WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.080 Okay, for a few moments today we're going to look at this just a stand alone sermon 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:12.800 we had for a number of months really, looked at the work of the Holy Spirit and we're 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.519 looking tonight at one of the particular characteristics of the Spirit of God in our 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:18.519 lives. 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:25.120 Last Sunday morning, we were looking at the prayer of Zechariah, the song of Zechariah 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.039 when we were looking at the songs of Advent. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:36.619 We finished by talking about what He was talking about, which was beauty. 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:40.759 He talked about the loving kindness and joy and grace of God. 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:48.000 And we finished our sermon thinking about that great beauty that emanates from the 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.480 person and character of Jesus. 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:58.039 And what I want to do just for a week while this evening is think about that characteristic 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:03.600 of beauty in practice through kindness. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:09.319 One of the, through the Spirit that's mentioned here in Galatians chapter 5 where really what's 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:14.819 happening is Paul's reminding that Galatian church that when they follow and serve and 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:22.719 love Jesus, it makes a difference to their demeanor, their character, their hearts, their 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:29.159 lives, and it changes them entirely and completely and forever. 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:33.719 So that is what we're going to look at for a moment. 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:36.959 Someone might say to James that there is a room through there that they will be a bit 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:42.680 more comfortable if rather than going out the back court, which is colder and a bit less 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:44.640 welcoming. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:51.439 So it's a really incredibly attractive characteristic and we know and forgive me for pulling one 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:58.200 out of the rest of the characteristics, but it's amazing that they are all fused together 00:01:58.200 --> 00:01:59.719 in many ways. 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:07.159 But when we see this particular gift of kindness, there is a little bit of a, in fact, when 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:11.800 they're all fused together obviously, but particularly when we think of kindness, it 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:18.039 does give us a taste of a better world, a taste of heaven. 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:22.639 And it reminds us when it is missing, we long for a better world. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:28.519 We long for a better sense of relationship and a better experience of what it is to be 00:02:28.519 --> 00:02:29.519 human. 00:02:29.519 --> 00:02:35.479 And I think it's an underrated and underplayed characteristic of the living God. 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:43.639 It's the power and beauty of God's Spirit as it's manifested in our lives as Christians. 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:48.399 I believe today, probably, ma'am, maybe not more than any other day, I don't know, we 00:02:48.399 --> 00:02:51.639 always say that, don't we, today more than ever, but maybe not. 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:58.239 But certainly in today's world that we live in, I think it's one of the most powerful 00:02:58.239 --> 00:03:01.359 apologetics there can be for the gospel. 00:03:01.359 --> 00:03:09.799 And it's motivated by our experience of God's kindness in our lives. 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:16.640 Grace for all the men here is not a sign of softness, it's a sign of strength. 00:03:16.640 --> 00:03:18.640 It's intentional grace. 00:03:18.640 --> 00:03:21.560 And as men we should be kind men. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.760 And as women you should be kind women as well. 00:03:24.760 --> 00:03:26.560 So we're going to think about it just for a few minutes. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:32.560 What is the word is krestos in the Greek, and it just means usefully good, usefully 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.320 pleasant, tender concern, it can be translated different. 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:43.079 It's a kindness that comes out of our heart in the way we act towards people. 00:03:43.079 --> 00:03:52.340 So it comes from the inside out, and it's revealed in a benevolence towards other people. 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:57.039 So it's more than just an attitude, it's something that becomes an action. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:01.519 So in 1 John 3, verse 80, when we looked at 1 John over the last number of months as well, 00:04:01.519 --> 00:04:07.120 John says that we are to love not with words or tongue, but with actions and truth. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:15.960 And that's very much what kindness is, it's acting with kind words and truth, with actions 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:20.680 and truth rather than simply with words or tongue. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:26.439 So it's a very active word that we see, and we'll see particularly who it's to be focused 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:27.439 on. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:28.959 But it's a God characteristic. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.360 I don't want you to forget that because kindness is a word we use, but it's a word sometimes 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:38.680 that is just a human word and a word that's used in the world a lot. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:43.439 But this is seeing kindness from God's point of view, okay? 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:50.080 And the Bible speaks about the kindness of God, the kindness of God which appeared in 00:04:50.080 --> 00:04:54.639 salvation, Titus 3, verses 4 and 5. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:05:00.480 And we experience as believers the greatest act of kindness, and the cross is the greatest 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:01.520 act of kindness. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:03.639 So it becomes our motivation. 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:07.839 The gospel with the cross becomes our greatest motivation. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:13.519 And we experience through the cross and through trusting in Jesus the riches of His kindness, 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:18.159 and it's His kindness which leads us to repentance. 00:05:18.159 --> 00:05:24.319 So we find that this amazing characteristic of God is revealed to us in Jesus through 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:29.919 the cross, which is the toughest, most brutal act in the history of humanity. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:31.960 And yet it's the kindest act. 00:05:31.960 --> 00:05:38.439 And that kindness which we experience leads us to repentance, to live like that ourselves. 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:44.800 It's linked to the whole idea of God's covenant grace and His commitment to His people. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:54.040 That great Old Testament word that the translators of the NIV was the last word that they translated 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:58.080 because it was so hard to translate the chesed of God. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.000 They translated beautifully as loving kindness, loving kindness. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.519 Such a great word. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.959 And that's exactly what the covenantal grace of God is. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.079 It's loving kindness. 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.839 It comes from His heart and it acts on our behalf. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:18.959 Stemming from His character, stemming from His God being, the God of love. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:25.199 There's that great picture of it in Ezekiel 16, that amazing picture, the allegory of 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:32.240 His love for Israel, His covenant people, where that baby was born but was rejected 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.279 by its mother and thrown out into the desert to die with its umbilical cords still hanging, 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:42.959 the brutal picture of this bloody child left out in the desert to die. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:48.919 This baby girl and the king comes and says, live. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:58.840 He takes her up and he washes her and he clothes her in a princess' gear and takes her to himself 00:06:58.840 --> 00:07:00.920 and she becomes His bride. 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:08.000 Then she prostitutes herself against Him but He takes her back in kindness and remembers 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.560 her and embraces her. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.040 It's that great characteristic. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:23.680 So it's particularly revealed by God and in our lives towards the needy, towards the 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:32.040 helpless, towards your enemy, towards those who can't or won't repay to those who have 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:37.560 no time sometimes for your kindness, to those who are thankless. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:43.720 Remember God's, in general revelation and in general grace, He allows His reign to fall 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:45.759 on the righteous and the wicked. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.040 It gives life to all. 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:55.000 So what we remember about God's great, God's kindness, it is not quid pro quo. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.360 It's not something for something. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.879 That's how we barter. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:07:59.879 That's how we live. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:00.879 I'll be kind. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.519 They've been kind. 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:04.519 I'll be kind back. 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:08.799 There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but that is not primarily the kindness of 00:08:08.799 --> 00:08:09.799 God. 00:08:09.799 --> 00:08:18.519 The kindness of God is a kindness where we give not expecting or looking for anything in return. 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:22.560 It's not a deserved kindness, as it were in many ways. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.279 We see it as well, don't we? 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:26.799 And we've, Corey's preached in that a couple of times here. 00:08:26.799 --> 00:08:32.360 Maybe I've preached in it as well, but David and Mephibosheth, how David showed incredible 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:44.759 kindness to the last of Saul's family, who he had every right to reject and take his life 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:48.360 because he was in some ways a threat to David. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:57.159 Yet this crippled young man or man who'd grown up, David said, who can I show kindness 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:58.960 to from Saul's family? 00:08:58.960 --> 00:08:59.960 Saul who? 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:00.960 Chest after him. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:04.120 He said, who can I show kindness to? 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.160 It was raging with anger against David and who sought his life. 00:09:08.160 --> 00:09:11.240 And David eventually says, who can I show kindness to? 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:17.800 Saul, the Lord's anointed and he takes this crippled man Mephibosheth into his home and 00:09:17.800 --> 00:09:21.759 it to the king's table and eats with him every day of his life. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.400 That's kindness that we see. 00:09:25.400 --> 00:09:28.200 So God characteristics reflected in the Old Testament. 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.440 It's also something that Jesus lived. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.680 So we talk a lot about Jesus' salvation. 00:09:34.680 --> 00:09:36.680 It's hugely significant. 00:09:36.680 --> 00:09:43.520 I think sometimes we underplay his example as well as if, because we're afraid of moralism 00:09:43.520 --> 00:09:45.560 that we just want to follow Jesus' example. 00:09:45.560 --> 00:09:50.080 We know we can't ultimately that we need grace and we need the Holy Spirit. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.680 But nonetheless, his example is the perfect Son and the loving Son and the obedient Son 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:58.599 is there for us. 00:09:58.599 --> 00:10:00.439 And we see that in his life. 00:10:00.439 --> 00:10:03.199 We see his tender concern for others. 00:10:03.199 --> 00:10:11.319 He is so often God's visual for us that expresses, for example, the fruit of the Spirit. 00:10:11.319 --> 00:10:14.279 He showed great kindness to his disciples, didn't he? 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:20.079 When he's so often rejected or misunderstood or couldn't see, he was patient and he was 00:10:20.079 --> 00:10:21.599 kind. 00:10:21.599 --> 00:10:23.759 Kind to the Samaritan woman. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.399 Kind to the lepers. 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.519 Kind to the boy with seizures. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.360 Kind to Jairus and his child. 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.480 Kind to the children whenever they came to him. 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.720 Kind to the poor and to the rejected. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:46.240 And then kind, you know, just before his own ultimate sacrifice on the cross, which is 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:54.439 the pinnacle of his kindness, having been betrayed or in the midst of betrayal and denial by his 00:10:54.440 --> 00:11:00.760 friends with a baying crowd and the smell of sweat and blood around him, where Peter 00:11:00.760 --> 00:11:09.720 cuts off Malchus' ear, Jesus just takes the time and kindness to heal that enemy that 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:10.720 he faced. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:16.880 A very visual picture of reaching out and doing what was unexpected to someone who was 00:11:16.880 --> 00:11:21.400 his enemy who wanted the worst for him, touched him and healed him. 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:25.279 I always wonder what effect that had on Malchus. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:31.519 Funny, there's lots of big people in the Bible whose names we don't get, but we get this 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.559 guy's name, Malchus. 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.799 And I wonder how he responded. 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:44.240 I wonder what the rest of his life was like, what that kind healing act, how it brought 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.519 about change in his life. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.279 So we see kindness in these ways. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:55.279 And can I just say briefly, as I kind of interlude here, that we also, we see its reflection 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.279 in the world in which we live today. 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:05.919 Its shadow does remain because God is graceful and good and He allows kindness still in the 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:10.480 world in which we live, even when He's left out, even when He isn't the motive. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.159 We do see it. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.639 The best things in our life's experiences are often acts of kindness. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.240 You hear about random acts of kindness, website random acts of kindness. 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:27.360 When we share a positive news story with someone, when you send someone a real letter, my word, 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.080 that's an act of kindness. 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:35.399 When you read a book to a child, when the Japanese fans pick up all the litter at the 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:39.840 end of the World Cup game that they've played and even though they've been beaten, when 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:45.080 you pay forward a coffee, these are random acts of kindness that we see in this world. 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:54.560 And it's paradoxical to see these things in a world that can't explain kindness. 00:12:54.560 --> 00:13:01.320 It can't explain kindness particularly to those who don't deserve it or who can't repay. 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:08.879 You can maybe argue for a quid pro quo kindness in a secular world where there is no ultimate 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:16.679 meaning or reason behind doing things, but to show kindness to someone who is weak or 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:24.200 needy or who can't repay is inexplicable unless we see it as a shadow of the living 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:25.759 God. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:31.480 So we do see it in our world and we should rejoice and give thanks for that. 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:35.960 But we recognize it here as the fruit of the Spirit. 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:41.280 And like all the other fruit of the Spirit, it's something in which we are to grow and 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:45.480 be nurtured and share and learn. 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:47.960 It's uniquely Christian. 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:52.080 It's uniquely God's gift to us. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.600 It's rooted in God. 00:13:54.600 --> 00:14:01.240 And so if we are to live kindly and live with kindness, we need to recognize that it comes 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:08.720 from God and from His nature, and it's a specific gift of the Spirit of God who lives in us 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:15.600 as we trust and as we relate and as our roots are being fed from the water of life that 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:17.539 is God. 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:22.080 It looks like God. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:27.600 It looks like God. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.200 It's much more than just the glimpses of natural kindness. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:35.680 You might be a kind person, or someone might be a kind person naturally, and that's a great 00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:36.879 thing. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:43.360 But it's different to being kind as a fruit of the Spirit, because a fruit of the Spirit, 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:51.520 the motivation comes from the kindness that's been shown to us in Jesus Christ and in grace. 00:14:51.520 --> 00:14:57.600 But it's very much focused, so, and this I'll just move on to briefly, it's very much focused 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.480 on how we treat other people. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:06.120 So if you think of kindness this evening, it's focused very much not on really yourself, 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:10.960 but on how you treat other people. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:18.159 Actions and words in many ways as well. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:24.000 One John 3 which we looked at speaks about the importance of these things that we love 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.800 with words, with actions and truth. 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:36.759 And so we're finding that kindness is a mellowing of our natural reactions, and its motivation 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:41.559 is the glory of God, is not to get anything in return. 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:47.759 It begins with those closest to you and works out from there. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:54.979 It is how loving kindness, the hessed of God, acts in our lives, sensitivity to the needs 00:15:54.980 --> 00:16:04.480 of others, persevering, generosity of spirit, self-sacrificial, even to the ungrateful. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.800 Being kind when you're tempted to be horrible. 00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:14.879 It's forgiving, like Christ, kind and compassionate. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:24.120 How we act towards others, but also how we speak towards others. 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:29.679 Finding truth into their lives, weighing up what we say. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:35.399 Thinking about what you say and how it will affect somebody else. 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:38.759 Thinking the best of other people. 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:45.960 Being kind in judgment, careful not only when we speak to people, but particularly when 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:47.840 we speak about people. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:53.960 It's a huge diffusive gift. 00:16:53.960 --> 00:17:05.079 We can change the atmosphere in a room, in a church, in an office very quickly with kind 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.240 words. 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:13.240 It can make a beautiful environment where previously there has been an ugly one, because 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:22.640 it involves us changing our own hearts before we seek the change of character or behavior 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.160 in anyone else. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:31.720 So we see that in actions and in words, we are to show kindness as believers. 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:33.240 Something beautiful. 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:38.039 Something that I think, again, as I mentioned at the beginning, a powerful apologetic for 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:39.039 the gospel. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:41.319 It's strong, it's not weak. 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:46.960 It is powerfully sensitive. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.639 We do know, of course, that it can be counterfeit. 00:17:50.639 --> 00:17:52.439 We recognize that. 00:17:52.439 --> 00:17:57.159 Even as Christians, we can be counterfeit in our kindness. 00:17:57.159 --> 00:18:01.519 We can be kind in order to be seen by other people. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.119 We can be kind for praise. 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:11.599 We can be kind to unconsciously seek to earn favor with God. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:16.000 We can do a kind act with a bad attitude. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.959 We can be selfish in our kindness. 00:18:18.959 --> 00:18:22.279 We can be self-righteous in our kindness. 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:31.119 We can show only to those who we feel deserve our kindness or those who'll be kind back. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:43.799 But our motive, we seek it always to be for the glory of God and because of the mercy 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:45.679 that's been shown to us. 00:18:45.679 --> 00:18:50.879 So you'll go from here and live kindness and show kindness. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:19:01.880 The opposite of kindness is in that brutal list that we read in Galatians chapter 5. 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:10.720 Unkindness is reflected in all of these attitudes just as kindness is fused with all the fruit 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.960 of the Spirit. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.600 Works of the flesh, sexual immorality and purity, essentiality, idolatry, sorcery, 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.559 unity, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:29.719 orges and alike acts of unkindness. 00:19:29.719 --> 00:19:38.639 So lastly, very, very briefly, how do we get this kindness in an ongoing way? 00:19:38.639 --> 00:19:43.240 Well remind ourselves, a constant reminder to ourselves that this kindness is a gift 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:49.599 of God's Spirit and the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.240 So we keep going back to the source. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.279 We keep going back to the roots. 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.319 We keep going back to the living God. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.720 We keep in step with the Spirit. 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.640 This whole passage is about keeping in step with the Spirit. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.359 It's the outworking of our faith in Jesus Christ. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:10.640 It's always based on that relational walk that you have and that I have with Jesus Christ. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:11.880 It must be. 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:18.520 We must constantly, in terms of the Spirit of God, be aware of resisting or quenching 00:20:18.520 --> 00:20:21.640 or grieving the Holy Spirit. 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:23.600 We're in that relationship with Him. 00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:29.080 So when we're talking about the ascension of Jesus that He gives us His Spirit and we're 00:20:29.080 --> 00:20:33.240 in relationship with the Spirit, and it's His gifts, we keep going back. 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:37.760 It doesn't matter where you feel or not that Jesus is there or that God is there or that 00:20:37.760 --> 00:20:38.760 you're changing. 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:45.599 We keep going back for this great fruit that transforms our lives and also recognize the 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:50.359 importance and the significance of repentance on a day-to-day basis. 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:51.359 That's why we read the Scriptures. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.319 That's why we look to the Bible. 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:59.119 That's why we find our standard there, as it were. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:05.359 And Romans 2, 4 says, Do you not presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:10.439 and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 00:21:10.439 --> 00:21:11.439 So there's... 00:21:11.439 --> 00:21:17.839 If we understand God's kindness, it will be reflected in our life that is repentant constantly 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:23.599 because Christ is the mirror into our souls. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:30.959 And we face that tension, don't we, of always falling short, yet of being forgiven and being 00:21:30.959 --> 00:21:33.199 empowered to change. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:38.680 We just don't ever use, and we don't ever use God's grace and God's sovereignty and 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:45.319 God's forgiveness as an excuse not to change because we are now alive by His Spirit. 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:47.759 We're now empowered to change. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.960 We don't have any excuse not to change because we're empowered so to do. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:57.000 And we're to be those who clothe ourselves with kindness, colossians. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:03.519 And 12 speaks about that, about being clothed with the kindness of God. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:11.480 Now, who puts on your clothes in the morning if you're well and you're fit? 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:13.480 You put them on yourself. 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:15.000 It's deliberate. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.000 You do it. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.400 It's intentional. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:20.000 So it must be with kindness. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.160 It's something that is deliberate and intentional. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.640 It's something we must do. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:32.040 We must put on the clothes of the fruit of God's Spirit in our lives. 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:38.000 We must be covered in His righteousness and live our life in His strength. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:43.880 And there's that intentionality. 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:45.520 We probably don't think that much about putting on... 00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:47.680 Well, I don't think that much about putting my clothes on. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.520 Maybe some other people are much more intention about the kind of clothes they put on. 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:55.799 But it's something we almost do instinctively. 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:59.079 We don't think a great deal about it, but we do it. 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:04.920 And that is a great parallel to the Christian life. 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:11.759 There's a sense of it is intentional, but it almost becomes instinctive for us to bear 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:18.240 and live the fruit of the Spirit and also pray. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.279 Lord God, help me to be kind this week. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:29.039 When I'm tempted to be unkind, when I'm tempted to be selfish or self-centered or self-absorbed, 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.359 make me a kinder person. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:41.039 Help me to see how much Your kindness has transformed me through the most sacrificial act that this 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:43.440 world has ever seen. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:49.599 And Lord, when I come to a crossroads this week and I have the opportunity to show the 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:57.839 kindness of God or to go my own way, Lord, please help me to choose the way of kindness. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:04.279 Sam Cook, he wrote about his longing for love to be reciprocated and if it was what a wonderful 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.839 world this would be. 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:14.359 I think if we displayed kindness as the realized gift of the Holy Spirit rooted in grace, rooted 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:20.679 in our church, family, and in the world in which we live, I think it would be a more 00:24:20.679 --> 00:24:22.799 beautiful place as well. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:28.959 So as we celebrate the Lord's Supper this evening, just think about and meditate on how 00:24:28.959 --> 00:24:35.719 kindness can be a characteristic along with the other fruit of the Spirit, increasingly 00:24:35.719 --> 00:24:40.079 in our lives, how we act and how we speak particularly. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:41.079 Amen. 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:47.199 Lord, God bless us, we pray, we thank You for the opportunity we have to be together 00:24:47.199 --> 00:24:53.079 tonight to worship and now also to celebrate the Lord's Supper and the beauty of that 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:55.399 as we do it together at the end of the year. 00:24:55.399 --> 00:24:57.439 We rejoice in that privilege. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:13.519 Amen.