I'm chomping at the bit to get into Word. I think that I have been pondering over the past few weeks this passage of Scripture in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16 where it starts out talking about, walk by the Spirit and you will not, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, or you shall not. You will not, you shall not. In other words, it will not happen if your walking by the Spirit is what the Word of God tells us. Now, you think about it, can we be obedient to what God tells us? Let me ask you very simply, if you look at just a few verses of Scripture, In and of ourself, can we, in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 2, the Word of God commands us, walk in love as Christ also hath loved us? Can you walk in love in such a way, in the same way that Christ has loved you? Are you living your life in such a way as the same way that Christ loved you, you're loving others? Can you do it? Man, you know what? Now that's a big task. In I John chapter 2 and verse 6, the Word of God says we are to walk as He walked. Let me ask you, are you walking exactly like the Lord Jesus Christ? You know what? I know some people that believe they are, but you know what? I heard, I can't even remember who it was, so I might be stepping on somebody's toes, but I heard somebody tell me that they said they knew someone that was actually living above sin. I told them to, well, let me talk to their wife. He says, well, I can't do that because they're divorced. Okay, all right. What cause that? When it comes to being obedient to God's Word, you know what? We cannot do it in and of ourself. There is absolutely no way. It is humanly impossible. The Word of God tells us, it commands us to walk by the Spirit. and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Now, when the term comes in, walk by the Spirit, what does the Word of God mean by walk by the Spirit? I believe there is a lot of comparisons we can make by walking by the Spirit. Jesus said in John chapter 15 and down in verse 4, He says, Abide me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me. We are to be in Christ as Christ is in us. We are to walk by the Spirit. The Word of God tells us, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Being led by the Spirit of God is equivalent to saying, we're walking by the Spirit. The Word of God tells us in Ephesians 5, verse 18, be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is equivalent to be walking with the Spirit. In Colossians 3, verse 16, You remember the verse of Scripture we've talked about for the past two weeks. The Word of God tells us, Colossians 3 and verse 16, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. And you know what? That's equivalent to walking by the Spirit. The comparison text is over in Ephesians 5, verse 18, which we just mentioned. So, when you think about it, the only way that we can be obedient unto what God commands us to do is by divine power. It's not of ourselves. It's not something we can do because it's impossible concerning us in the flesh. And the only way the divine power that God gives, that we can fulfill His commandments, is that we must be born again. We must be born of the Spirit and we must have the Spirit of God indwelling our lives. We must have life, spiritual life, Whereas the Word of God tells us that all are dead in trespasses and sins, therefore we must be born again. It's the Spirit of God that quickens us, that gives us life. And once we have that life, that spiritual life, we've been made alive. How does that happen? It's confessing our sin. Being convicted of our sin, agreeing with God that we are sinners, we confess that. We repent, we turn from our sin, and by faith turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing His death on the cross was sufficient to pay for all my sin, past, present, future. My sins are gone. Praise God, my sins are gone. And now that I've confessed my sin, my life is right with Christ, the Word of God tells me that the Spirit of God comes and indwells the believer. We are sealed with the Spirit of promise until the day of redemption. Now, once you have trusted Christ, the Spirit of God dwells in your heart, you're entering in a whole different realm. You are entering into a realm of spiritual warfare. We are constantly fighting, struggling. The Word of God says in Galatians chapter 5, in verse 17, "...for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against the flesh." That's not talking about an unbeliever. The unbeliever is living in sin. He's not struggling with the flesh. He's dying in the flesh. He needs life. But the child of God is at warfare, and it's our flesh that's lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit is lusting and struggling against the flesh. You see, this flesh and spirit is what Paul's been talking about in chapter 4. And he brings it out in chapter 5. He talks about it over in Romans chapter 7. You remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 7? He says, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. In and of my flesh there is nothing good. He says, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would do not I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Here's that struggle that a child of God has with the flesh. He delights in the law of God after the inward man. That tells him he's a saved man. And therefore he cries out, O wretched man that I am. Have you ever cried that out as a child of God? I'm sure you have if you're fighting and struggling to live a godly life. You can't help but cry out every now and then, O wretched man that I am! Who's going to save me or deliver me from this body of death? And he gets his focus back on the Lord. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. You know what? Here is where the victory is at. It's by walking by the Spirit. We have power because the Spirit of God dwells within us. And the only way that you're going to ever overcome your flesh, your fleshly habits, your fleshly desires is by walking by the Spirit. The Word of God tells us in chapter 5 and verse 16, that's what we're to be doing. This I say then, walk in or by the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, what Paul does, and we've gone over this in verses 19 through 21, he talks about those works of the flesh. There are many. various works of the flesh. This is not an exhaustive list. There's much more works of the flesh, but he's showing you what the works of the flesh are like. And those who walk in the flesh, those who are living a habitual lifestyle, they're practicing this lifestyle, the Word of God says in verse 21, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, there is no way they're going to heaven. Paul said that very clearly again over in 1 Corinthians 6. In 1 Corinthians 6, I want you to notice what it says down in verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? The unrighteous, that means those who are walking after the flesh, living their life after the flesh. Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetousness, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." And Paul then says, "...and such were some of you." You used to live like that. You used to practice like that. But you know what? Paul's talking to these believers in Corinth And some of them have fallen back into sin because, you know what, we went through the book of Corinthians and Paul was rebuking quite a few that's living in sin, isn't he? So they've fallen back into sin, but you notice what Paul says? He says, such were some of you. And you know what? We can say the same about us today. Such were some of you. You were like that. And you might have fallen back into a sinful lifestyle, But you know what? Such were some of you, you need to come back out of that lifestyle if you're a child of God. You will, if you're a child of God. He draws us with cords of love. He pulls at us. You know what? He tugs at us. He convicts us. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the Spirit of God that deals with my mind and my heart and my total being, and He restrains me from sin. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake, to glorify His name. So, hear what Paul's saying in Galatians chapter 5, in verses 19 through 21, he's displaying those works of the flesh. And those who practice that way, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Then what Paul does, he gives a contrast. And the contrast is those who are believers. There are unbelievers, they walk after the flesh. This is their lifestyle. You know them by the way they walk. You shall know them by their fruits. And then Paul says, but, in verse 22, In chapter 5, he says, "...but the fruit of the Spirit." But, for the child of God, he has fruit that comes by the Spirit of God. This fruit, as we mentioned last week, it is a singular word. This fruit is something that the Holy Spirit that dwells within us produces. It is not something that you work for. And I don't want you to be looking at this list and taking a pick here and a pick there. Well, I'm doing this one, but I ain't doing that one. I need to work on this. No, if you're walking by the Spirit, the Spirit's going to produce this fruit. If you see something lacking in here in your life, you've got a problem and you're walking by the Spirit. Jesus said, without me you can do nothing. We've got to abide in Him. The Apostle Paul says, I can do all things through Christ, which gives me strength. And therefore, we can be obedient unto the Lord, because He's the one that's given us strength. It is God that works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure. It's not you. It's the Spirit of God that does it work. It's the Spirit of God that is producing this fruit, and this fruit is multifaceted. This is a fruit. It's not a multiple fruits. It's not fruits of the Spirit. It's fruit of the Spirit. And this fruit is multifaceted. If I can give you a good description, it's like a diamond. And you take a diamond, you watch it, you look at it, and it's multifaceted, isn't it? And it's very beautiful. Well, let me tell you something, the fruit of the Spirit is very beautiful too, isn't it? You put it against the backdrop of this works of the flesh and that fruit of the Spirit shines forth and glorifies God. So don't just emphasize one little aspect of that fruit. I want you to notice that first one. We looked over it last Sunday, but I can't help but going back over it again because you can never, ever, ever speak too much about love. If there is one virtue in the child of God's life, that ought to shine through and it affects every other virtue in life is love. You know, the love that you have that God has put in your heart, it is the love of God that's shed abroad in the heart by the Spirit of God, right? He fills us to the brim and it overflows. If there's one thing that ought to be overflowing out of your life more than anything else and that will affect everything else is your love for one another. It's your love for lost people. It's your love for God. It's your love. It's love. The greatest of these is love. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul says? Now abideth faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. Now, you know what? This is not talking about the emotion love. It's talking about a choice. It's talking about a sacrifice. It's talking about giving. It's talking about what God's love is. It's an agape love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Even so, we are to be displaying that love by the Spirit of God producing that fruit within us. In other words, we love in spite of. Now, you know what? That takes God to work in our life to do that. You ever had somebody hurt you? You know what God has commanded you to do? It's to love them. That's hard to do. The flesh ain't going to want to do that. You know what the flesh is going to want to do? Somebody smacks you, the flesh is going to say smack them back. Somebody says something nasty about you, boy, you know what I heard about them. Yep, that's the way the flesh is. But that is not so how the child of God is when the Spirit of God is working in their life and they're walking by the Spirit. Here, love is highlighted. The Apostle Paul's highlighting it. It's first on the list, isn't it? And this first item on the list that's displayed in this fruit It affects all these other aspects of that fruit. It's the source of other virtues in this list. You notice the Apostle Paul, he talks about love first, and he mentions it before this passage of Scripture, and he mentions it after this passage of Scripture. Notice what it says in verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 says, For brethren, you have been called unto liberty, Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." God has called us to love, and He's called us to serve one another. I really appreciate Brother Anthony bringing that out in the Sunday School lesson. You know what? We're to serve one another. We're to love one another. We're to edify one another. You know what? When you edify someone, you're showing your love toward that person, aren't you? You're serving. Notice here in verse 14 he says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. All the law is fulfilled in one word, that's love. Here, notice how preeminent this is as far as the fruit of the Spirit. In chapter 6 in verses 1 and 2, the Word of God tells us, Brethren, if anyone is overtaken in a fault, he says, you which are spiritual, Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." What is the law? It's all fulfilled in one word, love. How do we love? Here's one aspect of it. You bear one another's burdens. You know what? If you've got burdens, we're to bear your burdens. Your brother, your sisters in Christ, we bear one another's burdens. If you've got a burden, I hear about it. You know what? I've got a burden. But you know what? When you've got a burden and somebody else is helping you carry that burden, that burden gets a little bit lighter, don't it? We're to bear one another's burdens. And there is love being displayed. It's the Spirit of God working in us. God, the Holy Spirit, is shaping us. He's conforming us into the image of His dear Son. How is He doing that? Here, these characteristics, they're perfectly the characteristics of Christ. Jesus Christ is love, isn't He? God is love. And the Spirit of God is conforming us. into the image of His Son. Now, what are we commanded to do? We're commanded to walk by the Spirit. Are we to work on love? No, we're not to work on love. The Spirit of God's producing love in us if we're walking by the Spirit. You can't produce that. It's the Spirit of God that produces that. Well, maybe I'm coming up a little short in love. Maybe you're coming up short in your walk by the Spirit. We need to relook at some things. This fruit grows out of your relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, if this fruit is not there, you've got a problem in your relationship with Christ because you can't produce the fruit. You're not the fruit producer here. Those who walk by the Spirit love others. Those who walk by the Spirit love the Lord. Those who walk by the Spirit love the Word. You know why there's some missing consistently in church that are members? You know, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? Their walk, their relationship with Christ is not what it should be. I'm going to move through this list of words. We're going to go through each one of these little words as far as the fruit of the Spirit. And I want you to know what makes up those words. Here is love, but right what follows after that is joy. You know what? Because we have the love of God in our hearts and in our lives, doesn't that automatically produce joy in your life? You know what? Your joy is not in your circumstances. Your joy is rooted and grounded in God and what He has done for you. And you know what? Nobody can shake that. No circumstance can shake your joy if it's in Christ. Here, because we understand the love of God, We walk by the Spirit. The love of God is produced in our life. Because that love is produced, it produces joy within our heart. And that joy, no man can take it from us because it's not rooted in circumstances. Boy, how many of you all were hooting and hollering last night? I heard some of you. No, that wasn't just in my house. It sounded like I heard a bunch of you. There was a lot of hooting and hollering going on. And you know what? It sounded like some people were about to lose their joy. Well, you know what? If it's rooted in the circumstances of a win or a loss, you would lose your joy. But if your joy is rooted in Christ, you know what? You can't lose that joy. I don't care if Kentucky didn't win a game all year. You still got the joy and nobody can take it from you. I want you to notice the third word there. The Word is peace. Now, some people divide these up in triads or in threes. Love, joy, peace. And then they go into the next three. And they will say, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. And then they go to the next three. Well, you can do that if it helps you remember that. But I don't think Paul is trying to divide it up in twos or threes or threes and fours. I believe all this comprises the character of Christ, which the Spirit of God is producing in us as we walk by the Spirit. Here, peace. How can we have peace? We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He made peace through the cross. We're thankful for that. But you know what? The peace of God rules in our hearts. As the Spirit of God, as we walk by the Spirit, the peace of God rules in our hearts. That means no matter what's happening in life, in this world around us, we have peace. We have confidence in what God's Word says. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. As Brother Steve has experienced the tragic passing of his stepdad, passing away, you know what? He still has a piece, I have no doubt, in the midst of that storm. You know what, that's probably the hardest loss is when something happens very tragically and suddenly. There is no goodbyes, there is no, you know, it's just a boom, finality as far as this life's concerned. But we who have hope in the Word of God, we have a peace that passes understanding. And you know what? Though our flesh might tremble at times, and though we might be upset, and there's human factors involved with all that, I know that. But inside, deep down, there's a peace that God gives. He's the God of all comfort. And we take great comfort in the promises that are in His Word. You know what? Obama might give permission for Iran to have the nukes. But my hope ain't in Obama. And my hope ain't in Iran. My hope is in the Lord God. He's in control of all that. And you know what? Iran might build a nuke and blow itself up with it. We don't know why God's got a plan. But this I know, God's got a plan. And God's got a purpose. God is in control. Knowing God's in control, with all circumstances going on in my life, all situations going on in my life, I can have peace. You remember what we read last week over in the book of Romans chapter 14? And down in verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. It's the Spirit of God that produces these things. Over in the book of Philippians chapter 4, in Philippians chapter 4 and down in verses 6 and 7, the Word of God says this, Be careful for nothing. Don't worry about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." You hear that? You're worried about this, you're worried about that, you're concerned. Kentucky's down by four. Kentucky's still down by four. Kentucky's down by four. Don't be worried about anything. Be careful for nothing. Worry about nothing. The Word of God says, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Make your requests known to God. And what God does, the Word of God says, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You know, we can have a perfect peace through whatever storms come in in life. UK basketball is very minor compared to some of the things we see in life. It's not tragic if they go 39-1. It's tragic if a soul departs from this life without Christ. You know, there's so much more that goes on. The Word of God tells us the Holy Spirit produces this in our lives. If we walk by the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we walk by the Spirit, the Spirit of God will produce love within us. He'll produce joy within us. He'll produce peace within us. And the Word of God says He'll produce longsuffering within us. Now, this does not mean to suffer long. If you were to look at the Hebrew word, what this word would actually mean, it means a large nose. Now, I probably will qualify for that, but what that literally is saying in the Hebrew, the nostrils get big or inflamed. In other words, have you ever seen anybody get really mad in their nose and their nostrils? I know some people naturally do that, but you know what I'm saying? When they get really upset, in the Greek the word is macrothumia. Thumia, like where we get thermometer, heat, you know, getting hot-headed, macro, major, hot-headed. Here, the Word of God says we're long, macro, long, suffering or patient. We have long thumia. We're not short-fused or short thermometers. We are patient. Does anybody in here have anybody like a certain, there's a certain person in your life that kind of irritates you? You ever had, maybe you work with them, maybe you're related to them. I don't know. You know, just somebody that really tries you and gives you a very difficult time in life. And it seems like your patience has reached its end with them. Let me remind you, God places people in your lives for a purpose. And you know what? He might be trying your patience to conform you more into the image of Christ. That's long-suffering. You see where love comes into play with this? When the love of God is in our hearts and in our lives, we can be a lot more long-suffering toward people who irritate us. or who might cut us off in traffic, or who might... whatever the situation might be. You know what? It doesn't matter what you've got to put up with, because I want you to think about this. What does God have to put up with? Look in the mirror. Uh-oh! That's where it starts, ain't it? God sure has to put up with a lot when He has to put up with me. And you know what? You're human too, and I can say that same thing about you. But don't all Christians love each other? Isn't that the way it is? Doesn't everybody just love one with another when it comes to the Christian life and the Christian walk? Well, look over in Colossians chapter 3 real quickly. Colossians 3, I want you to notice what it says down in verse 12. The apostle Paul said this, "...put on therefore," and here comes a list, "...the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy." kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering. And then he says, forbearing one another. We as Christians, everything ain't always lovey-dovey, is it? Because there's times we've got to forbear each other. And he says, not only forbearing, but forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. So you know what? That love is not always there. But if we're walking by the Spirit, we will put on these vows of mercy. We will be forgiving one of another. If we love, we will also not quarrel against any, and we'll forgive as Christ also has forgiven us. That next word, notice, another facet of the fruit. It talks about gentleness. What is gentleness? It means kindness. You think about gentle, you think about gentle Savior, you think about Jesus Christ, taking stuff of the little children to come unto Me. Allow the little children to come unto Me. I can see our Lord taking in His arms the little ones, the little babes, and you know what? He was so gentle with them. Can't you see that picture in your mind? It's not just Gran and Barrett when it comes to long-suffering, but it's also showing kindness when somebody's an irritant. I remember a lady, and I've shared this story before, who took our youth group one time many, many years ago to the Hope Center. And as we were going through the Hope Center, it's on the outside from one building to another, and it was downtown when the building was still downtown, this lady, oh, I can't remember her name, bless her heart, she was this kindest lady. It's like sugar rolled off her tongue all the time. And there was this mixed couple. that was at the Homeless Hope Center. And the man says, what are you looking at? What are you looking at us like that for? You don't like this? You know, he started giving us down the road. And I'm going like, whoa, we're in a hostile situation. This dear lady who was up probably in her 70s, she says, oh, no, no, no, sir. And she just started pouring the sugar on. Boy, you know what? You can't fight against sugar when it's so sweet like that. She just had kindness oozing out of her. I'm like, wow! And that's the Spirit of God. You know what? I was at that age in my life and that stage in my walk, I was like rearing back, ready to roll. Didn't know what to expect. But you know, the Spirit of God was working there in that situation. The next word is goodness. Goodness. What is goodness? The Word of God tells us over in the book of Acts that Jesus Christ went about doing good. Wherever He went, He always did good. In Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10, the Word of God tells us, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. Especially unto them which are of the household of faith. We are to be doing good. We are to be practicing good. That means we are to be ministering to people in need even when, and this is really ministering, when they cannot pay us back or return the favor. That's doing good. It's ministering to those in need. Doing good is your speech, as Brother Anthony brought out, edifying, building up one another in the holy faith. That's doing good. The next word, seventh word, is faith or faithfulness. This means trustworthiness, somebody you can rely upon, somebody you can depend upon. Have you ever asked somebody to pray for you and you know in your heart, I know they're going to pray for me. They're trustworthy. There's someone that you have confidence in that is reliable. This is a mark of the Spirit of God working in a person's life. It's the Spirit of God that produces faithfulness. You might say, well, I'm going to start being more faithful. Well, you know what? You need to start with your walk by the Spirit. That's how you're faithful is walking by the Spirit. and you will not produce the works of the flesh. The next work or the next fruit characteristic is meekness. What does the word meekness mean? It's not weakness. Meekness means strength under control. It's kind of like if you've ever seen a cowboy movie where they break in horses. There's the wild horses rearing up and everything, and then they finally get a saddle on that horse. They walk them around a little bit, and they break that horse. And once that horse is broken, they get on him and they can ride him around. In other words, that horse hasn't lost any strength. He's still got strength, but it's strength under control. And even so, meekness is strength under control. It's under the control of the Spirit of God. Here is the fruit of the Spirit being produced in the child of God. The last word, and I find it interesting, it's the last word, it's the word, what does it say? Temperance. Now, when I think of temperance, I think about back in the days of the 1920s or 30s, you know, when they banned alcohol and they, you know, I don't know why that picture is in my mind, but that's not what it's talking about as far as temperance. Temperance very simply means self-control. Now, you know what? Every one of us needs self-control, don't we? It's the Spirit of God that gives us that self-control. As we're walking by the Spirit, He gives us self-control. That could be with appetite. That could be with any type of desires that you might have. They might be good desires, but you know what? They become bad desires if they become too great of a desire. So it's the Spirit of God that gives us self-control. And then the Word of God says, and we're going to close with verse 25. Notice what it says in verse 24. The Word of God says, or verse 23, it says, such there is no law. Against such there is no law. In other words, there's no law against this fruit of the Spirit, these characteristics. There's no law against love. And you know what? Nobody can make a law against love. They can make a law against love, but it won't do no good. Have you ever been driving down the highway and your spouse is in the other seat, and there's a highway patrolman on the median or hiding behind something, and your spouse, do you see them? Did you see? Well, you know what? There's no worry if you're obeying the law, is it? They're there for the good. They're for restraining evil. Now, if you're being evil and you're driving in the flesh and not in the Spirit, You know what? There's reason to fear the law. But the law is there for the good. It's for restraining the evil. Therefore, there is no restraining of the goodness, of the fruit, of the Spirit. There is no purpose for the restraining of that, is it? There is no such law as what the Word of God tells us. And then in verse 24, the Word of God says, And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. What Paul is talking about here, there at a point in your life, if you're a child of God, when you trusted in Jesus Christ, at that point you were crucified with Christ. Your sins were nailed to the cross. You've been free from the penalty of sin and the bondage of sin. You can now serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Here, they that are Christ, they've crucified. They have crucified the flesh. All that comes along with the flesh, those works of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, the affections of the flesh. They are crucified with Christ. Isn't that what Paul said in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20? I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but it is Christ that lives in me, and the life which I now live by faith. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. You know what? The life we live now, it's by faith. It's no longer you that lives. You've crucified the flesh. That happened when you trusted in Christ. Now, here, I want you to notice the positional and the practical aspect of all this. Paul says in verse 25, if, or since, since we live by the Spirit. Now, the King James says, if we live in the Spirit. I believe a good translation is, since we live by the Spirit. If you're living by the Spirit, if your flesh has been crucified, if you've trusted Christ, if you live by the Spirit, that means you're in Christ, that's your position. You see, once you trust Christ, you're in Christ, that's where you are positionally. If you live by the Spirit, then what you're practically supposed to do, the Word of God says, let us all sow what? Walk. Walk by the Spirit. So my challenge this morning, coming from the Word of God, are you walking by the Spirit? Are you walking by the Spirit? Can you see the fruit, the characteristics of Christ being displayed in your life? Can you see love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, fullness, meekness, and temperance? Can you see that being displayed in your life? If you see some deficiencies, let me encourage you. Walk by the Spirit. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Be filled with the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. Abide in Christ. Is that your walk? Only you can answer that. I can't answer it for you. Are you walking by the Spirit? Let's stand and go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You and praise You for Your goodness, for Your love, for Your Word, for the power of Your Spirit that produces fruit within our lives,