“The Fruit
of the Spirit: Joy and Gentleness” By Pastor
Parrish Lee July 15th,
2018
It's wonderful to be in the House of the Lord today.
Welcome, any of
our visitors here for the first, second, third time. And, some of you
may not
be a visitor, but visiting. I want to welcome, in particular, Brother
Jim
Bailey. Well, you're not a visitor, bro. All of us—most of us have
somewhat of
a rapport with you; we kind of understand what this whole thing—and,
don't—he
knows what this thing is about. I never do anything to scare him, and
he said,
if anything, “You're kind of holding back a little bit.” Brother Jim,
it's
wonderful, wonderful to be in the house in the Lord. It was a wonderful
month,
last month, being able to talk about different things from the Lord.
And, it
was—we tried to have men's month, but it was different questions of the
disciples, and it was only fitting the Pastor Paine had come during the
last
Sunday, or the first Sunday of the month, and that left brother Chris
to bring forth
the message that he was waiting for to bring. Just waiting to bring it,
and he
patiently waited. He didn't come up here and beg, and fight, and punch,
and
scream, or any of that, he just gave me a look, like, “Is it going to
happen? Is
it going to happen?” and it was all about—the month was, "Why Reason Ye
with Him?” The month was, "Why Reason Ye with Him?” But, the message,
was,
“Why could not we cast him out?” What a message! What a message! That
thing was
revival, it was reverberating on me, all week. I couldn't—I could
barely keep
myself in my seat. That answered so many questions, and started so many
others that
I had in myself. As we gather here today, we're looking forward to the
theme
for the month, the theme for this month is going to be from the Book of
Galatians. And, it's going to be chapter five, and we're going to be
talking
about the fruits of the spirit this month. Several of the preaching
team will be
coming; they will be bringing messages specifically about this,
important
messages. Before I go on, I need to step back and I do need to give
homage, I do
need to give honor to where it belongs, and that, first, is giving
honor to our
Lord, our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master, our
Redeemer, our
Lover, our bridge-maker, our way-maker, our deliverer, who is so many
things to
us, so many times. We never thank Him enough. We just continue to thank
Him,
because He, continually is blessing us, or, as the Bible says, daily
loading us,
loading us with benefits.” We give honor, and glory and thanks to Him.
And,
honor to all of those who have come on and gone before us. It would be
imprudent for Christians to think that they got to where they have
gotten to
all by themselves. That would be a fallacy. That would cheat us of the
knowledge to know that God had this plan going on long before we ever
came on
this planet. In our lives, He's been working a work with us, like He
has done
with so many others and they have all contributed. So, giving honor to
all
those who have come on and gone before us, those who are mentioned in
the Scriptures,
those who are faithful down through the ages, and all those who have
come and
done the same in this ministry, from our founding pastor, to Pastor
Paine and his
family, and the others who have come and stood in the gap to make up
the hedge,
giving honor to all of them. The mantle is a precious thing. I’ll just
have to
mention that. The mantle of the Lord is a precious thing. Giving honor
to all
of you who name the name of Christ. You come, and present yourselves
that God
might minister to your lives, accordingly, because you expect something
from
that one true, and that wise God. You expect something from Him. Giving
honor
to all of y'all. And, now, back to our theme. I'd ask Brother Rick Matczak,
if he could
come, and he's going to read our theme for the month, which also was
going to
be our theme for today. And, that is from the Book of Galatians, it's
going to
be chapter five, verses twenty-two through twenty-three. Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit
of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness,
temperance:
against such there is no law. Thank you, Brother Rick. If we could just bow our heads for
just a
moment. Almighty God, we come before You again, this day, Your day, and
we have
already homaged it out. We've already set ourselves before You. We've
already
given You some worship, because You, alone, are worthy. And, God, as we
present
ourselves to You, this day, I've just got to say, we can't thank You
enough for
how You have been to us. There isn't a single problem we face, that You
don't have
it all in Your hands. There ain't nothing that shows up our way, that
You aren't
the God over it and us. I just want to say, thank You for all of that.
I thank You
for Your precious will, and sometimes it's that we would endure, that
we can
learn a lesson as we go through it. And, this morning, God, this
morning we
expect You to visit us. We expect Your Word to become open to our
hearts, and
our lives. We expect You to bless us accordingly, as we’ve offered You.
And, we
expect you, God, to show up, Your way. So, Lord, we present ourselves
to You,
that Your Word would do exactly as it said, and that is not return unto
You void,
but accomplish that to which You sent it in our lives. We do claim
that, in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, everyone said, amen. Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. I've got to say something,
Saints. I, I
feel different from the way I felt when I first got saved. When I first
got
saved, I was excited. I was excited because I had finally found the
Lord Jesus
Christ in a real way. I'd heard about Him, people had talked about Him,
but,
finally, I had found Him. I am excited; I was excited then, but,
something has
been happening. Something has been happening, and I asked—however, I
don't
think I'm alone—but I asked God to open me up, open me up, finally.
“God,
there's some things that I need to be accomplishing in my life, I have
not even
given to you. Matter of fact, matter of fact, I've been running on some
of
them. Running from what You want me to do, God. Everybody else, they
don't
know, they don't know how You deal with us, God. There's some things
that I do,
and I say, ‘Yeah, I've been doing the will of God,’ but there's other
things
that I say, ‘Well, I don't know about that one, God. You know, maybe
when I get
older.’” I'm over fifty-five years old; what in the world could I be
waiting
on? Because, God only, only, only the end of all of this, is supposed
to be a
blessing. Then, if everything that God has for us is supposed to be a
blessing,
it's supposed to be something that we didn't have before. Something to
make us
richer in Him. That's all this is. That's all this is about, is being
able to
have more of God in our hearts and in our lives. So, as we talk, this
month,
about the fruit of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit, we want to talk
about its
importance, its significance, and take a little time, not too much
time—matter of
fact, when I went through this, I was down to twenty minutes. So, let's
see if
that still happens this morning. Parrish Lee, giving a twenty-minute
sermon. Do
you think it's possible? Well, the fruit of the spirit—this, this particular message,
verses,
this particular verses is so important because it tells, it tells the
way that
somebody else, anybody else, and even us ourselves can tell what kind
of plant,
vine, tree, minister, Christian, we really are. It can tell what we are
by what
we bring forth., What we bring forth. And, to start this off, starting
with the
title of the message today is, "The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy and
Gentleness,” that is the title of the message. Part 1: A Foundation
of Trees And I need you to stay with me for just a minute, I need you
to stay
with me for just this first minute. A foundation of trees. “Trees” is
an
amazing Bible study. Yes. “Trees” is an amazing Bible study. Anybody
ever do a
Bible study on trees? It's amazing! It's amazing! That might be a Bible
study
that we cover some time. We'll just touch on it a little today. So, a
foundation of trees. And, as we talk about this foundation of trees.
Trees have
a lot of benefits, a lot of benefits. Please stay with me. It gets to a
point.
Trees provide shade, shelter, and refuge. Tree’s do. Shade, shelter,
and
refuge. Trees also provide oxygen, that is, they, therefore, provide a
life
giving substance. Trees also prevent soil erosion. And, therefore, they
provide
stability. So, so far, shade, shelter, and refuge, oxygen, and
therefore, life,
and stability. Trees also provide food, and, therefore, nutrition.
Food, and
therefore, nutrition. And, trees, by their very appearance, providing a
calming
tranquility. You ever go out and just see a vastness of forest or trees
going
up on a mountain, or out in a meadow, or over a long distance. Man, it
just makes
you have to take a second and behold the beauty. And, it kind of puts
that
calming essence about you. And, you see how animals run, and then they
run, and
they get to the forest, or the meadow, or whatever, they run to get
there, and once
to get there, they start slowing down. Because, of what it provides for
them: A
calming tranquility. They also reduce depression, and, by their very
essence,
they change the landscape by their presence. They changed the
landscape, or the
environment, by their very presence. Trees. Trees do all this. So, they
have
many benefits. They give provision, they give protection, and they
change
things by their presence. Provision, protection, and their presence.
Provision,
protection and their presence. These are just a few of the benefits of
trees.
But, it is essential to this message. Trees are always planted for a
specific
purpose. They always are. To bring forth a specific result. All trees
have a
purpose. All trees are good for something. Trees are not designed to
move from
where they have been planted, but they are designed to grow where they
have
been planted. They're not designed to do their own thing, go the wrong
way, but
they are designed to, wherever they have been planted, to grow, to
grow. In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar had this dream—I'm not
going to
go to it, because I don’t want to interrupt my twenty minutes—in the
book of
Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and this dream, it troubled him
greatly,
because he saw the huge tree, this huge tree, and the tree was so big,
he said
it reached up nearly to Heaven. And, David came to give the
interpretation of
it. “That tree that you saw that was so big and grew up so tall and
that tree
were you sell the fouls of the air came and they lodged in it, and they
were
protected by it, and how it stood there and it provided such an essence
by its very
presence, that tree, Nebuchadnezzar, is you. That tree is you.” And as
Nebuchadnezzar heard the dream, yes, it began to talk to him a little
bit,
because that tree was hewn down, and it went on to be a big
significance that there's
one thing greater than that great tree and that is the Almighty. The
Almighty was
greater than that tree. But it started something, it started something
that
Daniel gave God the revelation that Nebuchadnezzar, that dream had
about this
tree, he was that tree, that started something, and that's not the only
reference in the Old Testament about men and trees (Daniel 4:1-26). It
wasn't
the only reference. But, it was important. In the Book of Mark, chapter eight, verses twenty-two to
twenty-four,
if Brother Rick could come up and read that. Again, Mark, chapter
eight, verses
twenty-two to twenty-four: Mark 8:22-24 And he cometh to Bethsaida;
and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
And, he
took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when
he had
spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw
ought.
And, he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. Thank you, Brother Rick. So, He came to this blind man,
everybody wanted
Him to take that blind man and heal him, but, the Lord Jesus took that
blind
man out of the town, away from these people, and He took him out and He
had
spat on, He had spat on his eyes, and He put His hands on his eyes
after He had
done that, and then He asked him, “What do you see? What do you see?”
And, the
blind man said, “I see men as trees walking.” I see men as trees
walking (Mark
8:22-25). Yeah, this is all coming to a specific purpose. And, so, the
Lord chose
a blind man to reveal to everybody—that's why it's in the Bible,
because it's
revealed to everybody—to reveal to him that in the sight, in the sight
of God,
that we have something in common with trees. That we do. He chose a
blind man
to show him that in the sight of God we have something in common with
trees.
Now, sometimes, sometimes, how many know? Sometimes we want God to make
you
free. Amen? Sometimes we were bound with something, attacked with
something,
challenged with something, and you ask God to make you free. Anybody?
Anybody
here? Sometimes, you just ask God to make you see. Sometimes you tell
God,
"I don't know, I need you to make me see.” Sometimes we want to, “God,
make me free!” and, sometimes, “God, make me see.” So, before we go in
to talk more
about the fruit of the spirit, as we're about to start, we’ve got one
more
thing to go—we've got to talk about the source. Before we talk about
the fruit
of the spirit, we need to talk a little bit about the source. Brother
Rick, one
more time, John, chapter fifteen, from John, chapter fifteen, verses
one through
five: John 15:1-5 I am the
true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that
beareth not
fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth
it, that
it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which
I have
spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of
itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in
me. I
am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Thank you, Brother Rick. “I am the vine,” the Lord Jesus
says, “I am the
vine.” So, He is the vine, and we are the branches. He is the source;
we are
the extensions. It is, when we talk about the fruit of the spirit, it
is His
Spirit. From the Book of Second Corinthians, chapter three, and verse
seventeen,
it is His Spirit that we are talking about. The Book of Second
Corinthians,
chapter three, and verse number seventeen: 2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is
that Spirit: [The Lord is that Spirit] and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is liberty. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. Part 2: The Fruit of
Joy Of the nine fruit of the spirit that it mentions in
Galatians, today
we're going to talk about joy and gentleness. Once again, from the book
of
Galatians chapter 5, verse 22: Galatians 5:22
But the fruit
of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Galatians 5:23
Meekness,
temperance: against
such there is no law. Against such there is no law. And, there is a reason, even a
purpose
that the Bible is so descriptive in talking about the fruit of the
spirit. And,
there is a reason for fruit from any tree, any tree at all, there's a
reason
for that, there's a reason for fruit from any tree. You go past a tree,
and you
see it, it has fruit on it, Well, whatever it does, whether it's a
nutty fruit,
that's acorns and walnuts, I don't know, do almonds grow on trees? They
do? I
don't know a whole lot about trees, I had to study up, I had to study
up. I'm a
city boy; what can I say? And the same thing with pecans, pecans grow
on trees
don't they? Yeah, I love pecans. We can do something with that. I don't
know
that I've ever seen one, but I likes them. I like pecans. So, there's a
reason
for any fruit from any tree, the reason for the fruit from any tree,
is, the fruit
is supposed to come forth and it's supposed to fall, or get connected
to the
ground, and then start the process all over, and make more trees which
can bear
more fruit. That is the purpose of the fruit of any tree, that is the
purpose.
To make more trees just like the one it came from. We would call this,
if we
are trees, and we are supposed to have that same spirit of God, He is
the vine
and we are the branches, we would call this fruit, the purpose, the
purpose of
the fruit that God wants to bring forth in our life, we would say, it
is seeing
other people get saved. Just like these trees here. That is the purpose
of the
fruit. That it could fall on other ground in other people's lives,
spring up
and grow into other trees that are saved. That is the purpose of the
fruit from
the spirit of God! That is its purpose. We would be a little misguided
if we
were to say that one fruit, or somebody's fruit is better than somebody
else's
fruit. That is not God! It is one Vine. Our interpretation, our opinion
of
somebody’s fruit is unjust. We might be able to help, but if a fruit
comes from
God, the fruit came from Almighty God. It came from the vine. And, all
these
fruit have a purpose. So, today, we want to talk about Joy, the fruit of Joy. Now,
Joy is termed
as cheerfulness, even a calm delight. I like that description, but,
it’s right
out there: calm delight. A calm delight, meaning that its source, its
source is
greater than surface deep. Calm is the exterior; that's what people
notice, a calmness.
But the light, the light is the interior. The light is what reaches,
that is
bigger than surface deep. And, the word for joy that it uses here in
Galatians
is the same word that it uses for joy in the Book of Luke, chapter
fifteen, and
verse number ten. And, actually we're going to go through a few
Scriptures a
little quick, here. So, we see the fruit of the spirit, one of them was
joy.
The Book of Luke, chapter fifteen, verse number ten: Luke 15:10
Likewise, [the Bible says] I say unto you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth. This joy is in the presence of the angels of God over one!
That is the
same joy from the spirit, the fruit. That is the same joy. It also is
that same
joy that we can look at in the Book of Luke, chapter one, verse
forty-four.
Joy, joy, and, from the book of Luke, chapter one, and verse
forty-four, same
joy. This joy, it was in John the Baptist, and, it was in him before he
ever
got born! That kind of joy. And, it made him, according to the
Scripture, here: Luke 1:44
For, lo, as
soon as the voice
of thy salutation [when Mary went to visit
Elisabeth,
Elisabeth said, as soon as the voice of thy salutation] sounded
in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Ha! The same joy! That fruit of the spirit. Having it before
you ever
even came out and saw the world. That same joy. It is the same joy that
it
talks about in the Book of Matthew, chapter two, and verse number ten.
The joy
that the wise men had when they saw that the hope—they found the star
which was
the hope for all mankind of salvation. The Book of Matthew, chapter
two, and verse
number ten: Matthew 2:10
When they saw
the star, [when they saw the star, the wise
men] they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. That same joy, that fruit of the spirit, the joy of John the
Baptist,
the joy of the Wise men, the same joy it talks about in Matthew,
chapter twenty-eight,
verse number eight. This joy that the women had when the angel told
them, as
they went to the tomb, and it told them, “Why do you look for the dead
among
the living? He is that dead, but He has risen.” Matthew 28:8
And they
departed quickly from
the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his
disciples word. Because they found out that, they were going to anoint a
body, but they
found out He wasn't there. They found out that death couldn't hold Him.
The
same joy it talks about in Luke, chapter twenty-four, fifty-one through
fifty-two.
The joy that the disciples had after the women who went to the
sepulcher talked
to them. The joy that they had then chapter twenty-four, versus
fifty-one and fifty-two: Luke 24:51-52 And it came to pass, while he
blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And,
they
worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: Joy that they saw that not only couldn't death hold Him, but
even Earth
couldn't hold Him. That kind of joy. Knowing that this God, that they
believed
in, wasn't just victorious over death, but He didn't even have to walk
the
Earth. He resided in the heavens. That kind of joy. Joy that they had
in the Book
of Matthew, chapter twenty-five, first number twenty-one. Joy that is
prepared,
the joy that is prepared and waiting for His Saints when they finish
their
course. In the Book of Matthew, chapter twenty-five, and verse number
twenty-one: Matthew 25:21
His lord said
unto him, Well
done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a
few things,
I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord. Joy is so incredible. Joy is so incredible, it defies
description. It
goes beyond description. From the Book of First Peter, chapter one, and
verse
number eight. First Peter, chapter one, and verse number eight: 1 Peter 1:8
Whom having not
seen, ye love;
in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: Yes, Joy, Joy, Joy. If I could be a little honest, it is the
joy that
is able to keep you when you've got tumors in your eyes. If I could be
a little
honest, it is the joy that is able to keep you when you feel like
nobody else
is with you. If I could be honest, it is the joy that when you are
challenged
in your faith, when your challenged in your home, when you were
challenged from
the very core of your being, it is the joy that you can turn around and
look to,
and say, “God, I need you,” and God restores you. If I could be honest,
it is
the joy that comes from God, alone. Now, if we find ourselves not
having this joy,
there is a reason for that. There is a reason we could find ourselves
not
having—if we don't have it, there's a reason for not having it. Number
one—what
would be the reason for not having this joy? Number one: We don't ask
for it. Yeah,
it's that simple. We don't ask for it. It's that simple. David said, in
the Book
of Psalms, chapter fifty-one, and verse number twelve: Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. He didn't ask to restore unto me salvation, “God, I know
you, God, and
all that, but, God, I need your joy, again. I need it.” He asked for,
“Restore
it unto me.” Do you know why he didn't ask for—he didn't say, “For my
salvation.” I used to wonder about that, sometimes I used to wonder,
why is he
saying, “Thy salvation,” instead of, “My salvation?” Because, David
didn’t save
himself. The salvation that he had, came from God Almighty. It was
still saving
him. It was God's salvation. David just wanted the joy. " God, I know
you
saved me, how about You lift me up and encourage me? How about You give
me a
little blessing? And, I don't need a blessing of mighty—well, maybe I
do, but
that ain't what I'm asking for right now. You know, maybe a little
later I
might ask for a blessing, but for right now, I just need a blessing of
Your presence.
A blessing of Your Spirit. Warm it up in me, God! Warm it up.” Number
two, what
could be another reason why we don't have the joy? Number two: We don't
receive
it when it is given. Number one, we don't ask for it. Number two, when
God gives
it, we don't receive it. What is another reason we wouldn't have the
joy that
God gives. What is another reason? Number three: We don't put ourselves
in a
place to get it. We don't put ourselves in a place to get it. You ever
notice
someone not giving God His worship? Did you ever notice, and you might,
I don't
know, maybe one or two of you have found yourself not giving God His
worship?
You see, we might think that it's our worship to God, but, the fact of
the
matter is, all creation worships God. And, so, we were defined,
created, made
to worship God. And, when we hold that back, we hold back the blessing
that
comes from worship. Holding back worship is cutting off our blessing,
our joy.
He is an awesome God. And, He is—make no mistake about this—He is a God
that
not only is worthy of praise, but He will have
His praise. You know, the Bible says, if you don't praise Him now, if
you don't
bow your knees now, you don't have to worry about it, because,
according to the
Bible, every knee will bow (Philippians 2:10-11). You can either bow
now, or
wait till you get before Him. But, that time, you're going to bow
because
judgment is coming. So, you either bow your knees now, or you bow your
knees
then. Every tongue will confess. We either confess Him now, or we will
confess Him,
then. But, when we confess Him then, it's too late to receive the
blessing. We
only get the award for not blessing Him when we had time down here. You
ever
know somebody that complains about so many things? They don't just
complain
about one thing, but they complain over, and over, and over, and over,
and
over, and over, and over, anybody know anybody like that? Anybody ever
been
somebody like that? You don’t have to raise your hand. If we put
ourselves in a
place where we complain all the time, then, when Joy comes along, we've
already
said no, we've already said no to that blessing. These things are
things that
cut off our joy. I want to go and prove something right now. I want to
go and
prove something. For anybody that knows what I'm talking about, for
anybody who
knows what I'm talking about, anybody who's with me, just say, “God,
You’ve
been good to me.” And, if He's been good to you and you think He’s
still being
good to you, then say, “God, you're still being good to me.” And, if
your faith
is there, He's been good to you, and He's good to you right now, if
your faith
is in God, say, " God, I believe You will continue being good to me.”
Oh,
say it like you mean it. Yeah. You can already feel it starting, can't
you? You
can already feel that starting. “God, You've been good to me. God,
You're good
to me still. I believe You're still going to be good to me. I believe
You, You're
going to continue to be good.” You can feel it welling up. That is a
praise
that goes to God, and God only. He is the giver of all good and perfect
gifts.
And, somebody might say, “What about those persons who, you know, they
found
God real and true, they had that, they had that goodness. They had joy.
And,
all of the sudden, they looked at other things in the world, and they
left the
joy that God gives, and they went to whatever the world had to offer,
as though
it were comparable to the joy of God. What about those people, Brother
Parrish?
Do you hear what I’m saying?” Yes, yes, if God has the greatest joy,
and the
world doesn't, and somebody chooses the lesser joy, as though you could
even
compare the two, you know what we call that? Being deceived. Being
deceived.
Allowing ourselves to be cheated. Getting the old—what do you call
that?—the
old shell game on us, when we already won. Playing cards with a marked
deck.
That's what it seems, if you think anything could compare to the
greatness and
the wonderfulness of God. That's being deceived.
Part 3: The Fruit of
Gentleness. The fruit of gentleness. Gentleness is defined as, “moral
goodness.” It's
also defined as, “an integrity, or an adherence of moral and ethical
principles.” And, it's also defined as, “a kindness.” So, then, how
important
is gentleness? What is its real purpose? Where Joy is a personal fruit,
and,
you have joy and it's almost an individual thing, gentleness,
gentleness is a
fruit that is given to others. Gentleness is a fruit specifically given
to
others. And, it's easily seen in The Lord's interaction with us, both,
while on
Earth, and with us still today. It was seen when He rode into Jerusalem
on the
ass’s colt. Gentleness. He didn't ride in on a great horse with honor
and a
sword, and just calling down evils and wiping them out; He didn't do
that. He rode
in on an ass’s colt (Matthew 21:1-8), showing them He was coming in
peace; He was
coming in a gentle way. It is seen when He was in the garden and the
high
priest’s servant had his ear cut off, and He went over and said,
“Suffer us
this far,” and He healed that high priest's servant’s ear (Luke
22:50-51). When
they were coming to take Him away, it was seen there. It was seen when
He
talked to the woman at the well (John 4:5-30). And, when He talked to
the woman
that was caught in the act, it was seen (John 8:2-11). He sent the
disciples
away so that they could have a kind of gentleness, because He wanted to
approach in a way that they could receive it. It was seen when He met
with the
children, and He called the children to Him, and when people went to
rebuke
them, He rebuked them. He said, “Suffer these little children to come
unto Me for
of such as the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:13-15) It was seen in the
parable
of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). And, then He said, “Go, and do
likewise.”
Gentleness, moral goodness, integrity, and kindness. I need to—in
closing—I
need to a last word here. I need to speak a word to everybody who feels
that
you've gotten to the places and the times where Joy has leaked all out
of your
vessel, and you feel that you’ve run out of compassion, and you've run
out of
joy in your life, and you've run out of long-suffering, and you've run
out of
patience, whatever God has given to sustain you has seemed to run out
of your
life. I need to speak a word to this, the Lord has a word, and that
word is, “No,
it hasn't. No it hasn't.” As long as you have the Lord Jesus, you have
that
joy. You can reach deep into the wells and draw, the Bible says joy
from the wells
of salvation. It has not run out, as long as you have the Lord Jesus.
Run out
of compassion, run out of anything of the fruit of the spirit? no, no,
not as
long as you have the Lord Jesus. He is, He is our rock. And, our
strength. He
is our horn of salvation. He is our present help. He is our present
help in
time of need. He is our Lily of the valley. He is the rose of Sharon.
We just
have to let Him be. He is the fairest of ten-thousand. He is. He is my
sword,
my shield, my high place, my tower, He is my bridge over troubled
water, He is
my way when there is no way, He is my light in darkness, He is that for
all of
us. He is. There's a song that I love to hear, it says, “God is,” and
that's
the name of the song, “God is.” Because you can just fill that blank
in, and
never run out. He is the door. He is the Wonderful Counselor. He is the
great,
high priest. He is the Almighty God. He is My honor. So, the last one that we need to go to: the power of choice.
That's it.
The power of choice. Did you know that the Lord has given us that power
to make
the tree good or evil? He has given us—if you were to hold your hand
out, you
couldn't even signify all the power that He's given you on that.
Matthew,
chapter twelve, verse thirty-three, the Bible says: Matthew 12:33
Either make the
tree good, and
his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: [because] for the tree is known
by his fruit. We have the power, the Lord said either make it one way or
the other.
Either make the tree good, or make the tree evil. You can do it. I give
it unto
you, I give you the power to do it. I used to think this whole fruit of
the
spirit thing was pick and choose, because, “Can't nobody do all that.”
You know?
“We ain’t got all them fruit in there. Who gonna do all that? I can
hold on to
one or two.” That's about as far as my mind—I forget about all the rest
of them.
And, then, as brother Chris said, he said something last week, he said,
“It's
not optional.” And, for Christians, there is only one option. There's
only one.
Seek the fruit of the spirit. And, this whole fruit of the spirit thing
doesn't
end here, Saints. Last Scripture, the Book of Revelation, chapter
twenty-two, verses
one through six: Revelation 22:1-2
And he shewed
me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
and of
the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the
river,
was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, [twelve manner of fruits] and
yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the
healing
of the nations. The leaves are precious, how precious that is. Verse number
three: Revelation 22:3-5
And there shall
be no more
curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his
servants shall
serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their
foreheads. And, there shall be no night there; and they need no candle,
neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall
reign for
ever and ever. Verse number 6: Revelation 22:6
And he said
unto me, These
sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets
sent his angel
to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Can we give the Lord a praise?
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