As I begin, I was reminded of a quote by A.W. Tozer. A.W. Tozer was an author and pastor many years ago about the presence of the Holy Spirit. He says, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament Church, 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference.” It’s quite a convicting statement by A.W. Tozer. He was calling the church to be more Spirit directed. Paul is sharing that we need a life that is filled with the Spirit that produces “fruit” that serve as key virtues. But Paul is also very clear that there is a battle going on between the flesh and the Spirit. I mentioned some of this last week but it bears repeating.
The Battle of the Flesh vs the Spirit
I think we’re all very aware of the spiritual battle that we face. There’s an ongoing battle, Paul says here between the flesh and the Spirit.
Again, I mentioned last week where the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7, whenever I go to do good and I’m doing the right thing, evil is always present. There’s always an allurement out there, a temptation that is present even in the good things that we’re doing. I think it is important to reinforce the understanding about the “flesh”. What does that mean? Well, for Paul, this terminology and usage of the flesh is really talking about our fallen human nature. Some translations would read our sinful nature. Our sinful nature battles the Spirit for control and direction in our lives.
While someone has mentioned, more superficially, it’s like having a doughnut shop beside a Planet Fitness. So, you encounter temptation with your fleshly desires, even in the good things that you’re seeking to do at the same time.
Some of our great hymns talk about taking away “our bent to sinning”. Or another gospel song says, “Prone to wonder Lord, I feel it.” Think of this like a boxing match. In the one corner you have the lust of the flesh which brings about sexual immorality and impurity and indecent behavior. All the things that he’s listed there. And then in the other corner you have the Holy Spirit bringing love, Joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, meekness faithfulness and self-control. So, as you look at these two lists as you review them, it’s kind of like a holy battle that’s inside us. Depicting this battle Carl Sandburg said, There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud. Author, poet Carl Sandburg
So I would ask, which side is winning in your life?
I won’t ask for a show of hands this morning, but I’m sure if we’re honest there’s probably things on both lists that would be reflected in our lives. We might say, well, which one is more dominant in our lives? Which one is really controlling us – might be a deeper question here.
There is a story of a police officer who pulled a driver over and asked for his license and registration. “What’s wrong, officer?” The driver said, “I didn’t run any red lights, and I certainly wasn’t speeding.” And the officer said, “No, you weren’t. But I’ve been following you for a little while. I saw you waving your fist as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane, and I further observed your angry face and hand gestures as you shouted at the driver who cut you off with the Hummer. And then I saw you pounding the steering wheel when the traffic stopped near the bridge.” And the driver asked, “Well, is that a crime?” He said, “No, but when I saw ‘Jesus loves you and so do I’ as a bumper sticker on your car, I figured this car must be stolen.” That is a funny but serious story. Maybe that is why some do not have bumper stickers on their car? More seriously there are consequences related to who wins this battle and why it is so important. There are both:
Immediate and Ultimate Consequences
The fruit of the Holy Spirit gives a witness to how we operate in the world. And I think that’s one of the major designs of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But there are ultimate consequences here for how we are aligned in our lives. The scripture clearly says here, “following the desires of our flesh leads to all forms of sin that bring death and separation from God.” People who live by their sinful flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God (v21). This has serious and eternal consequences that we need to understand. So why is this battle so difficult? One reason is the scripture does indicate that there is pleasure in sin… that’s why it’s so alluring and so easy to being trapped in the pleasure of sin for a season. But it’s only for a season. Nancy Smith put it like this,
You’re responsible for what you do with your feelings, but you can’t help having feelings. Feelings are. Source: Nancy Anne Smith
It should be noted here that our feelings must never be the greatest authority in our lives. Feelings inside can’t denied, but we must decide, whether they live or whether they die.
A mother told this story about her young daughter. My five-year-old daughter, Barbara, had disobeyed me and had been sent to her room. After a few minutes, I went in to talk with her about what she had done. Teary-eyed, she asked, “Why do we do wrong things, Mommy?” “Sometimes the devil tells us to do something wrong,” I replied, “and we listen to him. We need to listen to God instead.” To which she sobbed, “But God doesn’t talk loud enough!” My friend posted this picture on social media this week. It just seemed to fit in this message today. Picture of Jesus with a microphone… He is talking and we are not listening or do not want to listen. The Holy Spirit helps us hear Jesus!! The Holy Spirit amplifies the voice of Christ even above our feelings that might run contrary to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
But again, a failure to follow the Holy Spirit always brings negative consequences that are already woven into that action. Romans 6:23 puts it very plainly, “The wages of sin is death.” And what we’re noting here is that our sin, whatever form it may take…ultimately separates us from God.
But also, there are more immediate consequences. These negative actions cause pain and brokenness in vital relationships – primary relationships in our lives. I mean, this is not like Let’s Make A Deal where there’s things hidden behind boxes and curtains. It’s very evident what happens when we follow our own selfish or sinful desires.
If you go down that list of fleshly desires, it always brings about separation from other people. For example, if you envy someone, what does that bring? It ultimately brings hardness of feelings and distrust. If you lack self-control, it can lead to addiction and bring harm to yourself and to others in family life. So, the immediate consequences bring separation from people, even people we love.
But the real point of this scripture is the good news that God intends so much more for us. God has designed and desires holy and healthy relationships in our lives.
And this is the purpose of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We say in a sentence here that the Holy Spirit produces fruit that represents godly character in us. The Spirit comes to indwell us and enable us to become more and more like Christ. After all, this is the Spirit of Jesus Christ that we’re talking about here. So, the Spirit will make us more and more like Christ.
And you can think about people in your own life and your family or extended family or friends who have manifested the fruit of the Holy Spirit, maybe certain fruit above others. And that has had a real impact on your life. It may have been their kindness or generosity or patience. But it gives witness to the power of the Spirit working in us. And we know this is not something we can do on our own. It is the Spirit working in us what we could never produce on our own.
In his sermons and writings, John’s Wesley placed particular emphasis on the “fruit of the Holy Spirit.” And he emphasized the fruit is a witness to holiness of heart and life, or the work of sanctification. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that gives evidence of God transforming us, renewing us, and our character. Again, making us more like Christ!
Another interesting thing to note about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t read fruits of the Holy Spirit. Now I know that people often call them the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but I want you to note here it doesn’t say fruits. I don’t want to be overly technical about this. But even though there are nine fruit mentioned here, it singularly says the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not the plural fruits. Why would that be? Well, I think it is singular because the Holy Spirit wants to bring all the fruit into all Christians. Every believer here today, every Christian here today should have all the fruit of the Holy Spirit operating in your life. And I think that’s why it says fruit of the Holy Spirit and not fruits of the Holy Spirit, because it’s a package deal. All the fruit are held together in unison to be placed in us.
We are used to having choices and options. If I could borrow from a natural fruit analogy. You go to the grocery store and visit the produce section. You look over the fruit and you may choose bananas and strawberries or apples. But you leave the kiwi and grapes on the shelf. And for all of us here today, we might pick and choose fruit according to our taste, right? But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not for our choosing only but for the Holy Spirit to develop every fruit in our lives as only the Spirit can do! And it includes ALL the fruit, even the ones we do not think possess or grow in our lives.
Another reason why Paul might have used fruit not fruits, is that all the fruit are united together in the first fruit mentioned…which is?? LOVE. Love is the key because it’s manifested in all the fruit that we see here. All the other eight.
A missionary, Kenneth Moore, put it like this… I thought this was really great.
Joy is love exalting and Peace is love at rest.
Patience, love enduring in every trial and test.
Gentleness, love yielding to all that is not sin.
Goodness, love in actions that flow from Christ within.
Faith is love’s eyes opened, the loving Christ to see.
Meekness, love not fighting but bowed at Calvary.
Temperance, love in harness and under Christ’s control.
The Christ is love in person, and love, Christ in the soul.
Again, we see here the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the character of Christ in us. I think that’s a wonderful synopsis of the nature of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and how love flows all the way through this fruit of the Spirit.
Now some may say, “I’m not sure about that”. For example, I have heard many Christians say, “Patience is not one of my virtues!” and I want to say, “Yes, it is”. Or if someone may say, “Self-control might be good for Susie, but that’s not good for me”. And I want to say, “Yes, it is!”
Now look at this list again. Love, Joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, meekness, faithfulness, self-control. And some of you may be thinking as I just mentioned, you may be struggling with self-control, or I don’t have gentleness, or I really need to work on peace. I am missing peace in my life now. And I could go around the sanctuary today and I’m sure if we’re honest, that different ones of us will be saying, well, different fruit is missing in my life! I hope it’s not all nine of them! If you are missing all nine of them, we need to talk more!! If you are a true Christian, the fruit is in you as the Spirit is in you.
If I could use a natural image again. Fruit comes in stages of development. And sometimes the fruit is green and immature. It simply needs to mature or ripen. So the fruit that you think might be missing is simply in a stage that needs development. Picture of green unripe fruit here. Yes, like green bananas that need to mature and ripen! So to the last point.
How are the Fruit developed?
How can I become gentler? How can I become more kind? How can I become more patient? How can I have more self-control? How is this fruit produced in my life?
I like what Robert C. Roberts says here: “The fruit of the spirit,” he says, “seems to me largely the fruit of sustained interaction with God. Just as the child picks up traits simply by dwelling in the presence of her parent, so the Christian develops tenderheartedness, compassion, humility, forgiveness, joy, hope, through ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’. That is, by dwelling in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son.”
You know the old hymn, “Take time to be holy” is true. It is being in the presence of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to be present, concentrating on the Holy Spirit – for this work to be done in us.
A few years ago, Marriage and Family expert Gary Smalley, most of you have probably heard of Gary Smalley…he noticed weeds sprouting amongst the healthy grass in his yard. So, he went out to his local hardware store and purchased a bottle of weed killer. And he pointed out sprayed the parts of his lawn where the weeds were, and a day later the weeds were still there, and he killed his grass. Does that sound familiar? He tried again. He went back and he ended up killing more grass and the weeds were still growing. And his wife finally told him you needed to speak to somebody who knew what they were doing as a professional. And he went out and he said this… I’ll never forget what they told me. And he said this applies to marriage, “You’re dealing with sin in your life in general,” he says, “don’t go after the weeds. You want to grow the healthy grass around them, and the healthy grass will kill the weeds. It will choke out the weeds.”
And I think that’s what Paul was talking about here. There’s something to be said for concentrating on the work of the Spirit in our lives. Paul says here that sin has been dealt a death blow. In the latter part of this passage, he says, “That through the death of Christ and the gift of the Spirit, the fleshly desires have been mortally wounded.” He uses the language of crucifixion here. He says, “it’s been crucified. It’s been put to death by Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.” Yes, Christ died for our sins, and has taken our place and forgiven us. But even more Christ through His death has destroyed the power of sin and we have been raised to new life and empowered through Holy Spirit!
Now, this is like D-Day in World War II, the victory was accomplished, but there were more battles after that. And this is what he’s talking about here. We can have victory even though it may not take us out of the spiritual battle.
Let’s look at it another way. John Piper put it like this… he said, “Yesterday at 5:30 AM I was in Pasadena, CA, standing in the kitchen of my beloved teacher, Daniel Fuller, talking to his wife, Ruth. And he said one of the things I will never forget about that kitchen… is that over her sink are taped four tremendous promises of God. Typed on little pieces of paper. Ruth puts them there to meditate on while she works.” He says that’s how you walk by the Spirit. That’s how you overcome the flesh. If the Spirit occupies our minds we will not fulfill the desires of our flesh or selfish desires.
And as I reflected over this …in relationships of my life as a pastor and family life, I’m becoming more conscious of decisions I am making. Not that I wasn’t before, but more conscientious about the decisions… Decisions I’m making as a husband. The decisions I’m making as a father and a grandfather, decisions I’m making in friendships. Decisions I’m making at church. For we are to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the things that we are doing and the decisions that we are making. Is that really glorifying the Lord? Are these fruit of the Holy Spirit being produced and maturing in my life?
As we come to these moments, friends, maybe you’re losing this spiritual battle or maybe the Holy Spirit needs to come into your life -a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit. Or maybe you are not listening or hearing? Maybe there’s some fruit that’s missing here, or undeveloped in your life. Whatever the need might be today, I simply invite you to respond as God may lead you. Let’s just listen to the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit may be speaking in our lives, in these moments. Back to the microphone picture… Jesus is speaking through the Spirit. But who has the microphone in your life? I hope it is the voice of Christ through his Spirit that is being amplified in your life!
May we pray.