Virtue

turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter 4 Philippians chapter 4: 7-9 we're going to continue our series on deposit these things we've been talking about the fact that in Philippians chapter 4 if you look at verse number seven down through verse number nine the Bible says and the peace of God which passes all understanding you keep your hearts and Minds through Christ Jesus finally Brethren whatsoever things are true what sort of things are honest what sort of things are just what sort of things are pure what sort of things are lovely what so things are a good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things those things which you have both learned and received

and heard and seen me do and the God of Peace shall be with you that last phrase of verse number eight to think on these things can literally be transited translated from the Greek language to deposit these things you know you can go down to any Bank in a y and you can open a bank account for free there's no charge but once you open that account you got to make deposits to pull money out if you want to if you want to take money out of that account you got to put money into that account in case you haven't figured that out yet and so salvation is like a free bank account you can go to be saved by trusting Jesus Christ as your personal savior you don't have to pay for it you don't have to earn

it you can have salvation as a gift of God but we also need to understand that if we want to draw upon the peace and the power of God then we've got to be depositing these things in our lives on a regular basis and the more you deposit the more you can draw on and the less you deposit the less you you can draw on as well and so we're a little over halfway through that verse and you'll notice the change has happened up until this point it says whatsoever things are true what sort of things are honest what sort of things are just what sort of things are pure what sort of things are good lovely what sort of things are good report if there be any virtue and so we look at this word Virtue and I

want to explain first of all what the word virtue means it means Excellence to fulfill its purpose excellence and it fulfills its purpose if I were take these pins right here um I don't write my sermons out in in ink anymore I do it on the computer but what it used to be I'd write them with ink and I had these four color ink pins because I would uh do my sermon in four colors to make it easier for me to follow my notes and so black was the outline blue was any explanation red was illustrations and green was any scriptures that I was going to quote and so I would have these four color pins the problem is though is I'd run out of ink at sometime and so I've got these pins in my desk drawer

right now and I've got one here that has no ink you can scrab scribble and Scrabble all you want with it and and it just isn't going to do anything because it's out of ink it has no virtue because it's not fulfilling its purpose now I've got another one that's got plenty of ink and when I draw with this one it works just fine and this has got virtue because it's fulfilling its purpose and so when you think of that word Virtue that's one of the ways you can think about it it's uh it's fulfilling the purpose that we have and you and I we were created for a purpose in Isaiah 43 and verse number 7 it says even everyone that is called by my name for I cre for I have created him for my glory I

have formed him yay I have made him and so we were created for God's glory and I wonder are you fulfilling the purpose that God created you for and then also in Ephesians chapter 1 turn over to there if you would Ephesians chapter 1 and verse number six Ephesians chapter 1 and verse number six the Bible says to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he has made us accepted in the Beloved skip down to verse number 12-4 that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom also whom also you trusted after that you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit promise which is the

earnest of our inheritance until the Redemption of the pur possession unto the praise of his glory so not only were you and I created for God's glory but we were also saved for God's glory when you trust to Jesus Christ as your savior God saved you for his glory and so if you're going to have virtue you're fulfilling that purpose of God in your life you're created for his glory and you're saved for his glory now back in Philippians chapter 4 it says if there be any virtue instead of whatsoever the idea of the word whatsoever are the things we deposit you deposit truth and honest and pure and lovely all those things that are things that you put into your spiritual account so you could draw

upon the peace and the power of God but then it changes the word if for those last two phrases and the idea if is is the type of account for example many of you have a checking account and you use that account to pay your daily bills whether you do it by a written check or whether you do it online but you usually use that checking account to pay off your daily bills and then maybe some of you others have a also have a savings account and you put money in there to save up to buy uh maybe some furniture or to buy a new computer or to buy a car or whatever else it might be and you've got the savings account that you're saving money in and you don't spend it on a regular basis and then perhaps

you've got a retirement account and you're saving up money for the future when you get old and you can't work anymore you want to be able to retire and have enough money to live on to live off the interest of that account or or perhaps some I know some people will set up a a a Christmas account at the beginning of the year and instead of waiting till December to spend all their money for Christmas they they save up a little bit every month and so when they finally get to that down to that point of November December they've got money in the bank saved up for Christmas and so there's all kinds of different accounts you can set up most of us have more than one account now the question is is

that account fulfilling its purpose so for example let's say I were to have an account that's a retirement account and I'm 68 years old and I have 100 $1 in that retirement account does it have virtue is it fulfilling its purpose no I could not live on the interest on $100 I couldn't even live on $100 it would not be fulfilling his purpose that to be a retirement account now if I had a million dollars in that retirement account would it have virtue yes because then I could live off the interest I could leave that money the bank and I could earn 10% interest and live off of that every year and live off $100,000 I I could do that so you see when you say when we say does it have if if there be

any virtue it's the idea is does this fulfill his purpose and in this case the purpose is to be an account that we put our our deposits into as well all right so we're going to go into the outline talk about this word Virtue and and kind of try to explain it some more what I'm going to do is because of my voice Pastor iner is going to read the scriptures when we come to those he's got a microphone there he's going to just go ahead and read them out loud so if you hear a different voice that's who it is but uh number one is is value the idea of the word Virtue is something with virtue has value and you and I we have value to God we have value to God Romans chapter 5 and verse number eight see

there was nothing in you and I of value but God chose to place on us the value of his son Jesus Christ while we're yet sinners Christ died for us and so we have value to God now the question is why would God value US why would God value US in Psalms chapter 8 veres 5 and 6 so why should God value man why should he value you why should he value me why would he send his son to die for man who is made lower than even the angels uh Isaiah 64 and verse number 6 so we we are our value is only in Christ you see if I have a $100 bill up here uh that $100 bill without the government giving it value is just a rag it has no value in and of itself the only value a $100 bill is is it has value because

the US government said this is worth $100 and so you wouldn't take a $100 bill and go down scrub your fls with it you wouldn't take a $100 bill and and clean your hands with it you see because it has value but the value is not in the $100 bill that's just a piece of paper it's just some rag paper it's all it is and it has no value in itself but the value comes because the government has given it value and you and I have value because God through Jesus Christ has given us value because Jesus died for us our righteousness has no value the Titus Chapter 3 and verse number five in the previous verse it talked about our righteousness there's filthy rags even the best that we have to offer has no

value it's just a bunch of Rags but you and I our righteousness has no value to God we have nothing to offer it's not our religion it's not our rituals like baptism or catechism or church membership it's not our own righteousness that's going to get us into heaven because our righteousness has no value it is only the righteousness of Jesus Christ that can save us and uh and and he he is the one that gave us his righteousness in second Corinthians chter 5: 21 that he made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him he is the one that gives us value so you see being saved provides all of the value all of the the profits so to speak is comes

from being saved Mark 8: 36 and 37 so it's the value comes in in that the profit is in our soul see if if I were to stand up today and convince you that you could get be saved and go to heaven if you'd give me $100 uh you wouldn't hesitate on that would you it be worth it to give $100 to know that you're going to heaven it'd be worth it to give a $100 to know that your sins are forgiven to know that you have peace with God uh you would do that in a heartbeat but you don't have to give $100 because God has already given his son Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1: 18- 19 for as much as we know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by

tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot so you cannot buy your salvation you cannot earn your salvation there's no value in your own righteousness it's only the only value we have the profit comes from being saved and to be saved we got to believe on Jesus Christ 1 Peter 1:21 who by him do believe in God that raised him up from from the dead and gave him glory that your Faith and Hope might be in God so I wonder today have you believed in Jesus Christ as your personal savior have you found the value of God in your life because God says you know you're not wor you and I we're not worth anything we're just Sinners but God

says I love you and and I want to give you salvation and he is the one that gives us value and it's only by him that we can have value the $100 bill without the government's endorsement is is just a rag and you and I are just filthy rags without Jesus Christ as our savior but you need to call upon him you need to believe in him you need to ask him to be your savior today now I wonder as a Christian though are you profitable you see our Prophet comes through salvation but as a Christian are you profitable in Titus 3:5 it says not by works of righteousness which we had done but according to his Mercy he has saved us but then listen to what it says in Titus 3:8 this is a faithful saying and

these things I I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men so if we're going to have virtue then we've got to have value we got to have profit we got to we got to do the good works of God uh being good profits you being good profits you in James chapter 2 if you'll turn over there with me please James chapter 2 and verse number 14 James chapter 2 and verse number 14 what do the prophet my brethren though a man say he had faith and have not works can facei save him now what it sounds like it's saying if you're you got to have Works to be saved but it's not saying that go down to

verse number 18 yeah a man may say I have thou Hast faith and I have Works show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works and then go down a little further here to verses 23- 26 and the scripture was fulfilled which sayith Abraham believed God and was imputed unto him for righteousness he was called the friend of God this is when Abraham got saved because he believed if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for God so loved the world that gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and so Abraham believed God that was his salvation but then go on to verse number 24 you see then how that her work by works

a man is Justified not by faith alone only likewise also who what was not Rahab the Harlot justified by works when she rece she had received the new U The Messengers and had sent them out in another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also now let me see let's take that last verse and see if we can understand what's being saved here we're not saved by our good works but if you've established an account you can't draw upon that account the power and the peace of God without depositing good works in verse number 26 let me read it this way just a little bit differently here if I could in verse number 26 for as account without money is insufficient so

faith without works is dead also see you can have faith in God and that gives you salvation but you also need to have the The Works of God As a Christian and that's what builds those deposits up and you and I need to be depositing those good works not for our salvation but into our account so we could draw upon that peace and the power of God go over to Matthew chapter 22 Matthew chapter 22 and look at verses 37-39 Matthew chapter 22 and beginning with verse number 37 down through verse number 39 answerer do you have that go ahead Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment and the

second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself some of you remember that we preached this a little while back about you and I we're just a bunch of zeros we're we're just a bunch of nothing uh Zero by itself has no value it's just a placeholder and you and I we're just a bunch of zeros the only time a zero has value is when it puts the one in the right place if you put a one in front of the zero that gives it a value of 10 if you put the one behind the zero it gives it a value of zero if you put one and two zeros in front that gives a value 100 if you put the one behind the two zeros that's still a value of zero and one it just doesn't change that value and you and I our

value is found by putting God first in our lives and other second you know when I'm writing out a check if I put a one with a zero behind it that's $10 if I put a one with two zeros behind it that's $100 you see whenever I put God first and other second and put myself as a zero last then I am giving more value to myself because I'm putting God first and others second and you and I need to learn how to Value the value is not in ourselves we have no value we're just a bunch of zeros the value is in putting God first in your life that's where the value comes from and it's the value not only to God but we have value to others as well 2 Timothy chter 4 verse number one only Luke is with me take

Mark and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry here's here's Mark that is profitable to me for the ministry now you understand the when Paul took Mark the first time he quit they took him as kind of their their helper uh he went along as a young man just to kind of be there go for go for this and go for that and do whatever need to be done and he got homesick and he got tired of being told what to do and he quit went back home and when they got ready to go out in their second missionary journey he and Barnabas uh Mark was barnab his nephew and Barnabas says I want to take Mark with us again pet and Paul said no I don't take quitters and uh they had a big argument to

the point that they both went their separate ways but now Paul is saying bring Mark for he is powerful for me for the ministry and you and I need to realize that we can be profitable to God for his ministry and and to serve him see Wonder question I want to ask is this do you bring profit or value to the church in Matthew chapter 18 and verse number 20 m Matthew 18:20 for where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them okay where two or three are gathered together the value of this church service folks and I've said this before is not in me as the preacher I have a responsibility to prepare the message I have a responsibility to to get it across in a way

that's understandable and interesting and helpful and as a pastor I lead this church but ultimately the value in this church service is a sum value of each one that attends the service because the Holy Spirit lives within us and we have the spirit of God and when we're filled with the spirit we bring value to church and when we're not filled with Spirit we take away from the value of the church you and I are the value of the church you remember the two jars we had and both were full of coins but one was worth something like hundred and something dollars and the other one was only worth about $60 and the big difference was one had a lot of pennies in it and the other one had a lot of silver

coins in it and you need to look at what kind of value do you bring into the church service what profit are you to others James chapter 2: 15-1 17 if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto them depart in peace be warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what do it profit even so faith if it had not works is dead being alone every Sunday there's a lot of work that goes into putting this together we got nursery workers and Sunday school teachers and ushers and pastors and all all the work that comes together but folks it is important that you also bring something to church you got to bring that value

to others to look around you and see people that are struggling people that are in need visitors that are new and looking for church people that are struggling with things at work or things at home and and we need to bring that value into that service to be profitable every time we come to church so how can you be more profitable the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16 all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for reprove for correction for instruction in righteousness the more I read my Bible the more profitable I'm going to be more virtue I'm going to have uh 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse number8 for bodily exercise profited little but godliness is profitable unto

all things having promis of the life that now is is and of that which is to come so exercising our spiritual body to exercise the things that we're learning and putting to practice during the week and then also Proverbs 14: 23 in all labor there is profit but the talk of the lips tended only to peny Ecclesiastes 1:3 what prophet had a man of all his labor which he take it under the sun and then Malachi 3:14 ye have said it is vain to serve God and what prophit is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked more mournfully before the Lord of hosts see when you serve the Lord that's profitable when you come to church and you're involved in a Ministry whether it is the nursery

Ministry or whether it's the Teaching Ministry or whether it's the sound and Technical Services or or whatever else it might be when you're involved in the ministry of the church when you're serving the lord that's virtue that you're depositing to your account that's value that you're bringing to your account the word Virtue also means the idea of power in Luke chapter 6 and verse 19 and the whole multitude sought to touch him for there for there went virtue out of him and he healed them all remember when Jesus was in the crowd and a woman came up and touched the ham of his skirt and power went out of him the idea of the word Virtue there that virtue that left him is the is the word Doos

it's the power of God and and the power of the holy spirit in second Peter chapter 1 verse number three according as his divine power had given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that had called us to glory and virtue here's the amazing thing when you and I get saved we're studying on Wednesday night about the Holy Spirit and and when we get saved God gives us his holy spirit God gives us the very power of God we have within us through the Holy Spirit we have the the complete power of God dwelling with inside of us now what we've got to do is we've got to draw upon that power I I do business with Central Pacific Bank just on the road here and

Central Pacific Bank has 7.64 billion dollars in assets $77.64 billion of Assets Now not all that's in my checking account I don't know if you you thought understood that or not but you know what I want as much to that assets they've got plenty of assets I want as much as I get into my account and you and I we have the awesome power of God in the Holy Spirit within us that we have access to but we've got to draw upon that we've got to to deposit our account so we could draw upon that power of God Ephesians chapter 5 and: 18 and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the with the spirit all right during this series I've given away a lot of money I'm out of money so what

I'm going to do is I'm going to give away my ATM card anybody want to have my ATM card here all right uh now I'm going to give away the ATM card who wants it who wants the ATM card got all kinds of volunteers here all right Alex you want my ATM card there you go he's got my ATM card all right but is that going to do him any good it's not for two reasons one is there ain't no money in there you see the power of the ATM card is dependent upon how much is in that account if there's only $100 in that account that ATM card ain't going to do very much if there's a thousand is going to do more if there's 10,000 do a whole lot more than that so the power of that ATM card there's no power in that

card the power comes by what's deposited and then secondly in order to get to that ATM card he's got to have my PIN number you want my PIN number you ain't getting it John Chapter 14 verse number 26 but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you how many of you are like me and you have trouble remembering all the different pen numbers and and all the passwords you have how many forget those sometimes you know isn't that frustrating and uh to forget it but God gave us the Holy Spirit to bring to our remembrance uh the power of God to bring to our remembrance

the scriptures of God to bring to us the things that we need he's right there to bring that to us when we forget what it is you know that woman reached up and touched the him of Jesus garment power came out of him I wonder how many lives do you touch how many lives have you touched this week Mark 5:30 and Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him turned him about in the press and said who touched my clothes who is that touched me see he realized that power had gone out of and I wonder who is it that you have touched this week whose life is the the you you taking the power of God and touched their lives and made a difference in them in Acts chapter 9 there was a

woman named Tabitha and she had died and all these women were saying look at look at the things she made for us look what she did for us and I wonder whose life have you touched every week you ought to make it your goal to touch somebody with virtue to touch somebody with the power of God to make a difference in somebody's life then one other thing about that word deposit virtue is we live in a world of virtual reality Ephesians 4: 17- 18 this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind having the understanding darken being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness

of their heart you know a lot of us we're living in this virtual world of the vanity of our mind and and we need to get out of that virtual real world and we need need to live in the world that God has given us you know some of you uh struggle because of the reality of the world that you live in maybe you're living in a in a world where there's sickness or problems or whatever else it might be we live in a country today that is a split country and a lot is going on but this is the world we live in and yes you can escape into Virtual Reality by playing video games and watching TV programs and all the rest of it but we need to learn as Christians how to live in the real world where God has put

us and make a difference God didn't take us home to heaven not because he wasn't ready for us he didn't take us home to Heaven because he wanted to leave us here to be the salt and the and the influence on the world the salt and the light of the world and we need to be making an influence in this world world see the problem is so many times we're we're struggling with the reality that God has given us or we're struggling with the reality that I've made for myself many times it's not what God did to me it's what I did to myself isn't that true I've created my own reality because of the mistakes I've made and the things that I've done and we've got to learn how to live in that real world and

not in a virtual world go to Romans chap 1: 20-32 we'll close with these obviously my voice is saying it's time to close Romans Chap 1: 28-32 and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness Mal maliciousness full of Envy murder debate deceit malignity Whisperers backbiters haters of God despiteful proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to Parents Without understanding Covenant Breakers without natural affection implic unmerciful who knowing the Judgment of God that they which commit s such things are worthy of

death not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them they did did not like to retain God under knowledge you look around the world today and you say what's going on why is the world such a mess because we live in a world that's rejecting God and the more they reject God the worse it's going to get and the only influence we can have in this world is is through the Holy Spirit within us and we need to make an influence we need to make a difference in the reality of this world Bible says if there be any virtue it's not something you deposit it's an account you set up I got this account that says virtue and that account really starts by realizing that God values me that I can't save

myself because my righteousness are filthy rags but God sent his son he valued me so much he sent his son to die for me and I need to trust him as my savior but as a Christian am I profitable to God am I profitable to God am I do I have value in serving the lord do I have value to others as well that's zero only has value when you put the one in the right place when you put the one God in the right place in your life that's what gives you value when you put God first others second and yourself last so how can you be more profitable get into the word of God take time to exercise what you're learning put into practice in your life serve the Lord and then you'll begin to see the power of God

working in and through your life the power of God that changed people the power of God that changed you and your circumstances folks I'm not saying that it's wrong ever to play video games or watch a TV program but too many of us are more interested in living in the virtual real world than we are living in the real world that God has given us and we need to change that