Sermons

The Spirit Bears Fruit

Galatians 5:22-23

Imagine that you had some oranges; plump, juicy oranges which taste wonderful.  And you meet someone who’s interested in oranges.  He’d like some oranges.  So he asks you where you got your oranges.  And you tell him: oranges are the fruit of the orange tree.

But then imagine how strange it would be if this person went off and tried to produce oranges by himself.  Maybe he buys some tennis balls and paints them orange.  “That doesn’t work; nothing to peel.”  Then maybe he buys some softballs and paints them orange.  “They can be peeled; but they don’t taste very good.”  And then how sad it would be if this person gets discouraged and concludes: “I guess I’m just not cut out to have oranges.”

That’s how many of us respond to Jesus.  Jesus has told us clearly that love, joy, peace, and patience are the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  But too many of us forget about what Jesus said, and try to produce them by ourselves. 

We try to will-power our way into being more loving.  We try to positive-think our way into joy and peace.  We try to guilt our way into being patient.  But none of that works, and so sometimes we conclude that we are just not cut out to have love, joy, peace, and patience. 

But this is tragic, for a couple reasons.  One, the fruit of the Spirit is one of the ways we know we have been saved from our sins.  Two, the fruit of the Spirit is how we benefit others.  Three, the fruit of the Spirit is how lost people see Jesus in us.  Four, the fruit of the Spirit is how Jesus is glorified in us.

But I’ve got good news.  You can’t produce them because love joy, peace, and patience are fruit of the Holy Spirit.  They grow from the Holy Spirit.  To see this, let’s turn to Galatians 5.  If you need a Bible go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you.  Galatians 5 is on page 975 in the Bibles we are passing out.

We are in a series on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  We have been talking about how the Holy Spirit gives us new life, how he satisfies us with Jesus, how he empowers us for witness, how he gifts us for ministry, and how he enables us to worship.  And now this morning I want us to take a look at how the Holy Spirit bears in us the fruit of love, joy, peace, and patience.

 

Look at what Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23 –

22            But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23            gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So just like oranges are the fruit of orange trees, so love and joy and peace are the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  They are fruit borne in our lives by the work of the Holy Spirit.  And this is very encouraging.

Why?  Let’s say you are driving home from a brutal day at work.  Your boss piled more work onto you, someone criticized you at a staff meeting, and there’s rumors of layoffs.  And now you are driving home, feeling lousy.  And as you think of seeing your wife and kids, you’d be glad to be full of love, joy, and peace; but you aren’t.  All you are feeling is frustration, bitterness, and worry.

But the good news, the encouraging news is that if you are trusting Jesus, then you have the Holy Spirit available, right there, living inside you.  The Holy Spirit is not a vague, mysterious force.  He’s the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.  And, as God, He has infinite power and absolute authority over everything.

And no matter what’s going on in your heart, no matter how frustrated, or bitter, or worried, the Holy Spirit is inside of you, ready and willing and able to produce in your heart the fruit of love, joy, and peace.  Right then and there, as you are driving home, the Holy Spirit can produce in your heart the fruit of love, joy, and peace.

But how does He do that?  How does the Spirit bear this fruit?  I’ve heard lots of explanations that haven’t helped me.  I’ve heard people say: just stop trying and let the Holy Spirit do it.  Or: just let the Spirit take control.  Now there is probably a sliver of truth in those statements – but they miss the main point and can easily be misunderstood and lead to a lot of disappointment.

So how does the Holy Spirit bear this fruit?  Paul doesn’t tell us here in Galatians 5.  But there’s another passage which clearly explains exactly how the Holy Spirit does this – it’s 2 Corinthians 3:18.  That’s back to the left in your Bible, on page 965 in the Bibles we passed out.  Look at what Paul says –

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Notice that here Paul talks about how we are transformed – how we become more loving, joyful, peaceful, kind.  This verse is all about transformation of attitudes and feelings and character.  When someone asks, “how can I become more loving?,” we should direct them to this verse.

So how are we transformed?  By beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus.  This is huge.  This is how you can become more loving, more joyful, more peaceful and patient.  Not by trying harder.  Not by will-power.  Not by guilting yourself or positive thinking.  Transformation comes through beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus.  Transformation comes through contemplation.

Now you might be thinking: “Wait a minute.  So if I just think about Jesus, how He died, rose again, is fully God and man – all of a sudden I’m going to be changed?”  No.  Beholding the glory of Jesus is more than thinking the truth about Jesus.  This is hard to explain with words.  But beholding the glory of Jesus means feeling the truth about Jesus.

There’s a world of difference between thinking that “Jesus died on the Cross,” and feeling the truth that Jesus died on the Cross: feeling the mercy of Jesus, feeling the forgiveness God pours out to us, and feeling the riches of the promises that are ours through the Cross.

Like we saw last week.  It’s the difference between driving out of the tunnel and having Yosemite Valley before you, and saying “whoa!” – and your son looking briefly up from his computer game, saying “cool,” and going back to his computer game.  You are beholding the glory of Yosemite; your son is not.  Transformation doesn’t come from just understanding truth about Jesus.  It comes from feeling the truth of Jesus; contemplating the truth of Jesus in a feeling way. 

But our problem is that even though we’ve been saved, we still have sin in us which keeps us from feeling the glory of Jesus.  We feel  the glory of money, of sex, of popularity – but we don’t feel the infinitely greater glory of Jesus.  But this is where the Holy Spirit comes in.  Read that verse again --

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

It’s the Holy Spirit who lifts the veil of sin so we can behold and feel the glory of Jesus.  As the Holy Spirit lifts the veil of sin so we can behold and feel the glory of Jesus, we are transformed; our hearts are changed; fruit is borne of love, joy, peace, and patience.

Now with that in mind, let’s turn back to Galatians 5:22-23 to see how this might work with each fruit listed by Paul.  Paul starts off with love.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love.”

So how does the Holy Spirit produce the fruit of love?  There you are, driving home after a brutal day at work: the boss piled more work on you, you were criticized at a staff meeting, and there’s rumors of layoffs.  So you are feeling frustrated, bitter, and worried.  You are not feeling any love for your wife or kids.

What we need to remember is that love does not come from us.  We don’t produce it.  So it makes no difference that you’re not feeling any love, because the Holy Spirit is right there, willing and able to change your heart and fill you with love.  And he will do that by enabling you to behold the glory of Jesus.

So before you get home you might want to pull off on a side street, open your Bible (you’ve got your Bible with you, right?), and set your mind on truth about Jesus.  You’d pray earnestly and passionately for the Holy Spirit to come lift off the veil of sin, to come and show you Jesus, and then you’d set your mind on truth about Jesus so the Holy Spirit can go to work.

So maybe you turn to Mark 4 where Jesus is in the boat with his disciples and there’s a huge storm and He stays “Peace, be still.”  And the wind and the waves stop.  This shows you the glory of Jesus’ love – that He cares for His people; and the glory of Jesus’ power – that He can stop wind and waves.

Now because of our sin, we can read that and feel nothing.  We can read that, and still feel frustrated, angry, and worried.  But as we pray earnestly, as we plead for the Holy Spirit’s work, He will lift off the veil of sin so we can see Jesus’ glory and feel this truth about Jesus.

Maybe He will show you that Jesus has the same love and care for you as He had for the disciples, and that by His power He will not let the storms at work drown you.  As you see that, strength will come.  Then maybe He will help you feel that Jesus has the same authority over your workload and job future as He has over the wind and the waves.  As you feel that, peace will come.  Then maybe as you see His love for the disciples, and His power over nature, this combination of passionate love and infinite power in the person of Jesus will cause you to feel devotion to Him, desire for Him, worship of Him.  And as you desire and worship Jesus, your heart will be satisfied and filled with Jesus.

And when your heart is emptied of frustration, bitterness, and worry – and filled with strength,  peace, and satisfaction in Jesus – love will flow.  You will feel love for your wife and kids.

Now notice.  This love did not come from you trying harder, thinking positive, or guilting yourself.   It was the fruit of the Spirit as He enabled you to behold Jesus.  That’s how the Holy Spirit produces love.

Next, Paul mentions joy.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.”  How does the Holy Spirit produce the fruit of joy?  Let’s say you wake up tomorrow morning feeling lousy.  In a funk.  Nothing’s going right.  You’re not feeling any joy.

Now at that moment what you need to remember is that the Holy Spirit is right there, ready, willing, and able to bring you joy.  It makes no difference how little joy is in your heart, because joy does not come from our hearts, it comes from the Holy Spirit’s work.

And how does the Holy Spirit produce joy?  By lifting off the veil of sin so we can see the glory, the truth, of Jesus.  When I lack joy, I’m not seeing Jesus.  So what I do is get my green tea, and then sit down at my desk and open up my Bible.  Then I pray and plead for the Holy Spirit to help me, to lift the veil of sin from me, to enlighten the eyes of my heart so I can see Jesus.

And then I’d open up to whatever my Bible reading schedule has me reading that day.  Like maybe I would open to Psalm 90.  Now we have to understand that everything written about God in the Old Testament is about Jesus.  That’s what Jesus said in John 5:46.  So Psalm 90:14 shows us Jesus --

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

So I would read this, and plead for the Holy Spirit to help me feel the truth of Jesus’ steadfast love for me, to feel the glory of Jesus’ steadfast love for me.  And I would think, meditate, contemplate God’s steadfast love for me in Jesus.  That even though I am not worthy of His love, He loves me – passionately and enthusiastically.  He has loved me to the extent of suffering on the Cross to pay for all of my sins so I could have the joy of knowing Him forever.  His love will solve every problem, guide every decision, satisfy every need, strengthen every weakness.  Every day He is rejoicing over me to do me good; every day He is orchestrating everything to bring me eternal joy in knowing Him.

And if I am pleading for the work of the Holy Spirit, and thinking hard about God’s love for me in Jesus, the veil would lift, and I would see and feel the truth of Jesus’ love for me.  And His love is so amazing, so freeing, so encouraging, so strengthening, that I would start to feel joy.  My funk would be turned into joy.

That’s how the Holy Spirit bears the fruit of joy.  By enabling us to behold the glory of the Lord, by enabling us to feel the truth of Jesus.

Next on Paul’s list is peace.  How many of you could use the fruit of peace borne in you by the Holy Spirit?  OK.  So how does the Holy Spirit produce peace?  Let’s take something many of us are feeling – worry about layoffs.  So how does the Holy Spirit produce peace?

Again, it’s by lifting the veil of unbelief so we can see Jesus, behold Jesus, feel the truth of Jesus.  So maybe you would turn to Hebrews 13:5-6 – that’s to the right on page 1009 in the Bibles we passed out:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

As you face job insecurity, understand that Jesus promises to never leave or forsake you.  Jesus promises always to help you; that no employer can do anything to do that will go against Jesus’ loving and perfect will for you.

But we need the Holy Spirit to lift the veil of sin so we can see that.  So we pray earnestly, pleading for the Holy Spirit to help us see the glory of Jesus in these promises.  And as we pray, and think earnestly about these verses, we will start to feel, really feel that Jesus will never leave or forsake me.  We will start to feel, really feel that Jesus will always help me.  We will start to feel, really feel that He will provide all the money I need, all the employment I need, all the finances I need to fulfill His calling on my life.  And that if He is with me, I can be content no matter what circumstances result from His will.

When we see and feel the glory of Jesus in these promises, we will feel peace.  Not because of our will-power, or positive thinking, or guilting ourselves.  But because the Holy Spirit has enabled us to see Jesus as He is, and trust Jesus as He is, and that brings peace.

Questions?

So this week, when you lack love, joy, or peace, take time to pray earnestly for the work of the Holy Spirit, and open up God’s Word, and contemplate the truth of Jesus, until the veil is lifted, faith is strengthened, and love and joy and peace come.

Then in our home groups let’s talk about this and share what we are experiencing.  And maybe next Sunday we’ll take some time to share ways the Holy Spirit bore in our hearts the fruit of love, joy and peace.