Sermon Tone Analysis

The fruit of the Spirit, wrote the apostle Paul, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Concerning the godly man Psalm 1 says, /And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper/ (v.

3).

This promise of God extends even to our later years, for we read in another place, /They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing /(Ps.

92:14).

But Christians often make a common mistake.

They talk about the “fruits” of the Spirit, instead of the “fruit” of the Spirit.

In our text, the word /fruit/ is singular (καρπός).

The difference is this: the Holy Spirit does not offer believers a basket in which are many different kinds of fruits (apples, bananas and pears) and from which he may choose whatever suits him.

Rather, the Spirit gives us a single fruit which has several parts.

You can think of it like an orange with all its many segments.

One segment is love, another joy and another peace.

All of these segments go together to make one fruit.

The segments are also often divided into three categories: those that define our relationship with God (the first three: love, joy and peace), those that define our relationship with our neighbor (the second three: longsuffering, gentleness and goodness), and those that tell us what we ought to be in ourselves (the last three: faith, meekness and temperance).

This morning we’re going to consider the first category.

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Love

The first segment of the Spirit’s fruit is love.

Liberals and Arminians tell us that God loves every man, woman and child without distinction.

Now and then, we see bumper stickers announcing the owner’s love for his pet dog.

Playboy encourages a debased and perverted love of the female body.

In view of these many meanings of the word /love/, it might be a good idea to ask what love is.

Without taking you to all the passages that speak to this, let me just say that love is obedience to God’s law (John 14:15, 21, 23; Rom.

13:8–10; Gal.

5:14).

Anyone who says, “I love my neighbor,” and steals his belongings, lies to him or takes his wife, is a hypocrite.

Jesus gave an excellent illustration of this in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).

At the end of this parable Jesus asked his disciples which of the men who had come along was a neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves.

It was the one who showed love to him.

And how did he show his love?

By keeping God’s law, specifically the sixth commandment, and doing what he could to protect and preserve the man’s life.

Since love is obedience to the law of God, which defines virtue, then love is the virtue that includes all other virtues.

That’s why Jesus said that love is the greatest commandment.

For the same reason, the apostle Paul wrote that love is the greatest of the spiritual gifts.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing (I Cor.

13:1–3).

The rest of this chapter lists the characteristics of true love.

These characteristics make it clear that love is not what Arminians, dog owners or Playboy magazine think it is.

Love is directed toward God and men.

It seeks the good of those whom we claim to love.

It is not self-serving in the least.

By far the greatest example of love is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why did he come into the world?

It was to keep God’s law for you.

He kept the precepts of God’s law to merit your righteousness before the Father.

He kept the prophecies of God’s law to make a full and complete atonement for your sins.

Although it is true that he did this for the joy that was set before him (Heb.

12:2), it was his unfailing love for you that brought him.

Jesus himself said, /Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends/ (John 15:13).

This is the love that we, as Christ’s people, must practice in our lives.

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Joy

The second segment of the fruit of the Spirit is joy.

Joy is having a constant delight in God, knowing that we belong to him, which in turn allows us to delight in righteousness among our fellow man.

Both of these are mentioned in Scripture.

Habakkuk 3:18 says, /Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation/.

And Proverbs 21:15 says, /It is a joy to the just to do judgment/.

In other words, the joy of our salvation inevitably leads to joy among the brethren.

We’ve seen the unbelievers can mimic love.

That’s what Playboy magazine is all about.

Unbelievers also imitate joy.

Sinners delight in sin.

Bank robbers, for example, glory in their stolen treasures.

However, this kind of joy is short-lived.

Sinners know that they will sooner or later have to answer for what they’ve done.

Even if the FBI isn’t hot on the trail of the bank robber, he knows that someday he’ll have to stand before the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The joy of the gospel, on the other hand, is permanent.

Nothing in the world can destroy it.

When Paul and Silas spent the night in jail after having been beaten that day for Christ, they stayed up past midnight singing hymns and praising God (Acts 16:25).

The other prisoners, no doubt, thought they were crazy.

They couldn’t understand how these two could have suffered so much and still rejoice.

Similar stories came out of communist prisons after World War II.

But listen to the Word of God.

James 1:2–3 says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

And Peter wrote, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy (I Pet.

4:12–13).

You see, the only effect that suffering has on your joy in Christ is that it causes it to become stronger.

That’s why you should welcome trials — not that you delight in the trial itself, but rather that you anticipate with eagerness the fruit that it will bring.

Our God has provided us with salvation so rich and wonderful that we can hardly imagine how great it really is.

Not only does he forgive our sins and give us eternal life, not only does he take away the law’s curse and give us his grace, not only did he send his one and only begotten Son to bear the wrath of God for us, but he has such intimate fellowship with him that it is almost as if we lose our lives in his.

Earlier in Galatians Paul wrote, /I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me/ (Gal.

2:20).

He said the same about all Christians in Colossians 3:3 — /For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God/.

Such things ought to bring constant delight to believers.

They brought joy to Nehemiah.

When he finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the people celebrated it with a special worship service.

Then, for the first time in more than one hundred years the city of the Great King was safe again.

All the people gathered in the open square.

Ezra the priest read from the law of Moses.

But what’s interesting here is how the people responded.

They wept.

They mourned because they had not kept the Lord’s commandments.

Their tears were tears of repentance.

In this sense, the preaching of the gospel should always make people sad.

But the gospel only begins with sorrow.

After the people wept Ezra said, /Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength/ (Neh.

8:10).

Once we acknowledge our depravity, we must learn to rejoice heartily before the Lord.

Jesus had the joy of knowing that he was fulfilling the Father’s will.

Hebrews 12:1–3 says, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Our example is Jesus Christ.

As he fought against sin — our sin, he remembered the delight that he had in serving his Father and he looked forward to returning to his place in glory.

The writer exhorts you to keep looking to Jesus, who was able to endure such great affliction by keeping his heart fastened to the joy of God’s good pleasure.

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Peace

The third segment of our fruit toward God is peace.

This is something everyone wants, but few know what it really is.