Lets open our Bibles up to 2 Peter 1. As were on our series of Virtuous Reality, were looking in depth at these eight virtues that Peter says were to have. I think its right-maybe not necessarily every week, but often-to go back through the text, so were familiar with it. On page 1204 in your church Bible, 1 Peter 1:3, it says, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is near-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we mentioned that this is not a self-help text. It is not Peter telling you to try harder, do more, work harder and youll earn your way to Heaven. Its not that at all. We do have a part to play. There is work to be done; however, God is at work, too. Neither is it just kicking back and saying, Okay, God, You do all these things in me. Ill just coast and twiddle my thumbs. No, we have a part to play. God has a part to play. We work on our salvation; God works in and through through His spirit in our lives. My wife had pink eye this week. Her eye was sore, running, itchy and red, so she went to the doctor and got a medicine. Her part was to admit her weakness, to say, Heres what Im struggling with. Heres the pain; heres the hurt. Heres whats going on. So we confess to God. Then we have to exercise faith. She gets that little bottle of prescription pills. She has to trust A) that the doctor prescribed the right medicine, that its not rat poison, a vitamin or a sugar pill. It really is a medication to help with pink eye. Then, B), she ultimately exercises faith when she puts it in her mouth and swallows it. Faith, we said, was a conviction-pistis-a conviction followed by corresponding action, demonstrating that what you believe is true. So, she partakes of the medicine-thats her part, to confess, to have faith and trust. Then the medicine works in and through her system to rid her of the pink eye. So God works in our lives and through us to remove sin-to cleanse us from unrighteousness; thats something we cannot do ourselves. So, how does He do that? Say were looking at this bookshelf. We say on one end we have Gods provision. On the other end, we have Gods promise. In between, we have these eight books of virtue that were going to pull off the shelf each week. This week were talking about goodness. Thats the second book on our shelf. What does goodness mean? Does it just mean being a nice person? Is that what its talking about? Actually, the word means moral excellence. Moral excellence. You and I have had times in our lives when weve been morally excellent. Weve had times in our lives when weve been morally average. Weve had times when weve been morally below average. Weve been failing in that area. So everybody in this room can grow in moral excellence. Would you agree? Sometimes we are miserable failures in this area. How does God work in us and through us to bring about goodness or moral excellence? Turn in your Bibles please to the Book of John, the Gospel of John, the first chapter (page 1050 in church Bibles). John the Baptist, who is the fore-runner of the Messiah, his job was to usher in the Messiah. Remember the Old Testament closes with a prophesy that One in the spirit of Elijah is coming. He will prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist is the fulfillment of that prophesy; 400 years later he appears on the scene, announces the coming of Messiah. He is baptizing; he is preaching; people are coming to him and listening to his message of repentance. Now Jesus is about ready to make His way on the scene and begin His earthly ministry. Verse 29 tells us this story: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! The Lamb of God meant that was drawing a comparison to a sacrificial lamb. When the Jews would sacrifice for sin, they would sacrifice that innocent, spotless lamb as an atonement; and the sins of the people would be placed upon that lamb, and it would be slain. They understand the Lamb of God signifies death and sacrifice. Isnt it interesting that as Jesus begins His ministry, before He has uttered a word of His official public ministry, it already speaks of His death? Just as He is beginning to serve, John foreshadows His death-the fact that He will die on behalf of the world, that He will die for sin. He will become a lamb. I find that very fascinating. He takes away the sin of the world, and then Verse 32, Then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from Heaven as a dove and remain on Him. I would not have known Him… In other words, there is nothing exceptional about Him. There are no angels floating around Him. There is no halo over His head. He walks on the ground just like you and I; Hes not floating on a cloud. Hes just like a normal man. I would not have known Him except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. So John says, He will come. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. So this text talks about a removal and a bestowing; a taking and a giving. God is going to remove sin; Hes going to take away sin-the penalty for sin; but Hes going to bestow His spirit. He is going to give His spirit. From time to time, Ill talk a little bit about the original languages to give you some nuances and some insight. Im going to talk about it a lot this week. Last week, we talked about faith, and I told you some stories about a miracle bus ride. We just had fun together. This week, I really need you to have your A game and really be focused and listening because the theology were talking about-its a little bit difficult to understand; but then well bring it around to something intensely practical at the end. Were talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is a giving and a taking. In the Greek, those verbs-talking about taking away the sin of the world and baptizing in the Holy Spirit-the giving and the taking-are whats called the present active indicative. This means that Jesus took away the sins of the world; is continuing to take away the sin of the world; and will continue to take away the sin of the world. He is still forgiving sins, baptizing in the Holy Spirit. He has baptized; He is baptizing; and He will continue to baptize new believers in the Holy Spirit, so this work is ongoing and continuing to this day. That gives us the right understanding of what hes talking about here; so the giving and the taking-an ongoing work of the Spirit of God. Now the baptism of the Holy Spirit-thats kind of a controversial subject matter, and it really shouldnt be. It appears seven times in the Scripture. Six times its in reference to this quote from John the Baptist, so six of the seven times it says the baptism of the Holy Spirit… By the way, that preposition in can mean with, by, or in; it can be any of those: in the Holy Spirit; with the Holy Spirit; by the Holy Spirit-all good. It all means the same thing. Seven times it appears: six times its in reference to John the Baptist-four times by John in each of the Gospels; once by Jesus quoting John; and once by Peter going back to this quote by John. To be baptized in the Spirit-the word baptism, baptiso, means to immerse, to submerge. One of the ways to learn what a word means in the Bible is to see how it was used in contemporary literature outside the Bible. That word is most often used when you take a cucumber, and you pickle it. You put in water, spices and salt; you would can it. That began to change that cucumber into a pickle. It was immersed in it, and it began to change it from the inside out so that it was different. It wasnt the same anymore; it has a different flavor; it has a different look. Its a pickle. The Holy Spirit in, through and around begins to baptize us and change us from the inside out. So how do we have the power to live a morally-excellent life? How do we have the power to live for God? It is through the power of the Spirit of God. Now we should talk about the Spirit of God because the Spirit of God is not an impersonal force. The Spirit of God is not a ghost. Theres an unfortunate translation of that in the King James where it says the Holy Ghost. Spirit means wind, numa-wind. Normally in the Bible, translated, he would say here, I saw the wind come down from Heaven. Hes not talking about wind here. Hes talking about spirit. In the Greek, this word spirit has the masculine to it. Normally, wind is neutral, so it would be neuter, so it wouldnt be masculine or feminine. Since hes talking about a person, he uses the masculine word for spirit. When he talks about the spirit, he says He; he doesnt say it. The Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit does things only a person can do. The Holy Spirit teaches; the Holy Spirit guides; the Holy Spirit comforts; the Holy Spirit strengthens; the Holy Spirit can be grieved, and only a person can be grieved. The Holy Spirit can be blasphemed, and only a person can be blasphemed. So the Spirit is a person, and the Holy Spirit is also God. There are many evidences of that. If this were a different Bible study, we could spend our whole time talking about that, but often the Holy Spirit is interchanged with God. Sometimes it will say Spirit; sometimes it will say God. It will say in one passage, Your body is a temple of God. The next verse, Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Eternal Spirit in Hebrews. Only God is eternal, so if the Spirit is eternal, the Holy Spirit must also be God. So what this means is something very exciting. This means that Jesus promised and John promised that they would baptize in the Spirit, so the Holy Spirit would not only come upon you but reside in you. When does that happen? Act 2, On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falls and indwells the believers in a new dimension, a new realm that it never had happened before. In the past, Hed come on people, but now the Holy Spirit is coming in to empower us, dunamis, power. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an event that happens at the new birth, but it is also a process because the Bible says, Be filled with the Spirit. Again, present active imperative this time. Its a command. Imperative means to command. It is ongoing, Be filled with the Spirit, continue to be filled with the Spirit. Just like you have air in your tires, occasionally you have to put air in that tower. God exhorts us to be filled with the Spirit because sometimes we become dull or less aware of His presence. His presence isnt diminished; He hasnt gone away, but we become less aware of His presence in our lives. Its like a story I told several years ago about a lady who went to church. Every Sunday, there was a guy there who was a very charismatic individual. Hed pray, and hed say, Oh, fill me Jesus, and hed shake his hands. Hed go, Oh, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit, Lord! I can just see somebody tuning into our television program that is on cable watching; theyd be saying, What kind of guy…? Whats up with that guy? (referring to what Pastor is doing by waving his arms around). But he would be going, Oh, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit! Oh, more of the Holy Spirit, Lord! Oh, Lord! She would know that he would go out on Monday and live like the devil. She knew that he didnt have moral excellence, that he was somebody who was vulgar, rude and unethical. He didnt treat people with kindness. She just thought, Boy, this guy… This is so hypocritical to ask God to fill you with His Spirit and then go out and live like that! So one Sunday, shed had enough. He starts his thing, and hes like, Oh, fill me, Jesus! Oh, fill me with Your Spirit! Oh, Lord, fill me! She finally stands up and she says, Lord, dont fill him, Jesus! He leaks! (congregation laughing). See you and I, we leak, dont we? You and I leak; we do. There are times when we dont live by the power of the Spirit. We live in our flesh, very much so. We indulge in our sinful nature. We do not live morally, excellent lives. This being filled with the Spirit is something we should probably look into, right, because it holds the key on how to live a morally excellent life? Lets turn to that text in Ephesians 5. This is page 1159. Were going to start reading with Verse 15 of Ephesians 5. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, and he says, Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lords will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery... or a lack of restraint and destruction. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Its interesting that he makes a contrast of somebody whos intoxicated and somebody who is filled with the Spirit. Of course, in Acts 2, when they were baptized in the Spirit, people thought they were intoxicated, didnt they? When you become intoxicated, what you have done is you have yielded much of the control of your body, your mind and your mouth to alcohol. When you put yourself in an environment where alcohol is consumed or you purchase alcohol, or if you consume alcohol, now youve yielded to that and you start to be under its control. It affects your speech; it affects your motor skills; your balance; your reflexes. It makes you more vulnerable. You may say things that embarrass you. You may disclose things that are embarrassing. You may say things that are offensive; you may change your personality so that you become rude and obnoxious or silly and crazy. [You may] do embarrassing things, but it will blur your judgment, your reaction, your reflexes. It will have an effect on your attitude and your behavior. When I grew up, I saw this lived out so many times. As you know, the area of Rockford I grew up in was not the best area of town. There were two bars right by our house. To see winos coming by or people passing out in the street was a regular occurrence for me; I saw it all the time. It was also in our family; my father was an alcoholic. My brother-in-law was an alcoholic. He would get mean when he was drunk. Hed be mean, and my sister would have to leave with her daughters. She had to leave with her two daughters, and theyd come to our house and hide. Hed come pounding on the door. My little heart would pound. Sometimes wed have to leave the house and wonder the streets from him, hoping he wouldnt find us. It was kind of traumatic to be woken up in the middle of the night to stuff like that. His sons drank too and from time to time, there were physical altercations. My step-dad and my brother-in-law got into a fist fight. My step-dad and my brother-in-laws son got into fist fights, drunken alcoholic brawls. I had two neighbors, one up above and one next door, who when they drank would cause trouble. One would yell at his wife and was abusive to her and abusive to the children. These were nice people if they werent drinking! Youd talk to them, and they were nice people, good people; but when they got drunk, they got mean. They did despicable things, and they said despicable things. I saw what happened when they were under that influence in their lives. I made a decision then. I said, I want no part of that in my life when I grow up. I saw what it did. What being filled with the Spirit means is that you and I are putting ourselves under the control of the Spirit. It means to yield to the Spirit. When he says, Be filled with the Spirit, its not a matter of you trying harder and going, Ahhh, I have to be filled with the Spirit. What it is, in fact, is in whats called the passive voice. When you see something in the passive voice, it means the subject is being acted upon; so Paul is saying, You are being acted upon by the Spirit. You are the passive one here. The Spirit one is the active one here, and you must allow yourself or yield to the Holy Spirit. So I put myself in an environment where the Holy Spirit can fill me. That's what youve done this morning. Youre now in an environment where the Holy Spirit can fill you. I consume that which the Holy Spirit can use in my life to fill me. I consume spiritual things. I read His Word; I pray; I serve; I meditate; I fellowship with other believers. I consume that spiritual food. The Holy Spirit uses that to fill me. When I yield to the Spirit, the Spirit begins to work in and through me and change me, like that cucumber is changed by that vinegar, salt and spices. We become changed as were baptized in His spirit. It begins to change the way we talk; it begins to change our attitude; it begins to change our actions. I say to you, What does a spirit-filled life look like? If I said, What if everybody in this church was filled with the Spirit, what would that look like? For some of you when you hear spirit-filled life, maybe it conjures up images of a holy roller. Well, if we were all filled with the Spirit, wed be rolling in the aisles and stuff. Maybe its just something kind of spooky, mystical and kind of weird if were all filled with the Spirit, right? Hes going to tell us what life looks like when were filled with the Spirit. There are four participles in this passage we want to look at beginning with Verse 19. So, do not be drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit. Heres what its going to look like. Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. In other words, positive things are going to come out of your mouth-words of encouragement; words of truth; words of hope and life are going to come from your mouth to other people. When were filled with the Spirit, it says, we will sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord. Youll enter into praise and worship of God. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will change our attitudes. It will change the words that come from our mouths. It will change our attitude. In Verse 21, Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. We will be humble with our brothers and sisters. It will change our actions. When were under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it changes our words; it changes our actions; it changes our attitudes. When weve yielded to alcohol-too much of it-it changes to the negative, so yielding to the Spirit changes us in the positive. Now, what is the greatest commandment according to the Bible? It is to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbors as yourself. So, what is this passage saying? Two things. If were filled with the Spirit, its going to help us to love God; and its going to help us to love our neighbor, right? So a spirit-filled life isnt this weird, mystical thing. A spirit-filled life manifests itself in greater community, community with God, community with one another. The Spirit works in us and through us; it changes our tone, our heart, our mouth, our behavior. Now, being filled with the Spirit is having an awareness of the Spirit of God in your life. I want you to think of a good friend in your life, somebody that youre very close to-maybe its your spouse; maybe its a parent; maybe its your best friend-somebody that youre very close to in your life. Imagine if for whatever reason, they stopped talking to you. Now, they didnt talk bad about you. They didnt say mean things; they just stopped talking to you. So as youre in your car, theyre not talking. Youll speak, and they dont answer. Occasionally, theyll respond, but just occasionally. And they seldom, if ever, initiate anything. They never turn to you and start a conversation. They respond occasionally, never initiate, but they usually dont even respond. You write them letters, Im your friend. I love you. I appreciate you. Ive got something to offer you, but they dont read the letters. How would you feel if that relationship was a one-way relationship? Youd be very discouraged by that. You would think, Man, I have something to offer this person. I have friendship I can give this person. Let me ask you a question using that illustration. How many of you this week practiced the presence of God in your lives? How many of you initiated conversation with God? How many of you? Because the Holy Spirit is with us and in us all the time-even when we dont feel Him. The way we acknowledge His presence-the Bible says to pray continually. Paul doesnt mean walk around like this all the time. Paul says, Be in a continual conversation with the Lord. Talk to the Lord about your hopes; your dreams; your frustrations; your sadness; what youre frustrated and angry about; what youre confused about; what youre struggling with; your weaknesses. Who did Jesus say the Holy Spirit would be to us? Our comforter, very good. Comforter means a Paraclete or one called alongside to help. He says, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Who will come to us? He says, I will, in the person of the Holy Spirit who is God. He is in our lives, called alongside to help to comfort us. Are you taking advantage of what God has provided for you? Are you taking advantage of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you? Are you reading the letters that He has written to you? Are you responding to His Spirits promptings? Are you initiating conversation with Him? I want to encourage you this week to practice the presence of the Lord. Recognize you can pray to Him any hour of any day, but bring the Lord into your lives. Christianity is not just about a set-up, doctrines, a dogma or a creed-something that we recite and repeat back, and thats our Christianity. Christianity is about a relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ who loves you, who indwells you. He wants to have a relationship with you. When I put myself in an environment for the Holy Spirit to fill me, when I consume spiritual food that the Holy Spirit can use to fill me, when I acknowledge the presence of the Lord in my life and I pray with Him and dialogue with Him and have that awareness, when I yield to what He is doing in my life instead of fighting and resisting, I am filled with His Spirit. When I am filled with His Spirit, I will live out His greatest command: to love God and love my neighbor. I will grow in moral excellence; thats the promise of His Word. Amen? Now, next week were going to talk about the third part, which is knowledge-why knowledge is important, what knowledge means, and what some of the dangers of acquiring knowledge are. There are some dangers, and were going to get you so excited that youre going to say, I have to go out and do something. I have to go learn something! So thats going to be our virtue that we talk about next week.