They're in 2 Thessalonians 3 and the title for the sermon is The Fruit of the Spirit Part 2.
We're continuing what we left off on Wednesday.
And I told you that we left off, I was going to cover the quality
or the characteristic of peace and I didn't get to get to the end of that.
So we're going to pick up from peace here in 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 16.
It says,
And so what I really want to pick up from that verse is
that as we look at the quality of peace or the fruit of the spirit,
different attributes of that, we must understand that it must be coming from the Lord.
Like if we want peace, right, we must go to the Lord of peace.
He's got the peace that we're looking for, right?
We're not to be looking for peace, the peace of God coming from human beings
or coming from social constructs or peace coming from chasing your desires
or your wills or your hobbies or your interests.
Now the peace that God wants to develop in our lives,
the fruit of the spirit must come from the Lord of peace.
Then it says,
Give you peace always, by all means, the Lord be with you all.
And so one thing I want you to notice that God can give us peace always, by all means.
And so God will use many different methods to give us peace,
but it's coming from him and it's always available.
You know, if your hearts are not, you know, if your hearts are troubled this morning,
if you have any concerns or sorrows or pains or whatever it is in your heart
that's troubling you,
I want you to know that you can have the peace of God,
you can have the fruit of the spirit in your soul,
in your heart, in your mind, in your life, this very moment.
Okay?
But we must seek it from the Lord of peace.
So as I said, the title of the sermon is the fruit of the spirit part two,
if you want like that,
because we are continuing to go through this list.
If you can come with me to John 14,
come with me to the book of John, John chapter 14.
John chapter 14.
And actually, Nicholas, if you can get me a drink of water, that'd be great.
But John chapter 14.
And while you're turning to John 14,
I'm going to start with Galatians 5 22 just as a reminder.
It says,
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy.
We covered those on Wednesday.
Then the ones I want to cover today is peace, long suffering.
I think I'll just do two at a time.
So we'll be looking at peace and long suffering today.
Then gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.
So the next quality of the fruit of the spirit that we're looking at is peace.
Now, John 14, please.
John 14, verse number 25.
John 14, 25.
I want to show you this aspect here.
And when we talk about the fruit of the spirit,
we're talking about the Holy Spirit of God, right?
We know that we serve one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
And it is specifically the role of the Holy Ghost of the Holy Spirit
to develop the fruit of the spirit in our lives.
And so in John 14, Jesus Christ is speaking to his apostles
and he's speaking about his coming death.
And he's speaking about them being troubled and concerned
because it's going to be arrested and the shepherds going to be smitten
and the sheep are going to be scattered.
And so there's going to be fears and concerns and worries.
And he says these words in verse number 25.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Verse number 26.
But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
So I want you to notice that the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost
that Jesus Christ will send
or the Father will send in the name of Christ is our comforter.
Now, I don't know, do you feel like you need comfort this morning?
Maybe you're going through a hard time this week
or hey, you know what?
You might be having the best week of your life.
You might be on top of the moon right now this Sunday, this morning.
But you don't even know what Monday brings.
You don't know what tomorrow brings.
I mean, things can change so rapidly in life
where you're discomforted,
where you have concerns and fears and troubles.
But I want you to remember that Jesus Christ promised us
that we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us.
And he's not just a spirit that's there,
but he's the comforter.
Meaning that we can go to our comforter.
We can go to our Lord God living within us.
He's not far away.
He's close by.
He's inside each one of us.
And we say, Lord, I need some comfort.
Lord, I need some peace.
Lord, I need some guidance.
I need some love.
I need some comfort.
I need to be edified.
And that is the role of the Holy Ghost.
That is the role of his, you know, within you to be that comforter.
It says that he shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
So the Holy Ghost reminds us of the teachings of Christ,
the teachings that we've learned from the Bible,
that we've heard from preaching in our own personal time with the Lord.
You know, he reminds us of the times that Christ has come through
and delivered us from difficulties and trials and tribulations.
He reminds us of the times that God has come through
when we've called out to him in prayer and he's given us answered prayer.
All of these qualities of God and how he's dealt with us over the years,
the salvation he's given us ought to give us comfort.
And that is the role of the Holy Ghost.
It's why it's so important that we walk in the spirits,
you know, that we can be in touch and in communication
with the Holy Spirit of God, that he can work in our hearts,
that he can develop the fruit of the spirit that we see laid out for us.
And that's his role.
We need to be open to the Holy Spirit's guidance and leading in our lives.
Then he says in verse number 27 about the comforter.
Christ says, peace, peace, I live with you.
My peace, I give unto you.
Isn't that right?
So the peace that we're looking for is coming from the Lord.
And Christ says, peace, I live with you.
My peace, I give unto you.
You know what this tells me?
Because we know what happens later on.
Christ gets arrested, the disciples run away, scared.
Peter denies the Lord three times.
What, was Jesus lying?
Did they not have the peace of Christ in their life?
It was there.
It was, it's who, Christ is not lying, obviously.
Okay.
So before he gets taken and arrested, he says, I'm leaving you my peace.
All right.
But then what happens?
They lose the peace.
And again, you know, if you have a lack of peace this morning,
it's not that God's forgotten to give it to you.
It's not that it's not readily available to you.
It is.
Okay.
But you must seek it from the Lord.
You know, the devil and the world is going to do everything it can do
to shake your peace and your foundation and the things that God wants to live by.
But you must remember, it's not that God has removed his peace from you.
It's there.
It's always available, especially if you feel it's been lost.
You got the Holy Spirit, the comfort of living within you.
Lord, give me your peace.
Remind me of your peace.
And the peace that he speaks about in verse 27, he says,
not as the world giveth.
So does the world offer peace?
The world offers peace.
Offers peace.
It tries to give you peace.
Right?
So when you hear about peace treaties being signed,
you know, where someone's come in, you know, and is gone to the land of Palestine and,
you know, we're signed a peace treaty between the Palestinians and the Jews.
And that's the kind of peace that the world wants to give you.
But it's not the peace that's going to satisfy your life.
Because it doesn't matter if that in the Middle East are having wars or peace over there.
We still have our own struggles.
We have our own burdens.
Our own difficulties that we go through.
And the world tries to offer peace, but there is no real peace in the earth.
Christ says, it's not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
He says, let not your heart be troubled.
Neither let it be afraid.
Have you got fears this morning?
Are you troubled this morning?
I think most like, I think if, you know, I know the reality of life.
If, you know, there probably is trouble in your heart.
You know, whatever that trouble might look like.
But God doesn't want your heart to be troubled.
Christ does not want you to be afraid, concerned, worried.
He says, I give you my peace, not as the world giveth.
Because this is a peace that is everlasting.
A peace that can be in your hearts and your minds every single day, right?
Like we saw earlier in 2 Thessalonians 3 16.
Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.
The Lord be with you all.
So look, you know, if there's anything in our lives,
you know, that stands out compared to the world,
I mean, there can be many things,
but if there's one thing, it ought to be peace.
And one thing I'm peaceful about is my salvation, eternal life.
I'm not afraid of death.
I know where I'm going to be when these eyes close.
I know I'm going to be with my Lord Jesus Christ.
I know I don't have to face the Lord with my sins
and he's going to cast me into hell fire.
I'm not worried about that whatsoever.
I have the peace of salvation in my heart.
Now that's wonderful, having the peace of eternal life.
But then we have our worldly life that we have to live functioning.
And look, there's not a lot of peace in this world.
There's a lot of struggles.
I mean, like I said, you can be having a great day today.
Tomorrow you can all fall apart.
Whatever struggle and issues come up.
But I want you to remember, we don't have to,
Jesus Christ told us, we don't have to be troubled.
We don't have to be afraid.
We just need his peace.
So it's so important that we allow the Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter,
to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, in our hearts, in our minds.
It's something that is always readily available to us.
Come with me to Romans chapter 8, please.
Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8, verse number 5.
Actually, I missed one reference, but anyway, go to Romans 8.
While you're turning to Romans 8, I'll read to you from John 16, 33.
These are again, the words of Christ.
He says, these things I have spoken unto you that in me, you might have peace.
I have that peace.
I'm sure you have that peace.
If you're saved today in Christ Jesus, in his salvation, you have that peace.
But then he says these words, in the world, you shall have tribulation.
So hold on, no, Jesus, you promised me peace.
That should be in the absence of tribulation.
That should be in the absence of troubles and turmoils.
Christ says, look, you've got the peace, but you're going to have tribulation.
Like this is a promise as well.
In the world, you shall have tribulation.
But isn't it wonderful how that verse ends?
But be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
So what else should peace give us?
Cheerfulness, joy, happiness.
Remember, we've already seen the fruit of joy,
in many ways, these fruits will overlap.
Like you can't have joy if you don't have peace.
You know, and you can't really have joy if you don't have love.
I mean, these things are all fruit that the Spirit needs to develop.
You know, it's all of it.
It's not just some of it.
All of this needs to be developed in our Christian lives.
I mean, this is something that should stand out with us as believers,
compared to the rest of the world.
You know, when you're gathered with your friends
or your family that do not know Christ,
they should be able to look at your life and go,
you know what, there's love, there's joy, there's peace.
Like beyond what I've experienced, beyond what I've seen,
beyond what the world offers.
Because we should be of good cheer.
Even in the midst of tribulation.
Past, it's easier said than done.
Of course it is.
And it's just a constant reminder that when we get discouraged,
when we do get troubled, when we lose peace,
that we need to remind ourselves,
look, it can't come from our own strength and efforts.
It must come from our Lord.
Like if there's anything that I've learned growing up,
maturing in Christ, you know,
being more well-rounded as a Christian,
the more I've gone through life and the struggles
and difficulties, the more I've come to realize
I need less of me and more of Christ.
Just like John, the Baptist said,
I must decrease and he must increase.
And that's actually the case.
Like as you grow, you realize,
boy, I need the Lord more than I ever noticed.
You know, people say this all the time.
You know, people that, you know, study,
especially the sciences or that, you know,
they have an intellectual mindset.
You know, at first, when you gain knowledge,
you have this idea, boy, you know, it's kind of the flesh.
You kind of get, oh man, I know more than the average person.
But at some points in your mental growth and academic,
you know, learnings, you're going to come to realize,
boy, the more I know, the more I realize I don't know.
If you've been in that case, you go, boy, man, I know more.
And the more I know, the more I realize I don't know.
And we realize just how limited we are.
Like if God knows all things, how limited are we as people?
What is our knowledge in comparison
to everything there is to know in the world?
And that's just creation.
What about what is beyond creation?
You know, God, eternity.
Like God gives us glimpses in his scriptures,
but we don't really know until we experience it ourselves.
And the more I realize, the more I grow in the Lord,
the more I depend on him, the more I realize,
boy, I need to depend on God even more than I realize.
And it's actually nice.
Like it's not that I turn around and say,
oh man, I must be just hopeless.
No, no, it's like, man, how much is God wanting to help me
in life, in wisdom, in knowledge, in guidance?
He's always there giving us his peace.
But troubles are always there and troubles are necessary
for us to be able to draw from the peace of Christ.
Yeah, like you, I guess I wish troubles weren't there in life
and I could just get along all the time with everybody.
I can always be, troubles come and that's the way of the world.
That's the way of the sinful flesh.
And Christ promises us his peace.
I got you to turn to Romans 8, didn't I?
Romans 8, verse number 5.
Romans 8 and verse number 5.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.
Now we can, we've got free will.
We can decide how we want to live our lives.
You're saved.
You know you've got the flesh.
You know you've got the spirit.
You know you have a choice.
Do I live for myself or do I live for the Lord?
And your life is going to be a mix of this.
And hopefully as you grow in the Lord, the ratio increases.
The more you live for the Lord, you know,
as much as I would love to say,
you got to get to a point where you're living for the Lord nonstop, continually, never end.
It's not true because if you could get to that point,
you'll never sin again and you'll be at Christ's level in these corrupted bodies.
But God still expects sanctification, holiness, growth.
Okay.
But again, as you come to realize that, the more you realize,
boy, in order for me to walk in the ways of the Lord,
it cannot be done by my strength.
I must need my Lord God helping me on this journey.
But we have a choice.
I can be kindly minded and seek the things of the world.
The things that I know please me, but may not please God.
The things that definitely do not please God.
But it's, you know, it can be entertainment.
It can be, and again, like I want to be careful
because there's a lot in the world that can be enjoyed.
That is not sinful against the Lord.
But boy, you know, there are some things that you probably know yourself
that you get involved in and you know,
my Lord God does not want me spending time on this.
This is kindly minded.
This feeds the flesh.
It does not feed the spirits.
And look at verse number six.
It says, for to be kindly minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Say pastor, Jesus Christ promises us peace nonstop.
Every day.
Why do I lose it?
Because we become kindly minded.
We become kindly minded.
We forget to be spiritually minded because it's so quick.
When we go through tribulation, when we go through a difficulty,
it's so quick to be transported like this in an instant back in the flesh.
And instead of thinking things from an eternal perspective
and a spiritual perspective, we're thinking of things from an eternal perspective.
And when you do that, you lose the peace that God wants to have in your life.
So you've been spiritually minded is life and peace.
Verse number seven, because the carnal mind is enmity against God.
I know you don't like to think about that.
That's true.
If you walk in the flesh and say, all right, flesh, we'll do what you want to do.
You're going to be against the Lord.
It's the battle that we have every day of our lives.
Maybe even right now, the battle between the flesh and the spirit.
It says about the flesh or the carnal mind.
For it is not subject to the law of God.
Neither indeed can be.
It can't be subject to the laws of God.
You want to walk in the flesh.
You want to feed yourself carnally.
You want to do things contrary and just walk your own way.
You know, you're not going to have peace
and you're not going to be able to keep the laws of God.
You will find yourself going down, you know, like a slide in sin, in flesh, in wickedness.
Like you're just going to get deep into sin.
If you don't get right with God, if you don't walk according to his ways,
if you don't walk according to his spirit, according to his light,
if you don't maintain a fellowship with God,
your flesh can get into horrible sins, a horrible life, far from the Lord.
Maybe even feel like you're an enemy to God.
God is my enemy.
It's a flesh though.
There's no peace there.
You're going to have turmoil.
Look, you're going to have turmoil either way.
You're going to have tribulations either way.
But I want to face tribulations and have peace about it.
If I'm thinking spiritually, I don't want to have tribulations
and be far from God and be an enmity against God in my flesh.
There's no answers there.
The Bible says it leads to death.
For to be kindly minded is death.
There's no life.
There's no peace when you follow the ways of your flesh.
Can you come with me to 1 Timothy chapter 2?
1 Timothy chapter 2, please.
1 Timothy chapter 2.
I want us to think really hard about what we're about to read here
because, you know, we chat and I don't think any of us are fans of our government.
I don't think we're fans of our Queensland premier, our Queensland government.
I don't think we're fans of the Australian government, right?
Especially after going through all the lockdown and restrictions
that we all had to go through and the limitations and the whatever.
Like, we don't like the people in authority in this world.
Okay.
And I understand.
I don't like them either.
Okay.
I'm with you on that.
But I want peace.
I want to live a life of peace.
And in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 1,
look, this is a command.
I exhort therefore that first of all, okay,
this is the first thing that we ought to be doing.
Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
Who are all men past lives?
Is that my brother and sister in the Lord?
Yes, yes, yes.
But more than that, verse number 2,
for kings and for all that are in authority.
Say, pastor, I don't know if I can do this.
That we may lead.
This is why, this is why, this is why.
We pray for kings and those in authority.
Not that they can have wonderful lives
and they can get re-elected for the next, you know, political campaign or something like that.
No, no, no.
This is why we pray for them.
That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Look, this was really in a time when it was the Roman Empire
in power over these parts of the earth, okay.
The Roman Empire was not a godly empire.
It was filled with homosexuality and wickedness.
You know, they would overrun the laws of God.
Jesus was able to operate even though.
He was able to conduct his ministry.
He was able to accomplish the greatest task he's ever accomplished.
Under Roman rule.
And I know, look, I know the world is getting worse and worse and worse.
But we also know that there's nothing new under the sun.
If the apostle Paul, who was having a hard time with authorities,
getting arrested and all kinds of things,
is ever say to the church or to actually Timothy,
look, we need to pray for kings and those authorities
that we can live a quiet and peaceable life.
Then how much more important is it that we do that today in 2024?
It's just, I know, I know.
It's hard, right?
You know, these politicians, prime minister, blah, blah, blah.
And I just have to vent and get it off my chair.
And look, maybe you do.
Look, whenever you need to vent, you say, pastor, I need to vent.
You know, whatever politician, whatever state
has brought in this new law that is contrary to God,
who do I vent to?
Most people think Facebook.
That's where I go.
I don't know.
You go and vent to God.
You take those prayers to God.
Okay, this is what we're meant to do.
Say again, in First Timothy chapter two, verse one,
I exhort that, therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers.
First of all, the first thing we do when we lose peace
and we're frustrated with the politicians,
we go to God in prayer.
We don't, first of all, go to Facebook.
But that's the carnal mind.
You know, thinking that we're wrestling against flesh and blood.
We need to go to God.
Say, God, you see my government.
You see our politicians.
These are people in power.
Lord, you call them your ministers.
And Lord, they're your ministers.
And Lord, you see how wicked they're doing.
Please correct them.
Please judge them.
Please chastise them.
Lord, if people are in powerful positions
who do not have a fear of God,
please remove them, Lord, and bring someone
who at least has a fear of God.
They don't have to be saved.
But if they can just have a fear and realize,
boy, what a responsibility to have to lead a nation
and to bring in our laws.
I want to make sure that I'm not angering God at least.
We need to pray for our kings, our politicians.
I don't like it.
It's the last people I want to pray for.
I know where you're coming from.
Don't worry.
I'm the same flesh as you.
But I'm trying to show you that's carnally minded
when we don't go to God in prayer.
I want peace.
I want a quiet and peaceable life.
And God gives me the solution.
Take these people to pray.
And you pray as you need to pray.
You know, if you need to pray in precatory prayers,
you pray in precatory prayers, okay?
But you take it to the Lord God
that we may live quiet and peaceable lives.
Are you known as a complainer
or are you known as a peacemaker?
Which one are you?
Are you known for the conflicts
or are you known for bringing people together?
I don't know your lives.
I don't know your testimonies.
I don't know everything about yourselves, you know?
But quite often you'll find people that are in conflict
are always in conflict.
You'll find people that are peacemakers
are always trying to bring peace
and friendship between individual people.
You know what?
God wants us to be peacemakers.
But that needs to come from the fruit of the Spirit, okay?
As we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
Come with me to Philippians 4.
Philippians 4 verse number 5.
Take it a little bit long and peace,
but it doesn't matter.
I'll speed up long suffering a little bit later on.
But Philippians 4, 5.
Last reference for peace.
Philippians 4, 5.
Let your moderation be known unto all men.
The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing.
You know, these are some of my favorite.
If you want to just mentally remember this,
just say this is one of my pastor's favorite passages in Scripture.
I probably, I think I may have repeated these verses
more than any other passage in the six years
that I've been pastoring in New Life Baptist Church.
Because I truly believe these verses.
Like they mean a lot to me, okay?
Be careful.
Don't be full of care.
Don't be full of worries.
Be careful for nothing.
But in everything.
What am I meant to do with everything in my life?
But in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
And verse number seven.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.
I guess when we think about fears and concerns,
we talk about them bothering our hearts.
Our hearts have been bothered.
When we think of stress, we think of our minds being troubled.
Christ can give you peace in your mind and in your heart.
It doesn't matter what's going on in the world.
It doesn't matter what tribulation.
You know, God promised you there'll be tribulations in the world.
Surprise.
No, no, it's not surprise.
God promises us, all right?
But I want peace in my heart.
I want peace in my mind.
How do I do that?
By taking everything to God in prayer.
You know, sometimes people at church, and rightly so,
share with me your concerns and struggles.
But you know, all I do is just go to God.
What can I do?
All I can do is say, God, brother so-and-so's struggling.
Can you please help him?
You know, maybe he's struggling to pray,
and I'll pray on his behalf.
I want to see it on his behalf.
Because sometimes when you are going through troubles, it's hard to pray.
Depends, depends on the situation.
Sometimes when I'm going through trouble, all I can do is pray.
And then there are other times and troubles that I'm going through that I just can't pray.
And I just hope somebody else is praying for me.
You know, sometimes when we bring up prayer requests,
it's because sometimes it's hard to pray.
Can someone else intercede for me?
Can someone else, can my church pray on my behalf?
I've had to get in the habit as soon as someone says,
prayer request, issue this.
I just stop what I'm doing just for five seconds, 10 seconds, Lord.
Because I forget.
Like it's busy, life is busy.
You go about doing this, this and this.
And then a few days later, I didn't even pray.
They asked for me to pray for that.
I didn't pray about it.
I'm in the habit now, as soon as someone says,
pastor, can you pray for me?
I'm like, yeah, whatever.
I don't care what I'm doing, Lord.
And I bring them before him and I just,
Lord, you know what they're going through.
You know the struggle.
Okay.
Because maybe that person is having a hard time to pray.
They don't have the peace of God in their heart for whatever reason.
And then look, verses number eight and nine.
Please, please like make this such an important passage in your life.
Please make this an important passage in your life.
I know, look, I love the internet.
I love it.
So much knowledge.
I like to read, I like to watch, I like to think.
I like to be challenged, even with my own biases and positions and all.
I like it.
Okay.
But the internet is so easy to go down.
I don't know, what's the word I want to use?
It's so easy to go down just a bad path and you feel your, your heart and your minds
with all worries and concerns and problems and mark of the beast is around the corner
and whatever else people are talking about.
You know, I want you to really think about these verses that we're about to read.
Verse number eight.
Finally, brethren, what so ever things are true?
What so ever things are true?
Look, the only thing that I know is true is this.
That's all I know is true.
I know that whatever page I read is true.
If I click a video, I don't know if that's true.
Do you know?
Do you really know?
But we live in a generation, and I'm not joking, like we live in a generation that
believes what they watch is true.
I remember growing up in the 80s where journalists were real journalists.
Where they would interview someone and they would challenge.
They would push back.
They would ask tough questions.
They would make, you know, politicians uncomfortable and, and upset.
And I used to like, I said, man, I want to be a, I want to be a reporter one day.
I remember looking at that and going, that's awesome.
But today, you turn on the news, you know, immediately, as soon as the,
the words, the propaganda that's coming out, they are machines of this wicked world.
They're just trying to pollute your mind.
But so is social media many times.
And I, and I've seen the effects of Facebook.
You get the friends that you like, and you all share the same information.
You become this echo chamber.
And you just, this is your world.
You all just, but the real world's out there.
But we just become this echo.
We all say the same thing.
We all agree, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever it is, whatever issue it is.
It's not real world.
I feel like as much as I love the media internet, like the, the information age that
we live in, it also blinds us so heavily and leads us in paths that are, I believe
in many ways, contrary to the way that God wants us to live.
Again, am I saying that just get off social media?
No, no, it's fine.
Use it.
Okay.
I used to think social media was a way that I could connect my family overseas.
Cause I'd get to see my family overseas very often.
So this is why Facebook, whatever connects, add friends, chat.
Okay.
I did not understand that people use it for a political platform.
Okay.
Or whatever, even a religious platform and, and form your echo chamber and feel
comfortable within that echo chamber.
I think it's, it's sort of, it's strange.
I find it's, it's not the world that I, I'm glad that I was born in the 80s and
I got to see the world a little bit differently.
I worried about something about my children growing up in this world, which it's all
just screens and, and you know, social media and things like that.
I mean, it's the world we live in.
It's the world they're going to live in.
And we're going to have to find a way to live like this.
But, you know, we must remember, regardless of what system or information
age that we live in, I want you to remember these words.
What sort of things are true?
Please understand the only thing that is true is the word of God.
I, as your pastor, try to be as truthful as I can be, but can I make mistakes?
Of course.
So anything that I teach must be proven and tested by God's word.
That's the least that I expect from my church members.
Everything you hear online must be tested with the scriptures.
Is, are the scriptures saying what they say?
Does it line up with God's word or does it not?
We've been influenced so much by things that are not true.
But what sort of things are true?
What sort of things are honest?
What sort of things are just?
What sort of things are pure?
What sort of things are lovely?
What sort of things are a good report?
Let's just take those two of those right there.
Pure and lovely.
Can you say to me, pastor, every time I've turned on the TV or gone on the internet,
watched YouTube or whatever else, Telegram or, I'm sorry, Telesham or, or, or fake book
or, uh, Instasham, whatever it is, right?
You know that every time I've looked up a video, it's been pure and it's been lovely.
Probably not.
And when it's not been, you know what it's done?
It's not allowed to have peace.
We keep going through this.
What sort of things are good report, virtues that it says, uh, and a good report.
If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do.
And the God of peace shall be with you.
The God of peace shall be with you.
Look, when you fill your mind with things that are
trouble and concerning and worries and disgusting things, things of disgusting nature.
The Lord's not with you watching those things, looking at those things.
And before you know it, you've lost the peace that God wants to give you.
You filled your mind with carnal things.
You've chased the world.
So the solution go to God in prayer, take all your supplications to Him
and make sure that your mind, our mind is on spiritual things,
lovely things, pure things, true things, God's word.
The beach can be nice.
It's lovely.
Just got to be careful.
Be careful where you go.
Because there are things that will tempt the carnal mind as well.
But there's many things on the sunny coast that are beautiful and lovely, God's creation.
I say enjoy it, enjoy it, but be careful because it takes
split second and you find yourself back carnally minded.
Peace, long suffering, let's talk about long suffering.
Can you come with me to, you're in 1 Timothy aren't you?
I think.
Oh no, you're in Philippians.
Come back with me to Philippians.
No, no, sorry.
Let me think.
Come with me to Psalm, Psalm.
Come with Psalm 86.
Come with me to Psalm 86.
Let's talk about long suffering, long suffering.
Long suffering or the modern versions change it to patience,
which in some ways is correct.
But long suffering is a little bit more than patience.
And in Exodus 34, verse number five, the Bible says,
and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there.
This is with Moses and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
So the Lord is proclaiming his own name.
And then he says these words and the Lord passed by before him and proclaims.
This is what God proclaims.
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long suffering and abundance in goodness and truth.
Say, boy, like we try to proclaim God.
We try to praise his name.
And when God proclaims his own name, his own nature,
he says he's merciful, gracious.
And he says long suffering.
You're in Psalm 86.
Look at verse number 15.
Psalm 86, verse number 15.
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious.
Long suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Now that I think about it, when I praise the Lord,
when I start, when we do church,
when we, I'm not having a go at anybody because I do the same.
You know, we try our best in our fleshly bodies
to proclaim God's name and is, you know, lift him up
and Lord, we just want to praise you.
We want to worship you, Lord.
We want this church service to be about you.
I don't think I've ever said, Lord, you're long suffering.
But that's what he speaks about himself.
Being long suffering.
Can you come with me to second Peter chapter three,
second Peter chapter three.
I'm going to speed up here a little bit.
Sorry guys.
But second Peter chapter three.
Now let me give you the definition of long suffering.
So we know that the word suffer, suffering is the word allow.
Especially in the old English, we use that term allow.
So long suffering is someone that suffers long
or allows for a long time.
Someone that bears with others.
Long suffering can also mean to feel or to bear pain for others.
Yes, patience is part of that,
but it's a little bit more than patience.
It's really patience whilst being inconvenienced.
Long suffering is patience while being inconvenienced.
So if God is long suffering
and before we got to know him as savior,
we were sinning against him openly,
did not trust Christ as our savior.
Our Lord God was being inconvenienced by our lives.
We were offending him.
He was sinning against our Lord God.
And yet he was patient with us.
Patience while being inconvenienced.
You know, putting up with us.
I don't know.
Because if someone is just doing me wrong
again and again and again and again
and every day doing me wrong,
I would have written that guy off by the second day, I reckon.
That's why we're not long.
We need the long suffering of God.
Like it's hard.
This is hard.
I don't know at what age you got saved.
Let's say you got aged, saved at 20 years old.
God was long suffering for you for 20 years.
But when someone does us wrong, do we give them 20 years?
No way.
Well, I can't do it.
That's God.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it's the fruit of the Spirit who is God.
You see, if we're taking these qualities,
they're coming from God.
It can't be done in our,
I know it can't be done in our flesh.
When I compare my long suffering,
my patience compared to God's patience,
it doesn't come close.
I need the Holy Spirit to work in my life.
Honestly, like when I look at these spirits,
these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit,
I come short.
Lord, help me.
Lord, help me to walk in your Spirit.
I can't do what you do,
but it must be possible, Lord,
because it's the fruit of the Spirit.
It's His work in me.
It's not me trying to make this or force this in my flesh.
No, no, it must come from you who is perfectly,
who is perfect in long suffering.
2 Peter 3, verse 15.
It says,
An account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.
Why did God suffer long with you?
To give you the chance to be saved.
Even as our beloved brother Paul also,
according to the wisdom,
given unto him have written unto you.
God's long suffering.
Come drop, look at verse number nine,
2 Peter 3, verse number nine.
We know this passage.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness,
but is long suffering to us.
Long suffering to us, word,
not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
God is long suffering.
He was long suffering with you and I.
He gave us the time to be saved,
to come to repentance,
to trust Christ as our Savior.
What about the rest of the world that is unsaved?
The rest of the souls here on the sunshine coast
that do not know Christ as Savior.
God has been long suffering with them.
You know what?
God is keeping them alive for those that are still alive,
giving them the chance that blessed up at the church
or some other spirit-filled believer would knock on their door
and let me tell you how long suffering God has been with you
and is offering you salvation right now, right today.
The long suffering of our Lord is willing to give people time to be saved.
Can you come with me to 1 Timothy chapter one,
1 Timothy chapter one, verse number 15.
I don't know about you,
but I'm thankful for the long suffering of Jesus Christ.
I'm thankful, even though I got saved at four years old,
I'm still thankful that He did not take my life before then.
I'm thankful that I got saved at four.
I'm thankful that He's given me a life that I can,
yes, made many mistakes, yes.
He's given me a life to serve Him,
you know, that later in my life I can be a pastor
and try to preach as best as I know how His word.
I'm not perfect, but He's still long suffering with me.
He's still merciful with me.
Like, I'm thankful for that.
So, man, if I can appreciate God's long suffering in my life,
and sometimes, Lord, why haven't you chastised me?
You might think, because He's long suffering.
He wants you to get things right.
He wants you to come to Him and say,
Lord, I messed up again, forgive me.
But then it's hard to give that same long suffering to others.
That's why we must develop the fruit of the Spirit.
I want to be like my Lord God.
I want to be patient.
I want to take time.
I don't want to just write people off
as soon as they do one wrong thing or five wrong things.
Jesus Christ said 70 times seven,
I've got to forgive someone.
That requires a lot of long suffering.
I can't do it.
I can't do it without God.
Someone wrongs me two, three times.
I feel like I'm done with them.
Like, be honest, you're probably the same.
It shows us how short we come to the long suffering of God.
First Timothy chapter one, verse 15.
This is the faithful saying and worthy of all expectation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.
Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy
that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Do you see what happened?
Paul's life is an example of Christ's long suffering.
Paul who was persecuting the church of God.
Paul who had a hand in the death, the murder of Stephen.
Like out of anybody, you'd say Paul is not going to get saved.
There's no way.
That guy's done.
He might be even over reprobate.
He says the fact that Christ saved him is was Christ showing forth his long suffering.
So others can say, boy, this Paul, if Christ is willing to take this much time
and not destroy Paul and even allow him to get saved.
To have a miracle of vision that blinded him,
that made him reassess his position before Jesus Christ.
Boy, look at the Christ, the Lord, the God that we serve.
Look at his long suffering.
For what purpose?
For, verse 16, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him.
Is that you?
Do you believe on him?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
That's you.
This is the pattern for you to follow.
For a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting.
This is your pattern.
Look how Christ was long suffering to Paul.
I better be long suffering with the people that I come across in life.
I'm not just going to write them off.
This family member that has blasphemed God, maybe this family member that has taken,
you know, God's word and ripped it apart or whatever it is,
you know, this family member that has, you know, when I told him the gospel,
told me to shut up and get out of the house.
You say, I'm done with them.
I'm not going to, no, no, no, no, no.
Look at the example, the pattern that Christ had with Paul.
Paul was persecuted in God's people.
We can't give up on the, look, we come across family and friends and people.
Look, I'm not this kind of guy.
I'm not this kind of guy.
I'm not this hyper spiritual, religious, righteous guy that says,
as soon as you get saved, get rid of everybody in your life that is ungodly.
I don't believe that at all.
I don't believe that.
I don't believe I'm just going to burn every bridge that I've ever built in my life
because they're just not saved or something like that.
Or they're ungodly.
More often than not, if you just start living for Christ Jesus,
they're going to pull away from you.
You don't have to force it.
They're just going to go, I don't want to do that guy anymore.
He's gone weird.
But the relationships that the Lord allows to keep open, keep praying for them.
Keep thinking about them.
Bring them before the Lord.
Say, Lord, he's got a hardened heart before you.
You know, my brother, my cousin, my mom, my dad,
they've got a hardened heart towards you, Lord.
I think the problem is their pride.
Lord, I think their problem is their money.
They're too comfortable, Lord.
Lord, can you please take away all their money?
Lord, can you please bring them to ruin so they can be broken?
Lord, so they can be calling out, wondering what the purpose of life is.
Lord, can you bring them before their knees
and remember that I've tried to give them the gospel message,
the purpose of life, the assurance of salvation.
I'm not going to give up on them, Lord,
as long as they're living and they're breathing.
Lord, I'm not going to give up on them.
I need your long suffering.
And when people have offended me and done me wrong,
Lord, help me to be able to forgive them 70 times.
I need your long suffering, Lord.
All right.
Can you come with me to Colossians chapter three?
Colossians chapter three.
Let's end on this one.
Colossians chapter three.
And while you're turning to Colossians three,
I want to quickly read to you from Ephesians four.
And this is about our church.
Okay.
This is about New Life Baptist Church.
In Ephesians four verse one,
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you
that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,
with all lowliness and meekness,
with long suffering,
forbearing one another in love,
forbearing, put up with each other.
You know, one day I'm going to frustrate you.
I promise you because I'm a human being and so are you.
I don't want to.
It's just what it is.
It's life.
And one day you're going to frustrate me.
And one day we're going to frustrate each other.
Say, pastor, it's already happened.
Good.
It's there.
It's church.
What do you expect?
It's human beings, sinful nature, selfishness,
people having tribulations, hard times.
You know, that's, whenever you put people together,
it's going to happen.
It doesn't matter church or whatever, workplace.
Whatever gathering you put people together,
you know, imperfect people together,
there's going to be some level of conflict and upset.
You know, people being upset with one another.
But the instruction, be lowly, be meek,
with long suffering.
Can we suffer long with one another?
You know, instead of just criticizing each other,
I'm not saying there's a problem in our church.
I'm just saying, like, if there can be a problem
in our church that develops like this,
let me just realize, boy, yeah, brother.
Let me think of a name.
Brother Jason.
All right, thank you, brother.
Yeah, brother Jason's really frustrating.
You know, he offended me the other day.
And I don't know, what else have you done, brother?
I don't know.
I invited him to my house,
but he's never invited me to his house.
Something like this, whatever.
Whatever people get upset about.
You know, I'm just going to suffer long.
I'm going to be meek.
I'm going to be lowly.
I'm going to be long suffering.
I'm just going to bear these things.
Because how much more did Christ bear for me?
It's like, it's tiny, tiny things that hurt churches.
Minor little issues that hurt churches.
Because of pride, because of ego.
I'm better than this person.
No, no.
If you just remind yourself to be lowly and meek,
you know what?
You're going to get along with people.
You're going to have peace with people.
It says, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Which is how peace and long suffering both were mentioned there.
I want this church to be a church that suffers long with one another.
I want this church to be a church of peace.
Honestly, I don't care what you believe,
how you believe the craters on the moon got there.
I'm not going to argue with you about it.
I'm going to believe that if you want, whatever, I don't care.
I really don't care if you, whether you believe Adam had a belly button or not.
You know, I just want to be, I want to be at peace.
I'll put up with you, whatever.
You're wrong.
I'm right, but I'll put up with you.
I'm long suffering.
That's what we all think, right?
That's what we all think.
Sometimes we're both wrong.
Sorry, I got you to turn to Colossians 3, didn't I?
Yeah, Colossians 3, 12.
Let's finish on this one.
Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy,
mercy's kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness.
It's just a repetition of what's on Ephesians 4.
Long suffering.
Look, you've got to put it on.
It's not automatic.
You have to say, Holy Spirit of God, I need long suffering right now.
I want to work in your spirit, Lord, give it to me.
Lord, give it to me because right now I feel like just flying off my handle and getting
emotional and getting frustrated and causing divisions and hurting somebody.
Lord, can you give me some long suffering?
Can you give me the long suffering that you gave me and that you've given the world
to be saved even though we offend you every single day of our lives?
Can you give me some of that?
In fact, give me all of that, Lord.
Give me the full brunt of the long suffering that you have.
Then it says in verse number 13, forbearing one another.
Again, putting up with each other's burdens, forbearing one another and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Again, I don't know.
I don't know if there's quarrels.
Maybe there is.
I don't know.
Can you sort it out, please, if there is one in your life, in your families?
If there's an offence, someone's upset you, you've upset them, you know about it.
Just lower yourself.
Lord, you've been patient with me.
You've been long suffering with me.
Help me to be long suffering with my brother or sister in the Lord.
I want unity in our church.
I want peace.
I want love.
I want joy at New Life Baptist Church.
I do.
I know you want it too.
Like I know deep down, you want all of these qualities in your life and in our church.
And it's better to have it to begin with so we don't have the conflict.
So we don't step on each other's toes.
We don't get frustrated at each other.
But when it does happen, and it will happen, we need to get in the mindset of,
loan ourselves, be humble, and say, well, brother, I'm sorry.
Sorry that I've done you wrong, or you considered what I've done wrong.
That wasn't my intention.
I want to make things right.
God says I need to be forgiven.
God's been long suffering with me.
Boy, I needed his long suffering.
We need to be long suffering one to another.
We need to bear with one another for the unity of our church, you know,
and for the peace that God wants to have in our lives.
So Brethren, the Title for this sermon was the Fruit of the Spirit Part 2.
Part 2.
Thank you for your patience.
Let's pray.