THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Just about everyone knows just how important the signs are that are placed along our highways are. These official highways signs give us direction and warn us of certain dangers. These signs are easily read in the daytime and also at night because they reflect headlamp light.
In darkness, they are invisible to anyone who travels without a light. But when our auto headlights are flashed upon these signs, they reflect back to us their message of guidance or caution. Their night-time aid to us depends upon the light we bring to them. They have no meaning for unlighted lamps.
God would like to guide us through the days and through the nights of this life. His signs are out there ¡V in all the appropriate places. But whether we see them will depend upon the light with which we approach them.
This morning, I want to talk to you about what is ¡V apart from salvation and eternal life ¡V the greatest of all gifts that God has given to His Church. This morning I want to talk about what it is which lights our way through the signs of this life; what it is that gives meaning, hope, comfort, and encouragement to us.
This morning I will talk to you about the great gift given to us; God¡¦s Holy Spirit!
The NT clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit does dwell in the faithful Christian. Second only to the death and resurrection of Jesus, the gift of God¡¦s Spirit is a tremendous blessing.
Some have confused the ¡§gift of the Holy Spirit¡¨ with ¡§spiritual gifts¡¨. However, spiritual gifts were given at a specific time and for a specific purpose in the early church.
Peter¡¦s call for repentance to his hearers in Acts 2:38 is very familiar.
When asked, ¡§what shall we do? Peter replied, 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.¡¨
The joyful worship of the believers was not the result of too much wine; it was the evidence of the arrival of God's Holy Spirit to dwell in His people. Orthodox Jews did not eat or drink before 9 a.m. on the Sabbath or on a holy day, nor did they usually drink wine except with meals .
Notice, that the word gift in this text is singular. When spiritual powers are mentioned later by the apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians it is in the plural ¡V gifts . So, the ¡§gift of the Holy Spirit¡¨ does not mean ¡§spiritual gifts.¡¨ The gift of the Spirit is the Spirit himself, who regenerates, indwells, unites, and transforms lives. All the fruit and gifts of the Spirit flow from this one great gift .
The Spirit touches the heart, the inner life and is the source of all the thoughts, motivations, intentions, and plans of sin-prone human beings. It is internal as opposed to outward emotional experiences.
In John chapter 16 we read these words of Jesus and his final teaching about the Paraclete ,
¡§And He [the Holy Spirit], when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.¡¨
The coming of the Paraclete is not some automatic, impersonal response. Before explaining further what the Paraclete will do for the disciples, Jesus describes the effect that the Paraclete's presence among and within the disciples will have on the world. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, they through the power of the Spirit convicted the world of its sinful condition.
The only other place besides Acts 2:38 where the ¡§gift of the Holy Spirit¡¨ is used is Acts 10:45, when Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit. This was of course to absolutely convince Peter that God was no respecter of nationality as it opened the door for Gentiles to hear the Good News. And although this gift preceded baptism in this isolated case, it was for the purpose of making salvation available to all. It was not a miraculous outpouring of the Spirit but the Spirit himself given to the obedient believer .
As well as we may think we know God ¡V do we really understand and know Him? In actuality, we have nothing with which to compare God to. And to our finite minds, God is incomprehensible. God and His Holy Spirit are unlike any other being.
Can you imagine the scene in Acts 2 on Pentecost? These men have spent three years with God¡¦s Son ¡K they have dedicated their lives to Him ¡K they have witnessed miracle after miracle ¡K and now they have been told to wait in Jerusalem. What were they waiting for? How long should they wait? The anticipation and the intrigue of this time would have been almost unbearable¡K..
And then, suddenly, a sound fills the room where they are staying¡K..and what appears to be tongues of fire appear and come to rest on each person present¡K..and then it happens. Verse 4 states, ¡§And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.¡¨
„« These are the same men who were dedicated to following Jesus, no matter what.
„« The same men who fell asleep during Jesus¡¦ agony in the garden.
„« The same men who scattered as soon as Jesus was arrested. Peter, one of Jesus¡¦ inner-circle even denied knowing Jesus three times.
„« And now, here they are gathered together, still puzzled because their Savior has ascended to heaven and is no longer with them. But, verse 4 changed their lives forever ¡V their lives were radically changed! The book of Acts and the life of the Apostle Paul are testimonies to power of God¡¦s Spirit.
Pentecost came exactly 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those gathered in that room received the blessing that Jesus had promised. Their wait was over. The Word would be preached and the Holy Spirit would convince and convict people of their need of a Savior. Instantaneously, they were equipped to preach in languages they did not know. And with Peter¡¦s powerful sermon the church was born!
The same Spirit that indwelt some 3,000 people on Pentecost indwells us today. These words to the Roman Christians apply today, ¡§However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.¡¨ ¡V Romans 8:9 NASB
The possession of the Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark of a Christian. So, it stands to reason to be without the Spirit is proof positive that we are out of Christ.
The extension of that is if we are not Christ's, whose are we? The answer must be, Satan's. In the past all of us were subjects of the kingdom of darkness, the slaves of Satan, the heirs of sin. The tandem blessing of Christ and the Spirit work together.
Paul assured the Romans that being in Christ and even suffering persecution there was comfort and hope. He said, ¡§and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us ¡V Romans 5:5 NASB.¡¨
The main question now is, how does the Holy Spirit pour God¡¦s love into our hearts ? First, the Holy Spirit does pour out the knowledge of God¡¦s love into our hearts through the Good News of Christ¡¦s atoning sacrifice for our sins, which was the greatest demonstration of love, ever! God¡¦s Word repeatedly shows us how deep God¡¦s love is for us and His Holy Spirit empowers us to express that love to others.
Second, the Holy Spirit pours out God¡¦s love into us at the initial moment of our salvation. So, what exactly do we possess? The Holy Spirit himself is the primary gift of God¡¦s love to us. In turn, the Holy Spirit lavishly pours our further gifts of God¡¦s love. We continually receive renewal and regeneration and the on-going power of sanctification . This gives us ultimate hope.
Third, the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts by strengthening our inner conviction of the certainty of God¡¦s love for us personally. The Spirit gives us a fresh awareness and assurance of God¡¦s continual love.
Certainly we cannot deny that the Holy Spirit strengthens and sharpens our awareness of and faith in God¡¦s love as a part of his sanctifying work in our hearts.
Five times in the NT we have recorded the term ¡§full of the Holy Spirit¡¨ and ten times the phrase ¡§being filled with the Holy Spirit.¡¨ Many of these relate to Jesus and special miracles. However, we want to look at some cases where the indwelling of the Spirit is separate from spiritual gifts.
The first is in Acts 6 where seven men are chosen to oversee the distribution of food to widows in poverty. The mandate given for their selection was that they be, ¡§full of the Spirit and of wisdom.¡¨ With the rapid growth of the infant church we see some tension arising. This is the first usage of the term ¡¥disciple¡¦ and the recognition of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others. Also, we see some ethnic and class division. To correct this the apostles asked the congregation to select men to serve this immediate need with the stipulation that they be full of the Spirit.
I like to see congregations use this same approach in selecting leaders today. Spiritual congregations that are vitalized by leaders who continually exhibit the fruit of the Spirit stand out because needs are being met and sanctification is evident.
In Acts 9 we have the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. God¡¦s Spirit instructed Ananias to go to probably the best known persecutor of Christians. (I think I would have needed a triple infusion of God¡¦s Spirit to walk into that setting!) And knowing of Saul¡¦s past Ananias was reluctant. But, even in his hesitancy we see God¡¦s purpose for loving our enemies but to also trust God¡¦s Word and the power of His Spirit to bring the redemptive Good News to those who are lost. Another lesson here is the fact that God can use people whom others consider to be the furthest from God¡¦s heart.
Next we have Acts 11:24 which gives us this description of Barnabas, ¡§¡Khe was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.¡¨ We need many people in the church today who were like Barnabas. He was a righteous man who obeyed the Word in daily life so that his character was above reproach. He was filled with the Spirit, which explains the effectiveness of his ministry. That he was a man of faith is evident from the way he encouraged the church and then encouraged Paul.
In Acts 13:52 we find that an early group of Christians were, ¡§filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit¡¨ even in the midst of strife and harassment. New Christians and new churches need people like Paul and Barnabas and men and women who are filled with the Holy Spirit to encourage them in their growth and ministry.
And in Ephesians 5:18 we find Paul exhorting the Ephesians to ¡§be filled with the Spirit.¡¨ The overarching themes of this chapter are ¡§to walk in the way of love¡¨ ... to use time wisely ¡K and pursue purity. Drunkenness and debauchery wreck all three of those pursuits and Paul admonishes them to be filled with God¡¦s Holy Spirit.
The infant church in the book of Acts was unstoppable. Nothing could diminish what God was doing. The church grew and its borders spread like wildfire.
It grew, not because it had charismatic speakers, talented singers, commodious buildings, state of the art technology or a well-executed ministry program. Riots, torture, poverty and persecution could not stop the growth of this new Way.
We have studied about God¡¦s Holy Spirit and the fact that He indwells every faithful believer. The task now becomes how do we make the Spirit apparent in our lives? Knowledge without appropriate action is harmful. James reminds us, ¡§Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, is sinning .¡¨
Francis Chan says that, ¡§So much of what we see today is anything but unstoppable. ¡¨ A preacher can resign and a church falls apart. A downturn in the economy and church members leave. Or a change in worship emphasis and others leave to find a more ¡¥conservative¡¦ church (in essence it¡¦s only a church that does what I like).
Today, we need Christians who truly seek and listen to God¡¦s Spirit. We need churches that are not just seeking God¡¦s will but who are truly allowing God¡¦s Spirit to lead in all areas of worship and service. Instead of the latest successful program used by some other congregation ¡K instead of gimmicks ¡K instead of innovation - - we need prayer, sacrifice, love, more prayer, more sacrifice and more love.
We must always remember that it is the Lord who gives the increase. Too often our eyes are on our brother or sister¡¦s faults, what¡¦s wrong with the congregation across town, or trying to use ministry principles that worked 100 years ago. As a result, the Great Commission is often ignored and the church becomes the stale keeper of the status-quo.
The early disciples waited in anticipation at the command of Jesus and the Holy Spirit shook the room. We need to pray and wait on God¡¦s Spirit to shake us. When we experience God, His Spirit fills us! Christians and churches today need to be filled with God¡¦s Holy Spirit. We need His power to give us boldness. We need His love to give us peace and hope. We need His grace in order to show the grace of Jesus to others.
Would you bow with me in prayer?
Father, God, our Creator and Sustainer ¡V increase our love and devotion for You. Your act of love in the atoning sacrifice of Your Son for our sins is unfathomable. Forgive us of our lack of understanding of Your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for grieving, resisting and quenching You. Forgive our sin, rebellion, hardness of hearts and spiritual blindness.
Father, help us to seek and be attuned to the promptings of Your Spirit. We need you to change us. Help us to always seek to worship you in Spirit and in Truth. You are the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life. Thank you for these blessings.
We need Your wisdom and understanding as we seek to live our lives. Keep us from disbelief and fear. We need Your strength to help us do what you are asking us to do and to live how you are asking us to live. We pray that Your Spirit will speak loudly and drown out all of the competing voices in our world.
May Your Spirit impart love and self-control in us. Give us a holy love that touches those whom You place in our paths. May others see You in us and this church be known for seeking You and Your ways in all that we do.
We pray that Your Holy Spirit be inflamed in our words and actions. We don¡¦t know exactly what that means or even looks like for each of us. But, whatever it means, we ask for Your presence and power to fill us and motivate us.
In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
This morning, what is your response to God¡¦s Word and the prompting of God¡¦s Spirit? As you reflect on your life, do you recognize that we all need a Savior ¡K that we all need to repent continually and ask for God¡¦s forgiveness? Have you confessed the name of Jesus? Do you need to respond today and be baptized for the remission of your sins? Is your heart right with God today? If not, what keeps you from allowing God¡¦s Spirit to change your life today?
If we can assist you in any way, please come now as we stand and sing.
Resources used for this sermon:
Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary, New Testament, Volume 1
1 Corinthians 12:4, 9, 28, 30-31
The IVP New Testament Commentary Series ¡V Acts.
Holman Bible Dictionary, Transliteration of the Greek word Jesus used in John's Gospel for the Holy Spirit. Literally, ¡§One called alongside,¡¨
Garth Black, Empowered by the Grace of God, Mustang, OK, Tate Publishing, 2013, p. 86
The College Press NIV Commentary ¡V Romans Volume 1
Titus 3:5
Ephesians 3:16
James 4:17 NCV
Francis Chan, Forgotten God, Colorado Springs, CO, David C Cook, 2009, p 155
