6/27/09
How do we know when God is
leading us?
Matt. 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I
will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’”
How devastating! None of us want to be caught off guard on that
day. To find out that we are going to hell when all along, we thought we were
saved, is a shock that none of us want to go through.
How can we be sure that when Jesus comes back to take His people to
heaven that we are not among those to whom He says, “I never knew you, get away
from Me you evildoer!”
How can we be sure that we are walking with God instead of being
deceived by the devil? How can we know that some speaker that’s coming to town
who claims to have messages from God is truly speaking for God. Some obvious
answers that a Christian would give are, I pray and read the Bible, God answers
my prayers, miracles are happening in my life, I sense His leading in my life,
I hear His voice. But when we look at Matthew 7:21-23, these things are not
definitive proof that we are being led by God. The people in this scenario obviously
pray, read the Bible, they’ve had prayers answered in their lives, and have
experienced many miracles. But Jesus says “I never knew you!”.
A few verses up, Jesus warns us, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By
their fruit you will recognize them. Do
people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but
a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize
them.”
So the key is the fruit. And this is not something we don’t already
know, but what we are going to do this morning is take a close look at each of
these fruit so we will know what to watch for. And Jesus wants us to do
this. He wants us to be able to
recognize what spirit is working so that we are not deceived.
These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control” Gal. 5:22
Fruit of
the Spirit #1 Love
What is love? Is is passion? a warm fuzzy feeling? Does being
loving mean being sweet and smiling all the time?
I John 4:7&8 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for
love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
I John 5:2&3 says, “This is how we know that we love the
children of God; by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for
God: to obey his commands, and His commands are not burdensome.” So to love
means to love others and God by keeping God’s commandments. That’s what the 10
commandments are, God’s instructions for how to love. The first 4 tells us how
to love God, and the last six tell us how to love each other. And to a person
that truly loves, keeping His commandments is not ‘burdensome’. If we love God, we wouldn’t have an attitude
that thinks, “Aw Man, I can’t do this or I can’t do that!” A heart that loves,
WANTS to keep God’s commandments and is happy to do it.
And so turn with me to Exodus 20 in your Bible, and let’s take a
quick look at these principles of love.
Commandment 1 – You shall have no other gods before Me. This means
that nothing should be more important to us than God. For example, if God tells us to give up
something or change a behavior that is not pleasing to Him, and we don’t want to
do it, then that means that thing, or activity is more important to us than He
is. And when this happens, we break the
first commandment. Those who love God will
be willing to put Him first before anything or anybody.
Commandment 2 - You shall not make for yourself and idol in the
form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters
below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who
hate me, but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
Those who love God
will not bow to a statue of St. Peter or Mary and will not adore carved images,
even religious images such as crosses.
Commandment 3 – You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,
for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.
In this day and
age, the name of Jesus and God are used in careless and even profane ways. Those who love God will not speak this way. And they won’t say “holy
this” and “holy that” either.
Listen—don’t put the word HOLY in front of anything or anyone except
GOD, and things related to GOD.
Commandment 4 – Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to
the Lord your God. On it you shall not
do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals,
nor the (guest) within your gates. For
in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is
in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and made it holy.
And we know that
according to the Bible, the day really begins in the evening and ends the next
evening. So Sabbath begins Friday at
sunset and ends Saturday at sunset. We
also know that keeping the Sabbath holy means not having any business or
purchase transactions take place, taking a rest from secular and school related
events. Sacred activities are to be done
on this holy Day.
Those who love God
find it a joy to keep the Sabbath holy. If they didn’t get to watch a sports
event or a TV show or catch a sale that happened on Sabbath they don’t feel like
they missed out, because God is more important to them than these things and spending
time with Him makes them happy. They
won’t work on the Sabbath because they have faith that God will provide for
their needs, and this faith helps them to obey. This is an example of Righteousness by Faith.
Commandment 5 - Honor your
father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land that Lord your
God is giving you.
It’s interesting
that the Bible doesn’t say, “Honor your father and mother if they are good
parents.” Whatever imperfections parents
have are for God to take issue with and deal with, not the children. Those who have the fruit of the Spirit will honor
their parents, be courteous to them, and speak to them with respect.
Commandment 6 – You shall not murder.
Jesus taught that
this does not just mean physically ending someone’s life, but also hating someone in our heart. Someone who loves, will obviously not hate or
want to end someone’s life.
Here’s extra food for thought. Can this commandment apply to not following
the health message that God has given His people? When we are aware that certain
foods are killing people, are we loving them when we prepare and
serve it to them? Anyway, something to
think about.
Commandment 7 – You shall not commit adultery.
Adultery is having
intimate relations with someone that is not your spouse. This applies to the married and unmarried. Those who possess love will not commit adultery.
Commandment 8 – You shall not steal.
Those who possess
love will not take something that is not theirs.
Commandment 9 – You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbor.
A person that sets
out to ruin someone by telling lies about them is giving false testimony
against them. Those who love will not do
this.
Commandment 10 – You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You
shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox
or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
God loves and will
give us what we need. There may be
things that He withholds from
us because He knows it will hinder our salvation. And considering that we as sinners don’t even
deserve to live…but He save us anyway…. well, whatever God gives us is worthy
of our gratitude. Those who possess love
are content with what God has given them.
Fruit of
the Spirit #2 Joy
We were doomed to hell and death, but Jesus loves us! So He saved us. He took away the punishment we were going to
get. He conquered sin, and through faith
in Him we can conquer sin too! He conquered
death, and because of this we can live forever! He rules as an almighty and an all powerful
King! He’s stronger that all the evil
host. He’s preparing a place for us in
heaven. He is coming back soon to take
us home to live in paradise and be with Him forever! This alone should strike cords of joy in our
hearts. And besides all that, while we
are waiting for Him, He provides for our needs, fights our enemies, He showers
us with His love!
Now the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit is not the same as the
laughter and silliness of the world. The
person that possesses true joy does not have the restless need to have
their senses stimulated by the amusements of the world to “feel”
happy. The person with joy that comes
from the Holy Spirit is amazed and grateful for God’s goodness to them.
Fruit of
the Spirit #3 Peace
There are different kinds of peace out there. There is financial peace that comes from
having a nice cushion of savings in the bank account, the peace that comes from
having car insurance or health insurance and knowing that if an accident
happens, you won’t get stuck with a big bill. But the peace that comes from God is a peace
that beats all others. It’s a peace we
can have even if we don’t have a penny to our name, or even if we can’t afford
insurance. It’s a peace that comes from
knowing that God is in control of our lives and has our future in His hands. We can rest in this thought knowing whatever
challenges come our way are only those that He allows for our good and that He will
help us through them. It’s knowing that
God owns the universe, and He controls the spinning of the planets in their
orbits. He sets up kings and takes down
kings. We need not be upset when a certain politician is in office because God
has it under control. A person with this
peace is not anxious for today or tomorrow, for they know that God is taking
care of them.
Fruit of
the Spirit #4 Patience
The ability to remain unruffled in the face of insult or injury is
impossible through our own power. It can
only be shown by someone who has the Holy Spirit.
Fruit of
the Spirit #5 Kindness
Jesus was kind even to His enemies. Even when He corrected them, it was not in a
harsh manner. Those who have the fruit
of the Spirit will have kindness.
Fruit of the
Spirit #6 Goodness
The opposite of good is evil. Those who have the fruit of the
Spirit will not want to be where there is evil, look at things that are evil,
listen to things that are evil.
Fruit of
the Spirit #7 Faithfulness
“Faithfulness, economy, care-taking, thoroughness, should
characterize all our work, wherever we may be, whether in the kitchen, in the
workshop, in the office of publication, in the sanitarium, in the college, or
wherever we are stationed in the
vineyard of the Lord. ‘He that is faithful in that which is least
is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in
much.’"--Review and Herald, September 22, 1891. Those who have the
fruit of the spirit will be faithful with their responsibilities. They are the
ones that others are able to have faith in, and depend on to do what they are
supposed to do, and do it with their best effort.
Fruit of
the Spirit #8 Gentleness
In a world where it’s considered a virtue to be aggressive and
outspoken, God looks upon the meek and quiet spirit as more precious than gold.
Those who have the fruit of the spirit
will have these qualities.
Fruit of
the Spirit #9 Self-Control
To be able to govern ourselves, our thoughts, actions, appetites…is
a great thing to achieve. Those who have
the fruit of the Spirit will not just do whatever they want to do without any
thought to whether it is destructive to themselves or their connection with
God. But they will keep their appetites and inclinations in subjection to a
Holy will.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #1
Sexual
Immorality
Besides adultery, the Bible speaks out against other forms of
sexual immorality. These include
homosexuality. Those who have the fruit
of the Spirit will not condone this behavior. A red flag should go up in our minds when
clergy, a supposed man of God, performs a gay wedding ceremony or when the
clergy himself is homosexual.
Fruit of
the sinful nature # 2
impurity
Those who have the fruit of the spirit will not have impure actions
such as adultery. And they won’t have any
sensual thought or desire or do any act that tends to excite sensual thoughts
or desires in other people. The conversations of those who have the Holy Spirit
will be pure. These days, when the cuss
words of long ago are part of what’s considered normal language, those who have
the fruit of the spirit will refrain from using them.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #3
debauchery
To debauch means to seduce or corrupt. When women wear blouses that expose cleavage,
short shorts and skirts, tight, form-fitting clothes, this has a debauching
effect on men. And there are ways that
men can dress and carry themselves that are equally seductive in nature. It isn’t just about the clothes, it’s about
the attitude, and what you are broadcasting to the opposite gender.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #4
idolatry
Idolatry is not just about worshipping idols and bowing down to
them. Idolatry is caring more about
something or someone more than God.
Anything that we put first in our lives before God is an idol. If God counsels us to let go of something
that we really like, because it’s not good for us, and we keep hanging on to
it, it becomes an idol, and we are guilty of idolatry. And you can’t be led by God if you have an
idol you are clinging to. And you
shouldn’t follow anyone that has something in their life that they are not
surrendering to Jesus.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #5
witchcraft
Witchcraft is alive and well in our world, in case you didn’t
notice. This is a very subtle
thing. It weaves it’s way into movies,
books, video games. Just look at the
huge popularity of Twilight! Vampires come
straight out of Satanism, and they are not even real! And just because you mix a little romance
into it doesn’t make it right! The Bible
condemns the drinking of blood. We
should be done with the things of darkness, and star far away from movies like
this. When will we start to guard our
minds, and be careful what we allow into our minds? When will we take that seriously? Listen, if you dabble in the occult, or
Wicca, black or white magic, Rastafarianism, Voo Doo, New Age, TM, spells, you
are not going to be led by God. Oh, He
will lead you all right—He will lead you right out of these things!
Fruit of
the sinful nature #6
hatred
There are a lot of haters in the world! They come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are leaders of countries, some
of them are band members, and some of them are people you know. A person led by God will not have hatred,
because just as soon as you start to feel like hating, the Holy Spirit will
convict you of it, and you will let it
go, and God will cleanse you. It’s when
you start to dwell on your hateful thoughts, and ignore the Spirit’s pleading,
when you are in danger.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #7
discord
Discord is strife and confusion.
Now, this is not talking about momentary, passing confusion or lapse of
reason. We all have that at times. Discord is conflict, strife, contention,
either between people or just in general, as a way of life. It’s part of our fallen, sinful nature. We were not meant to remain in a state of
discord and disagreement. When we are
led by God, He leads us into harmony with His will, as recorded in the
Bible. We start to experience
peace. We are no longer full of
discord. Much of the music of today is
full of discord, in terms of sounds. You
see, discord is also a confused or harsh sound or mingling of sounds. Many of the bands of today have discord in
them. This is not the music that God
would have us listen to. It does not
have His approval for His children. If
we are open and teachable, He will lead us into a lifestyle that is full of
peace and purity. He will show us what
music to fill our minds with, if we are open.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #8-13
jealousy,
fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy
Our society is full of this kind of stuff, because the majority of
the people in our society are not born-again believers in Jesus. You see this stuff all over the place! Definitely on the road while driving you see
it. People are on the edge—it doesn’t
take very much to push them into a fit of rage.
All of these things stem from their source: selfishness. Selfishness is at the core of most sins. And Jesus is able to take it clean out of us!
When you are led by God, you are not
ruled by jealousy, envy, ambition. You
know that God is guiding your life, and that He has a plan for you, and that
His way is safe and best. When God
removes one of these ugly things from our lives, He gives us something better
in its place, like peace, gentleness, and self-control. But this process can only take place if we
are spending time with the Lord daily, and allowing Him to make these kinds of
changes. They are big changes, and they
take time.
Fruit of
the sinful nature #14-15
drunkenness
and orgies
Isn’t it something how these two things somehow go together? If you are not in your right mind, you will
do things that you wouldn’t normally do.
When you are under the influence of something, your guard is down, your
reason is distorted, and your moral sense of right and wrong is
obliterated. God cannot and will not
lead you if you are in this condition.
It will mess up your work, your relationships, your family, your
finances, and it will destroy your self-worth.
Come to Jesus, and let Him help you out of it. Get the
help you need, and start new with Jesus. Listen—the natural man, the natural woman
will gravitate towards using something—whether it be alcohol, or pot, or
whatever happens to be available. We are
predisposed to destroy ourselves, and to go for the instant gratification. If left to ourselves, we will sink to the
depths, with no care of consequences.
This is something that needs to be given to God, or there is no hope.
How can we keep from being caught by Satan’s deceptions? You know, it’s a serious game we are in.
“All who do not earnestly search the Scriptures and submit every
desire and purpose of life to that unerring test, all who do not seek God in
prayer for a knowledge of His will, will surely wander from the right path and
fall under the deception of Satan.” 5 Testimonies, 192
It is not enough to search the Scriptures, as good as that is. We must also SUBMIT to what we are learning. We must surrender our opinions, our thoughts, our biases, our positions to God. For example, if we search the Bible in order to find support for a sin that we cherish, we are doing damage to ourselves, we are fooling ourselves, and we simply will not be led. And we shouldn't claim that we are led either. The devil laughs when we read the Bible to bolster our own sinful practices and lifestyle, because he has succeeded in leading us down the path of deception.
It is equally wrong to search the Scriptures in order to win a debate or win an argument. If we go at Bible reading like that, we are not coming to God with the right spirit; we are not truly open to whatever He is trying to teach us.
Similarly, we cannot be selective in what we accept, when we are reading the Bible. We can’t pick and choose truth, according to our comfort level or current lifestyle choices. We should adjust our lifestyle and our theology to what God is teaching us.
The deceptions come from within and from without. Many of the deceptions in the last days will
come right from the church! That’s
right. It won’t be easy to discern
between good and evil, right and wrong.
That’s why we need to be in the Bible every single day, and we need to
be reading the guidance that God has given us in the writings of Ellen White. This is modern guidance that God has given
us. You can only recognize a counterfeit
if you have been focusing on the genuine for a long time.
And you will know them by their fruits. We need to guard against blindly following
someone, just because they are handsome or pretty or smart or famous or whatever. Look closer.
Look at their lives, look at what they believe, what they are into, look
at who they hang with, look at what they espouse, what they agree with, look at
what they wear, how they carry themselves, how they treat their neighbors. Don’t just blindly follow someone right off
the cliff.