Fruit of the spirit

Rhema is an innovative, practically applied Bible study that is designed to help you understand, grow and strengthen your spiritual relationship with God. As implied by its name its primary function is to help you uncover the revealed word of god, that it may enlighten, simplify and transact the will and purpose God has for each of us in our every day life. 

Brought to you by L.A Williams, with over four decades of practical experience in the ministry of healing and deliverance, his aim is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the world, and see believers embolden with the truth of who they are, and what God purposed for us to be. 

Sit back, relax and allow your spirit to be nourished.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Rima Bible Study. It's Nebishop Williams. And our topic today is on the fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit. And that is taken from the book of Galatians, chapter 5, and verse 22. And also we will be looking at a few other scriptures. For example, Romans 3 and verse 23. Now, why are we talking about the fruits of the Spirit? Because it really is important to the life of the believer that he demonstrates that his salvation is not only real but it is productive. Now when we think in terms of Jesus giving a discourse on the vine and the relationship between the father, the vine, the branches, the fruits, etc., then one understands how important how God see his children product being productive and impacting the world around them. Why would we need this? We need this because when you consider St. John 3:16, that tells us about God loving us to the extent that He sent His only begotten Son into the world so that through Him we would have eternal life. And no one can question, therefore, the extent to which God loves us. He said it said he loved us so much that word fails to express the depth and the magnitude of his love. But we also, once we accept that, we also note it in the book of Romans, chapter 2, 3, and verse 23, where it tells, it tells us about all of sin. Yes, everyone, no matter who you are, no matter what your race, creed, color, no matter your background, you are you fall into that category. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Now, sin is a word that not many people like to talk about. Yes, but sin really is missing the mark. That's what it really is about. When you understand that God has set a standard, placed that standard in us, and yet we do not fulfill it, we miss the mark and we fulfill other standards that has been placed in our life and in our environment. And so it's important that we understand why he need to do what he has done, and we are going to be looking at how he can take something that is so bad, transformed it into something that is so good. This is one of the mystery of the ages, and this is one of the things that confuses people from philosophers, scientists, and every other profession that you can imagine, that a holy God, a righteous God, a just a just God can look at somebody, some people, some people that in fact are everything that God hates. Yes, everything, because that's what we were. We were sin. Now in the book of Romans 5 and verse 6 to 8, it tells us how God categorized our situation. When he said that the person that is good, somebody would even dare to die for them. Nobody would die for a righteous person. But worse than worst of all, he said that God commended his love towards you and I. You and I, we were sinners. You and I, we were far from the from the things of God, but yet God commended his love towards you and I. That while we were yet sinners, while we were yet what God ate, he died for us. And every person must really understand how powerful God's love is for you. That it circumvent, it supersedes, it shunts, you know, the you you have a transition where God takes you from one state to another. The love of God transcends your critical situation and bring you into a place of wonderful warmth and assurance. And so this is what he has done. And we are going to be looking at it and see how he has brought us through this transition and put us into the position of favor. Not only favor, but I man, he is looking to put us on exhibition in the in his glorious kingdom, showing the world, showing the universe what great, mighty power he possessed, that he can turn something that was everything he hates to something that he loves, to the extent where he died. Amen, he sent his son to die for us. So this love that we have now received, and every person has access to it. It's not just special, just for special people. He said, God so loved the world, that is the his important word. You and I constitute that world that he sent his son to die for. And now that he has done that and give us the assurance of his love and give us the promise of eternal life, he now needs to help us to be created in the image and the likeness of our God. Now we were created like that before, but sin messed us about, and we lost that beautiful image of God that we had. But he has come to restore it to us, and that is the beauty of God. So what did he do? He justified. Not only did he ask us to accept him, but he proved, he proves that our accepting of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God then justified us with his Holy Spirit, making us accepted in the beloved. And then he placed that Holy Spirit in us to begin the creative work of transforming our sinful nature into his righteous nature, from this image of sin to the image of righteousness. This is what he has done. And it's one of the great work of our Lord Jesus Christ in restoring us to the position of favor that we had with God from the very beginning. So this Holy Spirit that we now possess, and somebody said, How do I know when I have the Holy Spirit? You only have to look at the book of Acts, chapter 2, and see how the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, when they were all together in one place. And there came a sound from heaven, like as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives them utterance. Now that was wonderful. It was a great phenomenon. But what really matters is the work that the Holy Spirit was going to continue to do in the lives of people from the day that they receive God in their life to the day that they will meet him again. The Holy Spirit has a work to do in us. One thing you must remember is that each one of us are individuals. Each one of us are created by God individually. Yes? So you must know that what your mother does or your father or anybody else is great, but is not what God is asking for. He's asking for your individual attention. He's asking for your individual surrender. He's asking for you to allow Him to create in you his divine nature so that you would be accountable, account, account worthy, yes, to enter eternal life. Now, isn't that wonderful? That God doesn't want you to die to be to be separated from him, but he has making every provision for you to be saved. So here is what he's done. He has sent the Holy Spirit, we receive it. We know we receive it because we feel experience, we have knowledge, and above all, we have the weakness of the Holy Ghost. You may ask, well, what is the weakness? The weakness is that one, we have experienced something, we have seen something, we know something, and we feel something. So when the Holy Spirit comes up comes into your life, these are the things you're going to experience, you're going to have. Yes? You will feel his power, you will experience his anointing, you will hear yourself speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, and you will know that God is with you. Now, this Holy Spirit begins creation from the day you give your life to Jesus. He begins to transform you from children of darkness to children of light. And how he does it? He does it number one through his word. He does it through encouraging you to pray. He does it through encouraging you to meditate in the word of God. And as the Holy Spirit begins the developing and the creation of God's image inside of you, one of the first things that you will experience is change in your attitude towards loving God, loving your neighbor, loving yourself. The Bible tells us that it is divided. The operation of recreation is divided into nine gifts. Nine fruits of the spirit, rather, and also nine gifts. But we are going to be talking about the fruits of the spirit, because the fruit of the spirit characterize the nature of God in you and I. A person can operate in the gifts, but yet do not have a relationship with God. But when you have a right relationship with God, the gifts is inevitable. And so the first thing that you are to see happening in your life is how you love. And in the first one, it's called the fruit. Amen. The fruits of love. Now, what is it like? Now everyone knows what grapes look like. It's a cluster. And so the Holy Spirit operation in your life is like the cluster of a grape. Yes. One, you have love. This is important. And what kind of love? This love is a deep, selfless affection towards God and others. See, that is the kind of love that we're talking about. It characterized by the care, the compassion, and the empathy that we have towards each other. You see Jesus moving about. That's what he did. He cared for the sick, he cared for the oppressed, he cared for the downtrodden. And when that love of God is really creating, create, create in you that God-like nature, that is what you're going to experience. As we said before in Acts 10 and verse 38, how God went, how Jesus went about doing good and healing, delivering, setting people free because the Spirit of God was with him. And that would be the same thing with you. That is number one. And this is in really in a nutshell. Now, the number two is the joy. Yes? Now, here it is. This joy is a sense of happiness, contentment that causes and comes that comes from the inside, regardless of external issues. That is the joy. Somebody presented like this, they said that the joy of the Lord is my strength. Yes. But when you have that joy that comes from the Holy Spirit within you, it is not predicated on good things happening to you and wonderful things going on around you. It is that deep inner peace and understanding that God is ever present with you and it brings the joy in the midst of what potentially could be sorrow. And then the next one is peace. Yes? Now, peace with God is so important. And here the Bible tells us it is a state of tranquility, it's a state of harmony, free from conflict, from anxiety, both external and internal. That is peace. And when you have that peace of God, you are a very different person. You transcend these things that really bring people into bondage, knock people's confidence, turn them wonderful people into hermits. See, the peace of God. And that peace is truly wonderful. Somebody once asked, how would you physically define that? And they thought about it, and they came up with the notion that it is like stranded in the midst of an ocean on a rock, and the waves are dashing around you. But it does not impact you because you already have that assurance, somehow, somewhere, you will be sent, you'll be delivered. Is that peace that gives you that confidence? Now, then the next one is long suffering. Now, that is something that most people don't like. You may have really talk about long suffering, but I'm here to let you know it is a trait of the Holy Spirit to show your trust in God. Long suffering is the ability to endure hardship and difficulties with patience and having the persuasion that it will work for your good in the long run or the short run. So when you have that long suffering, it really shows you trust God. When you can go through situations that for others it would put them on anti-depressant and all of the things, but for you, you just relax in the knowledge that your God is able to do more than you're able to think or ask. So, yes, long suffering is not to hurt you, it is to develop that character and trait, the character traits in you that shows that you trust God and that God can rely on you no matter what it is. Abraham suffered long, waiting for a child. Looked like it never was going to happen, but he was a man of faith. He trusted God, and God did not disappoint him. In the long run, it worked out for his good. And here we also have goodness. Now, goodness is something again, we heard about it, how Jesus went about doing good. Yes, it is something that every believer should have. It's a moral excellence, it's kindness and in and having not only kindness but integrity in and being thoughtful towards each other. You see, this is what God is looking for in us as believers. That we treat other with love. Amen. In words and deeds, we act in the best interests of each individual. Goodness is important in the things of God. And the Holy Spirit is here to help us to really bring about that aspect of the Spirit of God in our lives. And it goes on to talk about gentleness. Yes? Now, what is it? The humility, it shows kindness, it's a sensitive and more important interaction with others with a certain degree of care. And when you have this kind of not only compassionate, but also you show and demonstrate gentleness to people, it shows that you are different, shows that your life has been changed. In a time when most people pride in aggression and showing what they can do and what and how they can be. God is calling on his children to demonstrate gentleness, talk about meekness, it talks about faith. Yes, and the kind of faith that really shows commitment, dedication to the things that you are asked to engage in. It is a dying art. So many people fail. But God tells us that the Holy Spirit in us will create that faithfulness, and God is looking for us to be faithful in spite of the challenges, in spite of the storms. God is looking for us to have that faithfulness. He talks about temperance, means self-control. It means the ability to overcome, the ability to deal with challenges. Yes, to be in control of your emotions, in control of your life, and every aspect that concerns you. When you commit your life to God, that is why we pray the way we do. That is why whatever we're going to do, we acknowledged Him. The word of God said, in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. So when you really do that, you are asking God to give you that ability to be temporal and have that deep self control over everything that pertains to. To your life. This is just to again encourage you to allow the spirit to work his best in you. The Holy Spirit not only will give you the character, trait, and nature of God, but it will empowers you to face the challenges through the gift. And one side is the fruit, and the other side is the gift. Combine those two together. You're walking as sons and daughters of God. God bless you. Thank you for listening. Have a blessed day in Jesus' name. Amen.