Power in Operation
The sermon emphasizes the importance of living a life led by the Holy Spirit, producing the fruit of love, joy, peace, and other virtues, as God's standard for His children.
D.L. Moody emphasizes the omnipotent presence of the Holy Spirit and the importance of His power in operation within believers. He explains that walking in the Spirit leads to the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, joy, and peace, essential for pleasing God. Moody categorizes these fruits into three groups: those directed towards God, those towards others, and those concerning oneself, urging Christians to strive for a life characterized by these virtues. He asserts that achieving perfect peace, joy, and love should be the ultimate goal for every child of God. The sermon encourages believers to live in accordance with the Spirit to fulfill their divine purpose.
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The power we have been considering is the Presence of The Holy Spirit. He is omnipotent. Power in operation is the actions of the Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit. This we shall now consider. Paul writes in Galatians 5:16 etc.
"This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary, the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness against such there is not 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 vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."
Now there is a life of perfect peace, perfect joy, and perfect love, and that ought to be the aim of every child of God; that ought to be their standard; and they should not rest until having attained to that position. That is God's standard, where He wants all His children. These nine graces mentioned in this chapter in Galatians can be divided in this way: Love and peace and joy are all to God. God looks for that fruit from each one of His children, and that is the kind of fruit which is acceptable with Him. Without that we can not please God. He wants, above everything else that we possess, love, peace and joy. And then the next three - goodness, longsuffering and gentleness - are towards man. That is our outward life to those that we are coming in contact with continually - daily, hourly. The next three - faith, temperance, meekness - are in relation to ourselves; and in that way we can just take the three divisions, and it will be of some help to us. The first thing that meets us as we enter the kingdom of God, you might say are these first three graces: love, joy, and peace.
Sermon Outline
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The Presence of the Holy Spirit
- Omnipotent power in operation
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Walking in the Spirit
- Led by the Spirit, not under the law
- Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, etc.
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The Standard of God
- Perfect peace, joy, and love
- God's standard for His children
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The Fruit of the Spirit
- Divided into three categories: towards God, towards man, and towards ourselves
Key Quotes
“This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” — D.L. Moody
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness against such there is not law.” — D.L. Moody
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” — D.L. Moody
Application Points
- We should strive to live a life led by the Holy Spirit, producing the fruit of love, joy, and peace in all areas of life.
- We should aim to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which includes love, joy, peace, and other virtues.
- We should seek to live a life that is pleasing to God, producing the fruit of the Spirit in all areas of life.