Embodying the Fruits of the Spirit Through Music

Music in general, think about it as well. It speaks to our hearts and our souls. It tells stories and it asks questions. And we can listen to a song and we can feel called to action. And we can hear a truth in that song. And we can go, wow, you know, that's so true. And like scripture, we can be inspired by music. And it can do that. It can bring these deep emotions. It's like each part of our life has a soundtrack, it seems like, the older we get. [00:41:06] (33 seconds)


The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. So, because you, you follow Christ, and have faith in God, the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit does something. He produces something in you. It's not because you've acted like a Christian, or you have just professed your faith. It's more than that. And in the Holy Spirit, because you have been humble enough, we talked about that last week, because you are worshiping Him, because you have a sense of His peace and His love, and you have a spirit inside of you, and you allow Him to control your life, and you do the things that He has called you to do, like in obedience, the Holy Spirit will produce something, okay? And those things are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. [00:52:23] (59 seconds)


There is no law against these things. If you have your Scripture, your Scripture might say there is no limit against these things. There's no extreme against these things. What, what does that mean? That last part is very important to me, I think. You can do whatever, you can have as much love, as much patience, as much gentleness, and you will never do anything wrong if you go to the extreme of those things. [00:53:22] (28 seconds)


And of course, the first is love, and that was John 13, 35, where He references that. But the truth is, and I want to challenge us as we start the new year, many Christians do not bear spiritual fruit. They don't. They profess to be Christian with their words, not with their actions. They haven't tried to figure any of that out. And, and it's, it's like Jesus talks about this more than once in His ministry, but there's leaves on the vine, but there's no fruit. [00:54:08] (35 seconds)


And it's a huge spiritual problem that God's people fail to produce this sort of thing. And it's a huge problem that God's people fail to produce this sort of thing. The spiritual fruit, because the world needs it all the time. That's what your neighbors need, your family needs, the world needs. And a lot of times, when we don't produce those things, here's that really big accountability. It's probably because we're choosing to disconnect from God. We don't think we've disconnected, but we have. [00:55:24] (28 seconds)


And there's a purpose for them. It's not just transformation on the outside, it's inner transformation. I mean, that's what he, he really wants us to reflect the life of Christ, a Christ-like character. A Christ-like character inside, because that flows outside. And so the focus of the spiritual fruits is spiritual growth, spiritual maturity. And they develop, though, within us, and are cultivated over time. [00:57:17] (31 seconds)


It's not just like a spiritual gift, where you like, you might have a spiritual gift because you are a follower of Christ, and he has gifted you to teach. He has put that within you, within your life, and you can develop that thing. Well, these are things that develop and are cultivated over time. And they are not something that just happens. You need to remain connected to Jesus, the vine, and abide in him, and allow the Holy Spirit to work, and these things begin to bubble up. [00:57:48] (37 seconds)


That's what John 15, verses four through five, as Jesus is speaking, to his disciples. It's sort of our key verse here at John Wesley, where we believe we are connecting people to Jesus. This is the verse that it's grounded in. It says, remain in me, and I will remain in you, or connect to me, and I will connect to you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches, those who remain in me, and I in them. Will produce much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. [00:58:25] (41 seconds)


I thought that was a great challenge, especially on Christmas Eve. The greatest witness to the world is a Christian's public joy. Do we have joy in our life? Do we have joy that's linked to, if you remember the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 and 6, Jesus said, blessed are things. Blessed are, that's a God-like joy, joy built not on circumstances, but God's circumstances. [01:06:30] (28 seconds)


His peace will guard your peace. Your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. The fruit of peace is really evidence in, and it's evident in a Christian's life through this love and this joy, this sort of harmony of soul and spirit that surpasses all understanding. There's this calmness in the face of life challenges and God's sovereignty. You know that he is sovereign. His purposes will prevail out of the bad in your life. Even the good in your life. [01:09:54] (35 seconds)