Sermon 13 Fruits from the Holy Spirit
By Rev. Mark E. Vatcher
Our blessed Holy Father first gives us His only Begotten Son so that we may have eternal life in His holy presence
and guess what it gets better. Jesus our Lord and Saviour leaves us God the Holy Spirit whom will give us love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All these gifts to those whom believe and trust in
Him. Wow! I must say brothers and sisters, the gifts from heaven keep on coming. But what? You say that you are
lacking some of these gifts promised to you…… Well guess what, these gifts are yours if you let go of the sinful flesh
and trust in God to deliver you from your bondage. Jesus tells us in a parable how we begin to yield these fruits in:
(Matthew 13: 3-8)” Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. ”And
as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. "Some fell on stony places,
where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ”But when
the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. "And some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty."”
Which one of these represents YOU?
The first seed represents a hardened heart. If your heart is hardened to the Gospel, then the seed of the Scripture
never had a chance to take root in your heart. Barring a radical change of heart in you, you will die a bitter, hardened
person and spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake.
The second part of the parable is easy to understand, but very sad. At one point in your life, perhaps in your younger
years, you recognized the truth of the Gospel and had a temporary response to it. But as the years went by, you
found other treasures to occupy your heart and mind. Now there's no trace of your initial enthusiasm, and the Gospel
is a distant childhood memory. You are not necessarily a "bad" person, but you are essentially a dead person. If you
return to Jesus with all your heart, you can recapture the joy and live with Him eternally. Otherwise, you will spend
eternity in hell. Please change for your sake now!
The third part of the parable is familiar to us, and is also sad. Perhaps you came to the Lord at a Crusade or by a
friend, and have been attending church more-or-less regularly since then. But your heart and mind are very full of
other stuff. You admire the people who intimately know the Scriptures, and perhaps have read parts of the Bible. But
the LORD Jesus Christ is not the ruling passion in your life. "Maybe someday" you'll take a class or something. You
are saved (I hope!), but your life is not bearing any fruit helpful to others.
The fourth part is my hope for us all. Regardless of when you received and responded to the seed of the Word, you
have made a conscious decision to make Jesus the LORD of your life. You have given the Holy Spirit permission to
rule your heart and change it from the inside out. The Holy Spirit, in turn, has made your life fruitful. Maybe you
wasted 5 or 25 or 44 years of your life following other priorities. But NOW you are living a mature commitment to
Jesus, and your life is a fruitful blessing to those around you. I truly hope this is you in your Christian walk to glorify
God. If not start now and change your priorities. Serving God becoming your first priority, and everything else coming
in second after Him.
Let us look further into the fruit of the Spirit and go to the very beginning in Genesis, and what its meaning is. I found
the concept of bearing fruit in the very first chapter of the Bible, in:
(Genesis 1:11-12) “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth;" and it was so. And the earth brought forth
grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
There are several important points in these two simple verses we should point out here. Some plants are like grains
and grasses. If cultivated, a portion of the crop must be held back as seed for the next year's harvest. The plants
themselves die out after the growing season. These crops must be planted, cultivated, harvested, and replanted in
an annual cycle.
The planting, cultivating and harvesting of grains and grasses are a picture of Christian service. Because as
Christians are know by our selfless service to others. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident through our works:
evangelizing, helping the needy, participating in mission’s activities, serving in child care, teaching etc. the list of
selfless act are endless. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us to enable us to do these works. The gifts of the
Holy Spirit empower us for service. Fruit trees are a picture of the hearts of believers. It takes years for a Christian to
reach maturity and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is a changed heart. A heart changed by the Holy Spirit has the attributes mentioned above
in (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Note what
God teaches us about seeds: every herb "yields seed according to its kind." Likewise every fruit tree "yields fruit
according to its kind, whose seed is in itself." Every plant yields seeds according to its kind. Jesus said a tree is
known by its fruit, whether good or bad. You can't harvest figs from thorn bushes.
If your heart is a thorn bush, it is yielding a continual harvest of thorns and seeds without your conscious knowledge
or control. You are continually reproducing what is in your heart, whether good or bad. The good news is that you are
not a helpless spectator in this process. Your conscious decision to receive the free gift of salvation by faith enabled
you to receive an implant of eternal life in your heart. Your ongoing submission to the LORD Jesus Christ enables the
Holy Spirit to nourish this new nature and bring it to fruit-bearing maturity.
Start today bearing fruit from the Holy Spirit, read the word every day and follow it, find a good church to become a
part of. Please click here for our recommended church types. Let the Holy Spirit work in you to glory God with
everything you do. Let us pray now and continue of Christian journey to glorify God in our lives:
Father, I know that Your Holy Spirit is willing and able to bear fruit in my life. Please help me to become more fruitful
all for Your glory LORD not mine, fill me with the fruits of the Spirit so I may show the world how glorious it is to fully
trust in You LORD. I pray in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen
By Rev. Mark E. Vatcher
Our blessed Holy Father first gives us His only Begotten Son so that we may have eternal life in His holy presence
and guess what it gets better. Jesus our Lord and Saviour leaves us God the Holy Spirit whom will give us love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All these gifts to those whom believe and trust in
Him. Wow! I must say brothers and sisters, the gifts from heaven keep on coming. But what? You say that you are
lacking some of these gifts promised to you…… Well guess what, these gifts are yours if you let go of the sinful flesh
and trust in God to deliver you from your bondage. Jesus tells us in a parable how we begin to yield these fruits in:
(Matthew 13: 3-8)” Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. ”And
as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. "Some fell on stony places,
where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ”But when
the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. "And some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty."”
Which one of these represents YOU?
The first seed represents a hardened heart. If your heart is hardened to the Gospel, then the seed of the Scripture
never had a chance to take root in your heart. Barring a radical change of heart in you, you will die a bitter, hardened
person and spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake.
The second part of the parable is easy to understand, but very sad. At one point in your life, perhaps in your younger
years, you recognized the truth of the Gospel and had a temporary response to it. But as the years went by, you
found other treasures to occupy your heart and mind. Now there's no trace of your initial enthusiasm, and the Gospel
is a distant childhood memory. You are not necessarily a "bad" person, but you are essentially a dead person. If you
return to Jesus with all your heart, you can recapture the joy and live with Him eternally. Otherwise, you will spend
eternity in hell. Please change for your sake now!
The third part of the parable is familiar to us, and is also sad. Perhaps you came to the Lord at a Crusade or by a
friend, and have been attending church more-or-less regularly since then. But your heart and mind are very full of
other stuff. You admire the people who intimately know the Scriptures, and perhaps have read parts of the Bible. But
the LORD Jesus Christ is not the ruling passion in your life. "Maybe someday" you'll take a class or something. You
are saved (I hope!), but your life is not bearing any fruit helpful to others.
The fourth part is my hope for us all. Regardless of when you received and responded to the seed of the Word, you
have made a conscious decision to make Jesus the LORD of your life. You have given the Holy Spirit permission to
rule your heart and change it from the inside out. The Holy Spirit, in turn, has made your life fruitful. Maybe you
wasted 5 or 25 or 44 years of your life following other priorities. But NOW you are living a mature commitment to
Jesus, and your life is a fruitful blessing to those around you. I truly hope this is you in your Christian walk to glorify
God. If not start now and change your priorities. Serving God becoming your first priority, and everything else coming
in second after Him.
Let us look further into the fruit of the Spirit and go to the very beginning in Genesis, and what its meaning is. I found
the concept of bearing fruit in the very first chapter of the Bible, in:
(Genesis 1:11-12) “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth;" and it was so. And the earth brought forth
grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
There are several important points in these two simple verses we should point out here. Some plants are like grains
and grasses. If cultivated, a portion of the crop must be held back as seed for the next year's harvest. The plants
themselves die out after the growing season. These crops must be planted, cultivated, harvested, and replanted in
an annual cycle.
The planting, cultivating and harvesting of grains and grasses are a picture of Christian service. Because as
Christians are know by our selfless service to others. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident through our works:
evangelizing, helping the needy, participating in mission’s activities, serving in child care, teaching etc. the list of
selfless act are endless. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us to enable us to do these works. The gifts of the
Holy Spirit empower us for service. Fruit trees are a picture of the hearts of believers. It takes years for a Christian to
reach maturity and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is a changed heart. A heart changed by the Holy Spirit has the attributes mentioned above
in (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Note what
God teaches us about seeds: every herb "yields seed according to its kind." Likewise every fruit tree "yields fruit
according to its kind, whose seed is in itself." Every plant yields seeds according to its kind. Jesus said a tree is
known by its fruit, whether good or bad. You can't harvest figs from thorn bushes.
If your heart is a thorn bush, it is yielding a continual harvest of thorns and seeds without your conscious knowledge
or control. You are continually reproducing what is in your heart, whether good or bad. The good news is that you are
not a helpless spectator in this process. Your conscious decision to receive the free gift of salvation by faith enabled
you to receive an implant of eternal life in your heart. Your ongoing submission to the LORD Jesus Christ enables the
Holy Spirit to nourish this new nature and bring it to fruit-bearing maturity.
Start today bearing fruit from the Holy Spirit, read the word every day and follow it, find a good church to become a
part of. Please click here for our recommended church types. Let the Holy Spirit work in you to glory God with
everything you do. Let us pray now and continue of Christian journey to glorify God in our lives:
Father, I know that Your Holy Spirit is willing and able to bear fruit in my life. Please help me to become more fruitful
all for Your glory LORD not mine, fill me with the fruits of the Spirit so I may show the world how glorious it is to fully
trust in You LORD. I pray in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen
