A New Covenant Response To The Israelite Achan’s Disobedience

By Helena Lehman of the

Pillar of Enoch Ministry

http://pillar-of-enoch.com

  

Per the advice of a sister in Christ who had instructed me to destroy the idols and objects of sin in the lives of those whom I love in order to be delivered from what she perceived as demonic oppression due to my supposed permissiveness, but which I see as the cost of being a follower of Yahshua, I read the sad story of Achan in Joshua 7 to see what it would convict me of.

After reading this short but sad story, and praying about it as I pondered what it meant, I found that I gleaned much from it - but probably not in the way that my would-be helper anticipated. Even though it’s a straightforward story of the dire punishment awaiting those who disobey and betray God, it is also very much about repentance and forgiveness in the context of the New Covenant. Let me explain.

What I was confronted with when I read Joshua 7 was a deceitful man of Judah named Achan, who took some material goods from Israel’s Pagan enemies that represented everything that YHWH God hates: idolatry, insincerity, covetousness, pride, disobedience and greed. Since Achan didn’t have Yahshua our Advocate before God to represent him as his Redeemer and propitiatory sacrifice, and he didn’t show any signs of remorse or repentance, no mercy could be shown. As a result, Achan and his entire household had to pay the death penalty for his sins at the hands of the other Israelites, and so they were all forcefully rounded up, stoned to death, and burned with fire.

At I recoiled from the horror of the price Achan and everyone he loved had to pay for his sin, I found myself praising YHWH God for Yahshua Ha Mashiach, who paid the death penalty for our sins so that we don’t have to! If we are faithful to repent and confess our sins to Yahshua, His blood sacrifice allows us to receive divine mercy, forgiveness, protection, and love. In the meantime, per Yahshua’s own words, we are to: 

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.” - Luke 6:27-29

This means that it is no longer our job to destroy the idols or punish the sins of those we love, especially if this would cause them to reject us altogether due to their lack of understanding. Instead, it is our commission to lovingly continue to tell those in rebellion against God that they are worshiping idols and sinning, and that they will be divinely judged one day for this if they do not repent before God the Father, and accept Yahshua as their Savior. It is also our call to make sure that we do not bow down to the same idols or sin in the same way, and to make sure that we forgive others for their wrongdoing. Most importantly, we need to continually pray and ask our Father God to forgive those who transgress against Him, and to change their hearts - just as Yahshua does as our loving Mediator before God.

Remember, just before Yahshua died on the Cross for our sins - after being whipped, beaten and tortured even though He was innocent - our Beloved Redeemer looked up to Heaven and said: 

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” (Luke 23:34).

 At another, happier time, Yahshua also said: 

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).

These statements are filled with the all-encompassing love that our Redeemer has for us, even though every one of us is unworthy of His love and sacrifice! Nonetheless, just as Yahshua did, we are being called to do likewise. No matter how many blows we have sustained for the cause of our Messiah, it should be our all-surpassing joy to turn the other cheek, to forgive and pray for our enemies, and to be as lambs being led to the slaughter for the sake of Yahshua and His Kingdom (Isaiah 53:7, Psalm 44:22, Romans 8:36).

As the Apostle Paul once so lovingly said to the believers in Thessalonica: 

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy!” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).

It should be our greatest desire to see everyone we minister to worthy of being in the presence of Yahshua at the time of the Rapture. To that end, as I drew nearer to God, His Spirit was showing me that the blood of Yahshua is a strong medicine that no curse can withstand. No matter how much my family and I fail, I need to remember that Yahshua can rescue and uphold us all with the power of His Name, His blood sacrifice, and His cloak of righteousness.

I was also shown that, just as Achan’s sin condemned his whole family to death, the righteous faith, prayers, and acts of one person can save an entire family, and help bring them to everlasting life (Acts 16:31). If I want to help save my family, the best way to do it is to live an exemplary life for Yahshua, to forgive their sins just as Yahshua is, and to continually pray for them, for the prayers of a righteous person avail much (James 5:16).

 ~********~**~********~

In the meantime, remember that Yahshua is coming SOON, 
and we need to be about His business when He arrives! ;-)

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MY THEORY OF WHEN YAHSHUA ROSE FROM THE DEAD

Shalom Everyone, and Happy Pentecost! 

Since we’re still here, I thought that I would share the following explanation I offered someone concerning a Status Update that I made on Facebook on May 18th, 2013 that confused a few people. 

MY THEORY OF WHEN YAHSHUA ROSE FROM THE DEAD

In a recent Facebook Status Update, I was sharing when our Messiah may have risen from the dead, and I felt that my initial statement needed clarification. So I am writing this blog post in order to share more details about it.

My theory is that Yahshua rose either near to dusk on Saturday or shortly afterward on the night of Sunday, or the first day of the week. Since Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark and saw His risen form shortly afterward (See John 20:1-18), Yahshua made His first live appearance after His death just before dawn that morning. In the Gospel of Matthew, Yahshua told us exactly how long He would be dead for, in imitation of the Sign of Jonah: 

~*~ Matthew 12:40 ~*~ “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Counting backward 3 nights and 3 days, which was the length of time that Yahshua was in the grave per the Sign of Jonah, He would have died on a Wednesday afternoon or 4th day of the week, just before a Passover that began on that Wednesday night, which was on a Thursday, or 5th day of the week.  So from the time that Yahshua died on the proposed Wednesday in the late afternoon, we have Thursday evening and daytime, Friday evening and daytime, and Saturday evening and daytime. That’s three days and three nights before Sunday, or the 1st day of the week. 

Yahshua is tied to the Fourth or Servant Lamp on a Menorah, so it would seem fitting that He would pay the price for our sins on a Wednesday, or fourth day of the week. Since Yahshua likely died just before the close of the day on Wednesday, it would make sense that He rose from the dead just before the close of the Sabbath or Saturday. But He also could have risen on Sunday night or the first day of the week (which is a Saturday night per Gentile reckoning). 

I wanted to explain this just to make sure that everyone understood me.

God bless you all, and Maranatha! 

Helena Lehman of the 

Pillar of Enoch Ministry

http://pillar-of-enoch.com

Hallelu-Yah! Yahshua is coming SOON! 

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ISRAEL BELONGS TO NATURAL AND GRAFTED IN ISRAELITES, NOT JUST THE JEWS!

In the war of ideologies that is raging around and within the nations of Israel, America, and all the other nations, a very important point often gets overlooked. This is the fact that the land of Israel belongs to ALL of Israel. This includes the Jews or Judah, and the other Lost Israelite Tribes, as well as all the grafted in Israelites who are considered to be the Seed of Abraham or the Promise by their faith in Yahshua. As the Apostle Paul said:

~*~ Galatians 3:27-29 ~*~ 
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

In this passage of Scripture, Yahshua referred to Abraham, who was an uncircumcised Shemite named Abram when God first made the promise to give the land of Israel to Him:

~*~ Genesis 12:1-3 ~*~ 

“Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth

shall be blessed.”

What this means is that every single person who has faith in YHWH, the God of Abram and Abraham, and believes that Yahshua is the Son of God and our Messiah and Bridegroom, is a heir to this promise, NOT just the Jews! As Scripture says, all of Israel - both natural and grafted in - are heirs to this promise, and they don't need to become Jews to inherit it! Instead, both Jews and Gentiles need to follow Yahshua in Spirit and in Truth:

~*~ Romans 11:19-24 ~*~
“You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”

As this Scripture says, due to the unbelief of the Jews, the Gentiles or Wild Olive Tree branches are being grafted into the Cultivated Olive Tree signifying the Jews. In addition, in order to be saved, the Jews also need to accept Yahshua and follow Him to be grafted back into the Cultivated Olive Tree that they have been cut off of for rejecting their Messiah.

This is the truth, no matter how upsetting this might be to the Jews. The fact is that when Yahshua returns, He will enlarge Jerusalem to include all of what is now the land of Israel, and representatives of all those who love Yahshua from every people and nation on Earth will one day reside there, not just the Jews.

Love and Blessings from
Your Sister in Yahshua,
Helena Lehman of the
Pillar of Enoch Ministry
http://pillar-of-enoch.com

Art Credit: "Oh Jerusalem" by Greg Olsen
Featuring Yahshua weeping over Jerusalem
http://www.gregolsen.com/o-jerusalem-9652

Hallelu-Yah! Yahshua is coming SOON! 

Maranatha!

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UNMISTAKABLE SIGNS THAT CHRIST IS COMING SOON!

In this blog post, I’ll let the videos do most of the talking. My thanks to fidockave123 for keeping track of the devastation going on around the world, and making these videos to remind us that extremely bad weather and Sun and Earth changes are the new normal, though there is really nothing normal about any of these changes.

Altogether, these videos are documented proof that natural disasters have increased exponentially over the past couple of years, and this cannot be considered normal by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, they show that cataclysmically destructive storms, earthquakes, sink holes, and other changes on the Earth and in our Solar System - as evidenced by the massive increase in Solar flares, in the unnatural number of meteorites bombarding our planet, and in the huge increase of near miss comets and asteroids zipping past Earth - are increasing at an alarming rate that is biblically apocalyptic in its proportions.

In my opinion, and in the opinion of fidockave123 - as evidenced in his titles for his videos, and in the Scriptures quoted within them - these destructive events are a fulfillment of the prophecies that Yahshua gave concerning the signs that would precede His coming in the Rapture:

 ~*~ Matthew 24:3-8 ~*~ 

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

A similar set of signs were also recorded in Luke’s Gospel:

~*~ Luke 21:7-12 ~*~

“So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” 8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. 9 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.” 10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you...”

If these prophecies of the events that will happen just before Yahshua’s return to gather His elect from all over the world in the Rapture (as recorded in Matthew 24:29-44) are happening now - and I firmly believe that they are - then they are a sure sign that the Rapture could happen on any day now, for these signs are announcing that we are in the season of our deliverance!

Praise Yahweh God for that, and Praise Yahshua our Messiah, who will likely be coming in the clouds to retrieve His Bride in the very near future!

Maranatha!

Helena Lehman of the
Pillar of Enoch Ministry
http://pillar-of-enoch.com

14 DAYS OF GLOBAL CATACLYSM AUGUST 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDcInLbAoiA

Distress of Nations SEPTEMBER 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9BLvlRf5gc

A World of Imperative Change 

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS OCTOBER 2012 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMLZBruWxy0

RISING TIDES - WITH PERPLEXITY 

THE SEA AND WAVES ROARING NOVEMBER 2012

Wake Up Call for America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnl16K5bFyA

Extreme Weather Events and Earth Changes DECEMBER 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NibZt1w6uPo

FIRE AND ICE - EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS 

AND EARTH CHANGES JANUARY 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTiIEBYdYys

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS - 

PROPHETIC EVENTS FEBRUARY 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmW3WLfbYNM

BIRTH PANGS ACCELERATING 

PROPHETIC EVENTS MARCH 2013 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2IWttdeoYU

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL PART 1 - APRIL 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXUHDJlAF-w

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL PART 2 - APRIL 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcSmIO9wXiI

Hallelu-Yah! Yahshua is coming SOON!

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The Difference Between Spiritual Gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit

Upon reading Bible Scholar Jack Van Impe’s newsletter on this morning of May 9th, I was deeply impressed by how clearly it describes the difference between a Carnal Christian and a Spirit-Filled Christian. Though I have often attempted to describe the difference between the two being the filling of the Holy Spirit, or lack thereof, Dr. Van Impe’s explanation is the best that I’ve seen. In this message, Dr. Van Impe shows the difference between a believer’s spiritual gifts, and the fruit of the Spirit that is the catalyst for using spiritual gifts in a manner that is pleasing to Yahweh God. Since I believe that this crucial message is much-needed in the Church today, I am sharing it here on my blog so that everyone I know can also be blessed by it.

The reason I feel that this distinction between spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit is important is because there is a BIG difference between being saved from the fires of Hell through belief in Yahshua, and reigning and ruling with Christ for a thousand years. It is my FIRM belief that those believers who are living carnally and comfortably with sin will NOT be taken in the Rapture, which is for those who will reign with Christ during His Millennial Rule, but only the faithful servants of Yahshua who are following Him, are not in love with the world, and truly desire to be with Him. Meanwhile, those who are apostate (i.e. who are living in sin, and are in love with the world) will be left behind so that they can be refined in the fire of the Tribulation. 

This doesn’t mean that any believers will lose their salvation, but that they are not worthy of our blessed hope in the Rapture due to their unregenerated spiritual condition. But because they are saved, even if they die, they will be raised up at the end of the Tribulation, when all the martyrs will be raised. However, all those who are saved, but who are still carnal when they die before and during the Great Tribulation may have to wait until the Last Judgment to be raised to everlasting life, since they will be unworthy to reign and rule with Christ. This is therefore something important that all believers need to ponder, and pray about. 

Where do you want to be during the Millennial Rule of Christ? Do you wish to be serving the King in the Kingdom, or do you wish to be relegated to the outer darkness, where there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth?

~ From Helena Lehman of the Pillar of Enoch Ministry

A Message of Hope From Jack Van Impe taken from Jack Van Impe Ministries International Newsletter - May 6, 2013
www.jvim.com

In the last newsletter we saw that every saved person has the Holy Spirit, for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8:9). Not only does every child of God have the Holy Spirit but each believer has experienced the “baptism.” This baptism, or placing into the Body of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, accompanies salvation. I Corinthians 12:13 states: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body . . . . The baptism, administered to ALL the saved immediately, endows each believer with at least one of the gifts found in Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and I Corinthians 12. The gifts are not for a select few who “strive” or “work” in order to appease God for spiritual favors. Never! Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3). Instead, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (I Corinthians 12:7), and . . . all these [gifts] worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (I Corinthians 12:11). Believers are not commanded to seek any gift but instead the Giver - the blessed Holy Spirit.

Then, because He divides to every man as He wills, one gladly accepts His choice of gifts for his life. If one feels his gift is unimportant, remember that we are all members or parts of Christ’s body and . . .those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary (I Corinthians 12:22). Fingernails and toenails may seem to be inferior parts of one’s body, but what problems one encounters without them. So every member has his place of importance in Christ’s body.

Rejoice in the gift God has given you and do not seek another’s gift. You might be out of place if the Holy Spirit wants you to be a finger instead of an eye. Likewise, you may be out of order when you seek the gift of faith and the Holy Spirit wants “helps” for your lifelong gift. Whatever the gift, every believer has at least one.

You see, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh ALL IN ALL (I Corinthians 12:4-6). Praise God, it is He who works ALL THE GIFTS and IN ALL. All that God requires is that every believer use his gift to the best of his ability. To do so will bring great reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Disobedience in administering the gift will bring loss of rewards (II John 8).

Let’s move now to the teaching concerning the filling of the Spirit. The “baptism” and the “filling” are two distinct things. The baptism is a once-for-all experience which places the believer into the Body of Christ. Since the Holy Spirit is God and all-knowing, He makes no mistakes as He places the saved into Christ’s body. If He did make mistakes, and members of the Body of Christ were eventually removed, there would be a mutilated, amputated, disfigured atrocity in eternity. Instead, every true believer is “baptized” and “sealed” into that Body by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

Though there is only one “baptism,” there are many “fillings.” Ephesians 5:18 states: . . . be filled with the Spirit. The literal Greek declares: Be being filled which implies a continuous process. Every believer needs it, as much as his fuel-guzzling automobile needs gas, in order to run efficiently for Christ. The baptism produces the gifts but the filling enables one to minister the gifts spiritually. Though all have gifts, not all are spiritual. Thousands today who claim “the gift” are carnal because they are not being filled daily by the Spirit.

Let me prove this from I Corinthians 13:1-3: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, l am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Five gifts are mentioned in these three verses: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, and helps. They can all be ministered in a state of carnality. One is not spiritual because of tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, or helps. Why? Because it takes the fruit of the Spirit to minister the gifts spiritually.

Read carefully: Love is Number One on God’s listing in Galatians 5:22 as the fruit of the Spirit. This is the same love of I Corinthians 13 that suffereth long, and is kind; that envies not; that vaunts not itself and is not puffed up; that does not behave itself unseemly, that seeks not her own, that is not easily provoked, that thinks no evil, that rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (verses 47).

Do you have this fruit? You may speak in tongues and be mean, or you may have the “gift of faith” and be cantankerous. You may be a “helper” in the vineyard and do nothing but cultivate poison grapes for other Spirit-filled believers.

God says even though one prophesies, preaches with power, or has the gift of knowledge and faith and has not love, the “gifted” one is nothing in God’s eyes. And even though one “helps” by giving his all for the poor or being burned to death and has not love, he will end up with nothing at that day when God’s rewards are distributed for service. You see, it is the fruit of the Spirit that counts. The gifts can be ministered without the fruit.

In fact, the gifts can be duplicated by Satan. The present situation is sometimes similar to Moses’ day when the devil’s magicians counterfeited the miracles of God’s servant. Do not take my word for it but look at the statement of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? They manifested the gifts of prophecy, discernment of spirits, miracles, plus helps or works. But Christ never knew them (verse 23). Since “never” means never, they manifested the gifts without being saved. They did not possess the “fruit” of the Spirit but were workers of iniquity. Let’s seek the fruit of the Spirit to minister the gifts. This will produce godliness and holiness.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Every believer needs a daily infilling of the Spirit in order to live a spiritual life. No believer has ever reached the place where he does not need to walk by means of the Spirit, for when we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The nine words describing this fruit are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22). These represent superhuman qualities which the flesh could never produce. Only God, the Holy Spirit, is able to make mortal beings act this way. No human can duplicate, nor devil counterfeit, the fruit of the Spirit. It is the only way to be like Jesus, for someone has well said: “Galatians 5:22 is the shortest biography of Christ ever written.” Only the “fullness of the Spirit” can make one like Jesus. The term fruit is singular, meaning that all nine graces form the fruit. The Holy Spirit does not produce a few of these but usually all nine when one is Spirit-filled. They are:

A. LOVE. This is not the romanticized or sexual love of the street or of society’s rebels. It is the divine love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). It makes one love the lowly, the unlovely, and the unclean. It makes one love members of another race or denomination. It does not look down upon those whose gifts differ.

In Corinth this love was missing and the gifts became a source of competition among the “spiritually elite.” That is why Paul said in I Corinthians 13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

The presence of gifts is not the evidence of the Spirit’s filling. You may have gifts, but prophet, miracle worker, helper - do you have the fruit? This is where Satan can fool and deceive us. He can imitate the gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, but he cannot imitate or produce the fruit of the Spirit. Do not misunderstand - I am not against gifts, but gifts prove nothing. The real evidence is found in the fruit one bears as he ministers the gifts.

Oh, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). This Holy Spirit produced love makes us love others. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God . . . (I John 4:7). Do you have the real evidence of the Spirit’s filling? It is described in I Corinthians 13:4-7: Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not [or is not jealous]; love vaunts not itself [boasting about its gifts]; love seeks not its own; is not easily provoked; thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things and endures all things. The world is waiting to see this evidence. Get filled and show it to them. Don’t split churches arguing about superior gifts, but manifest the love that proves one has the Spirit’s fruit.

B. Next in line is JOY. Joy is not the superficial happiness that springs from sports or television, for happiness depends upon happenings. Instead, it is the joy of the Lord which is one’s strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It is a contentment in times of suffering, sorrow, and even death. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8).

C. PEACE also fills the minds and hearts of those who are Spirit dominated. This is not peace with God that accompanies salvation (Romans 5:1) but the peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7). This peace produces a sublime calm of heart and mind in spite of every disturbance, heartbreaking circumstance, or adverse condition and glorifies God before an unsaved world.

D. LONGSUFFERING within a believer is a quality that only the Holy Spirit can produce. It is the opposite of impatience. It cannot be produced by members of Adam’s race but must be wrought within a Christian by God. The Lord God, [is] merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6). This is why the ungodly receive countless opportunities to be saved, for: The Lord . . . is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). This same attitude may be the believer’s portion, for God strengthens us with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness(Colossians 1:11). We are to walk with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2, 3). Yes.... be patient toward all men (I Thessalonians 5:14). How are you doing? Do you have the real evidence of the Spirit’s fullness?

E. GENTLENESS. Again, this is a fruit from God, for . . . the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated . . . (James 3:17). Paul could also say: . . . we were gentle among you . . . (I Thessalonians 2:7). Bickering, fighting, fussing church members forget that the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men (II Timothy 2:24). Do you have the fruit? Remember, it cannot be attained by human effort or by imitation, but only as a direct filling by the Spirit.

F. GOODNESS is produced at salvation and made to bloom in one’s life as the Spirit fills a believer. Jesus said: . . . none is good . . . (Luke18:19). Paul said: . . . there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:12). Men talk about doing good, and it is only egotism seeking praise. However, the Spirit within produces real goodness toward others.

G. FAITH, in this listing, is actually faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23, speaking about God, states: . . .great is thy faithfulness. This same faithfulness in a Christian may become a daily reality. One does not have to be up and down spiritually. God’s faithfulness, wrought in a Christian by the Spirit, can make him faithful daily.

H. MEEKNESS is the hardest fruit to possess, for as soon as we think we have it, we’ve lost it. However, let it be remembered that meekness does not consist in pretending to be less than one really is, but rather when one does not pretend to be more than he really is. Again, the flesh cannot generate meekness because it is only puffed-up flesh. It takes the filling of the Spirit to put on meekness (Colossians 3:12).

I. Finally, TEMPERANCE is self-control. The term speaks for itself and, praise God, the Holy Spirit produces it in those who have the fullness of the Spirit.

We have seen that God demands a high and holy standard of life, but He has also provided the means to produce it .. . . Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

Let’s begin seeking the fruit instead of gifts. Gifts are for all, but the fruit - though for all - may only be realized by those who grieve not the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), quench not the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19), and then walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). In simple terms, one must turn from all known sin to a daily reliance on the Holy Spirit if he is to evidence the fullness and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Why not begin today?