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27April: 

How is Your ‘Spirit’ Fruit Doing?

A couple of weeks back we took a look at the first three Spiritual fruit – love, joy and peace.

A couple of New Testament passages which teach us something about love are:

LOVE:  John 13:34,35   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”       In this we see that lives which have love as the cornerstone of their life are being the ambassador which we have been called to.     1 John 4:18,19,21 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear . . . We love, because He first loved us. . . . And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”  Here we can see that God set the example for us to follow. Isn't that what John 3:16 illustrates to us. That God loved us enough to sacrifice His Son, and our appreciation for that brings us to live a life of love to those around us. We FOLLOW His example in our lives.

The instructions we find in Scripture about joy tell us this - JOY:   Phil 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!”         1 Thess 5:16,17 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 John told us that love casts out fear. If we are living our lives with confidence and trust then what we see about our lives is not a cup half empty but a cup half full. As a matter of a fact, we should be able to copy one of the Psalm and say that our cup runneth over. The Lord is our Sheperd, and we shall want!!! Therefore we have a life which celebrates joy and contentment are our lot in this life.  

Scripturally, that joy is possible because we have found peace in our lives.

PEACE:       Rom 5:1,3,4,5  “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, … Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”    ….  John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

With these three foundational characteristics in our life we should be able to develop the remainder of spiritual qualities that Paul lists in Galatians 5:

The next fruit mentioned is  Longsuffering / patient forbearance – Eph 4:1,2,3,32 “Therefore implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. . . . Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”    Forgiveness 70 x 7; parables     

1 Peter 2:20,21 “For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”   2 Tim 3:12 “All who desire to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted”.    Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.     We know how Christ suffered at the hands of the very ones who should have been first in line to worship Him.  Just as He suffered, we should expect the same and portray the same attitude and response, knowing there awaits for us the same heavenly reward that Christ received – sitting at the right hand of God.

Kind: 1 Cor 13:4 “Love suffers long and is kind”     Eph 4:32 “Be kind to one another,  tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  

Do you see a theme here? love, forgiveness, kindness. It seems that God has a certain expectation for people who are His children. And this theme continues -

Goodness:        Rom 12;21 “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”                   Luke 6:33,35 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. . . . But love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”

Gentleness:    Phil 4:5 “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”                   2 Tim 2:24 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient”.

The last two qualities are faithfulness and self-control.

Faithfulness (obedience/trust):     Obedience -  Rom 10:17  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”    Acts 8:35,36 “Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water (and he was baptized).    Acts 16:32,33 “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him (jailor) together with all who were in his house (and they were baptized). When the Lord brings blessings, such as the message of salvation, into our lives, He expects us to respond appropriately.

Faith - “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6           This seeking Him implies finding Him and then acting accordingly.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (faithful obedience).” – James 1:2-3

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7   This is an implication that we are walking down the straight and narrow path that has been placed in front of us.

In the book of James we know that he writes about how our faith produces work and in the parable of the Sower we know that ‘Good Soil’ is a producer as well; in the parable of the 5, 2 & 1 talent servants who are commended are producers. One’s faith is evident by its fruit – which includes the fruit listed here in Galatians.

Self-Control:  2 Tim 1:7 “…For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”   1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”   If we are of the Father than our lives will reflect God’s will and not our will/passions/desires.         John 17:14-16 “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”      1 John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Our relationship with the Lord prevents us from living the way those of this world operate. We are guided by the Holy Spirit to live the way the Lord lived. These qualities are just like real fruit which blossoms into our life at baptism and matures and grows into full grown fruit over the coming years.

 

 

20 April Easter: 

What Are We Celebrating on Easter – the Lord’s Resurrection/Life!        2416 Easter 20Apr25

Celebrating Easter is important to Christians because is sets the tone or foundation for the rest of the year. Knowing the resurrection is in our future should completely change our direction, our attitude and our decisions in life. Fortunately for us, we have in the Word of God the assurance that the resurrection is real and trustworthy. It is a proven fact that Jesus rose from the grave.

Disciples on the road to Emmaus –  Lk 24:31 “Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight!”        An angel speaking to the ladies at the tomb –    Mk 16:6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”    Acts 1:3 “To (His apostles) He presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”       Lk 24:36-39 (paraphrased) “And while the apostles were together Jesus Himself stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. But He said to them, ‘See My hands and My feet, - touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”   1 Cor 15:5,6 “and that He appeared to Cephas (road to Damascus) , and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.    The importance of this statement is that Paul is telling his audience that there are people who are still alive so they can verify for themselves that what he is telling them is true - the Lord is resurrected.

Easter is a celebration of the fact that Jesus died and rose from the grave after paying the price for our sins and affirming for us that we have a second chance to walk with God.  Rev 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne.”   James 1:12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him”.   2 Cor 4:14 “knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.”          1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”           John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies”.        John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  

This hope in the resurrection changes everything. It impacts how we go through life and how we go through death. So, how does our resurrection affect us?  Paul explains this using metaphoric language in agriculture.   In 1 Cor 15:35ff Paul speaks of how a grain is planted and it springs up something entirely different. In the same way our fleshly body will die and be planted in the ground but will rise in glory and power – a spiritual body. Later, V. 42 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body”.   V. 49 “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”

The next question is when will the resurrection take place and how it will take place?   Mtt 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.    1 Thess 4:16,17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

1 Cor 15:51,52.53 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”        

So, what remains is to ask where are we until the resurrection? In Matthew 22:32 Jesus teaches that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is “not a God not of the dead, but of the living”.  In the parable of the “Rich Man and Lazarus” both Lazarus and the man find themselves in a holding area. Lazarus is with Abraham and the man is in Hades.  In the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appear on the mountaintop with Christ. They apparently have been maintaining their presence somewhere although in this event there is no explanation for us. In Rev 5 & 6 the elders and the slain saints are mentioned as abiding in heaven in John’s vision.

To the thief on the cross next to Him – Luke 23:43 “And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”        1 Peter 3:19 “… in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,”                Paul tells the account of a vision that he had:   2 Cor 12:3,4 “And I know how such a man . . . was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words  . . .”      

So, where the Lord was with the thief and with the spirits and where Paul was in his experience – I don’t know. But apparently, they were in a specific location not of this earth. The point being – when we are dead – we are NOT like Rover and dead all over!!! There IS an after life waiting for us and we will eventually be called up to that heaven where Jesus says in John 14 that He is preparing a place for us.

All of this leads to one final question: What should we do with our remaining time on this earth?

1 Cor 15:34, 58 “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning  . . . . Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  Gal 5:16, 18, 24,25 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh; if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”    Gal 2:20 “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, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Whatever decisions you have left to make in your life, make them in light of eternity. What you do in this life should have an eternal trajectory. Give yourself to speaking truth, living truth, living according to the commands of the Lord to love one another and so prove that we are His disciples (John 13:35) sharing the gospel and truly fulfill the requirement of showing love to others!

2 Tim 4:7,8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”     James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”  Knowing the resurrection awaits those who are faithful, and loving should completely change our direction, our attitude and our decisions in this life.