Make the Tree Good

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see you all. Hope you've had a great week. It seems like the weeks are going by quickly. It won't be long before we'll be in summer. June, was it 21st? 23rd? Is it 21st? I think it's 21st. So, it won't be long, and we will legally be able to get warm, I guess, after that. But I guess the snow and all of that is shocking to people.

I saw the other day that it had snowed in Hawaii in June. So, you know, in another month we'll be able to say, in a cold day in July, you know, we may be able to actually say that if it snows in a cold day in July, if the weather continues to change. Well, I'm sure you've kept up with the news reports that come to us basically all day long every day, if you watch Fox News or other news programs.

But, you know, there's been a shocking scandal, which has been greatly emphasized in the media recently, involving a Congressman, Anthony Weiner, who apparently sent inappropriate pictures to different women. And, of course, it is really something that has taken the media by storm. Everybody seems to be talking about it. And many of his own party are advising him to step down from Congress, to resign from Congress.

Apparently, he's been in Congress for over a decade. He's been there. I think he's from the state of New York. And they're seeking him to resign. And, you know, it's amazing that this kind of thing is something that seems to happen often by men who are in powerful positions of authority. A person in high office, it has been usually, in the history of the United States at least, been held to a very, very high standard, because they do occupy a leadership position where they should be role models for our young people and for other people in society. And, you know, Americans generally have held as leaders to this high standard of conduct, although this seems to be changing.

Some people, in fact, now are saying that Weiner should not go, that he should remain. And they are basically saying that his conduct, yes, was wrong, but it's not enough for him to resign, to step down. And I guess it depends if you've seen the pictures or not, you know, which I have to admit, I have not seen the pictures, but I've heard about them and read a little bit about what they say about those pictures.

But, you know, when you have someone's dirty laundry revealed to you, I don't know about you, but to me it's disheartening. I mean, when I see certain people that should be people that have a standard, a higher standard, it gives you a disheartening feeling. I wonder if that's the way, in fact, that Lot felt when he was in Sodom Gomorrah. It's like day by day, his soul was vexed by things that happen. It seems like it is happening more and more often today.

It makes me groan within myself. You know, I was, in fact, thinking about that when I heard about this particular problem, because it is something that surprises you. Even though we live in this kind of world today, it seems where this kind of thing is becoming more and more common. Because there's an expectation which is dashed by scandalous reports of lewd conduct that occur. You know, again, men of high reputation.

It's like the man who was in charge of the monetary fund from France, who was going to run for president. Another kind of a shocking thing that happened, you know, recently as well, and is a topic of discussion in France now, according to the news reports. But it's something, again, you don't expect when it happens. And it's always shocking. It's disheartening to us, and it vexes us in our way of thinking in this time that we're living in. Let's go to Mark chapter 11. There's a purpose about what I'm talking about. It's like when you go to someone who, you know, is reputed as being wise, and you see them do rather unwise things.

It's just shocking to you, isn't it? It does something to you. It is disheartening to us. Well, let's go this over here in Mark chapter 11 and verse 12. It says, And now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. So Jesus Christ was hungry as it nitches here. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see it. To see if it perhaps he could find something on it. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

And apparently there should have been, again, maybe at least a few that were available there, according to what is said about fig trees. And so Christ was not entirely here expecting something from a tree that could not produce any figs whatsoever. Usually there was at least something that could be eaten from the tree. And it says in response, Jesus said to it, Let no one eat fruit from you ever again. And his disciples heard it. And so Jesus Christ cursed the fig tree at that moment and at that time. Let's go down to verse 20. And now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you curse has withered away. And so that fig tree, again, withered away. You know, if you go to a fig tree, you ought to find figs. Like you said, I think I've explained this to you before in a previous sermon about how there should have been something on that tree that Jesus Christ could have eaten according to, again, the understanding about how fig trees grow. But Christ cursed the fig tree as an example to us for our benefit.

And for the disciples' benefit at that particular time. Jesus Christ in another place, remember, was rebuking the Pharisees. And I won't go to this particular passage. He was rebuking them for their hypocrisy. And what he said to them was quite interesting. He said, either make the tree good in its fruit good, or make the tree bad in its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

And so Jesus Christ, in talking to the Jews and to the Pharisees there, was saying, look, make the tree good or make it bad. In other words, we have within our power, and they had within their power, brethren, the ability to make that tree that was represented by the Jewish people at that particular time and the religious system that they had, they had the power to make it good. And Christ said, look, either make it good or make it bad. You go the entire other opposite direction than this. And, you know, when I heard again these scandalous things this past week and thought in terms of this, you know, expectation that we have of our leaders to be people that have more character, I thought of this particular passage where Jesus Christ said to the Pharisees, make the tree good or make it evil. Brethren, are you about the business of making the tree good? That tree, brethren, being you, you are that tree in the midst of the forest of God's people. Are you about the business of making the tree good? Are you, brethren, a genuine Christian? I mean, from the depths of your heart and your being, are you a genuine Christian?

You know, Jesus in another place talked about that, you know, sometimes we can have darkness in us and he asked the question, how great is the darkness? No, are again we light from within? Are we good trees? Are we making the tree good? Let's go to Matthew 7. Jesus Christ, remember here in this case, cursed that tree and it withered and it died. And what good was it, brethren, after that point? Well, you could come through and you could cut it down and you could use it for firewood to be burned up. Matthew 7 and down in verse 17, notice here, it says, even so, every good tree bears good fruit.

But a bad tree bears bad fruit. You know, some fruit from a tree, you know, it's like this, you can't find a piece of the fruit that's in that tree that is bad. You know, it is just succulent. We have just enjoyed, by the way, the cherries up in the Brittenwood area recently. I don't know if you've been up there, you know, and picked any of the cherries that are available up there if you want to pick cherries. A lot of people are there. I mean, in fact, when we went to over to Mercer Caverns, you know, a couple of weeks ago, there were a lot of people up there picking on Sunday when we were traveling over. You know, there's just cars parked all over the place picking these cherries, but they're just as sweet as can be. I mean, just incredible. Joan and I bought a, you know, a giant sack of them when we're coming back from Sissoun City from visiting up there at the Malecias with Mrs. Martin and the ladies that were there that day. And boy, it was hard to stop eating them on the way back home. I don't know if you're like that or not, but I had to tell my wife. I said, no, no, that's all. Don't give me any more. She was feeding me the cherries, you know, open the window and spitting the seed out all the way, all the way down. But, you know, it was a wonderful fruit, but it's wonderful in that way. And so Jesus Christ said that, you know, a good tree produces good fruit, you know, wonderful, tasty fruit. And so it's important, brethren, that we produce good fruit reflecting the Christians that we are supposed to be, that people expect to see when they come to God's church. You know, it reminds me of what the Apostle Paul told the Jews. Let's go over to Romans chapter 2. You know, Paul told the Jews these things because they were judging him very harshly, as we know. You know, many of them sought to kill him at times. But, you know, Paul was talking to the Jews because they boasted about being Jews. You know, it's amazing that even people in religion can boast, and they boasted about being Jews. They boasted about the law. They boasted about everything, as a matter of fact. But in Romans 2, let's notice here down in verse 17, he says here, Indeed, you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law. And it says, And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, alike to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? Do you not teach yourself?

You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You know, so here Paul is telling them, he says, look, you know, you need to be, if you're claiming and boasting all these things, you need to be an example of these things. You know, one of the things that Jesus Christ condemned more than anything else in his ministry was what, brethren? Hypocrisy. Go look at what he says all the way through his ministry, and he talks about hypocrisy. And, brethren, as Christians, we must be genuine in our lives. We must live it ourselves as we preach it to others. You know, Jesus Christ lambasted the Pharisees, and this is what he said to them in Matthew 23. You don't need to turn there, but it says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. So, brethren, we want to make sure that that's not us. That's not us in the church today. We must make the cup on the inside clean, brethren. And we also, brethren, must make the outside clean as God's people. And, you know, when we are baptized and we surrender to Jesus Christ, we make a commitment to do that. That's what baptism is all about. You know, sometimes I wonder if people fully understand what baptism is all about. It's a dedication. It's a surrender to God. I mean, you surrender yourself to God. You know, human nature is in complete conflict with the Spirit of God. Complete conflict. Unless, brethren, we battle this flesh, we will lose. If you don't go to battle against this flesh, this human flesh, you will lose.

And we have to be battle-ready as God's people and push to walk in a different way of life.

Let's notice what Paul says in the book of Galatians. Well, again, we are to make the tree good, brethren. Make the tree good. And we have the tools. We have the instruction. We have the knowledge. It's just a matter of applying these things. Galatians 5 and down in verse 16. Here, Paul told the brethren in the Galatia, he said, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You know, you have to be dedicated to walking in the Spirit lest you fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's an automatic, in other words. If you don't do battle, brethren, you lose. That's just the bottom line. And it says, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and they're contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. And so we, as God's people, really need to recognize there's a real tug of war from the time that, brethren, we are baptized and from the time we receive the Holy Spirit there's a tug of war that begins between the flesh and the Spirit. And a Christian must exercise restraint denying the self to win the battle. That's the only way that you can do it.

If we let the flesh dictate our choices, we will not obey in the Spirit. This is why we surrender to Jesus Christ, by the way. We surrender these things to Jesus Christ, our flesh, as it were.

We cast it before Jesus Christ and say, I belong to you. I'm not my own anymore. And, brethren, if we give up on our flesh, we have to give up on our flesh. That's what repentance is, you know, when we repent. We give up on our flesh. You know, we throw our hands up and say, you know, you can't win in this human flesh. And, again, that's what surrender is all about.

And we have to dwell, certainly, in these temporary bodies. That's certainly true.

You know, these bodies are certainly temporary, aren't they? You know, here, Mr. von Kohl has died. He was going to be 88 years of age, and the body just gets old, doesn't it? Can't take any more.

And, you know, hard to believe that all of us are going to be in that position. If Christ doesn't come back, you know, before we die, we're all going to be in that position. And so, this flesh really doesn't do us a lot of favors, you know. And we need to, again, realize that we, you know, we got to live in this flesh. We don't have to walk in the flesh. You know, if we allow God's spirit rather to lead us, we are not under the penalty of the law. I think we need to understand that as God's people. If we let the flesh lead us, we're under the penalty of the law.

If we let the spirit lead us, we're not under the penalty of the law.

You know, do we really understand that, what that means?

You know, we need to, again, make sure that we are walking, you know, outside the penalty of the law of God. I'll mention a little bit about that in a few moments. But let's go to the book of Galatians. Galatians, over here in verse 24, down in verse 24, we should be there already. And it says, And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desire.

And so the passions and the desires of the human flesh have been crucified.

And, you know, our flesh should be like Rover when he's dead, he's dead all over. You know, you've probably seen a dog like that, haven't you? You call him, he doesn't come.

But, you know, our flesh needs to be that way. You know, that our flesh does not answer the call if we give a call to it. But the Spirit, the Spirit does answer the call, and that is the call of Jesus Christ. The flesh is weak. The flesh, if we, again, let the flesh lead us, we're going to cave in to temptation every time. It will let you down. It's like I remember when I was a kid growing up, we had a man running for the county undertaker. And, you know, his motto was, I'll be the last to let you down. Well, better than your flesh will be the last to let you down. You know, our human flesh is, again, weak, and it caves in to temptation. But the Spirit does not.

It does not. The Spirit, if it is leading us, brethren, it will not. Romans chapter 6. I know it's hard to connect with that idea, brethren, because here we are in these fleshly tents, as the Bible compares them to. You know, but we need to, again, think outside of this flesh, as God's people. We need to meditate very deeply about these things. But, you know, in Romans 6 and verse 2, let's notice this, it says, he talks about, should we continue in sin, that grace may abound. But in verse 2, certainly not, how should we who have died to sin live any longer in it?

You know, if we really, truly died from the standpoint of our flesh, how can we live in it any longer? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ, Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death? In other words, as He died, you know, and rose again, we die, brethren, and we will rise again as well in the future. And it says, therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And so we need to again be walking in that newness of life. For if we had been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection. And knowing this, that the old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be done away with, and that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And so when that old man went down to that watery grave, brethren, let's leave him there, let's not go back and dig him up, you know, let's leave him in the watery grave.

And going on here, let's notice in verse 11, you know, the flesh again will get us in trouble if we strive to satisfy it, and we bring upon ourselves the penalty of the law, the condemnation of the law, if we walk in the flesh. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about here, brethren. It's like when you're driving along. As long as you are driving the speed limit, you don't have anything to worry about. You know, you can drive along, and you know, you can just kick back and just tool on down that road. But if you're going 80 miles an hour, you better be looking around. Because why? Why is it? You come under the penalty of the law, you see. That's what I mean when I'm talking about walking in the spirit. Walking in the spirit, and if you walk in the flesh, you become one who is under the penalty of the law. In verse 11, notice here, chapter 6 and verse 11, it says, Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And verse 12, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in your lust. So we've got to be careful again, not letting that flesh dictate to us and lead us. And, you know, if you're really honest with yourself, you know what I'm talking about here, how the human flesh is. You know, when we maybe use our eyes in a wrong way, we think about use our minds in a wrong way. We've got to somehow, as God's people, again, turn away from that. And of course, that's a whole other subject that certainly deserves attention in a sermon as well. But in Galatians 5, let's go back to Galatians chapter 5 over here. No, Paul is really telling his brethren the nitty gritty of what it means to be a Christian. And really here we have also the nitty gritty about how we can make the tree good. That Christ doesn't have to come along and expect something from it that is not going to be there, that our tree would be cursed and that we would take and be burned. In Galatians 5 and verse 25, Galatians 5 and verse 25, here he says, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let's walk in the Spirit.

You know, when we come into the church, brethren, when we're baptized, we're brought into the Church of God. And the Church of God is God's town. It's God's town. It's his city here upon this earth. And brethren, when we're in this city, let's walk according to the Spirit. That's the way the the kingdom will be ultimately in the world tomorrow. It's going to take a long time before it gets to that point ultimately, brethren, but it's going to be that way by the time the end of the thousand years comes to pass. You know, if we're living in the Spirit, he says, let's walk in it.

You know, that is the spiritual laws and the principles of God's Word, both in the letter and in the Spirit. Romans 8, let's notice over here in Romans 8 and verse 1. Romans 8 and verse 1. So again, we must make the tree good. In Romans 8 and verse 1, it says, there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. It says, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So there is not a bit of condemnation for those who walk in the Spirit, as God's people. No one can condemn you. It is Christ who justifies us.

We, as God's people, have to realize, though, that we must walk according to the Spirit if we expect no condemnation.

Paul talked about how he had to be careful when he preached to others that he himself would become a castaway. We can be the same way. A lot of people have been looking at us through the years, whether or not they ever entertained the idea to come into the church.

But, brethren, when they see us, they're seeing an example of what the kingdom of God is going to be like.

And, you know, it's like with our leaders. We have expectations of them. They have expectations of us. They may not understand what it is to live God's way of life, but they have great expectations of us, all of us, individually. You know, of course, when I'm talking about these things, brethren, I'm not saying that we never make mistakes. I'm not saying that as concerning God's people, brethren.

But when we make mistakes, we repent of those mistakes. And God faithfully forgives us of those mistakes and those sins that we overcome and change. You know, changing and overcoming our human nature is a process of a person pressing toward the kingdom of God with the desire to become like Jesus Christ, walking in the Spirit, in other words. And, you know, the interesting thing is the more a person does it, the more you put effort into it in walking in God's way of life. Brethren, the interesting thing is the more you will want to do it.

Isn't that the way it is? Even in the flesh about things, I mean, you think about this.

It's like for myself. I don't know what you're like in your life, but, you know, I know I need to exercise. You know, I know I need to do that on a daily basis. But, you know, I'll tell you, as much as we exercise in our lives, and I've done a lot of exercise through the years, I don't know, I probably have lost a thousand pounds in my lifetime, probably. You know, we sort of yo-yo, at least I do, with it. I've got one of those metabolisms, if I smell something, that's fattening, it affects me. I've got to be careful when I come and visit you. You know, you've got something on. But it's hard to get up, isn't it? It's hard to begin to exercise.

It's hard to do that. But, you know what? Every time I do it, I'm thankful I did it.

Every time. There's never a time where I said, boy, that was all a waste of my time. You know, I feel better about myself for doing it, for one thing. But I feel better, too.

And, you know, think about this as well, brethren. It's like when people sometimes have said to me, they've said, you know, boy, on the Sabbath, I just work so hard during the week, and I get to the Sabbath, and I'm just dragging around. You know, typically, this is what people say, you know, when they first start keeping the Sabbath. And you know what I've told them every time, as a pastor, I've always said, look, you push yourself. Make sure you're here.

And I will guarantee you that every time you come, you will be glad you did.

It's the same way, isn't it? Same way. And I see a lot of you shaking your heads. Yes, in the affirmative, by the way. It is that way in the flesh, and it's that way spiritually, too, that we were always glad that we kept that convocation, and we gained from it as a result of it. Well, brethren, if we're walking according to the Spirit, then we will begin to produce the fruit which comes from the Spirit. And the fruit in our lives is the greatest evidence of the genuineness of whether we are Christian or not. That's the fruit.

Now, Christ went to the fig tree to find fruit. Christ comes to us from time to time. Who knows? Maybe He doesn't on a personal basis. We don't know how things are. And certainly, there are angels that report back to Him, I'm sure, because He's the head of the church, and He knows every one of us, brethren, better than we know ourselves. But He looks for that genuine evidence that we are Christian, brethren. Let's go back to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. You see, if we're going to make the tree good, brethren, we've got to make sure that, again, the inside is good. If we make that inside good, the tree is going to be good. It's going to produce fruit, brethren, that is just luscious and delicious and appetizing, like a beautiful fragrance to it as well. Galatians 5 and verse 22. Here it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.

And so these, brethren, these nine characteristics that we see here, that Jesus Christ is, are called the fruit of the Spirit. So the fruit of the Spirit is demonstrated in our lives by these nine characteristics that we see here. Now, let's talk about each one of these. I think there's some things you can observe about these particular characteristics that are quite interesting, because I think these nine characteristics, brethren, describe to us what a true Christian really is. What a... these nine characteristics show us again how we can make the tree good.

Let's go down through briefly each one of these a little bit here. But the first one is love. We know that God is love. This word, by the way, here in the Greek is agape. I don't think that's a shock to you. I think you're well aware of that if you study the Scriptures any at all. But love, brethren, here is not a noun, but a verb. Love. Love is not something that's just a noun here, but it's a verb. In other words, it's an active verb. You know, if I say, you know, I want to love you or I love you, that means I'm actively doing something. So love is an outgoing, active concern.

It's an active concern for others, and it's not, in other words, in going. Get out of your mind, brethren, that this word means in going, coming into us. God gives us this gift, by the way, but it's not in going, it's outgoing. It was outgoing from the Father and the Son. It was outgoing from God. And God showed us love while we were yet sinners. There was nothing coming back to Him when we were shown that love from God. He actively loved us, and He loved us before we loved Him. So love denotes something we actively do, brethren, for others, not something passive. It's like someone's saying, well, I love you.

But it is someone who says, I love you, let me count the ways. I love you. In other words, the ways in which that love is demonstrated. 1 John chapter 3. Again, make the tree good, brethren. It has to be that love that is an outgoing, active love.

You know, a lot of times when people are baptized and they receive God's Spirit, they want to see flashes of light. You know, they want to see doves lighting on them. You know, I don't know what all people think that should happen when they are baptized, and we always tell them, no, you won't see anything. You won't feel anything. The only thing that you're going to, is going to be a proof that you receive God's Spirit is by the fruit in your life. In other words, it is something you have to do. Love, again, is that fruit, brethren, that needs to be in us. 1 John 3, down in verse 14, it says, well, we know that we have passed from life to death because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

You see, this is an action word. This word is love. It certainly can be a noun, but here it's an action word, brethren, like a verb. Notice it says that something happens here. We pass from death to life. Something happens. You know, sometimes people can grow up in such environments that they have thought that they could never love another human being.

But when they come into God's church and they receive God's Spirit, they begin to find out what love is. It is a magical thing in one sense that you pass from death to life and you are different. You love the brethren because we know we're all a part of God's family. If we don't love, then again, we still dwell in death, as it mentions here, to us. And it says, whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. And by this we know love because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth. And so let's not just talk the talk, but let's walk the walk as God's people. And one other scripture here on this particular characteristic of love that a Christian has, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, and verse 9.

Here Paul tells the brother that's Thessalonica, he says, But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. You know, that really should be sufficient, isn't it? That we are taught that. And indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia, but we urge you brethren, stop because you've done enough.

No, that you increase more and more, more and more, that we have a greater and growing love for God's people. And that it will not ever be said of us, brethren. Well, you know, so and so, boy, he used to be quite a servant. You know, he would really get in there and he would help people and help lots of people, but you know, he doesn't do that much anymore.

Should that ever be said of us? No, absolutely not, brethren. But we should be increasing it as the Bible says here and as Paul encouraged the brethren there to do. And so love, brethren, is a characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit. A characteristic. And again, all of us know that.

But we see here also joy is a fruit of the Spirit. And this word in the Strongs for the Greek is chara. You know, this means cheerfulness. That is a calm delight that is within us. It's like, you know, have you ever seen somebody with their eyes that sort of twinkled and it, you know, they light up and it's like it's the eyes or the flashlight of the soul.

Something's happening inside of them. You know, I don't believe a parent can go through rearing children without having that kind of delight that sort of comes out through the eyes. You know, when they see something that their child has done that is just so pleasing to them. I'm sure God feels that way about us individually. But, you know, this characteristic, brethren, is cheerfulness, a calm delight, gladness. In other words, we are inwardly appreciative of the salvation that God has made possible to us. Inwardly. It just is inside of us, brethren. Again, make the tree good, brethren. It has to again begin within us. Let's go to John 15. John 15. John 15 and down in verse 10, here Jesus Himself said here, He said, if you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I've spoken to you that My joy, this is the same Greek word, by the way, joy, chara, may remain in you and that your joy may be full.

Have you ever thought about, brethren, when we again somehow want to linger with the flesh, that we rob ourselves of the opportunity to have real joy in our lives? You know, the flesh seeks to be satisfied, but it robs us of the full joy that can be ours in this life. You know, the only, this is only possible, brethren, when we embrace and abide in Christ by observing the laws that God has established. You know, when we learn to make those a part of us so that we, they're second nature to us, so that, brethren, we again always are driving the speed limit.

In our hearts and our minds, we're going to again begin to have that full joy that comes.

The next characteristic, brethren, here is peace.

The word peace, by the way, means one. One of the meanings is it means one. And, of course, you can understand what peace and oneness, why they go together, and I'll mention a bit about that in a few moments. It means quietness. Quietness. Mothers like that particular time, by the way, when the kids are out of the house. Quietness. There's something that quietness can do for us. You know, if you've particularly had a very rough week, you know, you sit down and it's quiet, and you can just relax. It means rest as well. It means harmony. It is to be, what it means, brethren, is to be in unity with God, your fellow man, and yourself. To be at peace.

And this is made possible only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Only through that, brethren. And it comes by walking in the Spirit. Again, there's something that is peaceful in us when we finally know how we're supposed to live. I remember when I first started studying and looking at the Bible, I was so frustrated when I began to understand the purpose for human life. It gave me a certain peace, even as a teenager back in those times when I was studying the scriptures, and I was trying to understand. I was trying to grasp. When we understand that our sins have been blotted out, also it gives us a certain peace. You know, the Bible tells us in one place, it says, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You have that peace that passes all understanding, as the Bible tells us in the book of Philippians as well. And, you know, that peace, brethren, guards us against the trials we endure. And we can go through most anything in our lives. God forbid we do go through everything that is possible to go through in this life, but we can go through it. We can endure it because we have this peace of mind. I think it gives us tremendous peace of mind to know that our loved ones, if they pass away, we lose them that way, that we will see them again. That gives you a certain peace in life. Remember when you didn't understand the truth of God, and you always wondered what happened to people after death? To me, that's a vexing to a human being to not know that, to not understand about that. And people go through that in their lives.

And, you know, through the history of the church, great men and women have become martyrs because they have this peace of mind. You know, they can willingly give up this flesh and wait to the time of the resurrection because they have this peace that passes all human understanding. Now, one thing that's kind of interesting here, we've gone through three qualities or characteristics here. The first three qualities or characteristics here in this list of nine come from within us.

They come from within us. Love, joy, and peace come from within us, brethren. And you know what they really reflect, brethren? Those three fruits reflect our real relationship with God. This is what our real relationship is. You know, if we have love, joy, and peace from within us, that shows, again, our relationship with God. And truly, again, we can have that joy and that peace because of our relationship with God, our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Now, interestingly, brethren, the next three characteristics deal with our attitude and actions toward our neighbor. Now, this is interesting, isn't it? We're looking at a complete Christian here. We are to become a new creation. And God wants us to have this fruit in us, within us. So the next three deal with our attitude and actions toward our neighbors. Long suffering is the next one. In other words, that's forbearance, patience. Forbearance means to bear someone. You know, to forbear. You bear for them.

Sometimes, you know, they can put you through trials and difficulties, but you bear it.

And forbearance indicates, again, we thought about it before it happens.

Patience is also what it means. A person, in other words, willingly endures difficulties for another's benefit. You know, Jesus demonstrated this restraint and forbearance when, remember, He was on the stake at the time of the crucifixion. He said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. He showed that long suffering.

And Stephen, who was called the first saint, showed the same spirit of mind when being stoned by the Jews. He talked about how he cried out. He said, Lord, do not charge them with this sin.

Long suffering, patience, the fruit of the spirit, brethren.

The next one is kindness. In the King James, it uses the word, generalist, if you have a King James there. But later, the word, generalist, is used.

They tend to overlap here, these particular characteristics that are there.

Kindness, brethren, is the state of being kind. In other words, it's not a kind act so much, but it is the state of being kind. And people who have kindness do many kind acts. Now, hopefully again, we understand this. Within us, there is this kindness that is there.

And God wants us to, again, to realize it is a state of being. It's what we are within us.

This is a part of a characteristic to be kind. It's not abrasive. It's not rash with people.

This is kindness. We have that kindness within us. Let's go to Ephesians 4.

In Ephesus, the Apostle Paul had to admonish the brethren there, who had seen many patriarchs come through there and taught them and instructed them, who should have understood, grasped these things. But, you know, it's kind of interesting. Sometimes what people can not get, even after years and years. But in Ephesians 4 and down in verse 31, he says, "'Live all bitterness.'" You know, where does kindness and bitterness fit together? Well, they don't, do they? "'Rath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God and Christ forgave you.'" And so kindness, brethren, is a characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit.

And then the next one is goodness. Goodness. And this means benevolence. Benevolence means acting in a way that exhibits the core of goodness of our intent from within.

Acting away, brethren, that exhibits the core of goodness of our intent from within. You know, are you a good person in the sense of wanting to do good things for people? That your motivations are good. Yeah, sometimes it's like Simon LeGree, you know, with a mustache and all that, tying the lady on the railroad tracks and always trying to cheat her out of money or a house or whatever. He, of course, exhibited the acme of badness. But are we good? Our intention's good.

Galatians 6. Let's go to Galatians, the book of Galatians.

Galatians 6, at verse 9 and 10. Here it says, it says, Let us not grow weary while doing good, but in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. And we're just doing good things for people. I think about Dorcas, by the way, in the New Testament was the kind of person that was that way. She was always doing good things for people. And she developed a reputation for it. So these three fruits here, brethren, show us how our actions and attitudes toward our neighbors should be, to our brothers within the church. If we're going to make the tree good. Now, let's look at the last three of these nine characteristics. The last three demonstrate, brethren, how we conduct ourselves in our duties, in our responsibilities, in our life. You know, our daily life, brethren, is a responsibility that God has put on our shoulders, no one else. You know, sometimes we want to blame other people for how our lives have become, but God has put our lives into our hands. Hopefully we will care about our lives more than anybody else will. Not always so, but, you know, sometimes we don't care for our lives the way that we should. So these three characteristics, brethren, show us how we ought to conduct our duties, our opportunities, and our daily lives. The first one is faithfulness.

Faithfulness. The Greek word here is pistis, p-i-s-t-i-s. And you know what this means? It means moral conviction. Moral conviction. It means constancy. Constancy. It means proven to be dependable, trustworthy. And so as we deal with whatever it might be, you know, if we have a job in the church, are we faithful in that job that we have? If we are a father, are we a faithful provider for our families? If we are a mother, again, do we take our responsibilities as mothers the way that we should? Seriously? And parents working together and so forth doing so in a faithful manner? If we're Christians, are we faithful? Are we faithful? You know, God commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Do we do that? Do we do that? And again, not just coming to the convocation, but do we keep the Sabbath holy and not trample on holy time?

Luke 16. Let's notice here Luke 16. Luke 16 and verse 10. This is what Jesus Christ said.

This is the parable, by the way, he spoke. But he said, He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit your trust the true riches?

And, you know, when Christ talked about this, essentially, too, if you read the whole account here, Christ is talking about your life and my life is the responsibility that we have individually.

And you know what? He compares that to being faithful and little in our lives.

I know we think we're mighty and big and important and all of that, but Christ basically says that your life and my life is very little. And if you can't be faithful with very little, Christ says, how are you going to be given much more than that? So our lives, again, are important for us to make sure that we are faithfully living according to God's way of life. And if we can do that, God will give us much more in the future. The next characteristic, brethren, as we execute our duties that we should have, is gentleness. This is a characteristic which comes to us when we know what tenderness and care has been shown to us from God. How God has been so careful with us, brethren, so gentle with us. This gentleness, by the way, is having a tender treatment of other people and is born out of humility. Humility. Let's go to Galatians. We see a little bit of what Paul is saying here with regard to how we conduct ourselves because, you know, we may not have the responsibility of being a minister, but we all have responsibilities, don't we? You know, whether we're ministers or not, we all have responsibilities in the church. As being future kings and priests in the world tomorrow, in Galatians 6 and verse 1 it says, "'As children obey your parents'..." Well, I think I may be in the wrong book. I'm in Ephesians, chapter 6 of Galatians. It says, "'Brethren, if any man is overtaken in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore such and one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted.'" And so when we try to help other people, brethren, we should not try to set ourselves up as the paragons of absolute virtue. We should be very humble, and we should be very gentle, and have the spirit, again, of being gentle with people.

Over in 2 Timothy 2, we see the same instructions given to the ministry.

You know, sometimes people look again at, say, a pastor or look to an elder and think that, oh boy, they've got this authority that they can sort of throw around. Not so. Not so.

Not that way at all. You know, I think that we need to understand, too, that the last thing that a pastor or an elder wants to do is ever put anybody out of the church. That's the very last thing. I mean, that, in fact, is not even in the thinking processes.

And the thinking processes should be, basically, how can we help this person? 2 Timothy 2 and verse 24, it says, "...a servant of the Lord, which you and I are, brethren, must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach and patient." And so we must be gentle to everyone.

So, as we're learning, again, we need to remember that as a characteristic of the Holy Spirit.

In humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God, perhaps, will grant their repentance so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape to snare the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. And so we, again, need to show gentleness as a part of our execution of duties and how we live, not just in the church, but on the job, where we may work, at school, you know, wherever we may be, that we, again, show gentleness to all people. And then finally, the last fruit of these three here is self-control.

Learning to control the self. This word self-control means continence. It means continence. In other words, there's a continuity in the way you live.

You have, you control yourself. You're not out of control, but you are in control.

It means the ability to hold oneself in.

It's like we tell our kids, you know, sometimes when we're traveling a long trip, you know, when they were little and growing up, you know, they would sit in the backseat and they'd say, Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom. And the first thing we say is, can you hold it in? And sometimes they had to wait a long time before we get to the place.

I remember one time, though, one of the kids, I'm going to say which one.

But it wasn't Jonathan. But one time, I think, was up in the Columbia Gorge up there, up in the Northwest. And one of them had to go to the restroom. And I'm telling you, there was nothing out there where we were to veer a restroom. And so we had to send him into the bushes. And anyway, we got into the bushes, trying to get things going there.

And he saw a bug and it scared him. And so he could hold it in.

Well, this self-control means holding it in. And of course, we're talking about, you know, our nature here. Sorry to get into that. But it's self-restraint. Self-restraint.

Let's go to Romans chapter 8. So, brother, these are the characteristics that God wants us to have.

All of these characteristics, they're so important for us as Christians. They're not just a litany of characteristics that God says, oh, y'all, y'all and pass on. But he wants us to learn that this is the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 and verse 11, it says, it says, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit which dwells in you.

And it goes on. It says, therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, but if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if the Spirit, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So, brethren, if we're going to make the tree good, this has to be a part of it here. And these are the characteristics, brethren, that we need to have within ourselves. And, you know, we should never think. I've heard people say this in other churches, not in the Church of God, but I've heard people talk about how the Holy Spirit sees me. You probably have heard this before, the Holy Spirit sees me and I just had to do this, and I had to do that. That's not so, brethren. You know, nothing can seize you to do that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14, 32, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, and not vice versa. And in the same way, brethren, we can subject this body of ours that cries out.

We can exercise self-control as God's people. Now, what is interesting in this whole thing, and I've sort of been skirting on this as we've been talking about this, what is interesting about Galatians 5, 22 is that the Apostle Paul does not say fruits of the Spirit. I don't know if you noticed that. Sometimes when we talk about the Spirit, we talk about the fruits of the Spirit, but he said fruit, fruit of the Spirit. In other words, brethren, we bear the fruit which should be in all of us who are Christians. This fruit, again, comes from us as the trees within the church. If we're walking in the Spirit, brethren, we will produce all of these virtues and not part of them.

The gifts of the Spirit are different than the fruit of the Spirit. You know, we can be given and develop gifts which are very between Christians. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is expressed as a multifaceted whole fruit which is born of those called of God who walk in the Spirit.

It's like a tree that produces a fruit, brethren, that has many characteristics about it. It's like an apple. If I were to ask you to describe an apple to me, you would say, oh, there's some apples that all of us certainly enjoy that are crisp. You know, you take a bite of that and it's a crisp and some are very sweet and some are very sour. Some are juicy and some are smooth in their texture.

Some are slick on the outside. Brethren, there is one Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and long suffering. All those nine characteristics is the fruit that is born by the Holy Spirit. You know, Jesus Christ commanded us, brethren, to make the tree good. And this is the avenue through which we can do that, to make that tree good. We must focus on producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit and this is especially good to do as we approach, rather than the Feast of Pentecost, which is tomorrow. When the Holy Spirit was given, remember, to the church in 31 A.D. What do we need to do in order to do these things?

Probably much more could be said than I'm going to say. But, number one, brethren, I would like you to recommit yourself to walking in the Spirit. Let the Spirit lead you.

You know, you want to know what Spirit is? This is Spirit right here.

This is, we're going to be genuine Christians. We have to recommit ourselves to walking in the Spirit.

Number two, brethren, take some time. Meditate to seek to know yourself.

You know, David wanted God to reveal to him a secret sense. He wanted to be white with God from within himself. So, meditate about these things. Come to know yourself of how you may not be producing the kind of characteristics that you need that is the fruit of the Spirit of God. How you can improve these things.

And number three, brethren, pray for the strength of God's Holy Spirit to make the changes that are needed in your life day by day. You know, God will help us to degree that we make an effort to focus on his way and apply his way. You put your whole heart into it, brethren, you're going to reap bountifully in your life. God can only bless the effort that you make. No, God's not going to do it for us. It's our responsibility that he's given to us. You know, the Bible says that Christ cursed the unfruitful fig tree, and it withered and it died. And the only thing it was good for after that was to chop it down and to burn it as firewood. Well, brethren, are we making the tree good or are we making the tree bad? We have to make a choice about what we're determined to do. What do you determine to do in this life? You know, are we ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth? Or, brethren, are we again making the tree good? I'm not asking to turn there, but in John 15 and verses 6 through 8, I'd like to leave this with you. Christ said, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and it withers, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. And by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. So, brethren, let's make the tree good. Let's make it good. That's why we've been called.