The Fruit We Bear

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of October, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been talking about God’s Holy Spirit, and mostly about how He lives within those who believe in Jesus as God’s Son and accept Him as their Lord.  Last week we saw that we are baptized by the Spirit when we do accept Jesus, and I touched on the question of how do we show evidence of that baptism.  What is our outward sign of the inward change He brings?  The Apostle Paul gives us the answer.

Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in chapter 5 of his letter to the Galatians, verses 16 through 25, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

--Galatians 5:16-25 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, because You have given us Your Spirit to live within us and be with us always, You want us to live each day as Your Spirit guides us, walking our daily walk as He directs us.  Too often though, Father, we let our flesh direct our path.  The world’s grip on us is still tight.  Please help us to let go of the world and all the temptations it offers.  Help us be true to Your Spirit, and ever faithful to You.

Speak to us now, Father, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us through Your Spirit what You would have us do in our service to You and Jesus so that others may see the fruits of the Spirit we bear.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


In your bulletin you will find an excerpt from Charles Ryrie's book, So Great Salvation.  In that book, Ryrie also answers the question of what fruits might a Christian bear.  Let me summarize his response:

"One, a developing Christian character is fruit.  If the goal of the Christian life may be stated as Christlikeness, then surely every trait developed in us that reflects His character must be fruit that is very pleasing to Him.  Two, right character will result in right conduct, and as we live a life of good works we produce fruit.  Three, those who come to Christ through our witness are fruit.  Four, we may also bear fruit with our lips by giving praise to God and thankfully confessing His name.  Five, we bear fruit when we give money. Paul designated the collection of money for the poorer saints in Jerusalem as fruit."


I think these might better be considered as ways of seeing the fruits of the Spirit at work.  Note in the bulletin insert that Ryrie also says we might not be able to see or discern another person's fruit.  But we should definitely be able to discern the fruits within ourselves.  God certainly can, for He can see into our hearts.


In our scripture, Paul describes how God’s Holy Spirit battles against the flesh, and especially the lusts or desires of the flesh.  He says the two are contrary to one another, and because of that inner struggle we too often do not do the things we really wish to do.

Paul himself suffered from this conflict.  In chapter 7 of his letter to the Romans, he basically says that he does not do the things he wants to do, but does the things he does not want to do.  In other words, he doesn’t want to sin, but he can’t seem to help but sin.  We know how that is, don’t we?  We don’t want to hate other people, but there are some we just can’t seem to help but hate.

Paul goes on to list some of the evidence of the flesh at work, such as acts of adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, magic, hatred, contentiousness, jealousy, outbursts of temper, greed, envy, murder… and the list goes on and on.  I think we can call these the fruits of the flesh.  Then Paul lists some of the fruits of the Spirit, evidence of the Spirit at work within us: love, joy, peace, great patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, self-control.

Our congregational reading this morning speaks of the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit, doesn’t it?  Loving others, striving to understand them.  Being humble, doing what we do as a sign of thanks and gratitude to our Father God rather than to receive praise or glory for ourselves.  Seeking God’s help, especially when we feel we can’t go on, rather than rely solely on our own resources.  Remembering that God loves all of His creation, much more than we ever could.


Now as in so many instances, what Paul wrote to the Galatians is actually based on something that Jesus said during His ministry on earth.  And this just goes to show how much Jesus shared with Paul while he was blinded, how great an insight Jesus gave him, since the pre-conversion Saul never walked with Jesus and in fact worked against the church!

Listen to what Jesus said during His “Sermon on the Plain”, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Gospel account, chapter 6 verses 43 through 45…

43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

--Luke 6:43-45 (NKJV)

Jesus says a tree is known by its fruit.  Not only that, but a good tree will not bear bad fruit.

Does this conflict with what Paul said about too often giving in to the desires of the flesh rather than the leadings of the Spirit, of sinning even when we don’t want to?  I don’t think so.  Jesus states that a good person, out of the goodness of their heart, will do good.  But those with evilness in their heart will do evil.  What is in our heart makes all the difference.  And even though as Ryrie noted we may not be able to see into another person’s heart, God can.  God knows if we are good or evil at heart.

Our sins, our doing wrong when we want to do right, are forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus.  We just need to be extra careful not to keep doing the same things, the same sin, over and over.


God knows our hearts.  He knows if His Spirit is indeed within us.  We can’t hide from Him, nor can we fake His Spirit’s effect on our lives.

There are many good people in this world who do good things, who exhibit signs that we could see as fruits of the Spirit within them, yet are damned to eternal torment because of their unbelief.  If they do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, if they do not accept Him as their Lord and Master, following Him, obeying Him, then God’s Spirit is not within them and they are condemned, no matter how much good they do!  God sees all, God knows all, God cannot be fooled.


Family, we need to take a close look at ourselves, a close inward look.  Can we see the fruits of God’s Spirit within us?  Can we see evidence of His influence in our daily lives?  To put it bluntly, coming to church on Sundays and sitting in the pews listening to a sermon does not make a person a Christian any more than sitting in a garage going “vroom-vroom” makes them a car!  If a person is not truly a Christian, a follower of Christ, then the Spirit of God is not within them, no matter what they do!

God’s Spirit can make the evil heart good.  He will lead us to do good, to do as Jesus wants us to do, if we just follow His lead.  We just need to believe.  We just need to let go of the world and give ourselves over to the Spirit within us.

Let go and let God.  Believe in Jesus, follow the Spirit, do good, please God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, when we accept Jesus as Your Son, You give us the wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit to live within us, to lead us, to guide us, to always be with us.  If we just follow Your Spirit’s lead, we could break away from the binds of our fleshly desires that tie us to the world.  But too often we do what we really don’t want to do, down in our hearts.  The temptations of the world are very strong and alluring.  Help us, please Father, to resist Satan’s pull, to turn from those temptations, to walk as Your Spirit directs us.  Help us to bear the fruits of Your Spirit that the world might see You in us and all we do.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, those who believe in You have God’s Spirit within us.  You washed us clean of our sin, but that does not give us license to keep on sinning, to go on living like nothing has changed.  God’s Spirit will change us.  We just need to follow His directions.  Thank You, Jesus, for offering us salvation.  Please help us show our gratitude by doing as the Spirit leads, by showing His fruits in all we do.  Help us to live and walk in the Spirit each and every day.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.