Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace

Transcript

GR 1169
Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace
Galatians 5:22a
February 13, 2000

We are in Galatians chapter 5. We are talking about the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. What is brought about and emphasized in this contrast is the tramatic transformation that takes place in a life when a person is gloriously born again by faith in Christ. That's why the Scripture uses the analogy of being born again, born from above, a new birth because the change is drastic and dramatic and radical. You are no longer the same person you were. You are made totally new. The Scripture talks about it as a death and a resurrection to a new life. And something of the greatness of that change is what Paul is emphasizing in this section in Galatians chapter 5.

Back up toward the front of your Bible just a few pages into 2 Corinthians, just before Galatians, and 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You remember Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John's gospel chapter 3 and said, "Unless a man is born again, born from above, he will never see the kingdom of God." It takes a new birth, a heavenly birth to bring salvation to a life. Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23 that we have been born again by the living and abiding Word of God. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 Paul writes, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold new things have come." We are not what we were. We are totally new. The beauty of God's salvation, the completeness of it.

Turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9, "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" Remember in Galatians 5 after giving a sampling of the works of the flesh Paul said, "Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Yet the Scripture tells us there is none righteous, no not one. "Do not be deceived neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Do not be deceived. In spite of what is taught and emphasized today that everybody's ideas are of equal value and everybody's truth is of equal standing. Don't be deceived. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. But verse 11 is of tremendous encouragement. "Such were some of you but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." Washed, cleansed; sanctified, set apart; justified, declared righteous by God. What a radical transformation from being fornicators and idolaters and adulterers and so on to the position of being clean and righteous before God. That's the work of God's salvation. It makes a person totally new on the inside.

Over in Galatians chapter 5. That's the contrast Paul is drawing. In verses 19 to 21 he talked about the characteristic of those who are under the control of the flesh, their sinful fallen nature. They have not been made new in Christ. Then with verse 22 he begins to describe what he calls the fruit of the Spirit which are the characteristics and qualities that are true of a person who is indwelt by God's Spirit and now living a new life in Jesus Christ. There are nine characteristics or virtues listed in verses 22 and 23 which are the fruit of the Spirit. At the end of verse 23 he says, "Against such things there is no law." I'm not saying that these nine things comprise all that there is to the fruit of the Spirit. In other lists of the qualities that God builds into a life, you will find things that are not mentioned here. But this gives you a sampling of those kinds of qualities that the Spirit of God is producing in the life of the one in whom lives and dwells.

Note how he begins verse 22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" and so on." That "but" draws the constrast. The works of the flesh are these but in contrast to the deeds of the flesh there is the fruit of the Spirit. And here's what the Spirit's fruit looks like. Here's what he produces in a life. Paul's use of "deeds" or "works" in verse 19 may be to draw a contrast with the word "fruit" in verse 22. Now the believer is to do the work of God and the works of God and so on but in this context where he uses two words together like this he may intend to draw a contrast. Works or deeds have been used to speak of those who try by their own efforts to keep the Law and do the work of God in the book of Galatians as Paul writes. So he may be uses "works" in verses 19 to 21 to talk about our efforts and our works as fallen beings, what we produce, what is the result of what we do. That contrast with fruit that is grown in a life by the Spirit, where He, the Spirit, is doing something we could not do of ourselves. We have the cabability for the ugly vices that were enumbered as the deeds of the flesh. But only the Spirit of God can grow the fruit that marks the character of God in a life. So that contrast between the works and the fruit.

You also note that the word "deeds" or "works" is plural but the word "fruit" is single. These are not the fruits of the Spirit but the fruit of the Spirit so that all believers possess the fruit that the Spirit grows in a life. These are different from the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit like teachers, showing mercy, administration and so on. They are parceled out with one individual getting this gift, another individual getting this gift. But with the fruit of the Spirit these all are grown in the life of every believer. So there is the fruit of the Spirit and here is that cluster of fruit and its diversity as it is produced in the life of the one that the Spirit controls.

The fruit of the Spirit is really the character of God being produced in a life. We could look and see these virtues, these qualities, these characteristics used of God and we'll note some of that as we move along through the different individual items. And what we see is God's character being produced in our lives. And we would expect that. Cause there are three Persons comprising the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is God even as the Father is God even as the Son is God. So as the Holy Spirit dwells in our life, He is producing His character in us and through us. And the newness, the contrast with what we are is striking and dramatic.

Now you also see as we move through these individual items that we don't just passively sit by and watch the Spirit grow the fruit. But there is an active responsibility placed upon us as God's people to be nurturing and cultivating this fruit so that it matures and develops in our lives and becomes more and more characteristic of us. Let's look at some of the individual items.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is," and the first virtue mentioned here is love. We are talking about agape love. The Greek had different words for love. We tend to use the same word and the context determines its meanings or put qualifiers with it--eratic love, family love and so on. The Greek had different words. This word "agape" and the verb is "agapao." It is a self-sacrificing love. It is a love that is not focused on self but is focused on others. It is a love that acts for the good and benefit of the one loved. It is not based on the worthiness or attractiveness of the one that is loved. It is not dependent on any response given to that love. It is a love that acts for the good and benefit of others regardless of what is done to or for me.

Paul's referred to this love already in chapter 5. Back in verse 6, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." Our faith being demonstrated through love and we manifest that faith in the demonstrating of God's character in loving others. Down in verse 13. We are not to use our freedom we have in Christ as an occasion for the flesh which is always selfish and self-centered but rather, at the end of verse 13, "through love serve one another." And there you see the characteristic of this love. It is serving others. Not looking for its own pleasure, its own satisfaction, its own enjoyment but rather it is interested in serving others.

The great demonstration of this love is Christ Himself. Back in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God," now note, "who loved me and gave Himself up for me." You see that. He loved me and what did He do? He gave Himself up for me. The same picture in Ephesians 5 of how husbands are to love their wives the way Christ loved the Church. What did He do? He totally sacrified Himself for the good, the benefit, of the Church so that we might be redeemed and belong to Him.

This becomes the defining characteristic of God's people. In John's gospel chapter 13 verse 35 Jesus said, "By this all men shall know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another." Turn over to 1 John. All the way toward the back of your New Testament. Almost to the book of Revelation, at the end of the New Testament. First John chapter 4 and from verse 7 down through verse 21 of this chapter John writes of love as the characteristic of God and the characteristic of God's people. Look at verse 7, "Beloved," and there's the word. Loved ones. That becomes a title for believers, an identifying characteristic. We are those loved by God. "Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God." Now we are not talking about the sentimental, emotional feelings that the world describes as love. We are talking of this unique, sacrificing love that God produces in a life. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Everyone demonstrating this true, sacrificing love is demonstrating He belongs to God. Only those who have been saved through faith in Christ are manifesting this love today. The one who does not love does not know God for God is love. You see we partake of God's character, God's nature. As Peter wrote, we have become partakers of the divine nature. It is God who now dwells in us and produces His character in and through us.

Again, you have to understand the love that the Bible is talking about. We used the word "love" of all kinds of love whereas the Scripture and the Greek language would be more specific. And here we are talking about a specific kind of love. There is family love and there is the friendship and fellowship love that has a place. We use the word "philadelphia" and the "phila" in that is the love part. "Phileto," that family and friendship love that has a resaprocessity about it. There's nothing wrong with that kind of love. It is beautiful. It is biblical. But here we're talking about a love that is totally unselfish. This is a defining love of God produced in the lives of His children.

"By this the love of God was manifested in us," verse 9 of 1 John 4, "that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him." You see, the great example of love is God giving of His Son. Romans 5:8, "This is the great demonstration of love in that while we yet sinners Christ died for us." Verse 10, "In this is love not that we love God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the satisfaction] for our sins." To pay our penalty. Again, I would just draw your attention to the serious theological error that is sometimes promoted with good intentions. We try to tell people you are so valuable that Christ died for you. That is not true. Because the love that moved God to act on our behalf does not act because of the value or worth of the object or the person. God did not love us because we were valuable. He loved us in spite of our worthlessness. Romans 3 says we were useless, worthless. We were sinners but He redeemed us. I'm not minimizing what we would call the value of the human soul, the value of human life. God did not act on our behalf because of value. There was nothing in it for Him so to speak. He did not love us and send His Son because of what He would get. It was a totally unselfish act.

Verse 11, "Beloved, if God so loved us we ought also to love one another." You see now we demonstrate God's love and further manifest it. We've been the recipients of a love which was totally unselfish and now we are to love others with that same kind of love. "No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit." So you see the connection. The fruit of the Spirit is love. The presence of His Spirit in our lives demonstrates that we abide in Him and He abides in us. And He manifests His presence by the producing of His character--love.

Come down to verse 16, "We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love." Now again, we've sentimentalized these kind of statements and trivialized them in many ways. You can't turn this around and say love is God because God is more than love. Love is one of the attributes of God. God is holy. God is righteous and so on. But God is love. It's of His very nature and character, but that's not all God is. We don't keep this correct in our thinking, we'll say well then if God is love and that's all He is than He would never send anyone to hell. But God is also righteous and God is also holy and so on. God is love so when you partake of the nature of God you manifest the character of God.

Jump down to verse 19, "We love because He first loved us." This kind of love is a resultant love. It comes as a result of having experienced the love of God in our lives. "If someone says," now note this, "I love God and hates his brother he is a liar." That's a strong statement. That we identify ourselves as true believers by the love that we demonstrate for one another. That's the uniqueness of it. We love one another not because we like each other in that sense, not because we have a lot in common, not because I experience good things when I come to this church. I come to this church and I'm here for a while and I say well I'm not going to stay. It's not a loving church. What do you mean? Well, it's not loving church. I went there a lot of times and they never did anything for me. We are evaluating what? On the basis of self. What we are really revealing is I am not a loving person. I didn't go to that church to do things for other people. I didn't go to that church to give of myself for their benefit and growth. I went there for what I would get. Now we ought to be looking for certain things in the church--commitment to biblical truth, the proclamation of the Gospel and those kinds of things. They are not focused on me personally. I have to be nurtured and fed the Word of God. I don't go to a church because I like the people. I go to that church because they have a lot of programs for our family. I go there because I can make friends. We get totally self-centered then over time we get frustrated and discontent and unhappy because when our life focus is on our self . . . We saw those qualities in the works of the flesh--dissensions, factions, divisions. Because you can never please me enough.

Is that not what happens in our relationships as husband and wife. If I get focused on myself, my wife can never please me enough. There are always things that grate on me, always things that irritate me. If you came today thinking what will I get out of it, the song service will be too long, the sermon will be too long. Maybe right but it still shouldn't grate on you. The people weren't friendly. Da da, da da, da da, da da. Why? You can never please a self-centered person. But if you came desirous of being used of to demonstrate His love . . . How can I strengthen and encourage and help those believers, you come to appreciate God's work in others.

This is a defining characteristic of a believer. It is the most important. It supersedes other virtues and qualities that must be in a life. The greatest is love as Paul wrote in his great chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13.

Love gives us our unity. Colossians 3:14 says love is the perfect bond of unity. That's so remarkable. What binds us together as a people is not we're the same kind of people. That's why the diversity in the Body is so healthy and good. We are not bond together because we all make the same amount of money. We're all interested in the same things. We all like to do the same things. This is not the country club. They are bound together by externals. This is to be the church, the Body of Christ, that is bond in unity by its love produced by the Spirit of God in the life.

Philippians 1:9. Back up to Philippians 1:9. Just after Galatians, Ephesians then the book of Philippians. Philippians 1:9 then we have to move on. I originally thought I would do series of nine messages, one message on each of these virtues that are the fruit of the Spirit but I want to group them together. There's something to be seen looking at each one in an extended study but there's something to be seen by seeing how they connect to one another as well. But in Philippians chapter 1 verse 9, "And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so you may approve the things that excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ." You see, our love is to grow and mature. It is not to be a static element. The Spirit of God dwells in us. He is producing the love of God in us but we are to cultivate that and develop it so that it matures, ripens, if you will, in the analogy of the fruit. And you note our love is to abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.

We have an artificial love sweeping over the church today that says we ought to play down doctrine, play down our doctrinal differences, and emphasis our love. The problem is the kind of love we're talking about emphasizing is not God's love. Because God's love grows and matures and abounds in the context of true real knowledge--knowledge of God and of His Word and His truth. It is to grow and increase in its discernment so that it can approve the things that are excellent, so that we will be sincere, blameless as God's people. What a tragedy that the church sacrifices God's love for the world's kind of love--a feeling, an emotion, a superficial harmony and unity at the expense of truth and God's genuine love. So we want our love to grow and increase. Why do we have to be so divisive? We are not. We have a unity and oneness with all who are united in apostolic doctrine, in the truth of the Word of God. We want to be growing in true knowledge in our love and in our discernment.

Come back to Galatians chapter 5. Second virtue mentioned that follows love . . . We'll see some of these because some would take love as the overriding quality here and all the rest of the other eight virtues are an elaboration of love. And I don't have any problem with that. You don't come to any different position. Joy takes place in the context of love because obviously if you're not loving and the greatest of the virtues is love, it supersedes faith and hope according to 1 Corinthians 13. If love is not the defining quality of your life, you are going to have problem with the other qualities. If love is not the defining characteristic of your life, you need to look and consider whether you are truly a believer. There are people who say well, yes, you know, I think they're Christians but they, you know, they are just so irritable. They are just so hard to get along with. Well, is love really the quality that marks their life. We need to look at ourselves carefully and see is this really what my life is about--sacrificing for others.

Joy--you know I'm glad this one is here. We sometimes think God saved us so we can be miserable. That's the way the world looks at it. You know, God saved you. That means you can have any fun anymore. You don't drink, you don't run around. You know, you just can't enjoy the pleasures of life. Sometimes we as Christians promote that. We mark ourselves off by what we don't do than what we do. And then sometimes we can appear rather gloomy.

In Paul's day the Greek world, the Roman world, joy was associated with happiness. They developed the thinking of Aristotle that joy or happiness came by being in the happy middle, between extremes. You weren't overwhelmed with anything. There weren't the extremes in your life. You were in that nice balanced middle. So your happiness or joy was dependent on your circumstances. And that's simple the quality that characterizes the world. You note in all these virtues the world will have its imitation. We talk about love. Well, the world has its imitation of biblical love. Joy--the world has its imitation. Watch a news program. When somebody knocks on the door to tell somebody they just won $20 million, they are filled with joy. They are as happy as could be. They'd say I'd never been so busy. Cause the world's joy or happiness is related to external circumstances. What we are talking about here is what is produced from within. What is a result of a person having a life centered in the Lord and thus God is producing from within joy and happiness?

Turn back to Philippians. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. We are going to be coming back here several times. Philippians chapter 3 verse 1. Here you have the verb form of joy. Rejoice or have joy. Philippians 3:1, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." Or have joy in the Lord. Look at Philippians chapter 4 verse 4, "Rejoice in the Lord [have joy in the Lord] always; again I will say, rejoice," or have joy. You know, the thing that interests me as Paul writes the letter to the Philippians, the letter that one of its defining characteristics is joy, he is in prison in Rome. So he writes as a man who is in prison, lost his freedom, under pressure. According to chapter 1 even some false friends were trying to make his imprisonment more difficult with their preaching of the Gospel. Unpleasant circumstances and from that Paul writes to remind the Philippians that what? We are to have joy all the time, always.

This joy is often seen in times of conflict, difficulty, trial, where we have opportunity to express something of that quality. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. This is where we see something of a paradox. Sorrow yet joy. Verse 10. Paul writes of his experience and those who served with him. Verse 10, "As sorrowful yet always [having joy] rejoicing." Sorrowful yet joyful. It seems like a paradox and yet there is if you lose a loved one, if one of your children is taken from you in death, there's great sorrow and grief. But as believers even through the tears even in the sorrow, there's what? Joy in knowing that my God is still on the throne. He has done what is right. He has done what is good and best. I don't understand. The pain is great but there is a joy in my heart that my God is in control. So sorrowful yet having joy.

Chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians. Look at the Macedonian believers. "That in a great ordeal of affliction." They were going through tremendous suffering and trials. "In a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy." They are truly manifesting the character of God. You know some Christians wear their life on their face so to speak. You know things must not be going very well. They sure look gloomy. That should be true of the world but for us is our joy removed because things aren't "going well"? No, the Macedonians had a great ordeal of affliction and they had an abundance of joy and that moved them what? In love. Because they wanted to what? Give for the benefit of others, be sacrificing. "Their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality." So they are giving beyond their ability. That flowed out of what? Of great joy. You know what happens when you have great joy? An appreciation of the grace of God and all He's done for you, an excitement about that grace at work in the lives of others and thrilled to be part of what God is doing in the lives of others. And so they haven't turned in on themselves to become selfish and self-centered.

Keep going to chapter 13 of 2 Corinthians. Note what Paul says in verse 9, "For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong." You see the connection here in love it's unselfish, centered on the good of others. This joy Paul says when I'm weak I have joy because you're strong. You know, we have that little diddy we teach the kids: "Jesus and others and you. What a wonderful way to spell joy." And that's true. Put Jesus first and I appreciate what God is doing when I see His hand at work. And I am filled with joy at your blessings. I come to church today thinking of me? Well, you know, if I start thinking look at . . . Thank you, Lord, that so and so is here. Lord, I rejoice at the great work you've done in their lives. You know, I'm driving here and my car breaks down two blocks away and I got to walk over in the cold or the snow. And just as I'm getting in to the parking here you come driving in in your new Mercedes. And I say Lord, I rejoice. How I praise you. I'm filled with joy at your great blessings for them. Well, you know, if I'm self-centered I'm thinking what? It was unspiritual use of their money and for that money they could have bought two fords and giving me one. And all of a sudden I don't have joy. What? I'm depressed, I'm cranky, I'm irritable. I'm finding fault rather than saying God you're so good. Look how You've blessed them. What a reminder. You are a God who can bestow Your blessings on anyone at any time. And I'm so happy for them. All of a sudden my attention is off me and my joy begins to bubble up and I can say what a blessing that I can sit here with a number of believers like this and study the Word of God. What a joy to my heart. And I should be so self-centered and selfish that I'm grumbling about whether they sang my favorite song or whether they did this right or whether the lights are too bright. I say O God forgive me for such selfishness. Restore my store. Put it back on You and appreciating Your grace and the abundance of Your goodness not only in my life but in all these people who are able to be here today. What joy that gives me. I cultivate that joy and see it developed in my life.

Back to Galatians 5. I want to look at one other virtue with you that's part of the fruit of the Spirit and that is peace. Peace is the tranquility, the quietness, if you will, of heart and mind produced by the Spirit's dwelling in a life. Tranquility of heart and mind produced by the Spirit in a life.

You know, Paul is fond of referring to God as the God of peace. I jotted one, two, three, four, five at least six times. There may be more. I just took these from one writer. There God is referred to as the God of peace. Passages like Romans 15:33, Romans 16:20. You start there you'll be able to chase down your chain references, other references. May the God of peace be with you. Saying what? Paul wants them to be experiencing God's peace and tranquility in their heart and mind through all the circumstances and trials and difficulties of life. That's all based upon the peace that He provided through the death of His Son of course. Romans 5:1, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." That ending of the strife, the conflict, the enmity between God and me. He brought peace. But then He produces His peace in my heart and my life.

Turn over to Philippians again. Philippians chapter 4. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Philippians chapter 4. We read verse 4. You see these virtues are linked together because they are the fruit (single) of the Spirit. That's what He produces in the life in which He dwells. Verse 4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice." Verse 6, "Be anxious for nothing." Don't worry about anything. It ought to be one of your favorite verses in all the Bible. We all delight to obey the commands of our God. And He says Gil, don't worry about anything. Don't be anxious about anything. O Lord, you don't know what's before me. You don't know but He does. I don't know but He does. Ah Lord, the tragic news I've just received. It's almost overwhelming. What am I going to do? How will I get through this? And worries and anxieties press in upon me. Don't be anxious for anything. Remember Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that we weren't to worry about anything. Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't be anxious about tomorrow. Everyday has enough trouble of its own. You have a God who can take care of tomorrow. I've shared with you before, what causes me anxiety? We're all sitting here now, well enough fed, well enough clothed, healthy enough to be here. Yes, but you don't know what's facing me in the morning. You don't know what's going to happen this week. I have surgery. I have bills. I have a husband who may leave me. I have wife who's . . . On we go. Don't worry about tomorrow. God can handle tomorrow. It's the tomorrows of my life that burden me. When I go to bed at night and can't sleep what am I worrying about? Tomorrows. What if, what will happen? Don't be anxious about anything.

Turn it over to the Lord in prayer verse 6 says of Philippians. Let your requests be made known to God. Verse 7, "And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension [You cannot understand it. It's supernatural] will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." I can't explain it. Humanly speaking it makes no sense. All the circumstances, the situations, would indicate you ought to be worried, you ought to be scared to death, you ought to be in turmoil. But I turned it over to the Lord and in doing so I reminded myself He's still on the throne, that all things, all things work together for good to those who love God or that are called according to His purpose. Nothing can frustrate His plan for my ultimate glorification in His presence. God is sovereign. What peace! I might as well go to sleep. It's taken care of. It's resolved. Now I don't know the resolution but it's in God's hands. I can have perfect peace knowing that He is my God, He is in control.

This peace is to carry over into our relationships with other people. You know, we have a lot of turmoil and stress in the church because people have turmoil and stress unrest in their hearts. Just make a note as an aside. In reading a book this week I received from a friend that I'll be recommending to you in coming weeks, that reminded me of how believers are chasing around. You know, we need counselors. We need what? I'm filled with anxiety. I can't sleep. I'm worried. So we think that the answer is what? Something outside ourselves. Somebody there has an answer and you know, we have the answer as God's people.

If you are a believer, you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. The Spirit produces peace in your life. Now you need to cultivate that peace, bring it to maturity, ripeness as a fruit, if you will. But it's there. There's not something missing. There's not something else. There's not something more. God intends that you have perfect peace as His child.

The church has abandoned this. I sometimes think the church is trying to make provision for unbelievers to try to live like believers. So we adopt the world's methods and the world's procedures because we are dealing with unbelievers who do not have the Spirit producing love, joy, peace. And they are aware of this absence and instead of taking them back to the Gospel of peace, we set up programs.

The book I'm referring to written by a psychiatrist who is a believer who is solidly biblical. He talks about his practice. In fact, he did his undergraduate work in the university of Nebraska before he became a believer. He talks about his practice as a psychiatrist and how well he was doing and how much money he was making and the Ferrari he was driving. He says people were happy to give me their money as I explained to them the problems of anorexia and all these things. He says all I did was interject some medical jargon that would make them feel like I was an expect and they were happy to come back and give me their money. But I was troubled because even as an unbeliever I knew I was not giving them any true help. It was all make believe. Through that process he came to trust Christ through the witness of a believer. And is totally changed. Now as a psychiatrist what he ends up doing is explaining to people you don't need that, you need Christ. You need what He brings to a life, not the counterfeits.

We need to look at ourselves closely. We need to look at the church. Why is the church filled with people who have no peace, who have no joy, who are self-centered and self-focused? Maybe the church is filled with people who have not come to the glorious salvation that is in Jesus Christ. We need to be offering the solution of the Gospel which will bring the Spirit to a life, which will make you new, which will bring peace, joy and so on.

In our relationships with one another, we are to pursue the things that make for peace and the building up of one another. That's Romans 14:19. Turn to James chapter 4 as we wrap up if you would please. James chapter 4. Though we talked about the works of the flesh characterized by dissensions, factions, divisions and so on. James chapter 4 says verse 1, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?" You see what happens. Quarrels and conflicts come out of the fact if I am in turmoil on the inside that spills over. What happens your husband comes home from work and he's irritable. You say, ah, he must of had a hard day at work. You know, what? He's on turmoil on the inside and that's coming out. What happens in our church? People are in turmoil. They are unhappy about this, they are unhappy about that. They are complaining about this. They are complaining about that. Their heart and mind is not characterized by the peace and tranquility that God brings. Pretty soon that's spilling over because you don't want to . . . you can't keep it bottled up. So really the problem is not me. It's you. The reason I'm not happy. It's you. It's what you're doing. It's what they're doing. It's . . . All of a sudden what now? You see, it comes from within that wage wars in your members, quarrels, conflicts. We need to be careful that we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another according to Romans 14:19 so that the church is characterized by the peace that is to be characteristic of hearts and minds.

Jesus prepared for the biggest catastrophe He's disciples would ever face--His own crucifixion. The Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, is about to be nailed to a cross and it will shatter the lives of His follows. That last night Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:27, "My peace I leave with you. I give my peace to you. Not like the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled. Don't be afraid. Let my peace give you tranquility, rest in your mind, rest in your heart.

Well, these are the beginning of the fruit of the Spirit. The world has its counterfeits. Don't be taken in by the counterfeits. The counterfeits will show their emptiness as soon as the pressure builds. Then that love, that joy, that peace is shattered.

These are the fruit of the Spirit. You cannot have them apart from the work of the Spirit in your life. You cannot have the Spirit in your life without having come to understand and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you are a sinner, that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin. You must turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ and a marvelous, supernatural, unexplainable change takes place when you do that. You will be born again. The old you will die. You will be made new and the Spirit of God Himself will come and take up residence in your life. And it will produce in your life and unselfish love for your husband or your wife, for others. A joy that will grow and increase and bubble over in your life. A peace that will give you a tranquility, rest within in the worst of situations and circumstances. That's what He offers to you, offers to all who will believe in Him.

Is the fruit of the Spirit a characteristic of your life? Are you growing and maturing in that fruit? Is it becoming more and more characteristic of your life as you walk by the Spirit as you live under His control and experience what only He can do? Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful salvation, a salvation complete and full. Lord, we forget what we were so often. We fail to enjoy to the fullest what You have made us in Christ. Lord, may Your love, Your joy, Your peace be the characteristic of each life present here. For those who are struggling, perhaps as they think they are believers, but Lord, the reality of it is they are not characterized by Your love. They know they don't have Your joy in their heart and mind. They know that within there is anxiety and worry and fear not peace. Lord, may they honestly before You bow and place their faith in Christ, experiencing the remarkable miracle of being born again. And we pray in Christ's name, amen.