Adult Sabbath School Bibe Study Guide -Quarter 1 – 2010 – The Fruit of the Spirit

Intro – A women driving her vehicle was pulled over by a few squad cars. When the police came out of their cars they had their guns drawn. The woman was shocked. What had she done? “You were weaving in and out of traffic,” one officer said, “making obscene gestures to other drivers and cursing them.” “For that,” she replied, “you pull out your guns?” “Well,” the officer replied, “we saw the bumper sticker, which said you were a Christian, and we just assumed the car had been stolen.” This silly story brings out an important point: Christians, by our very profession (Hebrews 10:23), are held to a higher moral standard. After all, look at the One whom we profess as our model, Jesus Christ. “The fruit of the Spirit is…” Paul is talking singular, not separate traits that operate independently. The fruit of the Spirit is what grows in us when we are born of the Spirit; it is what happens when we have been born again. There should be a marked change in us when we are born again if not, we need to examine why not.

Sabbath – Lesson 1 – “By Their Fruit”

Matthew 7:20 – “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

As mentioned previously there should be a change in us that can be seen. Qtrly: One of the most thrilling promises of the Lord is that if we will abide in Him and allow Him to abide in us through His wonderful Spirit, we actually will be different. Our lives will be changed, even radically.

Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

John 15:16 – “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

After all He is that “true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world’” (John 1:9). It is what we choose to do with that light that makes a difference. Do we abide in Jesus, our Light, or not? There are only two choices.

Sunday – “Every Tree Is Known By Its Own Fruit”

2 Timothy 3:5 – Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Meaning having a Christian label but not allowing the Lord to change you. In the end many will say, to Jesus, Lord, have we not shown who you are by the things we have done (works), and He will say I never knew you. (Matthew 7:27) because their heart was far from Him. In the next verses, can you see how some might say they are Christian but exhibit these characteristics?

2 Timothy 3:2-4 – “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

The problem is that these types do not just self-destruct they like to take others with them.

Vss. 6-9 – “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts,Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (see also, Luke 8:17)

Luke12:2-3 – “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Matthew 10:26 – “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

Mark 4:22 – “For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.

Secrets will not stay hidden, eventually “your sin will find you out “(Numbers 32:23). For these, if there is not a heart change then it will be to their destruction.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 – “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Qtrly – Jesus said we can know a tree by the fruit it produces. A person reveals himself or herself not so much by what he or she professes but by what he or she is…the fruit of the Spirit is given to the child of God so that his or her life might be changed…we can look good, sound good, and even appear good. But unless the Holy Spirit gives us a new heart by our surrender, we can never be good.

Monday – “Without Me, You Can Do Nothing” (John 15:5)

Two young boys were using a fruit tree to climb out of their second-story bedroom window and going to the swimming hole without their parents’ permission. One day they heard their father say he was going to cut down the tree because it was dead. Fearing they would lose their escape route, they went to the store and bought artificial apples, which they tied to the branches of the dead tree. The next morning their father expressed amazement that apples seemed to have grown overnight, especially since it was a pear tree.

John 15:1-5 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Qtrly – Verse 4 explains that a branch cannot bear fruit unless it is connected to the vine. This is a crucial point; one we should not overlook. Picture a branch that has fallen off an apple tree. Suppose that branch had several apples on it just reaching maturity. What soon happens to the branch? to the apples? Would painting the apples a deep red make a difference? Suppose we stuck the branch in the ground a watered and fortified it, would that make a difference? Why then is being connected to the vine essential to the branch?

Tuesday – “By This My Father Is Glorified”

John 15:8 – “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Qtrly – You have no doubt heard the saying. “It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason.” If this is true, is it possible to attempt to abide in Jesus for the wrong reason? Abiding in Jesus is not a means to and end; rather, it is an end in itself. The result of abiding in Him will be that we bear fruit, not to glorify ourselves but to glorify God. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit is not to make us look good but to make the Father look good.

John 12:28 – “Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again”

John 7:17-18 – “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”

Qtrly – Perhaps your church is looking for ways to do things in the community that will enhance the image of the church. But is that the way to think? Shouldn’t it be about glorifying God, after all it is His church, right?

1 Corinthians10:31 – “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Wednesday – “That It May Bear More Fruit”

John 15:2 – “Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Qtrly – At the end of every season, the farmer goes back into the vineyard and prunes away most of the vine. The farmer must be careful, however, because next year’s crop is directly dependent on which parts remain. The key to pruning is the balance between the crop and the vine. One is grown at the expense of the other. If you over crop by not cutting enough away, the following year’s growth will be weak and the fruit inferior. The skillful art is to find the right balance. “God brings men into trying places to see if they will trust in a power outside of and above themselves. He sees not as a man sees. He often must break up human connections and change the order which man has mapped out, which is perfect in the man’s estimation. But what man thinks is for his spiritual and temporal interests may be altogether at variance with the experience he must have in order to be a true follower of Christ” (EGW).

Thursday – “And If It Bears Fruit, Well. But If Not…”

Luke 13:4-9 – “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth (clutter up) it the ground?And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

2 Peter 3:9 –“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Isaiah 5:1-6 – “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

John 15:1-10 – “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Notice how, on one hand, He said if we abide in Him we would bear much fruit and if we abide in Him, by faith, we are assured of His work in us and of His salvation because His righteousness is credited to us. On the other hand, not abiding in Him leads to no fruit which leads to a withering branch that will in the end be cast in the fire. One other thing that is mentioned in the verse above is love. When we abide in Jesus, He gives us His love that we can take as our own and bear fruit. He wants us to continue in His love and keeping His commandments stem from that love. Stay connected!