Why Wouldn't Everyone Want the Fruit of the Spirit? [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If someone had perfect love, then nobody would have fear of coming to that person to learn from them.

And instead, they would throng about them, no matter how many failures they'd had in their life, because here is hope in front of my very eyes. And he loves me. That's God. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Filled, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource today. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. Let's turn to Galatians, Chapter 5, as we continue to learn about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Galatians is one of those epistles of Paul in which he has, like he did in Romans, he has explained the importance of realizing we are not under the law. He associates the law with the flesh or the sinful nature.

He says that if we put ourselves under the law, then it's like putting ourselves back under the bonds of slavery. And we have been learning about how, in that sense, the law stands in contrast to the Spirit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Today in this text, as he turns his attention towards the fruit of the Holy Spirit, he's going to let us know that while our freedom is accomplished by Jesus Christ, that what we do really matters. And a lot of Christians struggle with this because as soon as we talk about what you do really matters, we immediately think and interpret that as law and try to put ourselves back up under the law to try harder to be good Christians. And I want to show you a different way from Galatians chapter 5, starting at verse 1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. So even in that verse you see, he announces the freedom, and then as soon as he announces it, he also says stand firm in it. So here's what Jesus has done. He's made you free.

Now you stand firm in this. Verse 13, you my brothers were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Now your translation may say the flesh. The NIV uses that phrase the sinful nature because the flesh can be misleading. Some people think that's talking about our physical body. The Bible doesn't teach that physical things are bad and spiritual things are good, but the carnal nature or the part of us that is inclined towards the things of the world and the things of sin and not inclined towards the things of the spirit.

That's what he's talking about. So he says, do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Rather, serve one another in love.

The entire law is summed up in a single command. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you'll be destroyed by it, each other. So verse 16, I say live by the spirit and you'll not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.

They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Holy Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. And I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Let me pause here in case I forget to say anything about that. I don't think that when you see the references to the kingdom of God that you should limit your thinking to one day we're saved, we go to heaven and we're in the kingdom of God. Jesus's primary teaching was repent, change your mind, the kingdom of God is at hand. And so clearly Paul is not saying that you're saved because you avoided doing all these bad sinful things. Everything Paul teaches us is that we're saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus, by faith, through grace, and no other way. So he certainly can't be saying that if you just don't do all these bad things, then you'll be saved. And if you do these bad things, then you won't be saved.

That's not what he's saying. What he's saying instead, I believe, is that if you are living your life like that, you're not going to be appropriating, inheriting, and receiving the stuff of the kingdom of God. He continues verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with his passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, here he is again, since you've been filled by the Spirit, since you've been born again by the Spirit, since we live by the Spirit, then here comes a command. Let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. And then chapter 6 verse 7, do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. And the one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. And what literally that could be translated is who sows into the Spirit. Let us, verse 9, not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Who wouldn't want the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

Who wouldn't want that? When ministers come into a church, they have to be, in our denomination, have to be approved by our presbytery. So they're examined about their knowledge of the Bible and theology, but they start out in front of all these elders and ministers, they start out their examination by sharing their testimony of how they came to know the Lord and how it was that they were called into the ministry. And the greatest that I ever heard that I have never stopped laughing about, and this must have been a dozen years ago, is a dear brother in our presbytery, a minister named Howard Finkel. Howard is a delight, he loves the Lord, and he is articulate, and he is quite a bright theologian. He grew up in a Jewish home, and he is one of those people who is very passionate, and he enunciates everything very well. And I think I do a pretty good Finkel imitation. Howard Finkel talks like this, and he talks deliberately and directly, and he's very articulate about whatever he's talking about. Well, Howard Finkel gave his testimony on the floor of presbytery, and I thought this was the single greatest line of a testimony I ever heard.

He said, I grew up in a Jewish home. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, my father wanted me to be a lawyer, but I chose a different path and chose to be a drug addict instead. Why is that so funny?

It's funny because it's crazy. Nobody in his right mind would choose to be a drug addict. Nobody chooses the fruit of the flesh. No child, when you're talking, what do you want to be when you grow up? No child says, you know, I mean, they say an astronaut, a fireman, or a policeman, or, you know, and scores of them say a pastor. That's what I want to be. But no child, you say, what do you want to be?

They say, well, I hope to maybe be a drug addict and live most of my life in jail. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Almost everything about New Testament Christianity is impossible by human power alone. Thankfully, God has never expected you to live the Christian life by your own strength. He has sent a helper and every single Christian is invited to live a super naturally empowered life through the continual infilling of the Holy Spirit. In a special bundle alongside the audio teaching, Pastor Alan has also written a booklet. Both the audio and the booklet not only explain the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but will nourish, inspire, and draw you nearer to the God who longs to immerse you in His love and power.

Discover how to be filled with the Spirit and get ready for your life to be filled with fresh love, joy, and power. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer.

Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. I have a little practice. I want to sit down with engaged couples and we're starting to learn about communication and do a little exercise where you get to talk for 60 seconds. The other one listens intently, repeats back what they heard so you can learn about communication.

I usually start with this little exercise. For the next 60 seconds, Groom, we'll start with you. Share what it is that you're so excited about about getting married.

You could share your dreams, how you envision marriage being, why you're delighted that you're going to be able to be married, how wonderful it'll be. You know, just 60 seconds to share. And it's always a delight to overhear that conversation. But nobody has ever sat there in my office and said, well, I envision for our marriage discord, jealousy, and maybe, if we're lucky, some fits of rage. Nobody chooses bad fruit. But what was funny about Finkel's comment is that on the other hand, he absolutely did choose that path. Paul answers this by saying, God isn't mocked. Whatever you sow, you reap. And everything operates in life according to sowing and reaping. He has said elsewhere that everything reproduces after its own kind, so you will reap what you have sown, and to the measure you sow, you'll reap.

And so it is in the things of the Spirit. And what he's saying is that the connection is between the seed that's sown and the fruit. And he turns our attention not to trying to manage the fruit. See, we try to manage the fruit, which means I'm doing bad things.

I'm going to try harder to be a good Christian. And it doesn't work. But the gospel, the good news of the gospel is that while you cannot manage the fruit, you have been given by God an unlimited potential to sow into the Spirit. And the problem is that it's like a mustard seed. And a mustard seed is very small, and you can barely see it.

And so since you can't barely see it, you don't think it's powerful. Because you don't connect the little mustard seed with the really big plant that will grow from it. But Paul keeps turning our attention back to how you sow. It's sort of like just the way we eat food and live our lives, and you don't really think that it's going to be related to it. I mean, nobody chooses lung cancer, but a lot of people choose to smoke. Nobody chooses coronary disease, but we choose potato chips and nacho cheese. And we don't choose, we don't choose, I know we can't talk about this in church, but we don't, we don't choose obesity, but we do choose the ice cream. See, I don't think about, I don't think about the, you know, the ice cream, the bite is so good.

You know, it is good. There's nothing wrong with eating ice cream. I mean, I recommend ice cream, but, but, but I don't, I don't think about, it's like the seed. You know, it just, it's just like, well, this is just a bite of ice cream.

I don't think about what that's going to add to, you know, my life. And in other words, we don't tend to think about the seed. And then here's the fruit. I'm like, oh no, what do I do about the fruit?

Let me manage the fruit. Somehow, something's got to change where we see the connection and understand Paul's saying the flesh, the sinful nature is not going to want to sow into the spirit. The sinful nature is going to want to sow into the sinful nature. And what he's just saying is that that sowing will produce its fruit.

It will produce its fruit. And it must be that something changes where instead of hearing law, when we hear about sowing into the spirit, we hear grace in that. That's what's changed for me. I have, it's wonderful news that Shame Off You, a book I wrote some years ago, it's helped a lot of people. The publisher, the parent company, Random House, is re-releasing Shame Off You under a new title. They want it to have more general appeal. And so they kind of gave it a title that sounds more like a secular self-help book, because they want, although the book hadn't changed at all, it's about the cross of Christ, the grace that is sufficient, how shame is really only healed in Christ. The book's the same, but they wanted to give it a broader title and cover and so forth, and put it in an inexpensive book, and hopefully it'll get out into more places.

And so that's fantastic. But we've been kind of having a conversation about the title that they've won, because the publisher gets the right to the title. And I just wasn't sure that they should change the title to what they changed it to. It's called Free Yourself, Be Yourself, Finding the Power to Overcome Your Past.

And so, obviously, if you just look at it, it's kind of a more secular sounding thing, and it's kind of a self-help. And I said, well, you know, the problem with that is, I mean, we don't free ourselves, right? I mean, I've had this conversation with the publisher. I said, I said, Jesus sets us free, and we need to come to Jesus to be set free. And I mean, what am I supposed to do? Pray with people?

And they come up to me after prayer? And I say, I don't come to me, free yourself. But I asked at one point, I asked the editor about this conversation in one of our conversations, and I said, well, I mean, how? He said, but this, I said, how does this give hope to people? You know, I said, why even do self-help titles?

Why are people even drawn to it? He said, it's this. He said, because to say free yourself is to say you're not stuck, you can do something. And that is a message of hope. In other words, there is a part of the announcement of the gospel that is to say, Jesus has accomplished all of this for you. Your sin has been paid for. That the jail cell has been opened.

Step out. And the announcement that you can step out is part of the good news. Now, if you see it as a law that you'll fail at and put you under more condemnation, it's not good news. But if you understand the announcement so into the Spirit, if you understand it as good news, then it becomes an exciting prospect to live your life in that way. So when I hear Paul say, God's not mocked, you reap what you sow, I no longer hear bad news in that, like, oh, yeah, well, see, that just shows I'm doomed.

I've made so many mistakes. So there you go. And we just try to manage the appearance and manage the fruit. Instead, I hear it, wow, I can sow in the Spirit and reap more from the Spirit.

There's more love, there's more joy, there's more peace, there's more patience to have than what I have now as I sow into the Spirit. In other words, you have unlimited, incorruptible seed that you can sow anytime you want to. And it will reproduce after its own kind.

That's good news. And God has always operated this way with His people. He is sovereign, and He has all power, and He has all of the plans are His, but in His sovereignty, He commands us to be obedient and to follow Him and to participate with Him. And in that command is the promise.

Change your way of thinking. Don't hear a command as an opportunity for you to fail and come under condemnation. See the command of God as the promise of God that empowers you to succeed at what He's called you to do. So God calls Moses out of a burning bush.

He says, I want you to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let My people go, for you will deliver My people out of their bondage. God is going to be the one who delivers them. God's the one who brings the plagues. God's the one who gives the instructions about the Lamb. God is the one who opens up the Red Sea.

God is the one who does all of that. But Moses is the one who's giving the instruction, the Word of God, holding up the staff as the Red Sea parts, participating with that which is God's work. So if God says, go, announce the failure of My people are going to be set free, go and lead the people out, then it must be God's got a plan by which He's going to enable you to do that.

So the promise is in the command. He tells Joshua. Joshua comes up to the edge of the Promised Land and he says, Joshua, I'm going to give you every place you step your foot.

And he describes the exact boundaries of the Promised Land. He said, it's yours. It's free. It's yours. I've given it to you. It is yours.

It is your inheritance. Now, go step your foot into the Promised Land and take it. They come to the Jericho walls and he says, I'm going to give this city into your hands and here's what you do.

You walk around it. It doesn't seem like that has any important part in it because God's the one bringing down the walls and all they do is march around it. But the only difference really between Joshua and the people who followed Joshua and their predecessors 40 years earlier who died in the wilderness was not a change in the promise.

The difference was Joshua went into the land and took it. Allen Wright. Today's teaching in the series called Filled, Why Wouldn't Everyone Want the Fruit of the Spirit? Stay with us. Allen is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and today's final word. Thankfully, God has never expected you to live the Christian life by your own strength. He has sent a helper and every single Christian is invited to live a supernaturally empowered life through the continual infilling of the Holy Spirit. In a special bundle alongside the audio teaching, Pastor Alan has also written a booklet. Both the audio and the booklet not only explain the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but will nourish, inspire and draw you nearer to the God who longs to immerse you in His love and power.

Discover how to be filled with the Spirit and get ready for your life to be filled with fresh love, joy and power. The Gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Allen, if I'm honest, I feel like as far as the controversial issues go, and in the series we've had a few, but this one seems to be one that I've not encountered too many people that shy away from this, other than maybe praying for patience, you know, things like that.

Right, right. In your ministry, how have you seen people misunderstand the fruit of the Spirit? Well, I don't think so much misunderstanding the fruit in the sense of, well, oh, some would say, oh, I don't want love, joy and peace in my life.

Nobody really says that. I think what I see in much of the subject of this message is, well, Paul says, don't be deceived. You reap as you sow. If you sow into the flesh, you sow into the sin nature. From that you'll reap. And if you sow into the Spirit, you reap.

I think the bigger issue for us is that we all want love, joy and peace. But it's interesting that sometimes we'll sow to the things of the flesh instead. You sow orange seeds, you're going to get oranges.

You'll never get apples from orange seeds. And that's kind of what Paul is saying. But it's a really good news message in this sense, Daniel, that if you sow into the Spirit, you reap from the Spirit. So we have, we don't live under law, but we do live by the principles of sowing and reaping and it gives us opportunity to build our lives around the habits of sowing into the things of the Gospel, sowing your heart and your thought, Laia, in the things of the Spirit. And you'll reap from that more and more fruit. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.