May I Introduce You to the Holy Spirit? #4
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
"Love, Joy and Peace"
Galatians 5:13-26
One question often asked when discussing is the Holy Spirit is , “When does a person receive the Holy Spirit?” Is it at water baptism or does it come latter, after a person has been a Christian for many years? Is there a second baptism; a baptism of the Holy Spirit?
As Christians, we need to understand that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. As a child of God, we already have the gift of the Holy Spirit. The real issue for many of us is that we are not "FILLED" with the Spirit. What does this mean? To be filled with the Holy Spirit means we have yielded our entire life to the working of the Holy Spirit. The more we yield, the more the Holy Spirit controls our life.
Perhaps this illustration can help us understand a little bit better. We have an empty glass. This glass represents a person, perhaps one of us. Here comes the Holy Spirit represented by water. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. We recognize our need for a savior and we accept Jesus into our heart. As Christians we now have the Holy Spirit in our life but notice there is more of our life that can be filled. The Holy Spirit has many blessings he wants us to receive. The question becomes, how do we receive more of what the Holy Spirit wants us to have? This is done through prayer, through Bible Study, through fellowship with believers, by dwelling on the things of God.
Before we can be filled with some thing new, such as the Holy Spirit, we must be emptied of the old. We cannot fill this glass with orange juice if it already has prune juice in it. We must first get rid of the prune juice then we can put in the orange juice. The same is true for the Christian, we cannot be full of God; we cannot be full of the Holy Spirit if we have something else in our life. We must be emptied of sin, we must put "self" aside. Yes, the Holy Spirit that lead us to Christ is there but we must put him in control. As Christians, God continually calls us to give ourselves over to him. Paul expressed it by saying, "we must walk in the Spirit."
Can we know whether or not we are walking in the Spirit?
Jesus once said in Matthew 7:20: By their fruit you will recognize them.
In Luke 6:43-45 Jesus said:
A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thorn bushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
In Paul taught the same thing. He teaches us in Galatians 5, that the more we give ourselves over to God, certain fruit will be evident in our life.
We don’t particularly like to hear about bearing fruit do we? However, the truth of the matter is that Jesus expects us to bear fruit. In fact, bearing fruit is mentioned in 24 of the 27 New Testament books.
Perhaps a contrast between WORKS and FRUITS would be in order here. A machine in a factory WORKS and turns out a product. A machine could never manufacture FRUIT. Fruit is something that comes about naturally. Fruit must grow out of life and in the case of the believer, it grows out of a life lived in the Spirit. When we think of WORKS we sense effort; labor; strain; and toil. When we think of FRUIT we imagine beauty; quietness; it is the unfolding of the natural process of life. It would be ridiculous to think that a apple tree would somehow tell itself, "Hey, I guess I ought to bear some apples today." Neither does a Christian tell himself, "Well, I guess I better go out and bear some spiritual fruit." That’s silly. It is some thing natural. The fruit does not come about because of a conscience effort. It is a offspring of surrendering our life totally to God’s Spirit. It is a matter of what or who is controlling the inside.
If a man is filled with anger, than anger controls his life.
If a man is filled with greed, then greed dominates his life.
If a man is filled with lust, then lust governs his life.
If a man is filled with love, then love influences all he does.
And if a man is filled with the Holy Spirit, he is controlled by the Spirit - it is, if you will, "control by consent."
(Emile Wolfaardt)
In Galatians 5, Paul gives a list of nine fruit of the Spirit. As a Christian continues to give him or herself over to God the more these fruit will be evident in his life. We cannot deal with all nine fruit today. However, these fruit can be divided in three categories; if you would, three clusters of three. The first category (cluster) deals primarily with the inward aspects of a life lived in the Spirit. Of course these fruit will have outward expressions. These first three fruit according to Paul are: LOVE, JOY, and PEACE.
An extensive survey was conducted in the United States by a leading polling agency. Questionnaires were distributed to people of various ages and occupations. The key question was this: What are you looking for most in life? When the results were compiled, the analysts were surprised. Most of them had expected answers that would suggest materialistic goals, but the top three things that people wanted in life were love, joy, and peace—the first three fruits of the Spirit! This demonstrates that God knows what it is we really need.
It should not surprise us that the first fruit on Paul’s list is LOVE. Remember, it was Paul who wrote the great love chapter, I Corinthians 13, which he concluded with the words: Now abideth faith, hope, love but the greatest of these is love.
As we continue to yield our life over to God’s Spirit, our love will grow. We will become more Christ like in the way we love. Perhaps we have all heard of AGAPE. AGAPE is a Greek word that describes that special love of God. God’s love is an unconditional love. He loves everyone even though we may not return that love. AGAPE is the highest form of love.
When Jesus said, "Love your enemies," Matthew’s gospel uses the word AGAPE.
When Jesus said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor," Mark used the word AGAPE.
When the scriptures says, "God is love," it uses the word AGAPE.
As we grow in the Lord, as we give ourselves over to the Spirit, our love will become more and more like the love of Christ. It will move toward “unconditional love.” That means we will love people who may not love us in return. That means we will love those who misuse us. We will love people regardless of color; nationality; or economic status. The Spirit controlled believer will manifest the same character and conduct of love as Jesus. We will love as Christ loved on the cross.
Someone wrote a little poem titled: “What is unconditional love?”
It is silence – when your words would hurt.
It is patience – when your neighbor’s curt.
It is deafness – when a scandal flows.
It is thoughtfulness – for other’s woes.
It is promptness – when stern duty calls.
It is courage – when misfortune falls.
It is trust – when not knowing the why or how.
It is acceptance – in whatever God allows. [Source Unknown]
It is our love, that marks us out as true disciples of Jesus. If we do not love, WE DO NOT KNOW JESUS!
Dr. Bill Bright in his book, THE HOLY SPIRIT, presents a unique idea. He states that in reality there is a single fruit of the Spirit...LOVE. This love is manifested in our attitudes and our actions. In other words:
JOY IS LOVE’S STRENGTH.
PEACE IS LOVE’S SECURITY.
PATIENCE IS LOVE’S ENDURANCE.
KINDNESS IS LOVE’S CONDUCT.
GOODNESS IS LOVE’S CHARACTER.
FAITHFULNESS IS LOVE’S CONFIDENCE.
GENTLENESS IS LOVE’S HUMILITY.
SELF-CONTROL IS LOVE’S VICTORY.
Dr. Sherwood Wirt in his book, AFTERGLOW, wrote:
I have learned there is no point in talking about strong churches and weak churches, big churches and little churches, warm churches and cold churches. Such categories are unrealistic and beside the point. There are only two kinds of churches: Loving churches and Unloving churches.
The fruit of the Spirit is love. We love because God first loved us. Perhaps we should pray the words of the hymn:
Breathe on Me, Breath of God;
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what thou dost love,
And do what thou wouldst do.
The second inward fruit Paul mentions is JOY. Notice Paul does not use the word, HAPPINESS or PLEASURE. Joy is different. Joy goes much deeper.
We must not mistake happiness for joy. It’s easy to do that. The Bible mentions "joy" or "rejoicing" 330 times. But it only mentions "happiness" 26 times. Happiness depends upon what happens to us. So if all the circumstances are right, then we can be happy. But joy comes from inside.
The Greek word used in this list of fruit for joy is CHARA which is a term always used to refer to joy that is based on spiritual or religious factors. In other words this heavenly joy is based on God; not on the things of the world. This joy that Paul is referring to has nothing to do with circumstances. Circumstantially things may be going great or they maybe terrible but the joy remains. This believer knows that he can always rejoice because God is in control; working all things "together for good for those that love him."
Charles Allen expressed it well in his book, THE MIRACLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, when he wrote:
Just as all the water in the world cannot quench the fire of the Holy Spirit, neither can all the troubles and tragedies of the world overwhelm the joy which the Spirit brings into the human heart.
“I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said.
His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
Max Lucado wrote:
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy. (SOURCE: Max Lucado. http://www.maxlucado.com/read/where.do.i.go/index3.html)
Do you remember the children’s song we use to sing, "I’ve Got the Joy, Joy,
Joy, Joy!" Sing it with me.
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart. (Where?)
Down in my heart. (Where?)
Down in my heart.
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart,
Down in my heart to stay.
The third inward fruit that the Spirit gives is PEACE.
Some years ago, a retired couple was alarmed by the threat of nuclear war; so they undertook a serious study of all the inhabited places on the globe. Their goal was to determine where in the world would be the place to be least likely affected by a nuclear war. A place of ultimate security. They studied and traveled, traveled and studied. Finally they found the perfect place. And on Christmas they sent their pastor a card from their new home--in the Falkland Islands. However, their "paradise" was soon turned into a war zone by Great Britain and Argentina.
Jesus told his disciples in John 14:
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.
What was Jesus saying? Peace for the Christian is not simply the absence of conflict. Rather it is the deep, abiding peace only Jesus can bring to the heart. It is that inner calmness of emotions and thoughts which rests on the assurance that God is too good to be unkind and too wise to make mistakes. This peace is knowing that God is in control. The Spirit’s peace comes only from having peace with God.
We have referred to these first three fruit of the Spirit as inward fruit. The love, joy and peace that we described can only take place as we turn our hearts and lives over to the spirit. These fruit move from the inside out into the way we live our lives.
Perhaps as we have discussed this first cluster of “Fruit of the Spirit” you have said to yourself, “Wow! I am a Christian and I don’t recognize any of those fruit in my life or if they are I don’t see much of it!” Does that mean I am not a Christian? If you repented of your sin and accepted Jesus as your savior then you are a Christian it may mean that you need to do some internal house cleaning. Jesus called it pruning.
On the night of March 29, 1848, Niagara Falls completely and mysteriously stopped flowing. The estimated 500,000 gallons of water that customarily rushed over the falls stalled to a trickle.
To some, the mystery of this sudden "turning off" of the river seemed to be a message from on high and by night most of the churches packed with people praying. Some frightened voices began to speak about the end of the world. Fear grew into the proportions of panic.
The cause of this unusual event began along the shores of Lake Erie near Buffalo. For several days, the wind had been blowing to the east over Lake Erie, driving much of its ice flow down river. Then the winds suddenly shifted to the west, driving the lake water west and causing the lake’s ice to break up and dam the river. The Niagara River ceased to flow for almost 30 hours until the ice shifted and the dam broke up.
This is what can happen to the believer when we become cold towards Christ and do not allow the Holy Spirit flow through our lives. It can become disastrous. Has your love for Christ grown cold? Ask God to remove the obstacles that prevent the love, joy and peace from flowing in your life.
