INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• What are you hoping to receive for Christmas? The time is almost at hand.
• Remember the movie, “A Christmas Story”? Ralphie always wanted his Red Ryder BB gun.
• SLIDE #2
• Ralphie got what he had always wanted.
• There are so many neat THINGS we can ask for and receive for Christmas.
• When we open our gifts, we are thankful for receiving our gifts.
• Have you ever opened a gift and did not know what it was, what it was for, or how to use it?
• When you opened the gift you were maybe more perplexed than thankful at the moment. You are trying to figure out the gift.
• Then as you started to understand what the gift could do, you became enamored with it and each time you used the gift you were very thankful to have it.
• The thankful blessing we are going to explore together today may be a bit like that gift that we received that we did not understand.
• We have heard of the Holy Spirit, we hear people in church talk about the Holy Spirit, we read about some things the Holy Spirit has done in the Bible, but do we have a real grasp on why we ought to be thankful for the Holy Spirit?
• We are going to look at three reasons we can thank God for the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life.
• We will not do a comprehensive study on the Holy Spirit, but my prayer is that our initial exploration into the blessing of the Holy Spirit will lead us to want to know more about this thankful blessing we possess in Christ!
• Let begin examining the first reason we can be thankful for the Holy Spirit.
• SLIDE#3
SERMON
We can be thankful for the Holy Spirit because…
I. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God.
• I do not if you are like me, but I am so thankful for any gifts I receive from people. To receive a gift is an honor because when someone gives you a gift, they do so because they care for you.
• The one who gives you a gift has taken the time, effort and have spent their hard earned money on you.
• If you remember from the Christmas Story movie how excited Ralphie was getting Red Ryder AR-15.
• We usually give gifts to those we love and care about; we usually try to give gifts that the one receiving them both wants and needs.
• Hey, you need those socks someone gave you.
• God has given us a gift, I mean is it not enough He gave us His Son, is it not enough that He gave us eternal life if we will accept the gift of His Son? God gave us more!
• SLIDE #4
• Acts 2:38 (ESV) And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• When the people asked Peter about what they needed to be saved, he told them to repent and be baptized, then Peter tells them the extra benefits of doing so; they would receive salvation, forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit!
• What Peter is speaking of here is the gift of the Spirit Himself, not A gift from the Holy Spirit.
• We receive this gift, the indwelling of the Spirit when we are immersed into Christ according to this passage. The GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT was usually given by the laying on of hands by the apostles.
• Galatians 3:2 reminds us as to how we received the gift of the Holy Spirit!
• SLIDE #5
• Galatians 3:2 (ESV) Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
• Paul reminds the Galatian church that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit by doing what God told them to do as far as what to do to be saved is concerned.
• Ephesians 1:13 says close to the same thing.
• The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a gift that God gives us on top of all the other blessing we receive from Him!
• Paul reminds the Corinthian church of this fact.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
• WE have this great gift from God. Gifts are a blessing because we do not have to purchase them, the ones who care for us pay the price for the gifts we receive from them.
• We are reminded once again that this gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit comes from God! When Paul was encouraging the people to flee from immorality and pursue righteousness he states.
• SLIDE #7
• 1 Thessalonians 4:8 (ESV) Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
• Now why is this gift so wonderful? Let’s look at Ephesians 1:13-14 to unlock another reason we can be thankful for the Holy Spirit.
• SLIDE #8
• Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV) 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
• SLIDE #9
We can be thankful for the Holy Spirit because…
II. The Holy Spirit is the pledge from God that we are His.
• This is reason alone to celebrate. When we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our life, the Spirit acts as God’s pledge to us that we are His therefore, a recipient of the full inheritance we will receive when Jesus comes back!
• The word translated GUARANTEE is a Semitic commercial term (cf. Gen. 38:17) designating a partial payment (deposit" or "pledge") which binds both seller and purchaser.
• This money is given in advance as a pledge of security that the full amount promised will be paid.
• For the Christian the Holy Spirit is the assurance from God that He will bestow all the promised blessing upon us!
• God will KNOW we are His when we have the Spirit within us.
• SLIDE #10
• Romans 8:16–17 (ESV) 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
• Think about how exciting it would be to be an heir to the Bill Gates fortune or the Steve Jobs fortune. There is a lot of money to be had if you had a major claim to those fortunes.
• Now, multiply that by eternity and you still cannot fathom the inheritance that awaits those who are in Christ!
• WE get this gift not by our own merit but rather by virtue of belonging to God’s family!
• SLIDE #11
• Romans 8:9–10 (ESV) 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
• I do not about you, but this amazes me to know that God’s Spirit is dwelling in me. That is an awe inspiring thought.
• This passage flat out tells us that IF we do not have the Spirit of Christ (Holy Spirit) in us, we do not belong to Him.
• The Spirit within us marks us as belonging to God!
• Is there another purpose for the Holy Spirit living in us? Is there another function and blessing we can enjoy?
• Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 to introduce our final thought.
• SLIDE #12
• 1 Corinthians 2:12–14 (ESV) 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
• SLIDE #13
We can be thankful for the Holy Spirit because…
III. The Holy Spirit can lead us throughout life.
• In the context of this verse Paul is speaking of how he and the other apostles were able to impart the Word of God to others. His answer was that the Spirit of God revealed it to them.
• We are able to know the mind of God through the Spirit of God who is working within us.
• Paul said they were not sharing the thoughts and mind of man, but rather the Words taught by the Spirit.
• Paul and the apostles were led by the Spirit and we too can be led by the Spirit. We are called to allow that to happen.
• SLIDE #14
• Romans 8:14 (ESV) 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
• WE are led in by the Spirit in many ways. The Spirit can help make us aware of the sin that is about to entangle us. The Spirit can prompt us to remember scriptures to help get us through temptation and times of trouble.
• When Jesus was facing temptation from Satan in the wilderness, Jesus used the Word of God to fight off the temptation.
• Backing up to verse 13 we see that with the help of the Spirit, we can put to death the deeds of the flesh.
• SLIDE #15
• Romans 8:13 (ESV) For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
• The verb tense of the word LED indicates something that is currently happening, and is something what we should let happen continually.
• BUT the word is also in the passive tense meaning that the Spirit does not take away your free will.
• Put another way, the Spirit will only lead you if you let Him.
• SLIDE #16
• Look at Romans 8:4-5
• Romans 8:4–5 (ESV) 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
• To be led by the Spirit requires us to WALK according to the Spirit, or put another way, to follow the Spirits leading.
• But to do that we MUST set our minds on the Spirit.
• When we are led by the Spirit we are showing both God and the world that we have a special relationship with God.
• SLIDE #17
• 1 John 5:3 (ESV) 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
• WHAT a GIFT!
• God wants us to be transformed into the image of Christ. We cannot do that alone, but with the leading of the Holy Spirit we can do it!
• Living for Jesus is not always easy, doing the right thing is not always easy, BUT if we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit, life is so much different!
• Being led by the Spirit allows us to develop the fruits of the Spirit like, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
• The Holy Spirit is a powerful untapped resource that can change our lives in a BIG way!
CONCLUSION
• We have so many blessings that we take for granted, some any blessings that just pass us by like strangers in the night.
• I want to encourage you to invest time, prayer, and effort into allowing yourself to be led by the Spirit.
• This takes trust; trust is developed over time and with knowledge.
• God loves you so much that He gave us the opportunity to have eternal life after death or whenever the Lord returns.
• But salvation is more than what you get when you die, it is also about the life we now life.
• God gives you a gift that can enhance your life is such a positive way that this life becomes much better.
• Are you ready?
