trained and schooled to 129 00:08:53,430 --> 00:09:00,300 walk a good journey as a Pharisee, but with that came 130 00:09:00,310 --> 00:09:04,420 performance and with that came pride and with that came 131 00:09:04,430 --> 00:09:11,010 comparison and rules. And as he went down that 132 00:09:11,020 --> 00:09:15,590 journey, he actually turn into Paul the persecutor. 133 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,630 I was a blasphemer, A persecutor and an insolent opponent, he 134 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,580 writes. And then we read that Saul his 135 00:09:26,670 --> 00:09:30,500 his first name before he became known as Paul, Saul, was 136 00:09:30,510 --> 00:09:34,120 ravaging the church and entering house to house and dragging off 137 00:09:34,130 --> 00:09:36,500 men and women and committing them to prison. 138 00:09:37,230 --> 00:09:42,410 Paul was actually a murderer. Paul was at the feet of those 139 00:09:42,420 --> 00:09:46,220 who were persecuting the church. He was behind it all. 140 00:09:46,230 --> 00:09:50,160 He was consenting to it, and he was violent. 141 00:09:50,250 --> 00:09:52,810 He was murderous and blasphemous. 142 00:09:54,610 --> 00:09:58,190 He persecuted the Church of God so violently because he was 143 00:09:59,620 --> 00:10:04,050 convinced that his way was the right way and the best way, and 144 00:10:04,060 --> 00:10:08,350 he was opposed to all that. Christianity represented the way 145 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,850 as it was called in those days. It's an interesting type title 146 00:10:11,860 --> 00:10:15,510 for it. He was convinced that his way 147 00:10:15,580 --> 00:10:18,590 was the right way and what they were doing was something that 148 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:23,300 had to be squashed out. We read in ex. 149 00:10:23,310 --> 00:10:27,580 Chapter 9 that Paul actually got letters from the authorities and 150 00:10:27,590 --> 00:10:34,070 he was out to murder and to destroy the church. 151 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:39,970 And as he was walking along, travelling on the road to 152 00:10:39,980 --> 00:10:46,070 Damascus with these letters to arrest and to bring to justice 153 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,790 these people that he was opposed to, as he was travelling along 154 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:57,250 with a group of people, a light shone from heaven, and a voice 155 00:10:57,260 --> 00:11:01,610 came. And the voice had so, So why do 156 00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:08,790 you persecute me? And soul was struck to the 157 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,020 ground and unable to see. And he said, Who are you, Lord? 158 00:11:13,110 --> 00:11:17,680 And the voice from heaven said, I am Jesus who you are 159 00:11:17,690 --> 00:11:25,460 persecuting Paul the Pharisee, pull the persecutor. 160 00:11:25,470 --> 00:11:30,840 And now asking this question from this light from heaven, who 161 00:11:30,850 --> 00:11:33,140 are you, Lord? And by the way, there is 162 00:11:33,150 --> 00:11:36,520 probably one of the most important questions that you and 163 00:11:36,530 --> 00:11:42,000 I must ever ask. Perhaps you've never thought of 164 00:11:42,010 --> 00:11:44,810 that before, but have you ever asked that question? 165 00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:49,610 Who are you, Lord Jesus? Who are you, Lord? 166 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,070 That is a question we almost answer in our lives. 167 00:11:55,820 --> 00:12:00,260 And by the way, this light from heaven was a light that did not 168 00:12:00,270 --> 00:12:04,690 fade in Paul's memory. In fact, as he got older, he 169 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:08,310 recalled it even more vividly. He described it here as a light 170 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:10,970 from heaven. But later on, as he spoke to 171 00:12:10,980 --> 00:12:13,110 officials and gave his testimony, he said it was a 172 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,750 great light from heaven. And later on he said it was a 173 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:22,600 light brighter than the noonday sun and that light shone and 174 00:12:22,610 --> 00:12:24,760 arrested him in his pathway in his journey. 175 00:12:28,090 --> 00:12:32,530 Paul said to this light, Who are you, Lord? 176 00:12:33,750 --> 00:12:40,620 He's led to Damascus and we read an ex Chapter 9 that he's 177 00:12:40,630 --> 00:12:46,740 praying and God spoke to a man called Barnabas and said to him 178 00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:52,930 and a nice, I think it is, let's just go back to that and says to 179 00:12:52,940 --> 00:12:59,100 him analyse, go and visit Wall. Go and see this man and he is 180 00:12:59,110 --> 00:13:04,690 praying, an analyst says to God, Lord, I've heard things about 181 00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:07,390 this man. This man is persecuting the 182 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,490 church. He's here to destroy the church. 183 00:13:09,580 --> 00:13:12,580 And you asking me to go and see him. 184 00:13:13,670 --> 00:13:18,420 And the word came Go analyse. He is a chosen instrument to 185 00:13:18,430 --> 00:13:23,810 carry my name before Gentiles in kings and the children of 186 00:13:23,820 --> 00:13:29,360 Israel. And then an ice came to this man 187 00:13:29,410 --> 00:13:32,740 at this point called Saul, and said, Brother saw the Lord Jesus 188 00:13:32,750 --> 00:13:36,790 who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, 189 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,540 that you may regain your sight and be filled with His Holy 190 00:13:39,550 --> 00:13:42,810 Spirit. And immediately something like 191 00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:46,160 scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. 192 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:53,800 Then he rose and was baptised. Now I want you to notice the 193 00:13:53,810 --> 00:13:58,020 sequence of events. Paul sees the light from heaven. 194 00:13:58,030 --> 00:14:00,820 He hears the voice. He prays to God. 195 00:14:01,630 --> 00:14:09,730 He receives his sight and then he's baptised to Baptism is not 196 00:14:09,740 --> 00:14:13,000 salvation. We don't get baptised to be 197 00:14:13,010 --> 00:14:19,110 saved, but we get baptised when we receive the light from heaven 198 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,780 and understand our condition before God. 199 00:14:24,450 --> 00:14:27,180 And so he read the next Chapter 9 that when he rose and was 200 00:14:27,190 --> 00:14:29,890 baptised, he took food, and he was strengthened. 201 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:35,300 And so after James and Okay, then Jasmine get baptised, 202 00:14:35,310 --> 00:14:37,330 they're allowed to take food and they'll be strengthened. 203 00:14:37,380 --> 00:14:38,950 I'm sure they're looking forward to that. 204 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,550 Not too nervous, but you see the sequence event is very clear. 205 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:51,000 Salvation and then baptism. And so Paul the Pharisee, Paul 206 00:14:51,010 --> 00:14:56,250 the persecutor then is very radically transformed and he 207 00:14:56,260 --> 00:15:01,870 becomes poor, the preacher. And we read in Galatians chapter 208 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,530 one that they said of him, isn't this amazing? 209 00:15:04,540 --> 00:15:08,730 This man who was once persecuting the Church of God is 210 00:15:08,740 --> 00:15:12,670 now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy, and they 211 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,770 glorified God. This was the miracle. 212 00:15:16,890 --> 00:15:21,460 This was the transformation in the life of Paul, and a few 213 00:15:21,470 --> 00:15:24,990 weeks ago one of our speakers referred to this as one of the 214 00:15:25,060 --> 00:15:28,690 convincing proofs of the gospel in the New Testament. 215 00:15:29,010 --> 00:15:34,090 The transformation of Paul the Pharisee, the persecutor, to now 216 00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:37,280 be preaching the faith he once wanted to destroy. 217 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,530 What did he preach? Well, the book of Galatians is 218 00:15:44,660 --> 00:15:46,130 very much part of what he preached. 219 00:15:46,140 --> 00:15:49,970 But here in Galatians 2 verse 20, I have on the screen one of 220 00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:55,630 the key verses that pull the preacher spoke, and this was his 221 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,840 testimony to the readers. I have been crucified with 222 00:15:59,850 --> 00:16:03,100 Christ. It is no longer I who live, but 223 00:16:03,110 --> 00:16:09,030 Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh. 224 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,570 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave 225 00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:19,020 himself for me. So what does it mean to be 226 00:16:19,030 --> 00:16:21,420 baptised? Well here in this first we have 227 00:16:21,430 --> 00:16:25,180 a very beautiful picture of what it means to be baptised. 228 00:16:25,690 --> 00:16:28,210 I have been crucified with Christ. 229 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:36,150 The person who has been baptised is literally saying that they 230 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,790 are identifying with the death of Christ. 231 00:16:40,860 --> 00:16:45,350 They are dying to self. I have been crucified with 232 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,770 Christ. It is no longer I who live. 233 00:16:47,780 --> 00:16:50,120 And so we baptise someone who has died. 234 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,850 Christ lives in me, in the life. I now live in the flesh. 235 00:16:53,860 --> 00:16:56,250 I live by faith and we rise again. 236 00:16:56,260 --> 00:17:00,220 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave 237 00:17:00,230 --> 00:17:04,050 himself for me. And so we have Dine with Christ, 238 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:09,099 we have burial with Christ, and we have rising with Christ. 239 00:17:09,109 --> 00:17:12,599 And that is the picture of baptism that we'll be seen in a 240 00:17:12,609 --> 00:17:16,390 little while. Baptism is not salvation. 241 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,410 Paul was saved, he received his sight and was then baptised. 242 00:17:20,420 --> 00:17:23,670 And baptism is an immersion in water. 243 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:28,020 It is actually going under the water, just like a burial. 244 00:17:28,030 --> 00:17:33,400 It is death to the old and rising again to newness of life. 245 00:17:35,770 --> 00:17:41,640 Baptism is a step of obedience and a public testimony of 246 00:17:41,650 --> 00:17:47,850 identification with Jesus and a commitment to follow in the 247 00:17:47,860 --> 00:17:51,680 steps of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful testimony it is 248 00:17:53,170 --> 00:17:58,120 to hear from James and Kate and Jasmine today how they have been 249 00:17:58,130 --> 00:18:03,700 on this journey and come to this decision to receive Christ as 250 00:18:03,710 --> 00:18:08,200 Lord and Saviour, and then to publicly testify in the waters 251 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:15,040 of baptism their obedience. And so the gospel is revealed, 252 00:18:15,050 --> 00:18:19,480 not as a system of rules and regulations and external 253 00:18:19,490 --> 00:18:24,860 behaviour, but the gospel is presented as new life in Christ. 254 00:18:24,910 --> 00:18:28,520 It is not achieving, but it is believing. 255 00:18:30,290 --> 00:18:38,710 It is a relationship, not rules. We are justified, Paul says, by 256 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,130 faith and not by works that we have done, not something that we 257 00:18:43,140 --> 00:18:46,790 put on on the external, but something that happens within 258 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:53,880 us, by the renewing, rescuing work of the Holy Spirit of God. 259 00:18:56,330 --> 00:18:58,980 The message of Galatians sets us free. 260 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:05,660 The message of Galatians tells us that we should not go back to 261 00:19:05,670 --> 00:19:10,010 the old way, the old way of living, the old way of rules and 262 00:19:10,020 --> 00:19:13,270 self effort. There is no other gospel. 263 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,130 Now there's a story of a believer who was baptised and as 264 00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:21,310 they came out of the water they said. 265 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,670 I am so glad that now I won't have to struggle with evil 266 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:30,440 thoughts to which the person who had baptised them said. 267 00:19:30,650 --> 00:19:33,660 To achieve that, I will need to hold you under the water for a 268 00:19:33,670 --> 00:19:40,710 little longer. You see, the crucified victim 269 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:48,040 took a long time to die, and the Christian life is a battle that 270 00:19:48,050 --> 00:19:51,410 has been one at the cross. Through the finished work of the 271 00:19:51,420 --> 00:19:57,660 Lord Jesus, the penalty for sin has been paid in full, but the 272 00:19:57,670 --> 00:20:02,100 power of sense still lingers until that glorious day when we 273 00:20:02,110 --> 00:20:06,320 are liberated forever from the presence of sin. 274 00:20:06,390 --> 00:20:11,390 So in these 11 verses. Pull the preacher gives us 3 275 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,340 steps. Three steps in the process of 276 00:20:15,350 --> 00:20:19,940 learning to walk and taking the footsteps of faith. 277 00:20:22,820 --> 00:20:26,900 Just for the sake of time, for the sake of those who have been 278 00:20:26,910 --> 00:20:30,250 baptised and for the testimonies to follow, I'm just going to 279 00:20:30,260 --> 00:20:33,430 really just give you that outline this this morning and 280 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:39,380 speak briefly to these verses. Faith in Jesus Christ brings 281 00:20:39,450 --> 00:20:44,080 forgiveness and freedom. Following Christ yields fruit 282 00:20:45,350 --> 00:20:49,720 and then these 3 verses 33 sections we have a conflict. 283 00:20:50,190 --> 00:20:54,100 There is thought of being walking by the Spirit, there's 284 00:20:54,150 --> 00:20:57,680 control being led by the Spirit, and there is a commitment to 285 00:20:57,690 --> 00:21:07,760 keep in step with the Spirit. Pull the writer who reminds the 286 00:21:07,770 --> 00:21:11,920 Galatians about a war that is going on between two forces, the 287 00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:19,020 flesh and the spirit. It's an irreconcilable conflict. 288 00:21:19,030 --> 00:21:22,710 It's a civil war that is going on consistently. 289 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,690 The Scripture says the desires of the flesh are against the 290 00:21:27,700 --> 00:21:31,930 spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, 291 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,640 and these are opposed. There's a battle going on in the 292 00:21:36,650 --> 00:21:40,020 life of the believer, and if there's not a battle going on in 293 00:21:40,030 --> 00:21:43,630 the life of believer, it may mean that you are not walking in 294 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:48,830 the Christian way like Paul in Romans. 295 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,770 We sometimes even cry out what a wretched man I am who will 296 00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:55,440 deliver me from this body of death. 297 00:21:58,010 --> 00:22:01,300 The results of the flesh I listed. 298 00:22:01,660 --> 00:22:05,560 And at first glance they seem like a a sundry list of vices 299 00:22:05,570 --> 00:22:08,460 and evil. But the categories are moral and 300 00:22:08,470 --> 00:22:11,660 relational and behavioural. And as we dig deeper, we find 301 00:22:11,670 --> 00:22:15,290 there's a common thread, a common denominator in all of 302 00:22:15,300 --> 00:22:18,890 these works. You see these works that are 303 00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:21,010 described there? They're listed for us. 304 00:22:22,830 --> 00:22:26,190 They are all works that involve control. 305 00:22:27,170 --> 00:22:31,800 They are works of the flesh that refer to that which is in 306 00:22:31,810 --> 00:22:34,980 control within us, the work of self. 307 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:40,530 You see, the work of self is to please and satisfy one's own 308 00:22:40,540 --> 00:22:44,190 desires. All the addictions, the 309 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,620 appetites, the ambitions are symptoms of who and what is in 310 00:22:48,630 --> 00:22:54,300 control in our lives. These works that are listed here 311 00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:57,660 in verse 19. Immorality, impurity, 312 00:22:57,670 --> 00:23:04,180 sensuality, idolatry, and so on. They are all that which derives 313 00:23:04,190 --> 00:23:09,470 from a heart without a moral compass, dominated by the fleet. 314 00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:15,160 For example, idolatry is something apart from God, which 315 00:23:15,170 --> 00:23:19,380 receives our worship. Digging down into the words 316 00:23:19,390 --> 00:23:22,760 behind these, the Greek words, you'll find that the word for 317 00:23:22,770 --> 00:23:26,840 immorality is actually porneia. And that's where we get the word 318 00:23:26,850 --> 00:23:30,040 pornography from, from everything that is related to 319 00:23:30,050 --> 00:23:35,790 sexual immorality, the appetites of the flesh, the word for 320 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,950 witchcraft is the word pharmakeia. 321 00:23:38,180 --> 00:23:42,190 And again, there's the thoughts that even drug use, drunkenness 322 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:47,450 all refers to that loss of control and allowing the the the 323 00:23:47,660 --> 00:23:51,270 evil spirits of this world to take control of our lives. 324 00:23:54,910 --> 00:23:57,250 I wonder if we can consider it in this way. 325 00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:04,710 Most of us are familiar with YouTube, but have you noticed 326 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,090 how subtle and how pervasive YouTube is? 327 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:13,090 So if you actually search on something footy or chess or 328 00:24:13,100 --> 00:24:18,200 cricket or whatever, you'll find that from then on that algorithm 329 00:24:18,210 --> 00:24:22,900 works, that it will actually populate related videos and 330 00:24:22,910 --> 00:24:27,700 clips to that topic. Likewise, if you are a fan of 331 00:24:27,710 --> 00:24:34,310 Team You, you'll find that if you are looking for, say, some 332 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:38,400 reading glasses, you'll find that for weeks and weeks you'll 333 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:43,520 get a lot of related thoughts and communications on glasses. 334 00:24:43,830 --> 00:24:49,120 Choose anything else you like. Choose a hat, choose clothes, 335 00:24:49,130 --> 00:24:52,720 choose shoes, whatever. You'll find that that algorithm 336 00:24:52,790 --> 00:24:57,420 will continue to construct and populate and flash into your 337 00:24:57,430 --> 00:25:00,140 senses and into your brain. And you can say, well, I could 338 00:25:00,150 --> 00:25:02,400 get that there and that I could actually fill the house with 339 00:25:02,410 --> 00:25:08,410 reading glasses. This is how the works of the 340 00:25:08,420 --> 00:25:15,360 flesh operate, and as we start small, we find that actually 341 00:25:15,370 --> 00:25:18,470 things start to get bigger and bigger. 342 00:25:19,460 --> 00:25:24,550 Sorcery is a life that has been given over to the forces of 343 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,770 darkness. Drunkenness for example, is a 344 00:25:27,780 --> 00:25:33,980 disease of a body and a mind out of control and each behaviour 345 00:25:34,020 --> 00:25:37,200 starts small and then multiplies. 346 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,590 And verse 21 says this. Those who do these things will 347 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:48,940 not inherit the Kingdom of God. When we read that verse, we 348 00:25:48,950 --> 00:25:51,660 might be saying, does that mean I'm disqualified? 349 00:25:51,950 --> 00:25:53,600 Well, let me be quite clear here. 350 00:25:53,610 --> 00:25:57,030 The Word of God is, say, stating here that those who are 351 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,970 habitually practising this way are not in the pathway of the 352 00:26:01,980 --> 00:26:05,760 Kingdom of God. It's referring to the ongoing 353 00:26:05,770 --> 00:26:11,090 habitual practise of godlessness, which may be an 354 00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:18,790 indication that you are not a child of God now. 355 00:26:18,860 --> 00:26:21,900 There is no truce in this civil war. 356 00:26:21,910 --> 00:26:24,130 There is no there is no middle ground. 357 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:27,060 There's no kind of no man's land where you can say, ohh, well, 358 00:26:27,070 --> 00:26:30,260 today I'm going to just make peace with this enemy of the 359 00:26:30,270 --> 00:26:35,410 soul. Some years ago, many, many years 360 00:26:35,420 --> 00:26:40,000 ago actually, I owned some Guinea pigs and I named them 361 00:26:40,010 --> 00:26:43,650 after two famous chess players in the 1970s, which may give you 362 00:26:43,660 --> 00:26:48,220 an indication of my age. Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer 363 00:26:49,210 --> 00:26:51,500 and Boris and Robert were great friends. 364 00:26:52,270 --> 00:26:56,340 They got on really well together until one day I made a big 365 00:26:56,350 --> 00:26:59,580 mistake. I allowed a friend to borrow 366 00:26:59,690 --> 00:27:07,280 Robert for a little while. On his return, Robert treated 367 00:27:07,290 --> 00:27:11,860 Boris as a fierce enemy and they fought everyday. 368 00:27:11,970 --> 00:27:15,400 They were clicking their teeth, they were biting and tearing 369 00:27:15,450 --> 00:27:17,940 clumps of fur and hair from each other. 370 00:27:18,070 --> 00:27:22,440 And finally, in desperation, I changed the cage and I divided 371 00:27:22,450 --> 00:27:25,300 the cage into two. And still they hated each other. 372 00:27:25,310 --> 00:27:27,070 They insulted each other everyday. 373 00:27:28,550 --> 00:27:30,980 It was a very sad end to my Guinea pig days. 374 00:27:32,350 --> 00:27:37,610 And don't be fooled, the ceasefire will not last, and the 375 00:27:37,620 --> 00:27:40,390 ceasefire does not even exist. There is no truce. 376 00:27:40,460 --> 00:27:43,550 You must stand on the right side. 377 00:27:48,710 --> 00:27:54,870 I want to give James and Kate and Jasmine 3 words today from 378 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:59,990 these verses and the the first word is this. 379 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:06,290 You must stand. Stand on the gospel. 380 00:28:06,740 --> 00:28:10,210 Stand on the finished work of the Lord Jesus. 381 00:28:10,660 --> 00:28:15,170 Stand on the fact that Christ has won the victory for you and 382 00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:17,850 paid the price for your forgiveness and all your 383 00:28:17,860 --> 00:28:20,900 salvation. And verse 22 says this. 384 00:28:20,910 --> 00:28:27,400 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and all of those 385 00:28:27,410 --> 00:28:34,900 fruits are those which express the victorious, sanctified work 386 00:28:34,910 --> 00:28:40,350 of Christ in the life of the believer, where we can stand on 387 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,840 the promises of God and His strength in our lives to bring 388 00:28:44,850 --> 00:28:52,050 us to victory. Let's think about these fruits 389 00:28:52,060 --> 00:28:57,640 for a moment. There's something about fruit 390 00:28:57,650 --> 00:29:03,340 that is very remarkable. It's it's something very 391 00:29:03,350 --> 00:29:06,400 beautiful. It's fragrant. 392 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,570 It's quiet it it just seems to happen. 393 00:29:11,580 --> 00:29:13,310 I have. I have these feature trees 394 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:18,040 outside my office and every year, without fail, seemingly 395 00:29:18,050 --> 00:29:21,520 out of nowhere, these these beautiful, beautiful fruit 396 00:29:21,850 --> 00:29:30,280 develop quietly, fruitfully, blessing each of us. 397 00:29:31,270 --> 00:29:33,740 And then they're gone again. In a weeks time they're gone. 398 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,170 You know when they start to arrive, everybody's so excited. 399 00:29:38,270 --> 00:29:40,770 In fact, Gavin told me that it's green gold. 400 00:29:40,780 --> 00:29:43,790 You know, that was two days before all the other features 401 00:29:43,860 --> 00:29:45,670 arrived, and then everybody doesn't want to know. 402 00:29:46,540 --> 00:29:48,950 But for about two days, everybody wants to have these 403 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,410 features and then everybody's got fejos and then they're gone 404 00:29:52,420 --> 00:29:54,840 again. This autumn fruit is just so 405 00:29:54,850 --> 00:29:59,820 amazing. The fruit of the Spirit is 406 00:29:59,830 --> 00:30:03,750 described as singular, and if you were to cut this this fruit 407 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,320 in half, you'll find that within this fruit there's clusters. 408 00:30:08,230 --> 00:30:11,750 It's one fruit, but within that there's these different parts. 409 00:30:12,580 --> 00:30:15,840 Likewise in the fruit of the Spirit. 410 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:23,680 It's a fruit that is actually in many parts, but it's all one 411 00:30:23,730 --> 00:30:30,020 unit interrelated, and each of these qualities are actually the 412 00:30:30,030 --> 00:30:37,160 qualities and the personality and work and life of Christ 413 00:30:37,170 --> 00:30:40,860 within. You see, His love is a perfect 414 00:30:40,870 --> 00:30:45,980 love, the love of God and the Lord Jesus brings a joy and a 415 00:30:45,990 --> 00:30:47,960 peace that this world cannot give. 416 00:30:48,030 --> 00:30:53,820 And as we have His Spirit in our lives as believers, we have that 417 00:30:53,830 --> 00:30:59,060 love and that joy and that peace unfolding and blessing. 418 00:30:59,850 --> 00:31:06,270 And that fragrance results the joy and peace this world cannot 419 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,330 give. And you can't mass produce this 420 00:31:10,340 --> 00:31:12,650 figure. You cannot produce this in the 421 00:31:12,660 --> 00:31:15,150 factory. Lots of people try, but they 422 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,920 cannot do it because it's actually a result of inner life, 423 00:31:20,580 --> 00:31:22,810 connection with the source of life. 424 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:29,250 John 15 tells us that to be fruitful we need to abide or 425 00:31:29,260 --> 00:31:34,900 remain connected to the source of life, which is the true Vine, 426 00:31:34,910 --> 00:31:39,850 the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we are connected to that, 427 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,430 we are able to walk by the Spirit. 428 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:52,990 And so James, Kate and Jasmine stand and walk. 429 00:31:54,340 --> 00:32:00,410 Choose today to abide in this wonderful source of spiritual 430 00:32:00,420 --> 00:32:05,470 strength and vitality and nutrition, to allow yourself to 431 00:32:05,540 --> 00:32:10,590 walk by the Spirit and live by the Spirit. 432 00:32:12,690 --> 00:32:15,980 And as you do that, you'll find that the fruit of the Spirit is 433 00:32:15,990 --> 00:32:19,660 that which relates to God and relates to others and also 434 00:32:19,670 --> 00:32:23,840 relates to your own personal walk and relationship with 435 00:32:23,850 --> 00:32:28,990 Christ. You will have that gentleness 436 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,090 and faithfulness and self-control that only comes 437 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,900 from being connected with the source of life. 438 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:42,740 The fruit of the Spirit is liberating. 439 00:32:44,110 --> 00:32:51,320 It is that which is so compelling and so fragrant that 440 00:32:51,330 --> 00:32:56,690 people will walk into a room and say what a beautiful person to 441 00:32:56,700 --> 00:33:00,770 be with, because the fruit of the Spirit is abounding and 442 00:33:00,780 --> 00:33:06,360 fragrant and liberating. And that is the work of Christ. 443 00:33:07,130 --> 00:33:09,350 It is not something that we can do of our own accord. 444 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:10,920 It's not something we can put on. 445 00:33:11,740 --> 00:33:15,450 We cannot mass produce it. We cannot do that by keeping 446 00:33:15,460 --> 00:33:19,010 rules and regulations. It is a relationship with 447 00:33:19,020 --> 00:33:26,450 Christ, the source. Thirdly, for our baptises today, 448 00:33:28,230 --> 00:33:32,260 the thought in verse 25 is this. If we live by the Spirit lead, 449 00:33:32,270 --> 00:33:34,920 that's also keep in step with the Spirit. 450 00:33:35,250 --> 00:33:38,260 And here the Word I want to leave with you is the Word 451 00:33:38,270 --> 00:33:48,130 follow, stand, walk and follow. Keep in step with the one who 452 00:33:48,140 --> 00:33:50,870 has called us. And like Paul, we must answer 453 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,360 that same question. Who are you, Lord Jesus? 454 00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:59,470 And also we need to ask that question, what will you have me 455 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,070 to do, Lord? That is another question that 456 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,080 Paul said he asked on that journey. 457 00:34:09,020 --> 00:34:13,280 Today, believers in Christ, we stand on the gospel. 458 00:34:14,030 --> 00:34:19,290 It is a gospel that is not one by rules and regulations. 459 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:25,320 It is a life that is lives by a connection with the Christ who 460 00:34:25,330 --> 00:34:30,159 has died for us and paid the price for us and and set us 461 00:34:30,170 --> 00:34:34,120 free. This is the gospel. 462 00:34:34,190 --> 00:34:38,100 There is no other gospel. And Paul says to his readers, 463 00:34:38,469 --> 00:34:41,730 don't go back. Don't go back to the old way. 464 00:34:43,020 --> 00:34:47,570 Stay true to this journey that you have committed yourself to 465 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:54,900 Walk in the Spirit. Live by the Spirit and follow. 466 00:34:55,020 --> 00:35:00,140 Keep in step with the Spirit and very soon we will be singing 467 00:35:00,150 --> 00:35:04,120 this song. There is no gospel like this one 468 00:35:04,210 --> 00:35:07,310 and I wanna just give you my little testimony here. 469 00:35:08,050 --> 00:35:10,780 You see, today is a a lot about testimonies. 470 00:35:11,430 --> 00:35:16,040 Paul's testimony, his journey and the test means we are about 471 00:35:16,050 --> 00:35:20,340 to hear. But my test may simply there's 472 00:35:20,350 --> 00:35:25,380 that the words are poor in First Timothy chapter 1, where the 473 00:35:25,390 --> 00:35:29,530 words that I read at the age of about four or five and these are 474 00:35:29,540 --> 00:35:34,870 the words from First Timothy. This is a faithful saying and 475 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:39,810 worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world 476 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,390 to save sinners, of whom I'm the worst. 477 00:35:44,710 --> 00:35:48,220 That was Paul's testimony and that is my testimony. 478 00:35:48,230 --> 00:35:51,680 That is how I became a Christian at the age of four or five in 479 00:35:51,690 --> 00:35:54,410 India on the basis of that verse. 480 00:35:55,110 --> 00:36:00,790 And from there we have been able to keep in step and follow the 481 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,500 Master. I pray today that you all today, 482 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:12,070 James and Kate and Jasmine, find the reality of walking step by 483 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:17,600 step with the Master and know His peace in your heart and know 484 00:36:17,610 --> 00:36:20,760 the joy of fellowship with Christ. 485 00:36:21,850 --> 00:36:26,760 And as you do that, you'll continue to find that victory 486 00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:30,860 which is won through the freedom of knowing the Lord Jesus as 487 00:36:30,870 --> 00:36:32,550 Saviour and Lord.