Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Spiritual Life - Spiritual Fruit Pt.8

Continue to hold Karen up in prayer. She's been battling some of this germ warfare that we've been engaged in around here for months. To be over there where all the Malaria is, and all of those critters in Africa, and come back here and get sick! She's been battling some of this, and then having to get on a plane tomorrow and travel for 24-30 hours, it's a rough go. So, just hold her up in prayer, and let's just believe the Lord to touch and strengthen them. They'll be heading out tomorrow afternoon, so be prayerful. A lot of things are happening, God's moving in the ministry there. Thank you for all of your prayer and your support that's come in. All of the financial needs have been met. There is some real change in our course, somewhat, there. Father's been giving us some directives and direction. A number of things have changed, exciting things going on, and we just need you to continue to pray. We've been hours and hours and hours, I don't even know--Tony, what would you say? How many hours have we been that I've met with them since they've been home? We've spent a lot of time in finding the mind of the Spirit. We're excited about what God's doing. Great things ahead as you pray, as you lift their hands up and strengthen them. That's what's vital. It's going to be done in intercession; it's going to be done supernaturally. We have no question about that.

Let's turn in to 1 John tonight and look at a couple of different thing that we've been talking about. Living in the spirit and what it means to really walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. To bring forth spiritual fruit, living fruit, that remains. The one thing that we do know is that when we bring forth fruit we can count on something and that's that Father is going to do something in our lives. And what's that? He's going to prune us. That's not always enjoyable. The fact is that when we are producing the fruit of the spirit, many times we'll think, "Well, praise God! That's the end of that. I'm doing a great job; I'm finally producing some spiritual fruit." When you begin to reproduce and produce fruit you're going to be purged, you're going to be pruned, because God's goal for your life and mine is that we bring forth what? More and then what? Much... John 15 goes on to say, and then He says it's to be fruit that remains. Only that which is done in the spirit is going to remain--Our works are going to burn up, all of our religious works are going to burn up, all the good things that we've done, the goody-goody things, are going to burn up--Only what's done in the spirit is going to remain.

Now how do I identify spiritual fruit? The Scripture says, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). How do we know when God is really dominating our life, the Lord of our life? How do we know when we're abiding in Him, and then able to ask what we will for His glory? And it's being done by the abiding presence of God's Spirit? We talked a little bit last session about this. One of the ways you know is by how we relate to one another. You can begin to tell whether you're walking in the spirit by how you relate to one another, brothers and sisters here in the body. More intimately, our own family members, the relationship in the house--husbands and wives, children--how much peaceable fruit is there in your home? How peaceful is your home? And of course I don't mean by that, the fact that if you've got teenagers we're not talking about tranquility, we're talking about peace in the spirit. We all know how that goes. If you have little people, we understand that. I was over at Bill and Carolyn's for one portion of Christmas, they were at our place and we were over at there just enjoying some time. And the kids were there and there's a lot of activity going on. There's Barbie hair flying and Play-Doh stuck in your ear. I don't know how many times I got dressed up that day. Hope will come in--You're sitting there watching the football game, right? Next thing you know, you've got a wig on and some kind of a hat. And then you're wrapped up in garments, holding babies and a lot of activity.

So, when I'm talking about peace. I'm talking about in the spirit realm. And how do you relate to the body of Christ as we're laboring? 1 John speaks toward this in the second chapter. The first epistle of John, chapter two, verse 10, "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light..." Now, we know from the first chapter that God is light and in Him is not darkness at all. "...if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (Verse 7). How do we walk in the light? How do we get into the light so that we can see ourselves, so that we can see God, so that we can be cleansed by the blood of Jesus? How do we move in the light? "Well, you need to pray." Yes, you do. "...and fast." That will help. We need to spend time in the Word of God. We do. That's where God reveals Himself, through His Word.

This one thing that's so important that many of us miss--Do you want to move into the light? "He that loveth his brother [say it with me] abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." Many of us don't realize how important true agape love is. As we begin to let God love through us, that abiding in Him will express itself constantly as the pouring out of His love to those that are in our midst; the emptying of ourselves, the filling up of others with the presence of God. As you're emptied of self, as I'm emptied of self--and many of you've stood here in these last months and watched me be emptied of self, and it filled you with Jesus--Didn't it? And when you're emptied of self, those around you are going to be filled with Jesus. That's the love of God. And it's a willingness to allow Him to order our steps and to express Himself through us.

"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, [lives in the light] and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and [has no concept of where he's going to perdition]...because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." We're talking about examining our own lives and whether we are moving in the spirit, living in the spirit, whether the fruit of the spirit is evident in our lives. The fruit of the spirit is love. If we don't love our brothers we are not living in the spirit. Is there any unforgiveness in our heart this evening toward anybody? Is there jealousy? Is there envy? Is there a bitterness? Then we're not alive in the spirit. And anything that we're producing that appears to be spiritual fruit is nothing more than religious hypocrisy, dead men's bones, pharisaical ceremonialism, but it's not the fruit of the spirit. So as we take our poll and we examine our hearts, this evening, and ask ourselves, "Am I walking in the spirit? Is the fruit of the spirit evidencing itself in my life?" One of the ways we'll find out is how do we respond to our brothers and sisters? Now you know forgiveness, and we talk about forgiveness and we think many times of some type of a great offence against us.

We've talked about it before, some of us may have experienced different forms of child abuse. The child abuse may be where you were physically slapped around, or it could have been a sexual abuse, or it could have been an abandonment and you were left; and the scars that come from all of those type of things, and there's an entrenched bitterness and hatred. We can all identify with that and say, "I can see how someone would really have trouble and have to be really healed of that and the power of God deliver them." And then there's just the unforgiveness of the fact that we're just crosswise with somebody and there's just certain people's personalities that just tick us off. "Just don't bother me." They both rob the glory of God. One is no greater sin than the other, because the evidence of the fruit of the spirit in our lives is the love that we have one for another, the ability to forgive. Not only to forgive major offences but to be able to look beyond through love, the minor irritations, to be patient with people and kind. Do you see how the rest of the fruit of the spirit begins to evidence itself? It's in that ability to forgive as others have offended us. Not just transgressed, but just offences that come, and the ability to live a life--and this is what I'm trying to communicate, to live a life of forgiveness, a readiness to always work past others' frailties and be willing to bear the infirmity of the weak, to comfort the feeble-minded, to lift up the hands that are hanging down. That's the heart of Jesus. That's the real love of God. The other major things are fairly easy.

I shared with you not too long ago about a battle that my mother is going through. She's trying to move into the realm of the spirit. And I've been trying to encourage her and one of the things that she's had to live with over the years is having given away an illegitimate child, and then the scars--It's no different than an abortion--and the scars of that and these particular things that people face and have to deal with in their lives, and because of--and this is what I tried to share with her--Because of the inability to forgive herself for giving her child away, she's had trouble forgiving others. And I've told her, "You have to let Jesus forgive you. You have to believe the love that God has to you. You have to receive the forgiveness of God before you can give the forgiveness of God." Do you want to be free tonight to live in the spirit, to produce fruit that does bring glory to God?

Look over at the third chapter of this first epistle, and in chapter three and verse 14, as you go down through this chapter, it's a powerful section here. "We know that we have passed from death unto life [how?], because we love the brethren." [Have you wondered whether you're born again? Do you love the brethren?] "We know that we've passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. [You're not capable of loving--I'm not talking about a natural love, I'm talking about the supernatural love, the emptying of yourself that fills others with the presence of God--without being born again.] He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: [These are some powerful passages. Now remember (and I'll take just a moment to remind you again) John's writing to the Gnostics, a people who say, "You can be right with God in your heart even though your outward living is lascivious, and even though there's expressions of hatred and vileness, and whatever, you're heart can be right with God." John writing and saying, "Not so; it's he that doeth righteousness that is righteous," this epistle says. And here he tells these people that were buying into Gnosticism, "Listen, if you hate your brother you're a murderer.] and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

Now, you see, this was one of the things that the Gnostics were bound by. They were bound by this haughty spirit. To them the supreme was the gnosis, knowledge. And each saw themselves as superior and condescending to others. The sin of condescending was rampant in their midst. And John says, "What's wrong with you people? You think you can live like this and think you're better than other people? And think that you can put people down around you and be right with God? Not so! If you don't love your brother, if you don't prefer them, if you don't..." And we've shared what "hate" means, "Whosoever hateth his brother... [It just means to love less than himself. That's quite an indictment against us. It's quite a commandment to us and it can only be fulfilled in the Scriptures and in the Spirit of God. "But if you don't love your brother, if you hate your brother, if you love him less than God's commandment, you are] a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: [now look.] and we ought [owe it, it's obligatory] to lay down our lives for the brethren."

I want to emphasize tonight the forgiveness in the daily realm of our interaction. A spirit of meekness and temperance and kindness and longsuffering that the fruit of the spirit is, and how we relate to one another in their spiritual growth, in their pursuit of God, in their slow learning of doctrine. And as we're loving them through reproof, and instruction, and admonition, we're also loving them in longsuffering, in kindness, in gentleness, in meekness. You see, you can't just love with one side of the sword; it's a two-edged sword. When the reproof and the instruction and these things that cut us, then we pour the oil in of the fruit, and we bring the life and the patience and all of these things and we can cover with this multitude of love, the multitude of sins.

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we [owe it to love one another]. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" John's saying the same thing James did, "Don't say, 'Be warmed and filled.' Don't say, 'I'm praying for you brother.' Do something about it." How involved are you in the lives that are around you in this room? How willing are you to invest your time and your energy? How willing are you to put up with the flack you receive when you really try to care for somebody? You get a lot of flack, many times, when you love people properly because love always demands chastisement and chastisement is not fun for anybody. Are you willing to love enough that you would lay down your soul for the friendship? "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). And that word "life" we know is psuche. We know that it has to do with our soul, our emotion, our intellect, our will. And as we lay down our lives for our friends, we begin to love them...

I was just sharing with someone who is in a position of bringing counsel and direction and correction and edification to another life. And what I instructed them was in this way: If Tom is in that position and he's now placed there and he's overseeing me and he's in authority and he setting some things right in my life and he's instructing me (and I counseled this person) and if it was Tom that I was counseling, what I would counsel him was this: "Don't me into a 'Tom;' make me a better 'Bob.'" Lay down your life, lay down your soul. Don't try to make everybody see things the way you see it, to have to do it the way you do it, to do it in your time and your method and whatever. See who they are, see how God has gifted them. They are unique. God loves them as they are. He's created them that way. Let's make them the best "them" they can be; that's the love of God. That's how you lay your soul down and let the Spirit of God love through you and work through you. Are you willing to do that? You know, that's hard work! And that's the love that God's called us to and as we're able to love in that type of response to one another we're going to begin to see the presence of God, the fruit of the spirit.

"...let us not love in word [verse 18], neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." The love that we have is a love that is willing to be inconvenienced, that goes the second mile, that weeps when our brothers and sisters weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. Even in the things that they rejoice in. You might be, "Whoopdy-do," but, they're excited. Get excited for them. "I can't--I can't get excited about that." Whatever it is. You might be someone that, (I'm just using this as an illustration; don't feel a compulsion to have to do it.) For instance, we have some of our young people and they're up here and they're playing ball and that's important to them. "Yeah, that's just foolishness to me, man. I want to do something important like stay here and work on my ceramics." Okay. But as we look at the body, there are times when you go and you do something that's out of your comfort zone, something you don't like because it's edifying others, it's supporting others and you rejoice with them. It's a willful emptying ourselves to build others. This is what God's calling us to and it's done, not in word ("I love you brother."), but it's done in truth, it's done in deed.

Let me ask you something: When you tell people, "Yeah, I'll pray for you." Do you really pray? Or do you just say that to get them off your back? Is it the religious thing to say? Do we have the be-warmed-and-filled attitude? We see a brother out here and it's 18 degrees tonight and he's freezing. Do you say, "Well, praise God, brother, we're just going to believe God to bless you with a new coat, similar to this new one I just got for Christmas. God's just so good, brother, and I'm going to pray that God will bless you because that brand new one that I got last year was starting to show a little wear. And the one I got the year before that, that's the one I use to do the yard work in, and the one that I got the year before that is just kind of really getting frayed. I'm just going to pray that God will bless you, brother"

If we're walking in the spirit, we would probably hear a voice that would say, "Give the guy a coat. Love as you've been loved. Give in proportion to how it's been given to you." "Yeah. Amen. Where is that tattered coat?" I'm going to ask you a trick question (Aren't you glad I warned you this time?): Which coat should you give him? The one God tells you to. See, because if you're walking in the spirit, there's no law, you're not obligated. Would you feel better if I give him the brand new one? How many of you would think that would be the thing to do? Okay. And it might be. But, you see, if we're not careful we would think that every time there's a need that the only response would be that way and that's not always what the Spirit of God leads you to do. He could lead you to give the brand new one, he could lead you to give him last year's. He could leave you to give him the four-year-ago, tattered one. Will it keep him warm? Yes. As it pertains to you, the Spirit of God speaking, we all know that whatever He speaks, we do. As it pertains to you when do you think it would be imperative that the Spirit of God would speak to you to give him the brand new one? When you're selfish, when you don't have a spirit of obedience, a willing heart to give. You'll see as we're living in the spirit and it's fruit that remains, it's living fruit, there needs to be this dynamic flow. It's not legalistic, it's not something that can fit into any type of structure, it's dynamic. And as the Spirit leads, He leads in what's best for both parties. God's not always just looking at one person here when things are happening in the midst of a body. The dynamics, it's what's good for the whole body, that's going on.

Some of us--if you're not careful you get into works and you get into legalism--some of us can get so gung-ho to do something like this: We start looking around and we see a guy run up here to the door when he comes in obviously cold, and you throw your coat on him. And he's got a brand new one in the car; he just left it out there and ran into the church. So, you've got to know one another. We live among one another, we know what's needed and we begin to see that; and then, once we know one another and know that what we're doing is doing it by the Spirit for the glory of God to the good of an individual, to the good of ourselves; Jesus is being glorified in our midst. That's living in the spirit. The other becomes works. The other becomes a human empathy. It can generate pride. So we need to let it be the life of God, the love of the Spirit of God.

"And hereby we know that we are of the truth [verse 19], and shall assure our hearts before him...[when we love in deed and not in word; when we're willing to lay our lives out there and empty ourselves to the filling of others with the glory of God. These that are so important for us to walk in and to live in. Verse 23] And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." So, we see this mandate that comes to us, the obedience to the emptying of ourselves to the edification of the body, the preferring of others better than ourselves, the patience, kind, meek response to the needs of those that are around us.

Look over at chapter four for just a second. We won't go through all of this, but for your notes, chapter four, verses seven clear down through the end of the chapter, verse 21. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [appeasement, satisfaction for our sins.] Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also [owe it, under commandment] to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, [complete, mature, finished] that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

So, as we meditate on what John's saying in this fourth chapter and we begin to ask ourselves--and remember when you're reading the Scriptures and you want to get the fullest understanding of what was just said some of the principles of exegesis, who was this written to? Why was it being written? What would this effect in that church? How do we translate that into the twenty-first century? And the first thing to do when you're studying, don't study from a twenty-first century perspective. First of all, go back and say, "What was being said to these people? Who was he addressing? Now, how do I put that into application for this fellowship in Sterling in the twenty-first century?" And that's how you begin to get truth. And that's how you begin to understand the Scriptures. And truth is not affected by culture, by generation. Time does not dilute it, culture doesn't change it. These are eternal universal principles that are demanded of every one of us. And if history, time, culture doesn't change it, then your little piddley individual circumstances don't change it.

The admonition that comes to every one of us: "He that loveth not knoweth not God..." That's powerful! "He that is selfish, knoweth not God." Does that put it a little more personal? "He that's too busy to serve the body, knoweth not God." "He whose ambition separates him from his wife and his children to where he cannot properly oversee his house, knoweth not God." "She that will not humble herself and submit to her head, her husband, knoweth not God." "Children who do not obey their parents, knoweth not God." That's what this is all about, because love is the emptying of self will, the emptying of self to fill the other person with the glory of God. It recognizes their worth in Him. It recognizes their ministry, their position, their need before our own. As we read through this particular passage, here's how we perceive--Here's how His love was manifest: "Because He sent His only Son." God so loved He (what?) gave. Love gives. Love's giving. Are you a taker? In relationships, are you looking for what you can get? "What am I going to get out of this?" When the group of young adults or the youth here, you're getting ready to out somewhere, do you feel compelled to always have to try to influence it in the direction you prefer, the things you like to do? Is there a compulsion there? And you don't want to put yourself always off as demanding we go your way. But you'll lobby before you go. "Hey, what about this? Here, you say it; you get slain" "Why don't we go do this?" [Rolls eyes.] "Sigh." "What!?? I didn't say anything." For three blocks away they can hear your eyeballs rolling! The willingness to prefer others to give, to not always have to have it your way, the fruit of the spirit, the habitual emptying of self.

So, as John's speaking here and we're reading down through this and we perceive the love. Here's how the love was manifested. We begin to see that once we become aware of that and we've embraced that love and we've received that gift, beloved, regeneration creates in you a thanksgiving, an absolute transformation. Having partaken of that free gift, having freely received, to look for opportunities to freely give. Now again, we're not talking communism, we're not talking a social gospel, we're not talking just running out into the streets and throwing candy to everybody; we're talking about being sensitive, to be always be listening for that voice, "Here's the one." Because, see, you can't reach everybody.

You can't reach everybody. You can't meet everybody's need in this fellowship. You don't have the capacity to meet every need in your house. You cannot give your wife all the love she needs, and all of the attention and communion and fellowship and information and instruction and experience. And you can't do it for your children. But you can do what God instructs you to do at this moment. An ever-ready spirit to empty ourselves for the good of that individual that God has directed us to, where we love not in word but in deed. Every ready to give. Not always giving; ever ready. Because if you're ever giving much of it's going to be done in your own flesh; and in your natural giving you're robbing somebody of their supernatural giving because you just got in the way. Remember what the topic is. We're talking about walking in the spirit, living in the spirit. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is sit down, be quiet and don't do anything. That's hard for many of us. Many of you, "I've got to get going out there..." Be still...but ever ready to be emptied out that others might be edified. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, when you have love one for another."

Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight and as Your Spirit speaks to us and we catch the spirit of these Gnostics, a religious people caught up in a mystical world, so in love with God that they have no time for man. He says, "If you don't love your brother who you've seen, how can you love God who you've not seen?" The Gnostics devalued material things, natural things, because God is a spirit. Nothing natural or fleshly or temporal could have any value. Did you ever wonder why there's that strange verse in there about testing the spirits, whether they believe that Jesus came in the flesh or not? That's what was being addressed. John's saying, "By the Spirit, there are very valuable things in the flesh, in the natural, there are things that need to be tended to in the natural. Natural needs being met by the Spirit of God evidences His presence in your midst." If you hate your brother you're a murderer. A lack of tolerance, these Gnostics had. Just so intolerant! And we're to be so patient and long suffering. "You ought," John says, "to love one another." Make it real we ask, Father, in Jesus name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. As Gary plays for us we'll take just a moment, allow the Holy Spirit to address your heart tonight. I didn't fully get into the forgiveness aspect of this. We probably will Sunday morning. We're a close-knit community here, but let's not allow our love to be based upon natural affection, social, philosophical communion and agreement, and don't let our love be deluded in that its end is for the good of man, but let it be the love of God to where we love for the glory of God. Our love doesn't end in the goodness of man but in the glory of God. And I love you by the spirit. And I love you in the spirit. And I love you into the spirit. And I love you spirit, soul and body. And I love you because I've been loved, not because of any innate value, but because God loves you I am capable of loving you. I choose to love you. I believe to love you. I choose to see you as the finished product and not as the work in process. But I choose to love you enough to be an agent in the work in process. And if there is no work in process, I love you enough to start the process, because I've first been loved. Behold how they love one another.

Let's sing this together. Rejoice in His goodness. Thank You Jesus. "Even so, Come Lord Jesus Come" Hallelujah, as Gary plays that for us, Tony if you'll just come up here for a second. As Gary plays, I just want you to take a moment and let's pray and just thank God for the work that's being done.

Father, we just thank You for the abiding Spirit in this your chosen vessel. We send him because he's been sent. We entrust him, Lord, into Your power, into Your grace, into Your love. I just ask, Jesus, that which has been so freely afforded will be poured out through this vessel as You've loved him. Those men, when they look on his face as he returns, will see the need of a veil. They'll have seen the glory of God, truth and love, the glory, the jealousy for the glory of our God. For that, Father, we just say thank You, and we rejoice in it. Now come and receive us. And if you don't come, cause us to stand and to be faithful. We'll give You the glory in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "As you've been loved." Praise God.

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