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When a person receives the Holy Spirit and is baptized in Jesus' name, there should be a dramatic, noticeable change in their attitude and lifestyle. You do not have to be perfect or have everything together to receive the Holy Ghost; you simply must be willing to sincerely ask for forgiveness and submit yourself to God's Spirit and will. Unfortunately, for some that submission is a temporary one and I have seen people truly repent during a service and yield to the Spirit of God and receive the Holy Ghost and yet return to their sinful ways. Their submission to God's will and Spirit was a brief, one-time, experience and they did not allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in them that it desired to do.

But let's discuss a little further what exactly happens when a person receives this Gift of the Holy Ghost. At the moment a person receives the Holy Spirit, they are totally committed and submitted to God. A sign of this submission is that God takes the only part of the body that man cannot tame, the tongue, and assumes control of it causing it to speak in a language that the person has never learned before. Speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance always accompanies receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The tongues are not the Holy Ghost but a sign that the person has completely submitted themselves to God at that time. God uses speaking in tongues in other ways AFTER a person has received the Holy Ghost. God uses speaking in tongues 5 different ways:

1. When a person receives the Holy Spirit for the first time as a sign to them that they have totally submitted themselves to God. (Acts 2:1-4, 37-39; 8:16-18; 10:44-46; 11:16-17; 19:6 Mark 16:16-17 Isaiah 28:11)

2. When a backslidden person who has willfully chosen to walk away from God returns to God and resubmits their life to God. It is a sign that usually accompanies their resubmitting to God. (Titus 3:5 Revelations 2:5)

3. In prayer to build up our faith. (Jude 20)

4. Intercessory prayer in the Spirit. (Romans 8:26)

5. One of the giftS of the Spirit (#8 to be exact) used in a group of believers (I Corinthians 12:10) We will discuss this gift in the next lesson.

But let's get beyond the speaking in other tongues. What else happens at that moment when a person has completely submitted their life to God and received His Spirit? One thing that happens is that the human spirit of man is restored to a close relationship with God. That is why someone who receives the Holy Ghost feels so "close to God." The relationship that man lost in garden of Eden with Adam's sin, is restored! Because of this, restored relationship, a person can begin to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

In these lessons, I would like to point out two other things that happen when a person receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost that we tend not to mention as much but should. First, there are spiritual seeds sown that God wants to grow into the 9 Fruit of the Spirit. The seeds of the fruit of the Spirit are placed within you. Second, there are 9 spiritual gifts given to you. Both happen at the moment that a person receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit. In this lesson we will focus on the fruit of the Spirit, and in the next we will study the spiritual gifts.

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When a person receives the Holy Spirit, there are seeds sown in that person of fruit that God wants to see in that person. Jesus taught comparing the various kinds of ground to human hearts in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-8). When a seed was sown upon "good ground" it produced much fruit. We can summarize the parable of the sower by saying that "when a seed is planted in the ground, IF the right environment is present, then the seed will germinate and grow into a fruit-bearing plant." What is true for natural fruit also applies with the fruit of the Spirit. Just because someone receives the Holy Ghost does not necessarily mean that they will allow the Spirit of God to continue to work. So how do we know if we are being submissive to God's Spirit and allowing it to work as it desires? Because after a while, there should be some fruit visible in our behavior! If these fruit are not visible in your life, then perhaps you should see if you are ignoring or "quenching" what the Holy Ghost is trying to tell you. As a pastor, I can tell after someone has received the Holy Spirit whether or not they have made up in their mind to submit to God's Word and will for their life. How? Because I begin to notice the Fruit of the Spirit. We also often hear about "being righteous" or being "the righteous." "Righteousness" is sort of hard to define and apply. How can you tell if you are "righteous?" In Philippians 1:11, the fruit of the Spirit are referred to as "fruits of righteousness." This gives us a measuring stick judge whether or not we are becoming "righteous." We can do so by seeing if we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit.

The nine fruit of the Spirit are thus:

1. Love

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Longsuffering

5. Gentleness

6. Goodness

7. Faith

8. Meekness

9. Temperance

Love - Love is very important as is evidenced by being first on the list. The old song says that the Holy Ghost makes "you love everybody." Jesus taught us to love our enemies:

In other words, everybody loves people who love them, but the Holy Ghost wants to teach Christians to love even their enemies with a genuine love! Loving your enemies is definitely NOT a fruit of the flesh, but when you see someone show genuine concern and kindness to their enemies, you can know that the Holy Spirit is at work in their life!

We will be known as Jesus' disciples by our love one for another. That is because true love shows better than anything else the work of the Holy Spirit. Nothing convinces people that we are genuine than feeling that we truly love one another! The Apostle Paul understood the importance of true love:

I believe that God knew what He was doing when He allowed Alexander the Great to conquer the world and teach them the Greek language right before the New Testament was to be written. The language of Greek is much more specific than other languages including English. There are two different words for love in the Greek language with different meanings:

1. phileoo - means a love of impulse; to love from emotions and feelings. It is a shallower love that based upon the right conditions being met and by judging what a person feels at the time. Phileoo love is likely to change just as fast as it started. When people "fall in love" we mean that they have phileoo love. Because of an impulse or a feeling they have chosen to love and give. It is a self-pleasing love which does so because it brings benefit to self. In scripture, we are NEVER commanded to love God with phileoo love.

2. agape- is a much deeper love. It is the love of commitment a deep and constant love despite the circumstances. It is used when the scriptures talk about God's love for man. (For example John 3:16 uses agape) It means a love that loves despite any unworthiness of the person being loved. It is a forgiving love that looks past faults and stays committed, constant, and faithful.

In the book of John we have the familiar story of Jesus three times asking Peter if he loved Him and Peter answering all three times "Lord, you know I love you:"

Most people miss the point of this story because they read it in English. Let's break down the three requests of Jesus and Peter's answer and substitute the Greek word used for love:

1. "agape thou me?" "I phileoo thee"

2. "agape thou me?" "I phileoo thee"

3. "phileoo thou me? "I phileoo thee"

Verse 17 says that "Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest (phileoo) thou me?" The first two times, Peter was not getting the point, but when Jesus changed words at the third request, Peter began to understand. Peter had become despondent because after Jesus had risen from the dead He was not with the disciples every minute but just appearing from time to time. Peter was so disillusioned that he had returned to his old lifestyle of fishing. It was in this scenario that Jesus appeared to the disciples and began asking Peter these questions. Jesus knew that Peter loved Him with a phileoo love: one based upon feelings and emotions. A love that was impulsive and that was determined by whatever the situation at the time. That's the kind of love that is likely to change in a moment, which is exactly what happened in Peter's case, his love and devotion to God had quickly disappeared because things were not happening like he thought that they should. Jesus asked Peter "do you agape me?" Jesus wanted Peter to love Him with a love that was committed and not based upon present feelings. He was asking Peter if he was going to love God with a constant love despite the circumstances or life!

The word for love that is listed as a fruit of the Spirit is "agape love." The Holy Ghost wants to promote a love in us that is deeper than emotion but is one that will last no matter what may come our way! If you love God with "phileoo love," then you will be easily distracted or disillusioned, but God will keep and respond to someone who loves Him with an "agape love!"

Joy - Joy in the Greek here means "cheerfulness" or "calm delight." This does not mean that everything in your life becomes perfect, but rather that the Holy Ghost wants us to be cheerful and happy even in an imperfect situation! Spirit-filled Christians should be the happiest people alive!

If you have trouble being joyful, then you need to spend more time in His presence and power!

When Paul and Barnabas were kicked out of a city and rejected for preaching Jesus Christ and persecuted, the scripture makes a remarkable statement:

The Holy Ghost will give you a joy that this world does not understand! It is a joy that can last even in the worst situations! We need a return of the Holy Ghost joy!

Peace - Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) so it is only natural that His Spirit would try to bring peace into our lives. The word in the Greek here means "harmony between persons" and "security and safety and the prosperity that comes from those things." Our homes should not be centers of warfare! But we should strive to allow the Holy Ghost to bring peace into our homes and relationships. The Holy Ghost brings this peace by trying to change the areas of our life that bring strife. Strife is a work of the flesh (Galations 5:20), but peace comes from the Holy Ghost. When you cause contention or debate or strife, you are not being used of the Holy Spirit but by your flesh!

Longsuffering - Another word for longsuffering is "patience." When you were in the world, you were not very patient with people. If a person drove too slow in front of you, you tail-gated and honked your horn. When someone did not react like you thought that they should, then you "let them have it." A Spirit-filled Christian should be different! We must learn to be patient with our friends, with our spouse, and with our children. In teaching piano lessons, I have learned that you cannot teach someone new skills without being very patient. Many people who play the piano skillfully do not teach piano lessons because they forget what it was like to learn. We are to "go ye into all the world and teach" as Jesus' disciples. Before you criticize someone or "let them have it," ask yourself these two things: 1. Have I tried to teach them and show them how or am I just criticizing what I, myself, have a problem with? 2. Have I been patient in trying to teach them and allowed them to make some mistakes and gently corrected them or have I brashly put them on the defensive." Remember that Jesus loved Peter and helped Peter even though Peter was a slow learner and made many mistakes! All great leaders are a result of someone's patience! Likewise all new converts are a result of someone patiently teaching them!

Gentleness - The word in the Greek here actually means "integrity" or "moral excellence." It means doing the right thing to people even when they deserve worse. It means being in a situation where you can exact revenge and yet showing kindness. A perfect example of "gentleness" is the story of Joseph, who had become the second-in-command of Egypt after being sold into slavery by his brothers, blessing them instead of punishing them. Joseph certainly had the power to have his brothers put into slavery, but instead he forgave them and gave the land of Goshen which was the most fertile land in Egypt left behind from when the river Nile overflowed it's banks every year! Because of Joseph's gentleness, his brothers probably died in right standing with God! Showing gentleness is how to win your family and enemies!

Goodness - This a general word which has the idea of being upright and good in nature. A good synonym would be "of honest report." Before you came to God, you may have had attitudes and issues and possibly even areas of deceit which caused you to emanate a feeling of "deceitfulness" or to cause people to naturally distrust you. The Holy Spirit wants goodness to emanate from you now. When people meet you and talk to you, they should feel a sense of trust and wholeness from you. They should walk away from you with the impression that you are a "good person."

Faith - This literally means "to be completely convinced and reliant on God and His Word." It carries with it the idea of persuasion. In other words, the Holy Ghost wants you to be fully persuaded and convinced of God's Word and His love for you! When a person allows this fruit to grow in their life, then they will begin to strive to live according to the guidelines in God's Word. A person who can easily ignore a scriptural teaching in their life is void of faith.

Meekness - This means humbleness. It is a realization that without God you are nothing. It is the realization that even with God, it is the power of God and His Spirit that causes you to amount to anything. It is the opposite of pride. It means to live your life trying to lift up Jesus an others rather than yourself. Some people think "meekness" is putting down on themselves. That's not meekness, that is "beating yourself up." Moses was the meekest man that ever lived and yet did not continually put himself down. Moses was willing to live his life for the sake of others, even volunteering to take the people's place in judgment once. True humbleness is looking beyond yourself and focusing on helping others to the point of self-sacrifice. Jesus said that the meek would inherit the blessing of God:

Temperance - In the Greek this means "self control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites)." A good sign of someone who is submitting to the Holy Spirit is that they will bring into subjection fleshly desires that are not like God. Even though the flesh does not like to pray, they will make it pray and fast. They will feel and respond to the gentle guidance of the Holy Ghost when they are allowing something to hinder their relationship with God. The opposite of temperance is doing whatever you feel like doing whether or not it glorifies God or not. There have been times in my life when I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Ghost convicting me because I was reading what I wanted to read and neglecting the Bible. There was a time in my life that God began dealing with me about reading the newspaper every morning before I had prayed and read scripture. There was a time when God began to deal with me about my hobbies that were causing me to neglect quality time with my wife. There was a time when God began to deal with me about the media that I allowed in my home and in my life that violated all of God's laws.

Had I just ignored the Holy Spirit and went on living my life like I wanted to, then I would have quenched the spirit and not developed temperance. Instead I changed my morning routine so that prayer and bible study was first. I cancelled my newspaper subscription and to this day do not subscribe. Not that there is anything wrong with reading a newspaper, but I had allowed it to rob me of my relationship with God. I began to plan to spend quality time with my wife each week and gave that priority over every other activity. My wife and I cancelled some of our magazine subscriptions and threw away the magazines that portrayed and glorified worldly lifestyles. I'm not talking about "Playboy" but magazines like "GQ," "Vogue," and even "Mother Earth News" (which as I read it, I realized that it had a pagan, nature-worship kind of agenda). We made sure that the magazines that we do read were wholesome and pure. I changed authors and threw away books which used God's name in vain and portrayed sex and immorality. I made sure that I read just as much or more scripture as I did fiction. My wife and I decided that the temptation of watching movies that were unGodly was too great so we removed the VCRs from our house. By taking a stand then, we were able to better control future issues. Our internet access is extremely filtered and guarded. We do not allow any music in our home that promotes sex or illicit lifestyles.

I'm not trying to give you a "holier- than-thou" attitude but just to tell you that I am serious about living for God! Nothing in my life means more to me than my relationship with God and my family. A byproduct of all of this is that we had much more free time. I am often asked how I manage to find time to study and accomplish all that I do. My wife and I have more time for each other and for prayer and study because we have eliminated the greatest time wasters in our life! Me being able to win somebody to God and teach Bible Studies and having a good marriage is much more important than reading the latest novel or seeing my favorite show! God has nothing against having fun, but we should develop temperance and priorities in our life. Ask yourself this question: do I spend more time in front of the television than I do in study, church or prayer a week? How does God feel about that? Do I regularly spend more time reading novels than I do God's Word or a spiritual book? How does God feel about that? Are there days that go by without me really having a chance to pray like I should? Did I take time to watch the news or my favorite show or movie that day? How does God feel about that?

This separation and temperance is exactly what Paul began to speak about in the last verses of our text:

If we are to be Christ's then we must "crucify" the things that the flesh likes and it's lusts. "Crucifying" was the worst death that man ever invented. Only those criminals who were despised the worst were submitted to crucifixion. It was a violent and painful death. It is no accident that Paul used the term "crucified" here. It is a painful death to crucify the lusts of your flesh. It takes giving up some pleasure so that your fleshly desires can be brought into subjection to God's Word and Will. It's not easy, but there never was a crucifixion that was easy. We need to pray until we can view the flesh's lusts like God views them: with disgust and despite. Only by developing a "perfect hatred" toward sinful things will we have the ability to "crucify" our fleshly desires.

Phillips translates this scripture as:

If we say we are going to submit to God's Spirit, then we must be guided by it even in our everyday actions. We must allow the Spirit to work because it wants to bring forth spiritual fruit!

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The importance of the Fruit of the Spirit is made manifest in Jesus' words in our other text:

"Abide" means "to remain constant;" "to endure and stay." The only way that we are going to bear the fruit of the Spirit is to remain with Jesus Christ; to continue to allow His Spirit to work in our lives! If we ever stop allowing the voice of God to speak to us and deal with us, then we will not be able to bear fruit. Jesus said that the fate of those limbs that do not stay with the vine is that they wither away and become dead wood which are cast into the fire and burned. If we ever reach a place where we do not listen to the voice of God's Spirit, we will lose our spiritual life and end up losing out with God completely! We must be strive to be fruitful and allow the Spirit of God to work to bring about the Fruit of the Spirit in our life!