Good morning. Everyone is a great day to be
here together to worship. And I'm looking forward to our
study this morning. We've already had a beautiful
song service where we've been able to teach one another in
Psalms and hymns and I hope together we can study a little
more specifically on a set of passages here and the end of
Galatians chapter 5 that we have to finish out the chapter after
what Chris taught on last time. And I've given the, you could
give it any number of titles. I've titled this section keep in
step. Up with the spirit.
Hopefully we'll see what we mean by the time we get there toward
the end. Of this of this chapter.
So I like to continue to remind us of the theme.
Verse of this book, Chris covered it last week, Galatians
5:1 Stand Fast, therefore in the Liberty by which Christ has made
us free and do not be entangled again with the Yoke of bondage.
And just to remind us of the outline where we've been and
where we're going, we started out this whole letter with
Paul's defense of his apostleship.
He talked about how his gospel came from God.
He had his gospel given From Jesus, and not for men, he
talked about his relationship with the apostles.
How Peter, and his early years as a Christian, his relationship
with Peter and his early years as a Christian, we learned about
the Jerusalem Council. And then what happened there
with James cephas and John where they said, you're doing a great
job, keep on going. So they approved of his
ministry. We learned about how he had to
rebuke Peter and how that's give us a springboard into this
lesson on justification by faith.
It's a big theme. Of the book of Galatians and
it's going to permeate our study today.
Even though if you study the versus just with a microscope,
you might not see it. The study today is definitely an
extension of this idea of justification by faith.
We're going to cover today. The fruit of the spirit and this
is in contrast to what many of them probably were thanking.
What happened if you leave the Old Law?
And you go on to this, justification by faith.
Then what do you even do? Is it just going to be like,
loose living or are you just gonna do whatever you want?
And the the concept today, the key idea today is if you are
walking in faith, if you're walking with God's spirit inside
of you, you're not gonna that's not gonna be an issue.
If God is working in you, it produces fruit.
That is not, that is not sinful. That is not worldly.
And they don't have to be worried about what might happen
with their faith as they transition from the Old Law to
the new and Paul defended that by giving five main arguments,
the Personal argument, the scriptural, the Practical, the
sentimental, and the symbolic argument.
And then finally we're getting here to chapter 5 where Chris
star us last week. Where we learned about this
Liberty is a liberty that excludes the old laws teachings
of circumcision and requiring that for salvation, it was a
liberty that fulfills the Old Law Paul didn't come, like Jesus
said, he didn't come to destroy the Old Law, he came to fulfill
it. And we're going to jump into
Liberty, which is one led by the spirit today and that's going to
be our big Focus being led by the What that means.
Okay, let's let's start with where Chris was last week to get
a running. Start last week, we read Stand
Fast therefore in the Liberty by which Christ has made us free
and do not be entangled again with the Yoke of bondage.
Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised
Christ, will profit, you. Nothing.
Now remember, there was nothing wrong with being circumcised.
The act itself is not wrong. Timothy was later circumsized as
a way to get, It in with the Jews and have some Credence with
the Jews and have a little bit of a rapport with them.
So, it wasn't that act itself. He's going to tell us in a
minute, what the problem was. And I testify again to every man
who become circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole
law. That's the key.
Are they doing it to keep the law of Moses?
He says, you have become estranged from Christ separated
and a stranger from Christ. You who attempt to be justified
by the law. That's the problem with
circumcision. It was an attempt to be
justified by their works specifically of the Old
Testament. This is key.
As I was studying this book and people's commentaries, they made
it more confusing than it needed to be a lot of times.
This law that he's mentioning over and over?
Yes, we can. We can be wrong and that we can
try to earn our salvation by just doing things all the time.
But he specifically saying that you have, when you're trying to
pull from the Old Law, you're falling from grace.
These people, for we, through the spirit, eagerly wait for the
hope of righteousness, through the spirit and hope of
righteousness, by faith, not by what we can do for ourselves and
Propel ourselves into Heaven by faith.
For in Christ Jesus, there's our hope neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision avails anything that's not important he says,
but it's Faith working through love.
This is a key verse to keep in mind as we study today, as you
read, the book of Galatians, faith has an outpouring of the
spirit of God has an outpouring from when within us as we as it
works in us. That is going to work through
love inside of us. He says you ran well who
hindered you from obeying the truth.
So this is interesting here as we're following this train of
thought into the section. I'm going to cover.
He's talking about, being them, being hindered, and the problem
and then being hindered, is that they did not obey the truth.
So there's a key connection between faith and obedience that
he's tying here. It's not like you can say, oh,
just have faith and that's all. That's what people just tried to
hammer. When I was reading after
commentators stuff A point. He says there's a link here
between that your faith and obedience and Truth, this
persuasion does not come from him.
Who calls? You?
A little leaven leavens, the whole lump.
I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will have no other
mind but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever
he is. And I Brethren if I still preach
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution?
Then the offense of the Cross has ceased.
I could wish that those who trouble you and even cut
themselves. Off.
For you Brethren have been called to Liberty.
Only do not use Liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.
This is a crazy made a great point.
Last week if we have the freedom in Christ and we try to use it
selfishly, we're knocking on the fruit of the spirit, we're
talking about later today. If we use Freedom as an
opportunity for the flesh, that's a selfish ambition it's
not going to get us anywhere but through love serve one another
for all the law is fulfilled in one word.
Even this you shall love your neighbor as yourself, but if you
bite and devour one, another beware, lest you be consumed?
One another. Okay, here's the verses.
We have to consider together today.
I say that after all, this has been said after all these
defenses are made. After all these arguments, here
is the bottom line, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh, okay? So he's saying to walk in the
spirit, walking is a Biblical symbol often of action of taking
some steps. There's a difference.
When Jesus sitted seated at the Throne of God, we learned that
he Has finished his work. He has completed his work, but
we are told to stand up and to walk in the spirit, it takes
effort on our part. It takes dedication our part,
but it's not all about us. That's kind of the point of this
whole train of thought. We started is, it's not about
us, it's through the spirit in the spirit of God.
We need to be proactive, some have said in the realm of sports
that the best defense for our lives are in sports.
The best defense is a good offense.
Keeping keeping the other team off.
The field is to have a good offense to be proactive.
That's the, that's definitely true in this, in this context.
And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
So if we want to keep the lust of the flesh, may be that
they're concerned about that. As they leave the Old Law, maybe
they're concerned about people, just do whatever they want.
He says walk in the spirit and you're not going to have that
problem. Now, it's as I studied this
chapter, I started to get a little bit, maybe more Sympathy
for the Jews, it would be a big world view change.
If everything you lived by was ripped out from underneath you
all the structure, all the things they knew to do.
Hey this morning I have to have this prayer and, and do this
sacrifice and do these things. And and these are my clothes.
I wear today and this is how I do it.
Nothing was governed. It was so much structure.
You take that away from underneath them.
They're probably like, what are you going to do?
Are you just gonna go off and live wild and crazy?
However, you want to live by the lust of your flesh?
I mean, the structure was probably comforting to them at
some point. We look at it, like, man.
That's so much because we didn't grow up doing it.
But with that structure, they probably felt so much safety in
that. And he's saying as you make this
transition, to the new law, the point of this is not just a wet,
rip away your structure and your laws.
The point is, you're still supposed to be walking in the
spirit of God. And if you are truly walking in
the spirit of God and his purposes and his plans, you're
gonna be okay. For the flesh, lusts against the
spirit, and the spirit against the Flesh.
And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do
the things that you wish. This is kind of a little little
what to expect as a Christian. Don't expect to just start our
walk and just think everything's just going to be like, wow, I
made a decision. Here we go.
I'm just skipping through flowers.
He said know, there's going to be a war.
There is a war going on between what your flesh wants and what
your spirit wants and in some ways, I believe that's a great
opportunity for us. God gave us an opportunity to
choose him over what we want in eternity.
God's not gonna have to worry about.
Are these people gonna gonna turn on me because we've already
had our chance here on Earth to choose?
Are we going to follow what we want?
Or I'm going to follow? What God wants, what God teaches
us and as us to be Both for our benefit and for his glory we've
got this war going on inside of us and that's why sometimes we
know what we really want out of ourselves out of life out of our
faith. And that doesn't always happen
and this is why But if you are led by the spirit, you are not
under the law, okay? This law the law, we've been
talking about the whole time, there's the Old Testament law.
If we are led by the spirit, we're not under the law of
Moses, we're not bound to those things, but we are led by the
spirit of God. Another passage tells us that
that the laws are for those who are unruly and disobedient for
the people who need to be. Changed by the law, but the
point is not just to be under a law.
The point is to be led and by the spirit.
Now he's also not saying that we're free from any law.
I do not want to be free from the law of Christ.
The law of Christ gives me freedom from sin from my own
weaknesses. It frees me from the the rat
wheel I get in of my own struggles.
It gives me a way out of that. We're not subject to just any
law. We are subject to willingly to
the law of Christ. The perfect law of Liberty is
called and another passage the law of freedom.
First 19. Now the works or the Deeds of
the flesh are evident which are adultery fornication.
Uncleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred contentions
jealousies outbursts of Wrath selfish, Ambitions, dissensions
heresies, envyings murders drunkenness, revelries.
And the like I don't feel like I need to spend a whole lot of
time on this section because he starts out by saying the Deeds
of the flesh are obvious, you know, what they are, you know.
What what it looks like when sin is present, you know what, it
looks like when you want to do something wrong, and you have
that conflict inside, what am I going to do about it and you
choose wrong. We know what that is.
That's not a secret. There are times sure.
When they be something in here, we don't really know about.
And we need to ask a question for clarification, but we
usually know, we usually know when we're doing something wrong
from when you see a child about to do something wrong, they have
that look in their eye, you know, they even know at that
age, when something is wrong and we understand these things are
evident And he even says this is he in a full last?
It's a full list, it's things like this to.
This isn't the full list. But just to give a little, maybe
a little Clarity here. He talks about fornication
that's adultery and fornication. Those are illicit sexual
activity. There's uncleanness, which would
be any kind of moral uncleanness, maybe, especially
lustful, or impurity. He talks about lewdness which is
unrestricted lust, accessed draw drawing or creating I am pure
sexual attention idolatry. Okay, that could be anything
that comes before God anything That we would worship as an
alternative God or put on the throne of our hearts sorcery.
When I read sorcery, I thought that was interesting.
A lot of times, you know, if you look at a lexicon real, give you
a couple definitions. The first one that came out was
the use of drugs poisoning or witchcraft.
So I've always heard this sorcery discussed as as a type
of Witchcraft, you know, trying to use ways of summoning
spiritual powers. Etcetera.
But I thought it interesting that it involves drugs there.
Okay. The bottom line is we know all
those things are not good for us.
We know they are contrary to the spirit of God.
We know they will work against us.
So I don't feel a lot of pressure to give exact specifics
on all this hatred. Hatred can exist internally and
disposition of the heart or it can be externally and action or
both hatred is anything that is against the problem is it puts
us against the best interest of others, whether internally or
externally, Jealousy is essentially a passion of the
spirit missed used and it's usually directed at others
because the passions of our spirit should be aligned toward
the fruit of the spirit that we're going to learn.
But when our passions are aligned maybe against others, or
in one, see what others have that passion inside of us, that
desire doesn't really get us anywhere.
Outbursts of Wrath. Pretty self-explanatory.
Selfish Ambitions, that's what Cole is talking about.
Last week, a little bit, he's talking about having these goals
and these aspirations. But what for why do I want to
make money? Is it so I can get better and
better better for myself, you know.
And sometimes I hear people say, I just want to give my kids a
better life than I have. Okay, that's fair but most of
the time, the kids just want the parent, the kids just want the
love. They want the time with their
parent and I've heard people who are adults not spending time
with their kids. They're saying that it's all
because they're trying to develop a life for their kids.
They never had I don't know, sometimes we can, we can tell
ourselves, it's something that it's not, we do need to work
hard and provide and not be lazy.
But there's a point where it, which I think we're we can be
easily guilty of trying to build our own Empire or our own barns.
As Ecclesiastes says, I'm going to tear down my Barns and build
new bigger barns to put the new stuff that I have now and those
big barns The point is whatever we do, should be for the glory
of God. If I make more money, maybe I
can help other people more. Maybe I can support God's
kingdom and God's purpose more. Or any other area of our life,
dissensions heresies, envyings murders, drunkenness, revelries.
And the like, I'm going to put the list side by side in a
second to compare the two, the Fruit of the Spirit and the work
of the flesh. But I think we get the idea of
which I tell you beforehand. Just as I also told you in time
past that those who practice, such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. Now, he didn't say that those
who have made mistakes and who have moved on from it will not
hurt the king of God. That's not what he's saying.
He's saying those who make it a habit, those who practice such
things. They will not inherit the
kingdom of God and this is pretty logical, by the way.
Like, why would anyone who wants to live this way?
Want God in their life? God says, I can't be in the
presence of evil. So if you want this over me, go
ahead. Choose it.
But those people aren't going to go to heaven because they prove
they've told God they don't want him in their life on here on
Earth. So why would they want to be
with God in heaven? These people are not going to
hear the kingdom of God and typically Well, I don't want to
go into that, but the idea here, is, there are things that can
separate us from God. In this list, will will prevent
God's spirit from living inside of us.
Okay. Now, here's the kind of the
keynote of this chapter, but the fruit of the spirit is now, he's
about to give a list of things that are wonderful, are
beautiful, that are really talking to Tina the other day.
She said, these are grounding principles.
To help you reset and just point your your mind back where it
needs to be when when you really need it, maybe at the end of the
week or whatever you're going through.
And so he's going to give us a list of things that are
wonderful traits that God produces in us.
But before we get into that, I want to talk a minute about the
fruit and the spirit. So first of all, I want to
acknowledge that, this is a blessing and it is an honor to
Simply test the spirit in our lives, okay?
We don't have to get into how the spirit does, what it does.
I don't know all that. I do know though that the Bible
teaches God's, holy spirit, inspired the word and the word
teaches us and God's word lives in us.
So however God's working in me, it can't be separate from the
Bible, it can't be separate from what he teaches because that's
how he's chosen to work throughout history through the
spirit. So if I'm going to say well
that's not good enough, I need some kind of experience.
Well may, we never undermine the precious word that God has given
us and that can live inside of us whatever we choose to.
However, we choose to appreciate God's spirit working in us, we
know it can't be separate from the word, okay?
But I don't want that that position and the focus on the
word being what works in to us, does it?
At all or shouldn't diminish. How awesome it is, that God
works in us, just because God, that's how God chooses to work
in. Me, doesn't mean it's any less
than, you know, some someone might say they had this giant
experience where God filled them.
Well, if God choose to work in me through his word, why should
I look down on that? It is an honor to host the
presence of God in our lives and then just letting us be a part
of his family and living out his purposes here on Earth.
That's enough for me if God has chosen to work in me that way.
I don't ever want to downplay this important.
So first of all, we need to know that God is working in us.
God wants to work in you and we're going to read it a little
bit. He has chosen you to work
through you. He could have chosen any way to
spread his gospel to make his plans happen, but he said he has
sent preachers. How shall they be?
How shall I go if they're not sent that scripture?
We know God wants to work through us and it should be an
honor. How does God work in us?
And what does God produce in us as the?
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace.
Long-suffering, kindness goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness This and self-control notice he didn't say the fruits
of the spirit and when I was reading after commentators, they
made it important distinction and that it is a singular
bouquet, you know? We don't choose one and say I'd
like to be a long-suffering person or maybe the opposite.
Maybe I want to be a kind person, but I don't need to be
long suffering because I don't want to deal with that.
That's not how this this list works.
This list is what produces from within us when God.
Is working inside of us. This isn't a checklist of things
that I need to do to be a Christian.
It's, if God's really working through you, if God is really
inside of you, and as I'm making the transition from the old
ball, this is important that he defends that God is working in
them still. And these ways if God is working
in you, this is what it's going to look like.
God doesn't make lopsided Christians.
Who are loving but not faithful. Or who are faithful.
Will not love me. This is a picture of what God
creates when he works in us. Now, before we get into each of
those character traits, I've always found fruit fascinating
and and I think if you look at a Vine if you look at a branch or
if you look at a the ground you're tilling the fact that you
can one day be outside and looking at this just bear plant.
That, that really isn't like the Bible says toiling and spinning.
It's not doing much. But then the next day you walk
outside and then bam, you know, maybe maybe it takes a couple
more days or but, but the bloom and the growth of that fruit is.
It seems like it comes out of nowhere.
I'm going to use the word magic flippantly but it, it seems like
magic to me. It's just like it comes out of
nowhere. How did this stationary Bland
looking empty plant produce this more?
Soul of goodness that you can just pluck off the vine sink,
your teeth into and that's just wonderful fruit fascinates me.
There's no, there's no one sitting there like kind of
working on that plant all day long.
God ordained fruit to grow from the ground from a seed to a
plant that produces fruit. This looks fake to me.
It's just fascinating that this comes out of the end of a branch
and blows my mind. And I think that's just because
God has a ordained or God taught the plant, how to do it, and
it's God's work. I think that's interesting when
we consider the Fruit of the Spirit, When we, when God's word
is working at us. This fruit is produced inside of
us. And this is what God has
ordained to happen. When we are applying Godly
principles to our life, God will create fruit seems like it came
out of nowhere. Not because that plant was just
incredible. And it was doing all this
toiling and spinning and weaving and working.
But because when God ordained something to happen, there was a
work of God and that plant and in our, in our lives, when we
have his Spirit living inside of us, he has ordained for things
to happen that we could have never done on our own.
The spirit of God works in us and amazing ways.
Now, as I followed this analogy, there's plenty of analogies in
the scripture for growing and in the process of God working in us
and the growing process and the ground gsu's.
Has a lot of Parables and analogies with growth.
And as I thought, about what we see in this process, I don't
want to make this study about our effort because it's not,
it's about what God does through us.
But oftentimes what, you know, when I was working in the garden
with my dad, this is the kind of thing that I see.
As a, the person trying to grow things.
You're pulling weeds. You're shoveling your, maybe
your hoeing a lot. Maybe your school, Ruben cow
poop. You're scooping manure and
mixing it up in there. It's not a glamorous thing.
The farmer or the tiller of the soil, does not have a glamorous
work. The magic you might say is in
the plant, it's in the god ordained creation.
What God does in that plant. Maybe maybe the most glamorous
thing you do is you water that plant daily but this is a
picture of somebody that's growing fruit or growing things
and as I consider that you know this is this my dad's Garden.
So the most we ever did was we got this this whole Garden area.
Looking good. We got it looking good for dirt
standards, I guess there wasn't a lot of problems in the way and
maybe you you made some trenches that were just right for the
plant. But that's pretty much if you
are the person doing the work and planting, this is what you
see. It's not glamorous.
I think that's a perfect connection between God's fruit
of the spirit in us because it's not about how great we can do
things. It's about us doing the the weed
pulling, and it's us doing the menial things.
That might sound seem frustrating and tiring.
Maybe you find joy in that process.
That's great. But it's not a Burris work.
The same is true with the life of a Christian these things when
they're producing, you look wonderful but while you're doing
the work the effort and putting your life into it and pouring
out yourself. It doesn't look glamorous It
doesn't feel glamorous all the time.
But it will produce fruit that is beyond anything we could
ever. Imagine I'm just doing x, y z
and you know, that's what a lot of times people who are doing
good. They just said, well, I was
obviously doing XYZ, it wasn't that big of a deal, but it made
a big difference to the people around them, who got to either
be the fruit themselves. Experience.
The fruit, appreciate the fruit that they produced, It might not
always look glamorous but it's worthwhile and this is the idea
carried in First Corinthians chapter 3 that that it's not
about us. It's not about the our work in
the ground. It's about God, producing
through these simple acts that we do.
He said what? Then is a policies, what would
then is Paul who are we or just servants through whom you
believe? I believe does the Lord assigned
each? I plant it Planting you take the
plant and put it in the ground. It's not a complicated process
Apollo's watered. Watering take the water and you
put it on it, consistently maybe, but it's not complicated.
It's not elaborate, but God gave the growth.
So neither, he who plants, nor he who Waters is anything but
only God who gives the growth? May we have the attitude that if
we're going to be the fruits that we're going to talk about
in just a second, we're gonna be the long-suffering and goodness
we have to have this mentality that I'm gonna do that.
Whatever is asked of me, I'm going to submit to that simple
role because of what God can produce through it.
I think there's a wonderful parallel in John 15.
This, this is a fascinating kind of speech.
Jesus gives toward the end of his life.
Jesus says, I am the True Vine and my father is the
vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not
bear fruit. He takes away, so we're supposed
to be bearing fruit. Okay.
And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes so, even if
you're doing God's Will and your You're producing fruit, God's
going to prune us and shape us and mold us maybe in some ways
that require cutting and trimming.
Are we ready this week to be pruned?
Are we ready to be trimmed and changed even when it might clip
us and hurt us. Why that it that that vine May
bear more fruit or that bridge May bear more fruit.
You are already clean because of the word, which I have spoken to
you abide in me. And I, in you as the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine.
So, neither can you unless you abide in me?
So, if you need a picture, the vine, if you see a big row,
there's a lot of grapes here in Bakersfield.
You see that that row that structure that set up for the
vine to grow across. You get a thicker Vine coming
through and then off of that vine you You have to have a
branch come out that will then spring out fruit.
The fruit doesn't grow directly from the vine, not to it's
interesting. God has ordained a process where
it needs branches to grow the fruit and in the church in our
lives, Jesus doesn't just shoot fruit out of himself.
He wants to work it through us. He wants to work fruit through
you. And if it's not you, then who's
it going to be? God wants you to be one of these
branches out here. And if you look at invite it
could be amazing. How much that one little Branch
can hold how much fruit can come off of one little branch.
I'm the vine Jew says, you are the branches.
He who abides in me and I in him Bears, much fruit.
That's how it's going to be. He says, if you live, if you
stay in me, And I work through you, you will bear much fruit
for without me. You can do nothing.
I am an extension of Jesus himself.
I'm extension of Jesus himself. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you. So here we go again with the
holy spirit that how the spirit might work, we know it can't be
without the words. If my words abide in you you
will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you by this.
My father is glorified that you bear much fruit.
So you will be my disciples. These things I have spoken to
you. That my joy May remain in you
and that your joy may be full. He spoken all these things about
how he wants to work in us and have fruit in us and us be
filled with his word. And that's going to in turn.
Be what helps give us joy in our life.
What helps? Keep us full in our life and
filled up is by serving and filling with God, and his ways
and his fruit. This is my commandment that you
love one. Another, as I have loved, you
greater love has no one than this, than to lay down, one's
life for his friends, you are my friends.
If you do whatever I command you, I think it's interesting.
I've always read this, like, yeah, Jesus is the one who laid
down his life for us his friends, but I think in that
there's a there's a call to lay down our life to be his friend
to lay down our life for him. Another reference in the Bible.
There's the concept is fruit, is referenced throughout the
scriptures. In Matthew 3, verse 8, Jesus
says, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
So fruit is basically what comes out from the inside.
Hebrews 13 verse 15, therefore by him.
Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
That is the fruit of our lips giving, thanks to his name.
There's another passage, I didn't include here.
Where basically the giving was a Fruit of the disciple or you
have God's followers of the disciples that when we give back
to God. That is a fruit of our faith
fruit is simply what comes from within and the fruit of God's
work Works in us know so remembering what fruit is fruit
is a product that comes from within our role in it as we have
to be submissive, we have to be in the vine and let the vine
live in us to have fruit to Fruit, but where it truly comes
from is from God. And this is in contrast to the
Old Testament law. They were trying to hold on to
that law that they wanted to make the fruit themselves, but
God gives the increase. God is the one who brings fruit,
when he works inside of us, not the other way around.
The fruit of the spirit is love. First of all, that word.
Love comes from the word Agape. Not store G and the Greek, there
is a bunch of words for love, not storage you, which is
Affection, maybe something. You had for your family, not
arrows, which was a passionate, love, not philia, which was a
friendship and a mutual, maybe respect.
It's not that Agape was unconditional and Selfless Love.
And I've heard that a million times but I needed to hear it
again this week. Maybe sometimes.
Maybe sometimes we get too caught up in needing to feel a
connection with somebody to do something for them.
Instead of just showing that Selfless Love to one another and
whatever comes from it will come, maybe we will have more
affection for them but God requires a Selfless Love.
That's what God's spirit produces in knee.
If it is really working in me. Next is Joy.
The fruit of the spirit is joy, joy in the true.
Good stuff of life. Not in this sinful Pleasures
that are here today. Gone tomorrow not in the things
that will really tarnish our lives.
In the end in the good stuff, in the things that are pure and
lovely and admirable. The Bible says in all those
things, we will have true Joy. In the right stuff and art, art
enjoyment has to be shifted. All of these character traits.
Take time, it's not just going to happen over time.
In one day that you just have joy and all these things that
God has for us. It's, we're gonna have joy both
on the inside, I believe, and it will come out on the inside on
the outside, we're going to have joy for others, as a
selflessness, as part of what our interests are turning to the
needs of others and having joy for them.
And having Joy with others, the Bible teaches us that we should
mourn with those who mourn and and have joy with those and
rejoice. With those who Rejoice ink will
learn to have joy with others and for And we're going to have
that spiritual reality that teaches us joy, no matter what
our circumstances are, because we have our spiritual life,
right? John 15, verse 11 or remind you
that. He said these things, I have
spoken to you. That my joy May remain in you
and your joy may be full. Next is peace, I believe will
have peace with God, knowing that we are right with him that
we are not perfect, but we're doing our best and we are going
to keep just starting again. Each day, we're going to start
over today. I'm going to try and use the
right terminology. I'm going to submit my life to
him today and I'm going to follow him.
And I have peace with God because of that knowing that I'm
not living in contrary to him I'm going to have peace with
others. I'm not going to have conflicts
in. Wars that we learned about in
the, the Deeds of the flesh. I'm gonna have peace ultimately
to with self because of all that and this takes time, it's not
all. Just like it happens.
One day. This is what God's fruit grows.
Are God's. Spirit grows within us.
The next is long-suffering, I did hours and hours of study on
this word it comes from too. Complicated Greek words, long
and suffering. we gotta be ready for that, like, we talked about,
tilling the ground, We need to be ready for that and expect it.
Kindness and goodness. Now, I put these two here
together because and commentators were discussing
then, there are saying, well, it's kind of hard to distinguish
the two, but one of them said, maybe just maybe kindness is
more of a disposition of the heart and goodness is maybe the
action side of it. I don't know.
It makes sense to me though, that maybe some people have an
easier time, having a kind disposition.
But maybe they need to work on showing goodness and actually
coming through and showing goodness and being active.
Other people may have an easier time showing goodness through
action, but maybe their disposition is in this kind, I
don't know, maybe we all have a specific need there.
That can be that the spirit works on through Us in different
ways faithfulness. Through all the changes that
life brings in all the things that change you know, some
people say more things change in life that stay the same
faithfulness is important. And as a I'm understanding more
and more the importance of this because it's one thing to have
all all your effort poured into one day.
But then what about tomorrow? We've got to be faithful and
consistent in our effort and then our And who we are and what
God is doing in US gentleness. I never saw a herd a more
perfect definition of gentleness and strength control.
Gentle, this is not weakness, we would describe a mother
alligator carrying her baby's, not his week because she's
carrying her babies. We would describe her as gentle
because she has the strength to carry them and yet she doesn't
crush them and kill them. She's gentle.
And don't ever let anyone tell you that you are weak.
If you don't stand up for yourself, whatever that means in
different context, but if you're a kind to people and you don't
lash out, you don't have outbursts of Wrath as stated in
the Deeds of the Flesh and self-control.
That's the last fruit of the spirit pretty self-explanatory.
I felt a lot of pressure trying to prepare this to find just the
right way to say. I love it but I think the
perfect part of this is it's not about What I would say it's
about God's spirit working in you, I'm not going to be able to
say anything that's really going to make all this.
Just click if God's really working in my life, this will
happen if God's really working in your life.
This will happen. Against such, there is no law.
Okay, I think this is where it ties.
In the context, he's talking about the old loss, which he's
saying there's no law. There's no Old Testament that
would prevent you from being this right then?
Why are you rebelling, instant, why are you going back to the
Old Law? Everything I just said is
goodness that no Old Testament or new testament or law out in
the world or governing body would ever say anything against
these wonderful traits, there is no law against these things.
And so one of the best things that that helped me this week is
these passages were working on me.
Is I noticed as I looked at any one of these let's say
jealousies okay. If I look at jealousy, These
can't coexist. It's like oil and water.
If I have jealousy in my heart, I'm not going to be a piece.
I will never be at peace until because there's always something
else that someone has that I might want or want to become or
someone else is better at than the person.
I thought I wanted it from. I'm never gonna have peace.
I'm never gonna be able to love them because I'm concerned about
what they have or what. What am I get?
I'm not going to have joy because Joy doesn't come from
achieving things or getting things.
I'm not going to be long suffering because I'm going to
be frustrated all the time. I'm not going to be kind to my
disposition or my actions. I'm not going to be faithful
because I'm always working about getting something for me.
I'm not going to have self-control or gentleness
because you'll live a frustrated life.
If you're jealous If I'm selfish and if I've selfish Ambitions,
how can I possibly be faithful to things that matter if I'm
seeking my own? If I am committing adultery or
fornication? How can I possibly love the
person that I'm sending with or the person who I should be
faithful to? How could I have joy in any of
my relationships? If I'm unfaithful and always
looking turning around, trying to protect my secrets?
How could I ever have peace with might with others with God or
myself? How could Hi be suffering along
with those that I have a bond with.
If I'm unfaithful in a relationship, I'm not going to
be stick to it. I'm going to lash out if I'm not
faithful. You can go through all of these,
you could say, if I'm long-suffering.
I'm not going to turn to other places for my Pleasures.
I'm going to rely on what God has given me and have
faithfulness in my heart for that.
And gratitude, I'm not going to seek for pleasure other places.
I'm going to be faithful to God and not to other Idols.
I'm not going to seek for power anywhere else.
I'm not going to hate others because I'm willing to suffer in
myself rather than to have a hatred for somebody else.
I'm not going to be contentious or jealous because it's not
about me. I'm not going to burst out
because I'm taking the mental disposition and I'm setting my
feet in the ground that I'm going to stick through the
suffering and not expect to have things easy.
And go on and on these two can't exist and I encourage you to
find something. Maybe you struggle with on this
list. It was very helpful for me and
replace it. With these difficult but
wonderful Concepts. Not because you need to try so
hard to make it happen. But going to see in just a
minute because this is a syndrome, you can have when you
read this list. Oh no, I can't do all that on
the worst. I'll never become all that.
And today I have to do everything where I do.
I even start, I can't go back and fix everything.
I'm overwhelmed. A lot of times people read a
list like that and that's how they feel.
Pause. It's not the point.
This is a positive reset. Take from this.
I have a vision of what I want to be.
Number two, the best is ahead. That's the Hope in all of this
is that I can have more joy than I ever thought I can have love
and peace in my life that I are thought.
Because maybe there's things in your I haven't uncovered yet.
That tells me the best is ahead and that I can look forward to
my life, becoming better and more refined.
And number and this one here guys, it's God's spirit in me.
I don't have to have this reaction when it's God's spirit
working in me that's going to be the theme.
There's a passage. It says, do not quench the
spirit. Instead of Welcome him in.
And John 14, verse 22. Judah said to him, Lord, how is
it that you will manifest yourself yourself to us and not
to the world? Jesus answered and said to him,
if anyone loves me, he will keep my word.
And my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our
home with him. Welcome, Jesus, in, there's
moments every day where you where you look and you're like,
I know I'm making about to make a decision that's kind of a good
or bad or helpful or negative. Don't quench the spirit when
God's spirit is teaching our heart and making our conscience
aware. Don't quench that allow God's
word to work in US. And welcome him.
Welcoming him in, will help make all these things grow out out
from us. One of the key takeaways is
moments make this happen being intentional with preparation and
went to regroup if we're going to make this these kind of
changes in our life if we're going to start with God at the
focus and let God work within us and welcomed him and I think it
starts the start of our day to start with purpose and goals.
What is my purpose here today? And what are my goals today?
What do I want to be one of my setting?
My heart toward inmates to, it may involve taking Taking time
to pause, there may be times where you have to regroup and
baseball. You call a timeout, the coach
comes out not because he has a lot of discussion to make, but
he wants to do what's called, stop the bleeding.
Okay? Let's just talk, our coach
usually came out said a joke, caught us, all reset.
Okay. Now let's proceed.
Maybe for us that comes back to refocusing on our goals.
Okay, what-what am I what was my goal today?
I started with. Am I doing that?
Okay, let's reset. So take time.
To pause and refocus. Jesus often went alone to pray
and at the end of our day, may be time to reflect evaluate.
How do I do today and then move on It doesn't happen in a moment
but moments, make it moments, make this Who You Are.
Moments make this who you are, but it's not going to happen in
a moment for the good or for the bad.
You're not going to become all these things in a moment and
you're not going to lose all this character in a moment.
We need to be filled with the spirit of God.
Paul said, I do not account myself to have apprehended.
I always thought that was like reprimanded.
I don't know what I thought that word meant, but the word
apprehended, I'd learn Spanish, which is I put in there is to
learn. Paul said, I did it.
I don't kill myself to have already learned.
I'm learning this in the process.
This becoming more and more perfected by God.
But one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things, which are ahead.
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call and
Christ Jesus have it. Learned it yet.
I'm just going to keep on trying starting new day.
Purpose and goals. Refocus recommit evaluate
myself. Finally closing out this chapter
and those who belong to Christ have crucified, the flesh with
its passions and desires. Now, that doesn't mean that
there's no longer flesh inside of us.
It's a commitment, I've crucified, the flesh.
Meaning, I've made a commitment to walk away from that.
I may make mistakes, but my commitment May stand, I have a
commitment to crucify the flesh. Verse 25.
I'm reading from the ESV. Now, if we live by the spirit,
let us also keep in step with the spirit.
This translation says, And this this gives a connotation of, of,
like a runner or maybe if you're walking, if you're doing speed
walking, whatever your gig is, if you're keeping in step with
someone, that's for Pace. And I think that's a wonderful
picture that we're not going to the Holy.
See, the spirit isn't going to teach us and say, oh, I'm all
the way up here. You're nowhere.
Close the Spirit guides us. We keep step with what we can
see. We need to do today.
We keep step with. Okay, what do I see today is an
area, I should be better or an opportunity to be better and you
keep in step with that and the spirit will work on the word
will work on our lives and teach us.
Along the way, keep in step, with what we're being.
What is being asked of us what our conscience is.
Convicting us up today and where we can be better today.
And if you've ever been done, much running Runners really rely
on, somebody else to help them set their Pace.
When I was in high school, it was Spencer Hagar.
He was really the only one who can set a pace for me.
He and our baseball conditioning, he was the fastest
guy, he was the longest legs and he could really run every race.
I was just staring at his feet trying to keep up with them
every time we ran our mile or two mile.
I was staring at his feet trying to track stride for stride with
him. That's the concept track stride
for stride. Stay focused on what the on what
the word teaches us and what we need to be focused on, and
that's a wonderful concept. If you run a long Marathon, they
have designated pacemakers Who come out and run, maybe a mile
with you to set your pace. Say, hey, so, and so you come
out here and Run Run MI 15 with me, just to make sure my pace is
on track because Slowly start to just kind of lollygag if there's
not somebody they're setting my pace.
So maybe I call a Sal Chris and Terry and said hey you guys are
my mile Pace Setters for this Marathon going to run and they
would go out there. They'd meet me and I would track
my Pace with them. I thought this picture was I
just happen to run across this was even better than I kind of
imagine it. There's the paralympic races and
they have a Pacesetter. that is tied to them, literally And this
Pacesetter guides them, they help them keep up their speed
but they also keep them on track.
This guy on the right is the pace Setter and the guide for
the paralympic runner and I thought that was a perfect
picture of our Christian Life. Sometimes we are blind.
Sometimes we cannot see where we're going, sometimes.
We don't know where we need to be.
But God's word, the spirit of God can live in us and direct us
and we can keep Pace with that with what he's asking of us
today. If we live in the spirit, let us
also keep in step with the spirit.
Let us not become conceited provoking one, another envying,
one, another And that is the end of the chapter.
And finally, a call to action. Jesus said in John 15, no longer
do I call you servants. For a servant, does not know
what his master is doing, but I have called you friends for all
things that I heard from my father.
I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I
chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.
And that you, your fruit should remain.
I'll stop there. I think that's enough.
God has called us to bear fruit, God has called us to action.
Got us called us and appointed us, for a, for a life that is
better than we can ever. Imagine.
When his Spirit truly works in us, they didn't have to be
afraid in the old test going from the Old Testament, because
it was still God working in them.
Just maybe not in a way, they had imagined.
If you have not started this walk and become filled with the
spirit through what God teaches you can start today.
You can be added to, by of Christ.
When you believe, when you repent, is, I'm going to turn
and crucify the Flesh and commit my life and repent of our past
life confess that Jesus Christ. Is the Son of God, the source of
our saving grace, and the source of our salvation, and be
baptized to be contacted with the blood of Christ to be joined
to him and walk a life of faith. And if you've already done that
but you have may be straight or you want to get back on the
right track. We're here as a family to
support. However, you may need in this
process while we stand while we sing We thank you for listening
to our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
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