Dance Lessons: The Fruit of the Spirit (Part 3)
Galatians 5:22-26
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
6-07-2020
SHHHHHHH!
In the backyard at our house in Pontiac used to be an apple tree. All the neighbors hated it. It was bad enough during the day, but at night several neighbors threatened to chop it down. Why? Because it was hard to sleep with the tree groaning and straining and huffing and puffing.
I remember laying in bed one night listening to it and for an instant I felt sorry for the poor tree. It seemed like growing apples was so difficult, that it took so much effort.
The apple tree never seemed at rest and was always panting and shaking, trying desperately to produce a few apples.
Okay, obviously that story is made up because healthy apple trees simply produce apples when they have a good root system and adequate sunlight and water. They don’t have to try to produce fruit. It’s just a natural byproduct of being a healthy tree.
[In fact, it was a healthy tree and Maxine used to make amazing baked apples from its bounty.]
This fruit is the product of the Spirit’s work inside of us and not an outcome of trying, straining, groaning, or behavior modification on our part. We don’t try to be more loving. We trust Christ to work the fruit of love in us:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
2 Corinthians 5:17 says that once we are in Christ, we are “new creations.” Part of this process of being a new creation is that God grows in us new character traits that proclaim Jesus to a lost and dying world around us.
As we go through these fruit, you may discover that you don’t really exhibit any of these and your life is characterized more by the list of the deeds of the flesh.
[Slide] “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor 13:5)
These messages could be God’s way of showing you that you need to stop trying to be good and simply trust Christ for your salvation.
Two weeks ago, we examined love, joy and peace. Last week, we studied patience, kindness, and goodness.
In these verses we will consider today, Paul is going to teach the Galatians three more moves to help them dance to the rhythm of faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
[Slide] Remember, those that dance are thought crazy by those who cannot hear the music.
Turn with me to Galatians 5.
Prayer
[Slide] Faithfully
Jonathan Cain, keyboardist for the rock and roll hall of fame group Journey, was sitting by himself in the auditorium watching the roadies take the stage apart. He started thinking about how much all of them were missing by being on the road. Each guy there had a story. Each one of the road crew had a family back home.
When Jonathan got back on the tour bus he found a napkin and wrote, “Highway run / until the midnight sun /wheels go round and round / You’re on my mind.”
He got back to the hotel and wrote the next lines, “Restless hearts / sleep alone tonight / sending all my love along the wire.”
He pulled out a little casio keyboard and began to play the melody. Jon, who is now a follower of Christ, said it was a Holy Spirit moment where the entire song came together in less than twenty minutes.
Many of you know the rest of the story:
[Slide] They say that the road ain't no place to start a family
Right down the line it's been you and me
And lovin' a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be
Oh, girl, you stand by me
I'm forever yours, faithfully
Paul highlights the fruit of faithfulness. This word literally means “to fasten oneself to.” It’s the idea of being “firm and able to be counted on,” and “firmness in adherence to promises or in observance of duty.”
Synonyms include dependable, reliable, trustworthy, loyal.
All throughout Scripture, God is described as faithful.
[Slide] David wrote in his journal, the Psalms:
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:13)
Psalm 89 declares:
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. (Psalm 89:1-2)
And Jeremiah, while lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, writes these words of hope:
“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam 3:19-23)
Jerry Bridges lists some the ways we are dependent on God’s faithfulness.
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness for our salvation (I Cor 1:8-9)
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness for deliverance from temptation. (I Cor 10:13)
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness for our ultimate sanctification (I Thes 5:23)
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness for the forgiveness of our sins ((I John 1:9)
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness to get us through times of struggle and suffering (I Pet 4:19)
We are dependent on God’s faithfulness for or ultimate hope of eternal life (Hebrews 10:23)
Jesus is our example in this, as He is with all nine of the fruit. Jesus lived His earthy life with complete honesty, total dependability, and uncompromising loyalty to the Father.
In Revelation, in the letter addressed to the church at Laodicea, Jesus is described as "the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” (Rev 3:14)
At in Revelation 19, the Apostle John describes in incredible scene:
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” (Rev 19:11)
Steven Curtis Chapman wrote about these two verses, and more, in his song “Faithful and True.”
My Redeemer is faithful and true
Everything He had said He will do
And every morning His mercies are new
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
As we surrender our lives to the work of the Holy Spirit inside of us, God can grow this fruit.
While some people are just naturally bent toward being reliable, dependable, and trustworthy, this is a supernatural ability to be faithful in all our dealings.
Before I was a Christ Follower, I wasn’t really interested in faithfulness. I had a girlfriend who endured my cheating for a while once told me that she felt sorry for the woman who married me because it would be heartbreaking. I remember being really hurt by this comment because this is not the kind of person I wanted to be.
[Slide] This November, Maxine and I will celebrate 28 years of marriage. I have been faithful to my vows every day, hour, and minute of those twenty eight years. I can not take credit for this on my own. Jesus changed my heart and has been growing the fruit of faithfulness in me for the last thirty years.
“Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?” (Prov 20:6)
The enemies of Daniel looked for a way to catch him in some unscrupulous behavior:
“At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:4-5)
Are you a Daniel?
If you make a promise, do you keep it?
Would people describe you as reliable and dependable?
Are you honest and trustworthy?
Are you a loyal friend?
This is a costly virtue. In describing someone that may approach God, David listed someone “who keeps an oath even when it hurts.” (Psalm 15:4b)
After seminary, I had to 2,000 hours of clinical work and a 100 hours of supervision to sit for my counselor licensure exam.
I worked at a psychiatric hospital and all my friends told me that our clinical director simply signed the papers. He didn’t actually do any supervision. Easy peasy.
But that didn’t sit right with me. How could have him sign that he had supervised me when he hadn’t.
I made a decision that everyone thought was completely crazy. I reached out to a friend who was a supervisor and I literally started all over. Why? Because I want to be know as a faithful man.
If you are feeling uncomfortable right now, that may be the Holy Spirit nudging you and convicting you that you need work in this area.
My prayer is that, through the Spirit’s empowering, that we may eventually hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
[Slide] Gentleness
The next trait that Paul focuses on is the fruit of gentleness.
This past week, I had the opportunity to be on a book launch team for one of my favorite writers, Scott Sauls, lead pastor at Christ Pres in Nashville. The timing of the release of this book is not a coincidence. It’s entitled, “A Gentle Answer, our secret weapon in an age of Us against Them.”
The title of the book comes from Proverbs 15:1:
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
It’s a book that makes the case that we have lost the ability to model the most important character traits of Jesus, and one of those is gentleness.
{Slide] Jonathan Edwards wrote:
“Gentleness may be called the Christian virtue. All who are truly godly and are real disciples of Christ will be gentle in spirit.”
Billy Graham defined this tern as “a mildness in dealing with others…a sensitive regard for others, being careful never to be unfeeling for the rights of others.”
It is different that meekness. Meekness is passive. It is the proper response when we are mistreated.
Gentleness is active and concerned about how we treat others. It isn’t dogmatic or overly opinionated and always has a respect for a person’s dignity.
One of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist pastors featured on the Twitter site is Nathan Ragar. He says the most unbelievable ridiculous, false, racist, and heretical things and he often ends one of the diatribes with, “You don’t like, you can lump it!” This is the very opposite of the fruit of gentleness.
In Colossians 3 we are told to clothe ourselves with gentleness and in Philippians we are commanded to “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Phil 4:5)
Paul wrote the Ephesian church, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
When giving Timothy instructions about dealing with people who oppose his ministry efforts, he writes,
“Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth…” (2 Tim 2:25)
One of the ways we can tell if we are exhibiting this fruit is that others feel safe, comfortable, and restful around us.
That’s how people, especially the sinners, the bad people felt around Jesus. To those weighed down with their sins and struggles, Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)
Speaking prophetically about Jesus seven hundred years before He was born, Isaiah wrote:
“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11)
Matthew quotes Isaiah about the tenderness of Jesus:
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.” (Matt 12:20)
This morning, you may feel like a bruised reed, which was worthless for making baskets or a candle whose flame is almost out. Jesus is gentle with those of us who feel weak and are struggling to maintain hope.
Paul tells Timothy, and us, to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” (I Tim 6:11). This word for pursue means to chase after it until you find it.
How do we exhibit gentleness in an age of outrage?
[Slide] During a protest this week, a young African American teenager was weeping and a white policer reach out and took him in his arms and held him while he cried.
In fact, the vast majority of protest this past week were peaceful and there were many examples of people winning the day with gentleness.
[Slide] I love this picture. These were Amish who came out to protest quietly in the midst of all the noise.
[Slide] I watched a young African American male approach a group of police officers with a case of water and made them laugh and told them they he loved them.
[Slide] I watched a church lead worship on the steps of their church. I watched as a crowd of thousand became completely silent as a black pastor took the mike and began to pray for them, his city, and his country.
One of the most beautiful displays of gentleness I witnessed last week happened in Houston. A group of white Christians knelt in front of a group of black believers and started to pray and asked for forgiveness for the sin of racism. The group of black Christians knelt with them and confessed their sins of anger and mistrust.
What made the difference in these two groups? Jesus!
As Christians, we can approach the world differently.
Scott Sauls writes in his new book:
“Those of us who identify as Christians have been given a resource that enables us to respond to the outrage of our day…in a healing productive and life-giving way. Because Jesus Christ has loved us at our worst, we can love others at their worst. Because Jesus Christ has forgiven us for all our wrongs, we can forgive others who have wronged us. Because Jesus Christ offered a simply answer instead of pouring out punishment and rejection for our offensive and sinful ways, we can offer gentle answers to those behave offensively and sinfully toward us.
He continues:
But make no mistake. Jesus’ gentle answer was bold and costly. His gentle answer included pouring out his life blood and dying on the cross. Our gentle answer must be costly as well. We must die to ourselves, to our self righteousness, our indignation, and to our outrage.”
Are you gentle? Do people find rest in your presence? Are you known as a kind person?
If not, it’s time to ask God to grow the fruit of gentleness in our lives.
[Slide] Self Control
The last fruit that Paul lists is that of self control or your version might have the word “temperance.” Literally, it means the ability to “hold oneself in.”
This is the inner strength that enables us to control passions and desires.
One commentator defines this as the “ability to avoid excesses, to stay within reasonable boundaries.”
Alistair Begg writes that self control may be the most important fruit because “without it those works of the flesh cannot be overcome and the fruit of the Spirit will not be evidenced.”
The Greeks highly prized self control. Aristotle wrote, “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than he who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is the victory over self.”
Each one of us knows the battle that goes into self control. I saw a meme on FaceBook that said that people need to take all their clothes and hang them on the line because obviously during this quarantine time our clothes are miraculous shrinking!
There are frozen Three Musketeer Bars in the fridge at the church. Those are my favorite candy bar. Sometimes they call to me while I’m studying in my office, “Jeff, we are here. We are even frozen. We are so good. Please come eat us, all of us, right now?”
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and knew a thing or two about losing self control wrote:
“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” (Prov 25:28)
How many of you have said that you are going to start reading your bible every day but then after a week you miss a day and quit?
How many have said, “I’ll never do that again God, I promise” and then find yourself doing it again?
We start diets but they don’t last or exercise and make it a few days.
Remember, just like all the other fruits this isn’t an outward behavior, white knuckling, or behavior modification. It comes from inside and is powered by the Holy Spirit and the grace of God:
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…” (Titus 2:11-12)
God give this fruit to help us in our fight against the desires of our body and our thoughts.
In his teaching to the Christians at Corinth, Paul writes,
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (I Cor 6:12-13)
Did you catch that? I will not be mastered by anything. This includes sexual sins, laziness, gluttony.
This is a really important learning for the men I work with that are struggling with porn and other sexual sins.
Many of their attempts at quitting in the past was because they were trying desperately to stop in their own power. Walking a path of sexual sobriety involved trusting the Holy Spirit to grow the fruit of self control in our lives.
But it isn’t a passive trust:
“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13)
As we work it out, God works in us to bring about the fruit of self control.
A great example of showing this kind of self control is Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up as a slave in Potiphar’s house in Egypt.
It says that he was well-built and handsome and Potiphar’s wife decided that she wanted him come to bed with her. This is how he responded:
“But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” (Gen 39:9-10)
He actually ended up having to run from her and because he refused to sleep with her she falsely accused him of rape.
On the other side of the coin, King David saw a young women named Bathsheba bathing on the roof of her house and told a servant to go get her and bring her to him. This terrible lack of sexual control started a landslide of family chaos that eventually brought down the Davidic dynasty.
Our thoughts are another area that we are commanded to exhibit the fruit of self control.
In writing to the Corinthian church about spiritual warfare, Paul writes:
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5)
When that lustful thought comes into your mind, by the Spirit’s power we take it captive and throw it off the cliff of our consciousness.
When that thought that promises anger or revenge, or forbidden pleasure, or envy, or dishonesty, or lying, or stealing, or any number of other sins, we are to take those captive and not allow them to direct our bodies into sin.
Eddie Foster, beautiful sums up the power of self control and how it drives all nine of these fruit:
It takes self-control to show true godly love instead of lust and infatuation—to love others not as the world loves, but as Christ loved us.
It takes self-control to have godly joy when we are facing a difficult situation in life. “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
It takes self-control to get along with others and make peace instead of constantly getting into conflict. “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9).
It takes self-control to patiently bear with others rather than quickly condemning them. It’s very hard to “be patient with all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
It takes self-control to not automatically look out only for yourself but kindly look out for other people (Philippians 2:4).
It takes self-control to do good, to go through the narrow gate toward life rather than the evil, wide gate toward destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
It takes self-control to be faithful and not have our faith shattered by the mocking of scoffers (2 Peter 3:3-4).
It takes self-control to be a gentle servant of the Lord (2 Timothy 2:24), showing compassion and mercy with real love as God does with us.
Pastor Jim Cymbala writes:
“While Christ’s work on the cross...was the only way to settle the problem of guilt, sin, and condemnation; the coming of the promised Holy Spirit was God’s way of changing human beings from the inside out. The law given to Moses had failed on this very point. It was in itself holy and just, but the problem was the sinful nature within people.
Now the Holy Spirit dwelling in the hearts of believers would conquer the age-old dilemma of ‘I want to be different but can’t. I know what’s wrong, but I keep doing it anyway.’ This empowerment by the Spirit would be the dynamic source throughout time for all who live and labor for Jesus Christ” (Pages 16-17).
[Slide]
A Character Sketch of Jesus/Communion
These nine fruit are really a character sketch of Jesus Christ. When we seek to exhibit these character traits, we are really just seeking to live out our name Christian, “little Christs.”
If you want to know what love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control looks like, look to the cross!
