Galatians 5:22-25
~20 min read
SERMON OUTLINE
TRANSCRIPT
I greet you all in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Allow me to read for you Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” May God bless the reading of His Holy and Sacred Word. In our previous message we have considered the works of the flesh. Today we are going to focus on the fruit of the Spirit. There are several major differences between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
Firstly, works as in works of the flesh are the result of human effort and labour while fruit – as in fruit of the Spirit – is the result of yielding to the divine supernatural work of the Holy Spirit producing the fruit in the life of the believer. Only God’s Spirit can produce God’s fruit. Therefore, only the believer who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can produce fruit. On the other hand, the works of the flesh are produced by the unbeliever or even the believer who is disobedient. When you and I who are believers and we disobey God instead of walking in the Spirit, we walk in the flesh, we will produce the works of the flesh. God forbids. The process of producing fruit begins by believing in Jesus Christ. Without Christ in one’s life no fruit can be produced. That is why Jesus said, “Without [me you are] nothing.” By way of illustration: A machine in the factory can work out a product but the machine cannot produce fruit as in the ingredients. It takes something beyond the machine to produce the fruit.
Secondly, notice the works of the flesh in verses 19 to 21 is in plural. Not everyone does all these works all the time. When a person walks according to the flesh there is a list of sins he can choose from. Often times we say that sinners are bound by their sins, but they have the freedom to choose their sins. As one pastor puts it “They can choose their poison.” When you look at the list of the works of the flesh, there are some people who never get drunk, very few would commit sedition, even fewer would commit witchcraft. The point is that people would choose the works of the flesh or the kind of sins they would engage in. For example, a person may decide, ‘I’m going to attend a wild party and get drunk’ or ‘I’m going to be in an immoral relationship with someone outside of my marriage’. He would plan his sin so to speak.
But when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit it comes as a package. It is a combination of all the virtues mentioned not only in this passage but even more because of the phrase in verse 23 “against such”. In other words, there are other virtues but what was recorded for us here are those that are extremely vital and important. That is why the fruit of the Spirit is singular because when you are walking in the flesh you do pick and choose your sins but when you walk in the Spirit you do not pick and choose the fruit. It all comes in a package. You cannot say, ‘Well today I’m going to have love, tomorrow I’m going to have joy and the next day I’m going to have peace and so forth.’ It does not work like that. It comes as a package and somehow, they are all connected. Some of the virtues may be manifested in your life more than the other virtues. One theologian gave this illustration of a bouquet of flowers – red, blue, green, yellow, orange. Not all the flowers would manifest the same vibrancy but nonetheless they are all there and together they form one beautiful bouquet of flowers. The fruit of the Spirit collectively is like a bouquet of flowers with all the virtues displayed. So, the fruit of the Spirit are the virtues produced by the Holy Spirit collectively and here they are recorded for us not in some kind of sequence or some are more important than the others. Remember we have to look at it as a bouquet of flowers. Every flower is uniquely special and important.
This idea of the believer producing fruit in their lives is not strange. It is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. Let me give you some examples, Hosea 14:8 says, “From me is thy fruit found.” In other words, God is the source of all the spiritual virtues found in our lives. Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Matthew 13 says, “The word of God is like the seed that fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” How do we know someone is a true believer? Well out of his life will produce fruit. Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” God not only wants you and I to produce fruit, He wants us to produce much fruit.
There are different types of fruit mentioned in the Bible: the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of repentance, the fruit of good works, wisdom is called a fruit, our giving of tithes and offerings is a fruit, bringing someone to Jesus Christ is a fruit. The fruit is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in us. The fruit is the proof of our salvation. Although it is the Holy Spirit that produces all these spiritual virtues, yet you and I are commanded to love, to be joyful, to experience peace, to be longsuffering, to be gentle, to be kind, to be faithful, to be meek, to have temperance. You see this is true in every aspect of our salvation. We all know that to be born again is a spiritual work, yet the Bible commanded us to be born again. To believe God is a supernatural work and yet we are commanded to believe God. To confess Jesus is also the work of God and yet we are commanded to confess Jesus as Lord and the list goes on and on. We are commanded to do what the Spirit of God can do. This is the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Therefore, if we want to have all these virtues in our lives, we ought to walk in the Spirit, we ought to live our lives in line with what the Spirit of God is doing and we ought to always abide in Him. That is the only way the Spirit of God will produce all these spiritual virtues.
All these virtues in verse 22 and 23 are attitudes. Love is an attitude, joy is an attitude, peace is an attitude, longsuffering is an attitude, and all the others are also attitudes, but these attitudes will manifest themselves in actions. If you have the attitude of love in your heart you will manifest love in your actions. What do you call someone who displays acts of love, but he does not have love in his heart? So, it is only actions but no love in the heart. That is hypocrisy, right? They would be like the Pharisees in the Bible. So, these attitudes begin in the heart. Our hearts will be dominated first and then through these attitudes come the actions. We cannot love without acts of love. We cannot have joy without the expressions of joy or peace.
I. Love
Today we will only consider the first four virtues of the fruit of the Spirit. Love is the first on the list. It is the word ‘agape’. There are several different Greek words for love: love for friendship, love for family and even sensuous love ‘Eros’ where we get the word ‘erotic’, but ‘agape’ is the highest form of love, it is divine love, it is a self-giving and self-sacrificing love, it is a kind of love that characterise God. Firstly, true agape love is a mark of salvation. 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life”. How do we know that we have been delivered from eternal death unto eternal life? “because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” Which means if you do not have this agape love for your brother what is your condition? You remain in the unredeemed state. You are not a believer no matter what you say.
Secondly, true agape love will be tested. 1 John 3:17, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” In other words, you may think you have the love of God dwelling in your heart. You may think you have great love but here is the test. If you have the world’s good, which means you have been blessed with wealth and material things and here comes a brother who is in need of financial help – genuine need – and you shut your heart against him, you are fooling yourself. Almost every week I would speak to our missionaries in Myanmar after the prayer meeting. Without fail they would always give thanks to God for the Bethelites who have supported them financially, especially throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Our missionaries know that some of the brethren who gave cheerfully to support them do not even know them personally. Many have not even met them before. How is it possible for people who do not know them to give so cheerfully to support the mission works in Myanmar? It is the Holy Spirit that produces this agape love. That compels them to give.
Thirdly, the supreme expression of this agape love is when you are willing to lay down your life for the brethren. Roman 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And 1 John 3:16 says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God,” – this is how we understand the love of God – “because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” As believers we will grow in this agape love and the supreme expression of this love is when we are willing to die for the brethren. When we think of people who had laid down their lives for the brethren we remember the reformers, people like William Tyndale, John Haas, John Rodgers, Hugh Latimer. They were willing to be burned on the stake for the sake of the Bible. Why? Because through their agape love millions and millions including you and I are able to hold the Bible in our hands, read and be saved.
How do you think those missionaries are able to go to places whereby they could be killed for preaching the gospel? They did not all of a sudden have that kind of boldness. It was through years and years of walking in the Spirit, and it was the Spirit of God that produced, cultivate and made them grow in this agape love. So, one day they were willing to go out there to the most dangerous place to preach the gospel even willing to lay down their lives. My friends, what about you? Do you have this agape love? This self-giving and self-sacrificing love without which you are not a believer. If you have, have you grown in this love? So much so that it is reflected in your service for God, in your fellowship with the brethren, in your interaction with people, in your giving, in your prayer life or is your life all about me and myself? God forbids.
II. Joy
The next spiritual virtue is joy. The word ‘joy’ is used almost seventy times in the New Testament. It is more than just a sense of happiness and it is not based on the outwards circumstances. The Apostle Paul was in prison and yet he said, “Rejoice and again I say, Rejoice.” This joy is a deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the life of the believer because of his relationship with the Lord. The believer had this first taste of this joy when he was converted. Remember the Apostle Peter described this joy as unspeakable. 1 Peter 1:8, referring to Christ he said, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”. Do you remember the day you were converted? Some of us may remember others may not. Those of us who remember the day we were converted, to know that all of our sins have been forgiven it is like a great burden being lifted up. And then the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts with this love for our Saviour whom we have never seen before and yet we believe in Him, and we just cannot help it but to tell others about Jesus. Indeed, it is joy unspeakable. From then onwards we find joy in our worship, in our services, in our prayers, in reading the Bible, in singing hymns, in fellowship, in fact God wants us to have this joy completely. Jesus said in John 16:24, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name”, which means until now you have asked nothing in my name but now I command you to “ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” God wants us not only to have this joy but to have this joy completely.
My friends, perhaps you are wondering there was a time when I was joyful but recently it seems as if I have lost this joy. I may still be worshipping, serving, praying, singing hymns, but I’m just going through the motions. Is there something wrong with me? Am I a true believer? You see Satan cannot do anything against our salvation. Once we are saved, we are always saved. We will never lose our salvation. Jesus himself said, “No man can pluck you out of my hands”. While Satan cannot do anything against our salvation, but he can cause us to lose the joy of our salvation. Remember King David after he committed the sins of adultery and murder he cried out to the Lord, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). David did not say, “Restore unto me thy salvation.” He said, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” He lost that joy. Believers can fall into the sin of losing that joy. What Satan would do is to rob us of this joy. Perhaps you have lost this joy. It could be because of sin, it could be because of the sin of doubt, worries, anxieties, a troubled heart, envy, jealousy, pride, being stubborn, and all these sins fill your heart and cause you to lose that joy. And what was once joyful now becomes a burden and you are like going through the motions. What you can do is just like David, cry out to the Lord, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”, repent, trust and obey His Word, walk in the Spirit and He will then produce this virtue of joy in your life. God is faithful. Remember He wants us not only to have this joy but to have this joy completely. Jesus said, “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
III. Peace
The third spiritual virtue is peace. Like joy, peace is not based on the outward circumstances. ‘When the circumstances are good well, I am peaceful, I’m at peace.’ It does not work like that but rather it is based on the source of our peace that is God. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He said in John 14:27, “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.” Even in the midst of adversities, the believer can still have this peace because he knows that his God is in control of all situations and “all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). If it is not the circumstances of life that controls this peace but God Himself, what should we do?
Firstly, we need to pray. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” And what happens when we are prayerful instead of being anxious? The Bible says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Beyond human comprehension because men always think that when the circumstances are good, we have peace but the peace that God gives to us is beyond what man can ever fathom. Next, we need to understand, believe, and apply God’s Word into our lives. Look down to verse 9, the Apostle Paul says, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and receive, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” So, as we walk in the Spirit we must pray, we must read, believe, and apply God’s Word into our lives and God promised us that the peace of God will be with us.
My friends, life can be so unpredictable, there could be sicknesses, sorrows, intense pain, and even death lurking around the corner and all of a sudden, our lives can be caught in an unexpected predicament. Just a few weeks ago we received news of the passing away of sister Bernice Chong. A very young woman and yet she was taken home. And then we received news that Nita’s father had passed away and Nita and the mother and sister were on their way to attend the funeral service, but the mother fell ill on the plane and the plane had to do a detour, drop them at Jakarta and they missed the funeral service. Can you ever fathom the pain of not being able to attend the funeral service of your beloved father and husband? Then we hear the news of Herbert’s mother who fell ill and was admitted to hospital. Herbert had to rush to India to be by the mother’s side. The mother is still not out of the woods yet. How can we have peace in such times?
Most of us are familiar with this song “It Is Well With My Soul” but very few of us would know the circumstances in which this song was written. The writer of this hymn was Horatio Spafford. He was a successful attorney and real estate investor who lost his fortune in the Chicago fire in 1871. Around the same time his beloved four years old son died of scarlet fever. Horatio thought it was good for the family to take time and go for a vacation. So, he sent his wife and his four daughters on a ship to England, planning to join them after he finished some work at home. However, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean the ship was involved in a terrible accident and it sank. More than two hundred people died including his four precious daughters. His wife Anna survived the tragedy, upon arriving in England she sent a telegram to her husband with these words, “Safe alone, what shall I do?” Horatio immediately set sail for England. At one point during the voyage the captain of the ship aware of the recent tragedy told Horatio that they were now passing over the very spot where the shipwreck had occurred. As Horatio thought about his four daughters he was overwhelmed with great grief and pain but then there was a calmness of comfort, hope, and peace that filled his heart and mind. And there he wrote down these words, which became the lyrics of this well-known hymn, “When peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul”.
My friends whatever be the trouble, it could be the loss of a loved one, it could be pain, it could be an experience that you can never imagine but do not be afraid you can have the peace of God. The peace that passes all understanding that shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This peace is not the absence of trouble, it is the presence of God in the midst of trouble. That even though you go through the trouble, God is with you. Remember Jesus said, “My peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth but my peace.” Supernatural peace.
IV. Longsuffering
The fourth spiritual virtue is longsuffering. The word longsuffering has to do with tolerance and patience to endure the afflictions caused by others. It is the willingness to accept situations that are painful. The Psalmist says in Psalm 86:15, “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” God Himself is longsuffering and He wants His children to be longsuffering too. How do we know? If you remember the life of Paul who was once called Saul. He was a fierce opponent of Christianity, he was a pharisee, very zealous for the traditions of his forefathers. That led him to participate in the martyrdom of Stephen. He arrested and persecuted many of the early Christians. Having done what he could in Jerusalem he obtained letters to go to Damascus where he could arrest and carry those Christians back to Jerusalem for prosecution and possible execution. On the way to Damascus Jesus stopped him. There was a bright light from heaven where Saul fell to the ground blinded by this bright light and he heard a voice speaking to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). “Who art thou, Lord?” he asked. “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest”. At this point Saul must have realised that he had been terribly mistaken. This was Jesus of Nazareth speaking to him. He had persecuted the disciples of Christ and he thought that Jesus must have appeared to him to judge him.
Most certainly he deserved death, to be struck dead but instead Jesus saved him and even called him to be a apostle to the Gentiles. The Lord Jesus said, “He” – Paul – “is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and children of Israel”. That was the reason why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” But he did not stop there, he went on to explain the reason why he was saved, why he obtained mercy. He said, “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” In other words, Paul acknowledged that Jesus had demonstrated His longsuffering to him as an example for all those who would believe in Jesus for eternal life.
My friends, we are familiar with the verse 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We almost always only think about those who are outside the Kingdom of God. Those unbelievers lingering in spiritual darkness, but have we ever paused and asked ourselves, what about us? How we were once living in sin and rebelling against God. How we have rejected the gospel of Christ again and again and God had to send preachers after preachers and other faithful Christians to reach out to us and even after we had become believers there were times when we live our lives in disobedience to His Word. Is it not true that God was and is still longsuffering to us-ward. Why did God save us? Why did God show mercy to us? Why was He longsuffering to us-ward? So that we may emulate His example.
As the Apostle Paul says, “for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to [eternal life].” (1 Timothy 1:16). So, to all the believers Colossians 3:12 says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering”. So, if you are an elect of God the command is given, put on this attitude that will be manifested into actions, longsuffering. To all the pastors and teachers 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” The only way you and I can do that is through the wonderworking of the Spirit, through walking in the Spirit and He will produce this virtue of longsuffering in our lives. Finally, if someone were to ask you this morning, ‘How do I know if you are a Christian?’ Your answer should be, ‘Well, apart from the fact that I profess my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, just stay a little while with me and you will see in my life the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.’ If you are walking in the Spirit, this whole bouquet of virtues is yours. This is the clearest picture of you as a believer. We will stop here, when we return back next week, we will consider the other spiritual virtues.
Let us pray. Father in Heaven we thank Thee for Thy precious Word. We thank Thee for how Thou has taught us, that as believers we ought to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We pray that we will be reminded and always Thy Word will be rooted in our hearts to remind us that as believers that it is Thy command that we ought to produce fruit. Thou has taught us this blessed morning that it is through the wonder working of Thy Spirit. It is a divine supernatural work of the Spirit producing the fruit in our lives, but there also comes our human responsibility that we ought to walk in accordance to the Spirit’s leading in obedience to Thy Word and be prayerful, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. And when our lives are in line with the Spirit’s leading, He will produce in us spiritual virtues as Thou has taught us love, joy, peace, and longsuffering. We pray that we will always be faithful to Thee, not because we are able but because Thou art able. So, continue to convict our hearts and impress upon us that Thou art God and we ought to always trust Thee. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF GALATIANSA Letter To The GalatiansA Letter To The GalatiansGalatians 1:1-5
The Danger of Preaching Another GospelThe Danger of Preaching Another GospelGalatians 1:6-9
Be a God-Pleaser, not a Men-PleaserBe a God-Pleaser, not a Men-PleaserGalatians 1:10-12
But When It Pleased GodBut When It Pleased GodGalatians 1:13-24
Standing for the Truth of the GospelStanding for the Truth of the GospelGalatians 2:1-5
One Gospel, Different MinistriesOne Gospel, Different MinistriesGalatians 2:6-10
The Need to Confront Sin (Part 2)The Need to Confront Sin (Part 2)Galatians 2:14-16
The Need to Confront Sin (Part 3)The Need to Confront Sin (Part 3)Galatians 2:17-19
Dead, Yet Alive!Dead, Yet Alive!Galatians 2:20-21
Remember How You Were Saved!Remember How You Were Saved!Galatians 3:1-5
Saved by FaithSaved by FaithGalatians 3:6-9
The Age Old Promise of the GospelThe Age Old Promise of the GospelGalatians 3:6-18
Christ Bore Our CurseChrist Bore Our CurseGalatians 3:10-14
Will God Keep His Promise?Will God Keep His Promise?Galatians 3:15-18
Why Then Have the Law?Why Then Have the Law?Galatians 3:19-22
What the Law Meant to Us?What the Law Meant to Us?Galatians 3:23-29
The Son of God Became the Son of ManThe Son of God Became the Son of ManGalatians 4:1-7
No More a Servant and Child, But a SonNo More a Servant and Child, But a SonGalatians 4:1-7
Until Christ Be Formed In YouUntil Christ Be Formed In YouGalatians 4:8-20
Freedom in Christ or Bondage to WorksFreedom in Christ or Bondage to WorksGalatians 4:21-5:1
By Faith Or By Works!By Faith Or By Works!Galatians 5:2-6
The Dangers of False TeachersThe Dangers of False TeachersGalatians 5:7-12
The Christian FreedomThe Christian FreedomGalatians 5:13-15
The Works of the FleshThe Works of the FleshGalatians 5:19-21
The Fruit of the Spirit (Part 2)The Fruit of the Spirit (Part 2)Galatians 5:22-25
Restoring the Sinning BrotherRestoring the Sinning BrotherGalatians 5:26-6:5
Restoring the Sinning BrethrenRestoring the Sinning BrethrenGalatians 5:26-6:6
You Shall Reap What You SowYou Shall Reap What You SowGalatians 6:7-10
Living for the Praise of MenLiving for the Praise of MenGalatians 6:11-13
Living for the Glory of GodLiving for the Glory of GodGalatians 6:14-18
