1782. The First-Fruit Of The Spirit

No. 1782-30:289. A Sermon Delivered On Lord’s Day Morning, May 25, 1884, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love. {Ga 5:22}

For other sermons on this text:
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1582, “Fruit of the Spirit: Joy, The” 1582}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1782, “First Fruit of the Spirit, The” 1783}
   Exposition on Ga 4:12-5:4 5:19-6:11 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3451, “Grand Glorying” 3453 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Ga 5:13-6:10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2632, “What Shall the Harvest Be?” 2633 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Ga 5:13-6:2 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2831, “Burden Bearing” 2832 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Ga 5 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3249, “Under the Apple Tree” 3251 @@ "Exposition"}

1. The worst enemy we have is the flesh. Augustine frequently used to 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 did not have so much fuel in our nature. It is the gunpowder in the magazine of the old man which is our perpetual danger. When we are guarding against foes without, we must not forget to be continually on our watch-tower 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 by this 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 the indwelling of the Spirit of God not equal in lovingkindness to the incarnation of the Son of God? Jesus resided in a pure manhood of his own; the Holy Spirit dwells in our manhood, which is fallen, and as yet imperfectly sanctified. Jesus resided 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 resided in his body only for about thirty-six years; but the blessed Spirit of all grace dwells in us for evermore, through all the days of our pilgrimage: from the moment when he enters into us by regeneration he continues in us, making us fit 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 longsuffering. He looks at us from within, and therefore he sees the chambers of imagery where hidden idols still remain. He sees our actions; not from without, for from there, perhaps, they might be judged favourably; 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. Oh brethren, it is wonderful that this blessed Spirit should not leave us in indignation; we lodge him so poorly, we honour him so little. He receives so little of our affectionate worship that he might well say, “I will no longer remain 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 bad manners, and bear our vexatious behaviour. 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 condescends to reside should always be made a thoroughfare for selfish or unbelieving traffic! May God help us to adore the Holy Spirit at the beginning of our discourse, and to do so even more reverently at its close!

2. The Holy Spirit when he comes into us is the author of all our desires after true holiness. He strives in us against the flesh. That holy conflict which we wage against our corruption comes entirely from him. We would sit down in willing bondage to the flesh, if he did not tell us to strike for liberty. The good Spirit also leads us in the way of life. If we are led by 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.

   And every virtue we possess,
   And every victory won,
   And every thought of holiness,
      Are his alone.

3. The Holy Spirit not only creates the inward contest against sin, and the agonizing desire for holiness, and leads us onward in the way of life, but he remains within us, taking up his residence, and something more: for the text suggests a still more immovable steadfastness of residence in our hearts, since according to the metaphor, the Spirit strikes root within us. The text speaks of “fruit,” and fruit comes only from 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 remain in our souls as a tree remains in the soil when fruit is borne by it. Let us love and bless the Holy Spirit! Let the golden altar of incense perfume this earth with the sweet savour of perpetual adoration to the Holy Spirit! Let our hearts heartily sing to him this solemn doxology: — 

   We give thee, sacred Spirit, praise,
   Who in our hearts of sin and woe
   Makes living springs of grace arise,
   And into boundless glory flow.

4. I. Now, coming to our text, I shall notice the matters contained in it, and the first thing which my mind perceives is A WINNOWING FAN. I would like to be able to use it, but it is far better that it should remain where it is, for “the fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor.” The handle of this winnowing fan is made of the first word of the text, that disjunctive conjunction, that dividing monosyllable, “But.” “But the fruit of the Spirit is love!”

5. That “but” is placed there because the apostle had been mentioning certain works of the flesh, all of which he winnows away like chaff, and then presents in opposition to them “the fruit of the Spirit.” It you will read the chapter, you will notice that the apostle has used no less than seventeen words, I might almost say eighteen, to describe the works of the flesh. Human language is always rich in bad words, because the human heart is full of the many evils which these words denote. Nine words are used here to express the fruit of the Spirit; but to express the works of the flesh, — see how many are gathered together!

6. The first set of these works of the flesh which have to be winnowed away are the counterfeits of love towards man. Counterfeited love is one of the vilest things under heaven. That heavenly word, love, has been trailed in the mire of unclean passion and filthy desire. The licentiousness, which comes from the worship of Venus, has dared to take to itself a name which belongs only to the pure worship of Jehovah. Now, the works which counterfeit love are these: “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.” To talk about “love” when a man covets his neighbour’s wife, or when a woman violates the command, “You shall not commit adultery,” is little less than sheer blasphemy against the holiness of love. It is not love, but lust; love is an angel, and lust a devil. The purities of domestic life are defiled, and its honours are disgraced when once the marriage bond is disregarded. When men or women talk about religion, and are unfaithful to their marriage covenant, they are base hypocrites. Even the heathen condemned this infamy, do not let Christians tolerate it. The next fleshly work is “fornication,” which was scarcely censured among the heathen, but is most sternly condemned by Christianity. It is a wretched sign of the times that in these corrupt days, some have arisen who treat this crime as a slight offence, and even attempt to provide for its safer indulgence by legislative enactments. Has it come to this? Has the civil ruler become a panderer to the lusts of corrupt minds? Let it not be once named among you, as it becomes saints. “Uncleanness” is a third work of the flesh, and it includes those many forms of foul offence which defile the body and deprive it of its true honour; while to bring up the rear we have “lasciviousness,” which is the cord which draws on uncleanness, and includes all conduct which excites the passions, all songs which suggest lewdness, all gestures and thoughts which lead up to unlawful gratification. We have sadly much of these two evils in these days, not only openly in our streets, but in more secret ways. I loathe the subject. All works of art which are contrary to modesty are condemned here, and the most pleasing poetry if it creates impure thoughts. These unclean things are the works of the flesh in the stage of putrification — the very maggots which swarm within a corrupt soul. Bury these rotten things out of our sight! I only uncover them for an instant that a holy disgust may be caused in every Christian soul; and that we may flee from it as from the breath of pestilence. Yet remember, oh you who think yourselves pure, and imagine you would never transgress so badly, that even into these loathsome and abominable criminalities high professors have fallen; indeed, and sincere believers trusting in themselves have slipped into this ditch, from where they have escaped with infinite sorrow, to go with broken bones for the rest of their pilgrimage. Alas, how many who seemed to be completely escaped from pollution have so fallen that they have had to be saved so as by fire! Oh, may we keep our garments unspotted by the flesh; and this we cannot do unless it is in the power and energy of the Spirit of holiness. He must purge these evils from us, and cause his fruit so to abound in us that the deeds of the flesh shall be excluded for ever.

7. The winnowing fan is used next against the counterfeits of love towards God; I refer to the falsities of superstition — “Idolatry and witchcraft” — “but the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Alas, there are some who fall into idolatry; for they trust in an arm of flesh, and exalt the creature into the place of the Creator; “their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame.” The golden calf of wealth, the silver shrines of craft, the goddess of philosophy, the Diana of fashion, the Moloch of power, these are all worshipped instead of the living God. Those who profess to reverence the true God, yet too generally worship him in ways which he has not ordained. Thus says the Lord, “You shall not make to yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down to them, nor serve them.” Yet we have Christians (so called) who say they derive help in the exercise of devotion from images and pictures. See how their places of assembly are rendered gaudy with pictures, and images, and things which savour of old Rome. What idolatry is openly carried on in certain buildings belonging to the National Church! What sensuous worship is now approved? Men cannot worship God nowadays unless their eyes, and ears, and noses are gratified: when these senses of the flesh are pleased, they are satisfied with themselves; “but the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Love is the most perfect architecture, for “love builds up”; love is the sweetest music, for without it we become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Love is the choicest incense, for it is a sacrifice of sweet smell; love is the best vestment, — “Above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” Oh, that men would remember that the fruit of the Spirit is not the finery of the florist, the sculptor, or the milliner, but the love of the heart. It ill becomes us to make that gaudy which should be simple and spiritual. The fruit of the Spirit is not idolatry, — the worship of another god, or of the true God after the manner of will-worship. No, that fruit is obedient love to the only living God.

8. “Witchcraft,” too, is a work of the flesh. Under this point we may rightly group all that prying into the unseen, that tearing of the veil which God has hung up, that interfering with departed spirits, that necromancy which calls itself spiritualism, and pays court to familiar spirits and demons — this is no fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of a bitter root. Brother Christians, modern witchcrafts and wizardry are to be abhorred and condemned, and you will be wise to keep clear of them, trembling to be found acting in company with those who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Idolatry and witchcraft are caused by a lack of love for God, and they are evidences that the Spirit’s life is not in the soul. When you come to love God with all your heart, you will not worship God in ways of your own devising, but you will ask, “How shall I draw near to the most high God?” and you will take your direction from the Lord’s inspired word. The service which he prescribes is the only service which he will accept. The winnowing fan is at work now: I wonder whether it is operating upon any here present?

9. But next, this great winnowing fan drives away with its “but” all the forms of hate. The apostle mentions “hatred,” or a habitual enmity towards men, usually combined with a selfish esteem of one’s self. Certain men cherish a dislike for everyone who is not of their clique, while they detest those who oppose them. They are contemptuous, to the weak ready to take offence, and not careful whether they give it or not. They delight to be in minorities of one, and the more wrongheaded and pugnacious they can be, the more they are in their element. “Variance,” too, with its perpetual dislikes, bickerings, and quarrellings, is a work of the flesh. Those who indulge in it are contrary to all men, poking their fingers into everyone’s eyes, and looking out for occasions for fault-finding, and strife. “Emulations,” — that is, jealousy. Jealousy in all its forms is one of the works of the flesh: is it not cruel as the grave? There is a jealousy which sickens if another is praised, and pines away if another prospers. It is a venomous thing, and stings like an adder: it is a serpent by the wayside, biting the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. “Wrath” is another deed of the flesh: I mean the fury of angry passion, and all the madness which comes from it. “But I am a man of very quick temper,” one says. Are you a Christian? If so, you are bound to master this evil force, or it will ruin you. If you were a saint of God to the very highest degree in all except in this one point, it would pull you down; indeed, at any moment an angry spirit might make you say and do what would cause you lifelong sorrow. “Strife” is a somewhat milder, but equally mischievous form of the same evil; if it does not burn quite so fast and furiously, yet it is a slow fire kindled by the very same flame of hell as the more ardent passion. The continual love for contention, the morbid sensitiveness, the overweening regard for one’s own dignity, which join together to produce strife, are all evil things. What is the proper respect which is due to poor creatures like ourselves? I know that if any one of us did get our “proper respect,” we should not like it for long: we should think that bear justice was rather scant in its appreciation. We desire to be flattered when we cry out for “proper respect.” Respect, indeed! Why if we had what we deserved, we would be in the lowest hell! Then our apostle mentions “seditions,” which occur in the state, the church, and the family. As far as our church life is concerned, this evil shows itself in an opposition to all kinds of authority or law. Any kind of official action in the church is to be railed at because it is official; rule of any kind is objected to because each man desires to have the preeminence, and will not be in second place. May God save us from this evil leaven! Heresy is that kind of hate which makes every man set up to create his own religion, write his own Bible, and think out his own gospel. We have heard of “every man his own lawyer,” and now we are coming to have “Every man his own God, every man his own Bible, every man his own instructor.” After this work of the flesh, come “Envyings”; not so much the desire to enrich one’s self at another’s expense, as a wolfish craving to impoverish him, and pull him down for the mere sake of it. This is a very acrid form of undiluted hate, and leaves only one stronger form of hate. To desire another’s dishonour merely from envy of his superiority is simply devilish, and is a kind of murder of the man’s best life. The list is fitly closed by “murders,” a suitable corner-stone to crown this diabolical edifice; for what is hate but murder? And what is murder but hate bearing its full fruit? He who does not love has within him all the elements that make a murderer. If you do not have a general feeling of benevolence towards all men, and a desire to do them good, the old spirit of Cain is within you, and it only needs to be unrestrained and it will strike the fatal blow, and lay your brother dead at your feet. May God save you, men and brethren, every one of you, from the domination of these dark principles of hate, which are the works of the flesh in its corruption. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.”

10. Next time you begin to boil over with wrath, think that you feel a hand touching you and causing you to hear a gentle voice whispering, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Next time you say, “I will never speak to that man again, I cannot endure him,” think that you feel a fresh breeze fanning your fevered brow, and hear the angel of mercy say, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Next time you are inclined to find fault with everyone, and take your brethren by the ears, and create a general scuffle, I urge you to let the chimes ring out, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” If you wish to find fault, it is easy to do so; you may begin with me and go down to the last young member who was admitted into the church, and you will not have to look for long before you can see something which needs improvement; but to what end will you pick holes in our characters? Whenever you are bent on the growling business, pause for a while and hear the Scripture admonish you, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” When you grow indignant because you have been badly treated, and you think of returning evil for evil, remember this text, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” “Ah,” you say, “it was shameful!” Of course it was: and therefore do not imitate it: do not render railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, for “the fruit of the Spirit is love.”

11. The winnowing fan is at work: may God blow your chaff away, brethren, and mine too!

12. The next thing which the winnowing fan blows away is the excess of self-indulgence — “drunkenness, revellings, and such-like.” Alas, that Christian people should ever need to be warned against these animal offences, and yet they do need it. The wine cup still has its charms for professors. Nor is this all: it is not merely that you drink to excess, but you may eat to excess, or clothe your body too sumptuously, or there may be some other spending of money upon your own gratification which is not according to sober living. Drunkenness is one of those trespasses of which Paul says “that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The revelling which makes night hideous with its songs so called, — call them howlings and you are nearer the truth, — the revelling which spends hour after hour in entertainments which heat the blood, and harden the heart, and chase away all solid thought, is not for us who have renounced the works of darkness: for us there is a better joy, namely, to be filled with the Spirit, and “the fruit of the Spirit is love.”

13. II. The second thing which I see in the text is A JEWEL, — that jewel is love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love.”

14. What a priceless Koh-i-noor {a} this is! It is altogether incalculable in value. What a heavenly grace love is! It has its centre in the heart, but its circumference sweeps, like omnipresence, around everything. Love is a grace of boundless scope. We love God: it is the only way in which we can embrace him fully. We can love the whole of God, but we cannot know the whole of God. Yes, we love God, and even love that part of God which we cannot comprehend or even know. We love the Father as he is. We love his dear Son as he is. We love the ever-blessed Spirit as he is. Following upon this, for God’s sake we love the creatures he has made. It is true in a measure that — 

   He prayeth best that loveth best
      Both man and bird and beast.

Every tiny fly that God has made is sacred to our souls as God’s creature. Our love climbs to heaven, sits among the angels, and immediately bows among them in lowliest attitude, but in due time our love stoops down to earth, visits the haunts of depravity, cheers the attics of poverty, and sanctifies the dens of blasphemy, for it loves the lost. Love knows no outcast London, it has cast out no one. It does not talk of the “lapsed masses,” for no one has lapsed from its regard. Love hopes good for all, and plans good for all: while it can soar to glory it can descend to sorrow.

15. Love is a grace which has to do with eternity; for we shall never cease to love him who first loved us. But love has also to do with this present world, for it is at home in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, nursing the sick, and liberating the slave. Love delights in visiting the fatherless and the widows, and so it earns the praise, — “I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Love is a very practical, homespun virtue, and yet it is so rich and rare that God alone is its author. Nothing but a heavenly power can produce this fine linen, the love of the world is sorry stuff.

16. Love has to do with friends. How fondly it nestles in the parental bosom! How sweetly it smiles from a mother’s eye! How closely it binds two souls together in marriage bonds! How pleasantly it walks along the ways of life, leaning on the arm of friendship! But love is not content with this, she embraces her enemy, she heaps coals of fire upon her adversary’s head: she prays for those who despitefully use her and persecute her. Is this not a precious jewel indeed? What earthly thing can be compared to it?

17. You must have noticed that in the list of the fruits of the Spirit it is the first — “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” It is first because in some respects it is best. First, because it leads the way. First, because it becomes the principle motive and stimulant of every other grace and virtue. You cannot conceive of anything more forceful and more beneficial, and therefore it is the first. But see what follows at its heel. Two shining ones attend it like maids of honour, waiting upon a queen. “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace”: he who has love has joy and peace. What choice companions! To love much is to possess a deep delight, a secret cellar of the wine of joy which no other man may taste. He who loves is like God, who is the God of peace. Truly the meek and loving shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. He is calm and quiet whose soul is full of love; in his boat the Lord stands at the helm, saying to the winds and waves, “Peace; be still!” He who is all love, though he may have to suffer, yet shall consider it all joy when he falls into various trials. See then what a precious jewel it is that has so many shining brilliant ones set at its side.

18. Love has this for its excellence, that it fulfils the whole law: you cannot say that of any other virtue. Yet, while it fulfils the whole law, it is not legal. No one ever loved because it was demanded of him; a good man loves because it is his nature to do so. Love is free — it blows where it wishes, like the Spirit from whom it comes. Love, indeed, is the very essence of heart liberty. Well may it be honoured; for while it is a true grace of the gospel, it nevertheless fulfils the whole law. If you would have law and gospel sweetly combined, you have it in the fruit of the Spirit, which is love.

19. Love, moreover, is Godlike, for God is love. It is love which prepares us for heaven where everything is love. Come, sweet Spirit, and rest upon us until our nature is transformed into the divine nature by our becoming burning flames of love. Oh, that it were so with us this very day!

20. Notice, beloved, that the love we are speaking of is not a love which comes out of men on account of their natural constitution. I have known people who are tenderly affectionate by nature; and this is good; but it is not spiritual love: it is the fruit of nature and not of grace. An affectionate disposition is admirable, and yet it may become a danger, by leading to inordinate affection, a timid fear of offending, or an idolatry of the creature. I do not condemn natural amiability; on the contrary, I wish that all men were naturally amiable: but I would not have any person think that this will save him, or that it is a proof that he is renewed. Only the love which is the fruit of the Spirit may be regarded as a sign of grace. Some people, I am sorry to say, are naturally sour; they seem to have been born at the season of crab-apples, and to have been fed on vinegar. They always take a fault-finding view of things. They never see the sun’s splendour, and yet they are so clear-sighted as to have discovered its spots. They have a great speciality of power for discerning things which it would be better not to see. They do not remember that the earth has proved steady and firm for centuries, but they have a lively memory of the earthquake, and they quake even now as they talk about it. Such as these need to cry for the indwelling of the Spirit of God, for if he will enter into them his power will soon overcome the tendency to sourness, for “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Spiritual love is found nowhere without the Spirit, and the Spirit is nowhere dwelling in the heart unless love is produced. So much for this jewel!

21. III. I see in the text a third thing, and that is A PICTURE: a rich and rare picture painted by a Master, the great designer of all things beautiful, the divine Spirit of God. What does he say? He says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” We have seen many fine fruit pictures; and here is one. The great artist has sketched fruit which never grows in the gardens of earth until they are planted by the Lord from heaven. Oh, that every one of us might have a vineyard in his heart, and yield abundance of that love which is “the fruit of the Spirit.”

22. What does this mean? “Fruit,” how is love a fruit? The metaphor shows that love is a thing which comes out of life. You cannot fetch fruit out of a dead post. The pillars which support these galleries have never yielded any fruit, and they never will; they are of hard iron, and no life sap circulates within them. A dead tree produces no fruit. God implants a spiritual life in men, and then out of that life comes love, as the fruit of the Spirit.

23. Love appears as a growth. Fruit does not come from the tree perfectly ripe at once: first comes a flower; then a tiny formation which shows that the flower has been pollinated; then a berry appears, but it is very sour. You may not gather it. Leave it alone for a little while, and allow the sun to ripen it. Eventually it fills out, and there you have the apple in the full proportions of beauty, and with a mellow flavour which delights the taste. Love springs up in the heart and increases by a sure growth. Love is not produced by casting the mind in the mould of imitation, or by fastening the grace to a man’s manner as a thing outside of himself. Little children go to a shop where their little tastes are considered, and they buy sticks upon which cherries have been tied; but everyone knows that they are not the fruit of the sticks, they are merely bound upon them. And so we have known people who have borrowed an affectionate mannerism and a sweet style; but they are not natural to them: they are not true love. What sweet words! What dainty phrases! You go among them and at first you are surprised with their affection, you are a “dear sister” or a “dear brother,” and you hear a “dear minister,” and you come to the “dear Tabernacle,” and sing dear hymns to those dear old tunes. — Their talk is so sweet that it is just a little sticky, and you feel like a fly which is being caught in molasses. This is disgusting; it sickens one. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, it is not something assumed by a man, but something growing out of his heart. Some men sugar their conversation very much with pretentious words because they are aware that the fruit it is made of is unripe and young. In such a case their sweetness is not affection but affectation. But true love, real love for God and man, comes out of a man because it is in him, created within by the operation of the Holy Spirit, whose fruit it is. The outcome of regenerated manhood is that a man lives no longer for himself but for the good of others.

24. Fruit again calls for care. If you have a garden you will soon know this. We had a profusion of flowers upon our pear trees this year, and for a few weeks the weather was warm beyond the usual heat of April, but nights of frost followed and cut off nearly all the fruit. Other kinds of fruit which survived the frost are now in danger from the dry weather which has developed an endless variety of insect blight, so that we wonder whether any of it will survive. If we get over this trial and the fruit grows well we shall yet expect to see many apples fall before autumn, because a worm has eaten into their hearts and effectively destroyed them. So it is with Christian life: I have seen a work for the Lord prospering splendidly, like a fruitful vine, when suddenly there has come a frosty night and fond hopes have been nipped: or else new notions, and wild ideas have descended like insect blights and the fruit has been spoiled; or if the work has escaped these causes of damage, some immorality in a leading member, or a quarrelsome spirit, has appeared unawares like a worm in the centre of the apple, and down it has fallen never to flourish again. “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” You must take care of your fruit if you wish to have any laid up in store at the end of the year; and so must every Christian be very watchful over the fruit of the Spirit, lest in any way it should be destroyed by the enemy.

25. Fruit is the reward of the gardener and the crown and glory of the tree. The Lord crowns the year with his goodness by giving fruit in due season: and truly the holy fruit of love is the reward of Jesus and the honour of his servants.

26. How sweet is the fruit of the Spirit! I say “fruit” and not fruits, for the text says so. The work of the Spirit is one, whether it is known by the name of love, or joy, or peace, or meekness, or gentleness, or temperance. Moreover, it is constant; the fruit of the Spirit is borne continually in its season. It is reproductive, for the tree multiplies itself by its fruit; and Christianity must be spread by the love and joy and peace of Christians. Let the Spirit of God work in you, dear brethren, and you will be fruitful in every good work, doing the will of the Lord, and you will raise others like you, who shall, when your time is over, occupy your place, and produce fruit for the great Gardener.

27. IV. Lastly, you see in my text A CROWN. “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” Let us make a diadem out of the text, and lovingly set it upon the head of the Holy Spirit, because he has produced in the people of God this precious thing which is called “Love.”

28. How does heavenly love come into such hearts as yours and mine? It comes, first, because the Holy Spirit has given us a new nature. There is a new life in us that was not there when we first came into the world, and that new life lives and loves. It must love God who has created it, and man who is made in his image. It cries, “My Father,” and the essence of that word, “My Father,” is love.

29. The Spirit of God has brought us into new relationships. He has given us the spirit of adoption towards the Father; he has made us to feel our brotherhood with the saints, and to know our union with Christ. We are not in our relationships what we used to be, for we were “heirs of wrath even as others”; but now we are “heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ”; and consequently we cannot help loving, for love alone could make the new relationship to be fully enjoyed.

30. The blessed Spirit has also brought us tender new obligations. We were bound to love God and serve him as creatures, but we did not do it: now the Holy Spirit has made us to feel that we are debtors to infinite love and mercy through redemption. Every drop of Jesus’ blood cries to us to love; every groan from that dark Gethsemane cries love. The Spirit of God works in us, so that every square inch of that cross moves us to love. The love of Christ constrains us: we must love, for the Spirit has taken from the things of the loving Christ and has revealed them to us.

31. The Spirit of God has so entered into us that he has caused love to be our delight. What a pleasure it is when you can preach a sermon full of love for those to whom you preach it, or when you can visit the poor, full of love for those you relieve! To stand on the street corner and proclaim Jesus’ dying love — why, it is no irksome task for the man who does it lovingly; it is his joy, and his recreation. Holy service in which the emotion of love is indulged is as pleasant for us as it is for a bird to fly, or for a fish to swim. Duty is no longer bondage, but choice; holiness is no longer restraint, but perfect liberty; and self-sacrifice becomes the very crown of our ambition, the loftiest height to which our spirit can aspire. It is the Holy Spirit who does all this.

32. Now, my dear hearer, do you have this love in your heart? Judge by your relationship to God. Do you live without prayer? Do you very seldom read God’s word? Are you getting indifferent concerning whether you go and worship with his people? Ah, then, be afraid that the love of God is not in you. But if you feel that you love everything that has to do with God — his work, his service, his people, his day, his book — and that you do all that lies in you to spread his kingdom, both by prayer, by word of mouth, by your liberality, and by your example; if you do love you can easily see it, I think, and there are many ways by which you can test yourself.

33. Well, suppose that to be satisfactorily answered, then I have this further question: — Do you and I, — who can say, “Lord, you know that I love you,” — do we sufficiently bless the Holy Spirit for giving us this jewel of love? If you love Christ, then say, “This love is given to me, it is a rare plant, an exotic, it never sprang out of my natural heart. Weeds will grow plentifully there, but not this fair flower.” Bless the Holy Spirit for it. “Oh, but I do not love God as I ought!” No, brother, I know you do not, but bless him that you love him at all. Love God for the very fact that he has led you to love him; and that is the way to love him more. Love God for letting you love him. Love him for taking away the stone out of your heart, and giving you a heart of flesh. For the little grace that you see in your soul, thank God. You know when a man has been ill, the doctor says to him, “You are not well by a long shot, but I hope you are on the turn.” “Yes,” says the man, “I feel very ill; but still I think I am a little better: the fever is less, and the swelling is going down.” He mentions some little symptom, and the doctor is pleased, because he knows that it indicates much: the disease is past the crisis. Bless God for a little grace! Blame yourself that you do not have more grace, but praise him to think you have any. There was a time when I would have given my eyes and ears to be able to say, “I do love God”; and now that I do love him, I would give my eyes and ears to love him more. I would give all I have to get more love into my soul; but I am grateful to think I have a measure of true love and I feel its power. Do be grateful to the Holy Spirit. Worship and adore him specially and particularly. You say, “Why specially and particularly?” I answer — Because he is so much forgotten. Some people hardly know whether there is any Holy Spirit. Let the Father and the Son be equally adored; but be careful in reference to the Holy Spirit, for the failure of the church towards the Holy Trinity lies mainly in a forgetfulness of the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore I press this upon you, and I implore you to laud and magnify the Holy Spirit, and diligently walk in all affectionate gratitude towards him all your days. As your love increases, let your worship of the Holy Spirit become daily more and more conspicuous, because love is his fruit although it is your vital principle. To the God of love I commend you all. Amen.

[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Gal 5]
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 23” 23}
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Desires After Holiness — ‘Sanctified By The Spirit Of Our God’ ” 651}
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Desires After Holiness — Holy Principles Desired” 649}

{a} Koh-i-noor: An Indian diamond, famous for its size and history, which became one of the British Crown jewels on the annexation of the Punjaub in 1849; hence, allusively, any magnificent large diamond; fig. something that is the most precious or most superb of its kind. OED

                             Metropolitan Tabernacle,
                             Newington Butts, London, S. E.
                             May 14, 1884
Mr. C. H. Spurgeon’s Jubilee Fund

Dear Friends, — It is widely known that Mr. Spurgeon will reach his fiftieth birthday on the 19th of June next. Public appreciation of his life-work has already marked that day as a festival, and preparations are being made to celebrate it in a suitable manner.

The intention has been announced to hold a meeting at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on the evening of Thursday, the 19th of June, to be presided over by the venerable Earl of Shaftesbury. This will be made the occasion of presenting Mr. Spurgeon with an address of congratulation and a testimonial of love and esteem.

At a representative social gathering, held on the 6th of May, it was unanimously resolved, that in addition to “The Jubilee House,” in course of erection at the rear of the Tabernacle, the presentation shall consist of a Sum of Money, to be placed absolutely and unreservedly at his own disposal, except in any case where the donor specifies a particular object.

Over a thousand pounds were promised at once to open the Subscription List, and Messrs. T. H. Olney and W. C. Murrell were elected Treasurers of the Fund.

In addressing the intimate friends and ardent admirers of our Pastor, and reference to the services he has rendered to the universal Church of our Lord Jesus Christ would be superfluous. Of the Philanthropic Institutions he has planted and fostered, or of his many labours of love, we likewise forbear to speak. We simply invite you to join us in a tribute of personal regard to him.

Many of us feel that his life touches our own at every vital point. The hearts and homes of great multitudes have become happier and holier by his ministry. We are sure that he has made his mark on his own generation with the truest instinct of which our manhood is capable. The echoes of his influence have extended to remote regions, until his name has become a household word in every part of the civilized world. And he has multiplied himself beyond our power of computation by means of the men whom he has trained and sent out in our Country, our Colonies, and our Foreign Mission Stations; to say nothing of the many more men and women of more mature years who have proven the quickening force of his example and his leadership, and have been constrained to devote themselves with a noble enthusiasm to Christian work.

The list of love is now open to the spontaneous generosity of all who are ready to greet the opportunity. No further appeal will be made. As it is proposed to inscribe the names of contributors in the Testimonial, we shall feel obliged by an early response.

                        On behalf of the Deacons and Elders,
                        We have the honour to subscribe ourselves,
                        Yours faithfully,
                        T. H. Onley
                        W. C. Murrell

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 23 (Version 1)
1 My Shepherd will supply my need,
   Jehovah is his name;
   In pastures fresh he mikes me feed,
   Beside the living stream.
2 He brings my wandering spirit back
   When I forsake his ways:
   And leads me, for his mercy’s sake,
   In paths of truth and grace.
3 When I walk through the shades of death,
   Thy presence is my stay;
   A word of thy supporting breath
   Drives all my fears away.
4 Thy hand, in spite of all my foes,
   Doth still my table spread;
   My cup with blessings overflows;
   Thine oil anoints my head.
5 The sure provisions of my God
   Attend me all my days;
   Oh may thy house be mine abode,
   And all my work be praise!
6 There would I find a settled rest,
   While others go and come;
   No more a stranger, or a guest,
   But like a child at home.
                           Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 23 (Version 2)
1 The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want
   He makes me down to lie
   In pastures green: he leadeth me
   The quiet waters by.
2 My soul he doth restore again,
   And me to walk doth make
   Within the paths of righteousness,
   E’en for his own name’s sake.
3 Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale,
   Yet will I fear no ill;
   For thou art with me, and thy rod
   And staff me comfort still.
4 My table thou hast furnished
   In presence of my foes;
   My head thou dost with oil anoint,
   And my cup overflows.
5 Goodness and mercy all my life
   Shall surely follow me;
   And in God’s house for ever more
   My dwelling place shall be.
                        Scotch Version, 1641.

Psalm 23. (Version 3)
1 The Lord my Shepherd is,
   I shall be well supplied;
   Since he is mine, and I am his,
   What can I want beside?
2 He leads me to the place
   Where heavenly pasture grows,
   Where living waters gently pass,
   And full salvation flows.
3 If e’er I go astray,
   He doth my soul reclaim;
   And guides me in his own right way,
   For his most holy name.
4 While he affords his aid,
   I cannot yield to fear;
   Though I should walk through death’s dark shade,
   My Shepherd’s with me there.
5 In spite of all my foes,
   Thou dost my table spread;
   My cup with blessings overflows,
   And joy exalts my head.
6 The bounties of thy love
   Shall crown my following days;
   Nor from thy house will I remove,
   Nor cease to speak thy praise.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 23 (Version 4)
1 The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
   And feed me with a Shepherd’s care;
   His presence shall my wants supply,
   And guard me with a watchful eye;
   My noonday walks he will attend,
   And all my midnight hours defend.
2 Though in the paths of death I tread,
   With gloomy horrors overspread,
   My stedfast heart shall fear no ill,
   For thou, Oh Lord! are with me still:
   Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
   And guide me through the dreadful shade.
                     Joseph Addison, 1712.

The Christian, Desires After Holiness
651 — “Sanctified By The Spirit Of Our God”
1 Not the malicious or profane,
      The wanton or the proud,
   Nor thieves, nor slanderers shall obtain
      The kingdom of our God.
2 Surprising grace! and such were we
      By nature and by sin;
   Far from my heart be joys like these,
      Now I have seen the Lord.
3 As by the light of opening day
      The stars are all conceal’d;
   So earthly pleasures fade away,
      When Jesus is reveal’d.
4 Creatures no more divide my choice,
      I bid them all depart;
   His name, and love, and gracious voice,
      Have fix’d my roving heart.
5 Now, Lord, I would be thine alone,
      And wholly live to thee;
   But may I hope that thou wilt own
      A worthless worm like me?
6 Yes! though of winners I’m the worst,
      I cannot doubt thy will;
   For if thou hadst not loved me first,
      I had refused thee still.
                           John Newton, 1779.

The Christian, Desires After Holiness
649 — Holy Principles Desired
1 I want a principle within
      Of jealous, godly fear;
   A sensibility of sin,
      A pain to feel it near.
2 I want the first approach to feel
      Of pride, or fond desire;
   To catch the wandering of my will,
      And quench the kindling fire.
3 That I from thee no more may part,
      No more thy goodness grieve,
   The filial awe, the fleshy heart,
      The tender conscience, give.
4 Quick as the apple of an eye,
      Oh God, my conscience make!
   Awake my soul, when sin is nigh,
      And keep it still awake.
5 If to the right or left I stray,
      That moment, Lord, reprove;
   And let me weep my life away,
      For having grieved thy love.
6 Oh may the least omission pain
      My well instructed soul;
   And drive me to the blood again,
      Which makes the wounded whole!
                     Charles Wesley, 1749.