Galatians 5: 13-26
Let us open in prayer
Father, I pray that you will anoint my words this morning that they may be words for each of us from you. I ask what I say may be relevant in our Christian lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Story: Four years ago, Maddy and I moved from Frisby on the Wreake in the Diocese of Leicester to Tilney St Lawrence in the Diocese of Ely.
When we started to pack up in Frisby, we came to take the bedroom apart and I was surprised to find a small basket underneath our bed with three eggs and £1000.
I was a bit puzzled and so I called Maddy and asked her what this was all about.
She said: “Well I have to be honest with you. Every time you preached a bad sermon, I put an egg in the basket.”
I thought – well three bad sermons in 3 years – not bad going.
But I was still puzzled – “Well, what is the £1000 about”
She replied, as wives always do: “Every time I got a dozen, I sold them”.
I hope this evening won’t be an egg sermon!!
I gather from Franz that you are looking at a sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5.
May I therefore focus on a few verses from Galatians 5
…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
I would like to start by pointing out that the word FRUIT is a singular noun.
It is not the FRUITS of the Spirit but the FRUIT of the Spirit.
In other words, it is all aspects of the Fruit in which we have to GROW.
Jesus doesn’t expect us to say:
“Yes I can sign up for changing in the areas of love, joy, peace, faithfulness and gentleness in my life – but sorry I just can’t do anything about my awful temper – it’s in my genes – I inherited it from my father.
All of
love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
are aspects of the FRUIT of the HOLY SPIRIT in our lives
There are no opt out clauses!!
We can’t change ourselves – but we can allow the HOLY SPIRIT to change us. The choice is ours.
Contrast this with I Cor 12 where Pauls speaks of the GIFTS of the Spirit not the GIFT of the Spirit
Paul puts it like this:
12 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (1 Cor 12:1-4)
So why is that important?
Because we are expected to GROW in all aspects of the Fruit.
Compare this to the Gifts of the Spirit.
No one believer is expected to have all the Gifts.
Because the Gifts are given for Christian service not for forming Christian character
See what St Paul says in 1 Cor 12:1-11 about the Gifts of the Spirit
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
The Gifts of the Spirit are for SERVICE but the Fruit of the Spirit is for forming CHARACTER
If we consider God’s commandments, we can look at them in one of two ways
1. We can follow them to the letter of the law – and like any good lawyer look for the get out clauses.
2. Or we can look at the Spirit of the Law – and see what God really wants and that is the test of our character.
If we look at King Manasseh from our OT lesson (2 Chr 33 1-20) we read of probably the most evil King in Judah post the division of the Kingdom into Israel and Judah following King Solomon's reign.
Yet when God gets Manessah's attention by sending the King of Assyria against him - who puts Manasseh in shackles, Manessah repents.
It is a true repentence and God forgives him and restores him to his kingdom.
And note this, Manasseh repents.
Josephus tells us that he was deemed to be a happy man and an example to follow once Manasseh repented. (http://www.academia.edu/1067573/Good_King_and_Bad_King_Traditions_about_Manasseh_in_the_Bible_and_Late_Second_Temple_Judaism)
Manesseh's repentance resulted in action. He overturned all the evil he had done and started to walk in God's ways.
He got rid of the idols he had put up and caused his nation to worship the one true God.
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said:
"Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying."
So often those with whom we are sharing our lives won’t believe the Good News of Jesus – if our lives don’t show a change.
Story: An American pastor David Chadwell posed a rather interesting set of questions:
1. What sort of neighbour would you like next-door: a person of excellent habits or a person with a good heart?
2. What sort of a good friend would you like: a person of excellent habits, or a person with a good heart?
3. What sort of husband or a wife or wife would you like: a person of excellent habits, or a person with a good heart?
4. What sort of child would you like : a child with excellent habits, or a child with a good heart?
Chadwell concludes:
1. It is wonderful to have a neighbour who conscientiously cares for his property while respecting your property.
2. It is wonderful to have a friend who always treats you with consideration.
3. It is wonderful to be married to a husband who always is thoughtful and courteous, or to a wife who always is gracious in her comments and deeds.
4. It is wonderful to have a son or daughter who shows respect and uses good manners.
As wonderful as those situations are, none of them compares to having a neighbour, a friend, a husband, a wife, a son, or a daughter with a good heart.
When you discuss good behaviour, you are discussing the quality of a person's self-control.
When you discuss a good heart, you are discussing the quality of the person.
Jesus wants his followers to be first and foremost people with good hearts.
We see in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:26 what the relationship God wants to have with his people
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ez 36;26
Or put another way, God wants us to live according to his will and to have the character to go with it
In closing, may I tell you a story I once read about in one of Richard Wurmbrand’s books.
“An elder of a local free Church in Communist Romania was brought before the judge for embezzlement - a crime he had not committed.
His defence lawyer started his defence summation by telling the Court of a well-known story about the man that was circulating around the village.
One day, the man had been attacked while he was taking the church collection home to bank the next day and the thieves made off with all the money.
Fearing for the eternal souls of the thieves, the elder called after them,
“ You haven’t stolen the church collection, which I have at home, you have only taken my money and I give it to you freely.”
The Judge stopped the defence lawyer and said: “You don’t seriously believe that nonsense do you?”
The defence lawyer replied: “No”
“Then why are you bringing it up in my court” the judge growled.
The defence lawyer replied: “My Lord, if someone had tried to start a rumour like that about you or me, it would never have got off the ground.
The very fact that this rumour could even get off the ground is a testimony to my client’s character.”
That’s the same sort of character that Jesus wants his followers to have.
A Christian character to go with our Christian profession.
It isn’t easy – but God is more concerned about what is on the inside of us than externals.
If I can ask you to take one thought away from this sermon – please make it this
“The FRUIT of the Spirit is a singular noun.”
All aspects of the FRUIT need to grow in our lives, not just some
