Fruits of the Spirit

Welcome

What are the fruits

Galatians 5:22 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Galatians 5:23 NIV

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Ephesians 5:9 NIV

9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

Romans 6:22 NIV

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Fruits and Gifts are not the same

The gifts of the Spirit are bestowed by the Holy Spirit “dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Cor. 12:11). These divine abilities are apparently given virtually instantly. The bestowal of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was “suddenly.” “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). It seems that one moment they were not able to speak with tongues and the next moment they were. Acts 19:6 confirms this fact, for we read of the believers at Ephesus: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied.” Fruit, on the other hand is always the result of a slow, gradual development. Because fruit suggests traits of character, it would of necessity involve a period of development.

There is a tendency among many to look with awe upon one who has many gifts of the Spirit as though this indicated a super-spiritual individual. It is well to realise that gifts are not, of themselves, the indication of the depth of one’s spiritual life. In fact the as the spiritual gifts are given at by the Holy spirit as they he sees fit, the person’s character that has them is not really part of this.

Paul is keen to point out that the gifts of the spirit can be used or abused. We spoke a few weeks ago about how we do not use the Spiritual Gifts, but the HS uses us to manifest the gifts. it is about our availability not simply our suitability

Having the fruits of the spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is the true characteristic of the Christian life. The “blessed man” of Psalm chapter one is said to “be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that yields his fruit in his season” (Ps. 1:3).

Psalm 1:3 NIV

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

LOVE is at the heart of all the fruits.

Foundations of Pentecostal Theology D. The Difference between the Gifts of the Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit

D.L. Moody, this characterization of love is found in terms of all these other virtues, as follows:

Joy is love exulting.

Peace is love reposing.

Longsuffering is love untiring.

Gentleness is love enduring.

Goodness is love in action.

Faith is love on the battlefield

Meekness is love under discipline.

Temperance is love in training.

Joy is where we show elation for the love we are given

Peach is where we rest because we are loved we don’t need to seek approval.

Forbearance is the resilience that we have because God loves us and that we show to others when we love them even when things are not great between us. It this that lets us love our neighbour

Kindness - where love gives worth. where love stops us saying what may be true but is not loving. Kindness is where God’s love for us allows us to be who we are, no condemnation, no false pretence. God’s love allows us to be kind to ourselves as well as others. This is the fruit of the spirit.

Goodness - speaks for its self it is love in action.

Faith - love on the battle field, as moody puts it. Faith is being certain of what we do not see. both in our lives and in others. a Faith founded on knowing a God that loves us. wants the best for us - a faith in the best is yet to come

Gentleness - is where the love we have for others stops us being or at least showing our exasperation. In some translations say meekness, this is not the same as weakness. Gentleness is power in control. Both our power, physical and emotional but also the power the Holy spirit bestows on us.

Self Control is love in training. We are all on a journey with God. Self Control is our action in developing the fruits of the spirit.

The fruits must be behind the Gifts.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1, 2 NASB).

As has been stated above, love is the very essence of the fruit of the Spirit. So what Paul is saying is that though he has the gift of speaking with other tongues, of prophecy, wisdom, knowledge and faith, and does not have the fruit of the Spirit, these gifts mean absolutely nothing. The development of the inner nature of a Christ-like character must be behind any use of the spiritual gift.

The idea that Love is at the heart of everything we do for God. and by doing things we do for God I actually mean doing life is enshrined whenJesus was asked about the greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28–34 NIV

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

We are called to bring the fruits of the spirit to bear in everything we do. They are to be our character.

Pauls letter to the church in Thesselonica says.

1 Thessalonians 1:1–7 NIV

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

When the fruits of the spirit are evident in our lives we become imitators of Christ and we become effective in living the Gospel.

The sum of the parts.

When Fruits and Gifts and talents joint together the impact on our lives and the lives around us is tremendous.

With the Holy Spitit we have the power of Christ in us.

Paul says

Ephesians 3:16, 20-21

Ephesians 3:16 NIV

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The Gifts and our talents when applied with the fruits of the spirit empower us to

Witness

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Both preaching the Gospel - in word and dead

Let’s listen to Alice as she talks about how the Holy Spirit is empowering her and some friends to be a witness.

VIDEO

It was great to hear about

Prayers answered

Salvations received and the Holy Spirit coming in power.

The Holy Spirit coming in power is part of our witness.

Where the Holy Spirit deems right we can perform signs and wonders and miracles.

The Holy Spirit attests to our salvation

Romans 8:15–16 NIV

15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

and through this gives us hope. This hope gives us the power to persevere and to rely on Gods assurance that he loves us. Personally

Romans 5:5 NIV

5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Charles Hodge writes that the love of God:

"does not descend upon us as dew drops, but as a stream which spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with the consciousness of his presence and favour."

God pours out his love on us in floods, Paul when he writes assumes that all his readers, like himself, will be living in the enjoyment of a strong and abiding sense of God's love for them."

And indeed this is what we are called to . To know the love of God Personally. To reflect that love through the Gifts of the spirit for our benefit and a witness to others.

Let’s pray

Prayer

Next week we have a visiting speaker and we will celebrate communion.