The Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 1 I. Introduction The world today is waiting to see Jesus, but not as you would expect. They are not looking to the sky to see Him. They are waiting to see Him in the lives of those who claim to be His children. The people of the world have excuse before the Lord, they have seen denominations, groups, splits, fragments, controversies and a lot of fleshly believers fighting amongst themselves. But they have not seen Jesus! Only as mature Christians allow Jesus to show though us collectively and individually will the people of this world desire Him. In these lessons it is our desire to show what the Church will need to show the “Whole Christ” to the world. II. Ministry Gifts – Ephesians 4:11-13 Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some [to] [be] apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ a. The Five-Fold Leadership Ministries Here we see that Paul is telling us a Jesus gave fight gets the Ministry to the church. They are the apostle, the Prophet, the Evangelist, the Pastor and Teacher. These are gifts to equip the Church for Ministry. These five gifts combined are the ability of Jesus to build and edify his body. b. Change in Thinking These gifts are not for the work of the Ministry. They are to train the body of Christ to do the work of Ministry. The real Ministry of Jesus cannot be released into the world until we have allowed the fivefold Ministry to prepare all of us to go forth and do the works of God. c. How Long Will These Ministry Gifts Remain? If you will notice in verse 13 Paul says the gifts will remain until we reach full maturity. If you take a look at the church today we are nowhere near full maturity! d. What Will Be the Result of Their Ministry The body will mature to a place where we all stand in the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ. The amplified Bible reads that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood-the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christs own perfection-the measure of fullness of the Christ, in the completeness found in Him. e. When the fivefold Ministry is established again in the New Testament Church and allowed to do their jobs, the world will see the Ministry of Jesus alive in the Church. III. The Effectiveness of Jesus 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 1 Corinthians 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. 1 Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:9 to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit; 1 Corinthians 12:10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: 1 Corinthians 12:11 but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will. These gifts, we call the Gifts of the Spirit demonstrate the effectiveness or power of Jesus to come into our lives with His dominion. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:9 and heal the sick there, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. When a word is given, a demon cast out, a body healed it is a demonstration of the kingship of Jesus in that the individual has been touched by His kingdom. This demonstration of the power of Jesus and His kingdom MUST remain in the church. It did not pass away! IV. The Nature of Jesus Galatians 5:22-23 Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Galatians 5:23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. The fruit of the Spirit represents the nature of Jesus. These do not come as do the Gifts of the Spirit for they are gifts … you do nothing but receive them and learn how to move in them. I believe the apostle Paul knew what he was talking about when he called them fruit. F must be cultivated, matured and nurtured. For fruit to grow, there must be pruning, gentle rains in drawing from the roots. Lets take a closer look at this. Pruning: Is a process of removing that which is no longer needed. We can call it a process of satisfaction. Watering: The process of feeding upon the Word in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Drawing from the Roots: Jesus told us that He was the vine and we are the branches. We can only draw from Him in intimate fellowship through prayer and worship. We need time alone with Jesus. Thoughts about the Fruits in Gifts of the Spirit 1. Anyone at any level of Christian growth can receive and use a gift of the Spirit. 2. Only someone who has matured in Christ can demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit. 3. The fruit (nature of Christ) balances out the gifts (the power of Christ). Power must be controlled by matured Christians. It is also a tragic thing to love and care for someone and be a loss change things for the better! V. In Conclusion For the world to see a true picture of Jesus through his church, we must have His present-day Ministry through the Ministry gifts, His power and dominion through the Gifts of the Spirit and His character through the Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of Love ~ part 1 Foundational Scripture: Galatians 5:22-25 Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. I. Introduction Trivia – How many times does the word LOVE appear in the Bible? 169 times The first fruit of the Spirit is love. Love speaks of relationship. In order for love to be cultivated in our lives, we must understand that it is two-fold. Our love must be developed vertically with God before it can be developed horizontally with those around us. When our relationship with God is right, our relationships with others will flow in His divine love. In this Lesson we will study developing love for God. II. The Greatest Commandment Matthew 22:35-40 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. In this scripture, Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest. His answer was to love God. Secondly it was to love others as ourselves. This message was so important that He said that ALL THE LAW AND PROPHETS hang on this truth. Here the word love in the Greek is agapao. It is defined in SeedMaster’s electronic lexicon as “to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly, to be well pleased, to be contented at or with” Thayer’s Lexicon stats that it is to “have preference for, regard the welfare of.” He then states “When used of love to God or Christ, the word involves the idea of affectionate reverence, prompt obedience and grateful recognition of benefits received. --Therefore the entire purpose of the Cross was to bring us into a love, intimate and reverent relationship with Father God. On this truth – all the Word hangs.-- III. I Never Knew You Matthew 7:22-23 - Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. The Greek word here for “knew” is ginosko (gin-onc’-ko). This word means “to learn to know, come to know, to become well acquainted with.” It is also a Jewish idiom for the most intimate relationship that can exist between a husband and wife. THREFORE IT IS NOT A SURFACE KNOWLEDGE It is an extremely intimate relationship. This verse gives a very important warning; it is not what we do that makes us acceptable in the Kingdom (i.e. we cannot earn a place with God). Works without relationship can send one to Hell. The works that we do for God must spring out of the relationship. Let’s look at it this way: WRONG: My works for God ensure my relationship with God. RIGHT: My relationship with God promotes and empowers my works for God IV. Hindrance to A Relationship with God a. To receive forgiveness from God: :There are two areas that this can cover. The first is not allowing sin to come between us and God. When we sin, we need to run to Jesus to forgive us. This relationship with God must become so precious that we will not let anything hinder this ongoing fellowship. The second area is to receive his forgiveness. Many will ask God a thousand times to forgive them. But they do not believe they are worthy to receive it. Thus they never do. The truth is that none of us are worthy to receive Gods forgiveness. That is why Jesus went to the cross. When we refuse to receive His forgiveness and forgive ourselves we reject His love and the price He paid for us to receive that forgiveness at Calvary. Until we receive his forgiveness, we can never have the relationship we should have with Him. Not because He will not allow, but because we will not allow it! b. To forgive God: before you get upset. Let me state that God is perfect, He cannot sin or make a mistakes. Unfortunately our understanding of God and His ways are incomplete. Every day God is blamed for things He did not do. Every earthquake, tornado and war is blamed on God. So many times, we reap in our lives the things we have sown and then say Why did God let this happen to me? We need to confess before Him that we have blamed Him for things He did not do and then forgive Him. Unforgiveness for a perceived wrong makes a wall in relationships as surely as unforgiveness for a real wrong. c. Relationship = Time: In Ministry, it is so easy to be too busy doing Ministry for God that we never have time to spend with God. Any time you neglect the relationship intimacy will suffer. Whenever a husband and wife get so busy that they cannot spend time together intimacy is lost. It is the same with our relationship with God. It must become so precious that we invest time and energy into developing a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. V. Love for God-a Fruit That Needs to Be Cultivated We initially received love as a gift from God. But to develop the fruit of God for God, we must plant, water, cultivate and nurture the relationship. When we get to heaven and stand before Him it should be a comforting and holy thing. Why? Because we developed a lifelong intimate friendship with Him while here on Earth. Review Questions Explain why relationships must first be vertical before they can be horizontal. What does it mean to love and know God. How does sin separate us from God? Why do we need to forgive God? What does time have to do with relationship? THE FRUIT OF LOVE - PART 2 In our last lesson, we found that the first half of the fruit of love is to love God. We cannot love others properly until the relationship with Almighty God has been properly developed. When our relationship is right with God, our relationship with others will flow with his divine love through us. I. Love for God Casts out Fear 1 John 4:17-19 17 love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But He who fears has been made perfect in love. 19 we love Him because He first loved us. The word perfect can be accurately translated matured. As our relationship grows strong in God, we find that several things take place in the life of the believer: We no longer fear tomorrow (Gods love will sustain us) We no longer fear judgment (we know we are excepted by God) We no longer fear Satan (greater is he that is in us and he that is in the world!) We no longer fear rejection of Man (for Almighty God has except us) And as this lesson will show, we are no longer afraid to forgive. II. Forgiveness for Others Rooted in Our Relationship with God 1 John 4:20-5:4 1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. There are several key things here that John brings out. (Notice: this is speaking of our relationships with other Christians, not those in the world.) a. Those that say they know and love God, yet hate other Christians DO NOT REALLY KNOW GOD! This is a powerful statement. It is one thing to say you know and love God. Yet if you have experienced his love, it will transform you. It will make you different. It will give you the ability to express Gods love to those in the body of Christ. This is not speaking of casual Christianity but relational Christianity. Casual Christians are always fussing with people. Relational Christians always love people because they have been infused with Gods love. Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. b. Overcoming the World The only way to be able to love others this way is to overcome the world. The Greek word translated overcome is nikao (nik-ah’-o) which means carry off the victory, come off victorious, to win the case, maintain ones cause. In other words, until we enter into the powerful, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot overcome the worldly tendencies to hate, be self-centered and to be unforgiving. Only when we truly experience Gods love and forgiveness can we love and forgive others unconditionally. III. Relationships with Believers a. If we have offended another believer Matthew 5:23-24 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Unforgiveness or unresolved conflicts between others in Christ can hinder our relationship with God. As we seek the face of God, the Holy Spirit will prompt us to make a relationship right. It is so important to the heart of Jesus that He tells us to go immediately and make it right, THEN return to prayer! b. If the believer has offended us Matthew 18:15-17 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. If another Christian has done something against us, God tells us to seek him or her out and try to make it right. If they refuse, bring one or two mature elders in the church with you. If they still refuse, bring it before the church. If they still refuse, Jesus commands the church to consider them nonbelievers by their actions. Very few churches follow this direct instruction from Jesus. We have become to numbers orientated. Most churches they would rather have many members that are not relational (both with God and others) than a few than really are! It is time for us to return to biblical patterns of living. c. The difference between forgiving and restoration Remember, God is interested in relationship. Both with himself and with others. Therefore forgiveness and restoration must be viewed through relationship. 1. Forgiveness-I can forgive someone regardless of what they do. Forgiveness, if not received, can be only one way. We cannot receive forgiveness until we have accepted responsibility that we have done wrong and sought to resolve it. 2. Restoration-when I go to someone and say I hurt you, I am sorry, please forgive me then I receive forgiveness and the relationship is restored. d. Making Jesus’ words clear In this scripture, Jesus was saying that if the individual will not accept responsibility for the wrong, correct it and ask forgiveness, that even if you forgave them (and we must!) that relationship cannot be restored. Therefore they must be considered without relationship to the local body … and to God. e. .Bring it home We see this same principle in God’s relationship to the world. The Bible tells us that through Christ, God has already forgiven the world. Hey! If that is true, why cannot we go into the Millennium? Because relationship has not be restored! Although God has already forgiven the world, before someone can be saved they must: Recognize they have sinned against God Repent of that Sin Accept the price Jesus paid for that sin. Then they are born-again and the relationship is restored with God. v. Relationships with Non-Believers Matthew. 5:38-48 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.v5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. In our relationships with those in the world, we must show our Christian walk. We are the Gospel in action. We are to: Show God’s forgiveness (Note: the rule of restoration still applies) Show God’s love in giving. Show God’s love towards our enemies (Pray for their salvation. If any vengeance is taken, it will be at the hand of God … Not yours.) Pray and speak salvation towards them, not retribution Review Questions: When we are established in our relationship with God and His love for us, what does it produce in our lives? When we have really entered into that love relationship with God, how will it affect our relationship with others in the Body? What is the difference in “casual” Christianity and “relational” Christianity What is the difference between forgiveness and restoration?
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 19:05:13 +0000
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