Let’s go back to the beginning of this chapter … back to verse 1 (Philippians 2:1-5):
“If then there is any encouragement in Christ … any consolation from love … any sharing in the Spirit … any compassion and sympathy … make my joy complete … be of the same mind … having the same love … being in full accord … and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interest of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."
These words should sound somewhat familiar. For the past few months I’ve been preaching on the character or characteristics of a disciple of Jesus Christ. The characteristics that we’ve been talking about are: self-disciple, humility, integrity, generosity, compassion, endurance, peace, joy, and love. These might sound familiar for another reason. They are also the fruits of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23.
God wants us to be people of love and joy and peace. He wants to build endurance into our lives and instill in us compassion for those who need our help. He wants to breathe into us the qualities of generosity, integrity, humility, and self-discipline. The disciples of Christ are “inspired” people. The word “inspire” literally means to have someone or something breathe into you … breathe hope into you when you have none or very little … breathe creativity into you … breath thoughts and ideas into you. Inspiration, then, if it is breathed into you, must come from something outside of yourself. We don’t breathe into ourselves. We don’t “inspire” ourselves. Inspiration comes from without … it has a source. We receive “inspiration” from other people, from books, from the ideas of others, from nature. A coach can inspire you with the hope that we can still win the game. Sitting on the banks of Lake Okeechobee as the sun sets may inspire you to take a picture or write a poem.
Our ultimate “inspiration” comes from God, who breathed into us the very breath of life itself. "… then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). What God breathed into us was not just air. He didn’t do CPR on a lump of clay and bring it to life. What He breathed into us was the breath of life … the divine spark of life … the indwelling Spirit of God. What He inspired us with … what He breathed into us … was the Holy Spirit itself.
We all breath air. We all need air to survive. But how many of us have the Holy Spirit … the Spirit of Christ … living in us? And those of us who do … how many of you are working out your salvation with fear and trembling? “Salvation" is a very common word in the Bible and one that is used frequently by Christians, but many of us truly don’t understand the nature of Salvation … that it occurs in three stages or phases: Past … present … and future.
The moment we truly receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are instantly and eternally saved from the penalty of sin. It is “past” … it is over, done, complete. During our Christian lifespan on earth, however, we are gradually being save from the power of sin and should grow in godliness. This is done … or is being done … in the present … what we should be working out with fear and trembling. And then one day, in the future, we will live in Heaven where will be saved from the very presence of Sin (capital “S”) and will be wholly glorified. Unfortunately, many people consider salvation to be a one-time, past event. They forget its on-going nature and they never develop into fully mature Christians.
A second reason that people miss out on the abundant life or fail to fully develop as a disciple of Christ is that they misunderstand the Biblical or spiritual concept of “works.” For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, NOT of works, lest anyone should boast” (emphasis mine). That does sound like we should just kick back and let God do all the work, but the very next verse says: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for” what? “good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10). We are not saved BY good works but FOR good works. Salvation begins with God’s grace, and it is sustained by His grace as you shape your character by what you do.
A third reason that we fail to develop godly character involves a mistaken view of spirituality itself. Some Christians believe that we have little or no role to play in our own spiritual development. God does everything, they believe, so they simply “let go and let God.” After all, if it’s the “fruit of the Spirit,” we should passively let Him work within us as we abide in Christ, right? While it’s true that the Holy Spirit can reproduce the character of the Lord Jesus in us, and we must always abide in Christ … the Bible says that we also need to be active partners in the process. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,” Paul tells his young protegee, Timothy, “a worker who does not need to be ashamed” (2nd Timothy 2:15). “Diligent” is not a word for the faint-hearted. It implies consistency, self-discipline, making an effort, and working with great conscientiousness.
You and I know that there are millions who suffer darkness of the Spirit, who endure spiritual misery and pain, who have no hope and no relief. For some, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can be powerful, intense, and instantaneous. For others, it may feel like a more gradual process. But unless you embrace the power that only the Holy Spirit can provide, you are running on empty. If you have tried to grow the fruits of the Spirit on your own power, then you know how difficult that can be. It’s not merely difficult to live the Christian life on your own power … it’s impossible, am I right?
In verses 6 through 8, Paul makes the observation that Christ “who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited … but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness and being found in human form … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death … even death on a cross.” To be a complete and perfect human, Jesus had to live His life the way humans ere created to live. He had to lay aside the independent use of His divine attributes … submit Himself to the Father … allow the father’s Spirit to live in Him, work through Him, and direct His life. As Jesus told His disciples: “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority … but the father who dwells in me does the works” (John 14:10). Bible scholar and author R.R. Torrey put it this way: “Jesus lived, thought, worked, taught, conquered sin, and won victories for God in the power of that same Spirit whom we all may have.” The Spirit (capital “S”) whom we all have, if we accept Him.
There is a common misconception that when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit suddenly surges into your life like an irresistible bolt of electricity and from that moment on you are totally Spirit-filled with no further action required on your part. While it’s true that the Holy Spirit takes up residency in your life the moment you believe, but you do not, at that moment, instantaneously become a fully mature believer any more than oranges or mangoes or avocadoes spring up overnight. It takes time for the fruit of the Spirit to germinate and grow and ripen. It requires careful tending of your spiritual soil. It requires you to do you part … to submit to Him … and then to do your work … the work He “inspires” you to do. There are five very specific things that you and I can do to tend and maintain our spiritual soil.
First, we have to thirst for the Holy Spirit. As the climax of one of Israel’s festivals, Jesus stood up in the Temple and said: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). The next verse tells us that Jesus was speaking of thirsting for the Holy Spirit. In another passage, Jesus said our Heavenly Father will “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13).
Both of these passages indicate the same thing. We must thirst … we must ask for His direction … we most let the Holy Spirit control us. Although the Holy Spirit wants to direct our lives, He doesn’t over-ride our free will or seize control of our minds. He works like a combination of a GPS and the power steering in our cars. He gives you direction and then waits for your decision to follow Him. He points … He gives directions … but YOU have to decide to turn the wheel. Once you do that, He provides the power to steer the car and move it down the road. The direction to the destination and the power to get there belong to the Holy Spirit but the decision to continually drive toward the correct destination remains with you.
So, the first step is to thirst for the Holy Spirit … to want the Holy Spirit to guide your life and be willing to follow when He does. Second, we have to renounce our sin.
What is the Holy Spirit’s first name? It’s “Holy.” Because He is holy, the Holy Spirit cannot thrive in an environment contaminated by sin. The Apostle Paul warns us: “Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live” (Ephesians 4:30). In Professor Charles L. Ryrie’s book, “The Holy Spirit,” he wrote: “The victorious life or the life which does not grieve the Holy Spirit is an undefeated life. It is the life which is constantly responding to the light as it is revealed in God’s Word. As response is made, this will bring to light more areas of darkness which then need to be confessed. Then more light comes, which in turn requires more confession of newly discovered darkness. And so it goes throughout life,” he says, “but this is the normally developing life which grieves not the Spirit.”
When we confess our sins and determine to turn away from them … in other words “repent” .. the Lord forgives us. As the Apostle John wrote: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). By the power of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, He willingly forgives those sins we confess and turn away from. By that forgiveness we are cleansed and the Holy Spirit is set free to work in us and through us.
You with me so far? We need to thirst for the Holy Spirit. We need to renounce our sin. And, third, we need to devote ourselves to God’s Word.
As I mentioned before, salvation is not an end … it is a beginning. And we learn how to live a Christian life by reading the Owner’s manual … by reading His Word … the Bible. If you want the fruit of live to develop in you life, study the passages that show you what real love looks like … such as 1st Corinthians 13. If you want to endure, study the lives of men like Job or Moses. Do you want integrity? I suggest that you get acquainted with Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Hannah, and Daniel.
Every day we face situations that require us to make life-changing or life-impacting decisions. If we’re to make the right decisions … “to be ready for every good work” … then we need to store up as much of His Word in our hearts as we can so that when these moments come … and they will … the Holy Spirit can bring to mind passages, or principles, or concepts from scripture that can guide us.
I liken this to what happens when we use our computers. We save information on the hard drive and then the operating system uses that information to accomplish a given task. Studying and memorizing the Word of God is like loading up your spiritual hard drive with important, valuable information. The Holy Spirit … our operating system … uses what we’ve stored on our hard drive. But, if you don’t have anything on your hard drive, guess what? The Holy Spirit has nothing to work with, amen? Makes sense, doesn’t it? Commit to spending time in the scriptures every day and over tine you’ll discover the fruit of the Spirit growing and maturing in your life.
Okay … let’s see. We need to thirst for the Spirit. We need to renounce sin in our lives when it is revealed to us. We need to spend time in God’s Word. Forth, we need to let go of our own ambition. In the verses immediately following the listing of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, Paul commands those who are Christians to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. “If we live in the Spirit,” he challenge us, “let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25).
Consider Paul’s use of the word “walk.” It paints a simple picture of a person taking one step at a time. Sometimes they’re very small steps. Once in awhile they can be very big steps! No matter the case … big steps or small … the wind in our face or at our back .. the person who is walking in the Spirit is continually … with the Spirit’s help … making progress.
No servant can serve two masters. Your life has no room for two CEOs. Either you will be in charge … and you probably know where that’s headed … or you can place the Holy Spirit in charge. If you want a Spirit-led life, guess what? You’ve got to let the Spirit lead, amen? You must be willing to abandon the path that you’ve chose for yourself in favor of the one that God has chosen for you. You must be willing to let God be God in you. All of God’s resources will be available to you if you simply let the Holy Spirit take control of your life. Letting go of your ambition may seem risky, but you have the Bible’s assurance that a tremendous reward will be waiting for you at the end when you receive the treasures that you stored up in Heaven and hear Christ say: “Well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21). Enter not into “your” joy … enter not into the world’s version of joy … but enter into the Lord’s joy … something to think about, amen?
We need to thirst for the Spirit. We need to renounce sin in our lives. We need to spend time in God’s Word. We need to let go of our ambition … and, finally, we need to commit ourselves to the Spirit’s direction.
Imagine yourself as a house. God comes in and starts to rebuild your house. At first you understand what He’s doing. He’s fixing the drains … the leaks in the roof … and so on. But then He starts knocking down walls and tearing up floor boards … going crazy … doing things that don’t make sense. What’s He up to?
I’ll tell you what He’s up to! He is building a far different house from the one that you imagined. You thought that He was going to make you into a nice, decent little cottage. But He is not content with a cottage. He’s building a palace, a building suitable for His Holy Spirit to live in.
So, the question is this: What do you want your life to be like? A cottage? Or a palace? Do you desire the fruit of the Spirit enough to turn your life over to the Holy Spirit? Or do you want to retain control and risk the works of the flesh inching their way into more and more of your life … leading you further and further from all possibilities of joy … and peace … and love .. and compassion … and integrity … humility … endurance … and self-disciple. The Apostle Paul put this choice plainly before us. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, and you will live” (Romans 8:13). Seems pretty straight forward, amen?
Answering Christ’s call and becoming one of His disciples is a one-time choice but it is also an on-going decision that we will have to face throughout our lives. We must exercise vigilance over our lives and activities. We must constantly repent and recommit every time we drift away from His direction.
The fruit of the Spirit is about transformation … the Holy Spirit making you into something as different from what you were as a butterfly differs from a caterpillar. He will change you from a creature that crawls to one that soars … if you let Him.
Our initial attempts at walking under the control of the Holy Spirit are usually fumbling and ineffective, but God takes our attempts seriously and applauds us for the desire and the effort that we put into them. But He doesn’t stand by and passively watch us struggle either. He gives us His Holy Spirit, who turns our fumbling efforts into glorious masterpieces.
There was a story going around on the internet a few years ago that I would like to share with you now. It was about a mother who had a young son who was struggling to learn how to play the piano. Thinking it might encourage him, she took him to a concert to hear a great pianist play. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend and they started chatting. Her son, always curious, took advantage of his mother’s distraction to slip off and go exploring in the great music hall. He wandered through a door marked “Do Not Enter.”
When the house lights dimmed, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her child was missing. Before she could react, the curtains opened on the spotlight center stage … and the audience erupted in a mixture of laughter and anger. When the mother saw the cause of their reaction, she gasped in horror. There at the keyboard sat her little boy, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
At that moment the master pianist made his entrance, quickly moving to the piano. He whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit … keep playing.” Then he leaned over the boy and with his left hand began filling in a bass accompaniment. A moment later his right arm reached around to the other side and added a running obbligato. When the last note sounded, the mesmerized audience thundered its applause. Together the old master and the young novice had transformed an awkward situation into a wonderfully creative experience.
This is what God does with us. No matter how hard we try to live godly lives, our efforts come up short. But when God enters, He turns our halting music into a masterpiece. This is what Paul was telling us when he wrote: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling … for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippines 2:12-13). We provide the effort with our desire, our study, and our repentance. But it is God who provide the power by working in us to do His will. The result is a beautiful, transformed life. The indispensable key … as the piano master told the little boy … is: “Don’t quit … keep playing.”
The late John Stott, Anglican priest and leader of The World Wide Evangelical Movement, began each morning with this simple prayer asking for the Holy Spirit’s help in his life … let’s pray it together now:
Heavenly Father:
We pray that this day we may live in Your Presence and please You more and more.
Lord Jesus:
We pray that this day we may take up our cross and follow You.
Holy Spirit:
We pray that this day You will fill us with Yourself and cause fruit to ripen in our lives … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit … and all Jesus’ disciples say with me … Amen!
