Title: From the Inside Out
Theme: To help people to understand that the only way to change our behavior on the outside is to change the inside.
Text: Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 12:1-2
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Rom 12:1 Message So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Importance of the Heart
Illustration: A grandmother took her four-year-old granddaughter, Amanda, to the doctor's office because she'd been running a fever. The doctor looked in her ears and said, "Who's in there, Donald Duck?"
Amanda said, "No!"
Then the doctor looked in her nose and said, "Who's in there, Mickey Mouse?"
Again she answered, "No!"
Finally he put his stethoscope on her heart and asked, "Who's in there, Barney?"
Amanda replied indignantly, "No, Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear!"
Source: Barbara Johnson, Living Somewhere Between Estrogen and Death, 1997, p. 124.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. (32) "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (33) "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. (34) "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (36) "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Luke 6:43-45 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. (44) "For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. (45) "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
A pure heart comes from spending time in the Word of God and allowing
the truth to expose sin and cleanse us, and as a result the pure in heart
will see God. In the Greek this is understood as a continuous, reflective
action. It could be read as “they shall continually see God for
themselves.”
It is a pure heart that separates those who see the church and think
“What a great church!” from those who see the Savior and think “What a
great Christ!”
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
Mat 5:8 Message "You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
Psalms 24:4-5 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. (5) He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Mat 23:23-33 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (24) "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (25) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (26) "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. (27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (28) "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, (30) "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' (31) "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. (32) "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. (33) "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Transformation not Conformation
Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Rom 12:1-2 Message So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. (2) Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Some people would challenge this and say that pressures bring out the worst in us, but the truth still remains that the worst was in us to begin with. Sometimes we will respond to something in a way that shocks us.
We ask, “Where did that come from?” It came from within.
So if you want to change what comes out, you need to change what is
inside.
Oswald Chambers says that “purity is the outcome of sustained spiritual
symphony with God.”
Love
Inner love – love for God, love for self, love for others
1 Corinthians 13
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' (38) "This is the first and great commandment.
Joy – inner gladness, deep seated pleasure
Matthew 25:21 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Several things need to be said about the believer's joy.
1. Joy is divine. It is possessed and given only by God. Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit, a joy based in the Lord. It is His very own joy (John 15:11; Acts 13:52; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thes. 1:6).
2. Joy does not depend on circumstances or happiness. Happiness depends upon happenings, but the joy that God implants in the believer's heart overrides all, even the matters of life and death (Psalm 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:10; 2 Cor. 7:4).
3. Joy springs from faith (Romans 15:13; Phil. 1:25; 2 Tim. 1:4; cp. Matthew 2:10).
4. Joy of future reward makes and keeps the believer faithful (Matthew 25:21, 23; Acts 20:24; Hebrews 12:2).
The source of the believer's joy is severalfold.
1. The fellowship of the Father and His Son brings joy (1 John 1:3-4).
2. Victory over sin, death, and hell brings joy (John 14:28; John 16:20-22).
3. Repentance brings joy (Luke 15:7, 10).
4. The hope of glory brings joy (Romans 14:17; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 4:13).
5. The Lord's Word—the revelations, commandments, and promises which He made—brings joy (John 15:11).
6. The commandments of Christ and the will of God bring joy. Obeying and doing a good job stirs joy within the believer's heart (John 15:11; John 17:13; Acts 13:52).
7. Prayer brings joy (John 16:24).
8. The presence and fellowship of believers brings joy (1 John 1:3-4).
9. Converts bring joy (Luke 15:5; Phil. 4:1; 1 Thes. 2:19-20).
10. Hearing that others walk in the truth brings joy (3 John 1:4).
11. Giving brings joy (2 Cor. 8:2; Hebrews 10:34).
"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17).
Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Peace
Inside peace - wholeness and soundness.
The Hebrew word is shalom. It means freedom from trouble and much more. It means experiencing the highest good, enjoying the very best possible, possessing all the inner good possible. It means wholeness and soundness. It means prosperity in the widest sense, especially prosperity in the spiritual sense of having a soul that blossoms and flourishes.
Philippians 4:6-8 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled" (Col. 1:20-21).
Longsuffering – patience
Inside patience – waiting on the Lord
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (4) But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Two significant things need to be noted about longsuffering.
a. Longsuffering never strikes back. Common sense tells us that a person who is attacked by others could strike back and retaliate. But the Christian believer is given the power of longsuffering—the power to suffer the situation or person for a long, long time.
b. Longsuffering is one of the great traits of God. As pointed out in this verse, it is a fruit of God's very own Spirit, a fruit that is to be in the life of the believer.
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2).
Kindness – being good
cares for the feelings of others and feels with them. It experiences the full depth of sympathy and empathy. It shows care and gets right into the situation with a person. Gentleness suffers with those who suffer, and struggles with those who struggle, and works with those who work.
God is kind.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephes. 2:4-7).
Believers are to be kind to one another.
"Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another" (Romans 12:10).
"And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephes. 4:32).
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity " (2 Peter 1:5-7).
Goodness
6. There is the fruit of goodness (agathōsunē PWS: 1763): it is being full of virtue and excellence, kindness and helpfulness, peace and consideration. It means that a person is full of all good and he does all good. It means...
- that he has a good heart and good behavior.
- that he is good and does good.
- that he is a quality person.
Note that a good person lives and treats everyone just as they should be treated. He does not take advantage of any person nor does he stand by and let others take advantage. He stands up and lives for what is right and good and just. This means that goodness involves discipline and rebuke, correction and instruction as well as love and care, peace and conciliation. A good person will not give license to evil, will not let evil run rampant. He will not allow evil to indulge itself and treat others unjustly. He will not allow others to suffer evil. Goodness steps forward and does what it can to stop and control evil.
"And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another" (Romans 15:14).
- Believers are to be full of all goodness.
"And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another" (Romans 15:14).
Faithfulness
Inside – trustworthy to self
7. There is the fruit of faith or faithfulness (pistis PWS: 1426): it means to be faithful and trustworthy; to be loyal and stedfast in devotion and allegiance. It means to be constant, staunch, and enduring. A faithful person denies and sacrifices himself—all he is and has—and trusts God. He believes God and knows that God will work all things out for good. Therefore, he casts himself totally upon God and becomes faithful to God.
- Faithfulness does not doubt God—not His salvation, provision, or strength to help.
- Faithfulness does not begin with God then back off and give up.
- Faithfulness does not walk with God then give in to the lusts of the flesh.
Faithfulness begins with God and continues with God. Faithfulness continues on and on; it never slackens or surrenders.
- Believers are to be faithful.
"And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities" (Luke 19:17).
"Moreover it is required in stewards [believers], that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2).
"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after" (Hebrews 3:5).
"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine" (Exodus 19:5).
Gentleness
Gentleness cares for the feelings of others and feels with them. It experiences the full depth of sympathy and empathy. It shows care and gets right into the situation with a person. Gentleness suffers with those who suffer, and struggles with those who struggle, and works with those who work.
Self-Control - Temperance
There is the fruit of temperance (egkrateia PWS: 3921): to master and control the body or the flesh with all of its lusts. It means self-control, the master of desire, appetite and passion, especially sensual urges and cravings. It means to be strong and controlled and restrained. It means to stand against the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-16).
Self-control is of God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
The believer is to control his sexual desires.
"But if they cannot contain [control], let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn" (1 Cor. 7:9).
The believer is to strenuously exercise self-control, just as an athlete controls himself.
"And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible" (1 Cor. 9:25).
The believer is to grow in self-control.
"And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness" (2 Peter 1:6).
The aged believer is especially to be on guard to control himself.
"That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience" (Titus 2:2).
Conclusion
In concluding our discussion we should remember that the fruit of the Spirit is the very nature of God (Galatians 2:20; Ephes. 5:18). The believer is to walk in the Spirit; that is, he is to walk in such a consciousness of God and in such open confession that he is kept constantly clean from sin. God keeps him clean and pure and acceptable as though he were perfect. As the believer so walks in such an awareness of God, he assimilates the very nature of God and the Holy Spirit's fruit is produced. No law can stand against such things. (See Deeper Study #1—John 15:1-8.)
