The Fruit of the Spirit: Part 3

Galatians chapter five. I'll give them a moment and then we'll begin in Galatians five. I've been preaching the last several weeks on the Holy Spirit. Talked about the baptism of the spirit which happens when we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. We're baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit that he has given to us.

We've talked about the filling of the spirit. Being yielded to him and the spirit moving within our heart and within our congregation. We are to be filled with the spirit and along with that, very close to it, we also to walk in the spirit which is what we've been looking at the past few weeks from Galatians five. If you'd look in Galatians five one, first of Saul, we see Paul's exhortation in verse one. He says, stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The Jews had been under the bondage of the law and really the Gentiles too though they didn't recognize it and the law does not save, however, the law only condemns because none of us can keep the law. We are all guilty as we look into God's law and the law which was an external restriction upon people was burdensome like a yoke that the oxen or the horse was hitched to to pull the plow. When Christ died on the cross and he paid the price for our sins. Paid the penalty He now offers to us salvation by grace through faith without the law. We've been freed from the bondage of the law to serve our savior Jesus Christ.

Not by the works of the law but by grace through faith in him and Paul says, stand fast therefore in that liberty. Don't go back. Some of the Jews were were telling the Gentile converts in Galatia that they had to become Jews, that they had to follow the law in order to be saved and Paul said, don't go back there. You were saved by grace through faith. You're kept by grace through faith and not by the works of the law.

Now, we have something better than an external restriction. We have an indwelling power and God who is who? The Holy Spirit. To help us, to choose right, and not simply be restricted from wrong. The next thing we see is after Paul's exhortation is Paul's prohibition.

Look if you would in verse 13. Paul says, for brethren, you have been called under liberty. That is liberty from the law. Only, use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another. Paul says, yes, we've been, we are free in Jesus but don't ever use that liberty as an excuse to indulge the lusts of the flesh.

Use that liberty is an opportunity by God's grace to serve and bring glory to who? To serve and bring glory to the Lord. Who has saved us. That's the prohibition. Yes, we have liberty but don't use that as an opportunity to follow the lust of the flesh.

They use it to bring glory to God and then we have the solution. We have the exhortation. Stand fast in your liberty. We have the prohibition. Don't use it.

Abuse it. And indulging the lust of flesh. Number three, we have Paul's solution verse 16. How do we keep from doing that? He says, this I say then, walk in the spirit.

And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, how do we do that? Do we do that by saying over and over again, I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

I think it. You know, there's preachers that actually preach that. If you'll say, I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

You know, like the little red caboose, you'll actually get up the hill. That's good psychology but that's exactly what it is. It's psychology. It's not spirituality. It is not the grace of God.

The grace of God is this, if we do not want to fulfill the lust of the flesh, then we need to walk according to the what? The spirit or in the power of the spirit that God has given to us. The way to defeat the flesh in our lives, those lust that are still hang on to us like a ball and chain that want to pull us the wrong direction, the one to keep us from serving the Lord and bringing honor to him is to walk in the power of the spirit that God has given to us. When we do by God's grace, walk through life with the spirit as our guide, following his guiding hand, responding to his conviction, listening to his instruction, yielding to his word, then not only will we not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but we also will manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The evidence of his working in our heart to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ, God's son.

The fruit of the spirit is the evidence. Of the Holy Spirit living where? Inside your heart. Jesus told Nicodemus, you can't see the wind but yet you know it's there because you see its effect. It gives evidence to its existence and you believe it.

So is the what? So is the spirit. It moves in the hearts of men and women particularly in the hearts of his children in whom it dwells. And there is evidence given, the fruit of the spirit. When scientists look out into space and they look for evidence of star or a planet or something that they can't see.

They look for the effects that the gravity of that object would have on other things that are around it and when they see other things being pulled by what it would seem the gravity of an object in space that they can't see, they assume its existence because it gives what? It gives evidence by the pull of gravity that it is there even though they can't what? Even though they can't see it. We can't see the holy spirit. We can't see the Lord Jesus.

We can't see God but God gives ample evidence in his creation and particularly in the hearts of his children that he is there, that he is alive, that he is powerful, and that he is able. And our faith is strengthened day by day. As we walk in the spirit that he has given to us, we exhibit in our lives the fruit of the spirit in contrast to the works of the flesh. Look if you would in verses twenty two and twenty three, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law.

These are the fruit that God expects to be exhibited in the lives of his children as they walk through life with the holy spirit. As their guide, as he manifest his fruit in our lives. We looked at the first three of these the last couple weeks. Love, joy, and peace. And as we go through the rest of the fruit of the spirit, I think we will find ourselves going back to the first one.

It seems that everything is connected to the first one and that is love. Love for God and love for others that has been shed abroad in our heart. The Bible says, by the spirit of God which lives there. These are next three fruits of the spirit that we're going to look at in the next week or two are demonstrated particularly in our dealings with each other. They are long suffering, gentleness, and goodness.

While the flesh acts selfishly and antagonistically towards others, the spirit reacts much differently. It gives us some of the works of the flesh that relate to this in the previous verses. You If look in verse 20 of Galatians five, you'll see the third word there is hatred. Hatred is the work of the flesh. It is a response to others.

That is malicious. That lacks love, hatred, variance, variance is quarreling or being quarrelsome. You ever met anybody that just always has to argue about everything? Have you ever been the person who wanted to argue about everything? Emulations, emulations.

What is that? Well, that's jealousy. Jealousy and not a not a godly jealousy but a very selfish and suspiciousness, jealousy of others. Wrath, strife, causing being filled with strife. Strife in oneself, strife between others which brings us to the next one, seditions which means causing divisions, causing divisions between other people.

You know, there's some people it just seems like they love to break up people. They love to drive a wedge. That's what that would, to drive a wedge between others. Seditions, envyings, envyings, never being happy with what you have, always wanting what somebody else has. And then finally, it reaches the point of murders.

These are the kind of ways that the flesh reacts. To others. Particularly, when it perceives some injustice being done towards self or when it when it perceives inequalities in life. The flesh reacts with hatred, with jealousy, with strife, with envy, and even sometimes with murder. The flesh treats others often with disdain and contempt because the flesh cares only for what?

Self. It's all about me, folks. Self. You have to treat me better. You have to do what I want.

How dare life treat me this way? It's not fair. That's the flesh However, the Holy Spirit treats others differently As more important than self. Places others needs above that of self. Thus, producing the following three fruits, long suffering, gentleness, and goodness.

Let's look at the first one that maybe as far we get as we get today. We'll see and that is long suffering, long suffering. Now, you probably don't use that word regularly in your conversation. Generally, it means what? Patience.

Generally, it means patience. It is a little more exact and emphatic than the word patience is. And we'll come to that in just a moment. The flesh reacts quickly. The flesh reacts sometimes maliciously and at times even violently to injustices committed against us by others or the inequities of life.

Illustrations. When does that happen? Well, I think first of scripture. How did Cain react to Abel and to God's rejecting his sacrifice? He reacted in anger.

He reacted in jealousy. He reacted in hatred. He reacted with murder. He killed his own brother. Rather than humbling himself, recognizing that his brother was being a good example and obeying who?

The Lord but the flesh often reacts particularly when rebuked. The opposite way as Cain did. Joseph's brothers, Joseph was treated a little bit special by his father. Joseph had dreams in which his dreams seem to indicate that his brothers would one day bow before him. Joseph was a goody two shoes.

He never did anything wrong. Well, actually he did but it to his brothers, it seemed that he never did anything wrong. You know what his brothers did? Well, first, they threw him in a pit and left him for dead and then they decided no. There's no profit in that.

So, when they saw traders coming along, they pulled him out of the pit and they sold him into slavery. Thinking that he would die as a slave in Egypt or wherever the Ishmaelites choose chose to sold sell him. How wicked the flesh can be. Levi and Simeon. Levi and Simeon, sons of Jacob.

Joseph, some of Joseph's older brothers. Their sister Dinah was taken advantage of. By the prince of Shechem and when they found out about it, they became angry There's nothing wrong with becoming angry about something like that but it's what they did with that anger. That was wrong. The Bible says, be you angry and sin not.

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. So, what did they do? Well, they tricked the men of Shechem, all the men of Shechem. Into circumcising themselves and thus making themselves weak and an easy target. And the next day, they came into the city and they killed every last man in the city of Shechem.

That is the works of the flesh and that is the reason that Levi and Simeon, two of the oldest sons were passed over in the blessing and they were not given land within Israel. Levi, the Levites were only were not giving a portion of land and Simeon's portion of land was within the borders of Judah and very quickly Simeon became sort of a non existent tribe. Joab, we studied Joab on Sunday nights. He was David's general. He held a grudge very badly.

In our story of Joab, he killed two or three people to get revenge. Joash, does anybody know who Joash was? Joash was the son of the king of Israel, of of Judah and his grandmother decided that she wanted to be queen of Judah and so she slaughtered all of the royal family even her own descendants. But she missed one. His name was Joash.

He was only about seven years old. Jehoiada, the priest, took him in, hid him, and later a few years later after Athaliah died, Joash was appointed king as a young man over Judah and he was a good king as long as Jehoiada was alive. But one day, during his reign as king, God sent a prophet named Zechariah. He sent the prophet Zechariah to rebuke Joash because he was turning to idolatry and the nation was turning to idolatry. And Joash couldn't believe that Zechariah would publicly rebuke him in such a manner.

He was the what? The king. Do you know what he did? He had him stoned to death in the temple courtyard for rebuking the king. Here's the kicker.

Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada the priest. Who hid Joash and saved his life. That's the sad story of the works of the flesh in scripture. It's a sad story that continues in terrorism today. In mass shooters, in gang violence, in child abusers, in spouse abusers, and the list can go on.

It's testimony reaches its way into each one of our lives. When I was a kid, I I wasn't very good at fighting, so I didn't fight very often. But every now and then, somebody would make me really mad, usually by calling me names, and I would lose control. Usually, I was the one who ended up with the black eye and not them. I remember one time I got a grade I had really studied hard for a test, and I got my test back, and I had messed it up.

And I remember under my breath saying a certain word that I didn't normally say. I still remember that to this day. I lost control I There was a kid in fourth grade who aggravated me to no end. He wanted to prove to me how tough he was. He said, Pull back my thumb and I'll show you how tough I am.

Well, I knew better, but I pulled back his thumb so far that for the next two weeks, he wore a cast on his hand. Now, that's the works of the what? The flesh. That's the works of the flesh. And don't tell me that you don't have similar stories.

In your life. That is how the flesh reacts to perceived injustices against us. That's how the flesh reacts to the inequities of life. But the spirit reacts much differently. And as children of God, we have no excuse for his spirit lives where?

Within us. And as we walk in the spirit, the fruit of the spirit will exhibit itself in our lives. In this case, as long suffering. Patient endurance and forbearance, particularly with others. First Corinthians thirteen four, charity suffereth long, That is it suffers long with the shortcomings of others.

Look if you would in Ephesians chapter four. If you're still in Galatians, just turn a couple pages over to Ephesians four. Look if you would in verses one through three. Paul writes, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness with what? Next word, long suffering.

Forbearing one another in love. See those two are connected together. Long suffering, forbearing one another in love. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Turn over a couple more pages, you'll go through Philippians, come to Colossians.

Look if you would in chapter three verses twelve and thirteen. Colossians three twelve and thirteen. There it says, put on therefore, verse 12, put on therefore as the elect of God, that is believers, Christians, holy and beloved bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, what's the next word? Long suffering. What's it followed by?

The next phrase? Forbearing one another. And forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. The Holy Spirit exhibited itself in our life by our long suffering with the faults and failures and frailties of others with the inequities of life that will certainly come our way.

We have been called to endure patiently and without malice. Those frailties and the provocations of others, friend or foe and as God's children, we are uniquely equipped to handle it because we possess his spirit. Turn if you would to Matthew chapter five. Turn if you would back to Matthew chapter. You have to turn a few more pages now.

Back to Matthew chapter five. And look in verse 38. Passage some of you are quite familiar with. If you've been in the men's Bible study, you ought to be familiar with it. We've spent the last six months on the sermon on the mount.

Matthew chapter five verse 38. You have heard it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. What that means is, you punch me in the aisle, I'll punch you in the eye. You know, you kick me in the shin, I'll kick you in the shin. You curse me out, I'll curse you out, okay?

I have the right to do anything to you that you do to me. Retribution, okay? That's the way that was taken by many in Jesus' day and is that the way it's taken by many people today? Yeah, that's the way the flesh takes it. Somehow justifies cursing if somebody else cursed you first.

I don't think God sees it that way. Matter of fact, I know he does but it says here, verse 38, you have heard it hath been said an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth but I say unto you that you resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also and if any man will sue thee at law and take the take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain or two. Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Now, that is the fruit of the spirit because that's the way of the Lord. That isn't human nature.

It's God's nature. Verse 33, you have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. The flesh isn't going to respond that way, folks. That can only be done by the power of the spirit and should be and can be in our lives because his spirit dwells in us. Second Peter three nine says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering to usward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

How does God deal with sinful humanity? This is how he deals with sinful humanity. He sent his son to die on the cross for. And he's holding off his judgment so that just one or two or three or a thousand or a million more will come to know salvation through Jesus Christ, his son. He's long suffering.

He suffered long with me. Suffered long with you. He loves you. And if you know him as savior, that same spirit dwells within you. That should be demonstrated in our life in long suffering toward the inadequacies, the failures, and even the injustices brought upon us by others.

How did Joseph respond to his wicked brothers? He forgave them. How did David respond to Saul who was chasing him to kill him? When he had his opportunity, he said, I will not, will not raise my hand against the Lord's anointed. We study the book of Hosea on Wednesday nights a few months ago.

Gomer was his wife. She was very unfaithful to him but yet God told him to take a woman he knew was going to do that. And then to take her back again later on. After she had left him. And he did.

Barnabas suffered long with John Mark who on their first missionary journey with Paul didn't get very far and turn back. Jesus suffered long with his disciples. His disciples were a lot like who? They were a lot like us. Sometimes, they got it right and sometimes they really got it raw.

Sometimes, they couldn't see the forest for the trees. They didn't listen to Jesus when he said he was going to die on the cross and they missed out on hearing the part about he was going to rise again from the dead. They argued about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. At least twice recorded in scripture. Two different instances, maybe more.

But Jesus suffered long with them. Mothers in particular suffer along with their children and sometimes their spouses. They're a testimony to the grace and love of God when they do. We are to suffer along with one another. I'm not perfect.

I am far from it. But you're not either. And if we're going to serve the Lord together in unity, then it's going to require some long suffering. And if you're going to reach that neighbor beside you that plays his music at 03:00 in the night and keeps you awake and throws his trash over the fence into your yard and whose dog just won't quit barking, then it's going to take some long suffering. But you can, if you walk in the what?

In the spirit. We are also equipped and prepared to suffer along with the inequities and the trials of life. The Christian does not despair in the face of trials but patiently endures and even rejoices in their purpose. You know, as a child of God, the Bible says, the Lord is my shield. The Lord is my fortress, my defender.

That means that for things to get to me, they have to go through who? They have to go through God. God has to permit them. Allow them to happen in my life. Even the what?

Even the things we label as bad things and when bad things come into our life, when trials come into our life, when hardships come into our life, then we must remember that as a Christian, if God's allowing these things in my life, there must be a what? There must be a purpose. There must be a purpose. Look if you would in James chapter one. James chapter one.

Just after the book of Hebrews before you get to Revelation, come upon the book of James, look if you would chapter one. You read verses two through four. This should be on Jeremy's short list of verses that I quote or read. James one two, my brethren count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. The word temptation means tests or trials.

My brethren count it all when you fall into diverse temptations knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and tired, wanting, or lacking nothing. God says, count it all joy. When you have hardships and trials and difficulties, when when your health is not as it should be, and when your family is not doing as they should do, and when and when when finances are tough, and you can add to the list. Jesus says, count it all joy because if you'll let me, I can take this trial and I can use it to make you more like to grow your faith, to grow your patience for good in your life and we know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. If you will let him, God will do good things in your life, even through the things that you perceive to be bad.

But sometimes you have to learn to what? Suffer long. Because trials sometimes are over in a moment. That we call them trials and hardships because usually they last for a while. They last for a while.

And we have to suffer long and sad to say there's a lot of people in the world that can't handle it and so they turn to drugs and they turn to alcohol and they turn to a life of promiscuity and sometimes they even take their own life because they can't handle it and the flesh, we can't handle it but in the spirit, we can't. And we can suffer long through trials because God lives in our hearts. Job is a beautiful example, beautiful illustration. God allowed him to lose everything and in losing everything, God strengthened him and rewarded him and carried him to the end. The Lord had a purpose in allowing Satan to take away all his family, all but his wife to take away everything that he owned, to take away his health.

God had a purpose in it and in the end, Job was rewarded. Job benefited from the trial that he went through even though I know and you know if you've read Job that he wasn't always happy. But you know what he did? He suffered long and he never lost his faith in who? He never lost his faith in God.

He lost his faith in himself. But he never lost his faith in God Paul is a good example. Look all that Paul suffered in the service of Jesus Christ. Joseph is a good example. This lady that I mentioned last week that lived majority of her life in a wheelchair named Johnny that broke her neck when she was little.

She suffered a lot. And was a blessing to others. God used her in mighty ways. The trials of law life will come to us as it does to all and possibly at times more abundantly. But we are prepared in the spirit and by God's grace which is sufficient to meet any challenge which comes our way.

We can suffer long. Second Corinthians twelve nine, he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Who said that? Anybody know? Paul said that.

Paul asked, if God could take away the thorn of the flesh, some trial that had afflicted him In his life. And God said what? God said, I won't take it away but my grace is sufficient to overcome and to suffer long and to move and to go on despite whatever the hardship was that Paul faced. My grace is sufficient. Whatever trial it is that you have gone through, that you're going through, or that you will go through.

Know this, God's grace is sufficient and if you walk in the spirit, he will give you the ability to what? To suffer long. The greatest example of course is Jesus Christ, our savior. Jesus Christ left heaven for what purpose? He left heaven to die on the cross for your sins and mine.

He knew that. He chose that and as that time neared at the age of 33, He told his disciples exactly what was going to happen. He knew how he would die. He knew where he would die. He knew when he would die.

He knew exactly how he would suffer when he died. But yet, he didn't turn away. He suffered long with that knowledge and with the beating that He took and with the punishment, the condemnation of our sin that the Father laid upon Him He suffered. You can see the anguish that he went through in the Garden Of Gethsemane before they came to arrest him. When he prayed to the father and said, let this cup pass from me, nonetheless, not what?

My will but thy be done. Luke says, he sweat as it were, great drops of blood. He was in so much stress and agony that the capillaries under his skin broke. But he suffered long for you and for me. That one day, we might know him.

And that we might serve him and that we might fellowship with him one day in the place that he has prepared for us. The most important question this morning is this, do you know him? Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save you from sin and hell? Does his spirit abide within you? Because One day, you humbled yourself and received God's gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh under the father But by me. I'd like to close by reading Hebrews 12. Which will address both those who need Jesus and those who already have him. This just came to mind as I was thinking on the ending and the invitation this morning.

First chapter Hebrews twelve one, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin with just so easily beset us and let us run with, what's the next word? Patience. Patience with others, patience with life. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto who?

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Yes, Jesus endured knowing that on the other side of the suffering, came the joy and the reward. The joy of having provided salvation For all those who would come to him by faith and join him in heaven someday. The joy of going back to be with the father having obeyed and followed through. With that which he was sent to do.

Therefore, Jesus patiently suffered for you and we can follow in his what? Steps. If we will walk in the spirit. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity today and Lord, as we've looked into your word and we've taken that opportunity, I pray dear heavenly father that if there's an area of our life where we're not walking in the spirit, where we've allowed the flesh to take over.

Lord, if our life is demonstrating things contrary to the fruit of the spirit. Particularly this morning, the long suffering. Lord, if we're angry and bitter at others, if we're holding grudges, if we're seeking ill will towards others. Lord, if we're despondent over the crises of life, And Lord, we've given up. Lord, I pray that you would convict us and help us to see.

That you are able to make us different. You are able to produce this fruit in our life. If we yield ourselves to you, we'll confess our sin to you. Lord, I pray as we give this invitation If there's someone whose life you've touched, some child of God who's struggling in this area. Lord, I pray that you'd help them to take the time.

Bow their head and pray and ask you to help them even now and Lord, I pray if there's one here today that's never trusted you as savior. I pray as we give this hymn of invitation that they would come. We might show them out of God's word how they can be safe today and know it and receive that gift of eternal life that you died to give to them, that you might save them from their sin, that you might save them from hell, that you might give them your spirit and change their life forever beginning the day that they receive you and become your child. In Jesus' precious name we do pray, amen.