There’s an old preacher’s story that has been used and
reused for years. I’ve seen it in books of children’s sermons. I’ve heard it
delivered in sermons across the country. It’s titled, “The Farmer and the
Preacher” and it goes like this...
The preacher is driving down the
road one day when he comes across the most beautiful farm he’s ever seen. He stops
and admires its beauty. It looks like a perfect 3-D painting.
It’s by no means a new farm, but the
house, the barns, and the fields are perfectly arrayed. A garden around the
house is filled with perfectly placed flowers and shrubs. A fine row of trees
lines each side of the white gravel driveway. The fields are beautifully tilled
and planted. The cattle are grazing in lush pastures.
As the preacher sits there admiring
the bucolic scene before him, he notices the farmer on his tractor, hard at
work, and coming his way. When the farmer gets near enough, the preacher shouts
a friendly “hello”. When the farmer stops his tractor, the preacher says, “My
good man, God has certainly blessed you with a magnificent farm!” The farmer
nods, shifts in his seat, and says, “You should have seen the place when He had
it all by Himself!”
Dr. John H. Gerstner, the distinguished Professor of Church
History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary, used
to tell his students that if any of them ever used that story as an
illustration in any sermon, he would flunk them from his class immediately.
Why such extremity? Because Gerstner knew the Gospel, the
Scriptures, and the character of God. He also knew the depravity of man. All
combine in to produce nausea at the thought of such profound heresy.
Paul understood that entirely. If there’s anywhere in his
letter to the Galatians that proves it, it’s here at the end of chapter 5. Look
at what he says:
"Now the works of the flesh are
evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these…But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self-control…"
According to Paul there’s not a scintilla of evidence that
anything good flows from the natural human heart. Indeed, it is only as the
presence of the Holy Spirit changes the heart that anything good flows from it.
And that’s what’s so profound about the fruit of the Spirit.
In no way is it the product of human labor. Unless God tills the ground, plants
the seed, waters and fertilizes the heart, no fruitful growth will ever occur.
But what is the nature of the change necessary to produce such
fruit? How can we be sure fruit production is occurring in our lives? What is
the pattern and process the Holy Spirit employs in growing such fruit? It’s these
and other questions, that we will seek to answer this week in a message
entitled, “The Anatomy of Change” from Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25.
In preparation for Sunday, you may wish to consider the
following:
- What does Paul mean by verse 16?
- How does II Corinthians 3:12-18 relate?
- How are we being “transformed to the same image”?
- Has anyone ever exhibited fully grown fruit of the type Paul is describing in our text?
- What’s the purpose of fruit?
- What aspects of fruit-growing give you confidence as expressed in Philippians 1:6?
- What are the best conditions for knowing if fruit is being produced in your life?
- How does each aspect of the fruit of the Spirit compliment the other aspects?
- What does Paul mean in verse 24?
- How are verses 24 and 25 complimentary?
