Bearing Much Fruit

We won't need the lights off for about a half hour or so until I get into the PowerPoint presentation, so we're fine with the lights. Now we're okay with the lights for a while, Joe. Lights out, everybody! Nap time!

Well, happy Sabbath once again! It certainly is good to have all of you with us today. Special welcome to our visitors who have joined us today. Most of us love to eat fresh, natural fruit. Think of apples and peaches and pears and cherries and plums. Last week my wife bought a pie and it had like four different fruits in it. It was incredibly good. A good tasting fruit is something special. It's something to be enjoyed. When I was a kid growing up in the city of Cleveland, I grew up on 148th Street in St. Clair Avenue in what's known as the Collinwood area. There were a lot of fruit trees. I don't know what happened to our climate since the late 1950s, but the people had trees everywhere in their little city lots. The standard city lot where I grew up was a lot size of 30 foot by 70. I mean, these were really small homes. The wealthy people lived in a single home. The people who lived like me lived in double homes and there was probably about 600 square foot in the living space for an entire family. But we were happy because life was good and maybe we just didn't know how poor we were. Who knows? But everyone had fruit trees growing on their properties. Peach trees. I remember peaches that were humongous as a child. I've tried to have an orchard on my property and I have just failed miserably. The trees struggle. I mean, they limp along. They don't they blossom and the frost nails them or whatever. But I can remember as a kid, it must have been the climate or something was different. My grandmother, who lived off of a street called Aspenwall, where she lived, owned a couple of homes. She had a huge apple tree in her backyard. Never sprayed it ever. She was an old lady and this tree produced apples like you wouldn't believe every year consistently. Apples, apples, apples. So fruit, the enjoyable fruit of plums and cherries and peaches and all of these things that we enjoy are truly beautiful things. The Bible uses a figurative expression of these kind of fruits that we're talking about. A figurative expression of the beautiful and delicious fruit of being something that's beneficial and enjoyable to us. But the Bible refers to it in a spiritual way. It uses the analogy of fruit together with spiritual growth, the kind of growth that God desires in each and every one of us. Let's go to Exodus 23 and 14 and go back to the original instruction about the days of unleavened bread, tying in with the Feast of First Fruits, and see how God uses this very analogy that I've been talking about regarding fruits. Exodus 23 and 14. Exodus 23 and 14. Three times, you shall keep a feast to me in the year. That was three festival seasons. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And we did that a little over seven weeks ago. We were enjoying the Spring Holy Days, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded you at that time, appointed in the month of Ebbib, which is the first month. For in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty. That means everyone was to give at least something in the form of an offering to show their appreciation for the blessings God had given them. Now verse 16.

And the Feast of Harvest, this is the festival we'll be celebrating tomorrow that we call Pentecost, and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field. And the Feast of In-Gathering at the end of the year, this is regarding the Feast of Tabernacles, when you have gathered the fruit of your labors from the fields. I want you to notice the analogy the Scriptures use of harvesting fruit. Luscious, beautiful fruit, something that we enjoy as human beings, something that God enjoys, is seeing us develop the fruit of His Holy Spirit.

First fruits, the very first fruits that were ripened were very precious in the Old Testament, and they were usually offered to God. We don't have time today, but you would find that in Exodus chapter 23. You would also find that in Nehemiah 10, how the first fruit, the very first parts of that tree, the fruit, and the come to maturity were usually given as an offering to God. The first fruit was considered very special and holy to God. When children were born, there's an expression in the Old Testament called the fruit of the womb, meaning children who were to come out of a mom, and it was considered something beautiful, something wonderful, the fruit of the womb, something that came out from mom. And that was a common expression for your descendants, for your children. We find that in Deuteronomy 7, Psalm 127. Again, we don't have time to turn there today. Now, going forward to the time when Jesus walked on the earth, He often used the analogy of fruit to symbolize God's growth, the growth that He desired in each and every one of us, and the change that occurs in a converted person's life. In the New King James Version, I have counted about 35 times where Jesus used the words fruit or fruits to make this comparison of the kind of change that God desires to see in our lives. Other New Testament authors also use the phrase fruits to convey personal growth towards righteousness. There's a phrase in Philippians 1.11. It's called the phrase that Paul uses, the fruits of righteousness, meaning the end result of righteousness is this beautiful fruit. And these are described as expressions of repentance and moral purity. So I think we're beginning to see that the whole concept of fruits are not only very beautiful and wonderful to us as human beings as we bite into that cherry or that apple or that luscious peach, but fruits are also, in a spiritual sense, something that God desires, something that God wants to see in our lives. Let's go to Matthew 3 and 4 and see something that John the Baptist said. Matthew 3 and 4. This kind of certainly highlights the seriousness of baptism. Baptism is more than just a sanctimonious ceremony. It's more than just something you do. It has very profound meaning, and we are accountable when we are baptized in the Reiki, see God's Spirit. We are accountable to understand what we're getting ourselves into. As Jesus said, you cannot put your hand to the plow and then look backward. It's a very serious decision. And let's see what John the Baptist said to ministers of his age. They were called Pharisees and Sadducees, but they were actually religious leaders.

John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locust and wild honey. Don't knock it until you've tried it. And then after you try it, let me know, because I'm not going to eat it. Anyway, his food was locust. I hope they at least killed the locust first. And wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea and the region around Jordan went out to him. So the whole region had heard. I mean, this man was very popular in his day, and the whole region of Judea went out to hear John the Baptist preaching. Verse 6, and they were baptized by him and the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, these were the religious leaders of the day. They would have been called teacher and rabbi, and their version of minister is what they would have been called. Coming to his baptism, he said to them, instead of, Hi, how are you doing today? He says, Brute of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath that come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. For the new century version, translate for sake this way. Do the things that show you have really changed your hearts and your lives. You see, John is saying, this is not a game. Church is not a game. Church is not something we do to make our parents happy, to conform to society, to meet other people's expectations. This is serious stuff we're talking about here. John told them, Your lives are putrid. You have not repented of your sins. You have not changed your life around and committed yourself to God. He said, So don't even come here to be baptized. Of course, John would be called a legalist by many ministers in the 21st century, who believe that all you need to do is accept the name of Jesus, and you will be saved. Let's see what Jesus says here himself. Matthew 7 and verse 19. Let's see the words of Jesus that he says, portraying an event that will occur in the future, people who are very sincere about following Christ. Here's what he says to them. People that are very sincere. He says, Every good tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Now, I have to put this in balance because I noticed over many years that people rushed the judgment of individuals. It takes a season of growth before you get fruit. Don't judge a human being too early. He doesn't say, You shall know them by their bark. He doesn't say, You shall know them by their leaves. He doesn't say, You shall know them by their flowers. No, he says, A season must pass. And they'll show up and they'll be raw. And then little leaves will come out. That takes time. Then flowers will blossom and they'll be pollinated. Then the flowers will fade away. And more time will occur and little fruit will grow. And that fruit hopefully will grow and grow and grow. And that takes time. That is a season, much like our lifetimes, brothers and sisters in Christ. But Jesus says, You're therefore by their fruits. You'll know whether they repented, whether they have accepted God's law in their lives, whether God's value system, known as His Ten Commandments, have become their value system, or whether it hasn't. He says that'll be revealed. He first says here in verse 21, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. You see, it's not just enough to believe in Jesus. We're going to see in the next verse. Here's someone, we'll see an example of someone who believes in Jesus.

But he says that's not enough. You have to change your life. You have to do the will of the Father. Let's say in verse 22, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, they're acknowledging Jesus. You were the Savior. You were the Christ. You were the Lord. You were the Messiah. Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in Your name. We've cast out demons in Your name. We've done many wonders in Your name. Look at all the good things we have done in the name of Jesus. We prophesied. We cast out demons. We did many wonders in Your name. And verse 23, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Oh, you believed in me. All right, sure. You accepted me as your Savior.

He says, But you did not do the will of my Father in heaven. And I will declare to them, this is verse 23, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. That is from the Greek word anomia. It means a violation of law. Whose law? God's law, of course. Wickedness. It's defined as iniquity, transgressing the law of God or unrighteousness.

He says, You who practice lawlessness depart from me. So, brethren, again, I want to emphasize the fact that God wants to see fruit in our lives. This is serious that we are in, in this journey in our lives. Sadly, much of our world today has morphed Jesus Christ into being a Disney musical.

Religious services are a Disney musical. This Jesus that they teach, it's all about his personality, or it's all about a few quaint little things that he said, but there's no emphasis on the morality that he taught. There's no emphasis on the kingdom that he taught that would someday come to this earth. It's about instant gratification of going up to heaven, but there's no powerful information about God establishing his kingdom here, literally, on this earth and returning to this earth to establish the kingdom of God. By the way, Jesus would also be considered by many ministers today as a legalist because of the fact that he said there's something that you have to do. You have to do the will of the Father. It's just not enough to say some mantra, to say some magic words, I believe in Jesus. Jesus just emphasized that very powerfully right here in Matthew 7. Let's go to Luke 8, verses 11 and 16 and also see here why fruits are so important to God. Just like you and I desire the luscious physical fruits of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, God desires spiritual fruits in our lives that give him great pleasure. Luke 8, verses 11. Jesus is giving his explanation to the parable of the sower. It says, Now the parable is this, The seed is the word of God, those by the wayside are those who hear, and then the devil comes away, the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. You see, it's not their time to receive an invitation to be called by the Father in his lifetime. And that happens every day. People get one of our booklets, people see our TV program, people might be on the internet and download a sermon, and for a brief period of time their interest is piqued, and then, oh look, Target's got a sale on shorts this week, and they're just off to something else. They are totally distracted, and they're off to something else in life. And then he says in verse 13, But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. They're actually excited. This information, the knowledge of God's way of life, the knowledge of God's Sabbath is exciting. They receive the word with joy, and these have no root, and who believe for a while and in a time of temptation fall away. There's a little bit of resistance about living God's way of life, and they're excited for a while, and they're joyful, but they are pulled away in one form or another.

Verse 14, Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of life and bring no fruit to maturity. And I've seen this, sadly, over the years. People who would attend church for a number of years. Some of them who even were baptized. But they get offended by someone. The cares of this world, their jobs, their family, whatever, just pulls them out of the church and pulls them back into the way of life that they had before. Because that's the easy path. That is the broad path. It's not the narrow path. And they are choked with cares, and some are riches.

My wife and I were talking about a minister that we knew once who actually was in the Cleveland area, who, when his aunt died and left him millions of dollars, suddenly left the church and started his own ministry. Because the riches were a pull to him. And the pleasures of life. And they may begin to show fruit. For a while, they treat their spouses better. For a while, they begin to grow and change and develop. And that's wonderful. But Jesus said, and bring no fruit to maturity. That fruit just withers on the vine.

Verse 15, And the ones that fell on good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it. The truth is precious. It's a pearl of great price. The man who sold all that he had to buy that pearl. The truth of God's way of life is precious. And with a noble and good heart, keep it! And bear fruit with patience, because they know it's a process. They know it's a season. And our lives are that season.

And it takes time to develop the kind of godly fruit that we're going to be talking about in a little bit. The fruit that we should desire to develop are the fruits, obviously, of God's Holy Spirit. What the Feast of Pentecost is all about, that we'll be observing tomorrow. These traits are important because they reflect the very nature and character of God.

If you want to know who and what God is, you find out by defining and understanding what the fruits of the Spirit are. They reflect God's nature. The reason we should desire these fruits is to please our great Father who loves us. It's to give glory to God. There's an offering that He has given us as a gift of eternal life.

So we don't develop these fruits because we think we're superior. We don't develop these fruits because we think we're smarter than everyone else. We develop these fruits because we want to please our Father. These fruits reflect who and what He is. And just like a small child looks up to mom and dad and says, boy, I want to grow up to be just like mom someday. I want to grow up to be just like dad someday. They have an admiration there with their parent when children are small. They want to emulate what mom and dad does. That's the attitude that we should have regarding our spiritual Father. We should want to emulate Him. We should want to be just like Him. And the way that we learn what He is like is to understand the fruits of the Spirit. This isn't easy. To receive the gift of the Holy Spirit is exactly what that word in there says. It is a gift to receive the Holy Spirit. You can't earn it. It's something that God, out of His great love, gives us. As a response to our calling, as a response of being baptized, repenting of our sins, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But what we do with that Spirit in our lives is a choice. And to develop that Spirit through that Spirit, to develop the kind of qualities, the traits that we're going to talk about today, is hard. It's not easy. And how much we use that Spirit is a choice. We can either yield to God's Spirit and allow God's Spirit to be our coach and mentor and guide throughout our lives, or we can build up an artificial wall between us and the Spirit of God and say, you just stay on that side of the wall and I'll do everything my way. And the end result of doing everything our way usually is not very happy and is usually not very pretty either.

Let's take a look at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11.

Find out what the Holy Spirit means to us.

As I said, to develop the fruit of the Spirit or to bear fruit with patience is not easy.

It takes great work. It takes effort. It takes a personal investment of our time and of our lives. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11. Here's what Paul said to the congregation at Ephesus.

In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

God predestined that there will be first fruits in this generation, and he's going to call those first fruits, and he's going to offer them salvation, and he is going to give them his Holy Spirit. That is predestined. That's what God's plan was all along.

Those who are not called in this lifetime will be called at another age.

We will be called at another time and given an opportunity to accept God's way of life.

The blinders will be removed from their eyes, and they will be able to accept Jesus Christ at that time in a far better world than the one that we live in today.

Verse 12, that we who first trusted in Christ should be the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

When we receive God's Holy Spirit, that is his down payment that we are going to have eternal life.

That is his earnest payment to us, that this is the beginning that you are now sealed, that you are an inheritor of the family of God, that you will inherit the universe as a gift from God because you will be part of his family for all eternity. So we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

Verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, a 100% you don't need your money back guaranteed from God, that when you receive his Holy Spirit, you are sealed with the Spirit of promise.

Verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

I'm going to read verses 12-14 in another translation, the New Century Version.

It says, we are the first people who hoped in Christ. Get that, the first people who hoped in Christ. We are those first fruits, that small harvest of first fruits that God is working with.

And we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God's glory. So it is with you. When you heard his true teaching, the good news about your salvation, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised.

That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive what God promised for his people until God gives full freedom to those who are his to bring praise to God's glory.

Again, I want to emphasize that the Holy Spirit is a gift. None of us deserve it. None of us can earn it.

It is just something that God gives us because we were predestined to be called in this lifetime and we responded to that calling. We wanted to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And as a response to repentance and wanting to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, God gives us that wonderful gift. The Spirit is the actual presence and influence of God. And his Spirit unites with our human spirit that makes us unique, that makes us individuals and who and what we are. And that self-talk that you have in your head all day, that is your human spirit.

And when we receive God's Holy Spirit, his Spirit unites with our spirit and begins to transform our minds into becoming a new creature in Christ. Remember I talked about that season. It takes time. It's a process. It doesn't happen overnight.

And as free moral agents, we can choose to allow and nurture God's Spirit to help change us. Or sadly, we can make the choice to ignore this powerful gift that God gives us. The analogy I've used before, if someone gives me a gift, and by the way, just so no one forgets in my family, Father's Day is a week from tomorrow.

But by strange coincidence, let's just say in theory that someone gives you a gift. If you take that gift and you put it in your closet and you shut the door and you don't open it, that gift to you is worthless. That gift is useless. The only way you're going to benefit from that gift is to open it up.

And that's what we have to do with God's Spirit. It's a tool. It's a gift that He gives us. And if we just put it away somewhere, if we ignore it, if we just kind of put an invisible barrier up and say, well, okay, I did that, I reached that goal, now I'm going to live life the way I want to, then we've left that powerful spiritual gift in the closet, unopened and unused. And rather than if we do that, it's useless in our lives. It's not going to bear the kind of fruit that God wants us to have. There are a lot of things that can be barriers between ourselves and the power of the Holy Spirit changing our lives. One of them is selfishness. We just say, well, I'm going to do everything my way, then we put up a barrier. It has to be God's way. What is the will of the Father? We saw Jesus said earlier, just saying, Lord, Lord, saying, I believe in Jesus, he said, isn't enough. Sorry, I don't know you. He said, but it's the person who does the will of the Father. So the goal shouldn't be what I want. The goal should be what does God want from my life? And do we yield ourselves to the Spirit and allow that to happen? Another thing can be materialism. And it is very difficult in our world today. We live in a world that lives by the credo that whoever dies with the most toys wins. So just get lots of stuff and that will make you happy. And when we become materialistic, when we're too focused on the physical, then our priority is not the kingdom of God. So we can be an obstruction to God's Holy Spirit working with us. But God's Spirit, God's presence, God's power wants to make us the best that we can be. And so now with this background, I would like to ask Joe to be kind enough to turn the lights off, maybe to just one side of the hall. I'd like to talk about the nine traits, the nine individual fruit of the Spirit. Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that. Let's go and begin by turning to the Galatians, chapter 5 and verse 22. I'm going to read this from the New century. I'm sorry, the New King James Version, what most of us will have here in this room. But I want you to realize that different translations will have a different order for some of these nine traits of the fruit of the Spirit. They may even call them different things. And that's why I'll mention what the original Greek words were. And I will try to tease out some of the English nuances of those words. But what we'll be looking at here is, again, the New King James Version. And here's what Paul wrote. But the fruit of the Spirit, I want you to notice it's a singular word, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and we'll be going through each one individually, against such there is no law. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. He says, if we have the Spirit within us, let's act like we have the Spirit within us. He's encouraging them, he's prodding them to live by these fruits, to become new creatures. And that means we have to start putting out that old man. We have to start putting that selfishness out of our lives and start allowing God in. I'm going to read verse 25 again from the New Century version. It says, we get our new life from the Spirit, we should also follow the Spirit. Again, we get our new life from the Spirit, we should follow the Spirit.

Now, every major translation of the Scriptures refers to nine traits. All nine of the traits are, in the original Greek, considered fruit, singular, not plural. It's not a big thing to me. I use the phrase sometimes, fruits, plural of the Holy Spirit. It really doesn't matter to me one way or another. I did want to point that out from the perspective of what the Scriptures reveal to us. The reason that they're all interconnected together is because they all influence one another, each other, to a certain degree.

And as we develop one, we usually are also interconnected and developing another two or three or four of these nine traits. So when you grow in one quality, you influence the other traits because they are all byproducts of God's Spirit. As we look at some Scriptures, I will point out where some of the other traits are influenced along with the one that we are focusing on. So to give you an analogy, I want you to envision, instead of looking at the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there's nine distinct fruits.

Let's go back to the original Greek. I want you to look at it as a fruit. I want you to envision a large fruit that has many wonderful traits. For example, it's beautiful. That's a trait. That same fruit has a crunchy sound when you bite into it. It has delicious taste when you bite into it. It smells good. It smells like an apple.

Ah, the fragrance you can smell. See, the same fruit, different qualities of that one luscious fruit. It's smooth. So look at the fruit of the Spirit as traits or characteristics that are given to us and directed and guided and hopefully coached and mentored in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. So let's take a look at the first of these fruits.

Number one for a reason, and a good reason, is love. The first fruit is love. Love. This comes from the Greek word agape and means a godly sacrificial love. It goes beyond, I like you. It goes beyond, I'll be nice to you. It's the kind of love where you say, I'll give up something I want in order to make you happy.

I'll give up my wants in order for you to be able to enjoy something. It's a sacrificial love. Jesus Christ gave up his life, for example, so that we could have life. He allowed himself to be beaten and tormented and crucified. That's a sacrificial love, an agape-type love, so that you and I would have access to God so that our sins could be forgiven by his shed blood so that we could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Other English words that are nuances of this are affection, a love feast. Picture a feast instead of food on the table, a feast where there is so much love and harmony that it's like everywhere. You're smothered with it. Charity. Holding things dear. I'm going to give you an official definition here. Love is the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the well-being of another. How much do we love God and everyone that he has ever created? You know what an oxymoron is? An oxymoron is saying that you love God, but you despise other people that he created. He is the creator. To say that I love God but to despise human beings is a contradiction in terms.

Let's go to Mark 12. If you'll turn there with me, Mark 12, and we'll pick it up here. I'll actually pick it up in verse 38. One of the scribes came to him, speaking of Jesus, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, What is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

That's a little bit different than I'll give God a token performance on Sunday morning for an hour. I'll go and worship him just before I stop off at Walmart on the way home. It's a little bit different between this definition of what loving God is and what our world says loving God is. Let's take a look now at verse 31.

He says, this is the first commandment of verse 31, and the second, Like it. You see, it's important to God. It's essential to God. Like it, it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Actually, all ten commandments are tied in, are related to loving God and loving your neighbor. So it's very important. Love means not just loving people in your family, not just loving people in your church. It means loving people in your community in spite of their flaws and weaknesses and struggles. Realizing that if we love God, a natural extension of that has to be to love other people that God created. So very important. So again, the first of the fruit of the Spirit is love, coming from that Greek word agape.

Number two is joy. Joy comes from a Greek word kara, which means cheerfulness. It's a calm delight. It means gladness, exceeding joy, being full of delight. Joy is the happy and positive mental state that results from knowing and serving God. Joy enables us to be satisfied with all that God has given and to appreciate what we have. You see, when you have joy, you are not agitated. When you have joy, you're not saying, well, I have a two-year-old car, I have a five-year-old car, how come the guy across the street has a new car? See, there's no fullness there. Joy means whatever blessings I have been given in life are a gift from God. All the physical things that I have are a gift from God and to be satisfied with that, whatever it may be. Here are some things that we can rejoice in. We can rejoice in family. We read about that in Proverbs 5 and verse 18. In good food, 1 Timothy 4 and 5. In celebrations, God gives us a weekly festival called the Sabbath day. That's something we can rejoice in and be joyful about, Deuteronomy 16, that comes from. In fellowship with each other, catching up when we are weak, how are things going? You have a new family. You not only have a physical family that you should hold dear, but you also have a new family. God has given you additional spiritual brothers and sisters, and we should fellowship with them. Philippians 4 and verse 1. When we do that, we share with other believers the joys of life, the challenges of life that we may be facing. As Paul said, rejoice with them who rejoice and weep with them who weep. Romans 12 and verse 15. Joy is a delight. It's an attitude, a perception of calmness, of delight, of appreciation for what we have. Not an attitude of entitlement, but an attitude of gratitude, an appreciation for all the things that God has given us. Let's go to John chapter 15 and verse 11. I'm going to read this scripture from a different translation. I put part of it up here in this slide. This is John chapter 15. I'll actually begin in verse 9. I'm going to read from the New Century version. Follow me with whatever translation you have in front of you. John chapter 15 and verse 9. Jesus, he's quoting Jesus here.

In the New Century, he's saying, I want you to picture the individual who's saying this and who dares to talk about joy. This is the eve of his death. He very well knows when he says this, he's experiencing joy because he just said he is, and I believe him because he's Jesus Christ. He very well knows that he has been betrayed by one of his disciples, that he's going to be arrested, that that night he's going to go through a kangaroo court trial, that he is going to be beaten, humiliated, and crucified. And he says all of this, he says at the same time, he tells him, you can have the same joy I have and that your joy may be full.

What an incredible characteristic. What a wonderful trait. This was Jesus' prayer that he has for you and I, that we could have the kind of joy that he had, even though he knew what he was facing in a few short hours.

Verse 12, this is my command. Love each other as I have loved you. Isn't that interesting? We read about that in our first fruit. Didn't we agape? Sacrificial love, caring for our neighbors. Verse 13, the greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. You're my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I call you friends. Because I've made known to you everything that I heard from my father. Verse 16, you did not choose me. I chose you and gave you this work to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last. I don't know exactly how the New King James Version puts that, but the New Century Version says here at the end of verse 16, and I gave you this work to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last. Not fruit like one of those who were explained in the parable of the sower, where they just had fruit that never came to maturity, and through the trials and difficulties of life they started out with fruit, but it all shriveled up and died.

No, not that. That's not what he's talking about. He says, I want you to produce fruit and fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you everything you ask in my name. Again, that John chapter 15 verses 9 through 16, the second of the fruit of the Spirit, the second trait or quality is joy from that Greek word kara, meaning cheerfulness.

When people see us at work, what kind of attitude do we display? Do they have a nickname for us at work? Is it like Smiley? Mrs. Cheerful? Mr. Positive? Or is it, here he comes again, wonder where they, you know, Mr. Grumpy's coming in the room. Oh, it's Crabface! Crabface is coming back in here. So what kind of reputation do we have in our family? Do we have in the workplace? Are we radiating the trait and the quality of the fruit of the Spirit known as joy in our lives?

The third is peace. This comes from a Greek word, which is irene, irene, and it means emotional prosperity. It means having oneness, quietness, rest. Sounds like some of the qualities of the Sabbath day to me, doesn't it?

To set at one again, this is a form of internal contentment. It's being content with ourselves. It's being content with our lives. And yes, knowing that we're struggling with weaknesses, and yes, we've got bills to pay, and we've got all kinds of pressures that are coming into us in all different angles, but you know what? There is a God. He sits in His throne. He's promised to take care of me, and He's going to work these things out. He's going to give me the wisdom and the ability to meet the needs and the challenges that I have today. And He'll do the same thing tomorrow.

It is an inner contentment. Peace is a spiritual sense of well-being and fulfillment that comes from God and is dependent on His presence in our lives. What He's not present in our lives as a result of that is agitation. It's emptiness. It's a feeling of being lost or disoriented spiritually.

It is an inner contentment that our life has a purpose in God's plan for the future, in spite of the fact that we have weaknesses, in spite of the fact that we struggle with our own individual issues in life. It's a contentment knowing that God will see us through, that God will be there for us and guide us and give us wisdom and understanding. Let's take a look at James chapter 3 and verse 18.

James chapter 3 and verse 18. James wrote, Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. So you want to have peace in your life? Then make yourself a peacemaker. Learn to be someone who brings peace among other people, who is a peacemaker in the family, a peacemaker in the church, a peacemaker on your job.

And by doing that, that through the fruit of righteousness, you will begin to develop peace in your life. Here's what it says, this same verse from the New Century version. People who work for peace in a peaceful way plant a good crop of right living. I'm going to read that again. People who work in peace, work for peace in a peaceful way plant a good crop of right living. That's the New Century version of verse 18. A very powerful trait that's reflected and we're reminded of each and every Sabbath day, because the Sabbath should always be that 24-hour period of peace in our lives.

I don't know about you, but the other days of the week, particularly Monday through Friday, I've got a lot coming at me. Phones are ringing, emails are zipping at me. I feel like I'm in the middle of the rat race all week. And as I've said before, the problem, even if you win the rat race, the problem is that you're still a rat. So all week I feel like I'm in a rat race. I've got stuff coming at me from all different directions. But the beauty of the Sabbath day is I get off the merry-go-round of nonsense, and I can assure you that when that stun starts setting in Friday night, I go, Ahhh, the emails can pile up.

I don't care. The voicemail will catch the phone calls. I don't care. Obviously, if it's an emergency, I'll respond to it. But I am leaving the pressures and the stresses and the madness of this 24-7 world that we live in today. And I'm taking time out for my family, and I'm taking time out for God. My physical family, I'll spend time with them, spend time with my spiritual family. I'll worship God on His Sabbath day, and I'll receive the refreshment, the physical rest, and the emotional recreation that I can only get by stopping and saying one day a week, No more!

And taking in the beauty and the peace and the rest that comes from God's Sabbath day. Let's take a look at another trait of the Holy Spirit. It's long suffering or patience. Long suffering or patience. This is from a Greek word, macrothomia, macrothomia, and it means forbearance, putting up with something. Fortitude, just continuing the plot along, even against opposition. Both the New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version translate this word as patience. Other translations use long suffering. It's being willing to endure hardship. That's what this word means. Long suffering or patience is an active endurance of opposition, not passive resignation.

It means you don't give up on your values. It doesn't mean you give in to what you know is right. It's you say to yourself, I am willing to endure the opposition. I'm willing to maintain God's way. I'm willing to do what's right, and with patience, I will endure whatever opposition that I receive in this life.

Its qualities include steadfastness and, again, forbearance. Very beautiful and important traits of this spirit. Let's now go to Ephesians 4 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me. Ephesians 4 and verse 1. It's interesting here in Ephesians chapter 4, without trying how many of the traits of the Holy Spirit Paul mentions here in this early part of Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1.

He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of your calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love.

That's important. Do you have family members who are an annoyance? Bear with them in love. Is there someone in the congregation who just kind of rubs your fur the wrong way? Bear with them in love.

Verse 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's another one of the traits of the Spirit. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called, and one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all was above all and through all and in you all.

So again, this is a very powerful trait of the Spirit. That is having patience. By your patience, you possess your souls. Your eternity is going to be determined by how much patience you have with yourself and with God.

Because God is not immediately going to answer your prayers. Some of your prayers, he will answer immediately, like my prayer that that phone explode.

Some prayers, he will answer immediately. Other prayers, God will not answer immediately, like that the phone would explode.

That doesn't happen very often. I'm just happy. One Sabbath, it was my phone that went off. That was really embarrassing. It was in my little case over there. So that was really tough.

So say hello for me and hope everyone's doing fine. Now, where was I?

Long time. Long time.

Much like some people are enduring for me right now, I just wanted to give you an example of long suffering and what that truly means. Okay. Thank you for that prop during the service. That was really cool.

Okay, let's go to the fifth trait, which is kindness. Or gentleness. This is from a Greek word, Christosis. Christosis, a Greek word. And it means being useful, excellent in character or demeanor. Translated in the one English word called kindness.

The New King James Version, the New International Version, and the New By Standard Version translate this word as kindness. Other translations obviously have a different word. It's a genuine caring attitude for others. And it's like a sweetness of our personality that other people can sense. There's an attraction there. Kindness is possessing a friendly, a generous and warm-hearted nature. It's considerate of others. It's sensitive to the needs of others. Again, having a gentle and caring attitude. Let's go to Philippians 4, verses 4 through 6. And again, I'm going to read this from another translation today just to throw you. And the reason I do that occasionally is we have become so used to reading things in the New King James Version after time they lose their punch. Because we've read some of these scriptures so many times. Philippians 4, verses 4. Follow with me. It says, Be full of joy, which was, by the way, an earlier trait. And the Lord always, again I say, be full of joy. Let everyone see that you are gentle and kind. Do people see that in us? Or do they see that we're passive-aggressives? Do they see that we're angry? Do they see that we're on edge?

Or do they see within us gentleness and kindness in the way that we talk to them, in the way that we approach them? He says, But pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks and God's peace, which is another trait of the Spirit we covered earlier, which is so great we cannot understand it. It will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So again, there's this beautiful trait of the Spirit that we have just seen here called kindness. All of us could use a little bit more kindness, especially when we hear something that we don't want to hear. When we hear something that's maybe negative or critical or something that's different than what we believe, we can still respond to that person with kindness. We may not agree with them. And I'm not saying if someone is wrong, you have to agree with them, but you can respond to them in kindness. You can be friendly and generous and warm-hearted in your nature. And just by having that trait and that quality will even make them more receptive if you decide that you need to correct them or tell them that you don't agree with what they're saying. Then there is another trait, another quality. Number six is goodness. This is from the Greek word egathsonae. It means virtue or beneficence. The new Revised Standard Version translates. This Greek word is generosity. Another translation. This is being honest, giving, and virtuous. Goodness is the characteristic of those who seek to live in accordance with God's will. How many times have we talked about that today in the sermon? God's will. By emulating godly principles and values, a person with goodness has an important goal in their lives. They want to constantly grow in righteousness. Not because they think it saves them, only the shed blood of Jesus Christ saves us. But they want to constantly grow in righteousness because they want to please their Father. They know that as they grow, they give glory and honor to God by the growth that they achieve in their lives. So again, it's being honest, giving, and virtuous. Ephesians 5 and 6. This one is already on the wall, so I won't give a lot of time for you to turn there. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them, for you were once darkness, but now our light in the Lord walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. So again, Paul is emphasizing the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. They're all connected together about accepting God's values as our values. God's way of life should become our way of life. Faithfulness, or faith, is the seventh of the nine traits. Faithfulness is the quality being steadfast, dedicated, dependable, worthy of trust. These are other nuances of what the Greek word means. The Greek word is pistes, P-I-S-T-I-S, and from the Greek word perception, it means being convicted of a religious truth or the truthfulness of God, being constant in your profession.

That's what the Greek word means. So, faithfulness is the quality being steadfast, dedicated, dependable, and worthy of trust. It is the absolute belief and trust in God's many promises. And it means no matter what you go through in life that you are determined to bear fruit that lasts. Not to just be a shot in the dark, not to just say, I think I told you many years ago I saw a biography of Cary Grant and his wife. It kind of stunned me. I think it was his third wife. It kind of stunned me. The interviewer asked her about, it wasn't true that Cary Grant took LSD. And she said, oh, she says, we tried everything. We tried God. We tried drugs. In other words, everything was a fad. She just rattled off all of these things that people do in their empty search for happiness and fulfillment in life. Well, Jesus Christ doesn't want us to go through a God phase. Right? He wants this to be a journey, a disciple that walks through this journey for their entire lives. That's what faithfulness is. It is conviction. It is a dedication that the commitment that I made at my baptism was a promise. It was a covenant with God, and it shall not be broken. Very important understanding. Again, it's faithfulness. Let's take a look at 1 Peter, chapter 1 and verse 1. Again, since this is already up on the wall, Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God our Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Very beautiful scripture. Again, faithfulness, the Greek word pistis, meaning assurance, a constancy in our profession, a deep religious conviction, having a deep personal, unshakable conviction, no matter what someone tells us, no matter what we experience, that we are going to follow God in His way of life. Let's take a look now at the eighth of the nine traits, which is gentleness or meekness. This is a very Greek word that's prauctis. Also from the Greek, it's often defined as humility. And in some translations, this is called gentleness. In other translations, this is called meekness. And this is having a non-abrasive personality. There are some personality types in this world just to make it interesting. God used a little salt shaker when He created humankind. And there are some personality types that just have to be in your face. They know all, at least they think they know it all. They've got an opinion on everything that does not require an opinion. And they're going to tell you about it whether you want to hear it or not.

But in contrast to that, the trait of the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness or meekness. It's a personality trait of humility, the opposite of which is pride. Meekness does not refer to weakness or being passive, but to a controlled inner toughness. Something that you have, a toughness that's going on inside. And you are confident of your faith in Christ, so much so that you don't have to be in everyone's face about it. You're not compensating for something just lacking on your inside by being in everyone's face all the time. It's a, again, having a non-abrasive personality. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3 and verses 12 and 13.

Also, you must do. Verse 14.

That was the first of the traits that we discussed today, wasn't it?

Another one of the traits that we studied today.

So again, this is the trait of gentleness, not abruptness, not rudeness, not abrasiveness, but gentleness or meekness. And then there is the ninth trait, self-control or temperance. It comes from a Greek word, ekratia, and it means refraining from passions. Many translations translate this Greek word as self-control. In essence, it means learning mastery of self. That's not easy. But learning that when the number of things that we have to learn is we spiritually mature, and that is not every thought that comes up here should come out here. Our brain should have a big spiritual filter. And just because you think it does not mean you should say it. And that's what self-control is. It's when we begin to stray, we begin to see something that we shouldn't be looking at, or be attracted to something we shouldn't be attracted to, and we catch ourselves and say, Nope, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to stay out of the tool department at Home Depot, no matter how hard this is. Because I know that Father's Day is a mere eight days away.

And my family is just going to give me Home Depot gift cards like crazy anyway. In all seriousness, it is the mastery of self. Learning to control ourselves, learning to say no to ourselves, and learning to say yes to God. 1 Thessalonians 5-8. And again, I will just read this up here. This is from another translation. He says, So we should control ourselves. Again, this is from the New Century version.

It's about learning to master our passions, become masters over the things that we desire, and to stop ourselves, to control ourselves, drain ourselves in. When our thoughts and temptations of say things we shouldn't say cross our minds, we begin to pull that back and not do that. So, in conclusion, how do we develop the fruit of God's Spirit?

Well, it's really very easy. It's not as hard as we might think as far as making that decision. We have to let go of our attitude of self-reliance. We have to let go of an attitude of selfishness, and we have to allow ourselves to be led by God's Holy Spirit. And that usually begins when we have a good talk with ourselves, and that talk goes something like this. Greg, you've been working on this a long time, and so far, you've failed miserably. You've got to stop trying to do everything yourself.

You have to let go, and you have to let God's Spirit mentor you and teach you and guide you, and bring you to the next level of growth that you need to come to in life. This is the kind of talk, self-talk, that we need to have with ourselves.

And we need to get ourselves out of the way and the barriers that we have, and our own self-will. And we need to let that go and let God begin to do His work in us.

Let's take a look at a final scripture. James 4 and verse 5. First, I'll read this from the New King James Version, which most of you will have. It says, or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealousy, but He gives more grace. Therefore, He says, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Now, here's the translation that I have up on the screen. Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says that the Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for Himself alone? You see, God's Spirit doesn't want to share us with the world. He doesn't want us to have one foot in the world doing things my way, and then on the Sabbath another foot into God's way of life.

That's a recipe for disaster. That just is not going to work. God gives us, continuing here, God gives us even more grace as the Scripture says, God is against the proud. We have to let go. We have to take our will and push it aside and say, God, Thy will be done.

Your will be done in my life. So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. Well, tomorrow we have an opportunity to observe the day of Pentecost, and Pentecost is so important because God did not leave us orphans. Jesus Christ told His disciples, I will not leave you orphans. God promised to give us something that comes from Him so that we can keep His law, keep His commandments. So that we can grow in the fruit of the Spirit.

So we can become new creatures in Jesus Christ. And what is that that He gives us? He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit. And that Spirit was meant to make its home within our lives. The very presence of Jesus Christ and God the Father make their homes in our lives. And that changes everything. And tomorrow we'll talk about some of the things that those change. Let's look forward to the day of Pentecost, and we'll see its services tomorrow. Have a great Sabbath!