The Fruit of Joy & Peace
Notes
Transcript
Text
Text
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Background Context
Background Context
What is the main issue Paul is dealing with? - overcoming our sinful nature through the power of the Spirit as opposed to outward religious conformity
Reminder of the contrast between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” - Work vs Fruit
Joy is both a feeling and an action. It is commanded in the Bible and also comes as a result of circumstances
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Joy as Feeling
Joy as Feeling. Joy is a feeling called forth by well-being, success, or good fortune. A person automatically experiences it because of certain favorable circumstances. It cannot be commanded.
The shepherd experienced joy when he found his lost sheep (Mt 18:13). The multitude felt it when Jesus healed a Jewish woman whom Satan had bound for 18 years (Lk 13:17). The disciples returned to Jerusalem rejoicing after Jesus’ ascension (Lk 24:52). Joy was also the feeling of the church at Antioch when its members heard the Jerusalem Council’s decision that they did not have to be circumcised and keep the Law (Acts 15:31). Paul mentioned his joy in hearing about the obedience of the Roman Christians (Rom 16:19). He wrote to the Corinthians that love does not rejoice in wrong but rejoices in the right (1 Cor 13:6; see also 1 Sm 2:1; 11:9; 18:6; 2 Sm 6:12; 1 Kgs 1:40; Est 9:17, 18, 22).
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Joy as Action
Joy as Action. There is a joy that Scripture commands. That joy is action that can be engaged in regardless of how the person feels. Proverbs 5:18 tells the reader to rejoice in the wife of his youth, without reference to what she may be like. Christ instructed his disciples to rejoice when they were persecuted, reviled, and slandered (Mt 5:11, 12). The apostle Paul commanded continuous rejoicing (Phil 4:4; 1 Thes 5:16). James said Christians are to reckon it all joy when they fall into various testings because such testings produce endurance (Jas 1:2). First Peter 4:13 seems to include both action and emotion when it says, “But rejoice [the action] in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad [the emotion] when his glory is revealed.” Joy in adverse circumstances is possible only as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is present in every Christian (Gal 5:22).
Introduction
Introduction
A Pastor was heading to the back of the auditorium at the end of a a service when he was approached by a woman and handed a folded up note. Upon returning to his home at the end of the evening he read the note. It said: Dear Pastor…a friend of mine was suffering through brain cancer and the difficult treatment regimen. His relationship with Christ was so powerful and his testimony for the Lord so strong that the nurse on duty to care for him wrote a critical comment on his medical chart. She wrote “Mr Johnson is inappropriately joyful”. Since then it has been one of my goals to be “inappropriately joyful”.
A Pastor was heading to the back of the auditorium at the end of a a service when he was approached by a woman and handed a folded up note. Upon returning to his home at the end of the evening he read the note. It said: Dear Pastor…a friend of mine was suffering through brain cancer and the difficult treatment regimen. His relationship with Christ was so powerful and his testimony for the Lord so strong that the nurse on duty to care for him wrote a critical comment on his medical chart. She wrote “Mr Johnson is inappropriately joyful”. Since then it has been one of my goals to be “inappropriately joyful”.
Perhaps the nurse could not understand how joy could accompany such difficult circumstances and perhaps we who know Christ find it equally difficult to comprehend.
People often blame their problems on their circumstances or their environment. Contemporary philosophy would have us believe that change is impossible unless our circumstances change. So much energy and time is devoted to getting to the next level of social status or economic bracket.
Job is an example of a man who was overwhelmed with adversity that was not his fault or a result of judgment. His wife wanted him to curse “God and die” his response was :
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
It’s true Bad choices can lead to difficult circumstances. However, there are times when God allows us to go through fiery trials.
Declaration: Despite the circumstances of life we can have true joy in Christ
Proposition: Are we producing the fruit of joy as a result of the Spirit’s control regardless of our circumstances?
Transition:
I. The foundation of Prayer
I. The foundation of Prayer
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Many times prayer is our last resort when it should be our first instinct
Prayer is not everything but everything needs prayer!
A. Prayer covers all
A. Prayer covers all
“be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer...”
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
B. Prayer contains appreciation
B. Prayer contains appreciation
“…with supplication and thanksgiving”
We must approach God with a thankful heart
Are we truly thankful for what he has done?
2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
C. Prayer comes asking
C. Prayer comes asking
“…let your requests be made known unto God.”
Doesn't God already know?
Maybe he wants us to become more familiar with our needs by spending time in prayer
Our constant requests can tell us many things about our own spiritual condition - What are we asking for?
God give me this - God I need this .....
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
The foundation of prayer but also the...
II. The preservation of Peace
II. The preservation of Peace
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
“shall keep your hearts”
The news is full of stories about war and peace
Current News Headline: The Guardian - Jared Kushner insists Middle East peace plan is ‘a real effort to break logjam’ 2/2/2020
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
Eze
While the world is going to pieces God promises those who know him true peace
Is 57:2021
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
A. The source of peace
A. The source of peace
“and the peace of God”
Notice the source of peace is God!
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; The Lord will bless his people with peace.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
There is no peace apart from a salvation experience
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
B. The supremacy of peace
B. The supremacy of peace
“…which passeth all understanding”
How can we understand the peace of God?
How can it be described?
3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.
C. The security of peace
C. The security of peace
“…shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
Mans peace treaties fail and crumble
We bury the hatchet but many times we go back and dig it up again
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Illustration: The city of Jerusalem - if we were to ever visit - we could stand in the center of the city and look in all directions and see that there are mountains on all sides. The city is naturally protected.
1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, Which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. 2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So the Lord is round about his people From henceforth even for ever.
Psalm 125
The foundation of prayer, the preservation of peace and finally the...
III. The exhortation of Proper thinking
III. The exhortation of Proper thinking
Phil 4:
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
“think on these things”
Joy and peace are a result of fruit being produced in our life. Joy and peace flow naturally in times of celebration but in the storms and valleys of life they are produced by a continued abiding faith in God.
3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.
Thinking effects the doing and doing effects the thinking. Both are involved!
A. The discipline of proper thinking
A. The discipline of proper thinking
“think on these things”
We are what we think!
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.
Illustration: The Flood - God was concerned with both the thoughts and the actions
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
We must learn to discipline our thoughts and ask God to help us
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Notice.... mind, carnally minded, spiritually minded
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
B. The development of proper thinking
B. The development of proper thinking
“those things, which ye have both learned, and recieved, and heard, and seen in me, do...”
When we are busy doing what we have learned we have the assurance that God will provide his peace
3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, And thy thoughts shall be established.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The foundation of prayer - if we are going to live with joy and peace it starts with our basic connection and communion with God through prayer
2. The preservation of peace - whatever comes our way we can rest that God is the one who provides what we need
a. He is the source - He is the only true well we can go to
b. His peace is supreme - past our understanding
c. His peace is sustaining - it will keep our hearts and minds
3. The exhortation of proper thinking - Everything is life begins and ends with how we think
a. The discipline of proper thinking - it takes conscious effort
b. The development of proper thinking - if we put what we know into action it will further establish our thoughts
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Gal 5:22-
Used in several ways in the Bible - as both circumstantial happiness (something that cannot be commanded) and something that comes as a result of our fellowship with the Holy Spirit