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Oct 15, 2023

The Fruit of the Spirit is Gentleness

The Fruit of the Spirit is Gentleness

Passage: Galatians 5:26-6:5

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: That’s the Spirit: Learning to keep in step with Him who indwells

Keywords: temptation, restore, burdens, gentleness, boast

These days the words most reported are those which are the loudest or the most boldly confrontational. Doubtless fierce and impassioned words are fitting at times. But what if any place does gentleness have in our discourse and relationships? Specifically how must it function in the life of the church indwelt by the Spirit who means to produce the fruit of gentleness in each of us? The answer to that comes down to two ideas: what most desperately needs gentleness, and what gentleness most desperately needs.

Readings & Scriptures

PRE SERVICE TEXT: Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

PREPARATION: Psalm 18:1-2, 31, 35
LEADER: I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

ALL: For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?—

LEADER: You have given me the shield of your salvation,
ALL: and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH/SCRIPTURE READING/CORPORATE PRAYER: Matthew 7:1-5; 2 Corinthians 5:7-16
LEADER: Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

2Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

2Cor. 5:13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

2Cor. 5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

CENTRAL TEXT: Galatians 5:25 - 6:5
Gal. 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Gal. 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.

CONFESSION OF SIN:
LEADER: Let us confess our sins together.

ALL: If you kept a record of sins, who could stand? Were you to answer our error with a harshness we tend to express to others in theirs, who could stand? For what we have done and left undone, we ask your forgiveness. Help us to see in your Son that gentleness toward us that we might be moved to repent–and then, as the moment calls for it, extend the same gentleness that leads to repentance.

ABSOLUTION OF PARDON: 1 Peter 2:22-25
LEADER: He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

BENEDICTION: Luke 11:29
LEADER: Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

POST SERVICE: 2 Corinthians 5:15
15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who
for their sake died and was raised.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • Psalm 51
  • Matthew 18:15
  • John 7:53-8:11
  • 1 Corinthians 10:12
  • 2 Corinthians 5:6-21

Illustrations

InView Media Album

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Who would you say is the gentlest person you know? (As we’ve asked before): why did you pick that person as your candidate, and how does your choice reveal your intuitive understanding of what gentleness is.
  2. What are several reasons why a spirit of gentleness would be called for in responding to a brother or sister caught in a sin? Are there ever moments when one might need to address them with something more than gentleness. Can one act with gentleness but speak fiercely? Why or why not?
  3. What does Paul say is a necessary precondition for responding to anyone caught in sin? Why is that a precondition?
  4. And while the language is a bit veiled to us in verses 4-5, why would a sense of God’s judgment upon sin be necessary to have a proper view of ourselves? (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:6-21) What is true of those who look to Christ as the answer to their sin, but also to their righteousness?
  5. The application the sermon offered from this text was to be the kind of person who could hear a fellow believer’s confession and respond with truth and grace, with grief for sin (like the Spirit), with a reminder of grace,  and with hope for renewal through repentance. Sin, confession, and repentance is as varied as their subject. But for a moment, imagine a scenario when a fellow believer confesses to you a particular sin. How would you respond, including what you would say?

Quotes

  • “He fell yesterday; I may fall today.” Anonymous saying from a church father of the 3rd century
  • If you should see someone commit a sin or some grievous wrong, do not think of yourself as someone better, for you know not how long you will remain in your good state. We are all frail, but think of yourself as one who is more frail than others Thomas a Kempis
  • sin is never privatized, any more than the spiritual growth or virtue of the Christian is a singular work: sin and its effects never remain with us. . . .when I do not confess to another person, I am perpetuating the isolation of sin for religious reasons: I am withdrawing from others and hiding from them the sin that is affecting them, claiming that I need only confess to God. Myles Werntz. From Isolation to Community
  • If we trust the Christ who called a body together, then we must trust those of the church to hear our confession and speak words of Christ back to us. Confession becomes the breakthrough to our life together: through confession, we encounter one another, with Christ mediating our relationship. Myles Werntz. From Isolation to Community

BOOKS / DOCS