I greet you in the Blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning's message is taken from Galatians chapter 5, verse 19 to 21.
There are only two types of people in this world, spiritually speaking: believers or unbelievers, saved or lost, Heaven-bound or Hell-bound—only two types. Both types will manifest certain unique attitudes, characteristics, and behaviors. For the believers who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and as they live their lives according to the Spirit's leading, they will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We have learned that in our previous message, and they will instead manifest the Fruit of the Spirit, which we will learn in our next message. The flesh is our unregenerate nature; it is the human side of us. As believers, we are new creatures in Christ, living in this body known as the flesh, which is sinful. And as long as we live in this flesh, we are still capable of sinning.
The believer can either walk in the Spirit and avoid fulfilling the lust of the flesh, or he can give in to the lust of the flesh and fall into sin. From time to time, the believer may fall into sin, but for him to live continuously and habitually in sin, it is not only abnormal, it is impossible because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As verse 17 tells us: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary one to the other," which means there is this spiritual battle going on within our hearts between the Spirit and the flesh, and most certainly the Spirit is greater.
For the unbeliever, they do not have the Holy Spirit; it is always the flesh which is sinful, and therefore they will manifest in sinful behaviors. In a sense, it is normal for the unbelievers to live in habitual sins in the course of their entire life. The unbeliever may not indulge in all the sins, but he will engage in certain habitual sins, whatever they may be. Here, in this passage, the Apostle Paul lists some of the ugly sins that the works of the flesh would manifest. The title of our message is "The Works of the Flesh."
I would like to approach this passage based on three questions: What is this works of the flesh? How are the works of the flesh manifested? Where do the works of the flesh lead to? Firstly, let us consider what is this works of the flesh. The phrase "the works of the flesh" is the opposite of "the fruit of the Spirit." The fruit of the Spirit comes from God; it is produced by the Holy Spirit, that is why it is called the Fruit of the Spirit. But on the other hand, the works of the flesh come out of man's own heart. They are the works of men—not Satan, not the world—so man cannot blame Satan. When a man does these works, he does them willingly; he's responsible, he has no excuse.
The works of the flesh are evil works. Let us take a moment and consider this: all the sins you can ever think of—those notorious sins, those petty sins, those wicked thoughts, evil agendas, horrendous deeds, those things that you commit in the dark and you think no one knows but God knows—do you realize that they all have something in common? It is called the flesh. It is the desire to satisfy ourselves. It is about pleasing our ego, our passions. It is to have self-gratification, joy, fun, pleasure, and entertainment. It is all about me. The Bible calls it the flesh, and all the things that are energized by the flesh are known as the works of the flesh.
Our second point is: how are the works of the flesh manifested? Verse 19: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these." The word "manifest" indicates that these things are open, not hidden. In other words, you can sense it, feel it, and see it. It is not something that you would say, "Oh, I did not know that I can have all these attitudes or characteristics." You may deny it, you may ignore it, but it is open and not hidden. The Bible says they are manifest.
The Apostle Paul categorized the works of the flesh into three groups: sexual sins, religious sins, and sins pertaining to our human relationships. Let us consider the first group that has to do with sexual sins: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. We all understand what adultery means—it is to be sexually unfaithful to the person you are married to. The world tries to trivialize adultery; they joke about it, they make movies out of it, they write books about it, they have reality shows that talk about it. Those who love to watch drama shows, soap operas, they will be able to tell you how much adultery is involved in those shows. The question is, how can God's people find that entertaining? Have we become so comfortable with sin that what God actually hates has become our entertainment? God forbids.
The original Greek word for fornication is from where we get the English word for pornography. This particular word is not restrictive; it can be used to refer to any type of sexual activity that is not legitimate according to God's word. The only place whereby God considers a sexual activity as legitimate is within the context of marriage between a husband and wife. Any other sexual activity outside of marriage is considered as fornication, sometimes translated as immorality. Today, how does the world consider fornication? Is it a big thing? Some years back, I had a relative whose son had a girlfriend, and one day the girlfriend was found to be pregnant, and they immediately decided to get married. They sent out wedding cards; the parents had to explain to the relatives why the sudden wedding. And I remember some people saying to the parents, "Congratulations! Congratulations! You are going to be grandparents soon."
My friends, to a large extent, the world has no issue with fornication. It is an acceptable practice, especially amongst the younger generation. But about 40 years ago, when I was still a teenager, it was a big deal—people living together while they were not married, no way! Although some people did it anyway, it was unacceptable. Now, fast forward 40 years later, by and large, it is an acceptable practice. The idea of remaining a virgin, the idea of abstinence before marriage is considered unrealistic. Not only the young people consider it unrealistic, even adults consider it unrealistic. That was the reason why in 2017, doctors in Victoria were allowed to prescribe the pill, known as contraceptive pills, to students as young as 12 years old in government schools. Can you imagine that?
The word "uncleanness" is a medical term used to refer to an infected wound. Here it speaks of the heart and the mind being infected—the filthiness of the heart and the mind. The unclean person sees filth and dirt in everything. As Titus 1:15 says, "Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." If I can give you an extreme illustration, it will be that of a pedophile who looks at an innocent little child, even has this most evil and unclean thoughts in his mind. That's the idea of someone who is unclean. Are you a person who has such uncleanness in your heart, in your mind, that everything you see, you see them classified as filth and dirt.
"Lasciviousness" is a sexual immorality which is committed publicly and unrestrained. The Apostle Peter used this word "lasciviousness" to describe the homosexuals in Sodom who tried to rape the angels. They did not hide their sins; they openly and publicly displayed their unspeakable evil. You can read about that in 2 Peter 2:7. Today, this kind of unrestrained sexual indulgence—lasciviousness—is taken to a whole new level. Just take a look at the gay pride parades, where people will walk the streets all over the world naked and boast about their sexuality without any shame. We are living in such perilous times.
Next, Paul moved on to the second group, which has to do with religious sins. Verse 20: "Idolatry, witchcraft." The word "idolatry" not only refers to those who worship false gods or false religious systems; it is a very broad term. In Colossians 3:5, the Apostle Paul connects covetousness with idolatry. In other words, when someone is covetous, when someone is always desiring for more, when he envies what someone else has—that is idolatry. When you and I value things and people more than we value God, when you and I place our confidence in things and people more than God, when we give priority to things and people more than we give to God, whether it be our jobs, our relationships, our businesses, our finances—that is idolatry.
Basically, the root problem of idolatry is that your relationship with God is not able to satisfy you. That is why you are not satisfied with just having God in your life. And whatever you think in your mind is able to satisfy you, that becomes your god. In a sense, everyone is a worshiper; he either worships the one living and true God, or he worships something in His place. He
will put something or someone in the place of the Almighty. God forbids that you and I will ever do that. Do you know that when you come to church, if your coming to church is not for the worship of God, and it is for any other reasons other than God, the Bible says that is idolatry.
Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10:7: "Neither be idolators, as were some of you; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." In other words, the people did not come to worship God—they came to eat and drink, they came to play. The word "play" is to fool around, joke around, take all the spiritual things very lightly. My friends, if you come to church to look for more friends, if you come to church to look for a husband or a wife, or to look for more clients for your business, that would become your idol. God's people must never, never put anything other than God first in their lives.
The original word for "witchcraft" is from where we get the English word for "pharmacy." Some of you may be wondering, what has medicine got to do with witchcraft? In ancient times, it was very common for occultic practices to use drugs whenever they wanted to communicate with their deities. There was a reason why this word became closely related to witchcraft, sorcery, and black magic. Today, we have witnessed how drugs, especially mood- and mind-altering drugs, have created so much havoc in our modern times. One good example is that of rock music. Do you know that those heavy metal rock singers are known to take drugs in order for them to write those lyrics and sing those rock songs? And many of those rock songs have satanic influences and connotations. Christians must never play a part in listening to those satanic rock songs.
Then Paul moved on to the third category that has to do with human relationships: hatred or enmity. It is to have an attitude that loves to oppose others, loves to challenge others, and this attitude will lead to variance, which is the opposite of unity. When we have people in the church whose hearts are filled with hatred or animosities, there will never be unity—there will only be variances, divisions. The original Greek word for "emulations" is to be zealous, but here it is to be zealous for the wrong reasons or motivations. It is to have a strong desire to be better than others; you cannot stand others being better than you—that is the meaning of the word "emulations."
"Wrath" refers to rage or violent anger. These people are always fighting with others; their anger would easily flare up in a moment, in an instant. Angry people would inevitably have a contentious spirit that leads to rivalries—that is the meaning of "strife." And whenever you have strife, it will lead to divisions or factions—that is the meaning of "seditions," from where we get the English word for "dichotomy," which means to cut into two. The original Greek word for "heresy" means to make a choice, to choose one or the other, like those who chose to follow the Pharisees; others chose to follow the Sadducees. Oftentimes, it has to do with doctrines, essentially using false doctrines so that the people would be enticed to follow—that is why it was translated as "heresy."
Next, look at the first part of verse 21: envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Envying is the other side of jealousy. You know the difference between jealousy and envy. Jealousy wants what someone else has, whether it be appearance, fame, popularity, money, position, status, and so forth. Envy does not want someone else to have it. Envy hates the person for having the things he or she does not have.
We do not need to explain what murders means, but I think it is important for us to take note of what our Lord Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:21—that it is more than just physical murder in the eyes of God. When you are angry with your brother, it is equivalent to the sin of murder. Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it was said of them of all time, 'Thou shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.' But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whosoever shall say to his brother, 'Raqa,' shall be in danger of the council, and whosoever shall say, 'Thou fool,' shall be in danger of hell fire."
Drunkenness is to be affected by alcohol so much so that you are not yourself. When I was serving my national service in Singapore, I had army buddies who were generally quite timid. They were afraid of trouble and kept to themselves most of the time, but when they start to drink alcohol, all of a sudden they have this kind of false courage that will cause them to challenge others to fight and get themselves into all kinds of trouble. They were never like that; they were not themselves. That is why we always say that is alcohol guts. The harm that alcohol does to the individual and to the families is beyond what our minds can ever imagine. Reveling refers to the rowdy and riotous behaviors, especially under the influence of alcohol.
A word of caution to all the young people: You may not drink alcohol, you may not engage yourself in drunkenness and revelings. That is a good thing. But when you attend a function or a party whereby your friends are engaged in drunkenness and revelings, you are putting yourself in the way of great danger. So many innocent victims were killed not because they were the troublemakers, but their friends were the troublemakers. So you must be wise. Not only yourself, you don't engage in drunkenness and revelings, but be careful of the people you associate with. Do not be found in places where there'll be drunkenness and revelings. That would be great danger.
The phrase "and such like" means "and things similar to this," which means this list is not exhaustive. There are many other sins similar to this sins; it is impossible to record down every one of them. There was a reason why the Apostle Paul ends with "and such like." There means many other sins similar to this sins, which not possible for me to record them down.
My friends, Christians should not engage themselves in all these sins known as the works of the flesh, whether it be sexual sins like adultery, fornication, uncleanness in your heart, in your mind, or lasciviousness, religious sins, idolatry, and witchcraft, sins pertaining to our human relationships, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, and revelings. We must always examine our hearts, our lives. Have we manifest these works of the flesh in the way we live, in the thoughts we think, in the things we say?
Our third and final point is: Where do the works of the flesh lead to? Let us look at the second part of verse 21: "Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." The world is fine with all these things that we have just read and considered. In fact, the world was saying that you are just having a good time, it is all right. But the Apostle Paul said very emphatically in the word of God, I'm warning you now, just as I have warned you before in the past, that if a person does such things, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That is a very serious statement.
Immediately that statement would raise this question: Who hasn't done some of these things, right? Which Christian can claim that he or she has never committed a single one of these sins since he or she was converted? If that is the case, no one can possibly enter into the kingdom of God. The catch here is the word "do." It is a present active participle, which means it is an ongoing action. It is to exercise; it is to practice something again and again. In other words, Paul was talking about those sins that a person does as a habitual continual pattern, so much so that it has become his way of life.
My friends, there are some people who are living in sin, and they would always try to justify themselves by saying, "Well, who is perfect? I am not perfect, that is why I am committing this sins." Indeed, no one is perfect. Sometimes in a moment of weakness, you and I may yield to temptation and fall into sin. But to continuously live in sin as a habitual pattern is another thing altogether. It is impossible. Remember, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, he will not allow that to happen. The Holy Spirit will convict our hearts and cause us to repent of our sins. The Holy Spirit will empower us so that we believe a transformed life. If we are true believers, the Holy Spirit will not allow us to continuously live in sin as a habitual pattern. It is not only abnormal, it is impossible. If you just continue in your sins, engaging in all the works of the flesh, and you go on and on and on without any convictions, without any repentance, then it goes to show one thing—that you may not be saved in the first place.
One classic example is found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, where Paul said to the Corinthians—allow me to read for you 1 Corinthians 6:9—"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, do not be foolish: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." Then Paul said to the Corinthians, "And such were some of you"—past tense, which means some of you were fornicators, some of you were idolaters, homosexuals, drunkards, but that was in the past. Today you are no longer practicing these sins. How is that possible? With all he said, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God."
My friends, in other words, if the believer is truly saved and has truly been washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and his sins are all forgiven, clothed with the righteousness of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for him to continue in habitual sins, in those sins that he once engaged in. For those people who say, "Well, I was born a homosexual, what can I do about it?" You are not born a homosexual, you are born a sinner. And any sin in your heart that you gravitate to, whether it be fornication, homosexuality, drunkenness, God is able to change you, transform your life, and turn you around. For men it is impossible; for God, all things are made possible. To the Corinthians, Paul said, "And such were some of you." Notice the Apostle Paul did not say they shall not deserve the kingdom of God, but rather they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Nobody deserves the kingdom of God. Absolutely nobody deserves to enter into the glorious state and to be with God forever and ever.
The only way a person is able to enter into the kingdom of God is by inheriting it. And the only way a person can inherit the kingdom of God is by virtue of what our Lord Jesus had done for us on the cross of Calvary, where he died and shed his precious blood to save us from the penalty of our sins. The kingdom of God speaks of the realm whereby God is King. Every kingdom would have a God, would have a king. So the kingdom of God is the realm whereby God himself is King. If you and I are truly saved, if you and I are true citizens of God's kingdom, then we must live our lives with God as our King. We live our lives not as we ourselves are kings, but Christ is our King. We live our lives not to promote ourselves, not to satisfy ourselves, entertain ourselves, but with this one purpose and one purpose only—to glorify Christ who is our King. That is the reason why we will always examine ourselves if we are manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, or are we manifesting the works of the flesh.
It is possible for a believer from time to time to fall into sin and manifest some of these sins recorded for us. But the moment we are convicted of our sins, we will repent because we want to glorify Christ. We do not want to grieve him. Is Christ your King? Are you a citizen of God's kingdom? If Christ is your King, and heaven, which is God's kingdom, is going to be your eternal home forever
and ever, then you must not manifest the works of the flesh as a habitual continual pattern of life.
May we return back, and we will learn about the fruit of the Spirit that you and I, as true believers, must produce through the wonder working of God's Spirit, that we may glorify our King. Let us pray.
Father in heaven, we thank thee for enabling us to consider this passage. Help us that we will not just learn thy word, but to apply thy word into our lives. Christ is our King, our citizenship is in thy kingdom, not on this world. That is our eternal home. And with Christ as our King, with thy kingdom as our eternal home, we want to live our lives to glorify our King. We do not want to grieve him. We do not want to, for a moment, yield to temptation and fall into sin. We do not, for a moment, want to manifest the works of the flesh. So we will always pause to examine our lives—the way we conduct ourselves, our thoughts, our speech, our actions—whether they are manifestations of the works of the flesh. If thou would convict our hearts, we would turn to thee in humility and ask for strength from the Spirit of God to repent, that we may live our lives walking in the Spirit, producing the fruit of the Spirit instead of the works of the flesh.
For those who are still lingering in spiritual darkness, always living in sin, manifesting only the works of the flesh, and deceiving themselves, thinking that no one is perfect, that is why I continue to commit all these sins, may thou teach them and cause them to understand that it is not only abnormal, it is impossible. Because the Holy Spirit who indwells in our hearts will not allow that to happen. It is one thing to fall into sin from time to time in moments of our weaknesses, but it is another thing altogether when we continue to live in sin as a habitual pattern of life. God forbids. So thou has taught us this blessed morning. Help us to apply this truth into our lives, all to the glory of thy precious name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.