“A
Few Fruits of the Spirit” By Chris Ulrich July 22nd,
2018
Thank you, you may be seated. It's good to see everybody out
this
morning. I want to just read our theme Scripture for the month,
something that Pastor
Lee had shared from last week. From the Book of Galatians—by the way, I
enjoyed
that, “Get Right, Church, and Let's Go Home,” that's a good
introduction, and
kind of a fun up, upbeat, for sure—so, from the book of Galatians,
chapter
five, verses twenty to 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. So, there’s certain type of traits that we can possess, and
sometimes
those traits that we esteem highly, they can start to get kind of a
tarnished
reputation. So, one that comes to mind is being decisive when it comes
to every-day
decisions. The obstacle is when we start to think of somebody that has
that, is
being a little overly confident, and then that could be misinterpreted
as being
arrogant. Another is a willingness to be zealously responsive.
Especially when
they are in the company of others who are not quite so engaged, like,
“I know
the answer!” “I know the answer!” I know the answer!” And, after a
while, you
start to think the downside of that is they get to be thought of as a
know-it-all. Nobody wants to be that guy or girl. But, meekness is one
of those
traits that the definition can sometimes get lost in translation. But,
I read a
definition, recently, that I think will give us all good, godly
understanding,
and, the definition read like this: “Meekness is strength under
control; it
does not mean weakness, and it means someone who is humble, teachable,
and
patient. It also means being modest, and respectful.” I'd like to ask
if you
could bow your heads for a word of prayer; as we have a prayer for the
sermon,
this morning. God, we just thank you, God, for our time, so far, God. We
thank you
for the music, God. We thank you for the encouragement, and the unity,
God, and
everybody that's here today, Lord God. And, we just thank you, God, for
the
prayer time that we had the other night, and the fasting and prayer
time that
we've had, and the people that have shared: Sister Corrine, and Brother
Jonathan
and others, Lord God. We just ask right now for the time for the
message today,
Lord God, that You'd speak through me, Lord God, and that that You'd
speak through
all of us, and we hear Your Word, and we'd understand the importance
and the
significance of what we have, and what we face in this world, Lord God.
We just
ask for understanding, we ask for peace, God, we ask to have that
meekness,
Lord God. We just want to ask these things in your name, Jesus. Amen. You don't have to turn with me, but it's from the book of
Numbers,
chapter twelve, verse three. It's a very short passage. But, it says a
lot. It
says: Numbers 12:3
(Now the man
Moses was very
meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) Some of you have read this verse before. And, others maybe
hearing it
for the first time. I Suppose, even if you've never read this verse,
you're
aware of who the man Moses was. How he led the children of Israel out
of Egypt,
out of the bondage, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness, and led
them for forty
years. Those of you that have read the Bible extensively, you know
about him,
that whenever a matter arose, among the children of Israel, that it
always says
that Moses fell upon his face in prayer. And, that is an important
understanding to have, because, it teaches us, in this day and age,
that
whenever any kind of significant, or insignificant, for that matter,
arises, to
fall on our face in prayer. To see God in prayer. But, those of you who
have
read about him, know about him, have learned about him, none of us ever
met
him. We're talking thousands of years ago. But, we have an
understanding
through the spirit of God that got teaches us at these things are real.
But, we
also know that Moses was not a pushover, and he was a man of great
strength and
power. He did not back down. Part one of the message today is, “We Bring the Meekness.” Part 1
We
Bring the Meekness Now, that might sound a little bit strange, because, you're
thinking,
or some of us may be thinking, well, doesn't God give us everything?
Doesn't He
give us meekness, too?” The answer is, God does give us everything, but
he also
gives us freedom of choice and it's up to us to decide whether we want
to have
that trait in our life, or not. We can choose not to have it. The word
is there
as an offering from God to teach us, and give us guidance, but it's not
forced
upon anybody. It's a choice to be a certain way, and it's going to be a
benefit
to us, spiritually. And, don't get me wrong, God shows us how it's
done, but
it's still up to us to do it. So, do we think having meekness is worthy
of
possession? I think so, after all, it's a fruit of the spirit. I'd like
to just
revisit a few things from last week. How many were here last week for
the
message that Pastor Lee gave? Well, I thought it was kind of
interesting what
he talked about trees. So, for those who weren't here, he shared some
different
things about the Bible tells us that you shall know them by their
fruits
(Matthew 7:16). It talks about a good tree and an evil tree (Matthew
7:17). So,
he went into some details—I'm not going to try to re-preach that, but I
want to
share some things. I had a trip this past week, I was in South—kind of around
Madison—Wisconsin,
so, driving through, up by Lake Geneva, then, over into Beloit, and
then up
until this little town called Jupiter, Wisconsin. It was a cheese
plant, by the
way, so... Very appropriate, I thought. Anyway, I just looking around,
and I
was like, “Look at all these trees!” I mean, it's just so green and you
just
keep going through, and it's like for miles and miles, in this
direction, miles
and miles, in that direction, but, it comes down to the point of this
message
that he gave; he was talking about the significance of trees and he
shared a
passage where Christ, He gave a blind man his sight, and He said, “What
do you
see?” he said, “I see men is trees walking.” (Mark 8:22-25) And, that
translates to us in this day and age, what kind of fruit are we
bearing? Are we
bearing good fruit? Or not? But, the point about having meekness is it
requires
a behavioral change on our part and that's not always easy. It's like
Sister
Corrine had shared about, that fasting's not easy. It's no fun. I can't
think
of anything I'd rather not do in the flesh. But, the Bible says to walk
in the
spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians
5:16). So,
what's actually in control? Is the flesh, or is the spirit? Yeah, we
still have
the needs of the body; we still have to meet those things. We still
have a life
to live here on this earth. But, it's not always an easy thing to take
the metaphorical
high road. And, now, we're talking about meekness. But, having this
trait will
come in handy. I'd like to ask if you could turn with me to the Book of
Galatians, chapter six, verse one. Again, this may be a verse that many
of you
are familiar with, and, if you're not, and you're hearing it for the
first
time, it says: Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in
the spirit
of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So, it's funny how God's ways work, sometimes, and this
passage is no
exception. What I mean by that is if we go to talk to somebody that's
overtaken
in a fault, and we don't have that spirit of meekness, do you think
they're
going to listen to us? They're not going to receive it one bit. They're
going
to think, “Pffft, I don't have to listen to you. I don't care what you
have to
say.” It doesn't matter to me one bit, because we're not paid. This is
something that is optional. Christianity is optional. But, it's also
worthwhile. So, whenever we're able to share with people, it's always a
matter
of, “Would you like to come? Would you like to come out? Would you like
to go
to picnic? Would you like to come to service? Would you like to come to
a Bible
study?” “Oh, yeah,” “Oh, sure,” “Oh, okay,” you know, you get varying
reactions.
But, it ultimately comes down to, you're not hiring them. You're not,
“Hey, how
would you like to work here?” or, you're not holding a gun to anybody's
head.
And, then, then, things would be different. But, it's never going to be
that
way, and it's not supposed to be like that. But, the meekness is what
makes the
difference in the effectiveness. Because, having that trait, is going
to be
what's going to get through to people. It's going to be what's going to
make
the difference. Because, if we're human, we understand we're
susceptible
ourselves to failure, to fault, to sin, to coming short of the glory of
God, chances
are much better that they're going to receive what's been shared.
Trivia time:
how many likes trivia? A few, okay, not too many. Here we go. Here we
go. It is
Bible trivia. Anybody care to guess how many times the word peace
appears in
the Bible? Just say, somebody. I was going to say one at a time, but
that's
impossible. Okay, 420 times. What? Since some may be wondering about
the word piece,
p i e c e—see, threw a curveball—that appears 145 times, so that's 565
times,
but we're talking about a fruit, the peace, a fruit of the spirit, not
a piece
of fruit. I'd like to ask brother Jim Bailey to come up; he's going to
read for
us from the book of Philippians. So, has anybody here ever, ever seen
the
bumper sticker that says, “No God, no peace…” this is another, this is,
“…k n o
w God, k n o w peace.” It says, “No God, no peace; know God, know
peace.” I'd
have to say that's probably my favorite of the bumper stickers, but the
truth
is, the piece of God goes beyond just expressions on bumper stickers.
It's much
deeper than that. But, before Jim Reads, I'd like to just mention about
how Jim
is—for those of you that don't know, Jim is from our church down in
Virginia.
He was here for many years, been a great brother, I've known him
personally for
about thirty years now. Jim:
at least thirty. I think it's thirty years. Jim:
I think I met you when you were like seven, or something like that. That's possible. That's possible. For those though don't
know, this is
sort of an interesting thing, so, the first time I met Jim, I go,
“Where you
from?” he goes, “It's hard to say.” I said, "Well, where you from?” he
goes,
“It's hard to say because it's a very long word” I said, “No.” and he
goes,
"I’m from Dover, Delaware.” I'm like, “You're kidding me.” So, my mom
grew
up in Dover Delaware. She actually went to high school—I grew up in
Western
Mass., so, it's a possibility that I did see you somewhere… Jim:
I graduated with your mom, yeah. Yeah. Twenty-three years apart, twenty-three years apart.
So, go ahead,
Jim, if you could read from the Book of Philippians, chapter one, verse— Jim:
we were in the same class, class of '70. Philippians 4:1-7
Therefore, my
brethren dearly
beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my
dearly
beloved. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the
same mind
in the Lord. And, I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those
women which
laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my
fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the
Lord
always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all
men.
The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by
prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And, the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds
through Christ Jesus. Thanks, Jim. So, did you ever see anybody that clearly
didn't have the peace
in their life? Maybe you've even been that person at some point in your
life,
yourself. And, maybe you’ve even been that person without peace, at
some point
after becoming a Christian. Anyone here ever been in that boat? You
don't have
to raise your hand, although, Bob. Yes, I agree, other people are. I
know I
have, but it's not a fun place to be. Part 2 of The Sermon is “God Brings the Peace.” Part 2
God
Brings the Peace And God is the only one that can bring the peace to its
fullness. And,
don't get me wrong, we have a stake in it, but, as far as behavior, so
we're
not completely off the hook on this. So, what's it like to not have
peace, and
what causes that.? Isaiah, fifty-seven, twenty-one clearly states: Isaiah 57:21
There is no
peace, saith the
Lord, unto the wicked. So, that sounds like a pretty bold proclamation. So, am I
saying if we
don't have peace, it's because of our wickedness? Because, that's what
it
sounds like it could be. The Bible also says that all unrighteousness
is sin,
and that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans
3:23).
But, here is the big question: Is your lack of peace short lived? Or,
is it
dragging on for days, weeks, months, years? If God restores us to peace
quickly, then that's a true indicator of where we stand. If that peace
is going
for extended periods, then we really need to examine ourselves, and ask
God for
restoration. So, there was a song that was back in the '70s, and I wasn't
really
into this type of music, but I remember hearing it, and I'm not going
to sing
it, but I am going to just tell you what the lyrics said, it went
something
like, “Hey, can you play another somebody done somebody wrong song.”
Anybody here
never heard that? So, some people have never heard that. I know you
have, Joe.
It really wasn't my type of music. But, I remember hearing it, and I'm
thinking,
sometimes God brings things back into remembrance many years later, and
you
think, “Somebody done somebody wrong.” So, you ever heard the
expression, “They
did me wrong?” Very common. ever hear anybody use that expression over,
and
over, and over, and over until it was just like beating a dead horse?
Do you
think that person is dwelling in peace? Or do you think they've got
revenge on
their mind? So, ultimately, there’s three ways of responding to that.
But, I
want to ask that in the first person, so that nobody's really taking it
personally. Because, when you hear that statement, usually, whoever
they're
telling it to, tries to get on the sympathy board, “Oh, that's
terrible. Oh,
they did you wrong. Oh, that's so unfortunate.” And, I'm not saying
that there
aren't slights, or things that happened to people that are honest, that
are
truthful, that are genuine. But, then I'd have to ask, do I ever do
anyone
wrong, myself? So, for the person that’s saying, “They did me wrong,”
ask them,
“Well, did you ever do anybody else wrong, yourself?” Then, the second
would
be: “Does anybody else ever do me right?” It did get kind of quiet.
Because,
that's the flip of the coin. Because, if we're constantly thinking, “Oh
they did
me wrong. I'm always mistreated. And, doubted, and second guessed,” and
ultimately, it's like, “Okay, did anybody in your life at some point,
maybe
even for just a few seconds, ever do you right? Did they ever do me
right?” The
answer is yes! And, the next question would be, “Well, do I ever do
anybody
else right?” and it goes right along with that, “Get Right Church and
Let's Go
Home,” because, a lot of this is like doing wrong, doing right. It's a
simple
thing. So, where am I going with this? What good are we doing
ourselves, if we’re
walking around with a chip on our shoulder all the time? Do we really
think
God's pleased with that? Or, do we think that's a good testimony to
have? The
reason I mention that is because it's becoming a very prevalent
behavior these
days. More and More, you go on the internet, and “Aw, he did me wrong.”
“Well,
they mistreated me.” “Aw, they threw shade at me.” They come up with
every
expression under the sun of just, it's just kind of ridiculous after a
while,
but, then it comes down to, where do we fit into that equation? Where
are we,
as Christians, what's our testimony with that? I'm going to ask Ed
Howes if he
could come up. Ed's going to read from a passage, here. Now, I believe
we have
to have some kind of motivation that gets us through. And, I'm not
saying that
you know, you've got plenty of people out there that feel like they've
they
were done wrong, and so they use that as a motivator to become the best
boxer, or
the best baseball player, or the best football player. or the best
accountant,
or the best airline pilot, or whatever, and you just keep hearing these
stories
rehashed over, and over, and over again and then it becomes commonplace
to
think, “Well, what's your motivator?” “Oh, the time that I was in the
8th grade
where they said I would amount to nothing.” And, then it's like, “Well,
did you
believe them?” because, that shouldn't be the case. If we have the
power of God
to overcome that stuff, then we have the power to overcome that stuff.
So, in
other words, we need to let Jesus Christ be our motivation, not some
slight or
some mistreatment. But, Ed's going to read with us from the Book of
Jeremiah, seventeen,
verses five through eight: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Thus saith the
Lord; Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth
from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall
not see
when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a
salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord, and
whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the
waters, and
that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh,
but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of
drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Thank you, Ed. So, the verse I'd like to highlight, it's
where it says,
"... and shall not see when good cometh...” and, Ed Howes and I were
talking, maybe month and a half ago, and we were just talking about
how, as
Christians, God will show us when there are good times. God will show
us when
there is peace, because it's not always that way. Don't get me wrong.
The Bible
says for a reason that, that there is no discharge in that war
(Ecclesiastes
8:8). That we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities
(Ephesians 6:12). To endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ (2
Timothy
2:3. So, there is a warfare but there’s also times when we have peace.
Where
we're able to saver those victories, where we’re able to relish that
time of
contentment and satisfaction. And, it’s important for us to see when we
are in
those times of peace. And, it's important to know that there is good
that's
coming, and has already come. And, I'm not talking about peace
globally, or
nationally, or even locally, I'm talking about internally. And, that is
a
difference maker. Because, that's how God reaches us, and that's how
God brings
us peace. I know this has been a little more of interactive, me asking
a lot of
questions, but I've got a few more. But, have you ever seen someone, or
know
someone that seemingly had nothing, or very little, and yet were very
thankful
for what they had, and, in the back of your mind, you're thinking, “How
could
that be? Why would they be like that?” And, it's almost like, at times,
where
you're thinking, “No, you shouldn't be—you shouldn't be peaceful. You
shouldn't
be thankful. You should be up in arms! You should be protesting! You
should be
fighting! You should be blaming somebody else!” Now, it might have been
somebody that was in the aftermath of a loved one, or a valued
possession, and
yet they still held their head high and thanked God for what remained.
That
might sound somewhat strange, when we think about what we're thankful
for. It's
going to be always about something that either already happened, or
something
that's currently happening. Because, if we think about thankfulness,
and, we
think about, “Well, I'm thankful for tomorrow.” Well, tomorrow's not
here yet. “I'm
thankful for what's going to come.” Well, that may not happen yet. I'm
not
saying we can't be thankful for what God's promised, but it's still,
until that
check clears, because, I think a lot of us think that way, “Okay, they
promised
to mail the check.” “The check’s in the mail.” Well, I don't believe
you until
I see it in my account. That's just an honest to God fact. That's
called “Don't
count your chickens until they hatch.” Farmer term. So, this is a bonus section:
because, even though thankfulness is definitely a fruit of the spirit,
it's not
one that's listed in Galatians 5:23, but it's going to tie it together.
And,
nevertheless, part three, and the last part of the sermon, today, is,
“Thankfulness to God Brings It All Together.” Part 3
Thankfulness
to God Brings It All Together So, I was talking to a guy that many of us have known at our
church
conference last month, and we were reminiscing a little bit, and
catching up a
little bit, and just kind of walking around on the property in the back
of the
church building, and Jim Ottoson is a guy that's been around for quite
a long
time. I think, 1973, so, forty-five years, and, basically since the
beginning
of the ministry. You know, I can't recall every detail about the
conversation, we
were kind of reminiscing a little bit, and sharing about what's been
going on
here, but, we were talking a little bit about, “Well, what is it that
keeps us
in the faith?” What is it that—I mean, it just sort of built to that
sort of
climactic point. And, we just kind of looked at each other, and at the
same
time, said, “Thankfulness.” and, I'm not going to sit here and tell you
that “Oh,
well, then, what happened next?” I mean, is this a really powerful
story?” It is
to me. because it's something that you realize you've got somebody
who's been
around that long a time that still goes back to the well of
thankfulness.
Thankfulness to God. I remember, Ken Avellino, a couple of years ago,
we were
talking about out in the hallway, and I think Pastor Paine may have
already
been here, recently, you know, prior to that, and, one thing you just
mentioned
was, “You know, one thing about Pastor Paine is, just, he's thankful.”
And,
it's an example. It's an example to us, young and old, doesn't really
matter,
about what it takes to stay in the faith. That was another thing, even
Pastor
Ulysse, our associate general pastor, had shared a couple of months
back, and he
just said, “When I got baptized, when I came into this ministry, I
knew, it was
a plan to stay. I knew this was going to be for life. This wasn't just,
come
into it by accident.” But, I want to go back to the opening statement about if
we've ever
known somebody that appeared to have nothing, or seemingly little, and
yet were
thankful. Or, experience some kind of misfortune, or tragedy. When I
was a
teenager, I was fourteen, and this is one of those things that I can
say, “Well,
we can laugh about it now.” But, when that fire in our house happened,
and
there was $50,000 worth of damage, and that's 1982, and we had to move
out for
five months, and live in kind of a crammed in apartment, and it was a
family of
four of us; it's not something I was laughing about that day, I could
tell you
for sure. And, I'd like to tell you that I had nothing to do with it,
and I
have an older brother—now, his take on it was, because he was sort of
mischievous;
he was in trouble, not with the law, but, but he was in trouble a lot
with our
parents, you know, it's not like we were that strict, but they had
their rules,
they had their rules. But, he told me that when he first heard about
it, he
said, “Well, I'm glad it wasn't me.” I'm thinking, “Nice guy.” Now, he
tells me
that now. He tells me that now. But, again, it's understandable,
because he got
blamed, and justifiably, for a lot of the nonsense and shenanigans that
he
pulled. But, you know, our mood of the family changed a lot that day.
We weren't
worried about what's for dinner, or what's going to be on TV tonight,
are we
going to be able to catch the football game, or whatever the case may
be. We
were just thankful nobody died. And, I want to talk now about a lady that I've known for
many years,
and myself and Tom Hanson were out visiting, a couple of years back,
And, this
lady had lost her son, and she spoke fondly about him. Had a lot of
good
memories to share. Reminisced, and she was thankful that he had gotten
to know
God. But her son predeceased her in death. Her son died about a year
prior to
that, and, I can't think of anything worse than for a parent to lose a
child. I
don't have children, but I can't think of anything that's worse than
for a
parent to lose their own children. But, we had a memorial service, and
part of
that service was just to remember and—but, what really struck me
was—the real
key here is—that she said, “I'm just thankful for, for his life. For
what he
became.” And, a lot of us remember Tony Mattia. And, some of us, here,
were
pretty close to him too. I know that that Laygoze Laine, Jim Bailey,
Tom
Hanson, we made trips out to Arizona and Kirk Orelup, I believe, is
Kirk here?
He's been out there. Jeff Lynch has been out there. Has anybody else
been ever
been out there and visited with Tony when he was out there? Okay. But,
don't
get me wrong, there was a lot of tears that were shed that visit. And,
not only
that visit, but, but I know for a fact before we got there, this
was—Tom Hanson
and I were visiting with Tony's mom, and his family, we were having,
like, just
a memorial service, on the remembrance of, of his life. This was about
2015, so
about a year after he had passed. And, you know, I'm sure there was
some
bitterness and just asking, “Why? Why did this happen?” And, I wouldn't
say
Tony was a real young man, he was fifty-five when he passed, but that's
still
young. His mom just turned 80, last year. You know, I'm sure there was
some
bitterness, and who knows what other emotions somebody's going to feel
in the
aftermath of that. But, you know, it's easy to be thankful to God when
things
go our way, when our team wins the Super Bowl, we won a million
dollars, you
know, we get the promotion, or whatever the case might be, but, there's
nothing
wrong with that either. There really isn't. God's not trying to get us
to be,
live as hardship as possible, or as difficult a life, or that every day
is just
absolute misery, and that we're just supposed to fight through the
tears,
constantly. There's going to be times of real enjoyment. There's really
is.
But, when somebody's able to express that gratitude and thankfulness in
the
aftermath of something like that, in the aftermath of a tragedy or
misfortune,
the victory is that only God can bring that to a mother that's lost her
child,
to be thankful and not bitter. And, only God can—only in God can a
person see
the light at the end of the tunnel when it seems to be just darkness.
And, only
in God can we get through this life and be thankful despite all the
heartache
and sadness that's around us that seems to just get worse. I'm closing
in a
moment, here. I'm going to read from our last Scripture, which is going
to be
from the Book of Colossians, chapter three. It says: Colossians 3:12-15
Put on
therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind,
meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if
any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also
do ye.
And, above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness.
And, let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called
in one body; and be ye thankful.
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