Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / The Fruit of the life in the Spirit part II
Transcript
- 0:00Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share today's message with you. Don't
- 0:10go anywhere, stay with us to the end for some valuable resources to enrich your faith.
- 0:17Here's today's sermon.
- 0:22So the topic is still the fruit of the life and the spirit. The fruit of the life and
- 0:28the spirit. We're going to continue from where we start on Sunday. And our key text, the
- 0:35two of them, the first one is from 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17. 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17.
- 0:43I read it this time from the NLT. And it says, So we have stopped evaluating others from
- 0:49a human point of view. At one time, we taught of Christ nearly from a human point of view.
- 0:57How differently we know him now. So this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become
- 1:04a new person. New King James, a new creature. It says the old life is gone, a new life has
- 1:12begun, a new life has begun, a new life has begun. And that is the reality for anyone
- 1:19who is in Christ. We say that all that Christ has accomplished, all that Christ has accomplished
- 1:24in his death, burial and resurrection, all of these things is what is encapsulated in
- 1:29the life of the believer. And that life that we have, that is the way, that life that we
- 1:33have in the spirit, praise God, that life that we have in the spirit. And we say the
- 1:38summary of all of this is that at salvation, we receive everything that we need to live.
- 1:44Receive everything that we need to live. So our work as God's children is anchored on
- 1:52what has happened to us, is anchored on what has happened to us as at the point of salvation.
- 1:58Our identity as a new creation in Christ Jesus is anchored on what has happened to us as
- 2:05at salvation, praise God. So, and we say this other text is in Galatians 5 to 2 to 25. Galatians
- 2:135 to 2 to 25. We're going to draw a bit more on that passage today. In church we had explained
- 2:21we said we talked about the new birth and we said the new birth is the birth or born
- 2:30of the spirit. And we said it's also the same thing as born of God. We say that in John
- 2:343 verses 5 to 6, we see Jesus' conversation with the Godimnos, where he makes reference
- 2:43to being born of the spirit, being born again. And in 1 John 5, 1 John 5, they make reference
- 2:50to being born of God, being born of God, being born of God. And all of those things are the
- 2:56same thing as the new birth, our identity as in our own contact in Christ, praise God,
- 3:03our identity in Christ. And then we did all of that and we talked about how the gift of
- 3:09the spirit is really given. It doesn't cost anybody. It didn't cost us anything, but it
- 3:13cost our Father. It didn't cost us anything. It's not a partnership with him, but that
- 3:19it's for us to have that experience, praise God. And we looked at several scriptures.
- 3:23We looked at Romans 8.32, where we clearly emphasized to us that we were freely given
- 3:30all these things. We were freely given all these things. And we looked at Acts 18 to
- 3:3620, where we saw how Simon the Sorcerer was wanting to buy it. And Peter rebuked him and
- 3:43says, your money perished with you because you thought that the gift of God can be purchased
- 3:47with money. So nobody should sell it to you. It's what was given to us freely and we freely
- 3:53received. And we also saw Ephesians 2 verse 8, where he tells us that, grace, we have
- 3:59been saved through faith. And it's not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God. We say
- 4:05it is a gift of God. We have received that gift. We receive the gift. And that is the
- 4:10gift. That is what we're working in. And we said all of this is a fulfillment of a promise.
- 4:15And we say that, and we saw in Ephesians 2, we looked at Ephesians 1, 13 to 14, where
- 4:21we saw that it is the spirit that we are sealed with the spirit of promise, which is a guarantee.
- 4:26We looked at that word guarantee. We say it's a down payment. It's down payment or anest.
- 4:33We talk about deposit. And we use, we understood it from the analogy of when you go to get
- 4:38a house and then you put a deposit. And we say that is nothing in comparison to what
- 4:42Christ, the word God has done for us. It's the down payment is the whole thing. The down
- 4:48payment is the full package. It's not part of the package. Praise God. It's not part
- 4:51of the package. And then now, I'll just jump to, we talked about the prophetic, we talked
- 4:57that we looked at Ezekiel and we looked at Jehovah, where we saw the promise being made
- 5:02and we saw it's fulfillment. And we saw all of that in Acts. So now we're going to be
- 5:06going to, so now the walk in the spirit, we're going to be talking more or focusing more
- 5:12of the walk in the spirit. I'm going to be looking at Galatians, Galatians 5, 16. I want
- 5:17us to open our Bibles. We're going to be going through scripture this evening and I want
- 5:21us to follow, I want us to follow as fast as we can. We'll see what we, I'm not going
- 5:28to rush, but we're going to cover as much as we can. So Galatians 5, and we're going
- 5:32to be looking at 16, Galatians 5, 16. This is Paul speaking. He says, then I say then
- 5:39walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. Walk in the spirit
- 5:44and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. Walk in the spirit and you shall not
- 5:48fulfill the loss of the spirit. So what are we going to be looking at? The first part
- 5:52is the walk. Walk in the spirit, walk in the spirit. And then we'll look at the flesh and
- 5:59look at the different ways we see flesh used in scripture.
- 6:02And then see that you can't use the same thing all through. Look at a couple of scriptures
- 6:06to be able to clarify that.
- 6:09And we'll see also that in Romans.
- 6:12So we're looking at, for this work in the spirit,
- 6:15we're looking at Galatians 5.16 down to 25,
- 6:19which is the second part of our text,
- 6:23the second part of our key text,
- 6:25it covers the second part of our key text,
- 6:27and also Romans 8.1 to 9.
- 6:30We're very much familiar with that passage of scripture.
- 6:32So what I want us to do is to go to Romans 8 now.
- 6:35Romans 8, we're gonna look at 1 and 4.
- 6:38We're gonna look at 1 and 4.
- 6:40Romans 8.1 and 4.
- 6:41So we say that for this bit,
- 6:43we're looking at the work in the spirit.
- 6:45So Romans 8.
- 6:47And if you look at it from the King James,
- 6:48you will notice something.
- 6:49In the King James, if you look at the King James,
- 6:52if you have a different translation with you,
- 6:54NLT or any other translation, you will notice something.
- 6:57I want you to pay attention to that.
- 6:59And you may put two.
- 7:01Yeah, you'll notice something.
- 7:04In the New King James, you will just see it say,
- 7:07there is therefore now no condemnation
- 7:09to those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 7:13That's where it stops for.
- 7:15Most people that are using several other translation,
- 7:18but in the New King James, there's an addition to it.
- 7:21And that addition is not out of place
- 7:22because you will still see the same thing repeated
- 7:24in the verse four.
- 7:25So it says, who do not walk, that's in the New King James.
- 7:29It says, who do not walk according to the flesh,
- 7:31but according to the spirit.
- 7:34Who do not walk according to the flesh,
- 7:37but according to the spirit.
- 7:38And then I want us to jump to four.
- 7:41Four says something similar.
- 7:44It just adds that, that the righteous requirement
- 7:47of the law might be fulfilled in us.
- 7:50Who do not walk according to the flesh,
- 7:53but according to the spirit.
- 7:56Who do not walk according to the flesh,
- 7:58but according to the spirit.
- 7:59You notice that, that in of itself,
- 8:02if you look at one, it's still saying similar
- 8:04to what is said in four.
- 8:07Where it says, therefore there's now no condemnation
- 8:09to those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 8:12It states that these individuals or these persons
- 8:15are in Christ Jesus.
- 8:16As believers, we are in Christ Jesus.
- 8:19We are in Christ Jesus.
- 8:21And our walk is in the spirit.
- 8:22And that's why it goes to say that we do not walk
- 8:25in the flesh, but according to the spirit.
- 8:27So you see the very, you see the similarity.
- 8:29You see the interplay of words.
- 8:32It's still saying the same thing.
- 8:34Say there's therefore now no condemnation
- 8:36to those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 8:38And they do not walk according to the flesh.
- 8:40And please pay attention to the use of the word
- 8:43that they do not walk.
- 8:45They do not walk according to the flesh.
- 8:47How do they walk?
- 8:48We saw from Galatians 5 verse 16,
- 8:51that they walk in the spirit.
- 8:53They walk in the spirit.
- 8:55So, and if you look very closely, it's not walk.
- 8:58And it's not, you can't do both at the same time.
- 9:02You can't do both at the same time.
- 9:04It's either you're walking in the spirit
- 9:06or you are doing the other,
- 9:08which is you're walking according to the flesh.
- 9:10Praise God.
- 9:11And I want us to see what the word walk is.
- 9:15We'll look at it in the New Testament
- 9:17and look at a little bit of it in the old
- 9:20and then we'll marry and sanitize everything together.
- 9:23So the word walk in the Greek is the word peripateo.
- 9:27The word peripateo.
- 9:28It's P-E-P-E-R-I-P-A-T-E-O with a dash on top.
- 9:37P-E-R-I-P-A-T-E-O, peripateo.
- 9:42And it's used, you see that because Greek is what's used
- 9:46in the New Testament.
- 9:49We see that a lot.
- 9:50And that word is a metaphor for a way of living
- 9:54or how we conduct ourselves
- 9:55and how we express it more on its definition.
- 9:58And one thing that you will notice is that
- 10:00if you're reading especially the epistles,
- 10:03you see it said, you see places where you see walk in love.
- 10:07You see where there's walk in the spirit.
- 10:09You also see walk in love.
- 10:11You also see walk in delight.
- 10:13You also see walk in the truth.
- 10:15And I'll give us references to those scriptures.
- 10:17I think we can look at them still.
- 10:19We have time.
- 10:20So let's just look at them.
- 10:21So you'll see instances in Paul's letter
- 10:25to the church in Ephesians.
- 10:26You will see in Ephesians 5, Ephesians 5 verse 2.
- 10:29I want us to go there very quickly.
- 10:31Ephesians 5 verse 2.
- 10:33Ephesians 5 verse 2, that's for walk in love.
- 10:37Ephesians 5 verse 2, let me just read from one.
- 10:39Say therefore, be imitators of God as their children.
- 10:432 now says, walk in love as Christ also has loved us
- 10:48and given himself for us an offering
- 10:50and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.
- 10:54So you see the word there, walk in love.
- 10:56And it starts off as imitators of God,
- 10:59as therefore be imitators of God as their children.
- 11:03So there's already a father,
- 11:04there's only a relationship that places on the nappies,
- 11:08places on the napposition where we walk in love.
- 11:11I want you to see that all of those things
- 11:13are not speaking of different things.
- 11:15All of those different places
- 11:17are not speaking of different things.
- 11:18And when we go to the other one,
- 11:20which I said walk in the light, walk in the light,
- 11:23we'll see that in 1 John, 1 John 1, 1 John 1.
- 11:28I want us to go to 1 John 1, 1 John 1 verse 7,
- 11:321 John 1 verse 7, 1 John 1 verse 7.
- 11:35It says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
- 11:41we have fellowship with one another
- 11:44and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son,
- 11:47cleanses us from all sin.
- 11:49So we see that if we walk in the light,
- 11:52and we see all of it, we see walk in the,
- 11:55walk in love, walk in the light.
- 11:57So let's see the other one, walk in the truth.
- 12:00So since we're in 1 John, let's just move to 2 John,
- 12:042 John 1, 2 John 1 verse 4, 2 John 1 verse 4.
- 12:10It says, I will judge greatly
- 12:12that I have found some of your children walking in truth,
- 12:17walking in truth as we receive commandment from the father,
- 12:22walking in truth.
- 12:23So we've seen all of these scriptures
- 12:26and you can take time and look at the individual,
- 12:28read the whole chapter and get more context
- 12:30by just trying to build something there for us
- 12:33that you'll see this walk in love, walk in light,
- 12:37walk in truth, all of them,
- 12:39we'll see how they marinate together.
- 12:41It says all of this walk is talking about the way of living
- 12:45and it's consistent with God's nature.
- 12:48It's consistent with our divine nature.
- 12:50It's consistent with our divine nature.
- 12:52Speaks and it's not speaking,
- 12:53it's speaking to individuals, speaking to individuals.
- 12:56It says walk in love, walk in light, walk in truth,
- 12:59walk in truth.
- 13:00And I want us to see this word,
- 13:03this word used in the Old Testament
- 13:06and there's a scripture,
- 13:07it is in Psalms 1, 1,
- 13:09it's a place where we are very much conversant with.
- 13:12Psalms 1, 1, Psalms 1 verse 1,
- 13:14where it says, blessed is a man who walks.
- 13:19The word walks there is a Hebrew word, halak or yalak.
- 13:25It's either halak or yalak.
- 13:27These are two variants of the word.
- 13:29This is halak, halak is H-A-L-A-K,
- 13:34or the yalak which is the, just change the H to a Y,
- 13:39yalak, Y-A-L-A-K.
- 13:43That's the word used there, walk.
- 13:45It says, walk not, says who walks not
- 13:48in the counsel of the ungodly,
- 13:52nor stands in the path of sinners,
- 13:55nor sits at the seat of the scoppers,
- 13:58nor sits at the seat of the scouple.
- 14:01If you notice that all of these things is speaking
- 14:04of a position in a way,
- 14:07because it says, doesn't you don't listen to ungodly counsel?
- 14:10You don't hang around sinners,
- 14:13you don't see that it speaks of a way of living.
- 14:17And you know that that is in contrast.
- 14:20You know, he does that in verse one,
- 14:21and then you see in the preceding verses,
- 14:23it contrasts it with what delight
- 14:27of the person that is blessed is,
- 14:28delight in the love of the Lord.
- 14:30You see that there are two different ways.
- 14:31And if you notice, when you read,
- 14:33to contrast one thing against the other,
- 14:35we look at Galatians, it was contrasting the walk
- 14:37in the spirit against the walk in the flesh.
- 14:39And I want us to understand something
- 14:41that every of this thing, you don't want to,
- 14:43it's not something that you can do,
- 14:45it's not something that happens where you say,
- 14:47you walk like this and then you can do both at the same time.
- 14:49There's no middle ground for the two of it.
- 14:52Once you notice that there's no middle ground
- 14:54for the two of it.
- 14:56So we will now see certain instances of individuals.
- 15:00And I want us to go to Kings, 1 Kings 16, 1 Kings 16.
- 15:05I think that one stood out to me
- 15:07because I was very recently looked at it.
- 15:10So I want us to use that one too.
- 15:13Let's start with 1 Kings 16, 1 Kings 16, 16 verse 19,
- 15:191 Kings 16 verses 19.
- 15:21We're speaking about Jehoiobam.
- 15:23If you remember this, Jehoiobam of Solomon's son
- 15:27and then there's Jehoiobam,
- 15:28the one that took the other part of the kingdom.
- 15:34It says in verse 19, it says,
- 15:36because of the sins which he had committed,
- 15:41because of the sins which he had committed
- 15:44in doing evil in the sight of the Lord,
- 15:47in walking, notice it uses the I-N-G,
- 15:50walking in and it's W-A-L-K,
- 15:53yeah, I was talking about it
- 15:55because I'm saying it sounds like O-R-K, W-A-L-K.
- 15:58In walking in the way of Jehoiobam
- 16:02in his sin which he had committed to make Israel,
- 16:06in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin,
- 16:11in his sin which has committed to make Israel sin.
- 16:13So it means that you see someone walking in the sin,
- 16:18in the way, walking in the way of Jehoiobam.
- 16:21And when I saw this, I remember,
- 16:24I think when we're talking about Balaam,
- 16:26I think very recently, I think it was,
- 16:28it was in Pastor Victor that was teaching.
- 16:30And he said, in Peter, Peter was speaking,
- 16:33that's 2 Peter 2.15,
- 16:35where he talks about the way of Balaam,
- 16:37following the way of Balaam,
- 16:39where the individual, there's something that they had done
- 16:42that makes them have,
- 16:43it's almost like they had created a pattern of action
- 16:46because of the way they did certain things.
- 16:49And then everybody now, there's a way
- 16:50that's created a system by which there's a way.
- 16:53And what is that way?
- 16:54In Balaam's situation,
- 16:56it goes further to state what the way is.
- 16:58He said, who loved the widows of unrighteousness?
- 17:00Meaning that he, it's because of his eye,
- 17:03his eye was on the money and he did something ungodly.
- 17:08I remember we said, all of those things have their,
- 17:11you see that you're on this side or on the other side.
- 17:14And then let's look at also 1 Kings 22.
- 17:17Let's look at 1 Kings 22, 22.52.
- 17:221 Kings 22.52.
- 17:25And we'll see that he says in 1 Kings 22, verse 52,
- 17:30he says, he did evil in the sight of the Lord
- 17:33and walked in the way of his father.
- 17:35And in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeorabam,
- 17:39notice that they walked in the way of the father,
- 17:43walked in the way of the mother.
- 17:45And this is Ahaziah, Ahaziah.
- 17:48And then they also included walked in the way
- 17:50of Jeorabam the son of Nebat.
- 17:52And that Jeorabam is Jeorabam the son of Nebat.
- 17:54There's another Jeorabam,
- 17:55but this is Jeorabam the son of Nebat,
- 17:57who had made Israel sin.
- 17:59And this individual had made the whole nation,
- 18:03had made the whole nation to sin.
- 18:05And let's look at the other one in 2 Kings 3.3.
- 18:092 Kings 3.3.
- 18:11He says, in 2 Kings 3.3,
- 18:13nevertheless, he persisted in the sins of Jeorabam
- 18:18the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
- 18:21He did not depart from them.
- 18:23This is another, this is Jehoram,
- 18:27this is Jehoram to another King again.
- 18:29So you see several Kings now,
- 18:32there's a way, there's a walk,
- 18:34there's a pattern that they are taking up.
- 18:36And we have talked a lot about Jeorabam the son of Nebat,
- 18:40but let's look at what Jeorabam the son,
- 18:42what is that way, what is that pattern that he had created
- 18:45that makes him the reference point,
- 18:47the point of reference for every other person
- 18:49that is coming up.
- 18:50Let's look at it in 1 Kings,
- 18:54let's go to 1 Kings 12, 1 Kings 12.
- 18:571 Kings 12.
- 18:59This is the point of the whole revolt against Jeorabam.
- 19:021 Kings 12, I think we'll just read 25 to 33.
- 19:061 Kings 12.
- 19:07Remember, what we're looking at is the walk.
- 19:10Walk, that is W-A-L, W-A-L-K.
- 19:14So 25 now reads, 1 Kings 12, 25.
- 19:18This is then Jeorabam built Shechem
- 19:23in the mountains of Ephraim and dwelt there.
- 19:27Also he went out of there and built Penelope.
- 19:31And Jeorabam said in his heart,
- 19:33now the kingdom may return to the house of David.
- 19:37If those people go up to offer sacrifices
- 19:41in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem,
- 19:43then the heart of these people will turn back
- 19:47to their Lord, Jeorabam king of Judah,
- 19:52and they will kill me and go back to Jeorabam king of Judah.
- 19:5828, therefore the king asked advice,
- 20:02therefore the king asked advice,
- 20:03may two cows of gold and say to the people,
- 20:09this is too much for you to go up.
- 20:11Is it too much for you to go up to Jerusalem?
- 20:14Here are your gods, O Israel,
- 20:17which brought you up on the land of Egypt.
- 20:21Does that sound familiar?
- 20:22Then 29 says, and he set up one in Bethel,
- 20:28and then the other, and the other he put up in Dan.
- 20:32Now this thing became a sin for the people
- 20:36went to worship before this one as far as Dan.
- 20:41He said, he made the shrines on the high places
- 20:45and made the priests from every class of people
- 20:49who were not the sons of Levi.
- 20:52Then I think we say we stop at 33, yeah, let's 32.
- 20:55Jeorabam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the eighth month,
- 21:00like the feast that was in Judah
- 21:03and offered sacrifices on the altar.
- 21:06So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the cows
- 21:12that he had made and at Bethel,
- 21:15he installed the priests of the high places
- 21:19which he had made.
- 21:20So he made offerings on the altar,
- 21:23which he had made at Bethel on the 15th,
- 21:26on the 15th day of the eighth month,
- 21:29in the month which he had devised in his own heart.
- 21:35And he ordained the feast for the children of Israel
- 21:38and offered sacrifices on the altar and burnt incense.
- 21:41And notice that all that he did, he had created,
- 21:44he had made golden calves, Bethel,
- 21:48he put one at Bethel, put one at Dan,
- 21:50and people took, like people sacrificed to go to that,
- 21:55I mean, besides the sacrifice,
- 21:56that the sacrifice is sacrificed to go to that place
- 21:59to do the sacrifices to this.
- 22:01So you can see that this man had done these things
- 22:05to appeal, has done these things
- 22:07because he knew that he was like,
- 22:09if I don't do it, I will lose the people
- 22:12when they go to Jerusalem.
- 22:14And this is all his own idea, this is all his own thought.
- 22:17And this is how he came about it, worked.
- 22:19And if you see all of them in the same pattern,
- 22:22but I'm too, there's something that he wanted to gain.
- 22:24All of them, they are not,
- 22:27all their drive is for themselves.
- 22:29All the drive is for themselves
- 22:31and all the drive is for what they're going to profit from it.
- 22:34But note that this now is in contrast
- 22:36to what we're talking about.
- 22:39If they can be a walk, the walk can be in one direction,
- 22:43which is anti-God, because you know that what he did here
- 22:46is inconsistent and away from what God's instruction is.
- 22:51And if you know that, if you think back
- 22:53at what the children of Israel did in the wilderness,
- 22:56know that it's the same thing.
- 22:57They just put gold in the fire and then have calf,
- 23:00and then they worship it and then say the same thing.
- 23:02This is the God that brought us up.
- 23:04You see the same pattern, they repeat the same pattern.
- 23:06And this man did not just one, he did two.
- 23:09He did two, and you can see that in 29 and 30,
- 23:13when he set them up and then people went there
- 23:15and they went as far, people sacrificed to go and worship.
- 23:19So we see that there is a walk and the walk here,
- 23:22you see that the way, as we said that the walk is a pattern,
- 23:26is a way of living, a way of living.
- 23:30And that way of living will set a stage
- 23:33for how people will even live afterwards.
- 23:36Well, we say that when we talk about walking the spirit,
- 23:39the walk in the spirit is very different from going,
- 23:42because we say it's a walk.
- 23:44And that walk is not powered by our own desires,
- 23:47but it's powered by God himself.
- 23:50So a walk in the spirit is powered by the spirit of God.
- 23:53The spirit empowers us to live a life of freedom,
- 23:55empowers us to overcome whatever desires of our flesh.
- 23:59And when you say being in the flesh,
- 24:01being the walk in the flesh in that context,
- 24:04and we'll talk about how it can be used in different,
- 24:08or why you don't want to assume the same thing
- 24:10every way you see the flesh.
- 24:12When he says walk in the flesh,
- 24:13in contrast to walk in the spirit,
- 24:15he's talking about the walk that is outside of God's life,
- 24:21a walk that is outside of God's life,
- 24:23a walk that is not inconsistent,
- 24:26that doesn't have God in it.
- 24:28A walk that doesn't have God in it.
- 24:29The same way what Jeroboam did was not an idea
- 24:34better or inspired by God.
- 24:35It has nothing to do with it.
- 24:37It's something that he did of his own volition.
- 24:39He did it because he wanted to have people
- 24:42not go to Jerusalem.
- 24:43That was what inspired that it was inconsistent
- 24:46with what God wants.
- 24:47And that's why he created a pattern.
- 24:49If you notice, they say they did evil.
- 24:51All the use of the word evil,
- 24:54it says because it's anti-God,
- 24:56that's why it is evil.
- 24:58And the word for flesh,
- 25:00this is when we're going into,
- 25:02Pleszrof talks about what the walk is,
- 25:04and we'll later on see that walk also,
- 25:08we'll see from scriptures as we're gonna look.
- 25:12Look now, we'll see that that walk has to do
- 25:14with an understanding, a mindset.
- 25:17That walk has to do with an understanding and a mindset.
- 25:19We'll see that from scripture,
- 25:21we'll see that from second Corinthians shortly.
- 25:23But I want to explain first to us that the flesh,
- 25:27the word flesh there is S-A-R-X.
- 25:31That's the word in Greek.
- 25:33That's the word flesh.
- 25:34And it's also symbolizes, as I said earlier,
- 25:37without God, symbolizes the sinful and old nature
- 25:41that is under the law,
- 25:44that's before the coming of Christ.
- 25:45And then the flesh can also be the physical body.
- 25:49When he speaks of the physical body,
- 25:50it can also be the physical body.
- 25:52So know that when we are reading,
- 25:54we want to pay attention to how the word flesh is used.
- 25:57Because there's certain parts of scripture
- 25:59that it will say walk in the flesh.
- 26:02It will say according to my walk in the flesh.
- 26:03And then you'll be confused that it says,
- 26:05that you should not walk according to the flesh,
- 26:08but you should walk in the spirit.
- 26:09So you don't want to,
- 26:10you want to read it and read it in context.
- 26:12You want to read it and read it in context.
- 26:14And especially when Apostle Paul is speaking,
- 26:16we'll see that in Romans seven.
- 26:18When he's speaking and then he uses the word flesh,
- 26:21he can use the same word flesh in the,
- 26:23he'll use flesh in one verse.
- 26:27And that means something different from the second one
- 26:31he'll use in the second verse.
- 26:32So you want to look at it and not be confused.
- 26:35And it might look like a contradiction,
- 26:36but it's not a contradiction because there's a context
- 26:38what he's saying, praise God.
- 26:40So I want us to look at 2 Corinthians 10.
- 26:44We'll look at 2 Corinthians 10.
- 26:46Okay.
- 26:482 Corinthians 10, one, two, three.
- 26:512 Corinthians 10, one, two, three.
- 26:53Let's go there.
- 26:542 Corinthians 10, one, two, three.
- 26:56So this is Apostle Paul speaking.
- 26:58He says, he says, now I Paul myself,
- 27:02I'm pleading with you by the meekness
- 27:06and gentleness of Christ,
- 27:08who in present I'm lonely among you.
- 27:13He says, but being absent, I'm bold towards you.
- 27:172 now says, but I beg you that when I am present,
- 27:21I may not be bold with that confidence
- 27:25by which I am intended to be bold against some.
- 27:33This is the part I want to spread to you too.
- 27:35Who think of us as if we walk according to the flesh?
- 27:40He says, who think of us as if we walk according
- 27:44to the flesh?
- 27:46Then you see in verse three, he now says,
- 27:48for though we walk in the flesh.
- 27:51Let me take it back again so that you,
- 27:53so the ending of verse two says,
- 27:56he's speaking of some people who think of us
- 27:59as if we walk according to the flesh.
- 28:01Then in verse three, he says,
- 28:03for though we walk in the flesh,
- 28:07we do not walk according to the flesh.
- 28:11So know that he says, those people who think
- 28:15we walk according to the flesh.
- 28:17And then he now says, do we walk in the flesh?
- 28:19So it will mean that in verse three,
- 28:21in verse three, when he says,
- 28:23for though we walk in the flesh,
- 28:26what that will mean is that walking in the flesh
- 28:28will mean walking in the physical body, praise God.
- 28:31Walking in the flesh will mean walking in the physical body.
- 28:33And if you want to see how that plays
- 28:36or how you want to see how that,
- 28:38if you look at it from,
- 28:41when you read it from the NLT,
- 28:44you probably will see what it says.
- 28:46It says in verse three, it says, we are human,
- 28:49but we don't wage war as humans do.
- 28:52So know that he's talking about the physical.
- 28:56And if you look at verse four,
- 28:59if you look at verse four,
- 29:01from the, he says, verse four from the New King James,
- 29:04it says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
- 29:08For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
- 29:11The NLT will say are not bodily,
- 29:14say but are mighty to the pulling down of stronghold.
- 29:16So what it will mean there is that what we use to war
- 29:20is not what everybody,
- 29:23every other person use to war,
- 29:24what we don't do from the physical things
- 29:26that people use to war.
- 29:27It says, but they are mighty
- 29:29for the pulling down of stronghold.
- 29:31Now, really from the NLT, it says,
- 29:33we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons,
- 29:37to knock down strongholds of human reasoning.
- 29:41Now, that is where you now,
- 29:42you now move the whole argument to help us understand that.
- 29:46When he talks about flesh or talks about his walk
- 29:51and all of those things are not something that is,
- 29:53it's not, it's, when it says human reasoning
- 29:56and destroy false arguments,
- 29:58you don't destroy false argument by fighting the person
- 30:01or by physical altercation.
- 30:03You don't, if you want to destroy false arguments,
- 30:06you do it because it's something that happens in the mind.
- 30:11Let's look at five.
- 30:12Five say we destroy every proud obstacle
- 30:16that keeps people from knowing God.
- 30:18We capture their rebellious thought
- 30:20and teach them to obey Christ.
- 30:23If you read all of this,
- 30:24you can't leave this conversation thinking
- 30:27if you read it from where it started
- 30:29to where he had landed in verse five,
- 30:32you can't leave that conversation thinking
- 30:34that he's talking about something like exchanging blows.
- 30:37It says we destroy, you know?
- 30:39When you hear the word destroy,
- 30:40you think of something decimating something.
- 30:43When I say that I destroyed him,
- 30:45you fuck, even when we use the word destroy,
- 30:47we just say, we don't mean it literally.
- 30:50We mean that I give him a piece of my mind,
- 30:52or with that, you mentally,
- 30:54you verbally assaulted the person.
- 30:56You assaulted them with words.
- 30:58So when he uses the word flesh here,
- 31:01notice that he uses the word flesh
- 31:04in the ending of the first verse
- 31:05to mean not like without God.
- 31:09And then he now goes down to,
- 31:10and we'll see that, we'll see if you are still in doubt.
- 31:13Note that when he used that word there,
- 31:15he's talking about mindset, understanding,
- 31:17and words that are spoken.
- 31:18Mindset, understanding, or mindset,
- 31:21or understanding of words that are spoken.
- 31:22That is what he's making reference to.
- 31:24Then we'll now see it in Romans seven.
- 31:27And please follow in Romans seven,
- 31:30because Romans seven is where a couple of people,
- 31:32or where sometimes you will be thinking that Paul is,
- 31:35is not like, he's saying one thing,
- 31:38and then saying, he's going back on his words.
- 31:42But know that if you look at the use of the word flesh
- 31:45in that properly, you understand that he's using it.
- 31:49And if you look at it from different,
- 31:51you'll see the words used there.
- 31:52So we'll look at Romans seven, verse five and six.
- 31:56Romans seven, verse five and six.
- 31:58Romans seven, verse five and six.
- 32:00So he says, for we were in the flesh,
- 32:03notice the use of the word, we were in the flesh.
- 32:06When he says we were in the flesh,
- 32:08it means he's talking about the previous nature.
- 32:11And then he says, the sinful passions,
- 32:14which, and he uses the word past tense, says we were.
- 32:18Remember, it says, Vandermann is a new creation.
- 32:21All things are passed away.
- 32:22So we were in the flesh.
- 32:23So the sinful passions, which were aroused by the law,
- 32:28notice that is the law, the element of the law comes in.
- 32:31We're at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
- 32:37Use the word, he takes the word bear fruit to death,
- 32:39bear fruit with results in death.
- 32:41Then six now, verse six, he says,
- 32:44but now we have been delivered from the law,
- 32:48having died to what we were held by,
- 32:54so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit
- 32:58and not in the oldness of the letter.
- 33:02In the newness of the spirit
- 33:04and not in the oldness of the letter.
- 33:07Let me read it to Ross from the NLT.
- 33:10It says, we were controlled by our old nature,
- 33:15which makes it clear that the flesh there
- 33:17is not speaking about physical body.
- 33:20Sinful desires were working,
- 33:22well, we say we're at work within us.
- 33:26And the law arouse this evil desire
- 33:28that produce a harvest of sinful deeds resulting in death.
- 33:33Six now say, but now we have been released from the law,
- 33:37but we died to it and are no longer captive to its power.
- 33:42Now we can serve God,
- 33:45not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law,
- 33:50but in the new way,
- 33:51I like the way we use the new way of living in the spirit.
- 33:54So the analysis ends with,
- 33:56or we serve God in the new way of living in the spirit.
- 34:01And I want you to pay attention to the use of it.
- 34:04I told us that in the spirit, in Christ,
- 34:07all of those things points to the reality,
- 34:10the new birth, the identity that we have in Christ.
- 34:13It's not anything different.
- 34:14It's the identity that we have,
- 34:16the new identity that we have in Christ.
- 34:18And we want to be reminded of this identity.
- 34:20We want to be reminded of the things that has been accomplished.
- 34:23So what is, when you contrast that,
- 34:26don't think that Paul is saying that he is still there,
- 34:28there's still law, he's still battling this and that.
- 34:30You want to understand that he's talking about his past
- 34:33and then he's making reference to where he's at now,
- 34:36walking in the new way of living. As I said,
- 34:40know that there is a mindset.
- 34:41There is the walk now, is a walk of understanding that,
- 34:44look, there has to be a shift in the mindset.
- 34:47And as I said, the shift in the mindset
- 34:49comes from our interaction with God's Word,
- 34:52comes from an interaction with the spirit
- 34:54that renews our mind.
- 34:55The spirit of God renews our mind.
- 34:57And that is why, as believers,
- 34:59our goal is to consistently allow for,
- 35:03when we pray, when we pray,
- 35:05when we read God's Word, when we are taught God's Word,
- 35:08it's the renewing of our mind that ensures
- 35:10that we align ourselves to the will and the dictates
- 35:13of the God that we serve,
- 35:15the will and dictates of God that we serve.
- 35:17So we want to very clearly distinguish what it is,
- 35:20the law and what it is that happens under the law,
- 35:25what the experiment is under the law.
- 35:27Now, when you're reading and looking at the word flesh,
- 35:30you want to know what is the context,
- 35:32what are they talking about?
- 35:33Is it flesh physical body or is it flesh without God
- 35:38or the old nature?
- 35:40And know that if it's making reference to that,
- 35:42you know that we have a new nature.
- 35:44So if it looks like it's contradictory,
- 35:46you want to pay attention to what it's saying
- 35:48when you see the word flesh.
- 35:50There are many other things.
- 35:51And I want you in your study of God's Word,
- 35:54especially when you're reading all of that,
- 35:56when it says in the body, it says flesh.
- 35:58You want to be able to pay attention.
- 35:59I think we'll see one more in some way,
- 36:02and I'll bring attention to it when we see it.
- 36:05So I want us to now quickly move
- 36:06and let's look at Romans 8 verses 2,
- 36:13where it says,
- 36:14for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus,
- 36:19for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
- 36:22has made us free from the law of sin and death.
- 36:25For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
- 36:28has made us free from the law of sin and death.
- 36:31Remember we say in Christ,
- 36:34the spirit that we have, the spirit of life,
- 36:37say the law of the spirit of life,
- 36:38and that is what has made us free.
- 36:40We have been set free.
- 36:41So we're no longer bound to our past, has nothing on us.
- 36:46We are living victoriously
- 36:48because of that thing that has happened.
- 36:49We are unable to live victorious life over sin
- 36:53through what Christ has done by the power of his spirit.
- 36:56So a believer knowing this doesn't say,
- 37:01oh, I can't, it has a hold on me.
- 37:05I don't know how to stop it.
- 37:07I can't control myself.
- 37:09I can't, you know, you don't know this.
- 37:12You don't have an understanding of your identity
- 37:14because you lack that understanding.
- 37:16You say, oh, I don't, I'm powerless.
- 37:19Anytime it comes, I'm just powerless.
- 37:21I don't know why you want to come to that reality
- 37:26other consciousness of the fact that the victory
- 37:29that has been won has been won totally.
- 37:32It's not, there's no part of the victory won.
- 37:34And then when you have to pray more
- 37:36and then it will not happen.
- 37:37No, that is not what it is.
- 37:39So that the law of the spirit means the principle
- 37:42and the authority of a spirit led life.
- 37:44That the, that authority, that law,
- 37:48that thing that bounds, it's solid.
- 37:51It's so solid that there is nothing
- 37:53that you can't vacillate between it.
- 37:56And your lack of, your not understanding,
- 38:00it doesn't mean that it is available to you.
- 38:02It, you're not, your lack of consciousness
- 38:05or it just means that you will feign powerlessness
- 38:10in the face of it, but you have that power
- 38:12and that authority because you, that is what you have.
- 38:15That is what you possess, praise God.
- 38:17You see, and embracing this life means
- 38:19that we are going to continue to yield to God's guidance.
- 38:22We're going to continue to see the victory.
- 38:24We're going to, but he's going to walk us through it.
- 38:26He's going to carry us through it.
- 38:28And we're going to know in favor.
- 38:29And that's why relationship transformation,
- 38:31all of those things work with our consciously
- 38:34interfacing God's word.
- 38:35And that's what God will do.
- 38:36When you look into God's word, it comes at you.
- 38:39You will be, you will have power.
- 38:41You have understanding that will help you.
- 38:43Because I said, it's a mindset thing.
- 38:45That's why knowledge is needed for us to be able to,
- 38:48to walk in it.
- 38:48So that, that understanding that God is always walking in us.
- 38:52He's always walking in us.
- 38:54He's always walking on our minds,
- 38:55always walking on our faculties.
- 38:57He's always walking, walking, walking, walking
- 38:59will help us to know that there's no time,
- 39:02there's no point in time where we're powerless.
- 39:03There's no point in time where we lack what,
- 39:05what to do, where to go.
- 39:07We're not trying, we don't come and then we say,
- 39:09I don't know what God, I don't know what, what I'm to do.
- 39:11I'm not, you, you, you, you, you can't say that
- 39:15because you know that, that at every point in time,
- 39:19God will not leave you at every point in time.
- 39:21God gives you what you need.
- 39:23God makes sure that you're walking in his will
- 39:25and according to his will.
- 39:26Philippians 2 verse 13, it says,
- 39:29for it is God who walks in you.
- 39:32Notice he says, it is God who walks in you.
- 39:36How does he walk in us?
- 39:37He walks in us by his spirit,
- 39:40both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
- 39:43It is God that walks in us to will and to do.
- 39:45And we know that he had done that as a wish.
- 39:47That is basically how we come into it.
- 39:49And he continues to do that.
- 39:50He doesn't go on sabbatical.
- 39:51He doesn't go on sabbatical.
- 39:53The word, the word they walk is in the jail.
- 39:56It's, it's a constant, it's actively walking in us,
- 40:00energizing us to do this.
- 40:01We learn to do two of his pleasure.
- 40:03Praise God.
- 40:04We're not, we don't come and then we say,
- 40:05we're powerless in the face of, of, of challenges
- 40:08or we're powerless in the face of situation.
- 40:10We know what to do.
- 40:11We know how to do the things that we need to do
- 40:13because we remember we see,
- 40:15being in Christ means that every other thing is gone.
- 40:18Everything without God, it's gone out of the way.
- 40:19We have a new nature.
- 40:20We're born of the spirit.
- 40:21We're born of God.
- 40:23We sing it that as a church.
- 40:25And we want to sing more.
- 40:26We're singing these things,
- 40:27reminding ourselves, affirming ourselves of our reality,
- 40:30affirming ourselves to be in dwell in,
- 40:32in dwelling presence of the spirit within us.
- 40:35And note that the dwelling presence of the spirit
- 40:37in us produces a character and a nature consistent
- 40:40with the identity that we have in Christ.
- 40:42I will keep saying that and keep saying that
- 40:43until the sing sin, you know,
- 40:45that our new identity is tied to his presence in us.
- 40:50It's not tied to anything else.
- 40:51It's tied to his presence in us.
- 40:53If we, if we, if we lose sight of that,
- 40:56we lose sight of everything,
- 40:57which is what brought us to this place in the first place.
- 41:00Praise God.
- 41:01And that is what will lead us to the,
- 41:03the Galatians five verses 22 and 23.
- 41:06We're going to spend a bit of time to look at
- 41:09before we close.
- 41:10We in the Galatians five to 22 and 23 says,
- 41:13but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
- 41:16long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- 41:19gentleness, self-control.
- 41:21Against such, there is no law.
- 41:24Against such, there is no law.
- 41:26And I want us to see that in Galatians, right?
- 41:29And that's in Galatians 18.
- 41:31In that 18, in that Galatians five is 18.
- 41:34What he says is that we are, we are led by the spirit
- 41:37and we're not under the law.
- 41:38So what he says, but if you are led by the spirit
- 41:40and you're not under the law,
- 41:40I read it from the NLT says,
- 41:42but when you are directed by the spirit,
- 41:44you're not under obligation to the law.
- 41:46It says the law of Moses.
- 41:48So understand that, as I said earlier,
- 41:51there's a walk in the spirit and there's a,
- 41:54because your walk in the spirit means that he's the one
- 41:56that word led there.
- 41:57We see that same word in Romans eight verse 14.
- 42:02We see that same, that word led, it's a go.
- 42:05And it means that we're carried.
- 42:06It means that there's the leading, the carrying,
- 42:11the movement is not, we are empowered to move.
- 42:14We're not motionless, we're not static,
- 42:15we're not confused, praise God,
- 42:17because we, the spirit of God is very much a strong
- 42:21and a solid resource.
- 42:23And out of that spirit, certainly we see the things
- 42:26that comes that flows forth.
- 42:28This is bought this fruit.
- 42:29And please, when you, when we are reading,
- 42:32you want to look at single and plural.
- 42:34Sometimes you might not pay attention to it,
- 42:35but when you keep reading, you'll see it.
- 42:37It says, but the fruit of the spirit is love.
- 42:40It did not say the fruits of the spirit.
- 42:43It says the fruit of the spirit.
- 42:45And I want you to pay attention because that is very critical
- 42:48to what is being said here.
- 42:50It says the fruit of the spirit.
- 42:51And know that if you are looking at the fruit
- 42:54and then you're, they say fruit, you should see one.
- 42:59You should not start going, the fruit of the spirit is love,
- 43:02is, and you know, that means that what you are thinking
- 43:06it is, is not what it is.
- 43:08Because if you're thinking, if you're,
- 43:10if you were to read this properly in English,
- 43:12you will say the fruits of the spirit is,
- 43:14and then you now start going.
- 43:16But since this word here is not in original English,
- 43:23so we have to go to the word in it,
- 43:26the word that is used in the Greek.
- 43:29And the word there is carpos.
- 43:30And I, anytime I say this word, it just makes me laugh
- 43:34because it's like carpos.
- 43:36And carpos is also a fruit, it's melon, watermelon.
- 43:39The watermelon.
- 43:41So it's carpos, that's K-A-R-Car and pos, K-A-R-P-O-S.
- 43:47K-A-R-P-O-M, K-A-R-P-O-S.
- 43:49And that's the word.
- 43:51And it means to, it is to produce.
- 43:55And it's, it signifies both character and outcome.
- 43:58And we look at certain, we'll look at other places where,
- 44:02and know that this fruit now is not a result of self effort.
- 44:07And I'll keep saying it.
- 44:09This is not a result of self effort,
- 44:12but is the Holy Spirit walking in us and walking through us.
- 44:15It's a result of the Holy Spirit walking in us
- 44:17and walking through us.
- 44:18We're not the ones, the same way when we say at salvation,
- 44:21we, it is not our, we were not the ones
- 44:22that save ourselves by ourselves.
- 44:24It's what Christ has done that brings us in.
- 44:26And anything that's manifested in our throughout life
- 44:29is a product of what Christ has done.
- 44:31It's a product of what Christ has done.
- 44:33So I want us to look at certain places in scripture,
- 44:38mostly the New Testament, where the word fruit is used.
- 44:42And we'll see that all of them doesn't necessarily mean
- 44:47the same thing.
- 44:48Because when we think of fruit,
- 44:49we think of the fruit that you,
- 44:51well, there's certain places where it used
- 44:54as the physical fruit from a tree
- 44:57or physical fruit from a vine or whatever.
- 45:00That's certain places.
- 45:02And I'll read through the scripture
- 45:04and we'll see also there are certain places
- 45:05where it makes reference to action.
- 45:07So one, there are places where the ways that fruit
- 45:11will be described or we'll see fruit used in the Bible.
- 45:14One is a place, is a physical fruit from a tree,
- 45:18physical fruit from a tree.
- 45:19And two, we can see it as action, deeds,
- 45:23or results of an action.
- 45:24And you can see the rewards or the consequences of that.
- 45:28And then the last one, it will be used for descendants,
- 45:31descendants or child or children.
- 45:34You can use descendants, child or children.
- 45:36So you can see it in mainly, mainly those three formats.
- 45:39And a lot of it will be in the second,
- 45:43a lot of it in the second.
- 45:44So I'm just giving us these three.
- 45:45So we can look at it.
- 45:47So we'll look at Mark, Mark 11, Mark 11, 14.
- 45:51And we'll see it used as a physical fruit from a tree,
- 45:56physical fruit from a tree.
- 45:58And this is Jesus, this is Jesus speaking to,
- 46:03Mark 11 verse 14, this is Jesus speaking to the tree.
- 46:08In response, Jesus said to it,
- 46:11let no one eat fruit from you ever again.
- 46:17And his disciples heard it.
- 46:18So this is Jesus speaking to a tree,
- 46:21but we knew the background story is that he went to look for,
- 46:25he saw the fig tree was levy
- 46:30and then he went to look for fruit from it.
- 46:33And then he said this thing.
- 46:34So this is where he's used.
- 46:36Like I said, it means that we see it as that,
- 46:39that you're looking for a real or a physical fruit.
- 46:43And then also in Luke 13, 6 to 9,
- 46:47we see Jesus speaking of a parable of a barren fig.
- 46:51He is making reference to that as the fruit is so,
- 46:54from the fig tree itself.
- 46:57And you can, I want you to write this down.
- 46:59Luke 13, 6 to 9, we'll not read it.
- 47:03We know the parable and we know that what we make,
- 47:05what we made reference to is the fig itself in the parable.
- 47:09And then I want you to contrast it with Isaiah 5, 1 to 7.
- 47:14And in your own personal study or your own personal reading,
- 47:17just contrast it and see,
- 47:19is the song of the vineyard in Isaiah,
- 47:22Isaiah 5, 1 to 7, in contrast to the Luke 13, 6 to 9.
- 47:27Then I want us to move to the action deeds
- 47:30and the result of an action.
- 47:33Action deeds and result of an action.
- 47:34I would say the result of an action
- 47:36can be rewards or consequences.
- 47:37So it can be good, which is the reward
- 47:40and it can be consequences,
- 47:41which can be negative in a sense.
- 47:43So I want us to look at Matthew.
- 47:46Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
- 47:48Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
- 47:49Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
- 47:51Yeah, Matthew 7, 16 to 20.
- 47:54And I want us to read this says,
- 47:55you will know them by their fruits.
- 47:59See, you will know them by their fruits.
- 48:02Do men get figs from torn bushes or figs from tisils?
- 48:09Question mark.
- 48:10Even so, every good tree bears good fruits,
- 48:14but every bad tree bears bad fruits.
- 48:17So if you look at the first bit,
- 48:19it says you will know them by their fruits.
- 48:21So we know that this is speaking of results of act,
- 48:24like somebody's, like when somebody acts,
- 48:26you can trace to it.
- 48:27And then it now goes further to say every good tree
- 48:30bears bad fruits.
- 48:31And know that that second verse 17
- 48:32will be speaking of the tree
- 48:34and the fruit from the tree, physical fruit from the tree,
- 48:36but know that it's making reference to individuals
- 48:40that you can tell by the action.
- 48:41So we say the good fruits.
- 48:42And remember all of these things
- 48:44are contrasting to things.
- 48:46Something that is good and something that is bad.
- 48:50And then also let's look at Romans 1 verse 13.
- 48:53And Apostle Paul is speaking,
- 48:56and I want you to look at the context
- 48:59and see how it's used.
- 49:01I know that all these words here for fruits
- 49:03is the same capos.
- 49:06So 1 verse 13, it says,
- 49:08now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren,
- 49:13that I often plan to come, what was in that until now,
- 49:18that I may have some fruit among you also,
- 49:23just as among the other Gentiles.
- 49:27Know that it says some fruit.
- 49:29In the NLT, it says spiritual fruit.
- 49:32NLT uses the word spiritual fruit.
- 49:35Know that the fruit here will be meaning the reward
- 49:38or results of him preaching the gospel, praise God,
- 49:41will be the reward or the result of him preaching the gospel.
- 49:46So this is some,
- 49:48and because I know that it's not physical fruit,
- 49:50it is spiritual fruit,
- 49:53like the reward of what seeds on here,
- 49:56gotten a reward.
- 49:57So I want us to look at Philippians now.
- 50:00We'll see, Philippians 1, we'll see two verses there.
- 50:03Philippians 1 verse 11 and 22.
- 50:07Philippians 1 verse 11 and 22.
- 50:09Philippians 1 verse 11 and 22.
- 50:11So 11 says, being filled with the fruits,
- 50:16and please look at, it says fruits of righteousness,
- 50:21which are by, it says fruits, and then we see one,
- 50:26it says fruits of righteousness,
- 50:27which are by Christ to the glory of God
- 50:30and the praise of God.
- 50:32We can see that there are instances
- 50:33where you can have the one word,
- 50:35because even when we looked at a good tree,
- 50:39having or bearing good fruit, it's a good tree.
- 50:43Know that on a tree, you have many fruits of the same kind.
- 50:49On a tree, you can have many fruits of the same kind.
- 50:51So if it says a good tree,
- 50:53and then it says just one fruit, good fruit,
- 50:57it says a good fruit, it does not say good fruits.
- 51:00So it means that the words can go,
- 51:02you can have that because it's explaining,
- 51:05it's explaining that, okay,
- 51:06something that is good will produce this.
- 51:09Then we say, we saw in the Philippians 1 verse 11,
- 51:16where it says being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
- 51:20and then 22, I want us to look at 22.
- 51:2222 now is where we'll see that use of the,
- 51:25we'll see flesh now.
- 51:27It says, what I leave on in the flesh,
- 51:32this will mean fruit for my label,
- 51:37yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell.
- 51:42Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell.
- 51:44Remember what it says, it says,
- 51:45he now, this is still a possible speaking,
- 51:48he says, I leave on in the flesh.
- 51:52I leave on the flesh.
- 51:53But if you look at it from the,
- 51:55on the different translation,
- 51:56if you look at from the NLTU,
- 51:59see that he, the NLT uses, in 22,
- 52:04it says, but I leave and I do more fruitful work.
- 52:08I don't really know which one's better.
- 52:10If you look at even the 11,
- 52:12let me show you the 11,
- 52:14it says, now fruit of your salvation,
- 52:16righteous character produced by spirit of honor.
- 52:18So let's go, going back to the 22,
- 52:20you know that if it says, I leave in the flesh,
- 52:24it means the physical body.
- 52:25It's not when it says, leave in the flesh,
- 52:27it doesn't mean leave simple nature or the old nature.
- 52:32So it says, this will mean fruit for my labor.
- 52:35This will mean that, oh, there'll be,
- 52:37there's a result, there's a reward.
- 52:39There's a reward for every labor.
- 52:41There's a reward, so as I said,
- 52:43there's a reward for every labor.
- 52:45So on this one now, you know that it's very much
- 52:49not talking about the physical fruit,
- 52:51it's talking about the reward of his labor.
- 52:54And let's look at Romans again,
- 52:56Romans 22, Romans 6, 22, sorry, Romans 6, 22 and 23.
- 53:01It says, but having been set free from sin
- 53:06and having become slaves to God,
- 53:11you have your fruit to holiness.
- 53:14It says, your fruit to holiness
- 53:16and the end everlasting life,
- 53:19and the end everlasting life.
- 53:20For the widows of sin is dead,
- 53:21for the gift of God is eternal life in Christ,
- 53:24Jesus our Lord.
- 53:26And if you look at it here, it says,
- 53:30you have your fruit, the righteousness.
- 53:33So it means that the fruit will refer to what happens
- 53:35to a man when he's no longer on the scene,
- 53:38no longer a servant to sin.
- 53:40So this will be making reference to a man
- 53:42now that is in Christ, a man that is in Christ.
- 53:45And notice what it says, it says,
- 53:48oh, the widows of sin is dead, but the gift of God,
- 53:50remember when we talked about the gift of God,
- 53:52gift of God is eternal life, a translation will say,
- 53:55everlasting life, and then we see that,
- 53:58it says to the end, because we have the fruit
- 54:01to righteousness and the end is the same everlasting life.
- 54:04So everlasting life, eternal life,
- 54:06still making reference to the same thing.
- 54:08So it means that if word fruit here will be making reference
- 54:12to a man that is in Christ, a man that is in the spirit
- 54:17or a man that has his work and has the spirit of God in them.
- 54:21So I want us to look at the Ephesians, Ephesians 2,
- 54:24says we'll see the same thing in Ephesians
- 54:26and we'll look at it in New King James,
- 54:28Ephesians 5 is eight and nine, Ephesians 5 is eight and nine.
- 54:32I want us to look at Ephesians 5, eight and nine.
- 54:34It says, you were once darkness,
- 54:38but now you are light in the Lord.
- 54:41Notice the work, say, walk as children of light,
- 54:44means that the way, manner, character,
- 54:46all of those things will be consistent with
- 54:48our new reality and identity.
- 54:50Say, for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness,
- 54:54righteousness and truth.
- 54:56If you look at that in New King James,
- 54:58you will notice that there's on the spirit there,
- 55:01you will see the, I think you depend on
- 55:03which you have with you.
- 55:06You will see that there's, you'll see it marked there.
- 55:09If you look at it on your, on your,
- 55:13on your, the subscript, you will see NU.
- 55:16We say it's the Nestle, Allen Greek New Translation,
- 55:19we have discussed that in the Nestle, Allen Greek New
- 55:21Translation and the United Bible says,
- 55:23and you see light there.
- 55:25In that you see light, in that you see light.
- 55:28So it means that it will be the spirit of,
- 55:32the fruit of the spirit of light,
- 55:34the fruit of the spirit of light.
- 55:36From the NLT you see this is,
- 55:38for once we were full of darkness,
- 55:41but now you have light from the Lord.
- 55:45Say, so leave as people of light,
- 55:48leave as people of light.
- 55:51See for this light, and like the verse nine says,
- 55:54for this light within you produces only what is good
- 55:59and right and true, praise God.
- 56:01For this light in you produces only what is good
- 56:04and right and true.
- 56:06So the last one we should be looking at before we close
- 56:09is in Acts 2.30, which is the one that has to do
- 56:12with descendants, Acts 2.30.
- 56:14And it says, therefore, being a prophet
- 56:18and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him,
- 56:22that that of the fruit of his body,
- 56:24so uses the word fruit of his body,
- 56:26according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ
- 56:30to sit on his throne.
- 56:32So the fruit there will mean descendants.
- 56:34If you look at it from NLT, you see that is descendant.
- 56:36And you see on that instance in Luke 1, verses 24, 42, sorry,
- 56:42where we see Elizabeth speaking to Mary.
- 56:45And she says, blessed are you amongst women
- 56:48and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
- 56:50And we know that the fruit of the womb there
- 56:52will be making reference to the child.
- 56:54We're making reference to a child.
- 56:56So as I said, you can have it as the fruit from a tree.
- 57:00You can have it as action deeds or the results of an action,
- 57:03which can be the reward or the consequences.
- 57:06And then lastly, you can have it as a descendant,
- 57:09descendant or child or children.
- 57:11And all of this is to the end, I will understand that
- 57:13what we have in Christ or what we have by the spirit
- 57:17or what we have with the spirit residing in us is from God.
- 57:21And that expression of manifestation is through us,
- 57:26is produced by his person in us.
- 57:30And as a result of the identity we have in Christ,
- 57:33it's not our walkings that makes it work.
- 57:36What we are to do is as the words,
- 57:39we are to make manifest that which resides in us.
- 57:43And he says, living by the spirit and note that we said,
- 57:46renewing our minds ensures that we are able to walk
- 57:49in the fullness of what we have received.
- 57:51Renewing our mind ensures that we walk in the fullness
- 57:54of what we have received.
- 57:55Galatians 5 verses 24 to 25 says,
- 57:58and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh.
- 58:04You know that when we say crucified the flesh here,
- 58:06it's speaking of the old nature.
- 58:09Within, we say with its passions and desires,
- 58:13looks like it's passionate desires.
- 58:15If we live in the spirit, let us walk in the spirit.
- 58:18It says, if we live in the spirit,
- 58:20let us walk in the spirit.
- 58:21And I like the way NLT puts it, it says,
- 58:23those who belong to Christ have new passion and desires
- 58:26of their sinful nature to the cross
- 58:29and crucified them therefore.
- 58:3225 now says, since we are living by the spirit,
- 58:36I love the way it says,
- 58:37since we are living by the spirit,
- 58:38because we are living by the spirit,
- 58:40let us follow the laws leading in every part of our lives.
- 58:44Let us follow the laws leading in every part of our life.
- 58:47So living in the spirit is,
- 58:50what it ensures that we do is that we go through a process
- 58:53of allowing our minds be renewed by the spirit of God.
- 58:58Meaning that there's a transformation that takes place,
- 59:00our minds are renewed,
- 59:01and as we daily walk in that knowledge and identity
- 59:05that we have of our reality in Christ,
- 59:07we think very differently, we walk very differently.
- 59:10And the fruits find the expression through our characters
- 59:12that renew our mind,
- 59:14is anchored on what we have received.
- 59:16And this manifestation happens,
- 59:17and we're allowing the fruits that we have received
- 59:20to be displayed in our true life.
- 59:21So it means that as believers,
- 59:24we're not praying or we're not looking,
- 59:26we're not saying, oh, I want love to be made,
- 59:32I want more love to be manifest.
- 59:34That would be, you not knowing that you have
- 59:38the full expression of God's divine love already.
- 59:41What you should seek to do is to make it manifest.
- 59:46What to seek to do is to see it from God's word.
- 59:48Anybody that's doing anything otherwise
- 59:51is because they have a knowledge problem,
- 59:53is because we don't know,
- 59:54or we refuse to act on the word of God,
- 59:56what the word of God says.
- 59:57And the word of God is coming to us to help us to see,
- 1:00:00and to know that we have everything that we need for life,
- 1:00:05we need for life,
- 1:00:07or everything that we need for life and for goodness,
- 1:00:08we have all of those things,
- 1:00:10because we have gotten it as salvation,
- 1:00:12and we are meant to walk in it.
- 1:00:14We're not receiving more joy,
- 1:00:16we're not receiving more peace,
- 1:00:17we're not receiving more.
- 1:00:19All of those things are already residing in us.
- 1:00:21We are making them manifest.
- 1:00:23So in closing, I just want us to just declare this word,
- 1:00:27because I belong to Jesus.
- 1:00:29Because I belong to Jesus, I live by the Spirit.
- 1:00:32I live by the Spirit.
- 1:00:34I'm empowered to follow the Spirit's leading in all things.
- 1:00:38I'm empowered to follow the Spirit's leading in all things.
- 1:00:41I say yes to his promptings.
- 1:00:43I say yes to his promptings.
- 1:00:45I know, and I see,
- 1:00:47I know, and I see every of God's resources,
- 1:00:51or abilities manifest through my life.
- 1:00:55I know, and I see every of God's abilities,
- 1:00:58and resources manifest in and through my life.
- 1:01:00My mind is continually transformed by the word,
- 1:01:04and I grow spiritually.
- 1:01:05My mind is continually transformed by the word,
- 1:01:08and I grow spiritually.
- 1:01:09God's ability is manifested in and through my life.
- 1:01:13God's resources is manifested in and through my life
- 1:01:16in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray.
- 1:01:18Amen and amen.
- 1:01:23Thank you for listening to today's sermon.
- 1:01:26Your journey matters to us.
- 1:01:28Let's keep walking together.
- 1:01:30Visit our website for more resources,
- 1:01:33and follow us on social media to stay updated.
- 1:01:37Feel free to check the show notes for additional insights.
- 1:01:41If today's message was a blessing, share it with a friend.
- 1:01:45Until next time, be blessed.