You can see on the screen there, Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 24. If you have a Bible, or if you don't, there might be a Bible in the front, in the front row of you. If you have a Bible app, you can open that. If you need a Bible for this morning, see someone in the back there and they'll get you a Bible you can use and even keep if you need it. Galatians chapter 5, 16 through 24. Galatians 5, 16 through 24. I'm going to read it. You're going to follow along. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Stop there. We begin this morning a new series of study and we're going to focus and we're going to take a look at specifically verses 22 and 23. And the study is the fruit of the Spirit. seeing that we had just finished the I Am series and we finished with John, which, what was it? John what? Help me out. What was the last I Am? Oh gosh. I got a hundred dollar bill. All of a sudden, yeah, right. That's right. I am the vine. That's right, John 15. And without that, without being connected to the vine, you cannot bear fruit. Well, what is fruit then? What's that fruit on the vine? What is it that you and I are supposed to be bearing? John, according to John 15, according to the Scriptures. And if you've hung out at churches for long, you've heard a sermon or two or seven or fifty on this stuff. If you have your favorite preacher, he probably has gone through these. We read the larger context, but normally they focus in on 22 and 23. You may have even memorized Galatians 5, 22 and 23. Here's the problem when you memorize, you become so familiar with it. No different than any other relationship, right? You start taking it for granted. And what happens is that these characteristics tend to do, to have less impact and exist less in your lives because you just take it for granted. I mean, after all, who, you know, how many of us did not take for granted waking up this morning? If you're online, let me know. I can't see you anyway. All right? We all did. I went to sleep last night expecting, may I be that bold, expecting to wake up this morning as if God owes me these 24 hours. What do you mean? I don't got another 24 hours to live. The same thing happens with this. We get so familiarized with the fruit of the Spirit that it's just something else that I've memorized. The reality is when the fruit of the Spirit is real and is abundant in our lives, our lives are different and much better. So today is more of an introduction to this concept of fruit of the Spirit. So it's just we're going to lay some groundwork. And then from there, the coming weeks, we'll talk about the individual characteristic. In fact, from now, we'll take it to the end of July, believe it or not. We factor in Mother's Day. And you factor in Memorial Day, and you factor in Father's Day, and you factor in July the 4th weekends. All those weekends, I can milk this cow till the end of July. Yeah. Yeah. All right? So be ready. That's what we're going to be talking about for the remainder of most of this summer. So let's take a look at three questions we need to ask and answer. Number one, what is the fruit of the Spirit? What exactly are we talking about? Definitions, as we have quickly learned in the United States of America, are extremely important. What is the fruit of the Spirit? We've read about the different parts of it, but what is it? Before I get into the details, let me just remind you that the fruit of the Spirit is not a group of moral commands. The Bible is not telling you, behave this way. Behave this way. It's not nine different ways to live a better life. You may get that somewhere else, but not here. This is not nine different ways to live. This is not a call to live upright, a good moral life. Now, will life be better? Yes. But please, morality condemns before God just as much as immorality. A ship sinks. I've shared this with you from one of the Puritans. A ship sinks. And if it sinks, it doesn't matter if it's carrying precious cargo or refuse. If it sinks, it doesn't matter. And when it comes to salvation, you might be the most church-going and outstanding-looking kind of person, or you may be the snake in the grass. Either or both fall short before the cross of Christ. So morality, the morality of the 50s, the 1950s, that we all churched in the America and we confused the American dream with the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's falling short. No different than the immoral person that today is on YouTube and is an influencer, okay? So this is not a call to do better. It's not. Let me tell you what it is. Number one, it's one fruit, not many. Just like Revelation is one revelation and not revelations, okay? When we studied Revelation for two years, right? Yeah, you did. Somebody here said Revelations, 22 laps. One for every chapter. Just give me 22. It's one revelation of Jesus Christ, the apocalypses of Jesus Christ. It's not revelations, okay? Turn your Bible to revelations. No. If I say that, you can expect me to run 22 laps. I might not do it today, but I will. All right? It's the fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruits of the Spirit. Okay? This is not something you pick and choose. See, the idea that sometimes comes to people is, I'm before an apple tree and I go, I'll take some love, but self-control? No way. I'll take some joy, but kindness? Uh-uh. That's not the idea. The idea is one fruit with nine flavors. It's more like an orange that when you peel it, it's already in a different compartment, but it's one orange. Or you can take the apple and just slice it in nine ways. You eat parts of the apple, but you're still one apple. What I'm trying to specify is that don't think that you can walk up to this and go, hmm, peace, yes. Patience, not for me. Gentleness? Never. Never. No, no, no. This is not the pick and choose. It's all together. And that's one of the differences between, for example, the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are plural. There are many, okay, yet this is the fruit of the Spirit. Another difference is God doesn't give everyone or one person all the gifts. If I ever stand up here and I say I have all the gifts of the Spirit that God can give you, you are authorized to go to the leaders and get me fired that day. Because that's the beginning of a cult. It's me and only me, and that's for and no more. So, not anyone, in fact, 1 Corinthians 12 says, the Spirit gives it, what? As He pleases. You get this one, you get that one. He gets this one, she gets that one. The gifts of the Spirit is what actually separates us from what? The fruit of the Spirit unites us. This is what is expected of everyone. So those are some differences. It's one fruit, not many. Number two, it is something God produces in you and not something that you produce on your own. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. And there's that delicate balance, and we're going to address it. But ultimately, you're not called to blow your own horn. Patience. Self-control. Look at me. Right off the bat, you're done. It is God at work in you. You and I cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives through our strength. Yes, are we called to pursue righteousness? Absolutely. Are we called to obedience unto holiness? Yes. Are we called to say no to sin? Absolutely. Are we to rely on our own strength to do so? No. That's where it goes. You see, the day you and I believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Spirit was given to us. And at that moment, it begins a work to make us, to shape us into the character of Jesus Christ. We said that a few Sundays ago, that God's ultimate purpose is that Jesus be formed in you. That Jesus Christ, you and I will look more and more as we walk with the Lord, that we walk more and more, or we look more and more like the Lord. John 15, 5, He said, I am the vine, you're the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without Me, you can do nothing. You cannot manufacture. It's like, can you be patient and loving? Yes, and we'll talk to that in just a moment. But what is the kind of love, the kind of patience, the kind of gentleness that we're talking about here? No, no, no, no. You can't manufacture that. It's like the kid I read, the parent for this morning, I read about a kid, two-story house, has an old fruit tree, it's barren, hasn't given fruit, hasn't borne fruit in a long time, but he used to use that tree, or he uses that tree to escape. He opens the window, I know that none of you guys did that, me neither, but we all have friends, okay, we all have friends. They prop open, jump onto the tree, they scale it down to the tree, and they use it to escape from his house and do his thing. He hears his dad one night say, you know what? I'm chopping this bad boy down, because it's not bearing any fruit. I'm done with this thing. It's just an eyesore. The kid freaks out. He goes, what? He goes out in the middle of the night, buys a bunch of apples, a bucket of apples. And he and his buddies, who run wild, they attach apples to the tree. The next morning, the guy's like, he calls, mama bear, look at this. Look at this tree. It's a miracle. I didn't know it can bear apples. It's a pear tree. Trying to grow the fruit of the Spirit in your life without the Holy Spirit is trying to tie apples to a tree. That's a pear tree, okay? The God Spirit produces God's fruit. One Bible commentator writes the following. Most of this, I'll tell you what's going to be on the screen in just a moment, but just listen for now. of which the life and the fruitfulness of the vine communicate themselves to the branch. And so it is with believers. The believer's union with the Lord Jesus is no work of human wisdom or of human will, but an act of God by which the closest and most complete life union is effected between the Son of God and the sinner. God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. Just as between a vine and a branch, the union between the vine and the believer is a life union that makes them one. On the screen there. Without the vine, the branch can do nothing. To the vine, it owes its right place in the vineyard, its life, and its fruitfulness. That's humbling. Because just when you think you're all that and a bag of chips, you realize, what? You're not the aftertaste of Diet Coke. That's humbling. That what I can accomplish, what the character of Jesus that flows and is seen in my life and is seen by you in my life, I don't owe it to me. Ultimately, I owe it to the Lord working His will through me. That's the idea. So the fact is that the fruit of the Spirit is singular. Or it could be multifaceted. but it's singular. It is God who produces it, and lastly, it's the character of Jesus that God grows in you. It's the character of Jesus, okay? If you look, if you do a study on, in the Scriptures, okay, what is fruit? Especially in the New Testament. What is fruit? When we say, you need to be fruitful. You need to be fruitful. You say, yes, and then you walk and you go, I don't know what that meant. Okay, well let me tell you what we see in the Scriptures. Number one, people fruit. Not that people are fruits, okay? People fruit, alright? People fruit consists of people we have introduced to Christ. We've pointed to the cross. Romans 1. I planned many times to come see you in order that I may have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles." And Paul is writing to the church in Rome and says, I can't wait to get there to preach so I can bear fruit. And that's people fruit, people who come to know Jesus Christ. There's giving fruit, Romans 15, 26 through 28. The time, the energy, and the money given to the cause of Christ are fruit that help us spread the gospel and minister to people. Romans 15, he wrote, there was a contribution for the poor. among the saints in Jerusalem, for if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings." He's talking about, listen, the Jews in Jerusalem are having a hard time and he's telling the Gentile churches, the predominantly Gentile churches, hey listen, when I swing by on my mission trip, when I come see you, hey, have set aside a special offering that I can collect and I can bring it back to the church in Jerusalem." And he's talking to them, and that's giving fruit. There's gospel fruit, Colossians chapter 1 verse 6. All over the world, this gospel is bearing fruit and growing. When you and I as believers spread the gospel, it bears fruit. That's gospel fruit. Then there's the fruit of praise, Hebrews 13.15, praising God and telling others. Hebrews 13.15 says, You see, there's action fruit. And then there's attitude fruit, and that's what we're talking about here in Galatians chapter 5. The fruit of the Spirit, the character of Christ. What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit? If I want you to walk out of here this morning, according to Galatians chapter 5, what we're talking about is God developing in you, developing in me, developing in us the character of His Son. That's the fruit of the Spirit. It is God doing in you, growing the character of Jesus in you. And this is not so much a list of things to do. This is just character traits that God is forming in you. And if He's not, that's the problem. That's the problem. That's why it's one fruit. On the screen there, the fruit of the Spirit is a beautiful picture, a portrait of Jesus. And God wants your life to reflect that beautiful picture. You want something — you want to target something? You want to aim something? You're results-oriented? Well, target 522 and 523. Walk with the Lord in such a way and depending on His Spirit to produce in you this kind of stuff. You want something to aim at because everything is too abstract, I don't know what it means? Well, now you got it, you know what it means. But remember, you're relying not on your own strength, you're relying on the strength that the Spirit of God gives you in that relationship you enjoy with the Father. Go after that. You see, that's what He wants. God wants your life, my life. Listen, listen, God wants Pines Baptist Church to reflect this. So the question you and I need to be asking is, is there enough evidence as a church to convict us that we are indeed Christ-like? You want, again, what is Christ-likeness? Got it. Go for it. You don't need much more. Most of the time, child of God, you and I don't need new revelation. We don't need another podcast. We don't need another sermon. What we need is to apply ourselves to what we do already know. So don't look for the next big thing. Don't look for the next, ooh, ah, and let me hashtag this. Listen, open the word, God, and take advantage or take inventory of what you do know, and then compare that to how you're living. You'll never turn to anywhere else again. You don't need anymore. If God doesn't send me to another conference, if God doesn't allow me to buy another commentary, if God doesn't, okay, I'm good. I am so responsible for all that I already know and fall short in living out. I don't need anymore. So is there evidence as a church of our Christ-like behavior, our Christ-like character? See, the gifts of the Spirit have to do with service. The fruit of the Spirit has to do with character. So question number one, what is it? It is the character of Christ being formed in you. Question number two, why is the fruit of the Spirit important in my life? Now that we know the what, the why. Why? Well, let me give you two reasons from the scriptures. Number one, God wants you to grow in godly character. That's why. He wants you to grow in godly character. Ephesians chapter 4, 22 through 24, you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. You're a new person in Christ? Behave as such. God wants for us to grow in that way. And you have a Bible there, I put Ephesians chapter four, I put Philippians 1.11, which says, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. And in preparing for this, just this morning, just going before the Lord and just thinking through some things, verses came to mind that I think bear great importance here. To make you realize that it is God's will for you to grow in godly character or in godliness. In your Bible, if not, turn to your neighbor and get theirs, all right? 2 Peter. 2nd Peter 2nd Peter is right before 1st John if your Bible has a 3rd Peter throw it out 2nd Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 3 God doesn't make junk, God doesn't make mistakes, and God doesn't set you and me up to fail. And you got it right here. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, you have all that you need. 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 from the corruption that is in this world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, because of what all that God has done for you, now comes our time, our responsibility. For this very reason, because His power has granted you, because He's given us precious and great promises, because we have become partakers of the divine nature, because we have escaped the corruption. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. Your translation may read excellence, 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. For these qualities are yours and are increasing. They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you'll never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God wants you and me, wants His people, His kids to grow. And again, if you're a dad here, a mom, if you're an aunt or uncle, grandpa, you know this. In every relationship, we have Alberto and Danielle with, okay, they want their baby to grow. That's just natural. We understand it in the natural. Why do we have such a hard time in the supernatural? Why do we fight it in the supernatural? We don't fight in the natural. We're not going to purposely keep him as a baby. You may not want him to grow, and you're going to miss it when he's 32, okay? And you're going to say to your wife, why did he have to grow up, right? Most of the time she tells me, all right? But here's the catch. You want it. It's natural. Same thing. Why do we fight against it in the Lord? It makes no sense sometimes. It makes no sense. you to grow in godly character. Number two, it's part of your Christian witness to others and brings honor, glory to the Lord. Jesus said in John 15, 8, this is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. You want to make much of the Lord? Be fruitful. You want to say, instead of saying, I want to glorify God, and then they ask you, what does that mean? Okay, I want to make much of the Lord, what does that mean? I want the character of Jesus Christ in my life, growing each and every time, the more the better. And I look forward to ways and circumstances that God places me in that are the limit of my strength, so I have to lean on His strength, and through leaning in His strength, I then bear fruit that makes much of Him. See, it's part of our Christian witness. 1 Peter chapter 2, 9, I'll give you the last verse in just a moment, but 2, 9 says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you're God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. On the screen now. Keep your conduct among Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers They may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation That means that I live in such a way that when the day of visitation when the Lord descends and pricks Consciences and they and they say and they think of Louis Acosta or they think of you they they're gonna try to speak badly But I'm gonna go no no no no God at work was he perfect of course not that's why he needs a Savior But that Savior's at work in his life That's to say, keep your conduct. How you live matters, child of God. How you live matters. How you work matters. Your character at work is equally as important as your character at this very moment. We don't take it that way. But you and I are called to display the character of Jesus in every area of life and every moment in life. And it's a part of our Christian witness and it brings honor to the Lord when you should have given that person a piece of the mind that you can't afford to lose. But you said, you know what? No. And because I'm under the Spirit's control and the character of Jesus, when Jesus could have blown somebody away, when He's hanging on the cross, all He had to say is, to everyone there. He could have summoned, He said, I could summon angels. And that's true. But more than that, He could have just looked at everybody and said, die. And what would have happened? Death. No, not probably. They die. I mean, He's Jesus who spoke into existence, let there be light. And there was light. He's Jesus who said, I'm created, I sustain it. If I can look at Ron and go, die, Ron dies. And if I look at Inari and Inari says, Inari dies, I dies. If I look back there and I see Jim, I don't care how good his Signature Series ribs are, and I say, die, dies. Because I'm God. But he chose not to, why? Because he was self-controlled. So at that moment, at work, or in that relationship, or in that situation, or in that, you wanna boom. Oh boy, and it feels good when you boom. But you know what? You don't. People go, what in the world happened to this dude? Or do that. See? That's what we're after. And we'll get there eventually when we get to self-control sometime in July, okay? But the reality is that that's, keep your conduct among Gentiles honorable. Your conduct says volumes, speaks volumes. What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit? The character of Jesus being formed in me by God Himself. You know, why should I do it? Because God wants growth and it brings glory to Him. Now the question that we're going to lastly look at is, how do I develop the fruit of the Spirit? How do I do this thing? I know the what, I know the why, now the how. Let me give you a couple ideas. Number one, weed the garden. Weed the garden. Take sin seriously. If you read some of the dead guys, okay? They lived in ways that you and I can't even get close to, but the Puritans and some of these guys, they're all dead. That's why I say, if you read the dead guys, okay? They'll talk about this, take sin seriously. They'll call it about mortifying sin. And what they're saying is kill sin, kill sin. One of those dead guys, a famous guy called John Owen said the following, be killing sin or it will be killing you. Be killing sin or it will be killing you. That's a famous quote because if you don't deal with sin, sin will deal with you. Listen, if you don't pluck the weeds in a garden, they're more than happy. They'll make their life there and they'll just take over. They'll take over. So go ahead. Don't give priority to your soul. Don't weed the garden. Don't take sin seriously. And then all of a sudden you realize one day, how in the world did I get here? How in the world did I become this? How in the world did I make this decision? How in the world am I living such frustrated life? How in the world am I... Why do I have the frown of heaven upon me? Well, because it started over here. You were intentional. You didn't take sin seriously. You thought sin was just that, fun. But the Lord says, no, no, no, no, no, no. If you want to develop the Spirit in your life, you got to be killing sin. Romans 8, 13 says, for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. How do you kill sin in your life? In the power of the Spirit. in the power of the Spirit. No different in Romans 8, no difference in Galatians 5, that's the contrast. If you're led by your sinful desires, if you're led by your sinful nature, if you're led by the flesh, you exhibit the works of the flesh. If you're led by the Spirit, you can exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. This is just stuff that you and I know, but we tend to forget. Live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit. So you have to weed the garden. Number two, you gotta water the garden. Feed your soul and cultivate godly habits, okay? I think, I was trying to think if I wanted to say something else here. Maybe later, maybe later. All right, you cultivate, you cultivate. You can pull out every single weed that you want, but if you don't water, if you don't care for the garden, nothing grows, just stays barren. You gotta still take care of something, alright? So how do you water the garden? Listen, you do it by delighting God's Word, it starts there. Psalm 1, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. That's what it goes there. You start with the Word of God, because the Word of God works in conjunction with the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God works in conjunction with the Word of God. Colossians 3.16 says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. The parallel verse in Ephesians 5.18 says, be filled with the Spirit, and the results are the same. So if you look at Colossians chapter 3, you look at Ephesians chapter 5, the dwelling of the Word of God in you produces this. The Spirit filling produces this. It's the same results. A Spirit-filled Christian is a Word-filled Christian, and a World-filled Christian is a Spirit-filled Christian. They work in tandem. You need to get the Spirit of God at work in your life through the Word of God. And you and I need to be, you guys need to be not only tending to sin, but it's not just, okay, saying no, it's also saying yes to certain things. You have to cultivate. That's why I put there, and cultivate. Look at Colossians 3 with me. Just go in your Bible with me for just a moment. Colossians chapter 3 is one of the best chapters to help you grow in your relationship with Christ. Chapter 3. Starts off, if you've been raised with Christ and that if it's since you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, now in verse five, it tells you what to put to death. That's mortifying sin. Put to death what's earthly in you, sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, idolatry. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. And in these things you once walked." So he's talking to a church. Hey, remember who you were. Now he's about to turn around again. Remember whose you are now. Okay? So, you know, put them away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. Don't lie to one another. Okay? Verse 12 now, put on. See, godliness is this. The struggle is this. As I fight sin and mortify sin, I have to vivify. I have to grow my soul. I have to cultivate some characteristics. It's not just take out all... Listen. It's not just, don't eat this. That's why diets are so frustrating. If you're living under the diet that it's all restrictions, and never some fun, who wants to do that? Part of their success is to have a cheat day, or like me, a cheat week, or a month, or whatever. Okay, but if you're going to be that restricted, and you're walking around moving around like, I love this diet. It's not like I'm growing in Christ. No, you're growing in Christ. You're dealing with sin, and now? You're going to cultivate godly characteristics or godly habits. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. And if one has to complain against each other, forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you must also forgive. And above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, verse 17, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. See, that's how you take care. That's how you water the garden. Yes, you feed your soul, but that has to have some type of real life application. It's not just textbook. I got you, buddy. You're right. All right. That doesn't bother me. Now, if that was Jose, that would be bothering me. Okay? But it's not Jose. Actually, yeah, it's baby Jose. If it was Papa Jose, then we got a problem. Okay? But baby Jose, I don't got a problem. All right? So the reality, though, is again, as we deal with sin, and we mortify, we kill it, we come against it. We then turn around and develop some of the stuff that I'm not going to be this. Well, I got to fill in the blank. Because if you leave the void open, something else will come in and fill the void. So as I come against this, I then cultivate that. That's Colossians 3. Take this with you. If there's nothing else from this message and from today's study, take Colossians 3 with you and put it to practice. Pray through it. Talk to the Lord about it. Lastly, remain in the vine, remain in the vine. So weed the garden, water the garden, remain in the vine. John 15, four and five, 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. And I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he is that that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. To abide means to remain in union. Okay, we make a daily decision to abide, to remain. We make a daily decision to expose ourselves to the Word of God. We make a daily decision to respond to that exposure of God's Word in prayer. We make a daily decision to reorient our affections, to reorient our desires toward holiness. and towards righteousness instead of sinfulness. That's what it means to abide. We take a daily decision choosing to fellowship with other believers, choosing to align my life with the standard of holiness. In the words of Philippians chapter 2, we're working out our salvation with fear and trembling. But here's the kicker. Also in Philippians chapter 2, it is while we are working out, we are displaying, we're putting on display the work of God in us. And through us, the Bible also says, as we realize that, we realize that it is God who's working in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. He doesn't set you up, He doesn't set me up to fail. Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 and 7, Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. How grateful are you to the Lord? How grateful are you to the Lord? Develop a deep relationship. I read something about dogs. Who's a dog person here? OK, who's a cat person here? Get out. No, I'm just kidding. You know the joke that I'm coming with right now, the difference between dog theology and cat theology, right? You care for me, you bathe me, you feed me, you house me, you must be God. That's why I come to you every time. Dog, wait here. Cat, you care for me, you feed me, you house me, I must be God. That's why I choose if I go to you when you open the door. You guys live your own theologies. Back to the dogs. They welcome them home with enthusiastic wagging of the tail and jumping up. They follow them about their houses happily, and to the normal person seeing the dog, the affection is true and deep. But to the experienced dog trainer, this outward show is not enough. The true test of real love takes place when the dog has got the opportunity to go out on its own as soon as the door is left open by mistake, and it goes off, and it doesn't return sometimes for hours. That dog loves only its home comforts and the attention it gets from its family. It truly doesn't love the master or mistress as they fondly think. The person goes on to write on the screen, true love in dogs is apparent when a door is left open and the dog still lays happily within earshot of its owner. For the owner must be the be-all and end-all of the dog's life. Am I calling you a dog? No. What does this have to do with me? This. The test of our Christianity isn't seen in our work or activity. It's found in this. It's to be on the screen. When we have an opportunity to wander away, to disobey, to leave His presence, do we choose instead to stay close to Him, to abide or to obey? See, when the door of sin swings wide open and you have opportunity to choose sin or remain, choose disobedience or choose Christ, Sin is more satisfactory than Christ, or I choose Christ. When I get the chance to blur the line enough where you really can't tell the difference, you're only fooling yourself because you know God does know. When you're given the opportunity to drift, do you accept it or do you fight it? That's the test. That's the test. You can fool yourself any other way if you like. But the test is when that opportunity gives itself, when you have opportunity to race and to chase the forbidden fruit or stay with what the Lord has revealed to you as true, what do you choose? That's the door. What can we take with us this morning? Let me land this plane before you all leave because it stopped raining, I think. Here's a helpful summary. Seasoned pastor, author, and theologian Alistair Begg writes the following on the screen there. The fruit of the Spirit is the character of God reflected in the lives of those who are united with Christ. It cannot be produced by an outward change of habit or a system of self-improvement, but is cultivated as God works to conform us to the image of His Son. As we consider the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, Scripture guides us to examine our hearts, challenges our progress, and encourages us to trust God's promise that He began this work and will complete it. That's good. That's good. Let me leave you with three practical observations. Number one, fruit is a consequence of life, especially spiritual life. And I say that because fruit of the Spirit doesn't come until the Spirit is present in your life. And the Spirit is only present in your life when you have Jesus Christ in your life. And this is important, and I want to drive this home. You'll see it on the screen there. Why? It is possible for a person interested in religion or concerned about religious things to create something of an outward change in one's habits without ever having experienced an inward change in one's heart. And that's scary. Okay, that's morality. That's the 1950s. We're moral people. I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't chew, and I don't go out with women who do. That's morality, that's the to-do list, and I fill it in, and I have interest, but there's no change of heart. Christianity at its essence is a change of heart. So, fruit is the result of saving faith in Jesus Christ. And if you don't know Jesus Christ, you can be frustrated because you're trying to appease and you're trying to live something that is not yours. So your first step is to grant, is to give your life to Jesus Christ, to run to Him for mercy and grace so He can then change your life around. Number two, growth is evidence of the gospel at work. It may not always be perceptible. It's like losing weight. When you lose about 10 pounds, nobody notices. You lose 30, everybody's like, what? Sometimes it's imperceptible, but you're still growing. See, that's the catch. By God's grace, there's seasons to our souls and sometimes you find yourself in winter and God doesn't make sense and it is dry and it's barren and it's welcome to the tundra, spiritually speaking. You're just, is God even there? But God is faithful. And sooner or later, spring arrives. And then there's evidence. And you stay with it. And you stay with it because God is at work in our lives. And lastly, I want to remind you that fruit of the Spirit is singular. God is not in the business of making lopsided Christians. Why do I say this? I want to return to that. Because some of you here are kind by nature. You're just kind. You're loving. That's the way your mama brought you up. You're not jealous. I wasn't brought up that way. I wasn't born that way or whatever. And so you say, oh, you see, I already got some of these. I don't have to work on these. The God who's producing love in your life is also producing joy and peace and patience, et cetera. There are no lopsided. And if you are this morning lopsided, that's your business before God. because he's not content with you being super gentle and unloving. He's not happy with you being very kind and out of control. He's not jumping for joy because you're patient, but you're not good. See, the character traits are for all of us to grow in. Because God doesn't make, He's not in the business of producing lopsided Christians. Amen? Let's bow our heads and close our eyes and just be reminded that the work of the Spirit of God and the child of God is to create the reality of Christ like this. Eyes closed and your heads bowed, just ask you to do that so you're less distracted at this point. In just a few moments we're going to sing a great, great song. Behold our God. And it's a good understanding of who God is that helps us to grow. While you're there, where are you this morning? How's your walk with the Lord? Are you bearing fruit? If you're just busy making excuses, would you turn to the Lord now, even now? Then there's grace for you. Will you behold God afresh, anew, even now? Lord God, do your work as only you can. Be with my brothers and sisters and even myself. Having looked in the mirror of your word, having been exposed to your word, having the ministry of your spirit, use your word now to bring conviction and perhaps it has reminded us of that which needs to be confessed. Would you help us do that? Would You help us not to settle for nothing less than You have for us? Help us to abide in the vine so He abides in us and we bear much fruit for Your glory and our good. And to You alone be the glory, in Jesus' name.