Apr 6, 1997 9 min read old-sermon

The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21)

you might remember that some time ago, we began looking at the Holy Spirit
the Holy Spirit is that remarkable gift given to every believer at the moment of their conversion
when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit at conversion, we receive spiritual power in our lives
he fills us, purifies us, illumines, empowers, preserves, and gifts us
but there’s one thing we haven’t talked about yet
and we can’t complete our look at the Holy Spirit without talking about the fruit of the Holy Spirit
God wants to lead us into a spiritual orchard of fruit that the Holy Spirit will produce in us if we submit to his filling and control
but it’s not automatic
there are many Christians who have been baptized in the Spirit and are indwelt by the Spirit, yet they have never experienced all the Spirit’s benefits
if there’s anything we need to understand in order to live the victorious Christian life, it is the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit
and when the Holy Spirit indwells us, certain things begin to appear in our lives, just as fruit appears in an orchard
these things called the fruit of the Spirit are the distinguishing marks of the Spirit’s influence in our lives
but many Christians never experience the fruit of the Spirit
the Galatians are an example
please open your Bibles to Galatians 3
(Galatians 3:1) You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
(Galatians 3:2) I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
(Galatians 3:3) Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
the Galatians had made a serious mistake
they were trying to live the Christian life using the power of human effort
through the power of the flesh
you don’t have to be very smart to realize that this is a losing proposition
it is literally impossible to live the Christian life in the power of the flesh
if you try to lead a Christian life using your own best efforts and on your own strength, listen right now: you are doomed
there is no way for you to succeed
the Bible teaches that the flesh refers to our human nature and its unregenerate weakness
according to the Bible, our flesh has inherited a sinful nature from Adam
we completely lack spiritual good before God, and we are totally unable to do any spiritual good before God
in other words, our efforts to please God by our own efforts in our own sinful nature are completely inadequate
the flesh cannot please God
in Galatia, some teachers had convinced believers that the way to please God was by taming the flesh and making it behave by their own self-will and discipline
they were substituting rules for a relationship with the Holy Spirit
and Paul says, “You crazy Galatians!…Only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God”
it’s impossible to live the Christian life on our own efforts
we need the Spirit
the Spirit is better than the law, because as important as the law is, it only tells us what we’re doing wrong
have you ever been pulled over by a police officer for driving within the speed limit?
the police officer stops you and says, “Good day. I just noticed that you were observing the speed limit, and I want to thank you for obeying the law”
no, the laws and the police are only there to give you a hard time when you disobey the law
and it’s the same way with the law of God
the law does not give us power to please God, it only points out when we’re disobeying
but the Spirit helps us to please God
so let’s look at the spiritual fruit that comes when we live the Christian life in the power of the Spirit
turn to Galatians 5
before giving us a juicy, sweet, satisfying taste of the fruit of the Spirit, Paul whets our appetite by giving us a taste of the dry, rotten, and unsatisfying deeds of the flesh
look at verses 19-21
these are the deeds of the flesh
these are the vices of the flesh
these are the mess we’re in within the power of the Holy Spirit
Tony Evans splits this list into three categories
first, you have moral sins
(Galatians 5:19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery
sexual immorality is the satisfaction of our sexual desires by either sexual contact with another person outside the boundary of heterosexual marriage, or feeding ourselves with illegitimate sexual material
it’s what one person calls “repetitive, loveless, cheap sex”
it’s sexual acts we know aren’t right; either in reality or in our minds
the word “impurity” has to do with the stuff that oozes from a sore; it refers to a thought life that is putrid and contaminated
it’s what the same person calls “a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage”
debauchery refers to a wild, unruly lifestyle that is unrestrained and out of control
second, you have not only moral sins but you have religious sins
(Galatians 5:20) idolatry and witchcraft;
idolatry is worshiping other gods
I hope none of us have idols, but anything that replaces the place of God in our lives is an idol
it can include such things as worship of material possessions
we can even live in our idols or ride in them
they can be our cars or our houses or our bank accounts
and witchcraft refers to the practice of magic and involvement with forbidden practices such as spiritualism, fortune-telling, and astrology
third, you have social sins
(Galatians 5:20) hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(Galatians 5:21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
this is the longest list; how we relate to others
you know, not many Christians take hits of crack cocaine to get high, but how many of us are guilty of “outbursts of anger?”
how many of us experience characters of hostility, grudge-bearing, and less than loving thoughts?
how many of us have disputes with our spouses or others?
how many of us have what Paul calls “selfish ambition”
not to mention drunkenness and the life-style of the wild party?
okay, let’s change the subject
this is getting a little too convicting
but the deeds of the flesh do include not only sexual sins and religious sins, but also outbursts of anger and selfish ambition
these are what Paul identifies as the deeds of the flesh
now that we’ve tasted this dry, rotten, and unsatisfying deeds of the flesh, let’s stroll over to the juicy, sweet, and satisfying fruit of the Spirit
in this orchard we will see fruit that evidence the Spirit’s working in our lives
this spiritual fruit will be visible to others
it will bless others and as Bernard says, “make their day”
Paul lists nine flavors of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, beginning in verse 22:
(Galatians 5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(Galatians 5:23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
for the rest of this message, let’s examine the fruit of the Spirit in each of its flavors
this is the sort of quality that will be displayed in our lives as we submit to the Spirit
the fruit of the Spirit is uncommon and extraordinary
Paul says the fruit o f the Spirit is love
this is a transcendent love that rises above commonplace natural affection
it is the ability to seek the highest good for other people, regardless of their response
it is selfless love; the ability to show love to even our enemies
natural love says, “You aren’t being loving to me, so I won’t show any love to you”
the Spirit says, “Even if you are not loving me, I will show you what real love looks like”
love transcends natural affection; it flows from a heart that has been changed by the Holy Spirit
the fruit of the Spirit is also joy
happiness has to do with circumstances on the outside, but joy has to do with a well of living water on the inside
this is not the joy that comes when our favorite sports team wins a title, or when something good happens
it is a joy that is transcendent, and born of blessedness
joy turns a bad situation into a playground; it is inner stability regardless of external circumstances
the joy of the Spirit pervades and penetrates the soul
the fruit of the Holy Spirit is also peace
peace is our inheritance from the Prince of Peace
it goes beyond any peace this world can offer
it is an inner peace, a peace that passes understanding
it is a peace with God
it is peace with our brothers and our sisters
the fruit of the Spirit is also patience
the Spirit gives us a long fuse, and removes a vengeful spirit from us
it mirrors the character of God, who has no explosive tantrums
God is slow to anger, and endures the insult and malice of others
and God gives us this ability to be patient
the fruit of the Spirit is kindness
Jesus was strong and tender
he was not harsh; he never broke a bruised reed
Jesus kept his authority and power in check; he did not crush the weak
instead, he was thoughtful and kind, tempering justice with mercy
the Spirit produces kindness in our lives, the ability to think of how we can help others
the fruit of the Spirit is goodness
goodness refers to a basic personal integrity
and the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness
the ability to believe in God, and to be faithful and consistent in our lifestyle
and the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness
the ability to be humble and to resist arrogance
to be graceful to others
lastly, the fruit of the Spirit is self-control
the Spirit gives us the ability to resist violence, crudeness, rudeness, and pushiness
instead, we are self-controlled, moderate, able to resist wrong and submit to what is right
this is the fruit of the Spirit
these are the genuine marks of godliness, the virtues we see manifested in mature believers
these are the virtues that the Spirit cultivates in our lives, not arising from our own righteousness, but because, as Augustine put it, “God is pleased to crown his own gifts”
we are incapable of displaying these gifts without the power of the Spirit
how can we experience this spiritual harvest of fruit?
(Galatians 5:24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
(Galatians 5:25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
the answer is that we give our lives to Christ, and have our sinful nature crucified with Christ
that happens when we become believers
and once we become Christians, that we keep in step with the Spirit, that we walk in line with the Spirit
this underscores the importance of a life of dependence and submission to the Holy Spirit, a life that is driven by prayer
listen to what Charles Stanley writes:
“The Spirit-filled life begins once we are absolutely and thoroughly convinced that we can do nothing apart from the indwelling strength of the Holy Spirit…The Spirit-filled life begins with an overwhelming realization that we are absolutely helpless and hopeless apart from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit…[Until then], we will always be out there doing things for God in our own strength”
let me ask you, have you reached that point of total dependence in your life?
that without God’s help, you can do nothing
until we surrender to the Spirit’s control in our lives, until we come to the place in which we give everything over to him, and remember, do this continually – we won’t be filled with the Spirit
remember, to be filled with the Spirit means that we are controlled by the Spirit
in order to be controlled by the Spirit, we have to surrender everything to him
one way to know if we are keeping in step with the Spirit is to look at our prayer lives
if we don’t pray, we are leaving the Spirit out of our lives
but if we do pray, we know we are truly walking in our lives in step with the Spirit
friends, the Holy Spirit is not an nice addendum to the Christian faith
he is at the heart and core of it
if we are going to have our lives transformed, we can’t do it on our own strength
we need the power of the Holy Spirit
as we conclude this series, I’m asking you to give control of your life to the Holy Spirit
you are a lousy producer of spiritual fruit
we all are
but as we submit to the Holy Spirit, we will produce the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that we need
we need to begin each day with a commitment to walk in the Spirit
we need to set our minds on things that are above
we need total surrender; to raise the white flag and move over from the driver’s seat so the Spirit can take control
only then can he take control
and then we can begin to experience, and enjoy, the fruit of the Spirit
Father,
many of us are perhaps displaying the deeds of the flesh
our morality is less than perfect
we struggle sexually; our thoughts are impure and immoral
we have other material gods before you
we have short fuses and we are selfish and vengeful
we want to live for Jesus
we want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
this will only take place as we surrender and depend on you in everything

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.

Toronto, Canada

Darryl Dash

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