Sermon: The Fruit of the Holy Spirit Galations 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. INTRODUCTION This morning I want to bring your attention to how the Lord has been working in our church. There is a definite message that the Lord has been telling us over the weeks and wants us to hear. When someone preaches a message in this church, they first ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what the Lord wants them to preach on. We are not given a schedule to say this is the passage you need to preach on in 4 weeks. The Holy Spirit has guided the whole preaching team all independently - on the same message of putting Jesus First, seeking His kingdom and remaining in Him. A few weeks ago, Gideon preached on studying scripture in context. He used John 15 where Jesus says I am the true vine. Remain in me Robert preached on being a new creation in Christ which must be evidenced in a changed life. Norman preached on making a choice between the flesh and listening to the Holy Spirit in Galatians 4 and 5. Philip preached on going back to our first love and living it out The Lord laid Galatians 5 on my heart a few weeks back and I was challenged with this question. Are you producing good fruit? Please turn to Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians is all about living according subject to the law or living according to the Spirit. Listen to Normans message as he spoke so clearly on this. It is very important for us to understand the difference between the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us for a certain amount of time for a certain purpose. They are GIFTS. Fruits are what we produce when we put Jesus first in our lives and stay connected to him. The mark of spiritual maturity in our growth as Christians can be found in producing the fruit of the Spirit. Fruit does not appear overnight. They do not just arrive (like gifts). When we give our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters our lives and this fruit is planted in seed form. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work and mature this fruit in us for the glory of God. We grow little by little, on the inside (transforming our hearts) which results in our actions or fruits. These are not just any fruit. These are the fruit of God s Spirit living in us. We bear fruit in all parts of our lives. Every part of who we are must bear fruit. We bear fruit with our minds growing in the knowledge of our Lord and spending time in his Word. We bear fruit with our lips when we give praise and thanksgiving to God. We bear fruit with our hands in acts and behaviours of service to others. We also bear the fruit of our labour by our giving financially to the church.
AND We bear fruit with our strength in self-discipline under the Holy Spirit when the flesh wants to control us Have you ever noticed the Paul does not call them FRUITS of the Spirit? They are the FRUIT of the Spirit. There are 9 characteristics or attributes, but from one source Jesus. The fruit is not a collection of unrelated attributes, which can either be selected or neglected according to our personal preference, situation or circumstance. They come as a whole package that can only be cultivated and matured by a pursued and maintained relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are called Christians from the word Christ. If we split the word, Christ and Ian, we can ask ourselves - Are we producing Christ like fruit or Ian like fruit? The root (source) will produce the fruit (result) Jesus said in John 5 verse 1 I am the true vine. In verse 4 he says, Remain in me and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful apart from me and in verse 8 Jesus says, My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father. The only way we will produce fruit is to remain in Jesus. To be one with Him - grafted in. Farmers would graft a new fruit into an old fruit tree by taking a shoot, cutting the branch of the old tree, placing the shoot in the cut and then tying it together so the new shoot will grow into the old tree. That is how we are grafted into Jesus. The question we need to ask ourselves is Are we completely grafted into the TRUE Vine or are there still areas that we need to surrender to Him? The root will produce the fruit Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. When we look at the fruit of the Spirit, we look at our character. Our character deals directly with our integrity who we truly are when nobody is looking. Our character is built when we experience trials and challenges. When you are under pressure what comes out? Jesus says we will know false Christians by the fruit they produce. In Matthew 7:15-19 he says this: By their fruit (actions) you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The tree that bears good fruit is the one that is rooted in Jesus. Any other fruit is by our works and not by faith. Have you ever meditated on the Fruit of the Holy Spirit? (Explain my journey in uncovering all 9 characteristics) Have you ever thought about the significance of the sequence? Let us look at them now Love Joy Peace Patience Goodness Kindness
Faithfulness Gentleness and Self Control Each of the nine fruit can be seen in the life of Christ. Not only is He our pattern and example for a fruitful, fruit filled life, He is also our source, the true vine, for us to produce a fruitful, fruit filled life. I want us to see these 9 fruit in 3 categories Love Joy Peace (this is in our relationship with Jesus) Patience Goodness Kindness (this is in our relationship with others) Faithfulness Gentleness and Self Control (this is in our relationship with ourselves) The first fruit is LOVE Love is considered the most important fruit. God commands us to Love. We cannot bear fruit without love. I am not surprised that it is mentioned first. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 If I speak in the tongues of men and angels (gift of the Spirit) but have not love, (fruit of the Spirit) I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, (all gifts of the Spirit) but have not love, I am nothing (fruit of the Spirit). Is it not interesting that we are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. The second command is to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails Verse 13: There are 3 things that will endure - faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. Love comes from God. We love because we were loved first by Him. This love is not a 99% love, or not even a drop short of 100%. We are completely loved. Unconditionally loved. I actually think it s more than this it s abundant love God is a God of abundance. Completely accepted. Completely forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says in John 15 verse 9 I have loved you even as my Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in His love Are we listening?. This is the same love that is between Jesus and His Father. If we don t understand this love and don t believe and know this love, how can we bear the fruit of love? EVERYTHING we do is rooted in Love. It is motivated either from the love of self or the love from God. His love leads us into action to serve others and not self. For God so loved the world that he GAVE His only son
The Fruit of the Spirit is love expressed through JOY! The dictionary defines joy as exultation of spirit; gladness; delight. Extended favour. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is an emotion that is dependent on positive circumstances or situations. It is what is deep within us and does not leave quickly. A sense of well being. In John 15:11 When Jesus talks about being the true vine, he goes on to say These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full (or overflow) Joy is an eternal characteristic of God. As we know that God does not change, this Joy given to us does not change either, no matter what the circumstances or situation may be. We need to go to Jesus to be filled with this Joy. We are then filled with thanksgiving for all his blessings. From the fullness of Joy, I can find PEACE Shalom was the usual word of greeting or farewell in both the Old and New Testament. The Jews still use this form of expression today. Shalom means to restore to fullness, calm of the heart, one-ness with God. I like the term to restore to fullness. Do you know you are completely restored and whole in Christ? Would you describe yourself as one who has total peace? How do you react when things go out of control? Do you worry or fear? Or maybe lose your temper? Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ This is the first and most important step to achieving biblical peace. Through faith in Jesus and His death on the Cross we are reconciled to God. We have peace with God. Jesus said in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Having the peace of God in our lives will allow us to live at peace with others. These first 3 fruits, Jesus gives to us Remain in MY love, MY joy I give to you so that your joy may be complete, MY peace I leave with you. Love Joy and Peace come directly from the True Vine. It marks our relationship with God and the transformation of our emotions. Out of these three come the next 3 fruit. These speak to our relationship with others. I am PATIENT Patience is self-restraint which does not quickly react to a wrong. It is the ability to accept delay or disappointment graciously. Even tempered and trusting in God s timing, not our own. Many people find patience the most difficult to master because we put self first. Again, this is not a fruit that stands on its own. If I know I am completely loved, I have Joy. This Joy brings me complete peace that God is in control. When I am fully at peace, I have patience. How do you deal with delay or disappointment? Patience helps us to endure under strain. To persevere and push through even when we don t see any change. This goes totally against the culture of I want it all and I want it now. We live in an instant society where we don t want to wait. Some have even convinced themselves that impatience is a virtue. Have you heard people say, Well, I may be impatient, but at least I get things done."
From the root will come the fruit The fruit of KINDNESS. The biblical example and pattern that we have for kindness is God s kindness towards us through His Son Jesus. True kindness is compassionate. This is a heart attitude. It is not sympathy, but empathy. Sympathy is feeling sorry for while empathy is feeling sorry with. It is putting ourselves in another person s shoes and feeling for them. When we are compassionate we are kind. Kindness forgives. Knowing we are forgiven, we have compassion on others and forgive. GOODNESS can be seen as pure, holy and whole. It is Good and Right. God s goodness carries with it the idea of His nature and character. He always does what is right. This leads to his goodness towards us. When we remain in Jesus and led by His Spirt, His goodness dwells in our hearts. So, with a heart full of goodness, we can Do all the good we can, By all the means we can, In all the ways we can, In all the places we can, At all the times we can, To all the people we can, As long as we can, do good! -John Wesley- In summary, Patience, Kindness and Goodness are fruit we show to others. It marks our transformation in our actions. The fruit of FAITHFULNESS When we think of faithfulness, we think of faith. We must have a belief or faith in something for us to be faithful towards it. The Christian faith is trusting God. We doubt God s faithfulness and hence we lack trusting in Him or having faith in Him when he lets us down. This then affects our fruit of faithfulness. Do you have the integrity of your belief in God s love by being faithful to Him? GENTLENESS Gentleness is a heart attitude. It is humility in understanding who you are and choosing to serve others with gentleness. When I look at this fruit, I am reminded of God s gentleness with us. He corrects and guides us with restrained gentleness. Almost a meaning of strength under control. God is so powerful and yet he treats us with gentleness. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Lastly, the fruit of SELF-CONTROL Self-control means to have master over one s own desires and impulses. The New Testament translation of self-control means to have an inward strength.
Norman spoke about us making a choice to either listen to the Spirit or listen to our selves. Self- Control is just this. Putting our sinful nature under the authority of Jesus and to have the inner strength to persevere. If we see Love on the one side and Self Control on the other, it forms a full circle. We submit to God through self-control because of His love for us. So, the last 3 fruit Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control reflect the transformation of our self-will. Galatians 5 verse 24 says it perfectly, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their passions and desires of their sinful nature to the cross and crucified them there So, let us read the fruit again Love Joy Peace directly from Jesus Patience Kindness Goodness so we can serve others Faithfulness - Gentleness Self Control by nailing self to the cross. It all starts with LOVE. All the fruit of the Spirit is held in place by Love. If I know I am truly loved and have my identity in the God of Love, everything flows from this point onwards. So, why do I react the way I do? What is at the root? Don t try and work on a specific fruit. Go back to Love. Ask yourself these hard questions: Do I truly understand and know in my heart the LOVE Jesus has for me? Is my identity in Jesus? Do I live my life knowing that God s love is enough? The root produces the fruit.