Praying for the Fruits of the Holy Spirit

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1 Dartmouth Bible Notes Notes from the Pulpit Ministry of Dartmouth Bible Church Series: General Scripture: Galatians 5:22 etc. Speaker: Rev. Neil C. Damgaard, Th.M., D.Min. Date: March 31 st, 2019 Praying for the Fruits of the Holy Spirit Titus 3:1-7 (ESV) Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Galatians 5:22-26 (ESV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Introduction Sometimes I wonder if we are ever going to really change I think about the question, Is sanctification real? Does a person--just because he calls himself or herself a Christian--really become more like Jesus over time? We feel ourselves being exhorted, commanded and warned in the writings of the New Testament that we had better improve But do we? I have seen people who have been believers in Jesus for years actually become more bitter or unforgiving or intolerant over the years of their faith. I have seen people who say they have the Holy Spirit, become more difficult to deal with over years. I have seen people not overcome addiction although they have access to every resource they can get their hands on. I have seen people who go to Bible-believing churches become more proud of themselves, more separatistic and more isolated over years. Fortunately, I am persuaded that the apostles Peter, Paul, John and the others THOUGHT ABOUT THIS too. In his most difficult letter (the Letter to the Galatians) Paul addresses sanctification as a thing that either does or doesn t

2 happen, as a thing that will bear fruit WHEN it happens. Here was a guy who wrote about himself in Romans 7:24-- O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Here was a guy who wrote to the Colossians (3:12-14) Therefore, as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Here is the guy who wrote to Titus (3:3) For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Oh, he thought about sanctification all right. He thought about it a great deal. And if Paul is not enough, Peter wrote Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 nd Peter 1:4) Peter said that by leaning on the promises of God, our sanctification would enable us to evade corruption and the things that eat away at us. I thought of this subject in the middle of the night this week and decided to try to say something about it today: WE CAN PRAY FOR THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GROW IN EACH OTHER S LIVES. And we can focus on them individually as we pray for each other. I am not sure of how the Holy Spirit distributes His nature within us or the schedule of His doing so. What do I mean? I mean that from what is revealed in Scripture I can discern no pattern or matrix or system by which we can acquire these godly characteristics. I cannot say that fruits 1,2 and 3 are the most important or that we should major on them. I cannot say that we can pick the ones that we like best and focus on becoming them. I cannot say that the later ones (say, numbers 7,8 and 9) are built upon the others. 2

3 I am not sure HOW these nine fruits of the Spirit relate to each other except that they are all like Jesus Christ and that if we avail ourselves to Him, His Spirit will begin to change us; He will begin to make us more like Jesus and in these nine ways. The fruits are: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, agápei chará eirénei makrothimía chreistóteis agathosúnei ἀγάπη χαρὰ εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία χρηστότης ἀγαθωσύνη, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control pístis praúteis egkráteia πίστις πραΰτης ἐγκράτεια Specifically, it seems to me that we can PRAY for these fruits to grow in each other, and one by one. For instance: 1. What would it look like if you devoted a year to praying for the fruit of love to really grow in someone s life? We have met Christians that, whatever else they are or are not, have a great endowment of the ability to be kind, and sacrificial or giving with a noticeable generosity to them? We are humbled by such people because we see that, Hey! I m sure not that loving. But we don t resent their loving nature because we see that it is genuine and guileless. I am suggesting to you this morning that this is a thing we can pray for, for each other. 2. What would it look like if you devoted a year to praying for joy, another fruit to grow in someone else s life? Joy is the sense of the Lord s presence, a gladness because we see beyond just what is here. We sense His hand working, providing for us, leading us and using us. We get a kick out of that conviction. We feel glad and we can sing He has made me glad, He has made me glad I will rejoice for He has made me glad! How about we each find someone and begin praying that HE or SHE will grow in that fruit? 3. How would it be to spend a year praying for someone someone that you really care about to grow in the fruit of peace? We certainly know Christians for whom this fruit seems all so elusive. That seem to have anything BUT peace in their lives. They are full of worry, dread, and expecting the worse to happen. We wonder, Does he know the same Jesus I know? Does he read the same Bible as I do? We can pray for this fruit to grow in that person s life and know with confidence that it IS God s will since we are asking Him to make this person more like Jesus. 4. What if you focused on one person again, a person that you care about and ask God to grow forbearance (long-suffering) in him or her? Maybe naturally they are impulsive, impatient or complaining all the time. You begin to work on 3

4 that by praying that they develop a more Jesus-like nature and that they start to find ENDURANCE as something to value. 5. Do you think that you could think of someone who could stand to become kinder? You can begin to pray for that person and I do not mean just once or twice. I mean that you make it a project. 6. Some of us are not so naturally good. But if you look around you I know that you will see people who are. We can pray that the godly trait of goodness grows among us. This will show itself in our motivations we won t be doing things for what WE can get out of them. We will want to do something just because it feels good to DO good, with no strings attached and no ulterior motives. 7. If there is one fruit that Christians (in my opinion) need to cultivate much more it is faithfulness. Even if we are born-again people who have found saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can still be very fickle, undependable, ready to jump to the next flower since we sucked all the nectar out of this one. 8. Some of us are pretty gentle. Some of us are not. Would you pray for me that I will become more like Jesus, more MEEK being powerful and strong but not having to use it? WHOLE CHURCHES SHOULD MANIFEST THIS TRAIT OF JESUS. If a church was built up the street and it called itself Christian they should really smell gentle ( meekness KJV), not self-confident, arrogant or selfpromoting. The people should greet each other with a holy kiss, the pastor should park on the street, the people should give generously and not worry about what they get in return. The people should be quick to forgive and NOT always thinking about what someone owes them. 9. The last of the ways of Jesus, the fruits of HIS Spirit of which Paul said to the Galatians that stood in contrast to the seventeen works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21a) is the quality of temperance or self-control. This means the capacity to restrain yourself, to NOT just give in to impulse. Do you know any Christians who could use more of this? You can begin to pray for him or her. You might even build yourself a little matrix: Person Fruit Date began praying Peanut Love Mar Macadamia Joy Apr Wally Peace Apr Almond Longsuffering Apr Cashy Gentleness Apr Braz Goodness Apr Sunny Faithfulness Apr Pecan Meekness Apr Pistachy Temperance Apr

5 I think our sanctification is about rejecting the works of the flesh, and doing whatever I can figure out to grow and develop the new nature which shows itself in my life by the fruits the PRODUCT of the Holy Spirit. I think we can pray to that end if we want to. I think we can expect God to work with prayers like that. Who can you start to pray for? Which fruit can you see which that person needs more of in his or her life? There was a song I learned in about I have no idea where it came from but I think it came out of the Appalachians It went like this: Stand fast in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage For brethren we have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty For an occasion unto the flesh, but through love serve one another For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness goodness, faith, meekness, temperance Against such there is no law. Stand fast in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage 5

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