The Fruit of the Holy Spirit in a Believer (Gifted Series)

The message this morning has four points, and you can see them in your notes.

Uh, we have looked at our first week, the person of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.

We came to understand that the Holy Spirit is not a force you wield or a power you grow into, but a person that you can know.

We've in the second week looked at prophecies of the Old Testament, where the prophets, Joel, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah prophesied a future day where the Holy Spirit of God would rest upon and indwell God's people, not just in particular places for particular purposes and particular people, but forever.

That day has now come today at Pentecost in Acts chapter two, where God sent his spirit out to dwell within his people.

And then, of course, we looked at Pentecost in Acts chapter two and saw that the Holy Spirit of God not only convicted hearts, but kind of created a people to enjoy fellowship with one another and uh and and grow as a church.

Last week uh we looked at how the Holy Spirit convicts our heart in our salvation, how he regenerates our heart, and how he seals us until Jesus returns this week.

I want us to look at the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

Four points.

Here's the first.

My encouragement to you this morning begins by saying, let me begin by saying, to fight for joy by fighting against your flesh.

I encourage you to fight for joy by fighting against your flesh.

In a number of years that I've been in pastoral ministry and had the opportunity to speak to different people in different locations.

And every time I have the opportunity to speak, I'd never want to assume that those I'm speaking to, even on a Sunday morning where our primary gathering is church people, I never want to assume that everyone in the room has a relationship with the Lord.

You know, maybe you're here at church today because uh you drove by and saw some VBS flags outside, and so you walked in the door and you're just curious and you want to check Christianity out.

Or maybe you're here today as you've been for many years in a church because that's just kind of what you do.

Your family grew up, you know, attending church.

Well, no matter the reason you're here this morning, let me just say we are so glad you're here.

But if you're a believer here this morning, there are two things that are absolutely true in your life.

If you're a believer, here's the first.

You are convicted over your sin, hearing the message of the gospel.

You turn from it to Christ in faith, and he has paid 2,000 years ago for the punishment of your sin, fully, finally, and forever.

You now have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of you.

You're a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But there is one more thing that is also true if you're a fear believer in the room.

You still struggle with your old life and its desires.

Even though you decided to leave it behind when you became a Christian, the war for your soul has already been won, but the daily battle against sin continues.

You know that.

You know, Jesus has come to give you eternal life with him.

And additionally, while he's not come to give you an easy life, he says in John 10 that he came to give you an abundant life with him.

So the wrestle I'm referring to is not a wrestle for eternal life, for that has already been paid for you, fully, finally, and forever, 2,000 years ago.

The wrestle, of course, we're referring to is a wrestle for the abundant life God desires for you.

By putting to death the sin that taunts you with temporary happiness and steals your joy.

That's the wrestle.

That's the wrestle every single one of us face.

That's the wrestle of Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

Paul says, verse 17, the desires of the flesh are against the spirit.

And the desires of the spirit are against the flesh.

For these are opposed to one another.

They're fighting.

You think of Paul in Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

I keep doing what I don't want to do.

That's what he says in verse 17.

The desires of the old self and the desires of the spirit, they're opposed to one another to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

There is a war happening for your attention and for your affection in the world every day.

The desires of the flesh are the desires of your old life since being born.

The desires of the spirit are the desires of your new life since you've been born again.

And hear me this morning.

I'll make this case.

I think, and I believe, that the fight between the flesh and the spirit could be characterized as a fight for joy.

A fight for joy.

Why do I say that?

Because the works of the flesh, that is the sin talked about in Galatians 5, envy, sexual morality, impurity, rivalries, dissensions, may come very natural to us, because they are of our first nature, but they do not lead to life.

They lead to the depression of our mind, the destruction of our relationships, discontentment in life, and if ultimately lived in damnation for eternity.

Their embrace is worse than a backstabbing best friend.

Their perception is happiness, their intention is death.

And so, before we this morning together focus on the fruit of the Spirit and focus on, okay, how do we produce the fruit talked about?

We need to first fight against the flesh.

That's what Paul says.

That's what God says.

And how do we do that?

In short, by fighting to believe in the moment that you and I are tempted, that there is no more pleasure to be gained in disobeying Christ than in obeying him.

And the moment you're tempted, you must remind yourself there is not more pleasure to be gained in disobeying Christ than in obeying him.

With that said, how do we produce fruit?

Number two, the Holy Spirit will produce fruit as we abide in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will produce fruit as we abide in Jesus.

You might be surprised by this, but you don't produce spiritual fruit by merely focusing on the spiritual fruit.

Like a literal plant.

If you have rose bushes at home, right?

You don't grow roses by focusing on the roses.

You water the plant, right?

You take care of the plant.

Fruit and a fruit tree, for example, happens when the roots below it are deep and healthy.

They're being nourished below ground with water, and the same is true in our spiritual lives.

Some Christians, however, approach growth like stapling roses to a dead rose bush.

As if that fixes anything.

I mean, it might look good when you're driving by, but it doesn't last.

You can be really kind for a short period of time, can't you?

Let's focus on kindness today.

You can be real gentle or faithful for a day or for two by just kind of stapling the production of that one thing for a moment.

But stapling roses only masks the real problem, doesn't it?

The problem is the bush is dead.

Or it's not receiving nourishment.

Or it's not strong.

In the same way, you don't grow spiritually by simply trying to add patience, joy, gentleness, love onto your life.

You can only do it by driving your roots deep into Christ.

The more you embrace the Son and the living water of his word, then spiritual fruit will flower and spring out and be produced in your life.

The sun and the living water of God's word.

So this morning, as we talk about the fruit of the Spirit, you might think of one of the characteristics.

You know, come to think of it, I need more joy in my life.

And you might be tempted to say, How can I focus upon joy this week?

Or how can I make this week my weekly habit joyfulness?

Or how can I find joy in the little things, or put a quarter in the complaining jar, you know, the Christian version of the swear jar.

But here's where I would encourage you not to do that.

At least not totally and not at first.

It's not that a Christian shouldn't pursue joy per se, absolutely, but that our primary focus should be on, well, what does Galatians tell us?

It tells us.

Verse 16, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

We should focus on walking by the Spirit to not become licentious rebels doing whatever we want to do.

And we should focus on being, verse 18, you see it?

Being led by the Spirit, so that we don't, on the flip side, become religious legalists, thinking we're better than everyone else who isn't as pious as us or more theologically astute.

But then the question comes, of course, okay, I see walk by the spirit, I see led by the spirit.

What does it mean to walk by the spirit and to be led by the spirit?

If that's the direction I need to go, what does that mean?

Well, where does the spirit lead us?

In scripture.

I'm gonna give you an answer.

To Jesus.

Quite literally, to Jesus.

In Acts chapter 2, the Spirit of God descends upon the disciples.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

They preach the gospel, and it leads people where?

To repentance and faith in Jesus.

It leads Peter to preach.

The Spirit's work leads Peter to preach the first Spirit-empowered sermon.

That's the Spirit's work.

To lead us to know Jesus, to know his word, to know his truth for our lives, to keep us with Jesus.

So what if walking in step with the Spirit is pursuing and living in glad submission to King Jesus?

I submit that to you.

That's what it is.

In Acts chapter 16, we have Paul, he's traveling to Asia and doesn't pan out some way, the Spirit of God keeps him from going into Asia.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And so he considers Bithynia.

And the text says the Spirit of Christ kept him from Bithynia.

And so then he travels to the edge of the water, and Macedonian man calls him over, he goes to Philippi, and Philippi is where believers start a church.

We see that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is referred to in the book of Acts multiple times as the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit of Jesus.

And so we've been indwelt as believers with the Spirit of Christ.

So what if walking in step with the Spirit is living in communion with Christ under His Word, living according to His will?

I submit to you it is.

It's exactly what it is.

Pursuing Jesus' ways and pursuing his presence in our lives.

Not simply trying to be like Jesus, but becoming like Jesus, being with Him.

Now you know this for a fact.

It is true that when you spend time with someone over a long period of time, don't you start to become a little bit like them?

That's what discipleship is.

You mimic someone, they teach you their ways, and inevitably you become a lot like them.

What is the list of the fruit of the Spirit, the characteristics other than the characteristics of Christ, who is Himself love, who made peace with us in God, who at all time for the joy set before him endured the cross, who was patient, not wishing any to perish, who was gentle with the lowest kids.

The call to walk in the Spirit is the call to abide in Christ, that by proximity, pursuing him, you might produce the fruit that is the characteristics of Christ.

I'm going to show that to you in scripture too.

John 15.

In John 15, we have, well, first we have John 14, where Jesus talks to his disciples about the promise of the Holy Spirit.

John 16, John 14, John 16 talks about the power and the work of the Holy Spirit.

What's right in the middle?

Well, of course, you know John 15, but what does John 15 say?

Bear fruit.

That sounds like it's connected to what we're talking about.

Bear fruit.

How?

John 15.

By, get this, abiding in Jesus, attaching ourselves to the true vine.

Jesus said, I am the true vine.

You are the branches.

If you want to bear fruit, connect yourself to me.

Keep yourself with me.

Hold on to me.

Stay with me.

The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Jesus reflected in the lives of those who walk with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I think you should see that on the screen.

The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Jesus that by the power of the Spirit is reflected in the lives of those who walk with Jesus.

Here it is.

You ready?

The Holy Spirit produces fruit in us, providing us water, the living water, as we're attached to Jesus so that we flower and look more like Jesus for a world that needs Jesus.

That's the power of the Holy Spirit.

Indwelling in your life, enabling you to look more like Christ for a world that needs Christ.

To help you put off the sin that plagued your former life to enjoy the life that God has for you.

Not an easy one, but an abundant one.

The Holy Spirit produces Christ-likeness in us for the world to see Christ through us.

Let me ask you a question this morning.

How long have you known Christ?

Think about that.

In all the years that you've known Christ, would you say that you look more like him?

None of us would admit we look perfectly like him, right?

John says you're a liar if you say you do, by the way.

If we say we do not sin, we deceive ourselves and lie.

That's not my words, that's John's words.

But hopefully, over the years of spending time with Jesus, we look more like Jesus.

We become like who we attach ourselves to.

So are you attached and abiding in Jesus?

The answer is in the fruit you're producing.

So what fruit are you producing?

The fruit of the flesh?

Envy?

Slander?

Sexual morality?

Impurity?

Jealousy?

Fits of anger?

Rivalries, dissensions, divisions?

Or are you producing the fruit of the spirit?

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Gentleness.

Faithfulness and self-control.

You know what a spiritual person looks like?

They look like Jesus.

They look like Jesus.

Self-controlled.

They look like Jesus.

At peace.

They look like Jesus.

Full of joy.

No matter what may come.

Now, I said from the beginning that this morning I said that I believe the fight is between the flesh and the spirit.

And that fight is a fight for joy.

There's a reason I said that.

One of the reasons I said that, because while joy is one of the products of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, I want to highlight it because we're all about joy here at Redeemer City at Oakwood.

We look at Acts 8.8.

We see Philip go to Samaria.

Philip preaches the gospel in Samaria.

Samaria turns to Christ and it transformed the city.

Luke, the writer of Acts, just describes Samaria by saying there was much joy in the city.

But I want to point out the fact that the fight between the spirit and the flesh or the flesh and the spirit is a fight for joy because some of us may have over time believed that the pursuit of joy, follow me here, that the pursuit of joy and the pursuit of Jesus are diametrically opposed to one another.

And that is not true.

I want you to see that.

Number three, the pursuit of Jesus is the pursuit of joy your heart longs for.

As your pastor, I want you to know at the most real and practical level, both in your mind and in your heart, that the pursuit of Jesus is the pursuit of the joy your life longs for, and that running from Jesus will not yield any sort of pleasure that lasts.

What does the psalmist say?

Psalm 16, verse 11.

Psalms 16:11

You make known to me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures everlasting.

How do we produce spiritual fruit?

Abiding in the presence of Jesus.

Where there's immense joy.

God by saying, Hey, don't envy, don't slander, run from sin is not keeping you from joy, but leading you to where it's found.

Joy is produced by being in the presence of Jesus.

You want more joy, don't simply rework your schedule, make this week's weekly habit joy.

Pursue the presence of Jesus in your life.

Be in his word in the morning.

He's spoken to us in his word.

Meet him in prayer in the evening.

You know, Socrates, famous philosopher, believed that man lives on a quest for truth.

And while I am not trying to measure my Self to Socrates in any way.

And while Socrates is a deep thinker, I'm sure, or was a deep thinker, I think at a practical level he's a bit off.

I think most people are not on a quest for truth, but a quest for happiness.

They've just not realized that happiness comes at the end of the answer.

What is truth?

Jesus before Pilate, what did Pilate say?

What is truth?

Remember Jesus' ministry?

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

A lot of us are on a happiness quest, yet even among Christians, we spend little time in the presence of Jesus and his word and in prayer, and then we wonder why we're depressed, anxious, angry, apathetic, and dissatisfied.

I'm pointing at myself.

My generation and the generation below me is electronically a possessed one.

And I think most of us are aware of this and its effect in our life, and we just can't disconnect.

Like if social media is a town square, then we'd have to become the detached hermit to disconnect.

Statistically, we are a lonely and anxious generation.

Even though we have connection to everyone in the world all the time.

Statistically, we consistently scroll through millions of things, which then produce millions of thoughts, affecting our serotonin and engaging every emotion all the time.

Bo Burnham, a famous comedian, correctly saying that the personal influence of the internet has made apathy a sort of tragedy and boredom a sort of crime.

As if we shouldn't be bored sometimes.

The need to be constantly entertained is a sort of prison.

And a psychologically damaging one.

If what's entertaining us consistently fluctuates between short videos of the giggle of a child, teenagers dancing in their room, and a violent murder all within a swipe of the finger, causing us no longer to flinch.

The truth of the matter is most of us spend most of our time looking down and much less of our time looking up.

Our phones remind us that we spend little time with the Lord.

You spent seven hours this week staring at your phone per day.

Six hours, four hours.

John Piper, a famous preacher, said one of the greatest uses of social media on the last day will be to show we had plenty of time for prayer.

I believe this is one of the biggest reasons why we have little joy in our heart.

Do you know?

There have been studies done, studies done that show how spending time with Jesus affects your joy.

A study not so long ago from the center of Bible engagement pulled 40,000 people from the ages of 8 to 80 in the U.S.

And they found that when we are in Scripture four times a week, something radical happens to us, or you might say, in us.

Are you ready?

Feeling lonely drops 30%.

Anger issues drop 32%.

Bitterness in relationships, marriage, and your relationship with your kids drops 40%.

Alcoholism, 57%.

And feeling spiritually stagnant, which I've been a pastor for 13 years now, and that's one of the most common things people might say to me is I just feel spiritually apathetic, drops 60%.

Joy is not just to be a pursuit in and of itself.

Joy is found in the pursuit of Jesus and his presence in your life.

You have, as so many theologians have said before, a hole that only Christ is meant to fill, so that you will feel whole in Christ.

The pursuit of God is to be a pursuit in and of itself, and there you will find joy now and joy forever.

In fact, it is in the pursuit of God and in the pleasure of walking with him that joy will be produced in your life.

So I close you with point number four.

Bible still open as we still study.

Point number four.

Here's where I want to end this morning, church.

The finished work of Jesus is the foundation of our joy.

The finished work of Jesus is the foundation of our joy.

Let me ask you a question.

What occasion do you have for joy in life?

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What occasion do you have for joy?

The better question, what occasion do you have for despair?

Here is the reason for your joy.

And I encourage you, if you're a writer, to write these down.

And I pray that the truth behind these statements I'm about to give would be like the ballast in your boat through life's calm and life's storm.

The ballast is the weight in the center of a boat that keeps it from turning over and sinking.

Here they are.

Believer, the price of your salvation has been paid for in full.

Colossians chapter 1, Romans chapter 8.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention Romans 8 · chapter mention

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Not only has the price of your salvation been paid for in full, but your death is not the end, and your eternity is sure.

Ephesians chapter 1 teaches us that the Holy Spirit keeps us as a seal until that day of Jesus' return.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

That Jesus has us in his hand and the Father has us in his hand.

That nothing will separate us from his love.

Believer, not only has the price of your salvation been paid for in full, that your death is not the end and your eternity is sure, but in the meantime, you're provided for and protected by the controller of the universe.

That's not all.

Not only has the price of your salvation been paid for in full, your death is not the end, your eternity is sure, but in the meantime, you're provided for and protected by the controller of the universe, and your trials, even your trials, can be occasions for joy because they're allowed by God to mature you and prepare you for heaven.

Oh, that's not all.

Not only has the price of your salvation been paid for in full, your death's not the end of your eternity, sure, but in the meantime, you're provided for and protected by the control of the universe.

Your trials can be occasions for joy because they're allowed by God to mature you and prepare you for heaven.

But along the way, you've been given good gifts to enjoy.

Amen.

Amen.

What occasion do you have for despair?

You have every reason for joy.

Are you a joyous person?

If you have the Spirit of God living inside you, you should be.

It's the fruit of a life that's been given, not earned.

Of an eternity that's set and not unknown.

Of a life that has meaning and purpose and is not just aimlessly wandering around trying to find itself.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.

As a Christian, you should be the most joy-filled person in every room.

You know why?

Because everything you believe you deserve, you have been pardoned from.

And everything you don't deserve, you've been freely given in Jesus.

You should be the happiest of all peoples.

That's why Philippians 2 says, Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world.

How do you shine as a light?

By not joining in grumbling.

Complaining.

You have an occasion for joy that supersedes your circumstances.

Christian, joy that the world cannot come up with and cannot compete with is yours in Christ.

The question is, do you know it?

And do they see it?

And one of the questions we might ought to ask in the groups of our accountability that we meet with regularly, other believers, one of the questions we might ought to ask is simply this how's your joy?

How's your joy?

Because your joy is directly linked to your connection to Christ.

It's linked to your time with God and your reflection upon what He has done for you in Jesus.

So, church, how's your joy?

The answer may just reveal if you're abiding in Jesus and walking by his Spirit.