All the fruit

Galatians 5:18-23 (click on fruit to hear it)

 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

There is a story  of a little boy who used to escape his bedroom after being punished. He would crawl out of his bedroom window down an old fruit tree to the ground. One day, his father told him that he was going to chop down the fruit tree, because it hadn’t borne any fruit for a number of years.

That evening, the boy and his friend bought a bushel of apples, and during the night, tied those apples on the barren branches. The next morning, the man could not believe his eyes. He said to his wife, “Honey, I just can’t believe it! That old tree hasn’t yielded any fruit for years, and now it’s covered with apples. And, the most amazing thing is that it’s a pear tree!”

There are many who think that  the gospel, that Christ died for my sin in my place according the Scriptures and rose from the dead on the third day, was for people who did not know God.  Many think that once I become a Christian, the gospel ceases to be relevant to my life and what matters is understanding how I am supposed to behave and then obeying.

Then you read  Galatians 5:19-24

We can either be crushed by our  failure to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit or incredibly prideful at what we thought to be successful compliance. In reality, most of us produce counterfeit fruit. The fruits of the flesh are not so much a list of things not to do (although it is at least that) but rather a pattern of living that indicates we are worshiping idols and attempting to justify ourselves (still living under the law as slaves). When we trust in Christ because of his work on the cross for us, we are given peace with God and emotional peace and security knowing that nothing can shake that acceptance.

We have the righteousness of God through faith.  Our slavish obedience to the law out of fear of God’s punishment is over, and true fruit can now be born because we seek to obey God out of gratitude and joy in his ways.

He wants us to seek Him out of gratitude and joy.

We make following Jesus a chore. We make the Fruit of the Spirit a chore. Nobody wants to do chores. Not you. Not me. Not your kids. Not anybody. Chores mean work. The Fruit of the Spirit are not a chore! We try to be kind, we try to be gentle, we try to be joyful, we try to love the less attractive.  We try, we try, we try.

Stop making it a chore!! It is not a chore.

God is not telling us to produce these fruit – we can’t produce them. It is impossible.  God wants to set us free from trying.  Because we if think we are trying hard – then God will love us more. He actually tells us to stop trying and start seeking.

Look at Matthew 6:33 and Jeremiah 29:12-13

Matt. 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God  above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Jeremiah 29:12-13   12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

He doesn’t want to take away your free will. He is the one who gave you free will.

He doesn’t want to take over your heart and mind. He is the one who gave you your heart and mind.

He doesn’t want to change your personality. He is the one who gave you your personality.

He wants us to willfully surrender and let His thoughts become our thoughts, his ways become our ways.

My daughter Lyndsay has taught me a great lesson these past few weeks about surrender. In our conversation together before she made the decision to move to the Dominican Republic, I told her, “you know what to do. You decided within the first couple of hours of hearing of the opportunity. The question is are you willing to surrender? Are you willing to start over?”

When you willingly surrender you also must be willing to start over.

When we surrender we can love the less attractive people. When we surrender we can serve those who don’t deserve it. When we surrender we can love those who won’t love us back.

We experienced that at the block party and at St. Martins yesterday (a Saturday).

• If  you went to St. Martins – wasn’t there a joy that rose up inside of you?
• If you were at the block party – wasn’t it amazing how God brought us all together.
• Did you not sense the presence of God there.  We didn’t preach a sermon, or sing songs, or read scriptures and I saw some of you conversing with people you never met before.
• There was joy that rose up inside of you.
• There was a peace that rose up inside of you because you were doing the right thing by serving those who will never ever be able to serve you back.
• Do you realize  that maybe only one person (if any) will come to this church.

We willfully surrendered our Saturday for people we don’t know but hope to connect with. When you do that something supernatural happens in you.

The key phrase in this whole passage today is “if you are led by the Spirit”.

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jonah was led to the city of Nineveh.

When you are led by the Spirit something inside of you dies.

• Your fears become faith
• Your obstacles become opportunities
• You  go from doing nothing for others – to do something for others. And you do it because you know it is the right thing to do.

You realize you don’t HAVE to love God – You love God and you really can’t explain why. You don’t have to go to church – you just go because.

When you are led by the Spirit the Fruit of the Spirit begins to live.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real joy.

Real joy is delighting in the beauty of God and the salvation he gives in Christ even in times of loss, disappointed and pain.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real peace.

Real peace is that Confident assurance that God is for us, that he is wise, and that he is in control rather than trust in ourselves

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real patience

Real patience is Suffering joyfully and not becoming angry at God when his timing doesn’t match our own.

If you are led by the spirit you will experience real kindness

Real kindness is a Sincere vulnerability that involves empathy, compassion, and help.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real goodness

Real goodness  is honesty, openness, and consistency in all contexts of life.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience true faithfulness

Real faithfulness is loyalty, reliability, and courage based on convictions and not on practical benefit leading to loving confrontation when it is right.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real gentleness

Real gentleness is not  thinking of yourself highly so that you are sensitive to the needs of others.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience self-control.

Real self-control  is staying focused on the important things rather than what is urgent.

If you are led by the Spirit you will experience real love.

Real love is joyfully serving another for their good, not to get something in return.

When all of these things are happening inside of you –  you know you are being led by the Spirit. Because they all affect one another. You don’t experience joy one day and  another and, oh by the way, I think I will love the less attractive person today.  I think I will show patience at work on Thursday. I think Wednesday is a good day to demonstrate goodness. They all happen simultaneously.

You are not being led by the Spirit if all the fruit are not happening at once. You
are being led by your human spirit and you produce counterfeit fruit.

The Human spirit leads to moralism.

The Human spirit leads to socialism.

The Human spirit leads to denominationalism.

Human spirit leads to alcoholism.

The Human spirit leads to whatever  “ ISM” controls your life.

An ism is system of belief that controls your life.

An “ISM” needs to die in order the Holy Spirit to live. For the Fruit of the Spirit to come alive in you an ISM (or ISM’s)  needs to die.  What ISM needs to die in you in order for the Fruit of the Spirit to come a live in you?