THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE

Galatians 5:22-23 

Introduction: Last time we started this series on the fruit of the Spirit.  When we were saved, we acquired a new nature that is in total war with the old nature.  Our old nature wants to win.  We can have victory in this war. 1^st John 5:4

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

      The fruit of the Spirit is a package deal.  You cannot do it like a buffet table.  “I want a large helping of love.  Then I want a generous portion of joy.  But hold the temperance.”  It does not work that way.  The Holy Spirit wants to produce all of these virtues in our lives.  Why?  So Jesus can be seen in our lives and that others may want Him too.  We will also with peace with ourselves if the fruit of the Spirit is evident in our lives.

      I spoke about some lessons that we know about fruit in the Bible.  Some years back, I was reading my Bible and read this passage and made some notes in the margin of my Bible.  Let me give you those thoughts.  These are not profound but they do make sense and fit here.

1. Fruit matures when it stays connected to the source of its nutrient.

2. Fruit only comes from living orgasms.  It is not a natural creation of us.

3. Fruit benefits someone other than itself.

4. Fruit is enjoyable.

5. Fruit only lives when something dies.

6. Fruit must be cultivated.

7. Fruit must be used or it will rot.

8. Fruit tells what kind of tree or vines it is.

      We will be looking at the first virtues that come from the Holy Spirit.  Martin Luther pointed out that the work of the Spirit of God in our lives is not like the work of our flesh but fruit of the Spirit.

      When you think of the works of the flesh as Paul tells us in verse nineteen of chapter five of Galatians, you can think of a factory.  But when you think of the fruit of the Spirit, you can think of a farm. 

      I read this somewhere.  For a fruit tree to have the sweetest fruit, it has to have thirty-three days of freezing cold weather.  The sap is slowed down.  When the thaw comes the sap goes to the branches and into the fruit giving its sweetness.  Many times the fruit of the Spirit to have the sweetness in our lives will have to have time to work in us before it is seen us.  Many trials may come our way but that it is part of the Holy Spirit’s plan to cause us to have the sweetest fruit.

      Let me throw this out as part of the introduction.  I said last time that the first three virtues could be seen Godward.  They are love, joy and peace.  Each of these three can be seen in the Trinity in which we have the Love of God, the joy of the Spirit and the peace of Christ.

      This time we will be looking at the first of the virtues or the first part of the fruit of the Spirit- LOVE

      Love is the root of all fruit.  It is what binds the three sections together.  It is the life giving sap and substance to the rest of the cluster.  Love is the color of the fruit.

      A. B. Simpson wrote this about love and how it relates to the rest of the fruit.  Joy is love triumphing.  Peace is love reposing.  Longsuffering is love enduring.  Gentleness is love refined.  Goodness is love in action.  Faith is love confiding.  Meekness is love with bowed head.  Temperance is true self-love.

      Man is born basically selfish.  If you don’t think this is so, look at the account of Cain and Able in the fourth chapter of Genesis.  Cain showed selfishness by wanting his sacrifice approved by the Lord. 

      Man may develop love but you will never develop the kind of love that the Holy Spirit develops in you.  There are two types of love found in the Bible.  Some people say three.  The word "love" in our society is basically lust inside of true love.  This type of love is puppy love.  It is real to the puppy.  But this is not real love.  Lust does not last for the long run. 

      There are two words in the Greek for love.  They are agape which is love that God gives and phileo, which is more than affection or a friendly love.  The agape love is the love that is part of the fruit of the spirit.  Phileo or friendship love may draw someone but agape love will keep him or her there.     Psalm 119:165

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

      People who love the Lord and His Word are impossible to offend if agape love is present.  But it is usually the works of the flesh in one way or another that causes the problems. 

I.  A REALISTIC DEFINITION OF THIS LOVE IS THE LOVE THAT GIVES SELFLESSLY, EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN.  IT IS A GENEROUS LOVE, A LOVE THAT DOES THAT WHICH THE ONE BEING LOVED NEEDS, NOT NECESSARILY WHAT THEY DESIRE.

                                                 1^st Corinthians 13:4-7

             “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

            As I pasted those verses into this message, I realized that the fruit of the Spirit could be seen here also.  Charity suffereth long is the longsuffering that we see in Galatians chapter five.  Rejoiceth is joy.  Endureth all things is the gentleness.  Doth not behave itself unseemly is goodness. 

            We see a word here that is changed in almost every English version of the Bible except our King James Bible.  It is the word “charity”.  Charity here is agape love but it is love put into action.  Love has a visible face and that face is action.  Brother James illustrates this in his epistle.  James 2:14-16

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”     

            Here is love in action.  If you can help, your love is put in action and you will help in the case of your brother or sister in Christ.  I realize that some people put themselves into situations but there are some genuine needs that can be met with your love in action or Christian charity.

            Sometimes the Word of God uses the word LOVE and at other times the word CHARITY. Those times in your King James Bible where CHARITY is used; obviously the correct word is CHARITY and often we try to clear up the word CHARITY by substituting the word LOVE.

            The word CHARITY is more of a PIN POINT aspect of love.  Here it is and let's not forget it. CHARITY is how love is made VISIBLE. Charity is the ENGINE that drives love. Charity is the mechanics of love. Charity is the character of love.

            Our problem most often is not LOVE, its CHARITY. CHARITY makes love VISIBLE.

It can be illustrated this way.  Sometimes folks get divorced even though they still love one another. A man may say, I love my wife but I just can't LIVE with her anymore. It isn't love that's lacking; it's CHARITY. Marriages do not fail for lack of love; they fail for lack of CHARITY.

            You can just go ahead and trust your old King James Bible to have the right word.  So, love, with pinpoint accuracy says that CHARITY covers a multitude of sin.

            Do we love one another enough to forgive for wrongs committed? So often we mortals want to extract every ounce of remorse and repentance from an erring brother before forgiveness is rendered.

            Forgiveness cost God His Son on the cross…but what does it cost us to forgive? It may be our sense of JUSTICE. We want to see JUSTICE done…but wait, if God's justice has been satisfied, we ought to be satisfied with God's justice and forgo the satisfaction of our own sense of justice.  So we cannot hold a GRUDGE and be like God.  Love allows us to deal gently with each other, even when we are sinned against. 

II.  THE RESPONSIVE DELIVERING OF THE LOVE IS FOUND IN THE MOST QUOTE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE IN THE WORLD.

                                                      John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

      One preacher said this about God's love.  Mankind did not ask for a Saviour, nor really wanted one, but God gave Him because it NEEDED a Saviour.  That shows how much He loves us more than we ever love Him.   

III. THE RESOUNDING DEMONSTRATION OF GOD IS SEEN IN CHRIST FIRST.        Romans 5:8

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

      The Lord Jesus is the standard for the love that should been seen in our lives by the fruit of the Spirit.  How is it demonstrated in our lives?  It can be demonstrated in our married lives. Ephesians 5:5

                  "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" 

      The nagging question that comes from that portion of scripture is not from our wives nagging us but the Holy Spirit convicting us.  Do we love like Christ loved the church?  If you are demonstrating love as part of the fruit of the Spirit, you will have to love like God loves.  That can only come from God too.

      Let me give you four practical applications of this love.  This type of love should be seen in the church.  Instead of being a place of fights, it must be a place of real love that only God produces is seen.  Agape love should be our badge of identification.  Like a badge on the police officer identifies him as a police officer, the same should be said our of our love demonstrated in the church. John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

                  1. This type of love seeks the welfare of all.  

                                                Romans 15:2

                        "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification."

                  2. This type of love works no ill to any.

                                                Romans 13:8,10

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

                  3. This type of love seeks the opportunity to do good to all, especially to Christians.

                                                Galatians 6:10

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

                  4.  This type of love is the chief test of discipleship.

        John 13:35

                        "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."  

IV. THE RIGHTEOUS DECLARATION OF LOVE IS FOUND TWO-FOLD. 

                  A. You must remember that God is true love.

                                                1^st John 4:8

                        "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 

      If this virtue of love is seen in you, God placed it there.  This passage is plain.  I like things that are plain.  If you love like God then you are God's.  If you don't then you don't know God.

         B. Love is one of the greatest characteristics of God.  His greatest is His holiness.  But He demonstrated His love by allowing Christ to die to satisfy His holiness.  Augustine said this: "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." 

            There is no greater declaration that God loves through us.  The Apostle Paul gives us these thoughts on love in his letters.

                                                1^st Corinthians 13:13

                        "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

      Charity is love put into action.  If a brother in Christ is in need and you can help and you do help then you are showing love in action.

                                                Colossians 3:14

                        "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

      Having this virtue in our life will mature you.  There are enough immature Christians in this world so why be one? 

V.  THE REAL DIRECTION THAT THIS LOVE SHOULD BE IN OUR LIVES.  IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THIS.  LOVE SHOWS ITSELF IN OBEDIENCE TO HIM. 

                                                 John 14:15

                  "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

      That is just one of many other verses that spell it out.  Let’s look at a few others.  Turn with me to John 14. John 14:21-24

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”

                        Turn to John 15. John 15:10-14

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

      You really don't love God or others if you are not obedient to the Bible and God Himself.  Dr. Bob Jones made this quote famous.  "God uses the thermometer of obedience to test the temperature of love." 

Conclusion: That is the first of the virtues of the fruit of the Spirit.  The rest are so entangled with this one.  Without God's love in us and through us, it is impossible to have the rest of the fruit of the Spirit and be as mature and be as sweet as God wants us to be.

      We will be looking at the virtue of joy next time.  But today we ought to asking the Holy Spirit help us look like He loves.  There are lots of people that are hard to love but when seen through Calvary’s eyes, we can love them like God does.

      I want to close by reading something written by Amy Carmichael called, "If."

“If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think are my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

“If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

“If I feel bitterly toward those who condemn me, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

      Convicting isn’t it?