The following was a message I preached at MRWC on June 5th 2011. It is the first in a 9 part series especially for the summer, called Got Fruit---
Most of us in this room are disciples of Jesus Christ. Most of us are trying to live a surrendered life; most of us are trying to be obedient to what we believe God is telling us to do, and most of us are trying to Step Up and honor the Lord with our time, talent and treasure.
With these things in mind, I wonder, then, if there are visible qualities that should be evident in the life of the disciple of Jesus?
Is it possible to identify some qualities that set disciples of Jesus apart from non-disciples of Jesus?
Is it possible to identify some qualities that set non-disciples of Jesus apart from disciples of Jesus?
The short answer is: there should be.
Someone should be able to look at our lives, someone should be able to look into our priorities and see what, rather, Who we belong to.
Paul, in Galatians 5, gives us such a list. This is not the only place where such a list is found in the Bible, but for the sake of our discussion, we are going to use this list.
Paul begins by drawing a line in the sand:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21, NLT2)
According to the word of God, the people who do not belong to Christ Jesus produce things that are contrary to the Spirit filled life.
And Paul is quick to point out that “…those who live like this, will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21, NIV)
There is no room in God’s Kingdom for people who continue to live the sinful lifestyle.
Thankfully, Jesus died so we could be set free from all of these sinful vices. The good news of Jesus Christ is that He can rescue you, no matter how bad you think you are.
Next, Paul lists the traits that will be present in the lives of the people who follow Jesus:
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Gal. 5:22-23, NLT2)
The people who belong to Jesus, the people who are following Him on a daily basis, will, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, produce the fruit of the Spirit.
These 9 fruit are the qualities that should be present in your life if you profess to be a disciple of Jesus.
While the Fruit of the Spirit will express themselves in different ways in each of our lives, the fact remains that all 9 fruit will be present in the life of each disciple of Jesus.
Unlike the Gifts of the Spirit, where one individual might receive one particular gift and the other person may not receive the same gift, the Fruit of the Spirit is given to all people who call themselves followers of Jesus.
So I think it’s worth spending a little time on this passage. I think if we take the time to examine the fruit that is to be evident in our life, we might find that there is still work to be done, there is still room to grow, there’s still more that God wants to do in our lives…
So will you let Him? Will you let God speak into your life?
According to Paul, the “chief” fruit that is produced by the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of followers of Jesus, is the Fruit of the Spirit called “Love”.
This makes perfect sense, because time and again, the Bible reminds us that things start and stop with love.
“We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NKJV)
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8, NLT2)
Love comes from, and is rooted, in God. The Bible reminds us that “…God is love” (1 John 4:8, NIV)
God showed us love by sending His one and only Son to die on the cross—Jesus paid the ultimate price because He loves us:
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1John 4:9, NIV)
The Love of God is available to anyone and everyone and once we accept the love of God, once this love takes up residence in our lives, it will change us.
It’s as Max Lucado once wrote: “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way… He wants you to be Just like Jesus” (Lucado, just like Jesus, back cover)
Because God loves you, He will grow love in your life. He will grow in your
life a love for Him and a love for other people.
Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35, NIV)
According to Jesus, love should be the defining mark that will prove to the world that we belong to God.
ILLUSTRATION- Now, I do not profess to be an English teacher, in fact, English was one of my least favourite subjects in school, but the one thing I do remember from my schooling days was that English is a lazy language.
We have one word for ‘Love’ and we often overuse that one word. Allow me to illustrate what I mean:
I love my wife. I love a good BBQ. I love each of you…..most of the time.
Each of these are statements about something that I love, but I love each of them in a different way.
I don’t love my wife the same way that I love each of you, and I certainly don’t love you the way I love a T-bone steak fresh off the BBQ.
We have one word to describe this word love, but the Bible describes love with many different words.
Take, for example, 1 Peter 1:22: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” (NIV)
The word for love in the first part of the verse is Philadelphia. It means brotherly love. I love each of you in a different way than I love my wife. You are my brothers and sisters in the Lord, and I love you in that way.
The word that Peter uses for love in John 21:16 is “phileo” and this means: “To have affection for someone, (to) regard of a very high order”.
Peter loved Jesus—he held Him in high regard.
The word “Love” translated from Hebrews 13:5 is different again. The word in that verse is “aphilargyrus” and it means: “not loving money, free from the love of money, not a lover of money”
I haven’t even mentioned the word the Bible uses for sexual love…. We have one word for Love; but the Bible has many.
When Paul used the word ‘love’ in Galatians 5:22, he was using the most common word for love called Agape.
As. Dr. Wayne E. Caldwell says: “This kind of Love is more than emotion. It is love that gives, that sacrifices, that has compassion. The believer’s will determines and controls the expression of this love.
It is active and wills to love when people deserve it and even when they do not. It builds good relationships and helps, whatever over the outcome.” (Caldwell, 1979, 34)
Agape love is a God love. His love is unconditional, and the love that the Holy Spirit wants to grow in our lives is an unconditional love.
Friends, we are to be known by our love. We are to be known by our love for God and by our love for other people—even the ones that get under our skin. The love that we are to have is an unconditional love.
Paul said in his address to the church in Corinth:
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:1-3, NLT2)
We can have it all, say it all and do it all, but if we fail to act out of love, then it will all be useless.
Love—unconditional love-- is the currency that we are to be using.
And just so we won’t wonder what this unconditional love actually is, Paul continues on in verse 4:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.” (1Co 13:4-8a, NIV)
True love, the kind of love that the Holy Spirit of God wants to grow in our lives is unconditional love, for this is the kind of Love that God has for each one of us, and this is the kind of love that we are to have for each other.
ILLUSTRATION- J.K. Grider tells of a time when a little girl had spit in the face of his daughter as the two played together in his backyard.
Mr. Grider’s first reaction was to send the little girl home, never to return again, but then he remembered that the little girl came from a broken home and she lived with friends down the street and she needed love.
Instead of scolding her, he talked with her, and walked with her.
She must of sensed, even at her tender age, the love and concern he showed to her, for the very next day, there was a little knock at the door.
When Mr. Grider answered it, the little girl stood alone. Without a word, she placed a handful of crumpled flowers, mostly petals, in his hand. Then she left. (Caldwell, 1979, 34-35)
The Bible reminds us that we are to have, and express unconditional love toward all people; but if we have not received this kind of love, we are unable to extend this kind of love to other people.
This Fruit of the Spirit called Love is produced by the Holy Spirit in the lives of those people who have accepted, and are living for, Jesus.
If your love meter is slightly lower than it should be, then maybe what you need is to encounter—again—the God who is love.
“Only when repentance and reconciliation with God come through faith and obedience can love begin to pour in from God by His Holy Spirit” (IBID)
If you have never experienced the unconditional love of God, today is your day! The Bible says: “…now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2b, NIV)
If you have never experienced this love that only God can bring, you can run to Him right now, and experience for the first time the unconditional love of
Almighty God. All you must do is receive this Agape love of our Heavenly Father.
If you have already received the love of God, but your love meter is somewhat lower than it should be, you too, can come to the Cross of Jesus.
You can be re-filled with the unconditional love of Almighty God. You too can receive the Fruit of the Spirit of Love and show that love to the people around
you.
If we are true disciples of Jesus Christ, then love will be the defining trait that stands out in our lives. People will know; people will see and people will be drawn to a person who is filled with Love.
So how about it church? Are you filled with the fruit of the Spirit of love? Do you have the unconditional love of Almighty God living in you? Do you show the unconditional love of Almighty God to the people in your life?
ILLUSTRATION- In the late Professor Drummond’s book “The Greatest thing in the World”, he tells of meeting with a primitive tribe in the interior of Africa who remembered David Livingstone, the famous pioneer missionary.
They could not understand a (single) word Livingstone uttered, but they recognized the universal language of love through which he appealed to them.
It had been many years since that Christian hero had passed their way, but the very remembrance of his presence among them would kindle a friendly
smile.
It is this universal language of love, divine, Christ-like love that we must have if we are going to be used of God.
The world does not understand theology or dogma, but it understands love and sympathy, a loving act may be more powerful and far-reaching than the most eloquent sermon.” (1100 illustrations from the writings of D.L. Moody. 1986, 183)
Jesus said: “By this by your love all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35, NIV)
Are you filled with the Fruit of the Spirit of love?
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