Walk By the Spirit (Introduction to Fruit of the Spirit)
Fruit of the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
Tonight, we are going to start another study on the things of the Spirit: “The Fruit of the Spirit”
For the past several weeks we have been talking about the gifts of the Spirit.
If you remember, the gifts are the Spirit’s power working through us to build up the body of Christ.
The fruit of the Spirit is about character and our own lives being transformed by the power of God.
QUESTION: Which would you say is more important? Gifts or character?
Character always trumps service
We’ve see this in our study of Jospeh: God spent many years developing the character of Jospeh before He used Jospeh
The same is true for us
God will primarily develop your character before He calls you to greater service
It is better to have a preacher with godly character than it is with powerful preaching
This is why the qualifications of a pastor and deacon primarily deal with character not ability
It is better to have a Music leader with godly character than great musical skills
Giftedness with character is dangerous! Character with giftedness is powerful
Look at Gal 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
The Spirit of God provides the power for character transformation.
We cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives without the Spirit of God
But it is not all God, we do not get to sit back and mature as Christians by some kind of spiritual infusion!
Growth requires our cooperation
What does it mean to walk by the Spirit?
“to walk” is a metaphor of how one lives their life.
When someone “walks” they keep in line with something, they stay within the boundaries, they follow the path that has been given to them
If I said to you, “Walk in this building.” That means you are supposed to stay in this building. This building is the parameter, the boundary in which you are to walk. If you step outside this building, you are no longer walking in this building.
Our flesh says, outside of the parameters of the Spirit, there are pleasures, ideas, and things you need to make you happy.
A person with a Spirit-controlled life has come to this settled conclusion: there is nothing worth having outside of Jesus. If you don’t come to that conclusion, you will never live a transformed life.
So how do we walk by the Spirit?
This is a step by step lifestyle of obedience to God. It is not a one time thing, it is a quest that never ends and the destination is only reached at physical death
Walking Illustration
Imagine you were walking from here to Walmart in Connecticut
You are not going to get there overnight
You will arrive if you set out and take one step at a time
You begin to walk in that direction, following road signs along the way, persevering when it gets hard, not giving up when you get tired
Eventually you will arrive at your destination
THE SAME IS TRUE FOR CHARACTER
IT WILL COME WHEN YOU LIVE IN: STEP BY STEP OBEDIENCE TO GOD (regardless of what that obedience is)
And you can tell real quick how dedicated someone is by the steps of obedience they are willing to take
If someone does not obey in the little things, they will not obey in the big things
Luke 16:10 ““He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
So let me say as an introduction to this study, if we are not willing to be obedient in the little things, (walk in the Spirit) we will never produce the fruits of the Spirit
When I say little I say what you know God wants you to do
Everyone knows at least some knowledge of what God wants them to do
Even unbelievers know they should come to church, read their Bibles, pray, and forgive others
How much more those who truly follow Jesus?
The fruit of the Spirit is produced in our lives when we walk by the Spirit
So what little step of obedience is God wanting you to do?
I would love if everyone would tell me one thing that God has been pressing upon their heart.
ME: PRAYING CONSISTENTLY AND FERVENTLY
ME: TAKING A SABBATH REST. This is one God has been revealing to me in my morning study the past three days
What is the other great truth from this verse?
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh”
WHEN we walk by the Spirit we keep ourselves from carrying out the desires of the flesh
(v 17) “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
There is war going on inside of each one of us
Our flesh has an appetite for sin, and is at war with our spiritual nature.
And as we are little babes in Christ, we exemplify more of our flesh than we do the Spirit
What are the desires of the flesh?
(v 18-20) “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God
That statement is put there to say “WAKE UP CHURCH”
If our lives are characterized by sinful deeds in contrasts to the deeds of the Spirit then we will not go to heaven when we die
If our lives are characterized by these things, its because we are not walking in the Spirit!
If we want to get these sins our of our lives, we must start by taking steps of obedience to God!
By taking one step of obedience after another
Whatever is in our lives that we know is not supposed to be there or should be there and is not, make those changes right now
Gal 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
In contrast to the vice lists of sins that Paul mentioned, what should our lives be characterized by?
love
Joy
Peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self control
What is fruit?
FRUIT ILLUSTRATION
Ashley has apple trees in our back yard
And there has to be a dozen or so
I know nothing about apple trees, and when I look out there, all I see is trees.
I only know what kind of trees they are because she has told me
But my neighbor two doors down also has apple trees. Do you know how I know?
Because this year it had about 10,000 apples on it and they were about the break the branches off
I could spot it from a mile away
The Fruit of the Spirit is what should characterize our lives and when the world looks at us they should see these nine things
Notice this is not the “fruit(s) of the Spirit”
It is singular “fruit”
This is not a buffet where we get to pick and choose which one we like and claim our fruit and neglect the others
We cannot choose love and then throw out patience
We cannot say we have joy and then neglect kindness
This is a fruit bundle that comes in one package!
Ashley has a fruit tree that produces 4 kinds of fruit on one tree (plums, apples, grapes, bananas)
Think of it like that!
We cannot be a love tree, or a peace tree
We must be a love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness gentleness, and self-control TREE
Timeline of fruit
Ashley’s trees are going on three years now. They got one apple off 12 trees this year
Her grape vine is two years old. I haven’t seen a grape since she planted them
This does not mean they are not apple trees or a grape vine
These things take time to produce fruit consistently
The “fruit” metaphor and the “walking” metaphor express this idea
If you are new to Christ or have just gotten serious about your walk with Christ it may take months or even years to produce visible fruit
Do not give up, keep walking in the Spirit, keep walking down the path of obedience, keep following Christ and do not turn back!
It will take time and often we are the last ones to know
This is your life, and walking int he Spirit must never end
Final thing: This is not all man, but God is involved in this process
John 15:1-2 ““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
The Lord does pruning in our lives so that we will bear more fruit
What is pruning?
Pruning is cutting away the excess
Sometimes this is painful
Sometimes it is scary
But it promotes new growth and better fruit
If God is cutting things away in your life, trust Him!
He is the vinedresser
If obeying God means cutting things out of your life, DO IT!
You will never regret obeying God!
Questions/Comments?