Freedom from Destructive Desires
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead teaching pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to be with you this morning. Today we’re continuing our series on a book of the bible called Galatians where we’ve been exploring why life with Jesus is so freeing, and what we’re gonna talk about in particular today is how Jesus gives us freedom to resist destructive desires... Jesus gives us freedom to resist destructive desires, to resist the sinful destructive desires of our flesh. One of the things society’s taught us to believe is that the desires of our flesh are a good thing. We’ve had professors, psychologists, friends tell us “The desires of the flesh are a good thing, a natural thing, a part of what it means to be human. So don’t resist the desires of the flesh, give into them. Don’t resist the desires of your heart, give into them. You need to just follow your heart.” Isn’t that what we like to say? “You need to just follow your heart.”
But the problem with this way of thinking is that not every desire in your heart’s a good thing. There’s some desires in your heart, some desires in your flesh that good, but there’s some that are sinful and destructive to your life. I mean the desire to have sex is a good thing, but the desire to cheat on your spouse isn’t a good thing...The desire to eat is a good thing, but the desire to Man vs. Food it all the time isn’t a good thing...So should you always follow your flesh, should you always follow your heart like society’s taught us?..No, because not every desire in your heart’s a good thing. Some desires are good, some are bad, and there’s a war going on inside us between the two. It’s a war where we want to resist certain desires of the flesh, certain things that are sinful and destructive to our lives, but we struggle to do so, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So let’s turn to Galatians 5:16-26 and get into it. It’s Galatians 5:16-26, located in the last quarter part of your bible. The title of today’s message is Freedom From Destructive Desires, and here’s the big idea. Jesus gives us the freedom to resist, the destructive desires of our flesh...Jesus gives us the freedom to resist, the destructive desires of our flesh.
Context:
Here’s your context. In Galatians Ch. 4-5 Paul, the author of this letter, has been talking a lot about walking as children of freedom, not as children of enslavement. In ch. 5:1 he tells us it’s for freedom, that Christ has set us free, but the issue is the Galatians aren’t walking in that freedom and joy. Instead they’re walking like children of enslavement, and they’re giving into their sinful, destructive desires of the flesh. So Paul’s about to address this issue by telling them how to grow in the desires of the Spirit, rather than the desires of the flesh. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Galatians 5:16-26 states this, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Okay the 1st thing I want you to notice is that he’s talking about Christians. He says those who walk by the Spirit, meaning he’s talking about Christians. The 2nd thing is he doesn’t say you won’t HAVE desires of the flesh, he says you won’t GRATIFY the desires of the flesh...He says you won’t GRATIFY the desires of the flesh, and if you’re a Christian that should allow you to breathe a bit...It should allow you to breathe because it means you’re not alone in your struggles with desiring the flesh. Everybody who’s a Christian struggles with desiring the flesh. But if you walk by the Spirit you’ll hear the Spirit guiding you away from the desires of the flesh saying “Don’t do that, do this. Don’t go there, go here.” It’s the Spirit guiding you so you don’t have to gratify the desires of the flesh. The longer you walk with the Spirit, the further He’ll take you away from the desires of the flesh, but if you ignore the Spirit’s guidance, you’ll give into temptations and gratify the desires of the flesh. So if you struggle with desires of the flesh, that doesn’t make you less of a Christian, it’s a sign the Holy Spirit’s warring for you as a Christian...Struggling with desires of the flesh doesn’t make you less of a Christian, it’s a sign the Holy Spirit’s warring for you as a Christian, which Paul talks about next.
Again vs. 16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Paul’s talking about the war within. In particular he’s talking about the war within Christians. It’s a war between the sinful desires of the flesh, and the desires of the Holy Spirit. He says the two are opposed to each other, they’re at war with each other. The Holy Spirit keeps warring for us saying “Hey don’t follow your flesh over there, follow me over here. It’s for freedom Christ has set you free, and I’m taking you deeper into that freedom. So follow me, not your flesh.” Now there’s days when the fighting will feel more fierce than others, but it won’t always be there. The war within won’t always be there, because the Holy Spirit’s infinitely more powerful than the desires of the flesh. You and I are weak to the desires of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit isn’t. In the end, when you enter eternity, the Holy Spirit will obliterate the sinful desires of your flesh, and the war within will cease, the fighting within will cease. But until that time comes, the Holy Spirit’s growing us in grace. Until that time comes, we’re to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, knowing it’s the Spirit that’s leading us deeper into freedom, not our flesh.
Vs. 18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” We’re not “under the law,” meaning our salvation isn’t dependent on our ability to perfectly live out the laws of God, or how perfectly we’re resisting the desires of the flesh. It’s dependent on Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit warring for us to persevere, until we finally reach our eternal freedom in heaven.
Vs. 19, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul’s giving us some examples here of “works of the flesh,” some examples of the desires of the flesh, and it’s easy to see the damaging effects these things can have on our lives. For example jealousy, fits of anger, and rivalries won’t help your relationships, they’ll damage your relationships. Drinking alcohol isn’t a bad thing, but it can turn into a bad thing like an addiction if it’s overconsumed. In fact the word orgies isn’t talking about sex orgies, it’s talking about “excessively feasting” on certain desires of the flesh to the point where it becomes substance abuse. Look all these desires of the flesh are damaging to our lives, and Paul says they have no place in the kingdom of God. If they do, then that means heavens no better off than hell or what we’re experiencing on earth. None of us want a heaven that’s full of these sinful desires of the flesh, and neither does God. So Paul’s point isn’t for us to look at this list and see where we’re at on the holiness meter. His point is nobody’s getting into heaven based on the desires of the flesh. His point is we need Jesus to save us from the sins of our flesh, and the power of the Holy Spirit to keep warring against our desires of the flesh.
Vs. 22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Notice Paul says “fruit,” not “fruits” of the Spirit. It’s singular not plural. A lot of times people call it fruits of the Spirit, I might accidentally do it in this sermon. But it’s fruit not fruits, it’s singular not plural. That’s important because if it’s plural, you and I’d just turn this into an individual checklist saying “We’ll I’m good at loving, but not patience. I need to work on patience a bit.” But you can’t do that because the singular form implies they’re all connected parts of the same singular fruit. I mean think about how foolish it’d sound if I said “Well I’m growing in love, but not in patience. I’m like a volcano that just keeps irrupting.” You can’t say that, because part of what it means to be loving is to be patient. If you’re not growing in love, then you’re not growing in patience either, because the two are connected...The same is true with joy and peace...You can’t say you’re growing in joy if you’re not growing in peace. You’ll lack joy in the areas you’re not at peace with in life. You see how this works?..The fruit of the Spirit isn’t an individual checklist to work through, it’s a unified transformation of our hearts. They’re all connected and grow together into one large plump fruit. Paul calls them fruit not fruits, and I want to read you a quick summary of what each part of the fruit means. As I read it ask yourself if you want these things for your life, if you want to become this type of person in life?..The fruit of the Spirit is...
Love = It’s the type of love where you love others just as Jesus loved you. You don’t love them to get something from them, you love them regardless of what you get from them...just like Jesus loved you, even though you had nothing to give to him.
Joy = This is where you have so much joy in Jesus, that regardless of the situation you’re facing in life, you’re still able to rejoice. You don’t ignore the pains of your situation, it’s just those pains can’t rob you of joy. Your joy doesn’t fluctuate in situational storms.
Peace = You have so much security in your relationship with God, because you know you’ve been forgiven of all your sins through Jesus. It’s also where you have so much trust in God, that you’re able to sleep well at night knowing He’s in control of your life.
Patience = You’re able to face situations and hardships without going into despair, or blowing up in anger. It’s because you trust God has a purpose and plan for everything you’re going through in life...So instead of freaking out, you patiently trust He’s knitting that purpose and plan together, in ways that’ll always turn out for your good.
Kindness = You’re so moved by the needs of others, that you serve them in ways that show generosity and sympathy towards them, just as Jesus showed toward you.
Goodness = You have integrity and honesty in everything you do. You’re always willing to do the right thing, even when it’s inconvenient or unpopular.
Faithfulness = You’re consistently reliable and dependable. People know they can trust you and depend on you, because you always follow do what you say you’ll do.
Gentleness = You have a gentle and merciful heart towards others, just as Jesus had a gentle and merciful heart towards us. It’s not weakness, it’s like Jesus having the power to crush us for sinning, but instead he showed gentleness and mercy by dying for our sins.
Self-Control = You have the self-control and discipline to resist the desires of the flesh, instead of being impulsive, and easily giving into the desires of the flesh.
Isn’t this what you want for your life? Isn’t this what you want, isn’t this the type of
person you want to be?..Don’t you want to have a selfless love for your family and friends, a joy that’s unshakeable, a peace that allows you to sleep well at night regardless of hardships?..Don’t you want to grow not in the desires of the flesh, but in the fruit of the Spirit?..I mean Paul even says “against such things there is no law,” meaning God’s not throwing anybody in jail for the fruit of the Spirit and neither is society. Nobody’s in jail for being too kind...Nobody’s in jail for being too patient...But there’s plenty of people in jail for being unkind and losing their patience in bursts of anger...You don’t want to grow in the desires of the flesh, you want to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. But how? How do you grow in the fruit of the Spirit? Paul tells us in vs. 24.
Vs. 24, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Paul tells us 3 primary things, it’s 3 primary things that need to happen for us to grow in the fruit of the Spirit, and here’s the first:
#1 You Have To Belong To Jesus = Paul says you have to belong to Christ Jesus. If you want to grow in the fruit of the Spirit you have to start there, you have to start with a relationship with Jesus, because Jesus is the one who sends us the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you don’t have the Holy Spirit. But as soon as you enter a relationship with Jesus, he immediately sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, to start warring inside you, to start fighting to grow you and persevere you deeper into freedom. How does that relationship with Jesus start?
#2 You Have To Crucify The Flesh = Paul says you have to crucify the flesh, you have to be an executioner to the desires of the flesh. You need to execute your sinful desires, instead of your sinful desires executing you, and this is what it means to repent of your sins. It’s where you turn away from your sin, you execute it, crucify it, put it to death on the cross. If you do that, if you repent of your sins and believe Jesus died for the forgiveness of your sins...you’ll belong to Jesus, have a relationship with Jesus, and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to help grow you in the fruit of the Spirit. You’ll still struggle with the desires of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit will help grow you into plump fruit, that no longer gratifies the desires of the flesh, which is #3.
#3 You Have To Keep In Step With The Spirit = Paul says you have to keep in step with the Spirit, meaning you need to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life. He’s saying if you want to grow in the fruit of the Spirit, you need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. You need to walk step by step with the Spirit, like a child walks step by step with a parent guiding them by hand. You and I don’t have enough will power to resist every desire of the flesh, or to perfectly live out every part of the fruit of the Spirit. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us, we need to walk step by step with the Spirit. So here’s what I want to encourage you to do. I want to encourage you to do two things. The 1st thing I want to encourage you to do is to look at Jesus, not at yourself...I want to encourage you to look at Jesus not at yourself, because our tendency is to look at the fruit of the Spirit like it’s a comparative checklist. But just like fruit on a tree doesn’t grow by staring at it, the fruit in your life doesn’t grow by staring at yourself. It grows by staring and delighting in Jesus who is the perfect embodiment of the fruit of the Spirit! Jesus is the only one who’s ever been able to resist every desire of the flesh, and perfectly live out every part of the fruit of the Spirit. The more you stare and delight in Jesus, the more you’ll stare and delight in the fruit of the Spirit, over the desires of the flesh. So look at Jesus, not at yourself.
The 2nd thing I want to encourage you to do is to invite some people to our Easter service. One of our codes here at City Awakening is to love the few so we can love the many, and you can do that by inviting some of the people you know to come to our Easter service. There’s a lot of people in our city walking enslaved to the desires of the flesh, some are your very own friends and family...If you truly believe Jesus has the power to save them and set them free, then invite them...Take the invite cards on your seats and invite them...Invite at least 1-2 people to come to our Easter service, pray for them to come, and pray for their hearts to be set free by Jesus if they do come. You’re not helping to transform their lives by not inviting them. But if you invite them, it creates the possibly for their lives to be transformed by Jesus forever. So invite them and pray for Jesus to set them free, so they can delight in the fruit of the Spirit too.
The Big Idea:
Let’s have the worship team come up and get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. Jesus gives us the freedom to resist, the destructive desires of our flesh...Jesus gives us the freedom to resist, the destructive desires of our flesh...Society’s taught us to follow the desires of our flesh, the desires of our hearts, but not every desire in our heart is a good thing. What Jesus is offering us today, will always be a good thing. What Jesus is offering us today is the chance to delight in the sweet fruit of the Spirit, rather than the bitter desires of the flesh. He’s offering us the chance to grow in love, not hate. To grow in unshakable joy, not situational joy. To grow in peace, not worry and fear. He’s offering us the chance to grow plump in every part of the fruit of the Spirit, which is a much sweeter offer, than the bitter offer of the sinful destructive desires of our flesh.
So let’s accept that offer today...Let’s accept that offer today by worshiping Jesus, and by following the Holy Spirit’s guidance in growing us into plump heavenly fruit, until the day we enter eternity, and the war between the flesh and Spirit stops. For those of you who are tired and beat up from warring with a certain desire of the flesh, if you want us to help hold your arms up with prayer, or if you want to know how to have a relationship with Jesus. Some of our team members will be standing in the back left corner to pray with you, you can to go back there anytime during the worship. City Awakening let’s stand and worship Jesus for the great freedom and fruit he’s given us, and then let’s go invite others to enjoy that freedom and fruit on Easter.
Pray For The People
• Love = It’s the type of love where you love others just as Jesus loved you. You don’t love them to get something from them, you love them regardless of what you get from them...just like Jesus loved you, even though you had nothing to give to him.
Joy = This is where you have so much joy in Jesus, that regardless of the situation you’re facing in life, you’re still able to rejoice. You don’t ignore the pains of your situation, it’s just those pains can’t rob you of joy. Your joy doesn’t fluctuate in situational storms.
Peace = You have so much security in your relationship with God, because you know you’ve been forgiven of all your sins through Jesus. It’s also where you have so much trust in God, that you’re able to sleep well at night knowing He’s in control of your life.
Patience = You’re able to face situations and hardships without going into despair, or blowing up in anger. It’s because you trust God has a purpose and plan for everything you’re going through in life...So instead of freaking out, you patiently trust He’s knitting that purpose and plan together, in ways that’ll always turn out for your good.
Kindness = You’re so moved by the needs of others, that you serve them in ways that show generosity and sympathy towards them, just as Jesus showed toward you.
Goodness = You have integrity and honesty in everything you do. You’re always willing to do the right thing, even when it’s inconvenient or unpopular.
Faithfulness = You’re consistently reliable and dependable. People know they can trust you and depend on you, because you always follow do what you say you’ll do.
Gentleness = You have a gentle and merciful heart towards others, just as Jesus had a gentle and merciful heart towards us. It’s not weakness, it’s like Jesus having the power to crush us for sinning, but instead he showed gentleness and mercy by dying for our sins.
Self-Control = You have the self-control and discipline to resist the desires of the flesh, instead of being impulsive, and easily giving into the desires of the flesh.