The
Fruit Of The Spirit Study Course
The
Fruit Of The Spirit Study Course
Lesson Eighteen – Summing It Up: The Bond Of Perfection
TEXT: Col. 3:12-16 - [12] Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; [13] Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. [14] And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness i.e. perfection. <EMPHASIS MINE> [15] And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. [17] And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
As we come to the final lesson in this series there is only one word to sum up everything we have talked about – LOVE. Love is the bond of perfection. Of all the nine-fold traits of the character of the Spirit within us – love is the “tie that binds.” Paul summed up the entirety of the Christian walk in these four verses in Colossians. Let’s take a quick look at this as we review and sum up the fruit of the Spirit.
If you notice the first two words Paul uses in summing up the Christian walk, he says “PUT ON.” There is a role we play in developing the character of Jesus within us. We cannot lean to either extreme that says the Lord does it all or the other end of the spectrum that teaches we do it all. The Holy Spirit births the character of God in our hearts, but we have choices we must make if we are to see that character come forth! What are we to “put on”? Paul lists five things:
Bowels of mercies
Kindness
Humbleness of mind
Meekness
Longsuffering
If you notice there are THREE of the nine gifts of the Spirit listed here – kindness, meekness and longsuffering. If you will also notice that nowhere in these five characteristics is there any thing or hint that we are to possess a proud, arrogant spirit! Paul is saying that if we are to operate and flow in the character of the Holy Ghost we must possess the trait of Jesus – humility. Jesus was “lowly,” “meek,” and of a servant’s heart. Mighty warriors of God are not those who brag how many devils they have cast out – they are humble people, usually wounded individuals who have fought some battles and have some scars. Their scars are the source of healing they bring to others along this path of life. They have “bowels of mercies.” In other words they do not look for ways OUT of serving others, they are always looking for ways TO serve others. They are quick to show mercy instead of pass judgment. They have deep compassion for souls. They have sincere motives and do not seek their own glory or promotion. They seek only the promotion of heaven’s Kingdom and the glory of the Lord Jesus. They want to see JESUS lifted higher- not their ministries or name. This is a subtle area of weakness in the body of Christ today. We walk a fine line between arrogance and confidence in Jesus.
I heard a recent sermon by Reuven Doron on “The Lamb of God.” One thing he said that has stuck with me every day since is that the very nature of the lamb is to be “led to the slaughter,” without resistance. In relation to this the Lamb is the revelation throughout scripture most used to describe CHRIST. Christ did not resist the world’s system nor did He seek to establish an earthly kingdom while here on earth. We must never forget that if Jesus would have wanted to He could have done this at any second!! But His call on earth was not building an earthly kingdom – it was building men – and delivering the sinner from His sin. His call was redemption. Redemption may require us to be led like sheep to the slaughter. Death always brings life. When we have the nature of Jesus inside of us we will have this type of character. We will have “bowels of mercies.”
Fruitful Christians are Christians who have come to an understanding that we must forbear and forgive one another. Everyone is not as perfect as we are! Of course we’re not so perfect either but some act like they are. Friend, the standard of righteousness for others is not YOUR CHURCH or YOUR DENOMINATION! It’s not YOU! The standard for righteousness for everyone is the Lord Jesus. None of us will obtain that in our flesh. That is why we must have the power of the Spirit living within us.
We also need to understand that heaven does not throw the towel in on people as quickly as we do. Heaven is not as shocked at the failure of others as we are either. The Lord knows we are but flesh. His desires for us are passionate love and desires that go beyond any temporal feeling we have here on earth. His purposes are eternal, not temporal. His vision for us is based on FAITH, not by what He sees or knows. He has FAITH is us that we are going to overcome in the end and not lose our faith. He has FAITH we are going to make the right decisions. He has FAITH that we are going to draw near to Him and if we do sin and make a mistake we are going to come to HIM and allow Him to cleanse us and deliver us and restore fellowship with us.
Some of you reading this right now are battling secret sins in your life. You are so condemned you cannot even read the writing on this page. Friend, the Lord loves you even in your weakness. And if the Lord loves us like that, then we as His Body need to love each other the same way. We have lost that compassion in the church today. We no longer seek out those who have fallen. Yet, those who have fallen are the ones who will be used the most in these last days because they will have the compassion it takes to deliver and save the lost world around us.
C. Let The Peace Of God Rule In Your Hearts
We are living in troublesome days. A lot of things have happened to our country even since the first writing of this course in 1995. Many more things are on the way. Not all of them are going to be rosy. Dark days are ahead for the nation and the world. War is a real possibility here in America. Many will die and lose their life. The only hope America has for her survival is revival.
As a believer, these days do not have to trouble you. You can have the peace of God that passes all understanding as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. That is the only hope for America and that is the only hope for you.
Paul also said that we are to “be thankful.” Fruitful Christians are thankful people. They are not selfish people who complain about things they don’t have. They are thankful for the things they do have. We are saved. We are in good health. The blood of Jesus cleanses us. Our Father God in heaven loves us. We have a family who loves us. We have a home, shoes, and food on the table, clothes to wear. Many of these things are taken for granted here in America. In other parts of the world a person would give a million dollars to have a pair of shoes we put on everyday without thanking God for. Friend, those days are coming to a close soon. We will no longer take God for granted because what is ahead may put us in a place where we will no longer be worrying about how we can build our house or build a bigger ministry. We will be concerned about the next breath we breathe!
Another key to survival in these last days is allowing the Word of God to dwell in you. There is no other source that will keep us on the path of life than the Word of God. The Word of God comes to us not only through the written scriptures but through the prophetic word as well. The prophetic word will never contradict what has been written already. We are to neither add nor take away from the counsel of scripture. But what is coming in the last days will require us to be so in tune with God we are hearing His voice through any means necessary.
Finally, Paul admonishes us to make sure that EVERYTHING we do, we do it in the name of the Lord UNTO HIM! A lot of the things you see today being done in the name of man is about to fall. A lot of the bragging and boasting and arrogance that has only bred MORE arrogance, bragging and boasting are about to cease. Man will have PRAISE OF GOD! When we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ our motives will be laid bare before us. Many will lose at the judgment because they only did the things they did to be seen of men.
I pray right now the Lord examine each one of our hearts to see what our motives are! If we are doing anything other than for the glory of God – we need to do one of two things. We need to repent immediately and began to do it for the glory of God or we need to just stop doing it! For if we are doing for our own glory (vainglory) it will not succeed anyway and in the end we will have wasted our life building a kingdom of our own that will just burn in the fire anyway. That is a sobering thought but it is a word of wisdom for living in these last days.
As we close out this study let me leave you with Paul’s thought. Above ALL THINGS – that is above your church, above your job, above your family, above your pursuit of riches, above your pursuit of a career, above your pursuit of a ministry, above your pursuit of a spouse – PUT ON LOVE! Love never fails and it will not fail us in these last days. Because sin abounds the love of many will wax cold. Many will depart from the faith. Many will give into seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Many will leave the Kingdom of God because of the pursuit of the deceitfulness of riches. I heard of a minister the other day that left the ministry because as he told his congregation, “I can’t sell insurance and preach too.” So he opted for selling insurance.
Those are the days we are living in. Those are the choices we are facing. Those are the character issues each one of us will have to grapple with in these times we are in right now. THIS GENERATION is the harvest generation. So if there were any group of people that needed to have the love of God in their hearts – it’s US! Without the love and compassion of God we will not see the hurting and dying among us like we so need to see.
Grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the bowels of mercy. Forgive those who have offended you. Let the peace of God reign in your heart. Do everything unto the Lord. Be thankful. And above all things – put on CHARITY (LOVE) for it is the BOND OF PERFECTION that ties together the fruit of the Spirit!