A More Excellent Way

Well, you might have known this is a special day. We don't normally attend services on Sunday. But of course, one time in the year, we're sure to be here on a Sunday. The Feast of Pentecost. And I think one of probably the best-known stories we associate with Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Christ's disciples. If you will, join me in Acts 2. I know neither of the speakers this morning read this, so maybe they were saving it for me. But I'd be surprised if you all haven't read it at least recently. It might have been covered in services yesterday. Acts 2, at the start of the chapter, it tells us, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. It filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire. One sat on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And they were dwelling there in Jerusalem, Jews devout men from every nation. When the sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused. They were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. It's an outright miracle. And they were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, aren't all those who speak Galileans? How is it we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya? Boy, there's a lot of them. Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews, Proselytes, Cretans, Arabs. We hear them speaking in our own tongues, the wonderful works of God. So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Now, I'm not going to continue reading, but you know Peter stood up and gave a powerful sermon. You know, the miracle got people's attention. It's Peter expounding God's Word that cut them to the heart so he could give them the message that they needed to repent and be baptized. I'm not going to focus on the message he gave today because I want to keep attention on the miraculous gift, the amazing gift that came with God's Holy Spirit. And I'll say, having a gift through the Spirit was not a one-time event. We'll come back here in a moment if you want to keep a finger here, but I want to turn to 1 Corinthians 12. In 1 Corinthians 12, there's a lot of attention to spiritual gifts. I'll begin with verse 4. Paul is explaining to the members of the Church in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4, he says, There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it's the same God who works all in all. The manifestation of the Spirit, you know, what comes about because of the Spirit, is given to each one for the prophet of all. To one, the Word of wisdom through the Spirit. To another, the Word of knowledge. Actually, I want to save going on those for a moment, but we look at some of these amazing gifts, though, and of course, certainly would like to have gifts of the Spirit. Whenever I baptize someone and lay hands on them, in my prayer, I ask God to not only give them the Spirit, but whatever gifts he might choose that come through the Spirit.

But it's important for us to realize that having such amazing abilities through God's Spirit is not the highest attainment. If we go to the end of this chapter, we'll see that Paul says something very interesting and important. Verse 31 of chapter 12, he says, Earnestly desire the best gifts, but, or yet, I show you a more excellent way. And he goes on in verse chapter 13 to show what he means by the more excellent way. Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, if I have not love, it's like being a sounding brass or clinging cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but if I have not love, it's nothing. So we could ask, is love a gift of the Spirit? He said it asked for the desire, the greatest gifts, but then there's something he said greater.

Well, you might be thinking, how many of you are thinking Galatians 5? You don't have to do a show of hands, but I'm going to turn. Well, actually, I'll just cite this because I want to turn and read it later. But in Galatians 5 and verse 22, Paul mentions the fruit of the Spirit, and he lists several attributes, starting with love. And I always get these jumbled if I don't have them written down, but I do have them written down. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We could ask, is the fruit of the Spirit different from a gift through the Spirit? Should we want one more than we want the other? Should we seek both? And how do we go about it? These are some issues that I want to think about and look into what the Bible tells us about spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit. As we're commemorating the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church, and we have available something fabulous that most people in the world don't have.

But I wrote a note to just to caution, this won't necessarily be a comprehensive statement. It's a comprehensive or exhaustive look at those subjects. So if I leave something out, it's because I left something out. But hopefully we'll have a pretty decent coverage. So before I move on to looking at the fruit, let's talk a little bit more about gifts through the Spirit. The first thing I'd want to point out, and I said to keep a finger in Acts chapter 2 and I didn't, is the fact that the Holy Spirit itself is an amazing gift from God.

It's something He gives us. Now, you might make a note without us turning there right now, but on the last night that Christ spent with His disciples, He kept the Passover with them, and then the Apostle John in his Gospel account recorded much teaching that Christ gave after He instituted the new Passover symbols. Much of what He told them about was that God would send them a paracletus, a comforter.

He was talking about the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit would come to them after His resurrection. And that's exactly what we see in Acts 2. I'm going to turn to Acts 2 and verse 37, after the description of Peter's powerful sermon following the miracles, that, as I said earlier, they heard this, Peter's message, and they were cut to the heart.

They said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's a gift, something that's given that's precious beyond all understanding. And this does show us that it's very clear that the Holy Spirit does enter a person at a specific time, and not because that person earns it.

And we don't deserve it. We don't do anything magical that makes it happen. It's a gift from God. If we turn ahead in the book of Acts to chapter 10, we're going to read starting in verse 44. And I'll summarize the story beforehand, because the apostles had gone out, and were largely preaching the gospel to their fellow countrymen, the Jews.

And some Gentiles heard it. You know, there were some proselytes, some God-fearers. But in Acts chapter 10, God wants Peter to see that you don't have to be Jewish to be called into God's family. And so he shows him the vision of various animals, and says, what I've cleansed, don't call common or unclean. And Peter realizes he's not talking about doing away with the dietary laws. He's saying no man should be called common or unclean. And he goes to meet with Cornelius, and explains the truth.

And here in Acts 10 verse 44, it tells us, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter because the gift, gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles also. And they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Of course, Peter said, well, who could deny water to baptize them? They already have the Holy Spirit. This is a rare occasion where God gave the gift of the Spirit before baptism. Because he wanted to show that if God calls someone, they don't have to be a natural born Israelite or naturalized through circumcision. Now, we understand most members of the church today, we believe are descended from Israel. That's a different point. But the point I want to make is the Holy Spirit is a gift.

Perhaps the greatest gift. Of course, well, we could parse that out. Christ's sacrifice might be considered the greatest gift, and that makes it possible for us to have the Holy Spirit. But when we have the Holy Spirit, it can also impart spiritual gifts. And here's where I started reading in 1 Corinthians 12 some things I wasn't ready for yet, but I will now. In 1 Corinthians 12, we'll pick up in verse 7.

I should have known not to have that coke now, I'm going rapid fire. Here I think I had till 4 30. I could give as long a sermon as I wanted.

Okay, 1 Corinthians 12 beginning in verse 7.

Paul says, The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. So it is important to remember if God gives us some amazing gift through the Spirit, it's not just for ourself. You know, God gives me some ability You know, God gives me some ability. It's not so I can say, look at me, or I can just enjoy it. It's for the benefit of all. It's something to share. And it says, For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another the gift of faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another an interpretation of tongues. One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually.

You know, in this chapter, Paul had been dealing with the fact that, unfortunately, some in the congregation at Corinth were getting jealous of others' gifts. And they had to realize they didn't get to determine what gifts God might give, or where a person fit within the body, that God puts them there.

For our purposes today, though, we want to focus not so much on the diversity, but the fact that sometimes God gives miraculous gifts through the Holy Spirit. We read the example of people, it says, speaking in tongues. It seems it was more the miraculous ability for people to understand. Now, I wonder if, you know, the same man speaking one person heard the Phrygian language, and the other heard Elamite, or whatever, it could have been a miracle in the hearing, but it was amazing and wonderful. Who wouldn't want gifts like that?

We don't see that so much today, am I right? We don't see the flashy, we don't see healings that much. I related an example, but, you know, someone say, well, fever went away. It's not like when Peter pulled up the lame man, and suddenly he's jumping and leaping, and everybody sees it. But maybe God doesn't want to call attention to his church today in the same way he did then. That's speculating, though. So we'll leave that speculation. But I do wonder, it's not my main point today, but here in 1 Corinthians 12, I remember the first time it hit me, I was surprised to see that most of the gifts that God lists by the Spirit aren't the superpowers that we really want. You know, I want the power to lay hands on someone, and they are healed. I'd love to have the power to just speak whatever language is needed. But a lot of these gifts are things like wisdom, knowledge, faith. Those are gifts of the Spirit, and wonderful gifts. God gives gifts that have to do with communication, and understanding, and discernment. They are no less spiritual gifts. If you're not a spiritual gift, you're not a spiritual gift. Then what time might be coming, though, when God does flash your gifts? Let's turn to Luke 21, if you will. Luke 21 verse 12.

Because I don't think the time of overt miracles is totally past. Luke 21 beginning in verse 12.

Jesus is telling his disciples, talking about the end, he says, Before all these things, they will lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, you will be brought before kings and rulers for my namesake. But it will turn out as an occasion for testimony. Therefore, settle into your hearts, not to meditate beforehand. Don't bother worrying about what you're going to answer, for I'll give you a mouth and wisdom. Remember, I mentioned wisdom as a gift of the Spirit. I'll give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. I think the Spirit will give us memory to know what God's Word says, when we might struggle to bring it up sometimes, and the ability to organize our thoughts. That's a gift.

Of course, without turning there, if I mention two witnesses, you probably think, okay, that's the end time, they're going to do something. They're going to preach the gospel around the world, but God's going to give them the ability to call fire down from heaven. Boy, that's a gift of the Spirit. Probably a gift that it's a good thing I don't have.

I've had people cut me off in traffic, where it might be tempting. I'd like to think I have more control than that. But again, wonderful gifts. It sounds terrific. What could we want more?

Well, I think I've hinted at it already. We read, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, that there's something more perfect, a better way. And then he elaborates on love, the Greek agape, sacrificial giving love, godly love. And as I said in Galatians, well, let's turn to Galatians now. Galatians 5 verse 22. Don't take my word for it. We need to read it.

The first in the list of fruit of the spirit. Galatians 5, 22. The fruit of the spirit. And by the way, as a kid, I always thought of literal fruit. It's like when I get spiritual, am I going to have apples growing out of me or things? The fruit could be said to be the result, the thing that comes about because of having the spirit. And that is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Paul goes out of his way to say against these things, there is no law. How could you legislate against those things? Now, just a book later in Ephesians 5 verse 9, he summarizes that in a slightly different way. But I wanted to make the point that Paul talks about the fruit or results of the spirit. Ephesians 5, 9 says, the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. That's a list I can memorize a little easier than love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and the other ones. But righteousness...

Well, I lost my pace here. Not good. Goodness, righteousness, and truth. Again, I don't think that's contradictory. It's pointing out that these things are the result of the spirit.

And do you see the vital difference? The difference between gifts of the spirit and fruit of the spirit?

Well, to my mind, I see it as spiritual gifts or often abilities. We could say miraculous powers. I grew up reading comic books, you know? So I think of powers, like I said, I'd love to be able to turn water to wine and walk on water and, you know, all those things. Okay, spiritual gifts are whatever ability, and that could be the ability to speak, to remember. Fruit of the spirit are traits of your character.

Fruit of the spirit is your character traits. A person could receive and demonstrate a spiritual gift immediately. Usually, I don't get the snap to work, but it did. You know, like those in Acts, you know, Acts chapter 2, there was rushing wind, fire, and suddenly they could speak different languages. Immediately, they didn't have to develop that. But the process of fruit developing is exactly that word. I wanted to save it for later. It's a process. It requires time.

The fruit of the spirit doesn't show what you can do. It shows what you are. And that's an important thing. Please join me in Matthew chapter 7. Matthew 7 will start in verse 15.

Matthew 7 verse 15, Jesus says, Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You'll know them by their fruit. Now here again, he's speaking symbolically. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? No! Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit, and a good tree can't bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit, and every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire, and he repeats. Therefore, by their fruits you'll know them. Okay? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. I was making the point that developing that fruit isn't instantaneous. It's not a gift that you can be handed. It grows as a part of you, and when it's a part of you, it shows what you are. People will see that if love and joy and peace are parts of your life, it's evident. If the opposite things are parts of your life, then that becomes evident, too.

We don't always recognize the development happening. I'm going to go to Mark 4 next. Mark 4 beginning in verse 26.

I want to make the point, I want to make the point, we not only don't always recognize it, we don't always know how it happens. We understand that trials and tests are part of it.

I've got written in my notes here somewhere that, you know, Christ used a lot of agricultural analogies. So, he knew that most people living there in Judea and Galilee were raising crops, living off the land, and so he used that as tools to teach them. Mark 4, verse 26. The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and he sleeps at night, rises by day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He himself doesn't know why. It says the earth yields crops by itself. We don't know, scientifically, we understand more now about how it happens, but still, we don't. But it says that earth yields crops by itself, first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head, and when the grain ripens, he puts in the sickle. This is true not just of grain, but all types of plants. You know, for trees, you know, you see, in the spring, leaves start coming out, then buds, flowers, eventually fruit if they're fruit-bearing trees. You know, for flowers, the stem comes up, and in time, suddenly a bud will start to grow out, and the flower comes out.

I made a note here. I remember first thinking of this idea as relating to what Christ was teaching several years ago when we were pastoring in Portsmouth and Prestonsburg. And so, you know, Sue and Connor and I lived in Waverly, and Connor was just a little toddler. I tried to make a point to take him outdoors every morning and play, and we'd go for walks. I remember once, it was still late winter, and there by our driveway, we saw some green things sticking up. Connor, look at this! Yeah, of course, we hadn't lived there that long, so what is that? I'm not sure if they were lilies or irises, some type of plant. And so, we made a point almost every day to stop and check on them, look at them. As the weeks went by, they grew up. They grew more. Finally, they did.

Buds would appear. Of course, I remember at times, it came out, and there's snow on them, but it didn't kill the flowers. The buds appeared, and eventually, the flower came out. And the process took weeks to accomplish, with us checking on it every day.

God is watching and cultivating a crop, and that crop is us.

Okay, one of the names of the festival we're keeping today is the Feast of First Fruits. It's called that a number of places. I'll give you a couple references. I don't think we need to turn there, but in Exodus 34, verses 22 and 23, it says, you'll observe the Feast of Weeks of the First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest. That was Exodus 34, 22. And Leviticus 23, in verse 15, is where there's instruction to count from the day after the Sabbath that you've brought the wave sheaf offering. You know, count seven Sabbaths, 50 days, which is where we get the name Pentecost. Then offer a new grain offering, First Fruits, to the Lord.

We know Jesus Christ was the Passover. Always at ABC tell the students that, on that first Passover in Egypt, every family had to get a lamb. Each one of those lambs was a symbol of Jesus Christ. And in every year from that time on, every lamb with every family, all were symbols of Christ, the one true Passover. And he would be the first to be resurrected from the dead to spirit life.

But just as the Feast of First Fruits comes seven weeks after Passover, so our spiritual harvest, becoming spiritual sons of God, comes after Jesus Christ. Not seven weeks after, although that works well for us because we wouldn't have been born. I'm going to read from James 1, verse 18. James 1, 18.

It says, Of his that is God's own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of First Fruits of his creatures. So the First Fruits is representative of us. You know, Pentecost always reminds me that God's plan has a schedule and a progression. You know, God isn't calling everyone now. I remember hearing Mr. Armstrong say that so many times it was burned in. He's calling a few now to be the First Fruits. And then afterwards at Christ's coming, the First Fruits will be resurrected and then the calling begins to become more general. This is not a new idea for us.

But I want to make the point that we can see fruit or produce being used as an allegory two different ways, two related ways. In one, we as God's begotten children are pictured as First Fruits. So God, as I said, he's raising a crop. We're to be the First Fruits.

In a closely related analogy, the spiritual traits, the character that we are developing, is described also as fruit, fruit of the Spirit.

So we say in one sense, we are fruit and in another sense, we are to bear fruit.

And if you're getting bored, it's because I've told you something most of you have known for many, many years. Am I right? That's okay. It's a holiday. We need to repeat these important factors. And there are some important things we need to learn and think about when it comes to bearing spiritual fruit. And we have to bear fruit if we want to be First Fruits.

So I'll say the first thing, absolute prerequisite for bearing any fruit of the Spirit is having the Spirit in the first place. And there's only one way for that to happen. Think back. We read Acts 2, verse 38, where they said, men and brethren, what must we do? And Peter said, repent and be baptized, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now, receiving the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event, though, and I want to follow that. But I want to pause, because some of us here might not be baptized yet. And it's worth remembering that the Spirit works with a person to bring them to that point. And I'll just cite John 14, verse 17. And John 14, 17, back on that night before he was crucified, that Christ spent with his disciples describing the paracletos that would join them, he's called it the Spirit of Truth, and he said, it is with you, and it will be in you. And this brings home for me, because in my job teaching, I get to work with a lot of young adults who are not yet baptized. I think, actually, this last school year might be of record for how many baptisms we had during the school year. And I think it's mostly because we had a lot of 18-year-olds, many coming right out of high school. So it was so exciting. We had like, close to a dozen baptisms during the course of the school year. But I always tell the students, if you're not baptized, the Spirit is with you. Otherwise, you wouldn't understand any of these things. You'd never come to baptism. But then there's a point where it's in you, and it has to be continuing to be in you. I want to turn to John 15. I was talking about that night. Let's read. John 15 will begin in verse 4. There are scriptures where it talks about God providing a supply of the Holy Spirit. And, well, Mr. Burton made a great analogy of the Spirit being like water that flows. It's got to come in, and it's got to go out, and it's got to be a constant supply. And you could also analogize if we're connected. The Holy Spirit could be analogized as sap, which we don't hear that very often. But if you read in John 15, verse 4, Christ says, Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. That branch has to be connected, and the sap comes in and gives it the nutrients. In verse 5, he says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. As I said, abide in me, he says. It's not a one-time thing.

The Spirit is given to us, but we need to be connected to Jesus Christ and the Father, having the Spirit coming in us, to bear fruit. In verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and withered, and they gather them, throw them in the fire, and they are burned. But if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciples. And he doesn't list them, but from here I would connect it to Galatians 5. 22, bearing much fruit, love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, goodness, temperance, faithfulness. I might have left one out, but I'm going by memory.

So although the fruit of the Spirit is different from spiritual gifts in some important way, both absolutely require God's Holy Spirit. They require a connection with God. We can do nothing on our own. Even when God gives us a gift, it's not like if someone hands you a tool, and you just have that tool. Thus, maybe I could make the analogy of being like a power drill. I was using a drill working in the kitchen yesterday. I actually drilled a hole through one of our cabinet doors, which was not supposed to happen. But you know, that power drill is useless if it's not plugged into an electric source. I don't want to take the analogy too far, but yeah, if we're not connected to God with that Holy Spirit, gifts would be useless. So if we're to bear fruit, not from our own efforts, we have to be connected to God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. We have to have their essence in us.

But we might say, is that all there is to it? It's a piece of cake? Because, you know, many times I might look and say, I'm not sure if I have that connection. You know, I've looked in my life at times, and I'm looking for love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and seems a bit lacking. And that's a bit scary. It gives pause. And I'm pausing here because I want to emphasize, I think, perhaps my most important point today, one of my most important points is that, for fruit to ripen, takes time. You know, you've seen unripe apples or pears or whatever. It takes time for fruit to ripen.

Patience itself is one of the fruits of the spirit. And the Greek word is macrothumea. Isn't that a cool one? Macrothumea. M-A-K-R-O-T-H-U-M-I-A. And I'm pointing that out because it specifically means patience with other people. You know, there's long suffering is slightly different where I might have a splinter and I don't have a pair of tweezers, so I just got to be patient until I do have them. But being patient with another person, you know, that's a special thing, bearing with that person.

There are times when the person that you need to be most patient with is you. Sometimes we have to be patient with ourselves, you know, and there's where I say if all we needed were spiritual gifts, we wouldn't have to wait. God gives us those just like that. He can give them instantly whenever the purpose comes. But fruit, fruit isn't like that.

Matter of fact, I'm going to turn to Luke 13. Luke 13 beginning in verse 6. But I'll mention that scripture I read in James 1.18 where it said we were a type of firstfruits. I like to make the point, he doesn't say we're a type of first gifts, but first fruits. And fruit takes time to ripen. Luke 13 beginning in verse 6. He spoke this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it. That sounds very familiar. And he found none. Look at this tree, it should have fruit. Don't have any. So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, look, for three years I've come looking for fruit on this tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the ground? But he answered and said, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well, if not after that, you can cut it down.

The analogy here is obvious, because we've learned we have to bear fruit. You know, when John 15, he says, any branch that doesn't bear fruit is going to be taken away and burned. So we could say here, looking at Luke 13, each of us is the fig tree. I'm the fig tree.

God expects the fig tree to bear fruit. Okay, righteousness. You know, as Ephesians said, righteousness, goodness, and truth. But in this parable, the tree was allowed years before he got upset with it. Now, it says three years, but I'm not sure that there's a direct correlation where we have to apply that in our lives. You know, I'm not sure if there's a set limit, but it's good for us to know God gives us time. He doesn't even get upset about us being lacking in fruit until some time has passed.

And then we can see if time passes and there's still not fruit, God doesn't give up. He doesn't give up quickly or easily.

I'm thinking of Connor and I going out and watching those stems come up. You know, Connor wanted the flowers. When I told him what was going to happen, every day, where's the flowers, dad? Where's the, you know, it was only like two. So, you know, but God is watching us expectantly. He wants the fruit, but he understands better than me that it takes time. God is always more patient with us than we are with ourselves. And almost, I'd say even more, he's more patient with people than we are with other people.

But we can see here in Luke 13, if enough time has passed and we seem to be stunted in our spiritual growth, I'd interpret this to say God doesn't immediately get out the axe. Instead, he gets out the spade. You know, to dig and fertilize, as it says there in verse 8. If you have the old King James, it says, dig and dung. The type of fertilizer they used was manure. I kind of like that one. It's getting extra nutrients. A modern farmer might say, let's aerate the soil and provide nutrients.

I wonder, what's the spiritual equivalent of getting manure dumped on you?

Might not sound very appealing, right? But the results could be appealing. It reminds me we were asked to fast, leading into Pentecost. And I've been on record many times of saying, I do not enjoy fasting. But I do like the results from fasting. I don't like to fast. I like what happens in me when I do fast. You know, I don't like getting manure dumped on me, spiritually speaking. But it can bring good things. Let's look at Hebrews 12 verse 11, if you will. Hebrews near the back here.

I like the level of this lectern. I can read stuff without having my glasses on. Hebrews 12, 11 says, now no chastening. It could have, for the sake of analogy, said, no fertilizing seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who've been trained by it. chastening. digging and dunging can yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

I'd say, you know, probably very rare that God will ever dump actual manure on any of us. But I'm pretty sure he will give chastening, trials and tests, difficulties. And the reason is clear. Because he wants us to bear the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And that's something I tell I'll tell myself more than I'll tell you. When times are tough like that, when I'm hurting, when I feel like I'm being chastened, I got to be patient. It might be God fertilizing my fruit. He wants me to bear spiritual fruit, and he's patient. He's willing to do what it takes. Now, we might think, I don't need fertilizing. Sometimes I feel strong and sound. If you check again back in Luke 13, I'm not going to turn there, but it never says that the fig tree was sickly. It's probably strong and healthy. That's why he was looking for fruit. So it's not sick. It's lacking fruit. That could be me. You know, I could have a lot of fruit. It's not me. You know, I could have a life that's well ordered. I'm doing things, maybe exercising spiritual gifts.

But, I'm coming up short on love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance. I'm coming up short on those. It might be time for some fertilizer.

There's another important thing to remember in this. Well, I'm going to turn to John 15 again. Just one scripture. So you don't have to turn there if you trust me.

But the important thing is, this chastening, this fertilizing, might not apply only to when we're not bearing fruit. It could be that we are, but we could bear more. Could be more. John 15, you know, starting it, well, I'll read from verse 1. Jesus says, I'm the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

But, or, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes. So that it might bear more fruit. Okay, pruning. Sounds like one way or another, we're gonna, we're gonna have these trials and tests that we need. Difficulties that might be the same as being dug and dunged. That digged and dunged? Well, you know what I mean.

What do we do in all this? What do we do?

Take it patiently. Macrophumia. When we're going through trials and tests and challenges, it helps if we see it as our Heavenly Father helping us to grow. I want to read from 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse 20. I should have warned you, I had a lot of scriptures in this one, but...

Well, I just did.

That's okay, because I've gotten until 4.30.

Yes, Kirby laughs at me. 1 Peter 2 and verse 20. Peter says, what credit is it when, if, when you're beaten for your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer and take it patiently, that's commendable before God. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps. That's when it's really tough. When you're doing the right thing, you're doing well, and you still suffer. He says, take it patiently. This is commendable. In verse 20, the word there that's translated commendable is actually the Greek charis, or charis, which is the word that's most often translated as grace. Grace is a benefit, a blessing. How could that be a blessing? I'm doing right and I'm getting beat up for it. No, no chastening for the moment seems pleasurable. But afterwards, peaceable fruit of righteousness. That's what Peter is telling us. The same thing Paul told us. The same thing Jesus Christ.

During his ministry, Christ used a lot of agricultural analogies. As I said, let's look at another one. Math in Matthew 13. Matthew 13 will begin in verse 3.

I want to keep thinking about this. How am I looking at myself? One thing I'll give warning. The last thing I need to do is start judging how someone else is doing at bearing spiritual fruit. We're coming to that in a moment, but I want to look at myself. Matthew 13 in verse 3. You know this one. He spoke to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places where they didn't have much earth. They sprang up, but because they had no depth of earth, when the sun was up, they were scorched. They had no root withered away. Some fell among thorns. The thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground. That was on good ground. It yielded a crop. Some a hundredfold. Some sixty. Some thirty. Not all the same. Notice, for those who receive the word and respond, well, actually, I'm jumping ahead. We know the interpretation. Actually, if you want to jump ahead to verse 18, we'll look at some of that. The interpretation makes it clear that even though we preach the gospel far and wide, we proclaim the gospel in every nation as much as we can, but not that many people respond. Not everyone who hears the truth comes into the Church of God. That's because some fall on hard soil and the birds snatch it away. Some get choked by cares of the world. Some don't have root. And beginning in verse 18, he says, Whenever anyone hears the word of the kingdom and doesn't understand it, wicked one snatches it away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed received by the wayside. He who received the seed on stony places, that's the one who hears the word, receives it with joy, but has no root in himself and endures only a wow. When tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now, he who received the seed on thorns is he who hears the word, and who cares the world, and deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

None of those are the ones that are in God's Church, we believe. But he who received seed on good ground, that's he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit. Okay, we have to bear fruit and produce some 100 fold, some 60, some 30. Notice for those who do receive the word and respond, it's still not the same for everyone. That should tell us something right away. We will not all bear spiritual fruit alike.

We can't... Well, I'm going to cite 2 Corinthians 10-12. I started talking about it. 2 Corinthians 10-12 is where Paul said, we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. They, measuring themselves by themselves, comparing themselves among themselves, it's not wise. Comparing ourselves to each other is only going to lead us astray and cause us frustration and harm. Because who we should compare ourselves to is Jesus Christ. And we always fall short, but we've got a true measure. I don't need to focus on whether someone's bearing fruit the way I think they should, or the same way as I am.

We might look at those who seem to be slow and bearing fruit and say, yeah, well, they're just not measuring up.

But if we're comparing ourselves, I could be thinking, oh, Frank, doing pretty good here.

In that case, I could be missing the point that if I started with more fertile soil, then God might have had higher expectations in the first place. If I'm looking and saying, hey, I'm doing 60-fold, I'm doing great, and God's looking at me saying, you should be at 100-fold. Come on, Frank, get with the program. Again, it's important for us to remember our goal is to be like our elder brother, Jesus Christ, not our fellow Christians. Hopefully we're all progressing. We're moving along the same road, bearing spiritual fruit. But for some, 30-fold, some 60, some 100.

I'm going to cite the parable of the talents that's in Matthew 25. It starts in verse 14. You know this one. Christ says, the kingdom is like a man traveling to a far country, and he delivered his goods to his servants. To one, he gave five talents. Now, talents aren't abilities. This is a unit of measure. So it's talking about so much weight of probably silver. I'm going to give you all this money because I'm going to another country. Now, to another one, he gave two talents. To another one, and in Matthew 25, it says, he gave it to each according to his ability, which is like the different soils. Some soils more fertile than others. And you know what happened. He who had five talents went and traded, earned five more talents. So now he's got 10. The one who had two talents, he went and traded. He earned two more. Okay. The one who received one, what did he do? I don't know if I even deserved this. He went and dug a hole and buried it. So I'm going to make sure I don't lose this. So the master came. Time to settle accounts. Okay. Bring the servants in. I'm back from my far country. I had you have that money. So the one who had five talents came back and said, Master, you gave me five talents. I've earned five more. I wrote down what the master said. Well done, good and faithful servant. You are faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things. Enter the joy of your Lord.

Then he comes to the one who had two talents. He says, okay, you gave me two talents. I've earned two more talents. And what does the master say to him? He says the exact same thing he said to the other one. Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I'll make you faithful or I'll make you ruler over many. Enter the joy of your Lord.

This should be an indication to us that whether we start with mixed metaphors, soil that's capable of bearing a hundred-fold crop, or our soil is capable of a thirty-fold crop, what matters to God is that we do what we can with what he gives us. He's not measuring the end results. Because the ultimate goal is to be born into God's family.

And that, while we're talking about gifts, that's a gift. We don't earn it by bearing fruit. God gives us entry into his family. He makes us his spiritual sons. It seems there may be rewards within the kingdom. If you want to be over 10 cities or five cities. I'm not sure I want to be over any cities, but the point is we don't earn our salvation. I want to be clear. But that's our goal. But if we're not bearing fruit, as we're capable of, even after the digging and dunging, we couldn't end up like the servant who buried the talent. And again, I've got it in my notes. It's there in Matthew 25. The one who received one talent said, I was afraid I hid your talent. Here it is. Master said, you should have at least put it in the bank. I could get some interest. Interest rates are up lightly, right? That's good if you have savings, bad if you're trying to get a new mortgage.

Side issue. Or if you're adding an addition to your house and you got to take out a loan, right? Okay, this is serious stuff.

All of us starting with different levels and having different abilities, might make it so, again, we shouldn't look at others and try to judge their fruit. We should look at ourselves, and we sure better be bearing some.

But that's kind of a negative thing to dwell on. Again, I want to remember that God gives us His Holy Spirit. That's the gift we start with. And boy, is He patient. You know, we have to be, I think we'd have to be pretty obstinate, uncooperative before He's going to quench the Spirit and toss us aside. You know, we just need to be understanding, you know, of what we see in ourselves and others. And we have to hold ourselves accountable. But remember, I don't like to say God is more patient with us than we are with ourselves. And He's not going to let us go easily. You know, He'll get that spade, and He'll dig, you know, put fertilizer, He'll dig some more and more fertilizer.

And I wanted to sort of wrap this up with an example. An example of someone in the Bible who seemed to be slow in developing spiritual fruit, depending on how you look at it, you know? And some people might have thought of Him as a kid who just was a screw-up. Is that a word I can say? Someone who messed up? The person I want to consider was commonly known as Mark, or full name John Mark. Okay. We know his story, you know, from where he appears a few places in Scripture. We don't have a lot of detail of his story, but there's a fair bit. And then we know more from church tradition. Okay, we first see him. Well, we're not far from there. Mark 14, verse 51, seems to be the first reference, and it doesn't list his name. This is in the Garden of Gethsemane, when soldiers came to arrest Christ because Judas Iscariot led them there. You know, betrayed Christ with a kiss. The disciples who said they were going to die with Christ, after Peter cut off the high servant's ear, high priest servant's ear, they all fled. And Mark 14, verse 51, mentions one of them in particular. Yeah, now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young man laid hold of him, and he left the cloth and fled from him naked. Who's this? You know, Matthew, Luke, and John don't mention it. Mark does, because tradition says it was Mark himself. He's the young man. Now, I've learned studying into this. He probably wasn't, you know, beared... I don't know if you know Ryan Hall. He was a trainee, you know, from the South. He'd always used it. He beared naked. Necked. Don't know if Mark was beared naked. But he probably settled down to get some sleep. If you've ever slept in a sleeping bag, you ever pull off your jeans so you could be comfortable? And he probably had this cloth. He pulled off his outer clothes and wrapped up. And suddenly the soldier there, he wakes up. Ah! You know, and they grab hold of the cloth that he takes off. So he's probably not the earliest example of streaking.

And why in the world would he tell this on himself? Well, he's telling on himself somewhat, but he's also saying, I was there. And he's got this written account, and he wants to show that he knew Jesus. He was there. But it's not a very auspicious introduction to John Mark. This could have been better. And why was he there in the first place? He's not one of the twelve. He doesn't seem to be one of the disciples. Maybe, because we'll see later, his mom was pretty well known with the disciples. I'm not going to turn there, but it's in Acts 12.

We learn that there is a disciple named Mary, who's the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. So John Mark, and this Mary, has a whole bunch of the disciples at her house. Acts 12 is the story of Peter being arrested. And he's in prison in the middle of the night, an angel comes, and Peter gets up. You know, his chains fall off. He takes them through the doors that open on their own. And then Peter, he thought it was a vision, but suddenly he's out on the street. And where does he go? Goes to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. And of course, you know the story of Rhoda, who she hears him knocking and leaves him out in the street, and they don't believe her.

The reason I'm citing this is, of course, all of the disciples are there at Mary's house. She seems to be some prominent person. Or just she has a big house. But that's the first place Peter went when he was released. Perhaps Peter and the family had a close relationship. That's going to seem important when we see what Mark does later. Okay, so we know Mark has a mother who maybe she knows a lot of disciples. That's why he's at the Garden of Gethsemane. Tradition will later tell us that Mark was an assistant for Peter, a close disciple. I want to go to Acts chapter 12, though, to see another part of this. We see a little more description. Acts 12 beginning in verse 25.

Okay, better off with the glasses off. Acts 12 and verse 25. Now, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry. We're not sure what that was, but it seems likely they were bringing food. There were various times when there was famine and they delivered food to help the saints in Jerusalem. So they had been in Jerusalem, they returned back to Antioch, and they took with them John, whose surname is Mark. Here he is again. John's surname is Mark. By the way, did I turn there? Colossians 4 verse 10. I won't turn there, but that's where it tells us one of the reasons this is probably happening is Barnabas is John Mark's uncle. So he's going with his uncle and this fella named Paul back to Antioch. Okay, so he's getting a chance to get away from mom and dad and maybe he can be useful. Well, it turns out in the next chapter, God is going to call Paul and Barnabas for a particular job. And verse 2, it says, As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to meet Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Having fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them away. Okay, so they sent them out by the Holy Spirit, they selled the seleusia, such and such. I want to get to verse 5. They arrived in Salamis, preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. So Barnabas said, we need someone as an assistant. I don't know what an assistant does. Probably carries the bags, does whatever is needed. It's a great learning opportunity for John Mark. But for some reason, he doesn't stick with it. And verse 13 says, When Paul and his party sent sail from Paphos, they came to Pergia and Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. So he joined Paul and Barnabas, went up to Antioch. He goes with them on this journey, and then partway through, he leaves. He goes home.

We're never told exactly why. Now, he could have had some really powerful reason. Like Daris McNeely, when he's teaching this, always says, maybe he's missing mom's cooking. You know, and misses his comfortable bed. This trip's looking kind of dangerous. Now, I might be tempted to say, well, he might have had really good reasons. Maybe there's a family emergency or something. But Paul doesn't give him any slack. If you go ahead to chapter 15, Acts 15 will begin in verse 36.

Because what we read at the start of was called Paul's first missionary journey. Now we're about to pick up on his second missionary journey. Acts 1536. After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let's go back now and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of the Lord and see how they're doing. Now, Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. That's Barnabas's cousin. Let's take him with us. We need someone to help us as an assistant. But Paul insisted they should not take with them the one who departed from them in Pamphylia. He had not gone with them to the work. Paul remembered John Mark ditched us. I'm not taking him again. Verse 39, it says, The contingent became so sharp they parted one from another. Barnabas took Mark, sailed to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren. He went through Syria and Silesia. Wow, that's something powerful. Perhaps Paul saw this young Mark as, like I said, just a screw-up, who was getting by on favors from his relatives. Maybe, I'm speculating on Paul's thoughts, Barnabas was one of those relatives.

I'd like to think, though, that Barnabas might have had more in mind than just doing a favor for his cousin. Maybe he saw that Mark was just a little slower in producing some spiritual fruit. Barnabas, perhaps, was willing to be more patient, willing to let God do some digging and dunging for Mark to develop. One of the reasons I think that is we see some brief references of Mark a little bit later. Matter of fact, well, yeah, I'm going to turn to Colossians. I think I cited it earlier. Colossians 4 verse 10. We see one of those references.

Colossians 4, 10. Eris Darkus, my fellow prisoner, greets you with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. What? Now, Paul is writing a letter to this congregation and saying, greetings from these people and from Mark. So now Mark is with Paul. And he sent him on a mission. If he comes to you, receive him. Okay, and also in the book, the brief epistle to Philemon, I'm not going to turn there, in verse 24 also mentions Mark being with Paul. So what Bible scholars believe, and I think is true, is that somehow Mark got back in Paul's good graces and served as an assistant, perhaps an administrative assistant who Paul could send on journeys and doing important things. As a matter of fact, near the end of his ministry in 2 Timothy 4, 11, we see one more reference from Paul. 2 Timothy 4 verse 11 He says, only Luke is with me, get Mark, bring him with you, for he's useful to me for ministry. Now Paul, remember Paul's going to say, I'm not taking him, he left us. Now he's saying, get him, bring him, he's useful to me. Mark has come a long ways. Somehow he was able to bear enough fruit to win back Paul's trust. Now the Bible doesn't tell us the next part, but church history says that he had much more to do. As I said, there's a reference in 1 Peter 5 verse 13 where Peter refers to Mark his son. And tradition says that it's the same Mark, John Mark. After Paul died of martyr's death, Mark went and journeyed and was with Peter and served as his assistant. Matter of fact, tradition says that that's how he wrote the Gospel of Mark. That the Gospel of Mark is mostly from Peter's recollections and sharing stories, which some people say maybe it should have been called the Gospel of Peter, but that's not the title it has. I'm not going to try to change it. But Gospel, you know, he's hanging out with Peter. He writes down the Gospel account. Tradition says that later, Peter sent him to Egypt to lead the Gospel, the preaching of the Gospel there.

I said, think of how far he came. You know, he was a youngster who was first known as the guy who ran off naked, you know, and then abandoned an important evangelical tour. He goes from that guy, you know, that guy, to being an executive assistant to two of the most prominent apostles and writing one of the first accounts of Christ's ministry.

Progress was slow, I'm guessing, but it was still great. And I say, look at yourself. Look at all the rest of us here. Perhaps all of us have stories about ourselves when we weren't as mature. I've said a lot of times, I'm glad when I was a young adult and teenager, there was no such thing as the internet, because now pictures last forever. And, you know, anyways, the important point is our stories are not finished. God is helping us to develop spiritual fruit. Just like Mark's story was not finished in the first half of the book of Acts, there was a lot more to go. On a day that we celebrate God putting in us His Holy Spirit, His very essence, you know, we can rejoice that it comes with many wonderful benefits. God gives us gifts of His Spirit, and some of those we can enjoy immediately. There's a variety of those, but He also gives us His Spirit so that we can develop spiritual fruit. Traits that are a part of us. And developing and maturing spiritual fruit isn't easy, and it doesn't happen quickly, but it's part of the character that God wants in us, and what we want in ourselves. God will work with us. He will be patient. He will help. So I want to do as Paul said at the end of 1 Corinthians 12 when he said, earnestly desire the best gifts, but there's something more excellent, and that something is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance, the fruit of the Spirit.