The Acts of the Flesh vs. the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians Sermon 22)

Some time ago, my family and I had the opportunity to go to Monticello which is Thomas Jefferson’s home, it’s up on a small mountain in Central Virginia. And we had the chance to walk through the amazing grounds there, the gardens that are there. And he was many things, of course: A politician, a philosopher, inventor, but I think he would say above all things he was a farmer, and I would say, a scientist farmer. And he liked to study how things grew in the soil there on top of that mountain in Monticello. And if you walk through the ground, some other grounds keepers have come in the spirit of that same desire to have the most lavish display of flowers, and fruits and vegetables, and trees you could have. Only thing that could be improved is if it will all be done to the glory of God. Amen? Out of faith in Jesus Christ.

But I was there in that spirit, and I was so delighted to see these flowers and just to smell the fragrant air of all of these flowering things, to see the rare wildflowers, and to smell the roses, and to see the tulips, and to see all of that. I was especially mindful of the fact (speaking just for myself, not for my wife), that I can’t grow anything. I tend to kill things. I don’t mean to, but we have no green thumb. I guess, we have a brown thumb. I don’t know, maybe that’s the opposite of a green thumb. But he apparently was just exceptionally skillful at growing things, and then fruits, incredible fruits, 150 different varieties of 31 temperate species of fruits. All different kinds of things: Plums, and pears, and grapes, and apricots, and Spanish almonds, and all of it there for the picking. And then vegetables, amazing vegetables; 250 varieties of more than 70 different species of vegetables. And he studied how they would flourish, and what they were, and what different combinations of fertilizers, and watering and all of that.

Monticello is a rich treasure of growing things, but it made me think about my soul and the passage that we’re looking at today, the Fruit of the Spirit. What kind of fruit is there in my life? If you could take a walk through my life as we go through that kind of circuitous path there at Monticello and you look around. If you were to do that in my life, what would you see? What is the fruit of your Christianity? What is going on in your life? In John chapter 15, Jesus used an agricultural analogy saying, “I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” And then he said, “Abide [or dwell or remain, live] in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. And neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. [said Jesus] “I am the vine, you were the branches. If someone remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.”

Jesus taught the same thing in The Sermon on the Mount. He said that we will most certainly in him bear fruit, and the kind of fruit we bear shows who we are and what we are like. He said in the Sermon on the Mountain, (Matthew 7:16-20)“By their fruit you will recognize them. Every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire thus by their fruit, you will recognize them.” And many such passages, as well. I ask you this, I’m asking myself, what kind of fruit is there in your life?

Now, the problem for us is that the answer must be inconsistent. There is, in every Christian, good fruit but also bad fruit. James talks about this in James 3:9-12. He says, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse men who have been made in his likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” And yet we acknowledge, as divided beings, as those who struggle with the flesh, but we are also indwelt by the Spirit that we see out of the same life come both things that we give glory to God for in praise and for in those things that we are ashamed of and wish we would never do.

Now in Galatians 5, we see a very clear description of this whole problem, the war between the flesh and the Spirit that goes on inside each one of us. Galatians 5 gives a lengthy list of the works of the flesh and contrasts it with the fruit of the Spirit. The ongoing work of the indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ is to conform us from the inside out to Jesus Christ, so that we would actually be like Christ in every respect. The Fruit of the Spirit that I’m going to look at today is one of the most famous passages in the New Testament. In the book of Galatians, it is the goal of sanctification. It is what God is working in us. It is the goal of the Spirit-filled life at every moment. I believe the Fruit of the Spirit is a good checklist for yourself at every moment. Just take a snapshot of yourself at any moment throughout this upcoming week. Could be Tuesday morning, it could be Wednesday afternoon, it could be Thursday night, doesn’t matter, just snapshot.

When I was a student in college, there was this incredible exhibit done by this guy named Harold Edgerton, and he was a pioneer in Strobe Photography. And he took high-speed photographs of instance and time. They hadn’t been able to be captured before his research in strobe photography, so there’d be pictures of like an apple with a bullet going through it. I don’t know why you’d want to shoot an apple. But there it is, there’s the bullet going through and you see the entry and the exit, and just the tip of the bullet coming out, he’s able to capture that. Or a drop of milk dropping and it looks like this incredible crown coming all these amazing strobe photography. The picture of a pin going in a big balloon, in just an instant, after it begins to pop and you see the rip in the balloon and it’s curt but you can still see the rest of the balloon’s still there. Amazing pictures.

Take a snapshot of yourself this week and ask yourself this question, “Am I, right now, characterized by the fruit of the Spirit?” Would my wife, would my husband, would my good friend, would my roommate say, “Yeah, I would say, that you are right now characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, that’s who you are. And if our content of the answer honestly is no, then you need to repent. And don’t blame your spouse, don’t blame your roommate, don’t blame the circumstances, understand that the Holy Spirit can and does produce this fruit in you, irrespective of your circumstances. This should characterize you every moment of your life. That’s what we going to talk about today.

I. What Kind of Life Leads to Heaven?

We’re looking right here in the middle of Galatians 5. We’ve been asking this question, what kind of life leads to heaven? Let’s just step back and look at the book of Galatians as a whole. Galatians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a group of churches that he planted in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, and he was there and he preached the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. He did a good job preaching the gospel. Some people repented and believed, and some churches were planted. And after he worked with them for a while, he left. And soon after he left, some other false teachers came in, who we called Judaizers. They’re not called that in the book of Galatians but that’s who they were. They were Jewish people who professed to faith in Christ but said, faith in Christ is not enough. You need to add to it the works of the law. You’ve got to add to it Jewish law, the laws of Moses. The combination of faith in Christ plus the law of Moses equals salvation.

Well, Paul heard about this and said, this is devastating, this is no gospel at all, this is false teaching. And he wrote the book of Galatians back to these churches to teach them. As he says in Galatians 2:16, “A person is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law, no one will be justified.” Justification is the beginning of the Christian life. When you hear the gospel, you hear about Almighty God sending his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, did signs and wonders but especially died as a substitute on the cross for our sins. We were guilty under the law of God. God knew we deserved condemnation, he knew we deserve wrath but instead of pouring it on us, he poured it out on his son Jesus as our substitute. But God raised him from the dead on the third day, showing that that sacrifice have been accepted. And if you repent and believe, you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life; that’s the gospel. If you hear that and believe it, believe it to be true, the instant that you hear and believe, you are justified. What does that mean? Forgiven of all your sins. The righteousness of Christ is credited to your account, you’re infinitely perfectly wealthy in righteousness. God sees you as having been perfectly obedient to his law, and in that righteousness, you will stand on judgement day, forgiven, blameless, and unafraid. And in that righteousness, he will welcome you into heaven. That’s justification. That happens instantaneously at the beginning of the Christian life and nothing can change it.

But the Christian life doesn’t end at justification. After that comes the process, the journey of sanctification. And the rules of the game are a little bit different on sanctification. Whereas, our works are not welcome in justification, we must work out our salvation day by day in sanctification. Little by little, we have to fight the good fight of faith, we have to put sin to death by the power of the Spirit. We have to learn to grow in certain areas, and that’s sanctification. It’s hard. And that’s a big part of why we do church, it’s a big part of why you come and listen to preaching; to help yourself grow in Christ, become more like Christ, that’s sanctification.

And then at the end, and I’ve been talking to some people recently who are yearning for that day of glorification. Amen. At last, you’ll be free from the struggle, you’ll be delivered from all pain, you’ll be delivered from all sin, and you will go and be in the presence of Almighty God forever. This happens generally in two stages. First, at death, if the Lord hasn’t returned yet. If you’re not part of that final generation, you will be separated from the body and you’ll be ushered right into the presence of God, and you’ll go worship him and you’ll be free forever from sin. But you won’t have your resurrection body yet, not yet. You’ll be absent from the body, present with the Lord. And then, at the end of all things, the second coming of Christ, then He will raise the righteous and the wicked, and you will receive the gift of a resurrection body, and there in that body, you will praise God forever.

That’s the whole salvation plan. Now you, if you’re a believer in Christ, you’re in the middle of the sanctification journey. The book of Galatians is written to help you. Now, one of the most common accusations about the grace, the salvation by grace message that you are justified apart from your work, has nothing to do with your works. Like the thief on the cross, his hands and feet nailed, he can’t do anything, go anywhere but he can still go to heaven. What did he do to earn his salvation? Nothing. It was given to him as a gift. People say, “Well then, that means you can live however you want.” It’s complete lawlessness and then because you’re saved, you can go to heaven? Well, people who talk like that don’t really understand salvation. They don’t understand what the Holy Spirit does in a believer when he comes into your life.

The moment that you’re justified by faith, you receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Then he, Almighty God, God the Spirit, begins to take over, and begins to change things in your life. If you look at the immediate context, he’s talking about the Spirit-filled life. Look at verse 16. He said, “So I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the lust of the flesh.” That’s the Spirit-filled life, the command, “walk by the Spirit” is there, that is, live your daily life in constant dependence, active dependence by faith on the Spirit’s power. Walk step by step through your day by the power of the Spirit, and if so you will not gratify the lust of the flesh. Then he explains the warfare in verse 17, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They’re at enmity or at odds or in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” We are divided beings, as we’ve talked about, schizophrenic, somewhat insane, if we can use that language, somewhat crazy. The very thing we hate, we do. The very thing we yearn to do, we do not do; that’s the nature of the battle. The Holy Spirit is in us causing us to put to death the deeds of the flesh. He says in verse 18, “If you were led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The Christian life is a life of being led by the Spirit not dominated by the law. And so, we then wage war, God’s way by the power of the Spirit. In Romans 8:13-14, it says, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” What I get out of that is that every day, the Holy Spirit rouses us and gets us ready, dresses us for battle; battle against the world of flesh and the devil, and that’s the nature of our sanctification battle.

“The Christian life is a life of being led by the Spirit not dominated by the law.”

Now, we come to the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the best possible life that you can live on earth. If you have these qualities constantly, consistently, I assert, you cannot live a better life than this, no matter how devastatingly bad your circumstances may be. There are many examples of this. In the book of Acts, take for example Stephen. Stephen was being stoned to death. His enemies were raging at him, blocking their ears, foaming at the mouth, clearly were going to kill him, were in the process of killing him. But do you remember how Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit? And he looked up to heaven and he saw Jesus, standing at the right hand of God, ready to welcome him. And he said, “Father, don’t lay this sin against their charge.” He’s so filled with joy, filled… I think, he was already in heaven while he’s still dying on earth. And he was just living a supernatural life in the midst of really terrible circumstances.

Or take, of course, Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail preaching the gospel after driving a demon out of a girl. The Philippians/Romans arrest them. They beat them publicly, bloodying them, shaming them, and throwing them in jail, and their feet are fastened in the stocks. They have had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, they’re wounded, they’re hurting, and they might even be executed the next day, and there they’re praising and singing songs to Jesus. And all the other prisoners are listening to them. Or consider Paul on the deck of a heaving ship in the midst of a hurricane goes on for days and days. And they don’t see any… They don’t even know if it’s night or day, it’s so dark. And they haven’t eaten anything in days. And Paul is so filled with courage and boldness, and concern for others, and trust in God, he’s just characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. That’s the best possible life you can live. And I would say, this is the life the world wants but it can never get. It’s trying to get these things by the wrong means, circumventing God, turning away from Christ, not looking at any of the spiritual things, going after material possessions, going after worldly success. They think they’re going to find the fruit of the Spirit. They wouldn’t call it that but they’re looking for love, they’re looking for joy and peace, they’re looking for satisfaction in this world. By these worldly means, they’re not going to find it.

I know an individual. I don’t know him personally but I know of him, who is incredibly successful in his… He was an athlete and incredibly successful. Everything he was doing, he was living at seemed the perfect life, had a mansion in which he could see the sunrise and the sunset over water. He had his own private island, an astonishing mansion, a beautiful wife, cute kids, success in everything he endeavored to do. But the whole thing was a facade because inside, he was seething with the lust of the flesh, seething with discontent, prone to fits of rage, and threw it all away. And now, his life is a shell of what it used to be. I would contend that individual needs Christ. Amen. He needs to repent and believe in Jesus. But how many non-Christians would look before all of those events and say, “Now, there’s the life I want to live.”

And I can imagine anyone, if they really believe this offer, the devil is here offering you that kind of life, all the wealth you could want, all the success you could want in the world, the house you could want, the family life you want. All of that but you can’t have the following things: You cannot have love, you can have no joy, and no peace, and would you do it? I can’t imagine anyone saying, “Yeah, I’m willing to trade away all of my happiness, and all of my love, everything, so I could have these physical things.” But they don’t believe it’s true and they think that I can have both. I can have that worldly life and I can have all that and skip God but I can still be happy, and that’s not possible. I would contend, if you have all of the wealth in the world and do not have the fruit of the Spirit, you have nothing. Conversely, if you have the fruit of the Spirit and you’re being beaten, or persecuted, or rejected, you have everything.

“If you have all of the wealth in the world and do not have the fruit of the Spirit, you have nothing. Conversely, if you have the fruit of the Spirit and you’re being beaten, or persecuted, or rejected, you have everything”

Friends, this is the best life there is. There is no utopia, there’s no perfect society that will ever be in this world. But an individual can be so captivated by Christ, so captivated by the gospel, and so filled with the Spirit that they’re living their own private paradise in the midst of very trying circumstances. And that’s what the Spirit is offering to you. Now, we’re right in the middle of a section, the passage we began today, began with the word “But”, so you should always be suspicious of verses that begin with ‘therefore’, or ‘but’ and say, we are parachuting right in the middle, what are we looking at?

II. The Works of the Flesh (verses 19-21)

We’re in the middle of a section which is contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. And we did the works of the flesh last week. Verse 19, it says, “The acts or works of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, adultery and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the likes.” We talked about that in detail last week, I’m not going to go over it in detail but just by way of reminder. The sin list is a diagnosis of the human heart, it’s a diagnosis of the human life. We saw four groupings last week: Sins of sensuality, sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery. Sins of religion, such as sorcery and idolatry. Sins of relationships, such as enmity, strife, jealously, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissension, factions, and envy; eight of them. And then, sins of dissipated living or lack of self-control, so that’s drunkenness and orgies. We said last time this list is not exhaustive, he said, “and such like” or “things like that.” There are many other things besides these 15 that are listed but this is the life of the flesh. And he then gives verse 21 a terrifying warning. He said, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The bottom line is that the life of the Spirit kills the acts of the flesh; that’s what the Spirit does. Negatively, in sanctification, these are the very things the Holy Spirit is putting to death. Now, we get to the positive aspect of the life of the Spirit or sanctification, that is what positive things does the Spirit produce, and that’s this list in verse 22-23, “But by contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These things laid side by side are in clear contrast with each other. The flesh loves those evil works and hates the fruit of the Spirit. Conversely, the Spirit hates the works of the flesh and loves to produce the fruit of the Spirit; these are the dichotomy of the Christian life versus the life of the flesh.

III. The Fruit of the Spirit (verses 22-23)

Notice also the plural versus the singular. We have the works of the flesh; plural. See that? “works.” Versus the fruit of the Spirit; singular. That’s a subtle difference but I think it’s worth talking about. First, the works of the flesh are spoken of as plural. They are varied and this is what I said last week, not every sinner does all of these things. It is quite possible for some sinners outside of Christ, living lives of wicked rebellion against God but avoiding certain patterns of sin that they would never do. Some extremely prideful, ambitious, vindictive power mongers in the world never touch a drop of alcohol, they never get drunk. Hitler in particular was noteworthy for being exceptionally prudish about sexual things, and extremely disciplined in his eating and drinking habits. But he was clearly prone to fits of violent rage. The works of the flesh are varied and you’re not necessarily going to have all of them.

Conversely, the Spirit produces all of these things in every Christian, seeking to produce them all the time. To some degree, it’s just one work of the Spirit flowering out in all of these character traits. All of these things are unfolding. It’s almost like white light hitting a prism and then just going out into the spectrum, the rainbow of colors, but it’s the same one white light that’s coming in. The fruit of the Spirit flowers out in all of these beautiful attributes. The Spirit would never say, “Okay, tell you what, let’s look at this list and we’re going to divide it up. And in 2014, we’re going to work on the first two, forget the rest. And then next year, every year, we’re going to add two more until we get the whole list.” Look, it’s not a coin collection, alright? We’re not trying to assemble these things. This is something that the Lord is wanting to produce in us all the time. It’s a beautiful flowering of the Spirit’s work. Spirit is working to conform us at every moment to Jesus Christ in every area. Furthermore, the works of the flesh…The person who does them can say “these are mine, I did them.” But the fruit of the Spirit is something we really honestly could give all glory to God for producing in us. Amen. You can look at that and say, “I am right now surprisingly characterized by love, joy, peace, and patience. I know, in other times, I would be very frustrated right now, and very irritable, and very impatient, and very mean, but instead, the Lord has got a hold of me and he is working this and to God be the glory.” And so, we really can give the Holy Spirit full glory for these attributes when we see them in us.

Now, non-Christians can ape or imitate some of the fruit of the Spirit from time of time but they’re intrinsically radically different between a Christian and non-Christians. Some people may have a natural disposition toward gentleness and quietness, but that doesn’t mean it’s the fruit of the Spirit, they may lack boldness to confront evil. Maybe, they’re just quiet, mousy, sheep-like people but they’re not Christians. Okay. Others may naturally be happy people, always whistling a tune, but their happiness is based on earthly circumstances and sometimes they might not be genuinely happy but just only appearing happy. Christian joy goes infinitely deeper. The Spirit works all of these attributes in Christians to the depth of our being and increases them gradually more and more over a period of time. Be patient and yearn for them. Set this list in front of you and pray over it and say, “Lord produce this in me. I yearn 10 years from now to be more characterized by this list than I am right now. Ten years from now, oh Lord, I want to be more patient than I am now.” Someone once said that you never want to pray for God to work patience in you. You know how He works patience in you, right? He’s going to bring afflictions and troubles in your life and say, “Okay, see how impatient you are?” That’s the journey on working patience but you should yearn for them. You should say, “I want 10 years from now to be much more characterized by all of these things than I am now.”

What I want to do is go through them just word by word and just talk about them briefly. Obviously, each one of these, we can preach a full sermon on. But I want to just give some descriptions, so we can understand them, and of course, it begins with love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. This is the greatest of all human attributes or character traits. Says in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now, these three remain: Faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love.” Says in Colossians 3:14, “Over all of these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Love as we know is the perfect summation of God’s law. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Love sums up God’s law. In one sense, we could say, love is all you really need. But God has still, through the Apostle Paul, given us the other words too. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, general self-control, those things describe and unfold what that love is like. I think the whole list is needed.

What is love? Love is a disposition of the soul, a heart attraction towards something. You are attracted. The heart, the human heart has the ability like a magnet to be attracted to or repulsed from anything in the universe. When we are converted, we are suddenly, supernaturally, by the power of God, transformed, rearranged, so that we are now attracted to God above all things, and to Christ, and to the word of God, and all of these things. And now, we hate sin, and evil, and darkness. That’s been the re-orientation that has happened in us. It’s the attraction of the heart toward something or someone. Now, I would say, biblical love, just practically ethically, biblical love is heart attraction for a person leading to sacrificial action. Attraction leading to action, those two together, that’s what love is. Without the one or the other, it isn’t Biblical love. Our hearts are drawn toward an individual. We want what’s best for them, we are yearning for them to know the joy of salvation even if they’re prosecuting us like Stephen. We are yearning that they not be condemned for that sin but we want them to be in heaven, so we’re drawn out to the person even if they’re our enemies. We want what’s right for them and then we’re willing to make sacrificial actions for them. Without the heart attraction, it isn’t love. If you give all you possess to the poor and you surrender your body to the flames but do it in an unloving manner, if you don’t have a heart attraction toward the person, you gain nothing. But conversely, it says in 1 John 3, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Biblical love work by the Spirit is my heart is knit together with another person, and then I am moved to sacrifice time, or energy, or money, or something to help them. That’s what Biblical love is.

“When we are converted, we are suddenly,…, transformed, rearranged, so that we are now attracted to God above all things, and to Christ, and to the word of God, and all of these things. And now, we hate sin, and evil, and darkness.”

Love is the chief work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the Christian, and that’s what distinguishes us from demons, alright? Demons know all kinds of things about God but they don’t love God, right? They’ve got all the theology down, they know the Bible, they’ve got it memorized, but they shudder. Demons shudder, and they hate God. We don’t shudder. We love God, we delight in him, we yearn for him, and in the same way, delight in other Christians. It says in 1 John 4:21, “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” And we love also righteousness and hate wickedness. We love God’s word, we love the truth. We love to hear about people being converted. Amen. We love to hear stories of gospel success. This is the fruit of the Spirit, love.

Secondly, joy. Joy is an emotion, a feeling of happiness. Now, some of you are going to come and say, “Now, pastor, there’s a big difference between joy and happiness.” We’ve been through this before, joy and happiness, the difference between the two. I don’t know how you can feel the difference in the feelings between joy and happiness. What I want to say is, the whole thing is, what’s the basis of the happy feeling? If the basis of the happy feeling is something worldly and temporal, then it’s just a temporary joy, like all non-Christians feel, and there’s nothing wrong with it. The happiness that comes from eating food that you like or seeing beautiful scenery, or something that happens in your life that you’re happy about, etcetera, those things are valid feelings. Now, we as Christians can give thanks to God for them and then they become acts of worship. For us, we have infinite and eternal reasons to be happy. We have eternal reasons for joy and that’s something that the Holy Spirit works in us. Joy is a deep-seated happiness in God and in the things of God, the promises of God, the achievements of God, the truth of God. It makes us happy. It’s an experience of pleasure, experience of delight. And I think it’s mixed in with peace and no anxiety. It’s just a peaceful happiness.

Christian joy is infinitely better than worldly joy because it’s focused on better things, on better promises. We feel joy in God’s reign over the earth, and over Christ’s resurrection victory. We feel joy over the salvation of other people through the Gospel. Jesus is the ultimate joy giver, isn’t he? I traced through the Gospel of Luke and just saw all the different ways that I could find that Jesus produced joy in people. It started when Jesus had first been conceived. Just six months after his cousin John was conceived in his mother Elizabeth, and Jesus’ mother Mary went to Elizabeth, you remember? And Mary greeted Elizabeth, and John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb just to be in the presence of the recently conceived Jesus. Jesus is the joy giver. And then, Mary herself cries out at that time, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit, what, rejoices in God my Savior.” Jesus is the joy giver.

And then, the angel comes the night Jesus is born and he announces to the shepherds out in the dark in hillside. He says, the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the City of David, a savior has been born for you, he is Christ the Lord.” Great joy for all the people. Jesus’ teaching on persecution even he said, “When they persecute you, rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets before you.” You should leap for joy. And then, the 72 get sent out on mission and they come back after they’ve done all the supernatural work. And the 72 returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” They’re just so happy at what God is doing by the name of Jesus. And Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And then he said, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Rejoice that your name is written in heaven.

And then, at that time, Jesus full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, “I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” Jesus was teaching in John 15 about how God the Father rejoices over the salvation of a single sinner. He talked about how the shepherd found one sheep that wandered off and brought it back and he was filled with joy at that. And He said, “I tell you, in the same way, there’s more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” But no joy was like the joy that Jesus gave at the resurrection. How sweet was that? Remember when Jesus was raised from the dead and they had heard stories about the empty tomb, stories that the women had brought back and all of that, and then finally, he appears before them. And they can’t understand what’s happening. And it says, “When they still did not believe it,” listen, “because of joy and amazement,” that’s the ultimate example in the Bible of something too good to be true but is too good not to be true. I mean, He has risen from the dead. And he said, “Do you have anything to eat here?” And he eats some and he said, “Look, a Spirit or a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see I have.” And then, when he was ascended into heaven at the end of the gospel, while he is blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven, then they rejoiced and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, says one gospel. You can go through the other 65 books of the Bible and find how God brings joy. But how sweet is that Jesus, the Holy Spirit draws your heart close to a contemplation of Christ and fills you with joy.

Joy is a celebration, a deep-seated happiness, and it’s going to characterize our eternity in heaven. It’s happiness. It’s like when your team wins a championship, only better. It’s when you graduate, only it’s better than that. It’s when you meet the love of your life and you actually get married but it’s better than that. It’s when the two of you welcome your firstborn into your family but it’s better than that. It’s better than any earthly thing you can ever experience but it’s like it. All of those little pockets of happiness, put them all in one big pool and drink from it and you haven’t touched anything yet compared to what your heavenly joy is going to be like. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Now, I think Christians should be characterized by joy. Don’t say to me, “I’m joyful but I’m just not very happy today.” That doesn’t make any sense to me. If you can parse out the difference between joy and happiness, come and tell me, but I don’t understand somebody who’s telling me, they’re joyful but they’re just not very happy today. We can have an incredible experience of joy even in the midst of deep suffering, sorrowful sometimes, yes, but always rejoicing.

Thirdly, peace. What is peace? It’s the sense of peace and tranquility because we are in a right relationship with God. Having been justified with God, justified by faith, we have peace with God. God is not at war with you anymore. God’s not your enemy, He’s at peace with you and therefore, we can have an experience, a feeling of peacefulness in our lives. This is the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit can give you peacefulness. It says in Philippians 4, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

That’s peacefulness, a feeling of tranquility based on your faith and your knowing that the God who loves you, your Father who has adopted you, is sitting on a sovereign throne over the universe, and all is well with your world. And you don’t need to be afraid of anything, you don’t need to be anxious, you don’t need to be afraid of anything. The peace of the Holy Spirit, it’s a gift, a fruit of the Spirit. And it extends to peacefulness with other people. You’re just peaceful with other people. You feel a feeling of peace with them. You’re not squabbling with them. Remember the acts of the flesh: Discord, jealousy, fits of Rage, those kind, that’s not happening. In a healthy Christian relationship, in a healthy church, it’s characterized by peacefulness, not by strife and conflict.

Fourthly, patience, also translated long-suffering. Why would I want that? Because in this world, you will have trouble, dear friends. In this world, you will have trouble. God must use afflictions to shape you and train you. You must have pain, and without that pain, you can’t grow. Pain is temporary, it’s not going to be in heaven, but it’s useful now, and so you need long-suffering. Greek word is Macrothumia. Long-suffering, you’re waiting for a long time, humble and patient, and waiting for God to bring about what you’re asking him. You’re praying to him and you’re crying out to him for alleviation of the pain that you’re going through, but you’re waiting humble under his hand. You’re waiting for him to answer your prayers. You’re not chafing, you’re not murmuring, you’re not questioning him, instead you’re waiting patiently. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, you’re waiting on him.

Fifthly, we have kindness. Kindness is a trait of active goodness, mingled with gentleness, there’s definitely overlap in these traits. Kindness is sweet, and humble, and quiet, and loving, and good. And if you don’t know what kindness is, and goodness is, my daughter was talking to me this week about goodness. What does that mean, the fruit of the Spirit is goodness? What is that? And the only way I could really answer that is say, look at Jesus, look how he was. Remember the leper that came up to him? And said, “Lord if you’re willing, you can make me clean.” And Jesus says with this just kindness and tenderness, says, “I am willing. Be clean.” And he reaches out and touches him. That’s goodness. It’s just flowing from the goodness and the love of God. Remember how Moses, set up in the mountain, and said, “Now, show me your glory.” And God said, “I will cause all of my goodness to pass in front of you.”

That kindness and goodness, that’s just of the nature, the essence of God. I think about the widow at Nain, whose only son had died. And Jesus comes while the funeral procession is carrying this now deceased young man out. And Jesus stops the procession and goes up to the woman and says, “don’t cry.” That’s kindness. We’re living in an increasingly unkind culture. Have you noticed that? It’s just amazing the unkindness. The sharp words, the harsh words, the prideful things, that should not characterize us. Kindness and goodness, rather, should characterize us.

Seventh, we have faith or faithfulness. Some translators go one way, some another. The fruit of the Spirit is faith. The ability to trust in God to believe him for his promises. That’s possible, but I think it’s more likely. The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness on your part, that you’ll be a person who keeps his or her promises. That you are committed to what you’re committed to. You’re going to let your yes be yes and your no, no. You are trustworthy in the Christian life.

Gentleness, gentleness like kindness, like goodness, the sweet attribute of meekness, and humility, and mildness, it’s based on humility. There’s a gentleness like a spring breeze is blowing on your face. There’s a gentleness to a Spirit-filled Christian. They’re not harsh and astringent. They’re not angry sounding, they’re gentle. There’s a gentleness like Jesus said, “A bruised reed he will not break, in a smoldering wick, he will not snuff out.” He’s so gentle with bruised sinners, and He’s able to deal gently with us. He says, “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am [What does he say?] gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” The Holy Spirit can make you gentle, truly gentle.

And then finally, self-control. The last two acts of the flesh were drunkenness and orgies, lack of self-control in those areas. The last fruit of the Spirit mentioned here is self-control. With self-control, a person knows when to stop, they know when to stop. They don’t talk too much, they don’t eat too much, they don’t sleep too much, they don’t get addicted to the honey of life. They eat a little honey because it’s sweet, but they don’t eat so much, they vomit. They know when to stop, there’s self-controlled people by the power of the Spirit. They’re living orderly balanced lives by the power of the Spirit.

Now, the power of the fruit of the Spirit is a cumulative effect. He’s producing all of these in us. The love that is joyful and also peaceful, while at the same time patient, kind toward others, good to the core of its being, faithful to all promises, gentle like a mild summer breeze, and self-controlled in the face of a world of temptations. And these qualities, these character traits in us, grow and grow as we walk by the Spirit. So 10, 20, 30 years down the line, you are more consistently characterized by these attributes. Now, Paul says in verse 23, “Against such things, there is no law.” You could say at one translation would be, these things aren’t illegal. Which is really humorous, when you think about, how could these things be illegal? But you think, where Christianity is illegal and all that, there are brothers and sisters that are living out this kind of life and that’s not illegal. But I think, more it’s the law doesn’t forbid these things. We’re saying to the Galatians, you, who are trying to live by the law, guess what? The law is not against these things, but the law can’t produce them. The law can’t make these things happen to you, the Spirit can. Hallelujah! The Spirit has the power to produce these things in us.

IV. The Changed Status:  We Live by the Spirit, Have Crucified the Flesh (verses 24-25)

Now, we have a changed status. Look at verses 24-25, we live by the Spirit and we have crucified the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and we live by the Spirit. We’ve made a decisive break, we are done with the old nature. Sin has no mastery over us. We are in a whole new relationship with God, and we have the power now to live by the Spirit and not do these deeds of the flesh.

“We are in a whole new relationship with God, and we have the power now to live by the Spirit and not do these deeds of the flesh.”

V. The Final Exhortation:  Walk by the Spirit in Community (verses 25-26)

He gives them a final exhortation, verse 25-26, “Since we lived by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited or arrogant, provoking and envying one another.” The Holy Spirit is drumming out a beat in your life. And he’s your drill instructor, and you need to get in behind him and march with him. And He’s going to be telling you left, right, left, right. We’re walking by the Spirit like it says in verse 16. Since we’re walking by the Spirit, let us keep in step with what the Spirit says.

In Isaiah, it says in Isaiah 30:21, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it.” And the Spirit is going to direct you how to live this kind of life that pleases God. And at the center of this is harmonious Christian community. Let’s not be arrogant. Don’t ever look at another person in this church and feel boastful or arrogant toward them. Don’t ever be conceited toward this other person, ever. You are a sinner saved by Grace, so don’t be arrogant and don’t be conceited, and don’t envy another person. Don’t look and say, “I wish I had what she had. I wish I have what he had”. Don’t do that and don’t provoke each other, as they were doing. Instead, let’s live a life of love together in community.

VI. Applications

Just want to finish by giving a couple of exhortation. The whole sermon really has been application. But I want to begin this final word to you in this chapter, by pleading with you to come to Christ. I don’t know where you’re at, I don’t know all of you. All I know is, I want all of you to be in heaven with me. I want you to be in heaven celebrating God’s grace in your life. And I don’t know if you’re a believer. If I know you well and I’ve seen you walk, I know you’re a Christian. But there’s a lot of people I don’t even recognize here. Can I plead with you, don’t leave this place unconverted. You’ve heard the Gospel from me several times this morning. Look to Christ crucified and resurrected. Trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. You can’t live this Christian life without believing in Jesus. This is all of it after justification.

But having been justified, now I am speaking to you Christians, set the fruit of the Spirit in front of you constantly as a matter for prayer. Say, “God, produce in me by the Spirit these attributes.” Husbands, look at this list and say, if you have the courage to say to your wife, “Honey, would you say that this consistently characterizes me?” It may be that she’ll tell you the truth. And maybe you need to grow and say, and I don’t think she’d like anything better than for you to say, “I want to be a year from now much more consistently characterized by the fruit of the Spirit than I am. Would you pray for that for me?” “Oh I’d be glad to. I’d be delighted to pray for that for you.” But she should humbly ask the same question of you. Would you say that these characterizes me? You are given to each other in marriage to help each other grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ, so help each other. And do that in the fellowship, brothers with brothers, sisters with sisters in Christ. Help each other. Set this in front of you and use it as a diagnostic free stream. If something is going on at work, just run through the Fruit of the Spirit, and see if it describes you. And if the answer is no, don’t blame your boss. It’s not your boss fault. Repent and say, “Lord, I have strayed from this, this is not who I want to be. Bring me back. Forgive me, forgive me from my anger, my pride, my irritability. Make me a godly man, make me a godly woman.”

Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time that we’ve had to study this incredible text. I pray that you would enrich our lives now. Empower us, help us to be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. I pray these people walk through the winding path of our lives as we did at Monticello, that people would be able to smell the aroma of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and praise God for how we’re living, in Jesus name, Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Thomas Jefferson was a Renaissance Man, with a brilliant and fertile mind who delighted in probing the physical universe in all of its fascinating variety… he loved fads and inventions and philosophies and politics… talking about and listening to the latest ideas

But he was first and foremost a FARMER… a man who yearned to see the soil bring forth everything it was capable of

His home in the hills of Virginia, Monticello, was a living laboratory of all that the soil of that region of the world was capable of sustaining

Flowers galore:

Jefferson, like most farmers, had standard beds with beautiful flowers filling them; but his interests were too diverse for the space of his flower beds, and he designed a winding walk which gave far more space for the flowers he wanted to plant. It was laid out in the spring of 1808… there were dozens and dozens of different types of flowering plants… including some radically new ones brought from the recent Lewis and Clark expedition; the flower beds at Monticello became a kind of living museum of New World flowering oddities

Fruits: Jefferson grew over 150 different varieties of 31 temperate species of fruit. Seedling peaches and Virginia cider apples were planted alongside European plums, French apricots and Spanish almonds; there were gooseberries, currants, and raspberries; there were blocks of cherry trees and two small vineyards; he created new ways of cultivating strawberries and figs.

Vegetables: Jefferson grew 250 varieties of more than 70 different species of vegetables, precisely recording the details of their growth. For Jefferson, the vegetable garden was a kind of laboratory where he could experiment with imported squashes and broccoli from Italy, beans collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition, figs from France, and peppers from Mexico. Although he would grow as many as twenty varieties of bean and fifteen types of English pea, his use of the scientific method selectively eliminated inferior types

Monticello was a rich, horticultural treasure, a testimony to the wide variety of plants that God made in creation. Of course it’s a pity that Jefferson did not see fit to glorify the God who made these things or the Son, Jesus Christ, through whom he made them.

But Monticello, with its staggering variety of flowers giving beauty and fragrance; its astonishing array of orchards and vineyards giving sweetness and refreshment; and its overwhelming plots of vegetables giving delicious and healthy sustenance to life… to me Monticello is a picture of the fruit of a healthy Christian life… the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT flourishing in the soul of a truly converted person

WHAT KIND OF FRUIT IS ON DISPLAY IN YOUR LIFE??

Many passages in the New Testament speak of the fruit that should come from the gospel in someone’s life. The issue of fruit is so vital that Jesus made it plain that, without fruit, there is no evidence of life:

John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

John 15:4-6 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

It is plain from those words that, if you have no fruit in your life, you are not a Christian… not ALIVE spiritually!!

Jesus taught the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 7:16-20 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, 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. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

So, what fruit is there in your life? The problem is that the answer is inconsistent in every Christian!! James said this:

James 3:9-12 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Out of the SAME HEART comes BOTH the worst imaginable things and the most delightful things!!

Galatians 5 speaks of the war between the flesh and the Spirit

Today’s passage gives a lengthy list of the works of the flesh and contrasts it with the Fruit of the Spirit

The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit is to CONFORM US FROM THE INSIDE OUT to the character of Christ

The “fruit of the Spirit” is one of the most famous passages in the New Testament… it is the goal of sanctification… the goal of the Spirit-filed life at every moment

I believe the Fruit of the Spirit is a vital checklist to compare with your heart state at every moment in the Christian life

FREEZE FRAME!! “Am I RIGHT NOW characterized by the fruit of the Spirit? If not, I am in the flesh!!”

I.   What Kind of Life Leads to Heaven?

A.  The Context: Justification by Faith, Sanctification by the Spirit

1.  The Galatian Crisis: Paul battles for the true gospel

2.  The Judaizers’ false gospel: a poisonous concoction of Christ and Law

3.  The centerpiece of the true gospel: justification by faith alone

4.  The danger: having begun by the Spirit, the Galatians are trying to be perfected by the flesh

B.  The Most Common Accusation: Salvation by Grace Leads to Lawlessness

C.  Paul’s Answer: The Spirit-Filled Life

D.  Key Question: What Kind of Life Leads to Heaven?

E.  Immediate Context: The Spirit-Filled Life Means Constant Warfare

1.  Obey the Command: Walk by the Spirit (vs. 16)

2.  Believe the Promise: You Will Not Gratify the Lusts of the Flesh (vs. 16)

3.  Expect Constant Warfare: Flesh vs. Spirit (vs. 17)

4.  Understand Your New Status: Not Under Law (vs. 18)

5.  Wage War God’s Way: Led by the Spirit (vs. 18)

6.  Today: the works of the flesh vs. the fruit of the Spirit: lets you diagnose what is ACTUALLY HAPPENING in your life

F.  “Heaven on Earth?” No… But This is the Closest You Will Ever Experience

1.  The “fruit of the Spirit” is a snapshot of the best possible life a human being can live

2.  If you have these qualities consistently, you cannot live a better life, no matter how devastatingly bad your circumstances may be

a.  Paul and Silas had them in the Philippian jail

b.  Arrested for doing their ministry; they were stripped and beaten publicly

c.  Covered with shame by this public humiliation, feeling searing pain, they were thrown in a totally dark prison cell and their feet were fastened with stocks

d.  They were hungry, thirsty, smelling the stench of the other prisoners, humiliated… and perhaps tempted to fear about their future… maybe they would be executed the next day

e.  I can’t imagine a worse set of earthly circumstances: pain, humiliation, hunger, thirst, danger, total darkness, stench…

f.  BUT instead of complaining, they WORSHIPED THE LORD… singing praises to Him at midnight, while all the other prisoners were listening to them

g.  This is THE BEST LIFE YOU CAN POSSIBLY HAVE ON EARTH!!

h.  It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit on a human soul

II.   The Works of the Flesh (vs. 19-21)

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

A.  The Purpose of the Sin List: Diagnosis of the Heart

1.  Groupings

a.  Sins of sensuality: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery

b.  Sins of pagan religion: idolatry, sorcery

c.  Sins of relationships: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy

d.  Sins of dissipated living: drunkenness, orgies

2.  The list is not exhaustive, but comprehensive: “things like these”

B.  The Terrifying Warning

Galatians 5:21 I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

C.  Bottom Line: Grace Does Not Produce this Kind of a Life

Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age

III.   The Fruit of the Spirit (vs. 22-23)

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

A.  The Clear Contrast: the Works of the Flesh vs. the Fruit of the Spirit

1.    Paul means for these lists to stand side by side for a clear contrast

2.  The works of the flesh characterized how we used to live apart from Christ

3.  Now, the Fruit of the Spirit should characterize our lives as Christians… the lists are as different as darkness and light

B.  The “Works” (pl.) vs. the “Fruit” (s.)

1.  There is a subtle difference in how Paul speaks of these things

2.  The “works” of the flesh are spoken of as PLURAL

a.  They are varied and not every sinner commits all of this list

b.  It is quite possible for some sinners outside of Christ NEVER to commit some of them… some extremely prideful, ambitious, vindictive power- mongers in the world never touched a drop of alcohol; Hitler was noteworthy for being exceptionally prudish about sexual things and extremely disciplined in his eating

c.  But SOME of the works of the flesh will come out of ever lost person on a consistent basis

3.  On the other hand, the Spirit produces ALL of the list of the fruit of the Spirit in a continual sense in the Christian life… Paul uses a singular word “fruit” because we should expect to see development in ALL these areas year after year

C.  Life in the Spirit Produces ALL of these Simultaneously

1.  The Spirit would never say to a believer, “We’re only going to work on some of the list this year… We’ll work on love, joy, peace, and patience… but don’t worry about kindness, goodness, gentleness, or self-control!”

2.  The Spirit is working to CONFORM US TO CHRIST in every area

3.  Furthermore, the WORKS of the flesh BELONG to the flesh… but the Fruit of the Spirit is something only the Spirit can produce in us

4.  Also, these virtues do not make someone be a Christian, any more than taping fruit on a dead tree makes it become alive

5.  Non-Christians can IMITATE some of these virtues, but the true Christ-like attribute is something only the Spirit can produce

a.  Some people may have a natural disposition toward gentleness and quietness… but they lack the boldness to confront evil

b.  Others may naturally be happy people—they have a worldly joy—but their joy is tied to earthly circumstances and shallow optimism; Christian joy is deeper

6.  The Spirit works all these attributes in all Christians GRADUALLY over a long period of time!! BE PATIENT, and YEARN for them… ask the Lord to make you supernaturally kind or good or long-suffering TEN YEARS FROM NOW

D.  The List Considered Carefully

1.  Love

a.  The greatest of all the human attributes…

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

b.  Love is the summation of God’s Law: LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

c.  Love is the attraction of the human heart toward another…

d.  It is a heart ATTRACTION resulting in sacrificial ACTION

e.  The Holy Spirit produces strong feelings of affection for God and others

f.  Christian love is a direct product of the Holy Spirit’s work on our souls

g.  The Spirit moves the heart toward those feelings of affection, then moves the body to ACT SACRIFICIALLY for the benefit of others

h.  Heart attraction: a feeling of affection, a delight in God, a delight in His Word, His glory, His purposes, His attributes… God is the most delightful being in the universe… you yearn for God, delight in all His ways, hunger and thirst for His Kingdom; similarly, love is a heart attraction toward another human being—desiring what is best for that person, delighting in their success, yearning for what may bless them

i.  Sacrificial action:

1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

j.  Love is the CHIEF WORK of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a Christian

k.  Love is what distinguishes us from the demons:

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that– and shudder.

Demons KNOW ABOUT GOD and HATE HIM

Christians know about God and DELIGHT IN HIM

In the same way, Christians DELIGHT IN OTHER CHRISTIANS

1 John 4:21 he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
We also love righteousness and hate wickedness

Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness

Love is a fruit of the Spirit!!

2.  Joy

a.  Joy is an EMOTION of happiness… just deep, warm, glowing happiness

b.  Joy is a deep-seated happiness in God and in the things of God… the promises of God, the achievements of God

c.  Joy is an experience of pleasure, delight—mixed in with peace; not mixture of anxiety

d.  Christian joy is infinitely better than worldly joy because it is focused on better things and based on better promises

e.  We feel joy in God’s reign over the earth, over Christ’s resurrection victory

f.  We feel joy over the salvation of other people through the gospel

g.  Jesus is the ultimate JOY-GIVER… look at the Gospel of Luke

[John the Baptist… still in his mother’s womb] Luke 1:44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

[Mary at that time] Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

[the angel announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds] Luke 2:10-11 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

[Jesus, teaching on persecution] Luke 6:23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

[72 disciples sent out on mission, came back…] Luke 10:17-20 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”… AND … At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you,

Father, Lord of heaven and earth

[Jesus’ teaching on how the Father rejoices over the salvation of sinners] Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

[Jesus’ disciples rejoicing when He entered Jerusalem] Luke 19:37-38 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

[Joy at the resurrection] Luke 24:40-43 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

[Joy at the Ascension] Luke 24:51-52 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

h.  Joy is a CELEBRATION… deep-seated happiness… it will characterize our eternity in heaven

i.  It’s just HAPPINESS…

i)  Like when you have a baby, only better

ii)  Like when your team wins a championship, only better

iii)  Like when you get married, only better

iv)  Like when you get an excellent job after being unemployed for a while, only better

v)  Like when WWII ended in Europe, only better

vi)  ALL of these earthly moments of happiness fade away… Christian joy is ETERNAL… it will never pass away

3.  Peace

a.  A sense of tranquility… of not being disturbed or troubled by anything

b.  Joy + peace = CONTENTMENT

Philippians 4:12 I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

c.  It flows from the sovereign rule of God over the universe… peace in God, trust in God’s wisdom, peace that nothing can harm me, nothing can touch me

d.  Total absence of all anxiety and fear

e.  Security… resting in God

f.  Peace as a fruit of the Spirit starts with our relationship with God

i)  Objective peace with God

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

ii)  Subjective sense of peacefulness like God is peaceful

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

g.  Also extends to peace with other people

Psalm 133:1-3 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

h.  FORETASTES of HEAVEN through the Spirit

i)  The Holy Spirit has the power to give you FORETASTES of heavenly joy

1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls

Foretaste by Sarah Edwards, Jonathan Edwards’s wife:

Combine these first three and multiply by 1000; the Holy Spirit can pour that sense of God’s beauty and love directly into your heart… FORETASTE OF HEAVENLY LOVE + JOY + PEACE

I continued in a sweet and lively sense of divine things, until I retired to rest. That night, which was Thursday night, Jan. 28, was the sweetest night I ever had in my life. I never before, for so long a time together, enjoyed so much of the light, and rest, and sweetness of heaven in my soul, but without the least agitation of body during the whole time. The great part of the night I lay awake, sometimes asleep, and sometimes between sleeping and waking. But all night I continued in a constant, clear, and lively sense of the heavenly sweetness of Christ’s excellent and transcendent love, of his nearness to me, and of my dearness to him; with an inexpressibly sweet calmness of soul in an entire rest in him … there seemed to be a constant flowing and reflowing of heavenly and divine love, from Christ’s heart to mine; and I appeared to myself to float or swim, in these bright, sweet beams of the love of Christ, like the motes swimming in the beams of the sun, or the streams of his light which come in at the window. My soul remained in a kind of heavenly Elysium. So far as I am capable of making a comparison, I think that what I felt each minute, during the continuance of the whole time, was worth more than all the outward comfort and pleasure which I had enjoyed in my whole life put together. It was a pure delight, which fed and satisfied the soul. It was pleasure, without the least sting, or any interruption. It was a sweetness, which my soul was lost in. It seemed to be all that my feeble frame could sustain, of that fullness of joy which is felt by those who behold the face of Christ, and share his love in the heavenly world.

Jonathan Edwards, 1737:

Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception … which continued as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity.

4.  Patience

a.  Also translated “long-suffering”

b.  Waiting quietly under the hand of God for His will to unfold

c.  Like God, waiting patiently for sinners to repent

d.  Like the farmer, waiting patiently for the autumn and spring rains to bring growth to his crop

e.  So a Spirit-controlled Christian is PATIENT in reference to God, and PATIENT in reference to others

i)  Impatient people are angry, self-focused, become easily enraged

ii)  Impatient people accuse God of wrong-doing, and wonder why He hasn’t answered their prayers

iii)  Conversely, godly men and women learn to WAIT ON THE LORD in prayer… waiting and waiting for what God will give

iv)  Patience in unanswered prayer

George Mueller:

“I am now, in 1864, waiting upon God for certain blessings, for which I have daily besought Him for 19 years and 6 months, without one day’s intermission. Still the full answer is not yet given, concerning the conversion of certain individuals. In the meantime, I have received many thousands of answers to prayer. I have also prayed daily, without intermission, for the conversion of other individuals for about ten years, for others about six or seven years, for others four, three, and two years, for others about eighteen months; still the answer is not yet granted, concerning these persons…. Yet I am daily continuing in prayer and expecting the answer…. Be encouraged, dear Christian reader, with fresh earnestness to give yourself to prayer, if you can only be sure that you ask for things which are for the glory of God.”

He died, having prayed DAILY for some people for over FIFTY YEARS That teaches you patience

f.  Patience in suffering

Waiting for God to bring the healing… waiting for God to bring the child a barren couple has prayed for… waiting for God to convert the wayward son…

WAITING PATIENTLY on God shows sweet submission and trust Patient people are a delight to God

5.  Kindness

a.  A character trait active goodness (mixed with gentleness)…

b.  Kindness is sweet, humble, quiet, loving and GOOD

c.  Kindness is exhibited in the gentle healing ministry of Jesus

Matthew 8:2-3 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Luke 7:11-15 Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out– the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

d.  Kindness is displayed in a word or deed done with a tender demeanor that meets a need

i)  Our world is increasingly characterized by harshness, rudeness, brusqueness, hostility

ii)  How delightful to see Christians acting in KINDNESS toward one another!

iii)  Serving one another in a gentle loving manner… giving money gently and lovingly to someone in need; visiting a sick person and praying with them; speaking a word of encouragement to someone who is depressed

iv)  KINDNESS is a fruit of the Spirit

6.  Goodness:

a.  Frequently translated “generosity”…

b.  It reflects the lavish generosity of God to His creation

c.  Sometimes it just simply goes to the heart of God’s character

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Exodus 33:18-19 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you…

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

d.  By the transforming power of the Spirit, we who were at one point evil and darkness, can now BE GOOD (like God is good) and DO GOOD (as God does God toward us)

e.  The opposite is EVIL… the Spirit transforms us to be like God in GOODNESS

7.  Faith/Faithfulness

a.  Hard to know which of these Paul meant

b.  It is either faith as that trusting quality in which we rely on God OR

c.  Faithfulness in which we prove to be reliable, trustworthy, people who keep our promises to God and to each other

d.  I prefer the second of these

e.  The Holy Spirit can make us TRUSTWORTHY and RELIABLE to God and to others

f.  What we say we will do, we do

Matthew 5:37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Psalm 15:4 … who keeps his oath even when it hurts

8.  Gentleness

a.  Like kindness, a sweet attribute of meekness, humility, mildness that is so pleasant to deal with

b.  Jesus is perfectly gentle with us as broken sinners

Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out

c.  So a Spirit-filled man or woman is GENTLE with other sinners

d.  This person is not PROUD or FILLED WITH HIS OWN IMPORTANCE

e.  He is lowly and humble… a good listener… good with children… not loud and boistrous

9.  Self-Control

a.  The last two acts of the flesh are drunkenness and orgies

b.  A Spirit-controlled man knows how to STOP

c.  He doesn’t TALK TOO MUCH, he doesn’t EAT TOO MUCH, he doesn’t SLEEP TOO MUCH… he enjoys “honey,” but doesn’t eat so much of it that he vomits

Proverbs 25:16 If you find honey, eat just enough– too much of it, and you will vomit.

d.  He is not a “bull in a china shop” but keeps his power under control

e.  He doesn’t lay people out with his intellect or his physical power

f.  He is mastered by any of his pleasures

1 Corinthians 6:12 ¶ “Everything is permissible for me”– but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”– but I will not be mastered by anything.

E.  The Power is the Cumulative Effect

1.  Non-Christians may imitate some of these attributes outwardly for a while

2.  Christians grow ORGANICALLY FROM WITHIN in ALL OF THESE at once!!

3.  There is a cumulative effect of these virtues… a LOVE that is JOYFUL and also PEACEFUL while at the same time PATIENT, KIND toward others, GOOD right to the core of his being, FAITHFUL to all his promises, GENTLE like a mild summer breeze, SELF-CONTROLLED in the face of a world of temptations

4.  These things are going on all the time, and in increasing measure!!

5.  These attributes GROW and GROW within a Christian…

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

F.  The Law Neither Forbids Nor Produces These Virtues… But These Virtues Fulfill the Law!

Galatians 5:23 Against such things there is no law.

As though Paul were saying, “You want to keep the Law, Galatians? Well, these virtues are not against the Law!” Actually… they FULFILL the Law!!

Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The person who is moment-by-moment characterized by the Fruit of the Spirit is moment- by-moment fulfilling the Law of God

IV.   The Changed Status: We Live by the Spirit, Have Crucified the Flesh (vs. 24-25)

Galatians 5:24-25 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit

A.  We Belong to Christ Jesus

1.  He owns us…

2.  He has bought us with a price: His own blood

3.  He is Lord over us and we are called on to glorify Him with our bodies

B.  Decisive Change for All Time

1.  Rescued from the dominion of Satan (flesh, law, condemnation); transferred to the Kingdom of Christ

2.  Decisive break with the “old man”

Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

3.  The “flesh” are the residual indwelling habit patterns of the OLD MAN… the old person we were in Adam

4.  Once we came to Christ, we crucified the OLD MAN… he is dead forever

5.  The flesh is gradually being weakened little by little

C.  Sin Has No Mastery

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

D.  We “Live by the Spirit”

1.  We were dead in our transgressions and sins

2.  Now we are ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT

3.  The essence of this life is Jesus Christ Himself… He is the “way, the truth, and the life”

4.  The Holy Spirit dwells within us to make us alive moment by moment to the ways of God

5.  The proof of this life is the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT every moment

V.   The Final Exhortation: Walk by the Spirit in Community (vs. 25-26)

Galatians 5:25-26 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

A.  Keep in Step with the Spirit

1.  Powerful expression

2.  Military picture… like soldiers in a Marine Color Guard, highly trained to follow in perfect step the lead of the staff sergeant

3.  So we are aligned under the leadership of the Holy Spirit

4.  This is the essence of the “way of holiness”

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

B.  The Essence of Living by the Spirit is Walking in the Spirit

C.  At the Center is Harmonious Christian Community

Galatians 5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

1.  The tendency among sinners is to bicker, quarrel and fight

Galatians 5:15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

2.  But Christ wanted Christian community to be characterized by a loving supernatural unity that was patterned after the Trinity

John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

3.  So, there are many verses that talk about how we should be united

Acts 2:44-45 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Philippians 2:1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

VI.   Applications

A.  Come to Christ: The Fruit of the Spirit is Worked Only in Christians

B.  Yearn for these Attributes to Characterize You Moment by Moment

C.  Use this List as a “Snapshot” to See At Any Moment How You Are

1.  Suppose you are in a conflict with your spouse

2.  Stop and ask yourself, “Am I characterized RIGHT NOW by the fruit of the Spirit”

3.  If not, it’s YOUR FAULT… repent immediately

D.  Ask the Spirit EVERY DAY to Work These in You

E.  Pray for these EVERY DAY to Characterize FBC, its leaders, and it members