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To what can we compare the work of the Holy Spirit? Well, he is like a diamond cutter making the perfect cuts so that the light, the light from heaven, the light of men may shine down and reflect and refract in such a way as to bring about the maximum glory to God.

Yeah, the Holy Spirit we can think of as a perfect diamond cutter who knows how to make the perfect cuts. In salvation, we can think about God's regenerating work as his taking a fallen piece of humanity and transforming it into a diamond in the rough. That's what happens in salvation.

A new inner being is created. But in sanctification, we can think about the Holy Spirit as a diamond cutter working to cut away and to grind down everything that doesn't reflect Christ. He's at work to cut, to polish, to grind down, so that these individual personalities would uniquely radiate the glory of God in their own unique way that God has equipped them to do.

We're all different. And it's the job of the Holy Spirit to go into our lives, to cut, to polish, to grind, to polish, so that each one of us, unique as we are, may radiate the glory of God and give back, proclaiming to God who he is by receiving his light and radiating it back to him.

Yes, the Holy Spirit is the perfect diamond cutter. And we see his perfect cut in our text this morning. Let me reread those words. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. You see, we just read last time the deeds of the flesh.

Remember back in verse 19, now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and the things like these, of who I forewarn you, and just as I do, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But, verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit, in contrast, stark contrast to the works or the deeds of the flesh stands the fruit of the Spirit. And as Pat says, singular, the fruit. Of the Spirit. There are many deeds of the flesh, but there is one fruit of the Spirit.

Nine and one, one and nine. Nine attributes, nine facets. And when you come to the word fruit, fruit has a wide range of uses in the Bible. This word in the agricultural setting can refer to the fruit, like the fruit on a tree, the harvest, or a produce, the fruit, produce of the land.

Word also has meaning in an investment setting to refer to gain or profit or return, the gain of the Spirit, the outcome or the profit from the Spirit, that kind of thing. It also refers to people, the fruit of the womb, the like offspring, descendant. The offspring of the Holy Spirit is this.

And in a more general sense, this word fruit just really refers to the outcome, the result, or the end product, or the effect, or the deed. You think about in the context, we're talking about the deeds of the flesh. And in contrast to that, is the deed of the Holy Spirit.

It's clear that what the flesh is. Flesh produces is slaves. The flesh produces slaves imprisoned, estranged from God, who destroy society, destroy themselves. But then the Spirit produces free people who radiate the glory of God. Understanding what Paul is saying here, the fruit is a person of God.

The fruit of the Spirit is a person who lives to the glory of God. They will bear these attributes. So if we think like the facets of a diamond, so are the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. They all reflect one another. Each facet reflects the light in such a way that shows off the other facets.

So there's an interconnected relationship. That's why there is one fruit, a person who radiates the glory of God. And it shows up in a variety of ways. But where you have one, you have the other. For instance, where you have kindness, you can be sure there's love. And where there's love, you can be sure there's kindness and goodness.

They're all there. Where you have peace, you can be sure that there's peace. And where there's patience, you can understand that there's love. They're all there. So each of these attributes or facets reflect the glory and the beauty of the heavenly light, God Himself, who has shined His light into the heart and soul of man and radiates back.

Nine in one, one in nine. And because of this, because there's nine in one and one in nine, breaking these down into different categories has been met with criticism. However, I do think that, certainly for our purposes this morning, that it will be helpful for us to distinguish three groups among the nine.

Three groups among the nine. And I will use the three sections of Marcel's brilliant diamond as a way to break down or to outline this passage. You think about a diamond's brilliance. You have in Marcel's diamond the pavilion, that's that lower part, and that's where it captures the light, radiates it back up.

Then you have the crown, that which sends the sparkles out. And then you have the table, which lets the light, white light, straight out. So if you think about Moving from diamond brilliance into Christ-like brilliance. I'll break it down like this: you have love, joy, and peace at the bottom, and that's the Godward focus.

Then you have patience, kindness, goodness is the crown. That is what radiates out in society and interactions. And then that's the man-ward elements. And then you have faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which is the self-ward facet. So you have a Godward, man-ward, and self-word facets. And so that's how.

Now, I recognize that these things all bleed over into one another, but I think it will be helpful that we must be careful of not making too rigid a boundaries on any of these. But there are these things that I do think are present. And we'll just walk through this.

It's the impact of the Holy Spirit, and that's what we're wanting to see. We're wanting to see his perfect cut and what his goal is in our lives at the end of the day. And I want you to see what the Holy Spirit is aiming to do in your life so that you will welcome his work.

The problem with many of us is we resist the Holy Spirit and we resist his work. And inevitably, we end up not being led by the Spirit or not walking in his ways. But I want you to see what the Holy Spirit is aiming to do in your life so that we will be a people who welcome his work individually and corporately.

So, first of all, I want you to recognize that the Holy Spirit is going to impact your relationship with God. We see this in the first facet or attribute, love. Love. What is love? Love is about devotion, love towards God. And if you think about what the gospel is, and certainly in the context of Galatians, Paul is championing the gospel.

It's the revelation of God's love. That's what the gospel is. It's the revelation of God's love. And so, responding to the gospel, you think about what he did when he sent his son, he sent him into this world and he poured out his expression of love for you and for me.

And so, responding to the gospel begins with agreement with God. Agreement with God about a couple things. Number one, it is the rightness of loving God. We agree with God it is right to love God and right to love the deeds that reflect him. It's right to love God and the deeds that reflect him.

Second area of agreement when we respond to the gospel is that we agree about the sinfulness of not loving him and grieve over the works. That offend him. That's square one in receiving the gospel. An agreement that it is right to love God and right to love the deeds that reflect him, and it is sinful not to love him, and we should grieve over the works that offend him.

And you think about that. When the love of God, you think about the love, it's that one element that radiates through the whole. At the bottom of a diamond, of that round-cut diamond, is a bottom where the light from above comes and it hits, and it is to reflect through everything.

And that is indeed what happens. The love is going to reflect throughout and permeate the whole. It's beautiful. You see, to love God implies an honest reception of who He is and who He says He is. This is what coming into the light is all about. Let God define God.

The beautiful thing about this and the good news is you don't have to go make up your God. You just have to come into the light of the true God. He is supreme. And He genuinely loves you. That's what is poured out in the gospel. Come into that light, receive.

His love. You see, he is supreme, and therefore he must be the supreme object of your love. It's good. The Holy Spirit knows this. It is good, and it is right to love God supremely. You see, to love God with all one's heart is the first and greatest commandment.

And so you can be sure that the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to create this virtue to cut so that devotion to God, love towards God, is a reality where it used to not be. The Holy Spirit will also impact a relationship with God, not just love and devotion toward Him, but with joy.

Joy. And this too is a God word. Where is your joy found? The idea of joy is gladness, delight. What delights you? The person who loves God supremely will naturally find his or her joy in him. God is God. Wow. Is he incredible? Wow, are his ways superior and just good and delightful.

I look up my little beagle wagging his tail every time he sees me. I'm like, God, why did you think this one up? And I look around, I look around creation, and I just see the goodness of God expressed in so many ways. And understanding him and understanding what excites him, I find great joy in.

And so did Jesus. Listen, Jesus was well pleasing to God long before he ever did his first miracle. You know why? Because he delighted in knowing the Father. The Holy Spirit delights in the Father. The Son delights in the Father. What's wonderful is life becomes simple when you just simply love the God who is and find your joy in him.

There isn't anything higher or greater or greater thrill than knowing God. The joy of knowing God surpasses all other joys. The discovery of God, the Holy Spirit, you can be sure, produces joy. Why? Because the Holy Spirit delights in God. So, those who love God will find joy in His love.

But the Holy Spirit will also impact your relationship with God in the area of peace. Peace. Not only is there joy in His love, but there's peace in His love. The idea of peace is the word shalom, and it speaks of stability. It speaks of a soul that is free from anxiety at peace.

When you know God's love, find your joy in Him, you can be sure nothing's lacking. You have nothing lacking. Wholeness, shalom. Peace also speaks about the optimum fruit-bearing conditions. A soul that is at peace with God doesn't need anything from the outside, He doesn't need anything from the person next to you, He doesn't need anything in this world because God is His peace.

God's love, joy in God, and peace. You see how this makes a soul at rest. Peace with God. No fear of judgment, no fear of want or lack, a trust. In who he is, a trust in what he's doing, even if you don't understand. That's a soul at peace.

You see, a life or life cannot shake that which is unshakable. And if you have peace with God, you are unshakable. And that's what the Holy Spirit's going to produce. A soul who loves God, devoted to Him, finds their joy in Him and in His love, and is at peace in His love.

So you can think about it: a soul that loves God, finds joy in Him, and is in a state of complete rest, will radiate His glory throughout their life, no matter where they are, no matter what circumstances they are in, because they are devoted to God, they found their joy in Him, and they are completely at rest in Him.

And of course, they're going to go through this life radiating His glory. Love, joy, and peace in God stand in contrast to the fruit or to the deeds of the flesh, which involving idolatry or involving sorcery or Pursuing one's own way in life. Instead of pursuing all the false things, there is a true pursuit.

The Holy Spirit creates a true pursuit, finding love in the God who is, joy in the God who is, and peace with the God who is, not having to go create one or pursue something you think is better. Sure makes life a lot simpler. You see, that's what the Holy Spirit does is deep within the soul of a person, the Holy Spirit is going to create a love for God, a joy in Him, and a peace with Him.

And inevitably, this relationship with God is going to impact your relationship with the people around you. In the first area, you're going to see this in patience. Patience. See, the first description of love in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7 is patience. Love is patience. Now, there, in 1 Corinthians, it's a verb.

It's a verbal, and it speaks of waiting for people. So, love is waiting for people. Here, it's a noun, and it communicates that idea of that ability to remain quiet in the face of very Unfavorable circumstances. That's what patience is. The ability to just remain quiet. Of course, you have to have God's peace in order to be quiet in the face of unfavorable circumstances.

But as it relates to trials, you can think about this patience as an ability to endure trials without lashing out or grumbling against God. Now, if you think about Christ on the cross, what was he doing? He was patient, enduring, quiet, like a lamb. Didn't say anything, going to the slaughter.

But as this idea of patience relates to people, there's trials and then there's people. It's an ability, this patience is an ability to put up with people's shortcomings. And boy, we need to learn how to do that, don't we? You need to learn how to put up with people's foibles and their offenses and their unsanctified peculiarities.

It's a big word, but boy, isn't that what we have to learn how to live with? I mean, you have to live with my unsanctified peculiarities. But we all need patience, don't we? Because none of us have arrived. We all have our foibles. All of us are still in progress.

And what glorious things God has shown us about Himself. He is slow to anger. He is constantly seeking reconciliation. So those who are led by the Holy Spirit are going to walk in His ways, and they're going to manifest this patience outwardly. Think about the crown of a diamond radiating out into society.

Those who find their love, joy, and peace in God. Also, the display of patience and kindness to those around him. The second description of love in 1 Corinthians 7 is kindness. And there, again, it's a verb, and it's the idea of helping. Love is helping. That's what it does.

If you love somebody, you seek to help them. But here, Galatians, it's a noun. A noun. And it involves the idea of benevolence. And really, this kindness is more of an inward heart disposition, a heart, an idea of warm-heartedness towards somebody else. It's a desire to help. It's empathy.

It's warm-heartedness. It's generosity in the heart towards somebody else. Kindness, a generous heart. It's a warm-heartedness that wants, a warm-heartedness that wants to do right and wants to be generous towards others. And there's another facet of this fruit of the Spirit, and that's goodness. You see, your relationship with people needs to be driven by patience and kindness and goodness.

And this is what the Holy Spirit is doing in us. Goodness is the warm-heartedness in action. Goodness is the kindness in action, and it manifests itself in good deeds. Good things done for the benefit of others. And you can think about God and how He is good to all.

Remember Christ's words in Matthew 5 and 44, he says this: But I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.

Goodness. God's goodness. When the love of God comes into your heart, it begins to reflect. When you realize, when that gospel truth comes in, and you realize, yeah, God truly does love me to the degree that He does, and you begin to find your joy in Him and your peace in Him, then that starts manifesting itself in the way you relate to others.

There will be a patience, there will be a kindness, and there will be goodness towards others. The love of God naturally produces love for the people around you, and that's what it displays. And what a contrast to those who are under the influence of the flesh. Listen, you're either under the influence of the flesh today or you are under the influence of the Spirit of God.

What does the flesh produce? Well, we read it earlier, verse 19. You can see those enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying. You know why we have these around? You know why we deal with these all the time? It's because people live in the flesh and they don't yield to the Spirit.

They're not led by the Spirit, even though there may be among us. They're not necessarily led by the Spirit, and they don't walk in the Spirit. And because of that, we have... Enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, and envying. They contend with people instead of loving people.

Friend, that goes counter to the work of the Spirit of God in your life. But wow, isn't it a delight to be around those people who radiate God's glory? There is no better company than those who are patient, kind, and good. And I think all of us here would agree.

The people that you like to be around are not the ones who fly off the handle, who are always looking for a reason to be in a dispute with you or at strife or despise you. I think the people that you like to be around and naturally gravitate to are those who are patient, kind, and good.

This is a reflection of God. And that's why we're drawn to those kind of people is because that is who God is. Listen, there are no better citizens than these in any community. These are the people that glorify God and they radiate His light and His beauty in such a way that causes others to thrive in a relationship with God.

But this is all the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the cutter. He's going to do things, He's going to bring about these things in our lives. He's going to take these rough pieces of coal, transform them into diamonds in the rough, and then he's going to put the polish on them.

And one day it's going to be complete when we step over into glory and we are glorified and put on a new body. But until then, he is at work in us. But there is a third way the Holy Spirit will impact you. The Holy Spirit will impact.

By the way, the Holy Spirit is a he. The Holy Spirit is not an it. Just FYI. The Holy Spirit is a he. He will impact your relationship with God, your relationship with people around you, and he will impact the power you exert over your fleshly impulses. The power you exert over your fleshly impulses.

And you can see this, first of all, faithfulness. Love for God produces loyalty to him and loyalty to others in a God-honoring way. So faithfulness deals with dependability, reliability, loyalty, trustworthiness. The word fidelity. The Holy Spirit is loyal to God, you can be sure. He's loyal to God's desires.

And this is the very quality that God wants in his people. You remember Hosea 6:6? For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice. That's what I Delight in, that's what the heavenly Father wants in us, is loyalty to Him. But here, in our own flesh, we're not very steady in the faith, are we?

In our flesh, we can waver. The flesh vacillates, the flesh quits, gives up, often fails. So, we need an internal power that is greater than our proneness to be unfaithful. Well, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit resists the temptation to be unfaithful to God.

The Holy Spirit resists the temptation to compromise the truth or to buckle under persecution. Loyalty becomes a greater desire than ease, comfort. The fruit of the Spirit is a person who is faithful to God and faithful in their relationships with people. Faithfulness. Next, gentleness, power you exert over your fleshly impulses.

There's faithfulness and gentleness. Gentleness speaks of humility or courtesy. A gentle person is mindful of the frame of others. And exercises self-restraint when necessary. But even though a gentle person exercises self-restraint, they also know how to apply the right kind of pressure and exertion in circumstances that would honor God.

This is the greatness of our God. God helps people. And He's mindful of our frame. I remember when we were building this building here, and I remember coming out here and watching this great big earth mover that was putting the final touches on the dirt, the grade here.

And it's like that guy, that operator could take that huge piece of equipment and ice a cake with it. He was so skillful with this massive machine, and he is able to come, but he's able to just skillfully lay. I mean, I'm serious. You put a cake out there, that guy could ice it.

Well, think about our Lord. This is the gentleness of our Lord. Matthew 5:5, Jesus says, Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 11, 29, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 21:5, say to the daughter. Of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you gentle and mounted on a donkey. I mean, this guy could have come in and just instead, he comes in gentle. He's mindful of our frame. But then there's self-control. Self-control. And this deals with the mastery over one's own fleshly desires of all kinds.

Negatively, you can think that a person under self-control resists being unfaithful, resists being proud, resists lashing out. But a self-controlled person is also able to subject themselves to God in the manner of all right pursuits, to devote their strength and exerting their strength, bringing that under self-control in a way that brings glory to God, exerts self in the manner of all right pursuits.

You see, the love of God in the soul of man as it as it works, it produces a person who is in subjection to him. And that is where freedom ends. Freedom is being bound to God. Freedom is not being separated from him. That's slavery. But these three virtues, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, stand in contrast to the fleshly works that were mentioned above, the sexual sins as immorality, impurity, and sensuality.

The problem, the reason why some of you struggle in those areas is because you resist the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, and that's what it boils down to. It also stands in contrast, the faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control stands in contrast to the sins of excess that were mentioned in the previous lists of the flesh, such as drunkenness and carousing.

You see, the Holy Spirit, when he comes in and does his work, he wants a person who will be led by him and walk in him, and it will impact your power, the power you exert over your fleshly impulses. Look back, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control.

I mean, sorry, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Notice the last thing that Paul says there in verse 23. Against such things there is no law. You see, the law was not written for those who are led by the Spirit, for those who walk by the Spirit. No, the law was needed because people weren't following God's ways.

That's why the law was given. Because there is a world filled with people who are led by the flesh. And when you need the flesh, and when you're led by the flesh, guess what? We have to have laws to keep you in some kind of bounds. You can't just go doing whatever you want whenever you want.

That has implications for society. And so the law was given to restrain evil upon the earth. But friend, the Holy Spirit is not under law. He gave the law. And so those who are led by the Spirit are not going to be under the law. There's not things against, there's no laws against that.

The law was given as a blessing to fallen mankind to show him his need and to point out the Savior. And that's what Paul has been talking about, a tutor to lead us to Christ. As we mentioned last time, there's some hidden influences that are at work in this room.

Here today, there's the influence of the flesh, and there's the influence of God's Spirit. And all of us operate daily under these influences, one or the other. The nature of the flesh is a hidden influence that imprisons a person, and it will keep imprisoning people who will yield to it to manufacture deeds that destroy.

You can think of Adam. But in stark contrast to fallen Adam and the corruption of the flesh that even that is present in us, even after we come to Christ, there is still the corruption of our flesh that we have to deal with. But in stark contrast to that is the nature of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Remember what verse 16 says: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another. The Spirit is active in freeing people from that sin and bondage, that prison of that fallen disposition of Adam.

Think Jesus. That's the new paradigm. And you are either. You are operating under the jurisdiction of one of those. But it's evident that God wants his people to be fruitful. God wants his people to be fruitful in advancing in these virtues. You remember, Jesus wanted his disciples to be fruitful.

First of all, Jesus wanted to be fruitful. You remember? In the context of his crucifixion, do you remember what he said? John 12, 24, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Jesus wanted fruitfulness in his own life. He wanted to bear fruit. But Jesus also wanted fruitfulness in his disciples. I read this passage a little bit earlier. John 15, 8. He said, This, My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

This is the highest calling in life: glorifying the Father and proving that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. And you will do this if you will advance in these virtues and let the Holy Spirit do his work in you instead of resisting him. And to this end, this fruitfulness is what Jesus has appointed his people.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you would go. And bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. You see, the problem with many of us is that we hinder the work of the Spirit in our lives.

We don't just let him do his work. We're slow to let him lead us, and even slower to walk in the way he leads. God, give me your counsel on this. Not that counsel. Do you have anything else? We're prone to do that. I'm going to bring this to a close.

How do we produce these facets? How do we allow the Holy Spirit to do his work in us? Look at Galatians 5:18, just a couple of verses back. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Look back a couple of verses earlier to verse 16.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. You need to be led by the Spirit, and then you need to walk in the way that He leads. And He, as the master cutter, diamond cutter, will produce in you that capacity to receive and to.

Admit the glory and radiance of God. So, some of you are here this morning. The first thing you need to do is receive Christ in salvation. You're not going to amount to anything in this world without Him. Certainly, not of anything of an enduring or eternal value. Receive Christ today, received Him.

Second, many of you need to welcome Him more and let Him sanctify you. Listen to His words. Walk in those words. Confess the ways that you haven't walked in His ways. Embrace them. Let's respond to Him. Heavenly Father, we recognize the work of Your Spirit is to produce great things among us and in us.

Father, the greatest success in life is being transformed into your image. The greatest success is to radiate these qualities regardless of our station. Father, you put a priority upon the fruit, the work of your Spirit. So, Father, no matter who we are or where we've come from, Father, we recognize that you have unique peculiarities.

And giftings that you have put in each of us. And Father, it is the work of your Spirit to bring those out in God-glorifying ways through His work, cutting, grinding, and polishing. Father, may we not be a people who resist your will, but who will be led by and be in step with your Spirit.

We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.