Today’s message summary from Pastor Gus Brown:
Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith.
The fruit of The Spirit is the character or attitude displayed in ministry within your life.
Romans 12:4-8
4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts:
If prophecy,
use it according to the standard of one’s faith;
7 if service, in service;
if teaching, in teaching;
8 if exhorting, in exhortation;
giving, with generosity;
leading, with diligence;
showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
These gifts are referred to as administrative gifts. The body of Christ has different functions (v. 4) and there are different gifts within the body (v. 6).
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. 7 A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:
8 to one is given a message of wisdom
through the Spirit,
to another, a message of knowledge
by the same Spirit,
9 to another, faith by the same Spirit,
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another, the performing of miracles,
to another, prophecy,
to another, distinguishing between spirits,
to another, different kinds of languages,
to another, interpretation of languages.
11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.
These gifts are for the common good (v. 7). All of these are works of the same Spirit. He gives them to each person as He determines.
The gifts that are made visible in their evidence and functionality. The attitude in which these gifts are presented will not be of the flesh, for the Spirit and the flesh are incompatible.
A note of caution: Satan and his demons can duplicate the very things that we see here. There are some things that must be evident with these gifts, however, that Satan cannot duplicate…love is the key element. Satan cannot copy agape love. Agape love comes only from God, and it is evident in your best interest when He is involved.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8
1 If I speak human or angelic languages
but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains
but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,
5 does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends.
But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
The Spirit gives these gifts, but love must be the foundation of the manifestation of these gifts.
Love must be about the other person. Genuine love never fails and will touch the hearts of the people. (Note that love is the first fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22.)
1 John 4:8 – God is love
Romans 5:8 – God demonstrated His love
How do you demonstrate your godly love to people. You do it without ego trips, pride, vain glory, self need, rewards, or showing off your knowledge.
Real love brings people you minister to along side of you–not behind you.
Romans 12:9
Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.
1. A love that gives of self. John 3:16-17
John 3:16-17
16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
2. A love that covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.
3. A love that deals with our sin. Psalm 103:11-12; Micah 7:18-19
Psalm 103:11-12
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love
toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed
our transgressions from us.
God wants us to have this very attitude when we minister to others…not seeing the sin, but seeing the person who needs to be ministered to.
Micah 7:18-19
18 Who is a God like You,
removing iniquity and passing over rebellion
for the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not hold on to His anger forever,
because He delights in faithful love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will vanquish our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
4. A love that doesn’t remember my sin. Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12
Isaiah 43:25
“It is I who sweep away your transgressions
for My own sake
and remember your sins no more.
Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”
Hebrews 8:12
For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.
5. We are called to love our enemies. Matthew 5:43
Matthew 5:43
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
6. We are called to love each other. John 13:35
John 13:35
“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
God wants you to have the type of love that people who are your enemies will see the difference of Christ in your life. You have to love them in order to minister to them. Love conquers all things.
If we are to use the gifts that the Spirit gives to us in the proper manner, they must all begin with agape love. It can only come from God Himself through the Holy Spirit. We can extend grace to others because we have received grace from Him. Amen.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 