THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT SERIES, and I want to encourage you to be here for every service.
Illus: This series reminds me of the farmer that had a pet pig with a wooden leg. A man was visiting his farm one day and asked him how the pig lost it’s leg. The old farmer responded by saying that the pig with a wooden leg was very special.
• He said that one day the barn caught on fire and the pig ran into the barn and chased out all the horses. He saved their lives - he is a very special pig.
• The man said, “Is that how the pig lost his leg?” “No, that is not how he lost his leg!”
• He said, “That pig is special, because one time I was driving my tractor by the pond and I got too close to the edge and my tractor turned over. I would have drowned, but that pig swam out to where I was and saved my life.”
• The man said, “Is that how the pig lost his leg?” “No, that is not how he lost his leg!”
• He said, “One time I was underneath the car working on the muffler and the jack gave way. The car fell on top of me and that pig went for help and saved my life.”
• The man said, “Is that how the pet pig lost his leg?” He said, “No, that is not how he lost his leg!”
• The man said, “Well, how did your pig lose it’s leg?”
• He said, “Mister, that pig is a very special pig! You don’t expect me to eat him all at one time do you?”
These “Fruits of the Spirit” we are going to be talking about are really good. We are not going to eat them all in one sermon, we are just going to take our time and eat them one at a time.
This series has a lot to do with what many consider to be a conflict between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle James in the New Testament. Some feel they contradicted each other. For example:
• Paul taught that we are saved by grace alone!
• James says that when we are saved by grace, grace is not alone. There will be works to show we have been saved by grace.
Look at James 2:17-18, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.”
James is not teaching salvation by works, he is simply saying that if you have been saved by the grace of God, your life will reflect that you are a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS!
When you place the writings of Paul and James side by side you see there are no contradictions in their writings.
For example, God knows a man is saved by what He sees in his heart. But we are not God; we know a man is saved by what we see in his life.
In other words, I am not God. I can’t look into the heart of a man and know if he is saved, I must see some GOOD FRUIT.
The first “Fruit of the Spirit” is LOVE. The lost world talks about love in a variety of ways, such as:
• Affection love
• Sexual love
• Relationship love
• Romantic love
• Puppy love
• Friendship love
• Permanent love
• Infatuation love
• Passionate love
But the Bible teaches there is another love and it is called AGAPE LOVE. It is the purest form of love. God is love; God is “AGAPE LOVE.”
When we talk about the LOVE that is the Fruit of the Spirit, I want to be clear that I am talking about GOD’S LOVE.
Illus: I do not want to be like the two men who lived in a small village that got into a terrible dispute that they couldn’t resolve.
They decided to talk to the local Judge.
• The first man went to the Judge’s home and told his version of what happened. When he finished, the Judge said, "You’re absolutely right."
• The next night, the second man came to the Judge’s home and told his side of the story. The Judge responded, "You’re absolutely right."
• The Judge’s wife heard what he had said to both men and she scolded him. "Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right. That’s impossible — they can’t both be absolutely right."
• The old judge turned to his wife and said, "You’re absolutely right."
God’s Word is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT when it comes to telling us what LOVE is.
The world in which we live talks a lot about love, but knows very little about love.
Illus: Brian came into his wife's room one day.
• "If I were disfigured, would you still love me?" he asked her.
• "Darling, I'll always love you," she said calmly, filing her nails.
• "How about if I became crippled?” Brian asked nervously.
• "Don't worry, darling, I'll always love you," she told him, buffing her nails.
• "Well, how about if I lost my job as vice president?" Brian went on, "If I weren't pulling in six figures any more. Would you still love me then?"
• The wife looked over at her husband's worried face. "Frank, I'll always love you," she reassured him, "but I'll really miss you."
A lot of folks are like this. They do not know the first thing about love.
The first “Fruit of the Spirit” is love. We want to look at this fruit very carefully. Let’s consider:
I. THE MIRACLE OF THE FRUIT
In Galatians 5:22-23, the Lord lists the nine fruits of the Spirit every Christian is suppose to bear.
Look again at Galatians 5:22-23, we read, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
These are the “Fruits of the Spirit” that every born-again Christian should be bearing in his life.
But notice, before the Lord lists THE GOOD FRUIT WE BEAR AS A CHRISTIAN, he lists the bad fruit we bore before we became a Christian.
Look at Galatians 5:19-21, we read, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
This is a list of things we found in our life before we came to know the Lord Jesus. He has drastically changed our lives.
Illus: They have a television now called “Extreme Makeovers”. They find someone that looks like they have been drug around the barnyard a few times and when they get through with them it is hard to believe they are the same person.
The Lord saw that we were all in pitiful shape and God did not just do an “Extreme Makeover” on us. He made us into a “New Creature” in Christ Jesus.
The point is this; in the Christian life there should be a BEFORE and AFTER PICTURE. Something has happened. Life is full of things that make it obvious that something has happened.
Illus: It is like the wife who said that:
• Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say.
• After marriage, he'll fall asleep before you finish saying something.
Some things have happened to our lives that have changed us for the BETTER or for the WORST. But Paul is telling us that since the Lord has come into our lives, something has happened that changed for the better. We once bore BAD FRUIT, but now as Christians we BEAR GOOD FRUIT.
Illus: Evangelist Tom Hayes, of Saluda, North Carolina, said, “Did you know you can take a Crab apple tree, cut it off at the base, and make it a Red Delicious apple tree? By grafting a little Red Delicious shoot into the Crab apple tree trunk, you can create a brand new tree. Within a few years, the tree will bear beautiful, Red Delicious fruit. That's right! IT WILL NEVER BE A CRAB APPLE TREE AGAIN.”
When God saved us, He performed a miracle. God the Holy Spirit began a work in us and we became a New Creature.
Look at 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
We once bore BAD FRUIT, but now we bear GOOD FRUIT. THIS IS THE MIRACLE OF THE FRUIT.
We have looked at THE MIRACLE OF THE FRUIT, but let’s also look at-
II. THE MINISTRY OF THE FRUIT
Notice, we purposely refer to these fruits as the “Fruit of the Spirit”.
In Galatians 5:22a, we read "But the fruit of the Spirit is..."
• It is important that you notice the word "fruit" is singular.
• It is important that you notice what the Holy Spirit produces is plural. Paul lists nine different fruits Christians bear.
Illus: When you go to an ice cream shop, there is one ice cream that is produced in many flavors.
There is only one FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, but it comes in nine delicious flavors. Look at Galatians 5:22-23 again, we read, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance….”
Only the Holy Spirit can produce these fruit in our life.
The Holy Spirit can do IN US, FOR US, and THROUGH US, what we cannot do for ourselves. He can take a sinner and save him by grace and produce beautiful fruit in his life.
Illus: A man in Columbia, South Carolina, was a drunk and a womanizer. God miraculously saved him and turned him into a wonderful sober husband.
We have looked at THE MIRACLE OF THE FRUIT and THE MINISTRY OF THE FRUIT. Let’s also look at -
III. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE FRUIT
Let’s look at these “Fruits” that we Christians are suppose to manifest. Notice, the first one that God listed is the “Fruit of love.”
If your life is filled with the same kind of fruit that the lost world is producing, it could be because you have never been made a “New Creature”.
Look again at Galatians 5:19-21 and see if you recognize yourself. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The fruit of the Spirit is none other than the Spirit of Christ manifesting the reality of Christ in our lives! The Bible says, “GOD IS LOVE!”
Look at 1 John 4:7-10, we read, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
John states it clearly in verse 8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
The only way the lost world is going to know that I have God in my life is for the lost world to see God’s love in my life, because GOD IS LOVE!
God’s love is something many do not know very much about. I must confess that when I was in high school and I discovered the opposite sex, I thought I knew all about love. Instantly, I became an expert. But the older I get, the more I understand how little I know about love. Maybe when I become an old man I will know how to love the way the Bible teaches.
Illus: I guess I will be like the old man that had been married for 50 years.
• The wife said, “Things have really changed. You used to sit so close to me.”
• Well, I can remedy that,” said the man, moving next to her on the couch.
• “And you used to hold me tight.” “How’s that?” he asked as he gave her a hug
• She said, “You use to nuzzle my neck and nibble on my ear lobes.”
• At that he jumped up and left the room. “Where are you going?” she asked. “I’ll be right back, he called, I’ve got to get my teeth!”
We really do not know how to love the way that Christ wants us to love.
Illus: Many of us are like the fellow who said, “Honey, sometimes I love you so much it’s all I can do to keep from telling you.”
Conclusion:
While many in this life know very little about love, we come across some folks who know what it is all about.
Illus: Lee Merriweather was with her daughter at the circus. Her little daughter looked at her and said, "Mommy, he's looking at you!" She turned to her daughter and said, "Who is looking at me, honey?" The daughter pointed to the flying trapeze artist, Tito, and said, "That man!" Lee looked and said to her daughter, "Yeah, you're right!" Soon, he was not only watching her, she was watching him.
They met and a relationship developed instantly.
Soon things that had been important to her were no longer important. She was willing to forsake everything to follow him and share her life with him.
Isn't it wonderful that people can love each other that much?
This is even more real when we meet Christ and get to know Him. We will never again be the same!
We have looked at:
I. THE MIRACLE OF THE FRUIT
II. THE MINISTRY OF THE FRUIT
III. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE FRUIT
