The Fruit of the Spirit

I believe this week we are going to have a glorious week together in Jesus wonderful name. Thank you for being my wonderful family. I really mean that. I do not just say these words just to say something. I mean it with all of my heart. You are my family.

I thank God for you. I pray the Lord today will bless you, enrich you with his presence. meet all your needs in Jesus wonderful name and God's wonderful people said amen and thank you for being my wonderful partner. I really mean that. Today I want to talk to you about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us how important it is in our life to have the fruit of the spirit. You know, the Bible begins with fruit in Genesis 2 and finishes with fruit in Revelation 22. And the Lord told us in John 15 how important it is that we bear fruit for him and his glory.

Wonderful Jesus. Thank you for your word. Lord, I pray today that you'll be a wonderful teacher. Open our hearts, open our eyes, oh Lord, that we might see clearly the wondrous things of your word in Jesus precious name. And God's people said, "Amen." And amen. In verse five of John 15, the Lord said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches.

He that abideth in me and I in him." And that's the secret, by the way. the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. How beautiful when you pay attention and think about these words. For the Lord says, I am the vine. You are the branches.

When you take the branches off, the vine disappears. So we are all one in the Lord with the Lord. He that abideth in me. How simple it is just to abide in Jesus. abide in his presence and I in him by the Holy Spirit he abides in us.

The same bringeth forth much root. Not just root, not just root but much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. And then in verse 16 of the same chapter 15, the word of God tells us these beautiful words. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that he should go and bring forth fruit.

See, that's God's will for you and I. And that your fruit should remain and whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it to you. It's amazing how fruit in our life and answered prayer are connected are connected. you know, uh, by the fruit, the Lord said, you'll know them.

Not by their gifts, by the fruit you'll know them. And in Psalm one, in Psalm 1, let's go to the Psalms together because we see something very important here that we must be planted properly. If we want to have fruit in our life, we have to be planted properly.

It says, "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. So you can't bear fruit without water. That's the Holy Spirit. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither.

Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. So we have to be planted properly. And then the Bible tells us something else in Psalm 92 where it says they that be planted where? In the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of our God. That's in Psalm 92 verse 13 and 14.

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord. So it's very important if you want to bear fruit for the Lord, you must be there filled with the Holy Spirit. God's presence must be there in your life. The river of God, but also in the house of the Lord.

You cannot bear fruit without being in the fellowship of the saints. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. And then verse 14 says, "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing."

Now we we have to know that the identity of the fruit is in the vine. So the identity of the fruit is in the vine. Jesus is the one that produces it. Jesus is the one that produces the fruit. All we do is bear the fruit. See how simple it it it is.

We abide in the vine. He is the one who produces fruit. We are the one who show the fruit. That's so simple. So the fruit of the spirit is the fruit of the lord. The fruit of Jesus is the fruit of the spirit. And once you and I are in the vine, then the gardener, the father comes and prunes.

It says because in John 15, let's go back to the gospel of John 15 verse one and verse two talks about that. It says I'm the vine. I'm the true vine and my father is the husband man. So it's the father who is the governor who is responsible to keep the vine productive.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may that it may bring forth more fruit. So this is really important that it's the father's responsibility to keep this vine and the fruit productive in your life and my life.

But we have to cooperate with him. We have to cooperate with him. So uh that happens uh you know God Almighty let me just show you a beautiful scripture here in Luke 13. In Luke 13 and verse 6 through9 God Almighty gives us this amazing parable in Luke 13 beginning at verse 6.

It says he spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came and sought fruit there on and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard. Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.

Cut it down. Why cometh it the ground? And he answered and said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit well but if not then afterward thou shall cut it down. So here here we see that uh God gives us time you know the Lord in grace gives us time to to to develop our Christian life to grow in the Lord.

So you know he wants us to grow. He wants us to to be fruitful. So he gives us time to grow and so we have to cooperate with him. This is very very important. And please don't forget what I just gave you from John 15. Let's go back to John because I want you to keep in mind what verse two says about this.

Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he will purge it. So it's it's important to to understand that when when you're bearing fruit, God will will come and purge you. There will be trials. there will be you know persecution in your life there just a part of it that you may bring forth more fruit now let's go to Galatian Galatians and there's a lot about what we want to show you here now from Galatians 5 Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit and notice it is the fruit not fruits so nine uh revelations really of of the fruit of the spirit.

So it's a fruit but here we see a well-rounded cluster of nine graces called fruit and u so for it says let's just begin reading uh Galatians 5 and let's begin reading at verse 22. All right this is so precious. Make sure you have your Bible and let's uh read together.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And I like what it says in verse 24 because this is key. And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with their affections and lusts. You know, it's impossible to really see the fruit of the spirit if someone is living in the flesh.

We have to crucify the flesh before we see Jesus living through that individual. So, but let's uh look at one by one. So, it says the fruit of the spirit is love. Now, again, nine beautiful graces in one fruit. The first key and this is the foundation to all the others really it because without love there will be no joy.

There will be none of the other graces in our lives. So the key to all others here we see is love which is directed towards the lord himself. When you love Jesus, God imparts to you his love. And now we love the Lord. The love of God is shabard in our hearts.

It says by the Holy Spirit. So we surrender to the Lord. And when you surrender to the Lord, amazingly something happens to you. It says in Romans 5:5, "And and and hope and hope make you not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.

Yesterday, you know, I was talking about the the the the amazing miracle that you and I love Jesus having not seen him. Think about that. That he is so real to you. He's so real to me that we love him. And it will be a joy for us to die for him.

Literally, I mean that with all of my heart. It's our greatest joy as believers to offer our life to him. And if and if it means literally if it means death with joy. With joy because why? We love him. We absolutely love him. I love him with every part of my being.

And you do too. That's why we do what we do. That's why we are with you every day. And you're there listening. Why? because you love the Lord. So this love is so important that the lack of it in Revelation 2:4 says that the Lord will rebuke those who lack the love, his love.

So think about the lack of it brings a rebuke from the Lord. In Revelation 2:4, he rebuked the church in Ephesus for lacking that love. He said, "You have forsaken your first love." for his love. And and uh here it says very clearly in Ephesians that only loving Jesus will lead us into the fullness of the Lord.

The fullness of God cannot be known without loving the Lord. Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians 3 verse 18. You know, I think about something all the time. Well, the Lord said, you know, by their fruit you'll know them. Not by their gifts, by the fruit. And I want to say something else later about this because it's so important to know.

How do we recognize the fruit? Well, quite simple really. It's Jesus. He produces himself. He shows himself through you and I. We we we see his love. We see his mercy. We see his forgiveness. with his kindness on and on. You know, how can you love your enemies unless Jesus is loving them through you?

How can you forgive those who speak against you unless he's forgiving through you? You know, I think about how the Lord forgave on the cross. That's such a powerful statement. Forgive them for they know not what they do. He forgave his enemies on the cross. And often, you know, uh I've been asked often, well, do we forgive when they ask for forgiveness or do we forgive because we just need to forgive?

I said, well, how did Jesus forgive on the cross? How did he forgive? Nobody said, "Forgive me, Lord, at the cross. He just forgave. Forgive them. They know not what they do." That's our example. And amazing that that was his one of his last requests on the cross.

Forgive them. They know not what they So it's it's so important and you and I in Ephesians 3:18 it says may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and the length and the depth and height meaning the love of the Lord and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now earlier in verse 17, he said that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love in his love. So when you love the Lord, you'll be able to comprehend with all things. It's impossible to know the fullness of the joy of salvation comprehending with all saints the the the breadth or the how wide it is and the length and the depth and height of that love by the spirit we know it.

And to know the love of Christ which patheth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. When when the Lord forgives us, think about what happens to us. We grow to love him even more. We grow in love because we see his love for us because it says he loved us before we loved him.

And you see that love and you think about that every day of your life. Every day I think about his love for me because we just are awed by that that he would so love you and so love me. Think about this. The God of glory, the God who created the heavens and the earth became flesh and died on a cruel cross.

He humbled himself and became a man and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It says in Philippians, and was and took your sin and my sin upon himself so we will not be punished. He took our punishment. He took our shame. He took our pain.

And he died for you and me. What love is this? What love is this? And he answers prayer even the very whispers of our hearts. What love is this? He watches over us every single moment of of our life. What love is this? And when we when it's time for us to go home, he receives us to glory.

What love is there? It's his love. It's his love. That's why you and I were not born to know our families. We were born to know him, to know him. Because sooner or later, the families will go, mommy, daddy go, brothers and sisters go, and so on. But the Lord never leaves us.

What love is this? What love is it to say, I shall never leave you. I will never forsake you. What love is this? What love? It's love. I'm with you always. Think about those words. Full of love. He thinks about you more than there are stars in the heavens and sands on the seashore.

That's love. He counts the very hair on your head. Love. Think about it. And when we begin to love him, it says now we we we become filled with his beautiful fullness. I be filled with all the fullness of God. Now joy. Wow. That gift uh gives us strength and remember it's the foundation of every fruit is love.

Without love there is no joy, no joy. So here and and the others one by one they they all disappear without love. But joy uh Nehemiah 8:10 it says the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. So when that joy fills your heart, you will know you'll know strength and and that joy is the result of knowing the Lord and knowing his salvation.

Remember what David said in Psalm 51:12, "Restore unto me the joy, the joy of your salvation. It comes from knowing the Lord, from being born again. Uh Isaiah 12:3 says, "With joy shall you draw waters out of the wells of salvation." And then you will say, "Praise the Lord."

You start to praise the Lord. And and and the Lord told us very clearly, it's God's word that produces it in us. We need the word of God in us to see that joy. So yes, love is the foundation, but remember when you read his word and you see him through his word, not only do you see his love, but God gives you joy, incredible joy through his word.

So uh in in John 15:11, the Lord said, "These things have I spoken to you that your joy might remain. those things I've spoken. His word, his word gives us joy. You know, there's nothing boring about our faith in Jesus. It's unspeakable. Joy unspeakable and full of glory.

That's our salvation. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. Why? because of the word that I have spoken unto you. And now it says very very clearly in Jeremiah 15:16, "Thy words were found." Thy word, wow, was found.

You know, in fact, let's let's uh read that together. Let's read that together because there's something in here that I like to to uh point out and I think it's so mighty really. Thy words were found and I did eat them. Now, how do you eat the word?

Meditation. And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by thy name, oh Lord God of hosts. You know when the Lord calls you to be his child, something happens to you when you open the Bible. A lot of people read the Bible, but when when that someone who reads the Bible does not know the Lord, it's really there's no joy because it's it's just logos word, you know.

It's empty. But when you know the Lord now, you meditate upon his word. You receive his word for yourself. Thy words were found and I did eat them. You know, uh, a few weeks ago, I began to do something that really began to affect me deeply. You know, when you read the epistles, you read the prayers of Paul the Apostle.

And I began praying those prayers for myself, you know, and and I began to weep as I was praying them with joy. The tears were were flowing and I'm thinking, dear Lord, how amazing that when I opened the Bible and when the word of God gets in me, there's such such joy.

Uh I'm I'm reading now, of course, you know, Genesis. I'm actually almost done with it now because I read the Bible once every four months and I'm there with the story of Joseph. I'll be done with the book of Genesis tomorrow. And I'm reading to just the love of God in in in in the way he led Joseph into Egypt, in the way he used him, in the way he blessed him.

There's just so much in there. Do you know that the name Pharaoh gave him means savior? Savior. And that to me is amazing. He is a revelation of the Lord to you and I in the old covenant because when you see Joseph, you see the Lord in that story.

And and there just a joy comes just I'm I'm so thankful for the Lord that I have the Bible that we have the Bible to read. Where would we be without it? Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.

We all have experienced that. But then he said, "For I'm called by your name, oh Lord, God of hosts." Ain't that beautiful? Now I'm going to continue this tomorrow because I want to talk to you about peace. Peace is the third grace in that fruit of the spirit.

Think about the billions of dollars people spend, the world spends on finding peace. Peace and they cannot find it. And Jesus said, "My peace I give to you. My peace I give." And I want to talk to you about that tomorrow. There's a lot in just that one beautiful portion here about the peace of God that passes all understanding.

The peace that Jesus gives only he gives that kind of peace. Lord I thank you and I pray that your blessed Holy Spirit now will fill every person watching. Everyone listening and receiving. Lord bless them greatly. Lord bless them mightily. Use them. I pray. Let the fruit of the spirit manifest through each one of them.

Use them Lord to win souls. to bring many to the cross in Jesus precious and wonderful and glorious name. God's people said amen and amen. I leave for Brazil actually tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th. Uh and uh please pray for me as as as I'm in Brazil. We begin in in S.

Paulo uh on the 18th this week and then I go from there to Salvador city up north Brazil and then I go to Santa Katrina. Thousands of people will be in those meetings in the three cities. I'm praying that God will save many and heal many and glorify his name above all that the name of Jesus will be highly highly glorified and highly exalted.

So thank you for your love. Thank you for your support and thank you for your prayers. Uh and then I'll be back the 27th 27th of March before we're back. Then of course we get ready for Africa in May. May is Africa because I go overseas every 60 days cuz I need time to recover, you know.

Uh but anyways, in May I am in uh the Ara coast. I'm in Ghana and it's two countries in May and then we come back home for only a few days and I go to Guatemala early June. June five and six I'm in Guatemala and then I'm then the end of June is the conference on the Holy Spirit the global conference on the Holy Spirit in Uganda.

There's going to be over over now they tell me 250,000 pastors and leaders are coming Think about that. We were in Uganda last year for the crusade. This is a gathering of leaders, a gathering of pastors from all over the world. Over 133 nations have registered to come to the conference.

It's going to be incredible. And if you're a pastor, you're watching and listening, you're also invited. You just have to go to the website and and just register. Well, anyways, thank you again for your love and your support. I'm asking many of you to become partners with our ministry and uh the information is on the screen for you.

But if the Lord just speaks to you just to give a one-time gift, you just obey the Lord and he will bless you mightily for loving him and let's get the gospel to the whole world. Much love. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm I'll be taping right before I leave, in fact.

So, I'll I'll see you tomorrow for the beautiful teaching. Much love. Bye-bye. >> These are the last days. If you are a Christian, you must stay alert. And if you do not know Jesus as your savior, now is the time to receive him and understand Bible prophecy. The prophecy pack will open both your natural and spiritual eyes to recognize not only what is happening but why it is happening.

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