Spiritual Growth: Goodness

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Week number six in our series on spiritual growth.

Now, how many of you, this is your first time

being with us in the last five weeks or six weeks?

Have no fear. We do enough recap that you will

understand what's going on and how this works.

But this is week number six in spiritual growth.

I'm going to start out by looking at 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:14

2, verse 14. It says this, the natural man does

not receive the things of the Spirit of God.

for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know

them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Everybody say natural man. 1 Corinthians 3 verses

1 Corinthians 3:1–3

1 through 3 says this, And I, brethren, could

not speak to you as spiritual people, but as

to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with

milk and not with solid food, for until now you

were not able to receive it, and even now you

are still not able. For you are still carnal.

For where there are envy, strife, and divisions

among you, are you not carnal and behaving like

mere men? Or we could replace it with the word

from the other verse, behaving like natural men.

So in these four verses, we find out that there

are three types of people. Three types of people.

The first type of person is a natural person.

Everybody say natural. This is someone who is

not a Christian. They're not born again. And

they're just led by their flesh or their sensual

nature. I mean, they're without Christ. All they

have to live by is what feels good or what seems

right in their own eyes. That's the only... course,

the only direction that they have. And the verse

that we read said that, you know, the things

of God are only spiritually discerned. They cannot

know the things of God because they're not born

again. They do not have the Spirit of God living

inside them. Then we see a carnal person. Everybody

say carnal. Now, a carnal person is a Christian,

but they're still living according to their flesh.

They're still living like a natural person. They're

immature. They, you know, it doesn't matter how

many years they've been a Christian. If they're

carnal, they're just like babies still. And Paul

said, look, I want to give you some meat, but

all you can handle is milk. Because they refuse

to feed on the Word of God and to grow. That's

a carnal person. Then we see a spiritual person.

Everybody say spiritual. A spiritual person is

a Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit and

led by the Word of God. Now this is a growing

Christian. Everybody say growing. A growing Christian

who regularly receives the Word of God and walks

in the Spirit according to the Word of God. So

where does this spiritual growth occur? Do we

go to the gym and lift weights to get spiritually

mature and spiritually strong, spiritually strengthened?

No, that's physically. So where does spiritual

growth occur? The Bible tells us that we are

three -part beings. There are multiple verses.

I'm just going to read one today. 1 Thessalonians

5 .23 says this, Now may the God of peace make

you holy. Everybody say set apart. May the God

of peace make you holy or set apart in every

way. And may your whole spirit and soul and body

be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ

comes again. So here we see that we are three

part beings. A lot of people think that we're

just a soul and flesh, but no, we are a spirit.

Everybody say, I am a spirit. You're created

in the image of God. So to say that again, you

are created in the image of God. You are a spirit

being. And you have a soul. And you live in a

body. I don't have to describe what your body

is. All you have to do is pinch your arm, you

know, and that's... That's your body. That's

your flesh. But you have a soul. You have a soul.

You are a spirit. Now, your spirit, when you

are born as a human because of the fall in the

garden, your spirit is born. When you're born,

you are a spirit, but your spirit is not connected

with God, and your spirit is separated from God.

When you become a Christian, your spirit comes

alive unto God. Your spirit is united with Christ.

Your spirit moves from being immersed in sin

to being immersed in Christ. And the Bible is

clear. It says when we're in Christ, we have

put on the righteousness of God. in Christ Jesus,

your spirit is completely righteous and right

with God. You are complete in Him. Every promise

that's attached to who you are in Christ and

what you have in Christ is yours. It's available

to you the moment you are born again. How many

of you know that your soul didn't change when

your spirit got saved? Let me tell you what your

soul is, and you'll agree with me. Your soul

is made up of your mind, your will, and your

emotions. So how many of you, when you came to

Christ, all of a sudden your thought life just

immediately changed, and now your mind and focus

is on God, and it's never on anything else. You

just completely, your thought life is just completely

transformed immediately. No, that takes a little

work. Look at the person beside you and say,

that's going to take a little work. It's still

taking a little work. What about your will or

your desires? Did your desires just immediately

change? All of a sudden you didn't desire anything

that wasn't godly anymore. No, it's going to

take some work. What about your emotions and

your feelings? Did those automatically change

when you were born again? No. How many of you...

Say that God needs to continue to work. The Spirit

of God needs to continue to work. The Word of

God needs to continue to work to transform my

thought life, my desires, and my feelings. About

three of us. The rest of you got it all down

pat. The difference between a carnal and a spiritual

person is the spiritual growth of the soul or

the lack thereof. As spirit beings, when our

spirits become alive unto God, we're supposed

to begin to allow our spirit to control our lives.

Our spirit who is connected with the Holy Spirit,

the Spirit of God, the transformation should

begin to take place, but it's going to take our

cooperation for it to take place. It's not just

going to automatically happen. You're going to

have to cooperate. Spiritual maturity is not

measured by how long you've been a Christian.

I think it was last week, I celebrated 51 years

of being a Christian last week. But that doesn't

mean that I'm spiritually mature just because

years have passed. Spiritual maturity is not

measured by how often you attend worship services.

I mean, I want you to be here every week. I think

God wants you to be here every week. But you

can go to church every week and still be spiritually

immature. You don't measure spiritual maturity

by how much scripture you can quote. Did anyone

grow up doing Bible drills at church where you

tried to memorize Scripture and then you had

competitions with other people and, you know,

memorizing a bunch of Bible verses? That doesn't

mean you're spiritually mature. If you can quote

the Bible, it doesn't mean that you're spiritually

mature. I mean, there's nothing wrong with either

one of these things. Nothing wrong with it. But

that doesn't mean spiritual maturity. Luke 6,

Luke 6:43

verses 43 and 44, Jesus says this, A good tree

does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree

bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its

own fruit. Jesus has given us some insight. Spiritual

maturity is not about... It's about how much

of the fruit of the Spirit is alive in our lives

and increasing in our lives and evidenced in

our lives. That's what we've been looking at

in this series. It doesn't matter how long you've

been a Christian, how much you go to church,

how many Bible verses you can quote, if you're

not walking in love, if you're not experiencing

the joy of the Lord in the Holy Spirit, if you're

not experiencing the peace of God that surpasses

understanding, if you're not patient, if you're

not kind, None of that other stuff matters if

we're not being transformed into the image of

Christ. If practically, not just at church on

Sunday morning, but when we go to school or when

we go to work or when we're at home, if none

of these things are evident in our lives, we're

not spiritually mature. We're just fooling ourselves

if those things are not evident in our lives.

Now listen, I've said it from up front. This

series is a series in self -examination. Because

it's so easy to sit here. Listen, it's so easy

to sit here and you talk about the fruit of the

Spirit and then you begin saying, well, you know

what? My sorry brother -in -law, he sure does.

I've got a wonderful brother -in -law. I'm just

giving an example. Okay? It's not for us to think

about someone who's not here or even someone

who is sitting beside us. It's not for us to

look at them and begin to judge how spiritually

mature they are. No, this is a self -examination.

Because everyone in this room, I promise you,

everyone in this room is a work in progress.

None of us have arrived. And if all of a sudden

your mind clash with me and you say, no, I have

arrived. I am spiritually mature. You just told

me that you are a spiritual teenager. I'll never

forget hitting the teenage years and I begin

to think that my parents didn't know anything

and I knew everything. So to think that you've

arrived means that you're just a spiritual teenager.

I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're

the Pope. If you think you've arrived, you're

just spiritual teenage. Probably shouldn't have

said that. But anyway. Galatians 5, 22 and 23.

This is how far we've come. The fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.

And today, we're going to be focusing on goodness.

Everybody say goodness. Goodness is our focus.

Here's a Greek word. Agathosune. Got to put the

right accent on the right syllable. All right.

Somebody smile or laugh or something. And, you

know, usually when we look up a word in the Koine

Greek and we look at the definition, usually

there's some other things attached to it. I was

talking with Irv at Life Group. He said, what

are you going to preach on this week, Preacher?

And I said, we might be on goodness. I might

go somewhere else. I said, I just have to look

up the Greek word. And he said, I ain't concerned

about the Greek. I just need to know the English.

But the New Testament is written in Koine Greek,

right? So we need to understand. The words that

have been translated into English, because the

Bible wasn't written in English. Our language

is fluid. And we need to know what God said as

best as we can. And guess what? Goodness means

goodness. Isn't that good? Goodness just means

goodness. Goodness means goodness. That is the

definition. There are no other words. But it

gives us some examples. An example, it said in

the Strong's Concordance, it says virtue or beneficence.

Who wants to get the mic and give me definitions

of virtue or beneficence? It's pretty bad when

you've got to look up the definition to find

out what the definition means. Right? Don't worry,

I did that for you in Merriam -Webster Dictionary.

Virtue is morally good behavior or character.

Everybody say morally good. And where is morally

based on? Morally is based on Scripture. Morality

is based on Scripture. To find real morality.

It's not, you don't look at culture to find what

morality is. You look at scripture to find out

what it is. And virtue is morally good behavior

or character. So, everybody say, it's what I

am and what I do. Because it's character and

behavior. It's not just a mindset. It's bigger

than that. It's beyond that. Beneficence is the

quality or state of doing or producing good.

So, the fruit of the Spirit is goodness. What

does that look like? It looks like if we are

in Christ and we are growing, The more we grow

spiritually, the more morally good we become.

I don't want you to get me wrong here because

we don't gain the favor of God and we don't become

right with God by our actions. I don't want you

to get this mixed up. We're right with God based

on what Jesus did on the cross. But when we are

born again, it should change who we are and how

we act and what we do. Now that doesn't make

us any more right with God because you can't

grow in righteousness. You can't grow in righteousness.

If you could grow in righteousness, then you're

telling me that you can be more righteous than

Jesus was because we're clothed in His righteousness.

So what would it take for you to say, oh, I can

be more righteous than Jesus was. No, we're perfectly

righteous because of what He did. We put on the

righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, is what

the Bible says, at salvation. But that does not

mean that we can continue to purposefully live

in sin. If we choose to live in sin, then we

are carnal believers. Are you with me? And beneficence

is the quality or state of doing good and producing

good. We ought to be good people. We ought to

be good people. When people look at us, they

don't need to say that we're goody -two -shoes,

but they need to recognize us as good people

when we're in Christ. They shouldn't look at

us and say that we're mean people. They shouldn't

ever look at us and say, well, I didn't think

Christians acted like that. I didn't think Christians

talked like that. I didn't think Christians did

that. Hello? Goodness begins with God. I want

to say that again. Goodness begins with God.

God is not occasionally good. God is good by

nature. Everything He does flows from His character.

The Bible tells us that God is love. The Bible

also tells us that God is good. Everybody say,

God is good. If you ever interpret anything in

life to come to the point that says, well, God

must not be good because this happened or that

happened, and we interpret it as God brought

some kind of... terrible thing, and we accuse

God of not being good, we are not connecting

the dots correctly. Whether it's in Scripture

or in life, we're not connecting the dots correctly.

If we ever come to the result that God is not

love or God is not good, then it's not God, it's

us who have it mixed up in our understanding.

God's a good God. Jesus even said, John 10, 10,

the thief comes to steal, to kill, and destroy.

Don't ever accuse God of any of that. Jesus said

He came to give us life and that we would have

it more abundantly to the fullest. God gives

us life so that we can experience the life of

God. Life of God. Everybody say, God is good.

And try to pause from saying all the time, because

that's normally what everybody wants to say.

God is good. Goodness reflects God's character.

Goodness is who God is and what God does. I'll

say that again. Goodness is who God is and what

God does. I've got some verses for you. I can't

read them all because there are more than 70

Bible verses that directly state the Lord is

good. It would take me a while to read 70. And

then there are more than 190 verses that declare

His goodness. Y 'all don't want me to preach

that long. That's a lot of verses that directly

say that the Lord is good. And then it talks

about His goodness in Scripture, but I do have

some for you in just a second. Does anybody know

who Dr. David Jeremiah is? I found this quote

this week. God's goodness conveys His generosity.

His goodness means far more than His generosity,

but it certainly includes His infinitely generous

attitude. Towards us. By nature. God longs to

bring joy. And blessing. To all his creatures.

It's good. I mean I know it's not a Bible verse.

It's good. I think it lines up with a lot of

Bible verses. I'll read it again. God's goodness

conveys his generosity. His goodness means far

more than His generosity, but it certainly includes

His infinitely generous attitude towards you

and towards me. By God's very nature, He longs

to bring joy and blessing to all His creatures.

And that's who God is. That's who God is. 1 Chronicles

16, 34. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Somebody say, He is good. His faithful love endures

forever. Psalm 119, 68. Speaking to God, you

are good. And do only good. Everybody say, God

is good. Everything He does is good. Nahum 1

.7. If you have to give your Bible, you might

need to kind of squeeze the pages apart because

you might not have been in Nahum often. Nahum

1 .7. The Lord is good. Everybody say, the Lord

is good. He's a strong refuge when trouble comes.

He is close to those who trust Him. He's close

to those who have their faith in Him, their confidence

in Him. He's close to you when you trust Him.

And He's a strong refuge when you face trouble.

The Lord is good. James 1 .17 Whatever is good

and perfect is a gift coming down to us from

God our Father who created all the lights in

the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting

shadow. I memorized it like this during my Bible

drill days that I talked about a minute ago.

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the

Father of lights. Every good thing that has ever

come into your life, whether you're in Christ

or not, every good thing that's ever come into...

Anyone's life on this earth, every good thing

has come from God. You know why? Because He's

good. And that's what He does. So every good

thing has come from Him. Psalm 23, 6. This ought

to make you happy. Surely your goodness, God,

your goodness and unfailing love will pursue

me all the days of my life. God is good. And

His goodness is always running after us. His

goodness is pursuing us. Hallelujah. Sometimes

we need to quit running so hard and turn around

and say, goodness, and give goodness a big hug.

Because God's goodness is coming after you. It's

coming after you. Psalm 27, 13. This is a confidence

that we need to have too. I am confident that

I will see the Lord's goodness. I am confident

I will see the Lord's goodness. I'm confident

that I'm going to see the goodness of God because

God's good, and I'm going to see his goodness.

Confident. Sometimes when we're in the middle

of a hard place, you know, it's like, oh, God,

where are you? His goodness is coming. His goodness

is pursuing you. Even when you can't see it.

See, it's easy to be confident in the Lord's

goodness when you're experiencing His goodness.

But listen, some days we don't feel, our feelings

are not that we're seeing His goodness. Our sight

is not that we're seeing His goodness because

what we see, Doesn't look good. Has anybody been

alive more than 30 minutes? This is life in a

fallen world. But right in the middle of it,

right in the middle of whatever you face, this

is a good one to memorize and a good one to say.

Right in the middle of it, I am confident that

I'm going to see the Lord's goodness. It's coming.

I don't see it right now, but I'm confident that

I'm going to see it. And the reason why I'm so

confident is because I know that God is good.

I know He's good. And I'm going to see His goodness.

Hallelujah. Since God is good, have I convinced

you that God is good yet without reading 260

verses? Since God is good, It makes perfect sense

that He would desire to cultivate goodness in

us, that He would desire to manifest this same

characteristic, His goodness in His people. It

makes perfect sense. Now, goodness, this word,

this Greek word that I read a few moments ago,

or tried to read. It's strictly a biblical term.

It appears four times. Everybody say four times.

That word appears four times in the New Testament.

And no scholar has been able to find that form

of that word in any other Greek writings. Four

times. It's talking about God's goodness in us

and through us. Ephesians 5, 8 and 9. Now let's

talk about us. Talk about God's being good and

His goodness. Ephesians 5, verses 8 through 9.

Ephesians 5:8–9

For once, everybody say, I used to. For once,

you were full of darkness. I used to be full

of darkness. But now, You have light from the

Lord. So live as people of light. For this light

within you produces only what is good and right

and true. That's another occurrence. Because

I read it, the fruit of the Spirit is goodness.

That's one of the occurrences. This is another

one. And it's saying the light of God. We used

to be full of darkness. But now that we're in

Christ, we are filled with light. We're no longer

filled with darkness. We're filled with light

in the Lord. And because we are filled with light,

we need to live as people of light. And here's

what the light's going to do. It's going to produce

only what is good and right and true. Goodness

shines in darkness. Goodness shines in darkness.

I hear people say all the time, this world sure

is getting dark. Has anybody heard anybody say

that? Boy, the world's sure getting dark. The

darker it is, the easier it is to see light.

If I struck a match right now or lit a flashlight

right here right now, it wouldn't really make

a difference because there's a lot of light in

this room. But if we cut off all the lights and

covered the windows, if I lit just a real tiny

little flashlight, it would put a whole lot of

light in this room. So I want to encourage you,

the darker the world gets, the more that our

light can shine. The more it can shine. And if

it's ever too dark, it means that more Christians

need to be allowing the light and the life of

God to shine through them. And part of the way

that light shines through us from the verse that

we just looked at, That light works goodness.

And people see the goodness of God. They should

be able to look at us and say, hey, you're a

good person. And the things you do are good for

other people. And you know what? That's not what

the world looks like. But it's what the church

should look like. Goodness shines in darkness.

2 Thessalonians 1 .11. Here's the other occurrence

of the word. So we keep on praying for you, asking

our God to enable you to live a life worthy of

His call. May He give to you the power to accomplish

all the good things. Everybody say good things.

All the good things your faith prompts you to

do. This is the same word as goodness. And praying

for the believers in Thessalonica that God would

give them the power. Where does the power come

from? Where does the power come from? Specifically.

Everybody say the Holy Spirit. He's the one who

empowers us. He's the one who empowers us. That's

where the power comes from. So may the Holy Spirit

empower you to accomplish good things that your

faith prompts you to do. By the Word of God,

faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word

of God. And as we walk in the Spirit, He's connecting

us to the Word of God, and He's prompting us

to do things in alignment with the Word of God.

And guess what? He's not only going to prompt

us, He's going to empower us to accomplish those

good things. Goodness is more than appearance.

Goodness is more than appearance. Romans 15,

13 and 14. I pray that God, the source of hope,

will fill you completely with joy and peace because

you trust him. Then you will overflow with confident

hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. I

am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters,

that you are full. Of goodness. Full of goodness.

We live in a world where dishonesty is normalized.

Cheat to get your way ahead, right? Immorality

is celebrated. Compromise is excused. Selfishness

is promoted. That's the kind of world That we

live in today. But the goodness of God is the

goodness that comes from God and shows itself

in spiritual and moral excellence. Look at the

person beside you and tell them we're called

to be different. Set apart. Peculiar. A holy

nation. A peculiar people. We should show forth

the praises of God who's brought us out of darkness

and placed us into his marvelous light. Goodness

should be who we are and what we do as followers

of Christ. And I need to remind you of something.

Appearances don't always reveal truth. Goodness

is not image management. It's not just wanting

to appear good and putting on a front at certain

times so that people would think that we're good.

Goodness is consistency. It's consistency between

your public life and your private life. It's

consistency between your church life and your

home life. It's easy to slick up real good for

an hour or two on Sunday morning. But that's

not necessarily who we really are. Goodness is

consistency between your visible behavior, what

everybody else can see, and your hidden behavior

that only you or a few people know about. And

fruit reveals authenticity over time. Goodness

flows from transformation. Everybody say transformation.

This goodness that we're talking about, it flows

from transformation. I use this story a lot,

but we're going to look at it in a different

way. And you're probably familiar with it, but

I'm going to read it as quickly as I can because

you should be familiar with the story. In Luke

Luke 10:30–35

10, verses 30 through 35, Jesus told a parable.

And he was using it to describe who the neighbor

was. But I want us to take a look at it in a

different way. A Jewish man was traveling on

a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was

attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his

clothes, beat him up, left him half dead beside

the road. By chance, a priest came along, but

when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to

the other side of the road and passed him by.

A temple assistant walked over and looked at

him lying there. but he also passed by on the

other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along,

and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for

him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed

his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged

them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and

took him to an inn where he took care of him.

The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver

coins, telling him, take care of this man. If

his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you

next time I'm there. I want us to look at the

people who interacted with the man who got beat

up and who was half dead laying on the side of

the road. I want to go from that angle. Now,

Jesus was talking to a Pharisee, so obviously

he's going to use religious people and show that

they were not the neighbor. The person like he

was talking to, was not being a neighbor because

he hated Samaritans. And then he used the Samaritan

as being the neighbor. But I just want to look

at the people. The robbers represent a type of

people, people who are just selfish and hostile.

They want what they want. They're going to do

whatever they do. They don't care who they hurt.

You know, they just want what they want. Okay?

They're not good. Everybody say not good. Not

good. Not working towards helping people or working

towards goodness towards others. They're selfish

and hostile. Next people type is the priest who

is basically just indifferent. Everybody say

indifferent. I mean, he didn't beat the guy up

and rob the guy, right? He's not the one who

knocked him down. But he wasn't willing to help

him up either. There's a lot of people like that.

They're not like the bandits. They're just indifferent.

We can still say that they're pretty selfish

and self -oriented. They won't knock you down,

but they're not going to help you up. And what

about the temple assistant who... is also a Levite.

Levites were students of the law, so we can say

that he's legalistic. He has all the answers.

But it doesn't impact the way he lives. It doesn't

impact what he does. Right? Like the person who's

got all these Bible verses. But goodness is not

flowing through them. You wouldn't say they were

a good person. You wouldn't say they were spiritually

mature. Because probably all of us have encountered

some very mean people who go to church all the

time and could quote you a bunch of Bible verses.

Has anyone experienced some folks like that before?

There's some mean people who go to church. I've

been in church a long time. I played the organ

nine months before I was born. I was helping

mom with the bass pedals on the organ. I mean,

they're some mean people. They think they have

all the answers, but it's not impacting their

life. It's not impacting the way they live or

associate with other people. And then we see

the Samaritan. In context of what we're talking

about today, we would say that he... In this

story, out of everybody who has had interaction

with this man who's beat up, he's a good person.

And he's displaying goodness toward this stranger.

So that gives us a little more insight. Spiritual

growth is a result of God's nature, who God is.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Those are

all descriptions, ultimately, of God. So spiritual

growth is a result of God's nature shaping our

nature. God didn't send us the Holy Spirit to

just instruct us on how to act better externally

or act better according to our flesh. Just need

to try harder. The Holy Spirit's not there going...

Well, you know what? You just need to try harder.

Keep trying harder. You can do this. That's not

what he does. He works in us to transform us

and transform our desires from the inside out.

It's not just trying harder in the flesh. It's

being transformed. Christianity is not behavior

modification. It's heart transformation. That's

what it is. And one of the dangers of church

culture is learning how to look spiritual without

growing spiritually. We got all the words. We

got all the songs. We got all the things on our

calendar. We need to be careful that we're not

just looking spiritual. But we're growing spiritually.

And goodness, everybody say goodness. Goodness

is evidence of spiritual growth. God is more

interested in who you are becoming than what

you are accomplishing. I just have to sit here

a minute because this needs to impact you. It

needs to impact me. God is more interested in

who you are becoming than what you are accomplishing.

Because it's easy to get to the point where,

well, God, I'm doing this for you and I'm doing

this for you and I'm doing this for you. God,

I'm volunteering, I'm doing this. God, look at

all this stuff I'm accomplishing for you. But

God's more interested in who you are becoming.

Are you becoming more like Christ? I've already

said this one time, but since God is good, it

makes perfect sense that He's wanting to work

in us, for us to be good, as goodness being a

characteristic in our lives. And the ultimate

goal of spiritual growth is to become more like

Jesus. Goodness is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives and

for us? Jesus told us in John 16, verses 13 through

John 16:13–15

15, He said, But when He, the Spirit of truth,

comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will

not speak on His own. He will speak only what

He hears, and He will tell you what is yet. He

will glorify me, Jesus said, because it is from

me that the Holy Spirit will receive what he

will make known to you. All that belongs to the

Father is mine. That's why I said the Spirit

will receive from me what he will make known

to you. God the Holy Spirit takes hold. Of the

things of God. The things that God has for us.

And He is the one who declares them to us. He's

the one who intensifies them in us. He makes

them known to us. He is the connector. And without

Him, there is no connection. Jesus said, it's

better that I go back to heaven. Because I'm

going to send you the comforter. I'm going to

send you the helper. He's the one who's going

to connect you. Jesus said this in John 15, 5.

He said, I'm the vine. You are the branches.

Those who remain in me, everybody say abide.

Everybody say live. As opposed to visiting. A

lot of people just visit God. He said, those

who abide in me, those who live in me, those

who remain in me, and I in them will produce

much fruit. So how many of us in the room look

at our lives and say, you know, I'm thankful

that I'm not who I used to be. I'm thankful that

I can see that I am growing. But I can see that

I've still got a ways to go. So how? How is the

spiritual growth? That we desire, hopefully we

desire to grow spiritually and be more spiritually

mature this week than we were last week. So how

is that going to happen? It's going to happen

in the ways that we just look. Because fruit

grows naturally where a healthy connection exists.

Jesus is divine. We are the branches. We've got

to be connected. We've got to abide. Not just

visit him every once in a while. but live in

Him and allow His life to flow through us. Spiritual

growth is not about more self -dedication. It's

not about more self -determination. It's not

about more self -effort. But it's about abiding

in Christ. It's also about acknowledging the

indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. If He

is alive in us and we are the temple of the Holy

Spirit, then we need to be acknowledging Him.

Not just on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon.

On Monday morning. On Friday night. On Saturday.

We need to be acknowledging the Holy Spirit of

God. His indwelling presence. The Bible says

that we're supposed to walk in the Spirit. That

we're supposed to yield to the Spirit. Because

the Holy Spirit, if we will acknowledge Him,

He's going to direct us. He's going to guide

us. He's going to empower us. But we have to

acknowledge Him. He's not just going to smack

us over the head. It's not the way this works.

He's a gentleman. He's not going to force you

to grow. We've got to cooperate. We've got to

acknowledge. We've got to yield. As He is speaking

to us, we've got to say, yes, I will follow you.

I will yield to you. I will no longer yield to

my own desires. I will no longer yield to the

thoughts that come into my mind that do not agree

with your word or your promises for me. I'll

no longer set my mind on those things. Because

I want to follow you. I will no longer follow

the negative emotions that rise up on me as a

response to what I see. I'm not going to follow

those anymore. I'm going to yield to you. Because

my soul, my thought life, my desires, my feelings,

I put them under subjection to my spirit who

is alive unto God and connected with God. I'm

going to be transformed. I'm going to walk with

you. God, help us get it. Help us get it. Give

us revelation of your truth today in such a way

that it transforms us, makes a difference. Not

just a little religious experience this morning,

but something that makes a difference in our

lives. Hallelujah. It's the measure of your goodness.

Again, think about the doorpost where children

are growing and you put a ruler on their head

and mark the doorpost, write their name and the

year beside it. I want you to think of a spiritual

doorpost as you consider the self -examination

through the fruit of the Spirit. How mature are

you? In your love walk. How mature are you? How

much joy are you experiencing? How much peace

are you experiencing? You say, boy, I don't have

much joy or much peace. Well, then your marker's

way down here. I'm not trying to bring any condemnation

on anybody, but if you're not experiencing the

peace of God, The Holy Spirit is calling you

to come up higher. Because the kingdom of God

is not about rules, it says in Romans. It's about

righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So if you're not experiencing it, it's available.

Don't be condemned. God's calling you up higher.

He's saying, look what I have for you. Look at

this fruit that I want to be evident in your

life. Look at this fruit that as you're connected

to me, my life is going to flow through you and

this fruit is going to grow and it's going to

mature and it's going to increase. This is what

I have for you. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness. This is the life of God flowing in

us. God always has more. He always has more.

How's it going to increase? Abiding. Acknowledging.

Walking. Yielding. That's how it's going to increase.

Takes your cooperation. I can't get you all to

come up here and stand in line and tap you on

the head and pray for you and just all this becomes

a mature fruit in your life. That's not the way

it works. If it did, let's line up. But that's

not the way it works. Take some work. Take some

cooperation. Hallelujah. Let's pray. God, thank

you. Thank you for today. Thank you for your

word. Thank you for your truth. God, I pray that

it will be planted like seed and good soil in

each one of our hearts. That the cares of this

life won't choke it out. But it will be planted

in our hearts. In such a way that the roots grow

deep in good soil and it produces a good harvest

in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. This online

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