Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. --John 15:4-5
There used to be a folksy phrase that people would say to compare how much a child was like his father. People would say, "He (or she) is the spitting image of his Daddy." I used to think the phrase "spitting image" was a corruption of the phrase "Spirit and image," meaning a lookalike that captures not only the physical likeness of the original, but also the soul and personality. However, the phrase "spitting image" was in use as early as 1689, when playwright George Farquhar wrote this line in a work titled Love and a Bottle: "Poor child! He's as like his own dada as if he were spit out of his mouth."
As a Christian, I want to look like my Father so much that it would appear that He had spat me out, spoken life into me, and imparted His Spirit into my life. Since no one has seen God, the best way to mirror Him is to love as He loved; to show as much joy and peace and patience as He shows; to be as kind and good as He is. I want to be faithful to His commands, with all gentleness and self control. In short, I want to embody the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23.
That's what we have been studying here the last few weeks. Today I want to continue in that vein. I want to focus on the fact that "the fruit of the Spirit is...faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
Faith in and fidelity to God and His word
One of the great hymns of the faith is the song Great Is Thy Faithfulness, based upon the Scripture from Lamentations 3, specifically verses 22 and 23. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." The Hebrew word translated "faithfulness" means firmness, steadiness, or steadfastness. It is the same Hebrew word translated "steady" in the following passage:
Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. --Exodus 17:11-12
God had given Moses the responsibility to hold up his staff so that the army of Israel could prevail over their enemies. He could not do it by himself. It is often difficult for us to remain faithful without help. Just as Aaron and Hur assisted Moses in faithfully and unwaveringly fulfilling the task that God had given him, so too should we seek out godly men and women who might help us remain firm and unshakeable in our faith.
God never changes. Scripture says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He." The King James Version translates the word faithfulness as "truth." When a business operates in "good faith", that business has a good reputation. If one operates in "bad faith", then that business is not truthful in its promises or warranties, and they can lose the public trust. This may result in a lawsuit or bankruptcy. Someone might say, "as God is my witness," using a common phrase attesting to the veracity of a statement. "Let God be true, and every man a liar" (Romans 3:4).
1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." This speaks to self control, which we will discuss later, but it also emphasizes faith, and faithfulness to the attributes of God. Tony Evans said the opposite of faith is not doubt, it's disobedience.
Gentleness--Meek, not Weak
God is gracious and merciful. He gives sinners ample opportunity to repent and avoid judgment and wrath. Psalm 25:8-9 says, "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way." Isaiah 40:11 says, "He [God] will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." God is often described as a gentle shepherd in the Bible. If we are led by the Spirit, we will bear fruit that manifests itself in gentleness, humility, and meekness.
When Jesus began His ministry on earth, He sat down in the synagogue and read a scroll from Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Followers of Christ should emulate His approach to the lost. James 3:13 says, "Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom." Isaiah 66:2 says, "But this the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."
Colossians 3:12-13 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." I don't think any person in history bore as much fruit of the Spirit as Jesus Himself, but as he was dying on the cross He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Paul exhorted Timothy, "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things [temptations]. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." (1 Timothy 6:11). Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Self Control and the Sinful Nature
God is holy. He cannot stand to be in the presence of sin. This is why he drove Adam out of the Garden. God would not allow him to dwell in a sinless paradise, yet when Adam found himself naked and afraid in the barren wilderness, God showed mercy. He gave Adam a covering of animal skin (this was the very first sacrifice for sin, and God made it on man's behalf.) I submit that God showed remarkable restraint in not striking Adam dead and starting over, creating a new race of humans that would follow His commands. But He didn't. He showed divine self control.
There was a time in Exodus, after God had given Moses the Law, where the people sinned grievously. They made an idol, and set it on an altar. After sacrificing to this idol, the people put on a feast in which all manner of sexual and gluttonous activity took place. God told Moses He would pour out his wrath on the people who sinned, and would alter His plan and make Moses the father of God's people (see Exodus 32:9-10). But Moses interceded with God for the people, and God relented. He turned His wrath aside because of the intercessory prayer of Moses (see Exodus 32:11-14).
Exodus 34:6-7 says, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty." This statement is echoed in Numbers 14:18. Ezekiel 33:11 says, "As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" God's mercy requires a great deal of self control on His part.
What about us? How do we manifest self control as fruit of the Spirit of God? Simon Peter wrote:
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us into His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. --2 Peter 1:3-7
We must exercise self-control because God is making us like Himself. What happens when we fall? We are, after all, sinful in nature. Whenever we fail, we should ask forgiveness and press on. Sadly, many of us withdraw in fear, thinking that God might destroy us in His wrath, or at the very least would not be able to use us in His kingdom. We should not be overcome by fear, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control (2 Timothy 1:7).
We have seen how God has modeled for us faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. We are to follow Him, not just with our minds or our wills, but with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We should be so full of His Spirit that we bear fruit in His likeness.
Christian recording artist Steve Green recorded a song several years ago called "Find Us Faithful".
We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road,
And those who've gone before us line the way.
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament to god's sustaining grace.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race not only for the prize,
But as those who've gone before us let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness passed on thru godly lives.
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift thru all we've left behind,
May the clues that they discover, and the mem'ries they uncover,
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.
Be led by the Spirit, and bear fruit in accordance with your calling.
No comments:
Post a Comment