Have you ever heard the phrase, cleanliness is next to godliness? Well as I was researching the title for our message this week I looked up that famous phrase on the most amazing search engine ever, Google. After I had punched in the phrase in the search bar, the first result returned was one from phrases.org. This reference webpage had a neatly laid out format explaining where the phrase developed and how it continued to be molded throughout history. I found that this phrase is believed to have come from ancient Hebrew writings. After I read that, I thought, I need to dig a little deeper. So as I went back to the results page the very next link was one from bible.org Bible.org is a well established Bible Study Website designed to help you and I go deeper in our walk with Jesus. When I clicked the link a webpage came up that, if you could print it, was probably 12 pages long. The article on the webpage was by Bob Deffinbaugh and was title: Is Cleanliness Next to Godliness? This caught my attention right away as it was the exact phrase I had searched for and I was curious to see what Bob had to say. As I read down through the extremely long article I was blown away by the amount of scripture that Bob used in explaining why that phrase is used when referring to cleanliness of the body and where it came from. It did indeed sprout from ancient Hebrew writings, primarily those in the law of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the Israelites were only permitted to eat certain kinds of food that God told them were good or clean to eat. These foods were deemed kosher for God’s people. Some food though was not kosher. Pork for instance (Leviticus 11:1-8), was not clean and was not kosher.

So as I continued to read Mr. Deffinbaugh’s article I began to see where this ancient proverb or phrase initially developed. It, indeed, had developed from the old Hebrew tradition that you need to be clean to be godly. Now this type of clean is not in the form of dirt on your body but rather purity in heart set apart for God. This phrase over many hundreds of years, though, has been skewed to actually mean that except for worshipping God, the most important thing in life is to be clean. So why did I research this? Two reasons. One, I was curious where the phrase came from. Two, because I wanted all of us to understand that the title for this message is very important. Many famous philosophers and theologians have used the phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness” in their actual belief system. Francis Bacon the great English philosopher and pioneer of the scientific revolution stated in one of his famous 1605 essays that “Cleaness of body is showing due reverence to God”. Two centuries later John Wesley the great pioneer of the protestant church movement wrote into one of his sermons (and I am paraphrasing) that being dirty has no part in religion, but that cleanliness is indeed next to godliness. You see here is the thing. As we talk about this phrase and its development I want us to understand that sometimes we take God’s truth and twist it to mean whatever we want it to mean. This message title gave me an opportunity to share with you one of those very instances. Though, cleanliness may be next to godliness, it is not godliness. Godliness comes from a heart that has been restored to Jesus and seeks to develop the very fruit from God’s Spirit.

Today we are looking at the eighth aspect of the fruit of the spirit: Gentleness. Though cleanliness may be next to godliness, gentleness is godliness. Now just so you know that I am not twisting God’s word around, let’s read together the passage from God’s word that we have been sharing together the past eight weeks that explains this very point. Read Galatians 5:22-23. You see the very first part of the verse explains that the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. This is God’s Spirit producing each aspect of the fruit in our lives if we believe in Jesus and allow God to work in us. That is why we can say that cleanliness of body is not a fruit of the spirit but that gentleness is indeed a fruit of the spirit, thus, gentleness is given by God through his spirit to produce godly people. So, gentleness is godliness.

Now that we have established that gentleness is godliness let’s take a look at a passage from God’s word that exemplifies this very character trait of God. This is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible and it comes from 1 Kings 19:10-14. Read 1 Kings 19:10-14 I went to a Christian high school for the last three years of my high school experience and remember reading this passage in one of my classes. I can remember distinctly thinking “Wow, though God could have come in power, he chose to come in the gentle sound of a whisper.” This really opened my eyes to a characteristic of God that a lot of people miss today. Many believe, both believers and non-believers, that God is an angry God who is sitting on a throne in heaven just waiting for the opportune time to crush us here on earth blasting his judgment all over human kind. The fact is that God has already cast his judgment on sin when Jesus died on the cross saying: “It is finished”! Jesus was now our salvation! Through Jesus we have a restored relationship to God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” In Christ we have his righteousness, his judgment, God cast our sin on him and if we believe we have already been forgiven through the righteousness that Jesus gives to us! It was God’s plan since the beginning to restore us to Himself through Jesus!

So why do I share all that which most of you know? Because God could have cast all of us into hell with a blink of an eye. We all deserve death for our sin, but instead, God, in his unfathomable love, chose to rescue us from the depths of hell and restore us to himself through Jesus. God dealt with our sin in an amazingly gentle way. God chose to come in the form of God the man, Jesus, and die on a cross so that we could live with him forever and stand before him clothed in the righteousness that he gives freely to us! I am telling you: THIS BLOWS ME AWAY!!! God was so gentle. Jesus never raised a finger to cause any harm. I always like to think of Jesus as being the ultimate Jedi. He could have used the force (God’s Spirit) to save himself from being persecuted and nailed to a cross, but out of his undying love for us he went willingly to the cross so that we could have forgiveness and redemption. In Matthew 26:47-56 Jesus tells Peter, after Peter cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest, that He is not leading a rebellion but that he was fulfilling what the prophets had written about in the Old Testament. This is my favorite part o this passage though in 26:53 Jesus tells peter and I am paraphrasing “I could have called twelve legions of angels to rescue me from this unbearable death” but Jesus knew that if he did that we would all still be under judgment of the law and each one of us would never be able to uphold it! Think about that. Twelve legions of angels. That is at least in the time of the Roman rule, 6,000 people in a legion. So twelve legions would be 6,000 times 12 which would be 72,000 angels. 72,000 angels to rescue Jesus from a few of the Roman guards. I have to admit, that would have been so awesome to see. But Jesus knew that if he were to do that he would not be fulfilling what he was sent to earth to do and that was save us who believe in Him from the consequence of sin which is death and eternal separation from God.

You see God chose to deal with our sin in such a way gentle way. Instead of calling down angels and passing judgment on those who lived against God, God sent Jesus to willingly go to the cross and endure our sins and offer us his righteousness in return. I mean how much more gentle can you get? What we have to do is believe and then when we believe obey and do what Jesus said to do! Even when we mess up, he still forgives us and God still sees Jesus when he looks at us! This is such an amazing thing.

So how can this apply to us? Well, as we read earlier God’s Spirit produces in us this kind of fruit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. God’s spirit produces in us gentleness even if we feel like we have none. I know that all of us in this room each have a specific personality type. I want to read to you the three specific types of personalities that psychiatric theorists have studied for years:

THE SOCIALIZER - "B" TYPE PERSONALITY

The "B" type loves to party, travel and be part of groups, and is often the center of attention. They love excitement and are often impatient and demanding as a result of being a "high energy" type. They love the limelight and the "hype" and often do very well in sales, advertising, marketing, public speaking, party planning, travel and other positions where they can have a "good time" while working. The "B" personality is as Supportive of others as they are direct in their approach. Most people enjoy being around them or watching or listening to them "perform". Many radio and TV personalities, actors and high-profile speakers are often "B" personalities. It is very important for the "B" personality to be liked by others and can be easily hurt if they think someone doesn't care for them. They may take it very personally. A good example of a "B" personality was the part Bette Midler played in the movie "Beaches" where her character was a big success in movies and on the stage. An outstanding line from the movie was, when having her best friend over who she hasn't seen in years, she takes her on a whirlwind tour of her elaborate apartment then says: "... enough about ME, let's talk about YOU. So, what do you think of ME?" Certainly, most "B" personalities are not that "strong", but it does provide a good mental picture of some of the characteristics to look for in the "B" type. This type often does well in sales as they tend to be very talkative and outgoing with people and are normally quite persuasive.

"DETAILS, DETAILS... "THE "C" TYPE PERSONALITY

If you want to picture a typical "C" type personality, think of your accountant, an engineer or a computer programmer or analyst. The "C" thrives on details, accuracy and takes just about everything seriously. They are usually very neat, dress fashionably and are very calculated and precise in just about everything they do. The "C" doesn't like "hype", rather, they want facts... information from which they can verify the details and make a decision. They are very consistent in everything they do because everything has an order or procedure; thus they can be predictable at times and often very dependable, however, don't expect them to make a decision when YOU want it, as it will only come after THEY have checked all the facts and are satisfied that everything is correct. They are deep, thoughtful and usually very sensitive. They enjoy know how and why things are the way they are rather than taking anything at face value. They often make good customer service people and sales people, especially if the product to support or sell is something "technical" or involves numbers. They are loyal and patient and can leave customers with a good feeling that they're somebody that really cares. However, managers may need to make sure they don't spend TOO much time with details if the objective or expected outcome doesn't warrant the investment of their time and expertise.

ALWAYS THERE WHEN YOU NEED THEM THE "D" TYPE PERSONALITY

The typical "D" personality doesn't like change, preferring instead, to have a set of guidelines from which to follow and they won't mind doing the same thing over and over. They are usually more motivated by security and benefits and are likely to get the "gold watch" if the company can provide the security they seek. "D" types are very supportive of others and are often the type that others turn to when they have a problem. Their compassion level is usually quite high and often seem very happy and content with themselves and life in general. They are usually punctual, and consistent. They add "balance" and support in the workplace and may be the champion of the "under dog"

So did you recognize yourself in any one of these? If you are type A you probably have a hard time dealing with this very issue of gentleness. Now if you are a type C with a little type A you probably have a hard time using gentleness in what you do. If you are straight B, C, or D you probably would have a better time dealing with gentleness in life situations. But here is my point. No matter what personality God has given to you, His spirit produces in our lives the very fruit that are the character of God. When we allow his spirit to work in us a person who is Type A can be gentle when dealing with annoying situations. When a type C person doesn’t get things on time, they can deal with the situation in gentleness and lead the other person to be more responsible with their tasks. You see, God gave you the personality that you have yet he wants each of us to develop and become more like him so that our lives can be fulfilling and so that we can be used by Him for His glory.

If you are the type of person who moves 1,000 miles an hour or if you are very introspective person there is one thing I want to challenge all us to this week. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” There is one for sure way that we can all really become more like Jesus and allow Him to grow the fruit of His spirit in our lives and that is to spend time with him. When we shut up and be still before God he can reach deep down into our hearts and deal with issues in our lives. Each of us can live in the fullness of the Spirit by spending time in the Spirit with God. God can develop within us each aspect of the fruit so that we can be used to our fullest potential for Him. Maybe you are a type A person and you deal with anger. God can grow gentleness in your life so that you can deal with situations without hurting other people emotionally. You see when we are still and gentle before God, God comes to us not in a great wind, or an earthquake but in the gentle whisper calling us to live a life in His spirit developing the character of God. Remember the story of Elijah we read earlier from 1 kings. Elijah knew the voice of God when he heard it. God spoke to Elijah in a way as to encourage him to not be fearful but to return to the duties that God had designed him to do. God is calling each of us today in his gentle voice to live a life of gentleness. To deal with situations in a way that will not take years off of our life.

That leads us to the challenge for this week. If you truly want to live a life of gentleness beginning now or maybe you just want to continue to grow in God’s Spirit then would you say this with me: I will be still and wait on God this week trusting him enough to let go of my control and allow Him to work through me that I may handle life situations in the gentleness of His spirit. If this is truly a desire of your heart then would you pray with me right now that God would fill us with a desire to deal with life in gentleness trusting in Him, being still before Him, and knowing that He alone, is God. Let’s pray…Amen.