Thou mak’st the heaven thou hop’st indeed thy home.’. But sins, which turn from God to follow the creature; and vices, which are so many deviations from the rule of right reason, do not all necessarily run towards the same point, but may have their several tendencies different one from another. (C. H. Hall, D. D.), “The fruits of the Spirit” do not always appear, even in every true Christian, in their Divine order and symmetrical proportion. But if we are to work together with God, we shall need a great deal of patience. (H. W. "Commentary on Galatians 5:22". Another evidence of these heavenly influences on the mind is a spirit of humble, unfeigned, and animated devotion. It can be said that a dim instinct, at least, of immortality is a part of the inevitable bestowment made by God to the human being in his very inception. Joy after desertion is like a resurrection from the dead. Meekness makes no ostentatious display to the eyes; but investing the hidden man of the heart, it will wear well. At four o’clock the next morning, the refractory helper was accosted with, “Joseph, have you considered what I said--that we must part?” B. From the above citations, there can be no way to avoid the truth that Christians are in God, and God is in them. The real evidence is these things which Paul now mentions. To walk upon it, to stretch it, to move it, with many a cry of anguish and many a secret groan, and then at last to feel a new strength in an unlooked-for department of life. A great many men have religion who have no Christianity. Ah! ), Order has been called the first law of God. To awaken the slumbering conscience, and to subdue the obstinate, rebellious will. Pind. 1. We can be the sun or we can be the frost unto thousands. 3. And if this were the day and the hour of Divine inspection and decision, if this were the moment for us all to be judged as to our inward state and ripeness of capacity, should we be of the number of those who are meek--should we be of the number of those within whom and upon whom the Divine Spirit has moved with its enlightening and refining influence? The entire Thessalonian church was said to be "in God" (1 Thessalonians 1:1).SIZE>. The Spirit Himself is the source of all spiritual fruit. II. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/galatians-5.html. God has both a kingdom for them that love Him, and many rich blessings to cheer us while we are in the way to it. This is the first and great commandment” (Romans 13:10). The apostle Paul did not list tongue-speaking, charismatic experiences, visions, premonitions, and things like that as being connected in any manner with the "fruit of the Spirit." 3. Love, automatic, continuous. 3. (C. H. After our way of thinking, the Spirit’s work in man is a slow work. As one familiar with the sonatas and the symphonies of Beethoven, while passing along the street in summer, gets from out of the open window a snatch of a song or of a piece that is being played, catching a strain here and another there, and says to himself, “Ah, that is Beethoven! And individuality as such is never a pleasing trait; the maker of the shield who so worked in his name that you could not destroy it without destroying the shield, is not a noble conception; it contrasts harshly with true artistic greatness, and is like “the memorial stone” of some modern ecclesiastical building glaring out of She wall, as compared with the foundation-stone of some grand old cathedral buried deep in the ground, unknown and forgotten as the very builders themselves, who were contented if they had but raised a building in which posterity might worship God. “To be spiritually-minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). But other and more lovely images are in it. VI. The works of the flesh are manifest, known and plain to all. Gentleness is required in the exercise of authority. All kinds of religious affection are not lasting. This is the grace of which so beautiful a description is given in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. In the sight of God nothing is pure but what proceeds from the fountain of all purity. II. PPT CUE And we do well to realize that we have to exercise long-suffering quite early in our spiritual life, in our very dealings with the great and good God Himself. Trench. The works of the flesh are spoken of as many, “works,” in the plural: but the fruit of the Spirit is spoken of as one, “fruit,” in the singular. The only question now before us is, whether, in the act of regeneration, He produces anything besides love. faith — “faithfulness”; opposed to “heresies” [Bengel]. Joy stupefies and swallows up troubles; it carries the heart above them, as the oil swims above the water. Newbolt. BibliographyScofield, C. I. 2. Do I find him depressed? They are, in nature and kind, precisely the same fruits of the Spirit. As another motive to do good, consider the bright examples of benevolence set before you. So self-denial cuts off occasion; while as a further stage still, it makes us more fit for God’s work. ), Goodness embraces so much and suggests so much that it is hard to circumscribe its radiating significance within a definition. 2. A faithful Christian has a deep sense of the deceitfulness and danger of sin. "Commentary on Galatians 5:22". Because spiritual joy carries the soul through duty cheerfully; the Sabbath is a delight, religion is a recreation. There is more misunderstanding in current times over the meaning of the Spirit's indwelling of Christian hearts than of any other doctrine of the New Testament. 3. He works in alliance with our own natural capacity. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/galatians-5.html. Patriotism, courage, generosity, prudence, fortitude, are virtues that would be produced by the regular action of natural selection left to itself. And this is as great and as good a change as can be produced in the human heart. But in whatever degree of growth it may be--to whatever point it may have been carried forward and upward, the element and principle of affection in human nature never happens by chance, never occurs by accident. Love your husband, he can beat you in argument and stubbornness, but you can beat him in love. No; in the path of deceit there is no peace. But a meek and quiet spirit, in the view of all good men, in the eyes of holy angels, and in the sight of God, is of great price. (Archbishop Seeker. The remainder of the list, it will be seen, is made up of those delicate and fragile forms of virtue which the ordinary course of society is least likely to foster. Ephesians 4:31.— χαρὰ, joy) concerning things that are good.— χρηστότης, ἀγαθωσύνη) differ. Think how patient He was with the misconception, the ignorance, and the unbelief which He encountered t Ah, yes! I. I shall describe the nature of that gentleness which is the fruit of the Spirit. Most of them are small; they hide easily. It is said, like the soul itself, to be incorruptible. Goodness is a thing that must be born; and the query therefore comes, whence this birth? PPT CUE: Verse. 2. Is it not a characteristic of the present day that we are all very impatient in our work? But the necessities of our whole being can never be met by mere knowledge, which is all that law can give. iv. If we have let the chords be broken, if we have suffered the instrument to get out of order, if the dust of the earth, the defilement of sin, and sinful affections, and the discord of a rebellious, selfish will are there, the master melodist of the choirs of heaven could not breathe harmony through it, nor could the angels sing with it. And we remember again how, in earthly matters at all events, we pride ourselves on keeping our word. Manning. Observe here, 1. Galatians 5:22 NIV ⢠Galatians 5:22 NLT ⢠Galatians 5:22 ESV ⢠Galatians 5:22 NASB ⢠Galatians 5:22 KJV ⢠Galatians 5:22 Interlinear ⢠Galatians 5:22 Commentaries ⢠Galatians 5:22 Parallel Texts ⢠Galatians 5:22 Bible Apps ⢠Galatians 5:22 Parallel ⢠Bible Hub In so doing man declares war against God. I have seen those to whom health was most desirable, lose it, and yet through all their sickness be upheld by the thought implanted in their minds, and ripened into a conviction by the Spirit, that they would soon enter into a realm where sickness is unknown, into which pain never enters, and where health is the only expression of existence. 4. He bribes the senses with pleasures, he dazzles the imagination with fascinating pictures, he plies the memory with scenes of past iniquity. Nor can works; for how are they able to justify Descend into whatever mine, shake whatever tree, knock at whatever door in the world thou wilt, the poor world cannot offer it thee. Longsuffering—Enduring from others, as being sustained by a central love and peace within. He views the Lord as his portion, and sets his affections on things above. See especially 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19. That the works of the flesh are spoken of as many; but the fruit of the Spirit is spoken of as one, many works, but one fruit. You meet others, who believe that some strong conviction is the assurance of the Spirit. III. And brightness not only makes a difference to our own lives, but also to the lives of other people, if instead of the creaking, groaning machinery, they have in its place the smooth, easy, joyous life before their eyes.. Benevolent people talk of brightening the homes of the poor, and it is a blessed work to attempt; but bright lives do a great deal to cheer and help all around them. From the above citations, there can be no way to avoid the truth that Christians are in Christ, and Christ is in Christians. And more especially when we look at man, at ourselves--the work, the purchase, and the temple of God--there is still greater need of that gentleness, χρηστότης, benignitas, which makes us move amidst all these wonders with something of the manners and the refinement of one who is of the race of heaven. It is observed, that longanimity and patience are in a manner the same; so are benignity and goodness; and so may be here continency and chastity. It will be better understood from a view of its relative bearings, than from an abstract definition. As far as a real, upright man goes, he goes voluntarily. Even grossness has been unable to conceal the lustrous evidence of this pure and exalted instinct. Think how our Divine Lord and Master gave up His quiet and His retirement, His food and His sleep, at the calls of love. College Press, Joplin, MO. And to this end it will be helpful to consider those virtues which the apostle tells us are the “fruit of the Spirit”--those fruits and productions which spring up within us out of the harmomous working of our being--working, that is, as God means it to work, with all its several parts acting according to the will of God concerning us. joy of the Holy Ghost, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, and see Romans 5:2; Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Philemon 1:25; Philemon 4:4; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 1:4. Gentleness means kindness and forbearance, the dissembling of wrong, the absence of the fire of resentment and of the smouldering of ill-will. ἀγάπη. Think of its permanence. It is Satan’s purpose, if possible, to get the command of this instrument, to feed it with what is evil, and to produce out of it sin. ), If the sun is sparkling on the healthy leaves of a fruit-tree, and heavenly airs are fanning them, and the good soil lies below, we do not try to prove by abstract rules that probably the fruit will somehow drop down of a sudden on the twigs. The lovely characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit stand in sharp contrast with the ugly features produced by works of the flesh. Patience keeps the mind firm and unshaken under sufferings; meekness renders it calm and unruffled amidst provocations. There is such a connection of virtues and graces, that albeit they differ in their objects and natures, yet they are inseparable in the subject. If you say, therefore, “ What is the first step in being good?” I should say, Put yourself in connection with God’s Spirit. Just listen to the text. Still one may suppose that the terms are here changed for good reason, inasmuch as Paul uses καρπός on the good side; and, as Ellicott remarks, even in Romans 6:21 it means, “what good result had ye in those things whereof ye are ashamed?” If, then, there be an intended distinction, what is it? Results, anyhow, by any means, at any cost! But this was the glory of the early Christian Church; it waited for the little children, the old, the helpless, the infirm, all which the busy empire would spurn from its hurried path. Is there anything in pleasure, or business, or citizenship which is comparable in dignity and worth to coming together earnestly bent on having the fruit of the Spirit as it is here depicted?… I spread before you this reality of love, and joy, and peace, and long-suffering, and gentleness, and goodness, and faith, and meekness, and temperance, and say, “This is what you are to be and to do. ), The popular definition or conception of meekness is not the scriptural one in two particulars; for, in the first place, the popular conception of meekness pictures it as a state of mind or mood of spirit in one man toward another man; whereas the scriptural idea makes it appear as a state of mind or mood of soul which a man has toward his God. He fosters the life: like sunshine and showers on the seed sown. ), A loving wife, when her husband returns home from a far country, as soon as she is sensible of his approach or hears his voice, although she be ever so much engaged in business, or forcibly detained from him in the midst of a crowd, yet her heart is not withheld from him, but leaps over all other thoughts to think on her husband who is returned. 1. When the Holy Spirit produces love in the soul in which there was nothing before but selfishness, he effects an essential change in the heart, and forms the subject of grace after the moral image of God, and prepares him for the kingdom of heaven. It gives unto him the sight to see the loveliness and the nobleness of a wise ordering of his habits; it takes deceit out of temptation, and causes him to perceive the danger of yielding thereto. Equally inseparable are the notions of opposition to love and opposition to bliss. In the former part of the description he condemned the whole nature of man as producing nothing but evil and worthless fruits. 1. Jones.). They are attributes that are manifested in a child of God who radiates Christlikeness because they are maintaining communion with Him. (J. W. Cunningham, M. Scipio declared that he was inflamed with a virtuous and heroic spirit, by viewing the statues of his ancestors. (George Cheever, D. D.), I. ), The object of law is education. And so lives are noisy at first; for they flow swift. And surely it is worth the effort to be all that is meant by spiritual, to set ourselves to work in the best way. You cannot ever quite catch a glimpse of His hand. There is no doubt whatever that love of our enemies, and nothing short of it, is required of us. ), The peace which Christ gives, the peace which He sheds abroad in the heart, is it aught else than such a glorified harmony--the expelling from man’s life of all that was causing disturbance there, all that was hindering him from chiming in with the music of heaven, all that would have made him a jarring and dissonant note, left out from the great dance and minstrelsy of the spheres, in which now shall mingle for ever the consenting songs of redeemed men and elect angels? Gentleness primarily, therefore, is descriptive of the nature and not to manners; descriptive of the soil in its chemical qualities, and not in respect to its colour; descriptive of the character of the seed, and not of the shape of the blade or of the tree that grows up from it. Let us show wherein consists that fidelity which is an effect of the Holy Spirit. Thomas instantly stopped, and looked confused and ashamed. Man begins at the outside, and tries to work towards the centre; God begins at once in the centre and in the heart, and by changing the heart He changes the life; and so Christ's word to Nicodemus is Christ's word to every man, "Ye must be born again.". Lynch. A good education and polished manners, when brought under the influence of the grace of God, will bring out this grace with great effect. And one of these surely will be hopefulness: “joyful through hope,” is what we pray that every baptized person may be, as he passes through the difficulties of the world. Paul's writings alone contain 169 references to being "in Christ, in him, in the Lord, in the beloved, etc.". 403; Lipsius, Gramm. I quote the story for the sake of the allusion it supplies: it presents us with a true image of that flattering but cruel goddess, sensual pleasure. Their prayers have brought them into a sad state of moping melancholy.” But the truth is, many of the depressions and fears which are imputed to religion as the cause, have no connection with it. Spiritual fruit can never be produced through man's effort. “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” How much thoughtfulness may we.trace in the love of God! In the text, goodness is described as the fruit of something. The honour which arises from overcoming evil with good, will be read in the book of God’s remembrance, when time shall be no longer! (Thomas Jones.). ἐγκράτεια] self-control, that is, here continence, as opposed to sins of lust and intemperance. Reading, prayer, retirement, and reflection are all in vain, unless His gracious influence open the mind, and animate the heart. As soon as the widows and the orphans among those who believed were known to be destitute, the apostles set apart a special order--the sacred order of Deacons--to be the ministers of the charity of Jesus Christ to His poor. Think of the gratitude, therefore, the prayers which follow the path of the good man. 1. It is not passionate and sensual as ἐρᾶν . If we are made joyous by the Spirit, then is it certain that God Himself is a joyous Being. What force there is in such words as “recreation” and “amusement”! ᾿εγκράτεια—“temperance”-self-control-the holding in of passions and appetites, distinguished by Diogenes Laertius from σωφροσύνη in that it bridles ἐπιθυμίας σφοδράς, the stronger desires. Is it less honourable to God that He works through method and climbs to His consummations through spiritual processes? These will dwell in our hearts, if Love, their mighty mother, be there. ο definite article - nominative singular masculine ho ho: the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom) -- the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc. 2. ), Love is the fruitful mother of bright children. ), Peace is greater than all other treasures, but no philosophy can bestow it; for how can philosophy cleanse from sin? But the question may be asked--and I have often asked it myself--why did the Creator make us so? It is probable that the word is used in this sense because the object of the apostle is not to speak of the feelings which we have toward God so much as to illustrate the influences of the Spirit in directing and controlling our feelings toward people. Though a person could wrap himself so closely in the cloak of hypocrisy, and so artfully manage his vizard, as never to be detected by his fellow-creatures, would he thus make sure of happiness? https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/galatians-5.html. God candies our wormwood with sugar. galatians 5 22 23 meaning. Galatians 5:22. BibliographyClarke, Adam. Some receive the Spirit as the bud receives the sunshine: slowly, subtilely, and in ways peculiar to its own composition and order of growth. I shall now show by what means we may promote peace among our fellow-men, and Christian brethren. "Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament". 6. The Saviour said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” In other words, a man in whose soul is developed the filial fear of God-in whose soul is this inner strength which enables him in the face of all human opposition to do right even at the cost of his life--is a man fitted to possess the whole earth. It is therefore our great duty and interest to moderate our affections to sensual pleasures. As waves phosphoresce, let joys flash from the swing of the sorrows of your souls. If the Spirit of God produces nothing but love in regeneration, then there is no ground for the distinction which is often made between regeneration, conversion, and sanctification. To be temperate we must possess that chastity which is opposed to lascivious passions. These are the scenes, the lovely scenes, the charming scenes which the word reflects in reference to material interests and prosperity. Nothing sooner destroys peace than a trifling spirit. 4. The life of faithfulness is a life of truth. And there is not on all the face of the globe a life that is being lived in gentleness, however small it be, or however evilly placed, that is not known of God, and has not the name by which He knows it written in letters of light on its forehead. Letâs get to know each manifestation of the fruit of the spirit in better detail. “Please yourself, sir.” W. “Will you ask my pardon Joseph?” B. In Class. Circumstances require us to wear it all the time. He was meek and lowly in heart; amiable and unassuming in conduct. We talk in a helpless way of resignation, as we feel ourselves tossed up and down, and whirled hither and thither in the irresistible currents of uncontrollable force. Galatians 5:24.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. It means also perseverance, the not being wearied in well-doing, not throwing up and saying, “I have tried to do good for such a one, I have tried to correct his faults. Let us beware of such conceits. Galatians 5:22-23 law Spirit blessing gentleness goodness self-control Read Galatians 5 online (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. It has been boldly asserted, that none were ever endowed with the Holy Spirit, but prophets, spastics, and evangelists. O, let it never be forgotten that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 1 Corinthians 13; Romans 12:9. χαρά—“joy.” Joy is based on the possession of present good, and here means that spiritual gladness which acceptance with God and change of heart produce. V. Hidden the character of Christ, and misrepresented the character of God. Thomas was severely bruised, and rose up in a terrible passion. Kindness. The selection of these virtues, and the order in which they are placed, are such as necessarily to unfold and to present to the readers the specific character of the life of Christian fellowship (which had been so sadly disturbed among the Galatians, Galatians 5:15). And you perceive that my answer is the right one. Cold chills not unfrequently follow feverish heats. Just a short time and he will be going home!!! ), Temperance is love taking exercise, love enduring hardness, love seeking to become healthful and athletic, love striving for the mastery in all things, and bringing the body under. Sometimes the change that must pass upon us before we can be fitted for heaven is called a resurrection from the dead. To which is added. It is the carpet soft and deep, which, whilst it diffuses a look of ample comfort, deadens many a creaking sound. These are more abiding joys; yet these joys which seem to be sweet are swift, like meteors, they give a bright and sudden flash, and then disappear. What subtile and pure pleasures art and music conjure up before us! This is a conclusion in respect to which I feel confident, whatever may be our views and opinions touching subsidiary questions, we can unite in common and hearty agreement. Nothing short of a complete renewal of our jaded nature, or the very enchanting us away by the thraldom of an engrossing delight. This representation of Christianity is eminently fitted for the young, who are repelled by many representations. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/galatians-5.html. IV. The fruit of the Spirit is the antidote to infidelity. The Cod. Beecher. Placed first, because Augustine says rightly of sanctification: Charitas inchoata, inchoata justitia est; charitas provecta, provecta justitia est; charitas magna, magna justitia est; charitas perfecta, perfecta justitia est (De Nat. (W. C. E. (W. 1. We sin against the mind more directly than against the body. There is a clear distinction between a love of complacence and a love of benevolence. It is by communion with God, and one another, that holy love is promoted and increased. 2. Yea, is it not because the well-spring of gladness itself has been opened and set flowing in your hearts? There is a want of refinement very often, as well as misunderstanding, which we have to deal with, coupled with injustice, misrepresentation, imputation of motives, or ingratitude. This is not the peace of God; for these things make to themselves wings and fly away. It is set forth as a privilege, without which all gifts are worthless. Weigh well also the order of the words. The first joy is the joy of being forgiven. Beecher.). Thus far I have spoken of the passive grace of “long-suffering,” let us look now at the active grace of meekness. Submissiveness to the will of God. 2. This Spirit is an energetic Spirit. We have ascertained that law, in its use, is education as it relates to man; and as it relates to God it is only a servant to love--a means of wisely expressing unto mortals His affection for them. The nature of the Spirit’s influence upon the mind. 2. Laws are simply aids to weak folks, to tell them where to go, to help them to go, and to make them remember the next time if they do not go. At length provisions became still more scarce, and finding that if they kept the French soldiers during the winter all must starve together, the good Waldenses performed the wonderful and dangerous feat of carrying them across one of the most difficult of the Alpine ranges, then covered with ice and snow, and leaving them safe within the borders of their own land. Their appetites, uncontrolled and perhaps uncontrollable by mortal power, urged them into such excesses that Justice, forgetting her function in her righteous rage, smote their memories with her scales as if she would not deign to weigh them in her balances; and Mercy herself refused to champion their cause, being utterly alienated in her sympathy by the number and magnitude of their dreadful crimes. God has plenty of these wholesome humiliations in store for us; there are those, certainly, which follow hard upon most of our active work for Him: criticism, which scourges our self-complacency; rejection, which wounds our self-love; and defeat, which shatters our self-superiority. Again, the hope of glory is a privilege which believers rejoice in. Equally with love it seems to elude and escape definition, and in some sense to baffle an intelligible description of its nature. If God gives His people such joy in this life; O then, what glorious joy will He give them in heaven! The Christian must neither insult the God of providence by despising His gifts, nor provoke Him by wasting and abusing them. It is said, the influence of the Spirit on the mind is too mysterious to be comprehended, and therefore the doctrine which teaches it is unworthy to be believed. It ariseth partly from the promise; as the bee lies at the breast of the flower, and sucks out the sweetness from it, so faith lies at the breast of a promise, and sucks out the quintessence of joy: “Thy comforts delight my soul “ (Psalms 114:19) that is, the comforts which distil from the limbec of the promises. Hence, we all say that we love mother better as we grow older. If you have joy, is it not because the cause or causes of joy have been born within you? Yet we are brought into circumstances where every vengeful passion plays, and threatens to supersede all our grace. 2. 1870. “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery,” etc., the other in the beginning of Galatians 5:22 : “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,” etc. It is good for our God; it gives Him honour among the sons of men when we are glad. Nay, we find them reversed in Sept. Proverbs 10:16, ἔργα δικαίων- καρποὶ δὲ ἀσεβῶν. ), Law exists for the purpose of restraint, but in the works of the Spirit there is nothing to restrain. By plunging into the cares of this life they are continually ruffled and distracted. ), True love alone can awaken and evoke all the nobility and grandeur of human nature. As in the spring-time, when the sun comes to our horizon, it makes a sudden alteration in the face of the universe; the birds sing, the flowers appear, the fig-tree puts forth her green figs, everything seems to rejoice and put off its mourning, as being revived by the sweet influence of the sun: so, when the Sun of Righteousness ariseth on the soul, it makes a sudden alteration, and the soul is infinitely rejoiced with the golden beams of God’s love. Set constantly before you the perfect example of our Lord Jesus Christ. He never moves from the stability of that state of mind; or if he moves, it is only as an overfull vessel sometimes spills herself on one side and on the other. 2. The fruit-of-the-Spirit is not made up of nine, unrelated character traits, where one Christian shows one particular attribute while being severely lacking elsewhere. (W. C. E. II. ), Love and fear are like the sun and moon, seldom seen together. If he had been told that his bread should always come to his door, and the stream which ran hard by should never dry; if he had been quite sure that ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning, and again in the evening--he would not have been one whit more calm.
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