MEMORY VERSE:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness (humility) and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal 5:22-23)NIV
TEXT: John 15:1-8; Galatians 5: 16-23
INTRODUCTION:
Before we begin, let’s ask the following questions: How do I know if God is working in me? What evidence do I have to show me that God’s Spirit is in me? How can others see God working in me? The fruit of the Spirit is the outward indicator of salvation. They are Christ-like qualities that God wants to produce in our lives.
This is called the fruit of the “Spirit” because the Spirit is the cause or source of the fruit. When God is in you and you allow His Spirit to work in you, this fruit is a natural by-product of Him working in you, and it takes time to grow and requires care and cultivation. The Spirit produces the fruit; our job is to get in tune with the Spirit. Believers will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, when they simply allow the Holy Spirit to work in them. If we want to bear spiritual fruit we must reject sin, walk in holiness, and delight in God's law. We must also be planted in the house of God - connected to the Body of Christ (Ps 92:13-14). The use of the singular form of the word “fruit” shows us that God wants us to know these qualities are in unity, like a bunch of grapes, the bunch of grapes comes from the same vine branch and because there is one fruit revealed in nine separate supernatural manifestations.
These qualities are to be found growing in ALL Christians. When the indwelling Spirit of God Himself begins to express His mighty power in the inner being of believers, good things begin to happen. The nature of God himself begins to manifest itself in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit separates Christians from a godless, evil world, it reveals a power within them, and helps them become more Christ like in their daily lives. God's divine purpose for our life is for us to bear spiritual fruit. Our relationship to Jesus is described in John 15:5 in this way, "He is the vine, and we are the branches."
Again in John 15:16 the Bible declares, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
Bearing fruit is a supernatural process. Jesus produces the fruit and we bear it. The Father is the divine gardener who supervises the process: - John 15:1-2The purging process is one that many Christians reject because when they go through difficulties in their lives they always think that the devil is attacking them. God prunes productive plants for the same reason a farmer prunes - to produce more fruit (Luke 13:6-9 illustrates how God works continually and patiently with the unproductive to produce fruit).
The contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit is that the products of the flesh are plural. There is also a contrast between the degrees to which the deeds pf the flesh and the fruit are produced. Of the deeds of the flesh, a given person could only habitually practice some. It would be practically impossible for one person to be habitually active in all of them. The fruit of the Spirit, on the other hand, is always produced completely in every believer, no matter how faintly evidenced its various manifestations may be.
Secondly, deeds of the flesh are done by a person’s own efforts saved or unsaved.
The fruit of the Spirit is produced by God’s own Spirit and only in the lives of those who belong (yield) to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The work of the Spirit is to make us more like Christ for His glory, not for the praise of others. Note: It is one thing to overcome the flesh and not do evil things, but quite something else to do good things. THE NINE FRUIT
In Galatians 5:22–23 Paul lists nine representative characteristics of the godly fruit produced by the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. The first three qualities love, joy, peace express the believer’s relationship to God.The next three patience, kindness, goodness focus on the believer’s attitude and actions toward his neighbor (that is our relationship with others). The last three faithfulness, gentleness (humility), self-control focus directly on the individual(they reflect how a believer would conduct himself in view of the duties, opportunities, and obligations that come to him in his Christian calling). CONCLUSION
These nine manifestations of the fruit of the Holy Spirit will enable you to eliminate spiritual barrenness, to escape the corruption of the world, and to become partakers of the divine nature of God. Peter wrote, Therefore, keep developing the fruit of the Spirit and the character of Christ in your life. Not only will it cause you to grow spiritually, but it will be a powerful witness to unbelievers as well.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Peter 1:4-8). What is presented to us is a choice, we can choose to live by the flesh or we can live by the Spirit. ILLUSTRATION: There is a story of the testing of a candidate for missions work. One snowy morning at 5:00 a.m., a missionary candidate rang the bell at a missionary examiner’s home. Ushered into the office, he sat three hours past his appointment time waiting for his interview. At 8:00 A.M. a retired missionary appeared and began his questioning. “Can you spell?” Rather mystified, the candidate answered, Yes, sir. All right, spell baker. B-A-K-E-R. Fine now, do you know anything about numbers? The examiner continued. Yes sir, please add two plus two. Four replied the candidate. That’s fine said the examiner. I believe you have passed. I’ll tell the board tomorrow. At the board meeting, the examiner reported on the interview. He has all the qualifications for a fine missionary. First, I tested him on self-denial, making him arrive at my home at five in the morning. He left a warm bed on a snowy morning without any complaint. Second, I tested him on promptness. He arrived on time. Third, I examined him on patience. I made him wait three hours to see me. Fourth, I tested him on temper. He failed to show any anger or aggravation. Fifth, I tried his humility by asking him questions that a seven-year-old child could answer, and he showed no indignation. So you see, I believe the candidate meets the requirements. He will make the fine missionary
Comments
