Roots by the River

  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness , faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24). Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit. He was also a good man. This is not surprising, since the fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Goodness is a characteristic of being filled with the Holy Spirit and a characteristic of effective preaching. In Acts 11, Barnabas preached, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Preaching the content of the Good News without being good is contradictory. “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). If we are going to talk the good news, we must walk the good news. How we live our day-to-day lives is part of our witness for Christ. Our lives are a gospel, read by everyone who interacts with us. *Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics . To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/booksto...

  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness , goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). Kindness is one of the greatest weapons in kingdom warfare. It is God’s principal instrument for leading people to repentance. “Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). God used Paul to give Timothy instruction on how to witness and how not to witness: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:23–26). People do not usuall...

  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). Patience in evangelism starts with God: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance ” (2 Pet. 3:9). We think God is slow when He is just patient. He tells us to wait patiently too, because that means the salvation of more people: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:7–8). In personal evangelism there is a time to plow, to disc, and to harrow the ground. There is a time to plant. There is a time to wait for the autumn and spring rains. Then there is a time to harvest. Everything prior to the harvest requires patience. When the harves...

  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you” (Lk. 10:5–6). “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Peace with God is the result of justification. The fruit of the Spirit is peace, and the first words we are to use in house-to-house evangelism are, “ Peace to this house.” We fight the spiritual war with the weapon of peace . Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (Jn. 18:36). We do not use weapons of physical war in evangelism, and that is good. But we also do not consistently present the good news in peace, which we should. Many evangelists present the gosp...

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). Joy is difficult to contain. It overflows. Here is an example of what happened when David’s sin caused him to lose his joy: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You” (Ps. 51:12–13). Joy is attractive. When it is restored, sinners are converted. Before I received Christ, I was not happy, but I wanted to be. I saw men who seemed to be happy. They were not happy; they were joyful . I did not know the difference, but I wanted what they had. If you are a Christian and are not joyful, you are under the chastening of the Lord because of unconfessed sin. Confess your sins and your life of joy will be a witness . “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto th...

  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22). “A new command I give you: Love one another . As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34–35). We are told to love our brothers in Christ. This love tells all of the non-brothers that we are followers of Jesus Christ. This is indirect evangelism. “ Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39b). Our neighbor may not be a Christian. We are to love him because he is a neighbor. “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies , do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them d...

  The fruit of the Spirit is true evidence that someone has the Spirit. It is possible to be baptized “into the name of the Lord Jesus” but not be baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is meant as a sign of salvation, but it does not save you. The fruit of the Spirit is essential to evangelism. It is part of our arsenal of weapons which are not carnal. Without this fruit it is impossible to preach and pray in the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is given to each new Christian at the time he receives Christ. It is the primary evidence of life in Christ. The Christian has it, and he is commanded to express it. If someone does not have the fruit of the Spirit, he is not a Christian. If he has it and does not express it, he is a disobedient Christian. *Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics . To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore .

  "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit , said to them: 'Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone"'" (Acts 4:8–11). It is possible to preach the gospel without being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is better to be scared enough to pray for a Holy Spirit kind of boldness. With Holy Spirit boldness comes power . *Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics . To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore .

  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel ” (Eph. 6:18–19). Praying for saints and sinners is a major part of the proclamation of the gospel. What are we to pray? For the saints: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in ...

  “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more” (John 16:7–10). The Helper, the Holy Spirit, convicts men of sin. This conviction is one of the states that precede repentance. *Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics . To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore .

  I became a Christian when I was 20 years old, during my second year at the Naval Academy. However, my conversion was set up for me beforehand, because I learned two things prior to becoming a Christian: authority and obedience. I learned these in bootcamp, and I learned them in plebe year. When I received Christ my sophomore year, I already knew what authority and obedience were. I could see them everywhere in the New Testament. The New Testament is full of commands that are very clear. But I see that Christians do not pay much attention to them. Here are a few of these commands: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:18). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say—rejoice! Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your he...

  Many years ago, I was talking with a young woman, and I asked her what she thought of Jesus. Her reply was a good answer but qualified with this phrase, "but I don't think he was very polite." The more I read the Gospels, the more I am convinced that her qualification is a true one. The problem was that, to her, politeness was a high virtue, and since Jesus was not polite, He was not perfect. Many of us, like this young woman, interpret Scripture in the light of our cultural mores. We do this because obedience to the text as it is might mean crossing or offending our Christian and secular friends. The issue is clear in a place like India or Japan where the religious culture is so opposite to the claims of Christ. If a person does not follow Christ there, he knows he does not, and he knows why. In our society, we have compromised for so long that we think we are following Christ when in reality we are only following the evangelical American culture. One good way ...