I wonder if you'd bow with me in prayer. Would
you join me, please? And let's just sing together
the prayer chorus that we've used from time to
time. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
Let's sing it together. Open our eyes, Lord.
To that end, with that result, would you bless
this service this morning as we wait upon you
in your holy word. Amen. We come today to Galatians
chapter 5 one more time to talk about the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self -control. Against
such things there is no law. Can you imagine,
can you imagine in your mind a life truly, consistently
characterized by these nine qualities? You say,
well, I think it's really impossible for a life
to be characterized that way. And of course that
is true if we're thinking of those who are merely
human. But if you can begin to imagine a life
that is genuinely characterized by these nine
words, then you can imagine something of what
Jesus was like. I want you to notice that these
nine qualities are called the fruit of the Spirit.
They are not called the fruit of nice people,
nor the fruit of religiously sincere people.
They are not called even the fruit of a born
-again Christian. But these qualities are called
the fruit of the Holy Spirit. No flesh can produce
a life like this, not even the flesh of a born
-again Christian. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit's
wondrous production within the life of the believer
that is under His control. I'd like to reiterate
this morning that His control is not relative.
By that I mean that the Holy Spirit is either
in charge or He is not in charge in your life.
And if He is not in charge, then the flesh is.
It is impossible for us to be 80 % controlled
by the Holy Spirit and 20 % controlled by the
flesh. It doesn't work that way. Either one or
the other dominates us. The evidence of these
qualities, designated as His fruit, will be affected
by several factors, however, including one's
personality or temperament. and also by the specific
need for one or more of these qualities in a
given situation. And so I think that it's fair
to say that all of these beautiful qualities
will not be seen equally at all times in every
life. And yet the Holy Spirit does produce this
fruit in the life of the believer under His domination,
one who walks by the Spirit. We'll be characterized
by these qualities, love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, and that brings us to our
study today. We begin with faithfulness. What
is faithfulness? I suppose most of us have an
idea as to what it means. It might be defined
as trustworthiness. Faithfulness is keeping one's
commitment. It is dependability. It is loyalty.
Faithfulness in a biblical context places a particular
stress on the dependability of one's word and
a promise being fulfilled by subsequent action.
We see this, for example, in 1 Thessalonians
5, 24, where just after talking about God's work
of making us like the Lord Jesus Christ in body,
soul, and spirit, The apostle goes on to say,
faithful is he who calls you, who also will do
it. So you see, it's not just a matter of a promise,
but it's the fulfilling of that promise that
is in view. Likewise, in Revelation 22 .6, the
Lord Jesus speaks to the apostle John at the
conclusion of this marvelous revelation of himself.
And he says, these words are faithful. and true.
What does he mean by that? Well, he means that
everything that John saw was absolutely correct,
and in addition to that, that everything that
was promised to come to pass would. These words
are faithful. They are dependable. What has been
said that will come to pass will indeed happen
on the earth. There may not be a quality in the
whole list. of Galatians 5, 22 and 23, which
is more in contrast to the characteristics of
our age. Whether you talk about the vows of marriage
or the use of credit cards or the promises that
people make every day to one another, faithfulness
is hard to come by in our age. Our age may be
characterized by the words of David in Psalm
12 .1 when he says, The faithful disappear from
among the sons of men. And yet among the children
of God, faithfulness is a potential and a desired
quality because the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.
Having defined it, let's think about an illustration
or two of faithfulness. And to do this, I'd like
you to turn to the book of Hebrews with me, to
the third chapter, where we have two names in
the same context. We'll look first at verse 5,
where the writer says, Now Moses was faithful
in all his house as a servant. So Moses is lauded
here as having been a faithful servant in his
house, the house of Israel. This verifies exactly
what the Old Testament says. For example, in
Numbers 12 .7, God, in rebuking Miriam and Aaron
for their jealousy and their criticism of Moses,
speaks of him with these terms, My servant Moses,
he is faithful in all my household. Why then
were you not afraid to speak against my servant,
against Moses? And so God proclaimed to Moses'
sister and brother, he is a faithful man. Likewise,
when commenting regarding the completion of the
tabernacle, it says, thus Moses did, according
to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he
did. You see, that's faithfulness. That's dependability.
It's doing all that one has been asked to do.
It's fulfilling all that one has promised to
do. But you'll notice in Hebrews 3 there is a
greater example even of faithfulness in the next
verse when it says, But Christ was faithful as
a son over his house, whose house we are. Speaking
of the redeemed in this age, the church of Jesus
Christ. We are His house today. And it says here
regarding our Savior that He is faithful as a
son over His house. Now the real contrast here
is to show the superiority of Jesus Christ over
Moses in the theme and the argument of the book
of Hebrews. But please notice that it says regarding
the Lord Jesus that He too is faithful. And going
back to verse 1 to pick up the context, it says,
Therefore, holy brethren, Partakers of a heavenly
calling, consider Jesus. Consider this man. Consider
Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.
He was faithful to him who appointed him, as
Moses also was faithful in all his house. So
he was faithful, says the word of God. The words
of Jesus himself in John 6 .38. when He said
that He came down from heaven to do the Father's
will. Once again, in John 8, 29, His testimony
was, I always do the things that are pleasing
to Him. That's faithfulness. You see, that's
following through. In John 15, 10, He says, I
have kept my Father's commandments. And in his
high priestly prayer in John 17, 4, he says,
I have accomplished the work which thou gavest
me to do. Is it any wonder that the writer of
Hebrews says he was faithful to him who appointed
him? The writer of this same book says in chapter
2, verse 17, that he is now a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God. So not
only was the Lord Jesus faithful in his earthly
ministry, but he is faithful now in carrying
out his work as our high priest to intercede
perfectly for us on our behalf. And in the future,
when he comes to reign on the earth, Isaiah says
that he will reign over the earth in faithfulness
and righteousness, Isaiah 11 .15. Or 11 .5, rather.
And so the Lord Jesus is, was, and will be faithful.
He is the greatest illustration of faithfulness
that one could possibly point out. The fruit
of the Spirit is faithfulness. And that fruit
was perfectly evidenced in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now what about us today? Well, the fruit of the
Spirit is faithfulness in us, too. But corresponding
with that fruit, as we've noticed with all of
the others that we've studied, there is a command,
there is an exhortation. We find one exhortation
in 2 Corinthians 4, 2, where it says that it's
required of a steward that a man be found faithful.
Now, the context there is talking especially
about those who are Christian workers. Those
who are the stewards of the gospel in that rather
narrow sense. It's required in those that they
be found faithful. But it applies to all of us
likewise because we're all stewards in one sense.
We're stewards of all that God gives us. Whether
we speak about our spiritual gifts or the money
that we have or the time that we're given in
this world, we are stewards of that. And faithfulness
is required. God requires dependability from
us. Jesus remarks to his suffering servants in
Revelation 2 .10, Be faithful unto death. In
other words, there is no point in life when we
can say, Well, I have been faithful long enough.
Jesus says, Be faithful unto death. The story
is told about the Duke of Wellington. He was
riding one day with a hunting party when he came
to a gate that was shut. He said, open the gate,
my boy. I'm sorry, sir, answered the boy, but
my father sent me to say that you must not hunt
on his grounds. Do you know who I am? No, sir.
He said, I am the Duke of Wellington. The boy
took his cap off to such a great man, but he
did not open the gate. Rather, he said these
words, The Duke of Wellington will not ask me
to disobey my father's orders. The Duke of Wellington
reached up and slowly took off his hat, put it
across his chest. and said, I honor the boy who
is faithful to his duty. And with that, he turned
his horse, and the hunting party went another
direction. Faithfulness. To the Colossians and
to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul addresses
his letter as to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Brethren, we need to be a faithful people. For
too easily are we deterred and distracted from
our duty, from our aims. Too easily do we allow
our priorities to be realigned incorrectly by
pressures that are placed upon us. We are called
upon by God to be faithful unto death. You say,
well, I don't have great gifts to be faithful
with. That is not the point. Someone wrote this
simple poem. I cannot do great things for him
who did so much for me, but I should like to
show my love, dear Jesus, unto thee, faithful
in very little things, O Savior, may I be. That's
the point. It's not how much we have, or for
that much, how little. It is that we are to be
faithful with what we have been given. The fruit
of the Spirit is faithfulness. Are you a faithful
man? Are you a faithful woman? Are you a faithful
student? Are you a faithful child, son, daughter?
Are you a faithful servant of God? The fruit
of the Spirit is faithfulness. And the fruit
of the Spirit is gentleness as well. A definition
of gentleness might be meekness. The idea is
the same. It is a gentle submissiveness. The
root of the word is to suffer quietly. It is
the opposite of vehemence, of violence, or outburst.
And in relationship to authority, gentleness
is the right use of it. Gentleness is the refusal
to assert authority for selfish purposes. Someone
has said it simply and well. Gentleness is power
under control. The picture of gentleness is a
horse, strong, capable, powerful, submitted in
a harness to do his work. Or to put it into the
1980s, it is the picture of a robotic arm in
an assembly line capable of lifting great weight.
which is also able to reach out and pick up a
crystal glass without breaking it. It is power
that is under control. It is what we see when
a powerful rocket lifts the shuttle into space,
where instead of a violent outburst and explosion
from all of that fuel, which is so volatile,
it is controlled. So the result is that it lifts
the shuttle into space for its orbit. That is
an illustration of biblical gentleness. In the
New Testament, there are several ideas that come
along with gentleness. Gentleness embraces the
idea of teachableness. In James 1 .21, it says,
In humility, receive the word engrafted. So teachableness
is a part of gentleness. If I am a gentle person,
then I will be able to receive instruction from
others. Also included in gentleness in the New
Testament is a spirit of agreement. As a gentle
person, I am an agreeable person, and therefore
there is no need for confrontation. This is what
Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians 4 .21 when he
says to them, Shall I come to you with a rod
or with love and the spirit of gentleness? You
see, that spirit of gentleness, he is certain,
will work cooperation and agreement so he doesn't
have to come with a rod of harshness. And gentleness
as well includes forbearance. 2 Corinthians 10
.1 talks about this kind of restraint. When the
Apostle Paul says, I urge you. in the gentleness
and forbearance of Christ. You see, he reaches
out to them not to push them, but to take them
by the hand to bring them along. There is restraint
and forbearance with gentleness. Are you a gentle
person? Could I point out Moses again as an illustration
of this? Do you remember the words in Numbers
12 .3 where this is said, Moses was very humble,
more than any man who was on the face of the
earth. Here is a man who met with God face to
face in a way that none of us ever has. Here
is a man who knew what it was to throw a rod
down on the floor. and have him become a serpent
and pick it up. Here is a man who knew what it
was to watch the waters part before him and his
people. Here is a man on whose behalf God acted
time and time again. But of this man who had
such tremendous power with God and with men,
it says that he was a gentle man. More so than
any man on the face of the earth. But there was
one born after him, of course, who surpassed
him. And again I point to the Lord Jesus. For
no one has ever walked on the face of the earth,
or ever shall walk on the face of the earth like
him. For the fruit of the Spirit, which is gentleness,
was perfectly evidenced in his life. Thus he
said, I am meek and lowly. He was not stretching
the point. That was him. You say, but what about
when he entered into the temple and cast out
those who were abusing it? I'd like to suggest
to you that even there, there was gentleness
shown. For had he not shown restraint, he would
have killed them all. But he restrained himself,
cleansing the temple with his authority. And
yet at the same time, there was definitely a
restraint on the use of his power. But nowhere
do we see it more in evidence than in his time
of suffering. When he was cruelly treated and
suffered unbelievably at the hands of the Roman
soldiers, when he was taken before both... religious
and civil leaders for trial. And when it says
that he did not open his mouth in response, and
when he did respond, it was carefully and gently
that he responded. But even the next morning,
we see it more graphically, when he was crucified
and placed on the cross to die. But when he might
have used his power to deliver himself, From
the cruelty, the injustice, and the suffering
that he knew. He chose not to use that power.
He chose not to use it. But to suffer according
to the will of God. Power under control. Gentleness.
That is why in Philippians chapter 2, the Apostle
Paul commands us to have the mind of Jesus Christ.
And then he describes in the words of an ancient
hymn or poem the coming, the incarnation of the
Son of God as he came into the world in the form
of man, in the likeness of man, in the form of
a servant. But then he concludes by saying, and
he was obedient unto the cross death. That kind
of a death. Gentleness. Have this mind in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus. And that is the
exhortation. And is that exhortation ever needed
in a day like this? In a day when we are told
to be concerned about self -esteem and self -actualization
and the assertion of our rights. Do we ever need
this from the Word of God? Have this mind, the
mind of gentleness, which was the mind of Christ
Jesus. Galatians 6 .1, we are told to use it,
use gentleness to restore those who have fallen.
Ephesians 4 .2, with gentleness we are to keep
unity in the church. In 2 Timothy 2 .25, With
gentleness, we are to correct those who oppose
the truth. Colossians 3 .12, we are to put on
gentleness along with several other graces, kindness,
compassion, patience, and so on. In 1 Peter 3
.15, we are told to give an answer to those who
inquire about our faith with gentleness. And
then those wives who are married to unsaved husbands
are told to live in submission and gentleness
before them as a testimony of their faith. Those
are the words of God, my friend. They are not
the words of our society. Because I think if
you went down that list, you would find our society
saying the opposite in every one of those circumstances.
God's Word says that we are to bear the fruit
of gentleness. And finally, the fruit of the
Spirit is characterized as self -control. Self
-control. Albert Schweitzer suggested that we
live in the most dangerous period of human history,
quote, because heretofore... Nature has controlled
man, but now man has learned to control nature's
elemental forces before he has learned to control
himself. Self -control is, in the Greek language,
a combination of two words simply meaning in,
the preposition in, in strength. It means to
be the master of oneself. It refers to the holding
in of passions and appetites. Literally, it might
be rendered keeping oneself in check. The fruit
of the Spirit, self -control, is the Holy Spirit
enabling one to govern himself. This certainly
includes sexual passions, which is something
that all of us face, and especially in a day
when, once more, our society exacerbates it,
emphasizes it, and temptation is ever before
us. The fruit of the Spirit is self -control
when it comes to sexual passions. But don't limit
it to that. For there are other appetites and
passions that we have, which in themselves are
not necessarily bad, but which have to be controlled.
I refer, for example, to food. Shall I go on?
I think I should. What about the desire and appetite
for sleep? We need that. But we have to control
it, lest we be lazy and slothful. What about
the desire and the appetite for security? That's
an important appetite that we have. We all need
to be secure. But once again, that has to be
controlled. Lest we spend our whole lives seeking
for more and more and more and more security,
whether it be in terms of relationships or in
terms of finances, there's a limit. What about
acceptance? We all want to be accepted. We have
it built into our personalities to desire others
to accept us for who we are. But how far will
we take that? Are we willing to compromise our
character, our morals, to be accepted? You see,
we need to control our desire for acceptance
and say, it's right up to this limit. And beyond
that, it's sin. What about the desire for communication?
One of the most terrible aspects of being confined
in a solitary cell in a prison experience is
the lack of communication. Some people, after
a period of time, go literally insane because
they have no one to talk with, communicate with.
We have that appetite. But is there ever a more
needy area that has to be controlled in our lives?
and this little member in our mouths. Our tongues
and our ears both need the control of the Holy
Spirit. What about pleasure? Nothing wrong with
pleasure in itself. God has created us with the
need to have pleasure. But there has to be control
placed upon that, you see. The fruit of the Spirit
is self -control. The fulfilling of these must
neither control us nor get out of balance, lest
they become sin. And that is where the Holy Spirit
enables us. I believe that we see this illustrated
in the Apostle Paul when he says in the context
of 1 Corinthians 9, 24 -27, I buffet my body
and keep it in subjection. Lest after I have
preached to others, I myself should be cast away.
By that he means set on the shelf, unuseful anymore.
He's talking there about the discipline of his
body, his appetites. He says, I bring it under
control. I enforce discipline on this body of
mine for the sake of Jesus Christ. But again,
we can do no better than to point to the perfect
example of our Savior. One of the clearest evidences
of self -control must surely be His wilderness
temptation. When after fasting for 40 days, both
His body and soul had natural appetites that
were crying out, And all that was human about
him was then confronted by the devil head on.
At that moment when in his humanity he cried
out with need, he was self -controlled. He withstood
temptation without yielding to it. He experienced
a degree of temptation that you and I have never
experienced. However sorely we may feel we've
been tempted. And His humanity felt that completely.
But He did not sin. Perfectly self -controlled.
Because He was God. My friend, as God, He dwells
in you today in the person of His Spirit. And
He's able to bring you under control as well.
You say, you don't know the battles I've had.
You don't know the appetites that are stirred
up in my life. But I know one who does, my friend.
I know one who does. And he is the one who has
written to you and to me, too, and who has said
the fruit of my spirit in your life will be self
-controlled. We are exhorted in 2 Peter 1, verses
5 and 6, with these words. Applying all diligence
in your faith, supply moral excellence. And in
your moral excellence knowledge, and in your
knowledge, self -control. In Titus 1 .8, self
-control is laid down as a qualification for
one who is a spiritual leader in Christ's body,
one who is an elder. And yet in Titus 2 .2, it's
broadened. to say that all of the older men in
the church are to live with self -control and
thus set an example for all of the rest to follow.
And so all of us are expected by God to control
ourselves. One young lady was talking to another
on an occasion and she said to her, you have
the most even temperament. of anyone I've ever
seen. I don't know how you manage it. Manage
it, her friend replied. I have to. I have to.
Maybe you don't know that I come from McGreevy's,
in a little town we used to live in. The children
would run indoors when they saw my father coming
down the street. My grandfather struck my grandmother,
whom he adored, in a wild fit of temper. so that
she was crippled for life. He never smiled again.
With a history like that, what could I expect
but a life of insane rages? But I wouldn't be
like that. I went to Jesus Christ and I said,
Dear Lord, I know that I can't control my temper.
Take control of my life for me. And he has. What
is the insane rage? in your life that needs his
self -control. It is impossible, you say, for
me to imagine myself living up to such qualities
as these. It is absolutely impossible for me
to do it. I want to congratulate you on your
keen insight. You're absolutely right. It is
impossible for you and for me, too, to live up
to these qualities. That's why God never asks
us to. We're simply told to live them out as
the fruit of the Spirit. To obey, but then trust
the enabling of the Holy Spirit that we might
do it. But my friend, you cannot do it if the
Holy Spirit is absent from your life. You are
now, and unless you yield to Jesus Christ, you
will forever be the victim of yourself and your
sin. Instead of through Jesus Christ being forgiven
of it and being the victor over your flesh by
His Spirit. If you are without Jesus Christ as
your Savior, you are without the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. And such a beautiful life as
described in these nine words is truly impossible
for you. Your need today is to respond to his
gracious call. Do you hear his voice today calling
you to himself? On a stormy January day in 1850,
a young Englishman... but 15 years of age, was
starting to go down the street to his regular
place of worship. Instead, he turned into a small,
primitive Methodist chapel on Artillery Street.
The regular preacher did not appear on that stormy
day, and a man who to this day is still unknown
stepped into the pulpit and took his place. These
are the words of the young man himself as he
wrote some years later. Six years ago today,
as near as possible at this very hour of the
day, I was in the gall of bitterness and in the
bonds of iniquity. But had yet by divine grace
been led to feel the bitterness of that bondage
and to cry out by reason of the soreness of its
slavery, seeking rest and finding none. I stepped
within the house of God, and as I sat there,
I was afraid to look upward, lest I should be
utterly cut off, and lest his fierce wrath should
consume me. The minister rose in his pulpit,
and as I have done this morning, read this text,
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth, for I am God, and there is none else.
I looked at that moment. The grace of faith was
vouchsafed to me in the selfsame instant, and
now I can say with truth, ere since by faith
I saw the stream thy flowing wound supply, redeeming
love has been my theme and shall be till I die.
The young man who gave that testimony was Charles
Haddon Spurgeon. who even yet is unequaled as
a preacher in the English -speaking world. It
may well be that there is one here today like
Spurgeon. And as you sit there, you are enslaved
to sin. Afraid almost to look up, lest the wrath
of God should come upon you. My friend, in this
moment, the Spirit of God calls out to you. And
He says, look unto Me and be ye saved. Will you
do that today? Let's bow together. Lord, we thank
You for Calvary, for Your precious blood was
shed so that sinners like us could be redeemed
from the bond of iniquity and the gall of bitterness
and sin. Lord, I pray that that one today who
needs to trust the Savior will do it ere he leaves
this building. In your grace, reach out to that
one and call him to yourself and enable him to
respond in faith to this saving gospel in Jesus
Christ. And Father, may every one of us who has
come to that point also come to the point. We're
saying, Lord, in ourselves, we cannot live up
to the standard. But through your spirit, we
can live it out as fruit. And may that fruit
be evidenced in us in all of our relationships.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.