Welcome to the Believers Bible Assembly This is the day that the Lord has made and

we're going to rejoice and be glad in it Open your Bibles this morning to

Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 through 23 And it reads as follows So I say walk by the spirit and

you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is

contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh They are in conflict with Each

other so that you are not to do whatever you want But if you are led by the spirit

you are not under the law Verse 19 the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity

debauchery idolatry And witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambitions dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies

and the like I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not

inherit the kingdom of God Verse 22 But the fruit of the spirit is love joy

peace patience goodness kindness faithfulness gentleness and self-control Against such things there is no law Those

who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires Since we live by

the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit Let us not become conceited provoking

and envying each other I want to talk this morning about the evidence of a spirit-led

life Many claim that they are living a spirit-led life However there is no evidence

no proof of it in their lives Many think that they are living a spirit-led life because of quote

spiritual manifestations that they have experienced during a praise and worship service Like being slain in the

spirit speaking in tongues a holy dance or being able to quote scripture sing or tune

up as a preacher However none of these things are biblical evidences of a spirit-led

life I want to talk about the evidence of a spirit-led life proof that you are being led by the

spirit of God Now I want to talk about spiritual fruit because if you're living

a spirit-led life your life will produce spiritual fruit and the spiritual fruit is evidence that you are walking in

line and in harmony with the word and Jesus Christ Your life will either produce evidence of a

spirit-led life or the fruit of the flesh Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 Beware of false prophets

that bear the fruit of the flesh They come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly

they are ravenous wolves By their fruit you will recognize them Then he goes on to say are grapes gathered

from thorn bushes or figs from thistles Likewise every good tree bears good fruit but a bad

tree bears bad fruit And then he says this A good tree cannot bear bad

fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit Every tree That does not bear good fruit is cut down

and thrown into the fire So then by their fruit you will recognize them What are we

talking about this morning We're talking about evidence of a spirit-led life Your life is going to produce fruit It's

either going to produce good fruit because it's coming from a good tree or it's going to produce bad fruit

because it's coming from a bad tree And I want you to highlight what Jesus

said He said a good tree cannot bear bad fruit So if you're saying that you have a spirit-led life

the fruit that you bear should be good because Jesus said a good tree cannot

bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit By their fruit by the evidences in

their life you will recognize and know them Jesus also said this in John 15:8 He says This is to

my Father's glory that you bear much fruit proving yourselves to be my true disciples Jesus said If you remain

in me and my word remains in you You're going to bear much fruit What kind of fruit Good fruit

By you bearing much fruit you now prove yourself to be His true disciple The ultimate purpose

of every believer is to glorify God by bearing spiritual fruit that is evident of their life

in Christ So let's examine these two types of fruit these two types of lifestyles

that believers can produce In our text this morning the apostle Paul talks about the works of the flesh in

verses 19 through 21 Now I want to put this in context Paul wrote these things

to the churches in Galatia One of the key things when it comes to biblical

interpretation is who is the text written to The text is written to the churches in Galatia

So Paul is writing this to churches and he's talking to them about the fruit of the flesh In these

verses he lays out a list of sinful behaviors that are evidences of the work of the

flesh in your life These are actions and attitudes that arise from sinful behavior that is not guided

or led by the Holy Spirit Let's break each one of these down The number one thing that

Paul listed in verse 19 is sexual immorality What is that Any form of sexual behavior

outside the bounds of marriage He's specifically talking about adultery and fornication Paul is writing

to these churches about them engaging in sexual behavior outside of marriage Then he talks to them about impurity

moral corruption and unclean thoughts and actions He wrote to the church in Rome about the

same thing and he gave them the remedy They have to renew their minds to the things of

God But there was more corruption and unclean thoughts and actions going on in the church and

Paul had to let them know this is not of God This is not of the spirit Then he talks

about debauchery excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures shameless reckless behavior These things were going on in the church and Paul

had to address them Then he talks about idolatry the worship of anything other than God money

status people skin color possessions These are things that's going on in the church right now that falls

under the category of idolatry And idolatry is the worship of anything other than God

If you put money before God status before God people before God skin color before God possessions before

God that's idolatry And Paul had to address it to the church in Galatia Witchcraft

sorcery in the church Paul had to address it What is this The use of magic sorcery and

occult practices This also includes manipulation and control Manipulation and control are very active in churches today Whenever you

try to manipulate and control someone that's witchcraft that's sorcery and it's not of God Next he

talked about hatred and what is hatred A deep-seated animosity and hostility towards others And unfortunately there's hatred in

the churches deep-seated animosity and hostility towards others particularly other races Discord always quarreling always

fighting There's strife always in the midst of the congregation Conflict which disrupts unity He had to address

this jealousy resentment over someone else's success possession or relationship Instead of applauding and congratulating they're hating others because

of their success The same success they could achieve but they didn't want to put in

the work but instead of celebrating they're hating Fits of rage Yes Paul had to talk to the

church about explosive anger and uncontrolled emotional outbursts Selfish ambitions pursuing personal gain at the expense of

others Paul could preach the same message to the churches today Majority of people going to church because they

want to get something from Christ instead of offering their bodies as a living sacrifice Lord what can I do

for you Because of selfish ambition what can I get from God What can God bless me

with What can God do for me Pursuing personal gains But here's the dangerous part at the expense of other

people you don't do that in the church and it was going on then and it's going on

now Dissensions disagreements fracture relationships and fellowship church splits can't agree so I'm going to get mad and I'm going

to leave the church Factions what is this Creating cliques and divisions in the church that exclude others

and we have these in the churches today Secret societies sororities fraternities Masons Eastern Stars they click up Paul

had to address it then and it's still going on today Envy a desire to possess what

others have often with bitterness drunkenness yes they were getting drunk in the church over excessive

consumption of alcohol that led to impaired judgment He had addressed that in the church then And unfortunately it

still goes on in churches today This next one orgies wild immoral parties involving sexual excess and substance abuse Again

what's the context in the church all of the immoral sexual behaviors that were outside of

the church crept into the church and Paul had to talk about it After you list

all of those things that were fruit of the flesh he said this and the

like meaning that there are many other sinful actions and behaviors and attitudes that are not on

this list verses 19 to 21 but they are sins behaviors actions attitudes that are contrary to

the spirit of God Then Paul says this those who live like this those who practice these behaviors meaning

they have an habitual lifestyle of these behaviors This is not an isolated incident This is not a one-time

thing This is not something they slipped up and did but it's a lifestyle a pattern of

these behaviors Paul says that people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God Highlight

that in your Bibles Those who live like this it's a lifestyle They wake up

in the morning with these things on their mind They will not inherit the kingdom of

God Everybody that goes to church is not saved If they were Paul wouldn't have

to list these things in Galatians He says those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God

because they are not born of the Spirit of God They do not have the Spirit of God within

Listen if you truly had the spirit of God within there's no way that you could be doing

anything that's on this list because God's spirit will convict you of it So for

these people to have this mindset this attitude this behavior constant it became a lifestyle There's no way

that they could have the spirit of God in them So they will not inherit the

kingdom of God because they don't have the Spirit of God in them They're not born

again they're not saved They're not true children of God When we look at Galatians

apostle Paul revealed to the churches what will happen if we live disconnected from God's spirit Many claim

to live a spirit-led life but their lies reflect the fruit that separates them from God But in

contrast verse 22 to 25 describes a life led and shaped by the Holy Spirit the

fruit of the Spirit Now the fruit of the Spirit that's manifested in your life is produced

by the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in your life It's called sanctification As we endeavor to live right

talk right do right the Holy Spirit now starts to transform our lives from the

inside out This is a process but if you are truly led by the Spirit of

God there should be some proof evidences of these things in your life So let's break these down

The first thing that Paul lists in the category of fruit of the Spirit is love a selfless sacrificial type

of love It's agape love It's the love that God so loved the world that He gave

His only Son It's a love that gives not takes It's a love that shows care

and concern for others And this agape love is the foundation Of all the other

fruit of the spirit 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1 Though I speak with the

tongues of men and of angels but have not love I become a sounding brass or a clinging cymbal

Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I

have all faith so that I can remove mountains But have not love I'm nothing And even though I

bestow all my goods to the poor to feed them and I give my body to be

burned sacrificed but have not love it profits me nothing So love is the foundation of all the

other spiritual fruit Without love there's no evidence that we're being led by the Spirit of God Because love

is our motivation love is our inspiration Love is why we do what we do So everything that

you do as a Christian as a believer should be motivated inspired by love And it's

upon this that all the other fruit is based on because if you don't have love I guarantee

you you're not going to have joy And what's joy Joy is a deep abiding gladness rooted in God and

it's not dependent on circumstances So it don't matter what's going on in my life it

don't matter what I'm going through it don't matter what was going on at the White House I got joy

and the joy that I have the world didn't give it and the world can't take it away Why

Because it's a deep abiding joy that's rooted in God and it's not dependent on what's

going on around me Peace is evident that you are being led by the spirit

Peace that inner calm that you have with others even in the midst of chaos you've got peace Everybody's

hair on fire but you got peace Why Because you have a relationship with God and peace is the

evidence of that relationship Peace is the evidence of you being led by the Spirit Because your flesh wants

to do something but see you're not going to let your flesh override your peace Patience Oh my If you

want to know if you're being led by the spirit patience Put up with stuff enduring stuff And I

like what the King James says It says long suffering That's the essence of patience But you can put up

with it you can endure it especially when you're dealing with people and situations You can have patience and this

patience that you have is evidence of a spirit-led life Many claim they've been led by

the spirit but let some come in to test their patience Kindness what is that Gentle compassionate actions that reflects

the grace of God that you give to another The evidence the proof of a spirit-led life is you're

going to give kindness You're going to give grace even when they don't deserve it Goodness moral integrity and the

desire to do what is right I'm gonna be good to you even though you're not

being good to me In the flesh is the opposite I'm gonna be good to you because

you're good to me It's transactional But if you're being led by the spirit I'm going to do good

to you even though you're not doing good to me Faithfulness that's that loyalty that we have the reliability that

we have the trustworthiness that we have in relationships in our commitments I'm gonna do what I

said I'm going to do I'm going to be where I'm supposed to be and I'm

going to give it my best I'm going to give it my all because I'm being

led by the Spirit I represent Christ My word is my bond We have to be faithful in

our interactions with other people and we can do it Why Because we're being led by the

Spirit Gentleness is defined as humble strength You're not harsh you're not arrogant but you're

gentle and you're considerate Self-control What is that It's mastering our desires and impulses It's being disciplined in

our thoughts and in our actions Self-control I want to cuss but because I got self-control

I'm not going to cuss Oh yeah cussing is still in there Acting a fool is still in

there See that's that sinful nature that we got to deal with each and every day It's still

in there It can come out at any given moment But because we're being led by

the spirit we have self-control You don't have to do what your flesh desires for you to

do You don't have to act on your feelings You don't have to go off on somebody You have self-control

You have mastery over your desires and your impulses your discipline and your thoughts and your actions

You don't have to say everything that you think I just got to speak my mind I

got to get something off my chest No you don't because you have self-control because you're being led

by the spirit These are the spiritual fruit that should be evident in every believer's life But they're not

automatic Like Paul wrote in Romans chapter 7 we have this war within When I want to do right evil

is present We have this constant battle between right and wrong good and evil but you can do

the right thing if you allow yourself to be led by the Spirit However in order to do this we

have to crucify the flesh daily We have to put to death its passions and desires because daily the

flesh want to rise up so daily we have to crucify it We got to put it

to death and that's an intentional act that we have to do Some things we're praying to God

to stop when God has put it in our hands and our ability to stop it The scripture says that

we have to crucify the flesh Now we need the Holy Spirit's help to do it

but our desire is to be Christ-like So in order to be Christ-like I have to crucify

the flesh daily My goal is to be led by the Spirit In order for me to be

led by the Spirit I have to crucify the flesh daily So Holy Spirit helped me to

do these things And verse 25 says we have to continue to keep in step with the

spirit That means that we're crucifying the flesh daily and we are keeping in step with the

spirit daily It means that we have to actively align our lives with the leading and

the guiding of the spirit and the word on a daily basis This is how we cultivate the spiritual fruit

in our life through daily surrender to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit daily submission to the will

plans and purposes of God And when we do this our lives will be transformed from the inside out 2

Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 says this we are being transformed into Christ's image with ever

increasing glory by the Spirit of the Lord The proof and the evidence that you're being led by the Spirit

is that your life is being transformed into the image of Christ by the spirit of the Lord This passage

of scripture that we studied this morning is a clear call for us to walk by the

Spirit and not by the flesh There's nothing good that's going to come by walking by the flesh but we

have to walk by the Spirit We have to desire the things of God more than the things of the

flesh And in this passage of scripture Paul contrasts the destructive works of the flesh With the life-giving

fruit of the spirit every believer is producing some kind of fruit either fruit of the flesh or

fruit of the spirit Either fruit that is good or fruit that is bad But those of us

who truly belong to Christ we're crucifying the flesh daily and we're committing to live in step with

the Spirit daily We surrender daily and allow the spirit to shape us to mold us

to guide us to lead us Now our lives will bear much fruit and God

will be glorified I encourage you today to continue to examine the fruit in your life We

have to examine our fruit daily Am I truly being led by the spirit or do

I think I'm spiritual just because I meet tie bow tie every now and then

I have a holy dance So we have to examine the fruit in our life because the fruit

of the spirit is every day There's no special certain days that we have to manifest the

fruit of the spirit That's every day That's our lifestyle of the believer Let the spirit continue to lead you

Let the spirit continue to transform you and produce in you that fruit that life that reflects

Jesus Christ Amen