TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Part 3
June 9, 2019
Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
We are now at the third Fruit of The Spirit which is PEACE. The Greek word for peace is eirene. It’s pronounced ih-ray-nay with the emphasis on “ray.” Eirene also means tranquility, health, harmony and prosperity. Quite a word, isn’t it?! Think of what each of those words mean on their own! Tranquility means the condition or quality of being untroubled, or calm. It also means serenity. Harmony is a very cool word which means a state of agreement or accord. It also means unity. Another definition for harmony is a pleasing or orderly relation among the parts of something. Most people think of the word harmony in relation to music. With respect to music, it’s defined as the simultaneous production of notes causing a blending of sounds that is pleasant to the ear.
Let’s take a quick look at music in the Bible. This is how PSA 92:1 looks:
Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
Notice it says: “A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.” This title is used in the Jewish Targum, which is an ancient Aramaic interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Aramaic gradually replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jews who lived in the Near East. The Near East included the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans. It’s quite a small region compared with what we consider to be the Middle East today which spans from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. In PSA 92:1, the Jews teach that Adam uttered it on the Sabbath. That doesn’t mean he composed it; it means he sang it! Maybe Our Lord and Savior, when He was getting ready to teach Adam his first Bible doctrine lesson, He had a hymn for him and the woman to sing! This would have been the perfect hymn because it actually teaches that “It is good to give thanks to the Lord” and to “sing praises” to His Name!
Back to the third Fruit of The Spirit – eirene – which also stands for two types of prosperity. We did a five-part study on prosperity, (see Teen Trees November 11 through December 9, 2018), during which we learned that God is the Source of all prosperity. Our God of Prosperity has created all of the wealth and abundance on earth: The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. (HAG 2:8) David wrote in PSA 24:1: The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. In PSA 50:10-11, Asaph wrote: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.”
Prospering us is part of God’s Divine Nature. Throughout His Word, we learn how He has Divinely blessed us with more than three thousand promises! We are assured of these promises because God can never lie. This is taught in TIT 1:1-4 (The Message Bible): I, Paul, am God’s slave and Christ’s agent for promoting the faith among God’s chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I’ve been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself. Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!
The more you study God’s Word, the more evidence you’ll see of His Plans for you to prosper. God wants us to enjoy riches and a long life, but we have to make Him first in our lives. Most people think that prosperity is only money. WRONG!! It can and does include wealth and success; but it also includes an abundant supply of all kinds of enjoyable things! Music is a good example of a pleasurable thing. How could ANYONE think that there is no God, when they hear music???!!! During his first imprisonment, the apostle Paul also wrote the scripture which teaches us the key to prosperity: Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (PHIL 4:11)
So, eirene includes, not only prosperity and blessing (which everyone can see) but also inner peace with God (which is not visible). This inner peace takes away your fears, worries and stress. Mature Christians will always be relaxed, comfortable and calm. This is why it’s our goal as Christians to grow spiritually. But even the newest believers should have peace in their souls because of our assurance of Salvation. This is taught in 1JOH 5:11-13 (New International Version): And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. God wants us to always remember that we have Eternal Life. Those who have believed in Jesus Christ, and have accepted Him as their personal Savior, have Eternal Life. It’s that simple! When we get to a point at which we produce Divine PEACE in our lives, we’ll fear nothing because we’ll be confident that we’re spending Eternity in Heaven! When you remind yourself that you’ll be with God forever, you’ll stop struggling and begin to have PEACE.
Inner peace is based on a system of thinking (the Mind of Christ) which you get from studying and applying Bible Doctrine. The Mind of Christ is Divine Viewpoint – the very thinking of Christ. Once we accept the Finished Work of Christ on the Cross, we have to change (renew) our way of thinking by learning Bible doctrine. This is taught in ROM 12:2 (New International Version): Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Paul, the apostle, also taught about the Mind of Christ in 1CO 2:16: For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. The only way we can live in God’s Plan for our lives is to acquire the Mind of Christ through our daily intake of God’s Word, apply what we’ve learned and be filled with The Holy Spirit.
Our peace and our prosperity with God are a result of the Work of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Ministry of God The Holy Spirit. He is Our Teacher – Our Mentor. God The Holy Spirit is called the “helper” in JOH 14:16: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever… Jesus Christ also teaches about God The Holy Spirit, referring to Him as “the Helper,” in JOH16:7: But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. God the Holy Spirit is the believer’s true teacher and mentor. As your true teacher, He makes Bible doctrine understandable when you allow Him to fill your soul with the Filling of The Spirit. As our mentor, God The Holy Spirit guides and helps us to apply the correct doctrine to our experiences in life. So, PEACE is a result of The Ministry of God the Holy Spirit controlling our souls and producing His Fruit.
Let’s end this week’s Tree with COL 3:12-17 (The Message Bible): So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. In verses 12 through 14, Paul writes about eight positive traits which Christians strive for. In verse 15, he adds two additional ideals for believers to try to achieve. The first of these ideals is for believers to try to live in peace.
Peace is taught in COL 1:2 as coming from God The Father: To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We receive peace with God through the Blood of The Cross: …and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (COL 1:20). Believers are called to live in peace with each other – not with violence or fighting! The second trait Paul mentions in this verse is simple: an attitude of thanksgiving. He mentions thanks multiple times in Colossians, showing us the importance of gratitude in the Christian way of life.
It’s important to note, finally, that Paul isn’t referring to peace in the sense of “happy feelings.” In prior verses, he discussed the need for Christians to tolerate, love, and support each other. In this scripture, after mentioning peace, Paul again speaks of the unity Christians have. With Christ as the Head, we are all part of a spiritual body, which is the church. Peace within the body requires peace between its parts. We are going to experience inner conflict at times; but if you develop eirene, you’ll be at peace with others and within yourself.
{to be continued}