The Fruit of the Spirit

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The Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians

• Joy

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Fruit of the Spirit

• Fruit is singular
• All the qualities together makes one fruit
• Love (agape) is the central quality
• It is to be our motive for all we do
• It expresses itself through service
• Now we will look at the second quality Joy

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Joy defined

• Greek, chara (joy, gladness, delight)
• Related words
• charein (to rejoice)
• The verb form of the word. Joy in action.
• charis (grace)
• The objective form of the word. That which
  produces joy.

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Grace and Joy

• Joy is proportional to grace
• The more grace you receive, the greater your joy
• The reason why many poor souls have so little
  heat of joy in their hearts is that they have so
  little light of the gospel knowledge in their
  mind. The further a soul stands from the light
  of truth, the further he must needs be from the
  heat of comfort. (William Gurnall)

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The joy of the Lord

• Jn 1511
• God wants us to be joyous
• 1 Pet 16-9
• In spite of trials
• Based on our love for Christ
• Made complete in salvation
• Not the passing pleasures of the world
• Eccl 210-11

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A Christians joy

• A consequence of faith
• Rom 1513
• Mt 625-34
• Faith will dispel worry (and thus allow for joy)
• A result of obedience
• Acts 85-8, 35-39
• Disobedience brings fear (Heb 1026-27)

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A Christians joy

• A result of forgiveness
• Psalm 321-5, 10-11
• Sins will weigh down our hearts
• Confession and forgiveness will let us rejoice
• A result of Christian fellowship
• Phm 17 It builds on itself
• 2 Cor 72-13
• Even in the discipline of the Lord, there is joy
  in properly serving God and in the outcome of
  saving souls

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A Christians joy

• A result of service
• In the salvation of the lost (Acts 1120-23)
• In seeing the spiritual progress of others
• 1 Thes 36-10
• Especially of those we helped come to the Lord
• 1 Thes 219-20
• In giving to others (Acts 2035)

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Summary

• Gods grace allowed Christ to die for our sins
• Faith in Christ will produce love
• Love will express itself through service
• Service will result in joy
• If you lack joy, then perhaps you lack something
  that leads to joy

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