Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1782
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Galatians 5:22.
THE worst enemy we have is the flesh. Augustine used to frequently pray, “Lord, deliver me from that evil man, myself.” All the fire which the devil can bring from Hell could do us little harm if we had not so much fuel in our nature. It is the powder in the magazine of the old man which is our perpetual danger. When we are guarding against foes outside, we must not forget to be continually on our watchtower against the foe of foes within. “The flesh lusts against the Spirit.” On the other hand, our best Friend, who loves us better than we love ourselves, is the Holy Spirit. We are shockingly forgetful of the Holy Spirit and, therein, it is to be feared that we greatly grieve Him. Yet we are immeasurably indebted to Him—in fact, we owe our spiritual existence to His Divine Power.
It would not be proper to compare the love of the Spirit with the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so as even, by implication, to set up a scale of degrees in love—for the love of the regenerating Spirit is infinite, even as is the love of the redeeming Son. But yet, for a moment, we will set these two displays of love side by side. Is not the indwelling of the Spirit of God equal in loving kindness to the Incarnation of the Son of God? Jesus dwelt in a pure Manhood of His own—the Holy Spirit dwells in our manhood, which is fallen and, as yet, imperfectly sanctified. Jesus dwelt in His human body, having it perfectly under His own control, but, alas, the Holy Spirit must contend for the mastery within us, and though He is Lord over our hearts, yet there is an evil power within our members, strongly entrenched and obstinately bent on mischief.
“The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.” Our Lord Jesus dwelt in His body only for some 30 years or so, but the blessed Spirit of All Grace dwells in us through all the days of our pilgrimage—from the moment when He enters into us by regeneration He continues in us, making us qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. You sing—
“Oh, ‘tis love, ‘tis wondrous Love,” in reference to our Lord Jesus and His Cross—sing it, also, in reference to the Holy Spirit and His long-suffering! He looks at us from within and, therefore, He sees the chambers of imagery where hidden idols still abide. He sees our actions—not from the outside, for there, perhaps, they might be judged favorably. But He discerns them from within—in their springs and in the pollution of those springs—in their main currents and in all their side eddies and back waters.
Brothers and Sisters, it is amazing that this blessed Spirit should not leave us in indignation! We lodge Him so evilly. We honor Him so little. He receives so little of our affectionate worship that He might well say, “I will no longer abide with you.” When the Lord had given up His people to the Roman sword, there was heard in the Temple at Jerusalem a sound as of rushing wings and a voice crying, “Let us go from here.” Justly might the Divine Presence have left us, also, because of our sins! It is matchless love which has caused the Holy Spirit to bear with our ill manners and bear our vexatious behavior! He stays though sin intrudes into His temple! He makes His royal abode where evil assails His palace! Alas, that a heart where the Spirit deigns to dwell should always be made a thoroughfare for selfish or unbelieving traffic!
God help us to adore the Holy Spirit at the commencement of our discourse and to do so even more reverently at its close! The Holy Spirit, when He comes into us, is the Author of all our desires after true holiness. He strives against the flesh in us. That holy conflict which we wage against our corruption comes entirely of Him. We would sit down in willing bondage to the flesh if He did not bid us strike for liberty. The good Spirit also leads us in the way of life. If we are led of
the Spirit, says the Apostle, we are not under the Law. He leads us by gentle means, drawing us with cords of love and bands of a man. “He leads me.” If we take a single step in the right road, it is because He leads us. And if we have persevered, these many years, in the way of peace, it is all due to His guidance—even to Him who will surely bring us in and make us to enjoy the promised rest!—
“Andevery virtue wepossess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are His alone.’
The Holy Spirit not only creates the inward contest against sin and the agonizing desire for holiness, but He leads us onward in the way of life. And He remains within us, taking up His residence and more—for the text suggests a still more immovable steadfastness of residence in our hearts since, according to the figure, the Spirit strikes root within us. The text speaks of, “fruit,” and fruit comes only of a rooted abidance—it could not be conceived of in connection with a transient sojourning, like that of a wayfaring man. The stakes and tent pins that are driven into the ground for an Arab’s tent bear no fruit, for they do not remain in one place. And, inasmuch as I read of the, “fruit of the Spirit,” I take comfort from the hint and conclude that He intends to abide in our souls as a tree abides in the soil when fruit is borne by it!