1. 1. Or, look again, if we may say so with reverence, at all the thoughtfulness which lies around our Redemption. Yes; surely this love, this fruit of the Spirit, will carry us as far as this. This chapter contains a discussion about circumcision and the allegory of the "Fruit of the Holy Spirit". Longsuffering] It hath been questioned by Aquinas whether a man can be longsuffering, sine auxilio gratiae, without the help of grace. Under any circumstances is self-mastery. (H. W. And if this be so, it is also true that there may be an intellectual deformity as well, higher and nobler if you will, but still a deformity, where the body is despised or dishonoured, where the spirit has been shut off in its higher regions, and is to all intents and purposes without any influence upon life. Joy is not a fancy, or bred of conceit; but is rational, and ariseth from the feeling of some good, viz., the sense of God’s love and favour. (American Homeletic Review. The blustering wind could not make the traveller take off his cloak, but the only effect was that he wrapped himself up the more tightly in it. By-and-by we shall talk without harshness and live in neighbourhoods of peacefulness, unvexed by jealousy and unflushed with the inflammation of hate. Why do we fill our mouth with laughter, and yield our eyes to tears, unless in so doing we supply our own souls with their natural food for good, and give unto others the support, the pleasure, and the consolation that they need? Patience in affliction is profitable to ourselves. VI. ), Oh, what a grand thing human nature is when it is working smoothly! Love your husband, he can beat you in argument and stubbornness, but you can beat him in love. Learn, 3. Laws are men’s servants; and they are servants which serve them in that way. Are we trying to be perfect? (H. W. iv. Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. The sacred heart of the Incarnate Son of God cast fire upon the earth. ), Can you give any special directions how we are to get a joy when we have not one? Let such a notion enter, and what more sure to make the doctrine of the Holy Spirit the apology for every morbid mistake! This is a conclusion in respect to which I feel confident, whatever may be our views and opinions touching subsidiary questions, we can unite in common and hearty agreement. "Commentary on Galatians 5:22". And the joy which the Spirit gives to us comes as the outgrowth of a cause or causes that He has implanted within our bosoms. To startle these from their lethargy, to strike them through and through with remorse, to fill their eyes with tears and their mouths with groanings, is the work of the Spirit. Does that invitation, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,” find a response in our hearts? And so if any one say, I am assured that at a certain time I was convicted of sin, and passed from death to life; we have still to ask, How do you know that this is not a fancy, a will o’ the wisp, shining out of the swamp of a morbid feeling. ), It is a very fortunate thing that the assertion that the fruit of the Spirit is joy is in the Bible: for if it were not, it is the last thing that many people would associate with the Spirit. Some have a strong fragrance. Moreover, love to the house and worship of God, to the truths and ordinances of the Gospel, all which men have naturally an aversion to, may be included in this first fruit of the Spirit: the next follows, which is, joy, even that which is in the Holy Ghost, and has him for its author. Yet we cannot possess or govern our own minds in times of trouble, except we possess patience. H. Thorn, Laws of Life after the Mind of Christ, 2nd series, p. 239; A. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, pp. And this result would not be dependent upon any decision of your will, but would be the natural result arising from the workings of your nature. Labours of love are light. God abideth in us ... we abide in him and he in us ... God abideth in him and he in God ... he that abideth in love abideth in God and God abideth in him (1 John 4:11-16). We shall mention some of the advantages of temperance. We trace its magic power still, where the historian ascribes the influence of Livingstone over the affections and sympathies of the savage African tribes to that moment of noble faithfulness when he gave up the gratification of an earnest longing for home, and rest, and distinction, which bewitchingly offered itself to him at the end of his weary march, that he might keep faith with the natives who trusted to him for guidance, albeit that faith meant disappointment, weariness, wandering, and perhaps death. Nothing but love can appreciate the gifts of love; and love does appreciate such gifts invariably. ), I. 3. Is it creative work? Thomas instantly stopped, and looked confused and ashamed. “Yes, sir.” W. “And must we part?” B. It gives unto him the sight to see the loveliness and the nobleness of a wise ordering of his habits; it takes deceit out of temptation, and causes him to perceive the danger of yielding thereto. Goodness. "Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition)". That reveals at what table and of what food they have eaten. And yet it is a virtue so delicate, a fruit with such a tender bloom, a spring so very delicate, that it soon becomes injured. In the plains no battles smoke; in the cities no sack nor pillage; in the hamlets no blazing cottage; on the sea no hostile armaments. The war, therefore, on the part of man with God, is a war within his own members; a war between that which is right and wrong in tendency and principle, between that which is pure and impure in passion, between that which is holy and unholy in deed. Why, of the Holy Spirit of God. 3. That goodness which is the fruit of the Spirit, is a most noble and exalted grace. Spurgeon. If God gives His people such joy in this life; O then, what glorious joy will He give them in heaven! It is difficult to distinguish it from the previous term. After the Revolution was well over, and the country had become settled and quiet, he was making a long journey in his carriage, attended by several gentlemen who travelled in a conveyance of their own. Sed in eo differt; quia potest bonitas esse tristior, et fronte severis moribus irrugata bene quidem facere et præstare quod poscitur: non tamen suavis esse consortio, et sua cunctos invitare dulcedine.” Plato, deff. In bearing injuries, and putting up with affronts. And a third characteristic of joy may well be evenness. (W. H. Murray, D. D.). ), “Why should Christians be such a happy people? It is that great calm which comes over the conscience when it sees the atonement sufficient and the Saviour willing. (C. H. Hall, D. D.), “The fruits of the Spirit” do not always appear, even in every true Christian, in their Divine order and symmetrical proportion. S. The covenant of grace is another ground of joy. We cannot find two faces exactly alike; why then should we expect to meet many minds that in every respect correspond with our own? Several years afterwards, the largest steamer ever built--the Great Eastern--was launched on the ocean, and carried the famous cable across the Atlantic. 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