The Fruit Of The Spirit Series

Reading: Galatians chapter 5 verses 16-25.

Ill:

• The year was 1934.

• An impoverished prospector named Jacobus Jonker,

• Walked across his small farm in South Africa.

• The recent heavy rains had washed away loads of silt,

• And he searched tirelessly for any small treasures the torrents might have turned up.

• He scurried about, looking high and low for the fortune that would change his life.

• And as he slogged through the mire,

• Jacobus caught a glimpse of an oddly shaped stone, roughly the size of a hen’s egg.

• As he wiped away the mud, it began to look more and more like a diamond in the rough.

• Three days later, Jacobus Jonker sold his "rock" for a fortune.

• It was a 726-carat diamond that became known as the “.Jonker diamond "

• One of the most famous gems in history.

Questions:

• What do you think Jacobus did for the three days before he sold the diamond?

• What would you have done?

• You’d be really casual about it, right?

• Absolutely not.

• You would do’ what Jacobus did, everything possible to protect that stone.

• You’d lock it away in the safest place you could find.

ill;

• We may not have diamonds equal to the Jonker, but we all have possessions we cherish.

• And we go to great lengths to protect those valuables.

• We install security systems in our cars and homes.

• We buy all kinds of locks and keys to safeguard everything from bicycles to savings accounts.

• When it comes to our material goods, we play it safe.

• When it comes to our spiritual goods, we can often be foolish.

One of our most valuable possessions:

• Is a spiritual Jonker diamond — we call it our freedom in Jesus Christ.

• Many Christians instead of protecting it and keeping it safe.

• Are like the Galatians.

• They hold it loosely and allow someone or something to come along and steal it away.

So far in Galatians:

• The apostle Paul has been emphasising that every Christian is free in Jesus Christ:

• Paul has taken great pains to emblazon that truth on the hearts & minds of the Galatians.

• But that truth has come with a solemn warning.

• But if we are not careful we can lose that freedom, we can put our selves back in chains.

TWO THINGS CAN MAKE US CAPTIVES, PRISONERS AGAIN:

• (1). The Law — religious rules and regulations.

• Paul has dealt with that issue in the first part of chapter 5.

• (2). Loose living — just doing whatever we want (sinful living).

• Paul now deals with that attitude in these verses and also in chapter 6.

(1). THE CONTINIUOUS CONFLICT (vs 16-17):

16”So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the

sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful

nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”

• In South Africa it is black & white.

• In Sri Lanka it is Tamil & Singhalese.

• In Northern Ireland it is Catholic & Protestant.

• In North India it is Muslim and Hindu.

• In Israel it is Jew and Arab.

• In Europe if often seems to be Britain verses the rest.

• We live in a world of conflicts, two opposites colliding.

• What is true in the world is true for every Christian:

ill:

Every Christian experiences each day a civil war taking place:

• Christians can suffer from spiritual conflict.

• Two natures fighting for control.

QUSETION: What are the two natures?

Answer:

• (1). The old nature (that every human being is born with).

• lll: Bowls (The saved are still depraved!).

• (2). The new nature (that every Christian gets when they are born-again, converted).

• III: Our bodies become the house, the temple of the Holy Spirit

• So each day the Christian faces civil war:

• The Spirit of God and the old sinful nature battle with each other for control.

PAUSE AND SAY:

• Older versions of the Bible can be misleading because they use the words "the flesh"

• And some folks read that and think it means "the body."

The human body is not sinful; it is neutral:

• lf the Holy Spirit controls our mind and therefore our actions,

• Then the body is holy, pure, it is good.;

• But if the old nature controls our mind and therefore our actions,

• Our body can be used wrongly, and so then they are tools of sin