SERMON OUTLINE:
The ‘fruit of the Spirit’ is a reflection of God’s character
The ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is a command of God
The ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is grouped in clusters of three
The ‘Fruit of the Spirit is love…'
SERMON BODY:
• Tonight we are starting a brand new series called ‘The Fruit of the Spirit’.
• Based on Galatians chapter 5 verse 22-23:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”
Question: How many ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ did I read?
Answer:
• People normally say nine but actually there is only one!
• Did you not notice that your Bible has ‘fruit’ singular not ‘fruits’ plural!
• In fact there is really only one fruit of the Spirit and that is ‘love’,
• All the other characteristics mentioned are the results of love.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are joyful with them.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are patient with them.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are good towards them.
• i.e. And so on.
Ill:
• If you remember a fruit juice drink called Five Alive you’ll get the idea.
• It was one drink, made up of five different flavours.
• So it is with the fruit of the Spirit.
• There is one fruit, but there are nine flavours.
What we see in verses 22-23 is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ from 9 aspects.
• ill: Diamond.
• It can be viewed at different angles and in different lights.
• Each turn of the hand reveals further beauty of this magnificent stone.
(1). The ‘fruit of the Spirit’ is a reflection of God’s character:
• After all there must be a connection between fruit and root.
• That is true in horticulture but also true in spiritual things.
• These aspects of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ listed by Paul;
• Could just as easily be listed as characteristics of the nature of God.
• i.e. ‘Love’ – 1 John chapter 4 verse 16:
• “God is love”
• i.e. ‘Joy’ – Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17:
• “He will rejoice over you”
• i.e. ‘Peace’ – Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20:
• “The God of peace”
• i.e. ‘Patience’ – 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9:
• “He is patient with you”
• i.e. ‘Kindness’ – Ephesians chapter 2 verse 7:
• “His kindness to us”
• i.e. ‘Goodness’ – Psalm 27 verse 13:
• “I will see the goodness of the Lord”
• i.e. ‘Faithfulness’ – Lamentations chapter 3 verse 23:
• “Great is your faithfulness”
• i.e. ‘Meekness’ – Matthew chapter 11 verse 29:
• “I am gentle and humble”
• i.e. ‘Self-control’ – Luke chapter 1 verse 51:
• “He has shown strength” (related Greek word)
• These aspects of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’
• Could just as easily be listed as characteristics of the nature of God.
• But that might lead to a problem.
• We are fallible creatures and not perfect like Almighty God.
Ill:
• Story of a little boy who went down to his chicken hutch;
• When he saw how small the eggs were he was really disappointed.
• So he went up to his bedroom and returned with a shoebox;
• In the shoebox was lots of straw and an ostrich egg.
• The boy held the ostrich egg up to the chickens and said;
• “Take a good look at this and try harder!”
Humanly speaking:
• There is as much chance of us consistently displaying these characteristics;
• As a chicken laying ostrich eggs.
• But they are not called the characteristics of human effort of good intentions;
• They are called the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ and therefore they are not outside of our domain.
• Because EVERY Christian has the Holy Spirit resident in their lives!
• They can with his abiding produce this type of fruit.
Ill:
• Fruit comes out of life!
• A factory may package fruit in tins etc.
• But it cannot create it or grow it.
• Fruit must grow out of life.
And when we have life – that is when we are ‘born again’ i.e. converted:
• We are given the Holy Spirit;
• And we are expected to produce fruit.
• Quote: “God wants spiritual fruits no religious nuts”.
(2). The ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is a command of God.
• As Christians we are expected to be fruity people;
• Just scan the New Testament and you will see that:
• i.e. ‘Love’ – Matthew chapter 22 verses 37-39:
• “Love the Lord; Love your neighbour”
• i.e. ‘Joy’ – Philippians chapter 4 verse 4:
• “Rejoice in the Lord always”
• i.e. ‘Peace’ – 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 11:
• “Seek peace and pursue it”
• i.e. ‘Kindness’ – Colossians chapter 2 verse 12:
• “Clothe yourself with kindness”
• i.e. ‘Goodness’ – Galatians chapter 6 verse 10:
• “Let us do good to all people”
• i.e. ‘Faithfulness’ – Revelation chapter 2 verse 10:
• “Be faithful, even to the point of death”
• i.e. ‘Meekness’ – Titus chapter 3 verse 2:
• “Show true humility toward all men”
• i.e. ‘Self-control’ – 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 5-6:
• “Add to your knowledge self-control”
Ill:
• If I stood next to an apple tree and commanded it to bear fruit;
• You would rightly think I was either stupid or mad.
• We know that you cannot command fruit to grow.
• Yet that is exactly what God has done in his word;
• He has instructed us to bear fruit!
And remember that means the Holy Spirit wants to develop all nine qualities in every one of us.
• It is not that the Spirit wants to give love to one person, joy;
• To a second and peace;
• To a third person patience etc.
• There is no picking and choosing.
• The nine qualities mentioned;
• Indicate the amount of transformation the Holy Spirit wants to grow in all of us.
Ill:
• This means that I can’t choose to say that I’d rather continue to indulge my grumpiness,
• Rather than learning patience.
• This means that I can’t say I’ll just keep on keeping on with being rude,
• Rather than allowing kindness to grow in my life.
Note:
• This one fruit with nine flavours;
• Shows us that the Holy Spirit has a big agenda for our lives.
• So don’t settle for just a ticket to heaven mentality.
• Salvation is far too great a package for that small minded mentality.
• The fruit of the Spirit is a reminder that God is not finished with the Christian;
• Until that Christian is like Jesus in their actions and attitudes!
• Quote: C.S. Lewis:
• “God was so pleased with Jesus that he wants to populate the world with replicas”.
Ill:
• When you see the start of a building site;
• Perhaps a brand new housing estate is being built.
• To start with it looks like a bomb site;
• But you and I know it will be a nice place when it’s finished.
• So it is with the fruit of the Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit talks hold of our lives when we have very little to offer him;
• But he has a big picture of where our lives are heading, he is the architect;
• And his plan involves; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
• Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
• It’s a big job. It will take all our lives.
• We are not to rest on our laurels. Because the Holy Spirit won’t.
Quote: Alan Redpath:
“The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment,
but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”
(3). The ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is grouped in clusters of three
(1). THE FIRST CLUSTER ARE UPWARD - GODWARD.
• They are characteristics of God that we should display in our lives.
• i.e. Love of God. Joy of God. Peace of God.
• I guess every person in the world would want these three qualities in their lives.
• Everyone wants love – friendship and affection.
• Everyone wants joy – happiness and contentment.
• Everyone wants peace – reconciliation and harmony.
Ill:
• We often use the expression "Cart before the horse?"
• Somebody not familiar with that expression might say:
• “Why would anyone put the cart before the horse?
• Horses are made for pulling carts, not pushing them.
• Wouldn't it be backwards to put the cart before the horse?”
• And the point of the expression is to reply “Exactly!”
• We are doing things backwards if we try to obtain love, joy and peace without God.
We can experience ‘love, joy. Peace’ consistently in our lives:
• Because that is what gives to us at our conversion;
• And they are qualities that grow within us during our lifetime.
(2) THE SECOND CLUSTER ARE OUTWARD - MANWARD.
• Patience with others.
• Gentleness towards others.
• Goodness towards others;
• Which should characterise our dealings with other people.
Note:
• The moment you began your relationship with Jesus Christ;
• You also began a relationship with other Christians.
Quote:
“To dwell above with saints we love,
My won’t that be glory.
But to dwell below with saints we know,
Now that’s another story!”
• The moment you began your relationship with Jesus Christ;
• You also began a relationship with other Christians.
• Now you are part of God’s family,
• And in God’s family there are no orphans!
• God did not intend for His children to live as individual islands of faith,
• But rather as a community of believers,
• Interrelated with each other and part of something much bigger than themselves.
• That “something” is the Church.
• Remember that you do not GO to Church;
• Because you ARE the Church!
And as we meet and fellowship together we must:
• Demonstrate patience towards others.
• Exhibit gentleness towards others.
• Display goodness towards others;
• These qualities should characterise our dealings with other people.
(3). THE THIRD CLUSTER ARE INWARD.
• Faithfulness.
• Meekness.
• Self-control.
• These express inward qualities and express what we are – our character.
Quote:
“Character is like the foundations of a house,
Unseen – yet essential!”
• Character is a pattern of behaviour, thoughts and feelings;
• Based on universal principles, moral strength, and integrity.
• Plus the guts to live by those principles every day.
• Character is evidenced by your life’s virtues and the “line you never cross.”
• Character is the most valuable thing you have,
• Nobody can ever take it away – except yourself!
Quote: Horace Greely:
"Fame is a vapour,
Popularity an accident.
Riches take wings.
Only one thing endures,
Character".
(4). The fruit of the Spirit is love…
• As I mentioned at the start of this sermon;
• There is really only one fruit of the Spirit and that is ‘love’,
• All the other characteristics mentioned are the results of love.
• So come along for the next 8 weeks and you will know what love is.
But as we conclude this talk let me say one thing:
• Love as a fruit of the Spirit is a verb.
• It’s not a feeling!
• It is very similar to faith,
• If it is only expressed in words it’s essentially meaningless.
• Though we all like to hear the words “I love you”,
• On their own they mean nothing if not accompanied by loving action.
• True love is only ever true love when backed up by actions.
• ill: The communion table before us is the evidence of that.
Quote: John chapter 3 verse 16:
• “God so loved the world that he spoke these meaningful words “I love you”” – No!
• “God so loved the world that he GAVE his one and only Son” – Actions not words!
