The Fruit of the Spirit

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. You know, you may struggle with things in your life. You don't want to struggle with those things.

You want victory over those things. Amen? This is what we want. In our spirit, the Christian desires a life of holiness and righteousness. Are you there yet? Well, if you're saved, you've been set apart by God.

It can be said that you are holy, but are you where you want to be? No. See, the thing is, sin is always going to be present until one of two things happens. Number one, Jesus comes back and translates you.

Or number two, you die and shed this sinful flesh. Until then, it's going to be a constant battle. A constant battle. Let's turn to Romans 7, because I think this is something that really weighs a lot of people down.

And I've heard preaching out there, and this is what I'm hearing from some preachers. And I don't ever want you to get this impression, because on the one hand, we're not making excuses for sin. Well, hey, nobody's perfect.

So, you know, we're not making excuses. We've talked about license. This idea that you can't just say you believe in Jesus and go and do whatever you want and think that's fine. But on the other hand, I hear some preachers out there, you would get the idea that if there's any sin in your life or any struggle in your life, you're not even saved.

Have you ever heard preaching like this? I hope you've never heard this, or maybe you've, I don't know how people interpret things that I say. But the idea, well, if I still sin, am I saved? Because I still sin.

I had somebody ask me, not in this church, but a couple weeks ago, they said, you know, I still have these thoughts come into my mind. I still have these desires, things that I want to do. I've even given in once or twice.

How can I be saved if I'm having these feelings and thoughts? You know, the fact that it bothers the person is a really good sign. Yeah, but those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Look at that person, what they did. Look at that person, what they said. I don't even think they're saved. You've heard this. Was the apostle Paul saved? Look at Romans 7, starting in verse 14. This may shock you, but Paul said that he practiced sin.

I guess some people are going to hear this. You're providing excuses for people to sin. That's not what I'm doing. I'm reading the Bible. Okay. Romans 7, 14 through 20, Paul writes, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am what?

Carnal. There's some people who say, oh, there's no such thing as a carnal Christian. Well, that's funny because Paul said, I'm carnal. Of course, he wrote to the Corinthians that they were acting carnal.

But I am carnal, sold under sin. What I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. Can you relate to that at all? We can all pretend that we walk on water, but, you know, you might fool someone else.

I don't, I don't think so, but you're not going to fool God. He says, if then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that that is good. It is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

For I know that in me that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good, I do not find. Pay attention to this. He says, for the good that I will to do, I do not do.

But the evil I will not to do, what? That I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me, that dwell in his flesh. These are the words. This is the testimony of an honest Christian saint who knew the struggle between the spirit and the flesh.

Some of these churches that have the artwork and the stained glass where the apostles have this glowing halo around their head. That's not the way it really was. They were more like you than that. This is honesty.

When translation renders verse 19 this way, I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyways. There's Christians out there who will claim, or again, this is what it sounds like, what they're saying.

There are Christians out there who claim they don't do anything wrong. You know what you call that? You know what you call them? Liars. Unless they're more godly than the Apostle Paul, and I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

Paul says in verse 19, the evil I will not to do, that I practice. So think about this. Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And then Paul over here in Romans is saying these, whatever the sins were, he says, that I practice.

You say, well, it's a different Greek word, right? It doesn't mean practice. It's just a bad translation. You know what? It's the same Greek word. Same Greek word translated practice in Romans 7 is the same as in Galatians 5.

So how do you reconcile this? This is a bit of a paradox, right? Did you see the problem? Potential problem? I think the Catholic Church has tried to solve this by saying that, you know, there are venial sins and then mortal sins.

So if Paul was struggling with sin, it must have been venial sins that really weren't that big of a deal. You know, those who are practicing mortal sins, you know, it's them that won't inherit the kingdom.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Adam plunged the entire human race into sin by eating a piece of fruit that God told him not to eat. So excuse me if I don't see the difference between venial and mortal sin in the Bible.

So then how do we explain this paradox? Here's one thing I do know. When a Christian sins, a believer feels guilty. A believer feels bad about it. A believer really, in their spirit, they don't want to do it.

When an unbeliever sins, sometimes they love it and they're going to tell you about how much they love it. Now the unbeliever may, let's be honest, the unbeliever can experience guilt. Unbelievers, all people can experience guilt and they might explain it away by saying, well, it's just been ingrained in us in our upbringing.

It's the culture, you know, Sigmund Freud says this and whatever they come up with. But for an unbeliever, there is no godly sorrow. When an unbeliever does something wrong, they might be feeling bad that they got caught.

They might feel bad that it made a mess of their life and now they have to deal with this consequence. Here's what they don't feel. They do not feel sorrow for rebelling against their creator. There is no godly sorrow.

That God created me, he loves me, and I sinned against God. There's nothing like that in the life of an unbeliever. So to kind of summarize this, if a believer just struggles and feels bad and I did this and why am I doing this?

The fact that there's a struggle is a good sign. Now we don't want to leave people and say, well, you're just going to struggle for the rest of your life so, you know, suck it up and deal with it. Wrong.

What's Paul talking about? Walk in the spirit. You can, you can walk in the spirit. If the spirit, if you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit can make a difference. He's talking about growth. We should see growth.

Philippians 1, 6, he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. You know, I could look at my, and I'm not saying yesterday was anything that happened, but, you know, I could look at my life yesterday and think, wow, if I'm a Christian, why did I do this?

If I'm a Christian, why did I say that? And I could look at myself yesterday and be really discouraged. But if I look back 10, 15 years, okay, that's a big change. So let me ask you, is there growth? Is there growth?

This is all evidence. Look at verse 14. He says for, well, let's go back to Galatians 5. I'm running over time. I have so much to get through. You guys don't have anywhere to go, right? If you walk out, I'll just assume you just have plans you can't break.

I won't be offended. So are you growing? Are you becoming more like Christ? Because as a pastor, I don't want people to feel burdened and weighed down that I'm just not measuring up. I'm just not measuring.

Well, no kidding. You're not measuring up. Nobody measures up. That's why the gospel is so powerful. But it's still not an excuse for bad behavior. Galatians 5 .13. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty.

Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. This is what some people do. Well, I'm under grace. I have this liberty, so I have the freedom to do whatever.

And, of course, that is not what Paul means. Verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So put other people first. That's a constant decision we need to make every day because it's not instinctive.

It's not what we would be inclined to do, make a decision every day. Put other people first. Love other people. Do no harm to other people. Pray for other people. Encourage other people. Speak truth into their life.

People need truth. And do it in love. You know, you can be, you can say things that are true. And I think there are some people that are a jerk for Jesus, right? There's Jews for Jesus. We've heard of that.

Some people are a jerk for Jesus. And what they're saying is correct, technically. But is that really necessary, the way they say it? Let's not be a jerk for Jesus, okay? Verse 22. Let's skip ahead. The fruit of the spirit.

This is what our life should look like. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Maybe look at it this way. It's not a matter of do you have faith or do you not have faith.

The question is how much faith? Are you growing in your faith? Not a matter of do you have joy or do you not have joy. There's times where you don't feel very joyful. But do you have more joy than you did?

Not a matter of are you gentle or practice self-control 100 of the time or you never do. Don't look at it that way. Is God doing a work in you? Because if he is and you're growing, he's promised to complete that work.

Amen? So let's walk in the spirit. Let's produce the fruit of the spirit. You can choose the other path if you want. And people do. And it's going to lead to a life of consequence and ultimately destruction.

We preach this. I preach this. Because I love people and you're not going to hear this in the world. The world is never going to speak of this. These are the words of the Holy Spirit. Love. Joy. Peace.

Long-suffering. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. And self-control against such. There is no law. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your grace that you have given to us, Lord. That even though we don't deserve anything from you, we know that grace by definition is undeserved.

We thank you for saving us. Now we pray that you would continue to sanctify us and make us more like your son. Lord, encourage your people. Continue to be our portion and strength in these difficult days that we live in.

Increase our faith, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCoronetChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.