THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT:SUNDAY OUTLINE  (BRO. EMMA OKORIE)      24TH MARCH, 2024

TOPIC: THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Everything God produces is the fruit of the Spirit.

No one can bear good fruit without the Holy Spirit within him.

The Holy Spirit is responsible for all kinds of fruit production.

So He is the mother that carries all of these fruit.

Whatever  that comes out of the body of the Spirit is  fruit, whether it is Motivation fruit, Character fruit or Power fruit. 

If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you will definitely produce fruit.

As you yield yourself to Him,  expect all these gifts in operation in your life; be hungry and desirous of them.

This is the only evidence to show that Christ lives in you.

The Holy Spirit is diverse and versatile in its operation.

The supernatural Gifts  – Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, tongues, interpretation and discerning of spirits.  All these gifts are the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 12:4-11(KJV) Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

The Holy Spirit wants to transform our character so that we show the fruit of the Spirit, which includes the  fruit of love, fruit of joy, fruit of peace , fruit of long suffering. Fruit of gentleness, fruit of goodness, fruit of faith, fruit of meekness, fruit of temperance.

Gal 5:22-25(KJV)22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

motivation gifts are all the attributes of the Holy Spirit – prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, ruling and mercy – Rom 12:6-8(KJV)6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

We cannot detach or separate the fruit and  the  gifts of the Spirit from the power of the Holy Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit provides a fertile ground for the operation of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus emphasized the importance of the fruit of the Spirit; I will give you the comforter, and He will teach all things.  John 14:26(KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

A Christian has no other life to live than the life to bear the fruit of the Spirit when the Holy Spirit conquers your  sinful natures.

Gal 5:16-26(NLT)16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

It is clear that you can always tell the fruit each and every one of us is producing. It is an indication of whether the fruit we produce is for the devil or for Christ.

V13-15 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS:

1.     The Holy Spirit helped create the universe – Gen 1:2-4(NLT)2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

2.     The Holy Spirit played a significant role in Jesus’ earthly life and the early Church.

Jesus incarnated on earth through the Holy Spirit power Matt 1:20-21(NLT)20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1-5 described how God sent the Spirit to the believers in the early Church- Acts 2:1-6 (NLT)2 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

3.     The Holy Spirit helps believers  grow spiritually and bear fruits – 1 Cor 6:9-11(NLT)9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

4.     The Holy Spirit guides believers into all truth – John 16:12-13(NLT) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

5.     The Spirit baptizes believers and gives them spiritual gifts – 1 Cor 12:4-13(NLT)4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

6.     The Spirit helps believers to pray – prayer is a fruit. Rom 8:26-28 (NLT)26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

7.     The Spirit testifies about what is true   – John 15:26-27(NLT)26 “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

Rom 8:16-17(NIV)The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

8.     The Spirit gives believers  hope and joy – Rom 15:13(KJV)13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Without the fruit of the Spirit, there is no power. Acts 1:8(KJV)8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit – John 3:5-8(NLT) 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

The fruit of the Spirit is responsible to raise one from the dead – Rom 8:11(NLT)11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

We can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit – 2 Cor 13:14 (NLT)14  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Holy Spirit is a vital part of the Trinity that comprises God.

Holy Spirit scriptures reveal that the Spirit is close to us working powerfully in believers’ lives.

As we learn more about the Holy Spirit through the bible, we can experience awe that  inspires us to pursue closer relationship with Him.