The Fruit of The Flesh The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25 NIV)
I. Born Again Jesus told Nicodemus, Ye must be born again. (Jn.3:7) & Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (Jn.3:3) Without life there can be no fruit (no fruit on dead trees) Nominal Christians may be well behaved by worldly standards but bear no spiritual fruit The world sets it s standards of acceptable good behaviour! Rebirth is not a human activity! It is a Divine miracle of Grace received thru the vehicle of Faith (Eph.2:8-10) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
II. Rooted in Christ Col.2:7 rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness Sequoia Redwood Roots would cover our entire soccer field Roots push into areas unknown to us Imagine our potential in Christ!
Php.3:9-10 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death Without death there can be no resurrection! Rom.8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.. (the fruit of self-life is corrupt) Eph.3:16-18 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
III. Filled To Overflowing The Fruit cannot draw nourishment out of itself. It must draw from the overflow of sap from the roots Vine: roots branches grapes! Spiritual fruit does not come from good intentions! Oil Lamp: Container wick flame! Temple: Gold Lampstand kept burning 24x7 (Lev.24:2) Jesus said the 7 lampstands represent the 7 Churches Revelation 1:20 NIV 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Oil represents the Holy Spirit fire of the lamps must be kept burning continually (Lev.24:2) Jesus letter to Ephesian Church commended for hard work, perseverance, good doctrine BUT Rev.2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. v.5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 1:20 the seven lampstands are the seven churches. That means they will no longer be a real Church at all!!! If the FIRE of the HOLY SPIRIT goes out, we will no longer be a Church no matter what we call ourselves! How about us? Is the Fire of first love still burning in us?
IV. The Nature of the Fruit 1. It Will Be NEW FRUIT. Eze.47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (NIV) (Rev.22:2) This is not the fruit of the self-life of unregenerate man The unholy & ungodly has been made acceptable to God through the Cross! We are justified by Jesus!!! We Are: children born not of natural descent, {Gk <of bloods>} nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (Jn.1:13 - NIV) Jesus: Ye must be born again
2. Fruit According To The Nature of The Tree But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal.5:22) This is NOT the Fruit of the Christian! Fruit of the SPIRIT! We cannot produce this fruit any more than we can produce the oil for our lamps! The lamps needed Olive Oil, not paraffin or any other oil! The oil of the Temple was prepared from crushed olives from Mt. of Olives The oil of the Holy Spirit given to us by our Saviour who was crushed in the Garden Gethsemane on that Mt.