Text: Galatians 5:19-21, Title: Indicators of False Faith, Date/Place: NRBC, 6/24/07, AM
A. Opening illustration: Maddie’s testimony, Laurie’s testimony
B. Background to passage: Paul is finishing out his teaching on the fact that correct theology (justification by faith) produces right living when one is truly born again. And immediately after describing the war that goes on within believers trying to kill their sin and walk in the Spirit, he elaborates on what “works of the flesh.” He kinda does a compare and contrast thing with the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Then he ties it up with a nice little bow indicating that those that follow in patterns of fleshly living are really not saved, and those that really are will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. The sad truth is that there are many people that live in our country, our state, our town, even here at NRBC that profess Christ, but never possess Christ. And it is not as though these people have a malicious attempt to deceive others, but rather they think that they are OK, but as you look at their lives you see no longing, no obedience, no fruit of this conversion. Jesus told parables and taught lessons on this important corollary to eternal security.
C. Main thought: So the message this morning is the first of a two part message series on the indicators of false and of genuine faith in Christ. So come back tonight, or your will miss the best part.
A. Patterns of Sexual Sin (v. 19b)
1. Paul and Jesus both begin lists of sinful behaviors with sexual sin. It is because that it is one of the most self-centered forms of sin and one of the most destructive and addictive. The first four (or three words) Paul uses depict all forms of sexual activity outside of a God-honoring marriage commitment. And the last two of these words indicate the separation from God because of the their uncleanness and their tendency toward escalation toward the worst forms of sexual sin regardless of the cost.
2. Matt 15:19, 1 Cor 6:9-20
3. Illustration: The average email user receives 4.5 pornographic emails each day, and the average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11 years old. Pornography is a $57 billion world-wide industry, including $12 billion in the United States alone. According to their statistics, pornography revenue exceeds the combined revenues of all professional baseball, football, and basketball franchises and the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC. That there are more outlets for hard-core pornography in this country than there are McDonalds restaurants? Approximately 47% of Christians state that pornography is a major problem in their home2. While polling data on pornography use among adults are unclear and varying, a ChristiaNet poll finds that as many as 50% of Christian men and 20% Christian women could be addicted to pornography3. A survey by The Barna Group in 2003 found that nationally 38% of adults believed there was nothing immoral about looking at pornography, and the same survey found that almost 50% of people ages 18-38 believed looking at pornography was not immoral6. In 1999, Cameron Barnes’ published a book called, Affair! How to Manage Every Aspect of Your Extramarital Relationship with Passion, Discretion, and Dignity. Claire’s equally serious response was humorously profound. "Yes," said Claire innocently, "but it’s also hard being a virgin, you know."
4. Ever since the ‘60s brought in the sexual revolution, our country’s cumulative morals have continued on a downhill slide. But you know, I expect lost people to act like lost people. And that is Paul’s point. If you are born again, walking in the Spirit, making war on the flesh, then you will not have patterns of impenitence in your life. Sure, you may struggle with these things, but to recklessly give yourself over to them without remorse, guilt, or chastisement probably indicates that you were never really saved. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a false believer claiming to be a Christian and a genuine believer who is caught in an addictive sin. And it really isn’t our place to judge someone’s salvation. What I am doing today is preaching what the bible says, that if you are Christ, you will have crucified the flesh, and you will make sure that it stays on the cross until it dies. It is good to know if you are lost. Dominating sin can be an indicator. However, if you are a believer and caught up in these types of things, keep fighting! Your eternity depends on it! Get some help! Men, you can’t kill this thing on your own. It’s not the end of the world if someone else knows, in fact, it may be the beginning of the rest of your life. Young people flee! This will destroy your spiritual life. It is a lie that Satan feeds you to get you entangled in things that are empty and void. Church, you can’t act like it doesn’t go on.
B. Patterns of Idolatry (v. 20a)
1. The next two words are words that mean to serve other gods and getting involved with the occult and with illegal drugs for the purpose of getting high or causing abortions. The drugs used in many of these cultic rituals also caused abortion, so they came to be associated with them. And just like the sexual sins, the greatest idol is self, from which all these things flow freely.
2. Ex 20:3-6, 1 Cor 6:12,
3. Illustration: The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not God…Excessive attachment or veneration for any thing, or that which borders on adoration, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will
4. Any form of the occult, witchcraft, Ouija boards, new age movement, astrology, or other religious rituals fall under this category. Our idolatry has gotten much more modern and high-tech. We idolize possessions and money, relationships, jobs, positions, hobbies, movie stars and musicians, computer games and food. If you have anything in your life that competes for and wins your devotion to Christ, it is an idol. Tear it down! God will not tolerate idols in the lives of His children. If he is tolerating one well in your life, you are lost! Illegal drugs and some legal drugs (prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco, etc) depending on how and why they are used qualify for these patterns. And strangely enough abortions.
C. Patterns of Sin Against Others (v. 20b)
1. The next eight words that Paul lists are ways that carnal lost people act when they sin against other people. For the sake of time, we will just define them a little. The word for “hatred” means hostility. It is equal to the opposite of love, and can also be translated “enmity.” The word for “contention” means fights, and loving to fight. The next word means what is says, with people not being satisfied with their place in life and their state, want and desire what everyone else has, even to the point that that don’t want others to have it, if they can’t. This is born from ingratitude and a sense of entitlement within our hearts that is fed by our culture. “Outbursts of wrath” is also translated fits of rage and it simply means those that can’t control their temper. It can also mean those who nurse and foster anger within, keeping anger at a low boil. Selfish ambition was a political term that meant to promote self-interest, and to always be seeking your own good at the expense of others in your family, job, or society. Dissensions and heresies mean to create division among a group or church, to form little factions or clicks within a group that create disunity. Believers are supposed to walk in love, not in envy and selfishness.
2. Pro 10:12, 1 Cor 3:3, James 4:2-3, Rom 16:17, Ex 20:17, Ps 37:8, Col 3:8, Pro 29:22, James 1:20, Philip 2:3-4,
3. Illustration: A woman testified to the transformation in her life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared, "I’m so glad I got religion. I have an uncle I used to hate so much I vowed I’d never go to his funeral. But now, why, I’d be happy to go to it any time." Dr Owens’s testimony about admitting that his anger was sinful, Ben Franklin said that anger is never without a reason, just seldom with a good one, Dr Patterson was diligent not to allow groups that were going to foster division on campus, talked to a young girl who used to come to this church, and her reason that she doesn’t come is that many of the older girls picked on her because she was different,
4. Do you see these patterns in your life? Do you hate people of other races? People of a different social class. Do you hate your life, your job, and your circumstances? Are you a negative person, always with a complaint, criticism, or pessimistic attitude? Are you always having disagreements with others because you don’t get your way? Are you constantly dissatisfied with your place in life, longing to have what others have—clothes, houses, cars, toys? Do you feel that you deserve so much more? Don’t chalk up your temper to anything other than sin. Don’t make excuses for it. Most anger is formed from not getting your way. Are you acting like a politician in church always rounding up people to support you in a disagreement? Are there certain people that you always avoid at church? These eight words are in total opposition to what the Spirit produces in your life, that’s why Paul is making the comparison. Transformed lives should look transformed.
D. Patterns of Unrestraint (v. 21)
1. Finally Paul gives us the life patterns of complete lack of control. Murder, speaking of taking life in the heat of the moment, or killing to preserve selfish intention, is a pattern than reveals an unredeemed life. Drunkenness is obviously not a pattern of the redeemed. And honestly I can’t understand why anyone would want to drink or support an industry like the alcohol industry, even if we don’t have an absolute biblical prohibition to abstain completely. The next word is translated revelries, or carousing, or orgies, or wild partying. It is always associated with alcohol and means all the things that typically happen when people allow their inhibitions to be lowered. It includes all the results that come from those things too—families destroyed, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, car wrecks, abuse, unrestrained sexual behavior, STDs, addictions, financial ruin, anxiety and depression related to those things, etc.
2. 1 Peter 4:3, Rom 8:13,
3. Illustration: see alcohol stats below given by Jerry Sutton at the convention this week, scientists in the Netherlands have now created a powdered alcoholic drink marketed to teens there, party schools: college is a great place to become and alcohol and make mistakes that will haunt you and affect the rest of your life, read the Wild Partying—ill file,
4. Jesus says that if you are angry enough with another to call them a fool, you are guilty of murder. Remember these heinous sins are in the same list as division, anger, and jealousy. Strive not to be a legalist about alcohol, yet still avoid it for your own sake, and for those around you. Don’t run with the crowd that will draw you back like Maddie. Guard your life, no one is immune to sin.
A. Closing illustration: Picture your flesh -- that old ego with the mentality of merit and craving for power and reputation and self-reliance -- picture it as a dragon living in some cave of your soul. Then you hear the gospel, and in it Jesus Christ comes to you and says, "I will make you mine and take possession of the cave and slay the dragon. Will you yield to my possession? It will mean a whole new way of thinking and feeling and acting." You say: "But that dragon is me. I will die." He says, "And you will rise to newness of life, for I will take its plan; I will make my mind and my will and my heart your own." You say, "What must I do?" He answers, "Trust me and do as I say. As long as you trust me we cannot lose." overcome by the beauty and power of Christ you bow and swear eternal loyalty and trust. And as you rise he puts a great sword in your hand and says, "Follow me." He leads you to the mouth of the cave and says, "Go in, slay the dragon." But you look at him bewildered, "I cannot. Not without you." He smiles. "Well said. You learn quickly. Never forget: my commands for you to do something are never commands to do it alone." Then you enter the cave together. A horrible battle follows and you feel Christ’s hand on yours. At last the dragon lies limp. You ask, "Is it dead?" His answer is this: "I have come to give you new life. This you received when you yielded to my possession and swore faith and loyalty to me. And now with my Sword and my hand you have felled the dragon of the flesh. It is a mortal wound. It will die. That is certain. But it has not yet bled to death and it may yet revive with violent convulsions and do much harm. So you must treat it as dead and seal the cave as a tomb. The Lord of darkness may cause earthquakes in your soul to shake the stones loose but you build them up again. And have this confidence: with my sword and my hand on yours this dragon’s doom is sure, he is finished, and your new life is secure."
B. Galatians 5:24-25 and 1 John 3:4-10 and 1 Cor 6:11, magnify the grace of Christ!
C. Invitation to commitment
"One in eight people who takes a drink becomes an alcoholic in our culture," Sutton said. "Are you going to be the person who is the role model for that one who becomes an alcoholic? Each day 7,000 kids under 16 take their first drink. Of those who begin drinking at or before 14, half become alcoholics. There are over 18 million identified alcoholics in the U.S.A.
"Alcohol is the leading cause of death among young people in the United States. Alcohol causes over 100,000 deaths a year. That’s about 400 a week. … Alcoholic deaths outnumber drug-related deaths 4 to 1. Alcohol is a factor in more than half of all domestic violence and sexual assaults. Half of the people who commit violent crimes are using alcohol. … Alcohol is responsible for half of all traffic fatalities. The alcohol industry spends a billion dollars a year telling you it’s just wonderful to drink. Seventy-six million Americans are affected by alcoholism in their families."
Sutton said he’s "never seen somebody hold a drink in their hand and give an effective witness."
