The Daily Fork in the Road

You know, the Lord wants us to do well, and the Lord is always encouraging us. Sometimes you may probably get more granddaughter stories than you probably need. But my little three-year-old granddaughter is kind of going through this thing called potty training, which is kind of interesting. And so every time she does something, she gets, I mean, it’s like you would think that, you know, somebody just got elected president. You know, yay, they got, you know, they’ll have candy or a little doll for her right there in the bathroom, and she gets a present. So she gets all kind of incentive. The other day, she just had a good day with that, and then my daughter comes out of the bathroom. And my little granddaughter runs up to my daughter and goes, “Yay, mommy, mommy potty.” And so it kind of runs in the family. So it’s just kind of interesting.

You know, sometimes God wants us to do good things. He wants to encourage us. Sometimes we come to a place in our lives where we’re looking for not so much His encouragement as His guidance. I don’t know how much you know about baseball, but a guy, one of my favorite teams is the old, especially the old Yankees, when they had a guy by the name of Yogi Berra behind the plate number eight. You may not know a lot about Yogi. He was a three-time MVP. He was an 18-time All-Star. Fifteen of them were in a row. He’s one of four catchers that have a perfect fielding percentage for an entire year. Never made an error. He’s in the Hall of Fame. His number’s been retired. But Yogi had a way of saying strange things at weird times. Here are some of his, they called them Yogi-isms. He says, “I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.” “You can observe a lot by just watching.” “Nobody goes there anymore. Too crowded.” “Let’s pair up in the threes.” “If the world were perfect, well, it wouldn’t be.” “Why buy good luggage? I mean, you only use them when you travel.” So those are kind of just, he would say things that people would just kind of shake their heads. But one thing he said that I thought was interesting was, “When you come to a fork in the road, just take it.” Think about that for that. Now, he said that to a guy who played baseball and became a broadcast named Joe Garagiola to tell him how to get to his house. Because when he got to his house, there was a fork in the road. And both sides led to his house. Usually life’s not that way.

In our passage this morning, we get two different perspectives on how to live our life. And I think it’s very serious. So if you’ve got your Bibles, I’d like you to turn with me to Galatians chapter 5, starting with verse 16. If you’ll stand with me for the reading of God’s Word. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you. Just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with His passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, and envying one another.” Thank you for standing. Please be seated.

Fork in the road. If there’s a passage in Scripture that just actually goes to the heart of how you’re to live your Christian life, it would be Galatians chapter 5. You ought to mark this down and know it. See, it is every day that we have to make decisions that either lift up the kingdom of God or tear it down. And to make these decisions, we have to understand basic warnings from Scripture. Number one is this, that the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are three things.

Number one, they’re in direct opposition to each other. There’s no straddling the fence with the Lord. He says you can go with the works or the deeds of the flesh, or you can go with the fruit of the Spirit.

Now, notice the words that are chosen here. He says works of the flesh, depending on what translation you have, or deeds. That means you’re striving to go in that direction. And you go, well, why would I strive to go in a direction that would not be good for me? I’m telling you, we do that. That’s the power of sin.

You know the thing I find out about sin? Sin will take it to the utmost. What will start maybe is just a lustful glance. If it’s possible, we’ll take you to something called adultery. If it’s just something that you’re just feeling like, well, I just kind of want that. I’m maybe a little greedy. It’ll take you to theft. Or maybe something that you envy or you covet will take you to murder. I mean, that’s how wars get started. Somebody wants something that somebody has, but they can’t possess it. So they just go and they take it. And they don’t care who they hurt, who they kill, or whatever. Sin is always that way. It will take it to always, if it’s possible, take it to the utmost.

The key to moral victories in our lives is this passage. And we need to understand that the flesh and the spirit are always in direct competition with each other. Okay? The other thing is they have nothing in common. If you listen, look at the list, there’s nothing in common. I mean, what is, listen to what it says. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strength. That has nothing to do with peace, love, joy, kindness, goodness, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It doesn’t have anything to do with that.

Here’s the deal. When you get saved, remember, this is written to Christians. So this is written to me and you. It’s not written to lost people. It’s written to me and you. We’re saying, well, when I get saved, why do I struggle? I struggle. The reason you struggle is the status of sin has changed, but not its presence. Okay? The status has changed, but not its presence. Sin doesn’t reign, but it remains. See, the Christian has died to sin, but sin has not died. Does that make sense? Do you understand that? It is still, there’s always a struggle.

I love the story about the Indian who says, you know, I have two wolves fighting inside of me. I always feel like that. I have the one that wants me to do good things, and then there’s the one that wants me to do bad things. And someone asks, well, who wins? He says, the one that I feed. What Paul is saying, how do you feed? And he tells us how to live.

In the Old Testament, you had the law. And the law says, okay, do this, this, this, this. Now, why would God give us all these commandments? Well, He gave them to us because He wants us to strive. He sets the bar high. But here’s the frustration. We never are able to accomplish that. And the reason He does that is He says, because He points us to someone who comes into our lives to change everything. And that would be Christ.

The covenants in the Old Testament are different than the covenants in the New Testament. Everybody thinks that the church replaces Israel. No, there’s a covenant with Israel. I’ll go to the end times. But there’s a covenant with the church. I mean, what does Paul says? You know, he says, you know, in Christ, there’s not Gentile or Jew. There’s not, you know, rich or poor. There’s not male or female. There’s not slave or free. He says, we all come, but there’s a new covenant, and that covenant’s called grace. And what He does here is He says, what happens is He makes a covenant with us so that we live different.

And here’s the thing. It’s in direct opposition to each other. There’s nothing in common, and it can’t be combined. You can’t say, well, I kind of, I’m dealing with this issue in my life. I want to give the Lord everything, but I’m struggling with this one room in my house. I don’t want to give Him. And He says, no, you can’t. You’ve got to give Him everything or nothing. But it’s an issue. It’s an issue. So the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit are in opposition. They have nothing in common.

They can’t be combined. But it brings us to a place where you’ve got to make a choice. You’ve got to make a choice one way or the other. And God is always asking you and me to make choices every day. You come to Forks in the Road every day. When I think of this book, this book is nothing but a book of choice. Does that make sense? It’s a book of choice going all the way from the garden. Adam and Eve had a choice. Joshua stands before the folks and says, “Choose you this day who you will serve.” But let me tell you, but for me, I’m making this choice. The New Testament is nothing but choices. And when we come to Galatians 5, He’s saying you can live one of two ways. You can live according to the flesh or you can live according to the Spirit. I asked you this morning, what do you want to live according to? I just think that’s important. And how do you make that choice? A picture would be almost like a boxing ring. And in this corner, in the red trunks, is the flesh. And in this corner, in the blue trunks, is the Spirit. And they’re constantly battling one another.

And I want to tell you, until you one day go home to be with the Lord, you know, there’s going to come a time where we’re going to look at and we’re not going to have to worry about sin anymore. We’re not going to have to worry about that choice coming to that crossroads every day because something major is going to happen in our life. You know what it is? You’re going to die. That’s when that happens. And then you stand before the Lord. So every day of your life, you have choices. Every day of your life, you come to a crossroads. Every day of your life, you’ve got to decide, do I want to go this way or do I want to go this way? So how do you make that? Well, to make godly choices, you’ve got to do a couple things. Number one, understand the destructive nature of the flesh. It’s destructive. Like I said, if it can take you to the utmost, it will take you to the utmost. And there’s a war going on.

When I think of war, you know, I was very lucky. I was in the military. I never had to go to war. But a lot of guys have. I was reading a story this week about a guy named Hal Moore. Now, Hal Moore is the guy that they renamed Fort Benning after. Fort Benning is where they have infantry training, airborne training, the initial ranger training. All those happen at Fort Benning. Well, who was Hal Moore? Well, in 1965, Hal Moore was just a lieutenant colonel. The reason I know a little bit about Hal Moore is my dad served under him. And Hal Moore in 1965 in Vietnam was in one of the most first real critical battles of Vietnam. They were just starting to use helicopters to kind of take people from one place to another. And they were supposed to take them to a safe area, and they dropped them right in the middle of a North Vietnamese division headquarters, which was underground. And what started was a four- or five-day battle that was, I mean, these guys were just trying to survive. They were completely surrounded. I mean, just fought and fought and fought. But he talks about, you know, and in 1992, he wrote a book about it called We Were Once Younger Soldiers. And in 2002, a movie came out where Mel Gibson played the role.

But he talks about, he says, when you’re in situations like this, a couple things happen. And this was written by a guy who was a journalist who happened to be with him at the time, who also, by the way, received a bronze star. He said, “I absolutely love the man. He taught me great things. He had so many ways of teaching and the concise things he’d say. One of the things I rely on every time I direct is something he said to me: In the smoke and noise of battle, surrounded by the screams of the wounded and the dying, a leader will do one of two things. He will either contaminate with his cowardice or he’ll inspire by his example.” When you come to a place in your life where you can say this or act a certain way or respond, and you could go this way and it just is part of the sinful nature of the flesh, or you can do it the way God would want you to do it. You either come to a place where you can contaminate or you can inspire. I’m asking, what are we starting to do as Christians? God looks at us to be holy like He’s holy. Listen to what He says. First of all, we’ve just got to understand this. The way we live in the New Testament, the church, is verse 16. I say walk in what? Not according to the law, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. And He talks about the different parts. He said the destructive nature of the flesh. What are they? Well, they’re sexual offenses. Look at some of these that He starts here. Immorality, impurity, sensuality. And then He starts talking about religious offenses, idolatry, sorcery, enmity. And then He talks about what I call relational offenses. Strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. That are just destructive, not only just to you, but the people that are around you and to the relationships that you have in your life. And God is clear about what He wants us to be. He wants us to be holy. Here’s the deal about holiness. Holiness is not just saying this is what God’s about. Holiness is saying God wants to give us the things that makes Him different from us. God wants you to be holy. Well, where does He say that? Well, Leviticus 19:2, He says, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.’” In Leviticus 20:7, He says, “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.” He says in Leviticus 20:26, “You shall be holy to me, for I am the Lord and holy and have separated you from the peoples. You are mine.” He says in 1 Peter 1:16, “Since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, because I’m holy.’” God sets the standard. Let me ask you this. Do we even ever look at the standard? Or do you just want to just kind of muddle through life and not care who you influence? God’s called us out to make a difference. So we need to understand the destructive nature. Look at some of these things. Now, you may say they’re not that big a deal. Now, we would think of immorality, impurity, sensuality. But how about idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife? Folks that just want to pick a fight. Have you ever known anybody like that? When you look at the word enmity, that’s people that just are looking to pick a fight. You ever know anybody like that? People that are just, I mean, I’m waking up today and I’m going to tick somebody off. How many politicians do we know? I mean, everybody’s just looking to tick somebody off. Agree with me or you’re evil. And it starts with our thoughts. I wrote this down. Many years ago, I heard this said, and I just wrote down because it just made so much sense to me. Watch your thoughts. They’re going to become your words. Watch your words because they’re going to become your actions. Watch your actions because they’ll become your habits. Watch your habits because they’re going to become your character. You need to watch your character. It’ll become your destiny. It just started as a thought. Then it changed your life. And the reason is because all through your life, you came to that fork in the road and you decided to go the direction that you wanted to go. Years ago, I had a young man that was a youth intern for me. And we had just had a great, it was usually between Christmas and New Year’s, I would take the youth group and we would go somewhere. And about three, four days and just get away from the world. It was, you know, school hadn’t started back yet. And they just, and so I wanted them to kind of lead it. And so they decided to run it off a book called Not a Fan. It’s written by Kyle Idleman. And it’s basically, the premise is this, that God’s not looking for fans. What He’s looking for is followers. And this young man was one of the main leaders. And I’d let him preach in my pulpit on Easter Sunday. And he was kind of leading this thing about not being a fan, being a follower of Jesus. And then a couple of weeks after the retreat, I started hearing some rumors that he was kind of letting his girlfriend bend the night over his apartment. See, he had already graduated high school and he was kind of that college age at, you know, working age. And so I was trying to train maybe to go into youth ministry, but I was hearing that. So, well, once you’re here, you’ve got to do something. So, I mean, I took him out to lunch. I’ll never forget. I said, let me share some things with you that I’ve heard, and then you tell me if it’s true or not. And so I shared that with him. I said, you know, there’s rumors going around that your girlfriend spent some nights with you. Here’s what he said. He said, Al, he said, we’re not doing anything. Sometimes it’s just late at night, and she needs to stay there. And I said, okay, I’m going to believe you, but I want you to hear me real clear. I said, first of all, if it’s going around the youth group, they’re not believing that. See, they’re going to already just assume a certain situation. But even if it is true, if you continue in it, you’re not going to be able to look me in the eye and tell me that nothing’s going on.

Later, he walked in my office, and I’d give him keys to the youth room, put the keys to the youth room on my desk, and said, I can’t live in a fishbowl. Walked out. Choices. See, listen to it. Idolatry. Idolatry is saying, I’m going to put my lifestyle and what I want over God. Idolatry is saying, I’m going to put my boyfriend and my girlfriend over God. Idolatry is saying, I’m going to put my job over God. And, you know, there’s nothing wrong with having a boyfriend and girlfriend. There’s nothing wrong with having a job. There’s nothing wrong with having those kind of things in your life. The deal is when it becomes, when it just takes over everything that the Lord wants you to do and how He wants you to live and living, you know, according to the Spirit.

Being fruit of the Spirit. See, we talk, look at deeds of the Spirit. They’re the works. But then we look at the fruit of the vine. It’s interesting. He doesn’t say works or deeds of the vine. He says fruit of the vine. Where does that come from? What does it come from? John chapter 15. I am the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much, what? Much fruit. Apart from Me, he can do nothing. See, the fruit that comes from abiding in Christ is so much better. I mean, He sits there and He just puts it out there. The fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, joy, peace. Who doesn’t want that in their life? Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. You don’t need laws for that. Who wants to stop that from happening in your life?

See, when you get with the works or the deeds of the flesh, and the flesh is nothing more than a human nature dominated by sin. It’s all your personalities, your habits, and your thoughts, which are totally dominated by sin. Your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, become your destiny. See, here’s the destiny of those that practice. He says here, he says, just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things, this isn’t might, he says, will not inherit the kingdom of God. So we understand the destructive nature of the flesh. Now we understand the blessings and the opportunities we have in the Spirit. The fruit always points toward godly relationships. The fruit is also to be used and shared. And the fruit shows this, that you are controlled by the Holy Spirit. How do you stop that? Well, it comes to this. Our flesh has to be crucified. I am crucified with Christ. Therefore, it is no longer I that lives, but what? Same book, Christ that lives in me.

In 1982, there was a little bitty war. It didn’t last long. It was down around Argentina. It was called the Falkland War, over the Falkland Islands. You remember it? Some of you might remember it. England owned, you know, based on one of their islands is down there around Argentina. Well, Argentina says, you know, we kind of want that back. And so they just went over there with their army and just took the island. England’s going, it’s not your island. First of all, almost just about 90% of The people who live on it are British. You can’t take that island. So a little war for just a small period of time happened there. Britain brought ships down and, you know, their army, whatever. But you know what the first thing the British did? The very first act that they did against the Argentinian army on the island was they took out the runways. Brought in their bombers and just bombed where you couldn’t even hardly see a runway and once they ever let’s land on one. Now, why would they do that? So that there would be no reinforcements into that island, especially by air. But when’s it going to land on that island?

Folks, sometimes what God’s asking us to do is to bomb the runways that let things like deeds of the flesh come into our lives. People we hang around, things we watch, allow our eyes to see, things we listen to, whether it’s television or whatever. Now, sometimes you’ve got to decide what’s important in your life. You come to the crossroads. Which way are you going to go on? Who are you going to hang with? What are the decisions? Who’s influencing who? I always tell folks this. Well, I can lead that person to Christ. Yes, you can. But are you doing that? Or is that person influencing your life more? Your flesh has to be crucified.

Folks, we’re at war. Even the Westminster Confession of Faith says this: “There abides still some remnants of corruption in every part, which arises a continual and irreconcilable war.” We’re always at war in this situation.

Let’s look at the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. That’s what? That’s up towards the Lord. Okay? That’s Godward looking. What’s the next one? Patience, kindness, goodness. That’s manward looking. That’s in relationships to each other. And then what? Gentleness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That’s getting things right with your own heart. All of a sudden, your relationship with the Lord, your relationship with each other, and all of a sudden, your relationship with yourself is different because the fruit of the Spirit is starting to grow in you.

See, the last thing is God desires us to always make the right decision and then correct the bad ones that we have made. Look what He says here. Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Okay? That means that every time you go out there, every time you face that crossroads or that, you know, that basically you’re looking at that split in the road. He says you live by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, or even envying one another. We’ve got to watch what we do and what we say, not just to the world out there, but to each other. I want to tell you, people, people are watching.

Dr. John MacArthur, pastor and writer and theologian, tells of a man who recently came into his office looking for the shepherd. He says, “Not long ago, I had a man walk into my office and said, ‘I need help. I feel strange coming to you because I’m not even a Christian. I’m Jewish. Until a few weeks ago, I had never even been in a church. But I need help from someone, so I decide to talk to you.’ He said, ‘I’ve been divorced twice. I’m living with a woman who’s my lover, and I don’t even like her. But I haven’t got the courage to leave her and go back to my second wife. I’m a medical doctor. Worse, I’m an abortionist. I kill babies for a living. Last year in my clinic, we did $9 million worth of abortions. And I don’t do therapeutic abortions. I do abortions for any reason. And if a woman doesn’t have a reason, I give her a reason. Six weeks ago, I came to Grace Community Church on a Sunday morning, and I’ve been coming every week since. And last week, you preached a sermon called Delivered to Satan. If there was ever anyone who was delivered to Satan, it’s me. I know I’m doomed to hell because of what I’ve done. I’m absolutely unhappy. I’m continually seeing a psychoanalyst, and I’m not getting any help at all. I can’t stand the guilt. I don’t know what to do about it. Can you help me?’”

John MacArthur said this: “No, I can’t help you.” He looked at me startled. Sheer desperation was in his face. I let it sink in, and then I said, “I know someone who can. His name’s Jesus.”

He said, sadly, “But I don’t know who He is. I’ve been taught all my life not to believe in Him.” So John MacArthur said, “Would you like to know who Jesus Christ is?” He said, “I would if He can help me.” So he hands him a Bible, points him to the book of John, and tells him, “Go home, read it, read this book, and when He knows who Jesus is, to come back or call Him.” He said, “Within a week or two, the man was back in my office. I know who He is.” I said, “You do.” He said, “Yeah, I do.” “Well, who is He?” “I’ll tell you one thing. He’s not just a man.” I said, “Really? Well, who is He?” “Well, He’s God.” “Would you or tell me that Jesus Christ is God? How do you know that?” “Well, it’s clear. It’s right there in the book of John.” “Well, we’ll convince you.” “Well, look at the words. He says, and look at the things He did. No one could say and do those things unless He was God.” He was echoing the Apostle John’s thesis perfectly. I nodded enthusiastically. I mean, he’s kind of on a roll. “Do you know what else He did? He rose from the dead. That proves He’s God, doesn’t it? God Himself came into the world.” I asked him, “Do you know why He came?” “Yeah, He came to die for my sin.” “Well, how do you know that?” He said, “Well, I like John so much that I went over and found the book of Romans and read the whole book of Romans.” “As soon as I clean up my life, I’m going to become a Christian.” He said, “No, I think you got it backwards. It’s the wrong approach. See, you receive Him as your Lord and Savior now, and then you let Him clean up your life.” Then I asked the man, “What would such a decision mean for your career?” He said, “Well, I spent this afternoon writing my resignation letter to the abortion clinic, and when I get out of here, I’m going to call my second wife, and I’m going to bring her to church.”

When we read Galatians 5, let me tell you what we’re looking for. We’re looking for someone to lead us down the right road. We come to that fork, and it can be wide and well-traveled, or it can be very narrow sometimes. We need someone called a shepherd. When I think of Psalms 23, I mean, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not, what? Want. You know, He maketh me lie down in, what? Green pastures. He leads me besides. He’s leading still waters. He does what? He restoreth my soul. He leads me in the paths of, what? Righteousness. For what? For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I’ll fear no evil. Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou prepares to table before me in the very presence of my enemies. Anointeth my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I dwell in the house of the Lord.

You know what you do when you come to the fork? Follow the shepherd. Follow the shepherd who doesn’t let you go down. If you follow Him, doesn’t let you go down and do the deeds and the works of the flesh. You’re just going to destroy your life, destroy the lives of everybody around you, and lead you into a place where you will not inherit the kingdom of God. If you follow the shepherd, He gives you the fruit of the spirit. Peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Who doesn’t want that? What do you guys want? What do you want? I won’t. You turn your life over to the shepherd so you don’t have to deal with some of this other junk? Not that you’re not going to fight. Not that you’re not going to have conflict. But the wonderful thing about even conflict is that courageous people rise to the occasion. Bravery rises to the occasion. Good things rises to the occasion and ends the mess in our lives.

What decision do you want to make today? How do you want to live? You’re at a crossroads. I’m telling you, everybody here is at a crossroads. How do you want to live your life? You want to live your life going down deeds or the works of the flesh? Or do you want the fruit of the spirit? Where’s John 15? You’re abiding. Father, I want to live by the Spirit. That’s, that’s, Paul’s real clear just in verse 16. As Christians, we’re to live by the Spirit. We don’t have to even worry about the law. If we live by the Spirit, taking care of the law will take care of itself. We live by the Spirit, we become more like You. If we live by the Spirit, we always have a shepherd in our life. That we don’t mess up. You lead us back. We get clear.

Father, this morning, we got some decisions to make. Some of us may need to make decisions about, about just getting our lives right with You and turning our life over to You and realize who You are. Some of us need to realize, you know, I need to join this church. I need to make commitments in my life. I need to make commitments to Jesus. Lord, let us, help us to make the right choices that we need to make. Many of us are at crossroads and forks. We’re, we’re at places where we have to make decisions. It could be work. It could be relationships. It could be whatever. But Lord, help us to make the correct one. Follow the shepherd. In His name we pray.