Putting a Gift of Christmas to Work
Acts 1:4, Psa 51:11, Isa 63:10-11, Exo 14:21, Gen 1:2, 8:1, Luke 1:15, 35, John 7:39,
Luke 24:49, Acts: 1:8, Luke 12:12, Matt 10:20, John 14:26-28, Rom 8:26, John 16:8
December 8, 2003
I. Well, the Christmas season has begun, and there are several things that we have to remember during the Christmas season. This is the time of year that we are to celebrate the birth of Christ, and you would think that the only things that we should be concerned about would be things that relate to His birth, but there are some other things that we can’t afford to forget. So I want to list them for you.
A. One of them is AVOID WALMART AT ALL COST!
B. IF DRIVING WITHIN A FIVE MILE RADIUS OF WALMART IS A MUST, DO IT WITH CAUTION.
C. IF YOU ARE FORCED TO GO TO WALMART, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT WALK IN FRONT OF AN EMPTY PARKING SPACE WITH IN 35 ROWS OF THE DOOR. THIS WILL RESULT IN YOU BEING HIT BY AT LEAST TWO CARS FIGHTING FOR THAT SPACE.
D. IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO MAKE IT INSIDE THE STORE ALIVE, AVOID THE TOY AREA, AS RIOTS ARE APT TO BREAK OUT AT ANY MINUTE.
E. IF YOU ARE FORCED TO BUY A TOY, GRAB IT AND RUN TO AVOID HAVING IT RIPPED FROM YOUR HAND. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IF IT IS THE LAST ONE ON THE SHELF.
F. WHEN APPROACHING THE CHECK OUT COUNTER EXERCISE GREAT CAUTION.
G. IF YOU HEAR SOMEONE SAY I CAN HELP SOMEONE OVER HERE IMMEDIATELY JUMP IN YOU CART TO AVOID BEING TRAMPLED.
H. IF THE CHECKER IN YOUR LINE CALLS FOR A CSM, BE THANKFUL THAT YOU WORE COMFORTABLE SHOES AND ATE BEFORE YOU CAME.
I. WHEN EXITING WALMART CAREFULLY SCAN THE PARKING LOT TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A PARKING SPACE AVAILABLE WITHIN 35 ROWS OF THE DOOR. IF YOU SEE THAT ONE IS AVAILABLE PROCEED WITH GREAT CAUTION, DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING NOW MEANS NOTHING.
J. IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING, AVOID CROSSING THE OPENING TO THE EMPTY PARKING SPACE EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WALK AROUND THE GAS PUMPS TO GET TO YOUR VEHICLE.
K. ONCE IN THE VEHICLE BUCKLE UP BEFORE STARTING THE ENGINE, DUE TO THE FACT THAT WHEN SOMEONE SEES YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS COME ONE THEY MIGHT REAR END YOU TRYING BEAT THE DRIVER COMING THE OTHER WAY INTO THE PARKING SPACE.
L. ONCE YOU HAVE STARTED THE ENGINE EXIT THE SPACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. REFERENCE THE ABOVE RULE.
M. WHEN EXITING THE PARKING LOT ALWAYS ENTER THE LANE THAT LEAVES THE PARKING LOT AS FAR FROM THE STREET AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID BEING RUN DOWN WHILE TRYING TO GAIN ENTRANCE TO THAT LANE.
N. AFTER EXITING THE FIVE MILE RADIUS ZONE PULL OVER AND THANK GOD FOR HIS PROTECTION.
II. There is no doubt that one thing that everybody is thinking about during Christmas time is gifts, and we eventually get around to remembering that God gave us the gift of His Son at Christmas.
A. But there is another gift that Jesus’ coming to earth made possible that we don’t associate with Christmas that often?
1. It is a gift from God that makes all the difference in the world in our lives in the here and now.
2. It is a gift that is directly related to the forming all the habits that I have been talking about for the last few weeks.
3. Are you curious yet? Not enough people raised their hands.
4. It is a gift that changed the whole complexion of how we relate to God as human beings.
5. It is a gift that we never lose, and it is not salvation, but is directly related to salvation.
6. It is a gift that only benefits us when we put it in the right place.
7. And it is a gift that we can’t see.
8. Now are you curious?
(Acts 1:4 NIV) On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
B. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A GIFT FROM GOD TO US. He was a gift that was only made possible because Jesus died to take away our sin, His coming to live inside us forever changed the way that we relate to God, He is a gift that we can never lose but a gift that only benefits us if we put him in first place in our lives and allow God to use his presence in our lives to direct us.
C. The Holy Spirit is present but rarely directly mentioned much in the Old Testament or before the time of Jesus’ birth.
D. The term "Holy Spirit" in the Old Testament is found only in Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 63:10-11.
(Psa 51:11 NIV) Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
(Isa 63:10 - 11 NIV) Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,
E. There are many references to the spirit of God however.
F. In one sense the Spirit of God is depicted as a mighty wind in the Hebrew language, using the same word "ruach" for wind, breath, and spirit. During the time of the Exodus, God used this wind to part the sea allowing the Israelites to pass through safely and escape Pharaoh and his army.
(Exo 14:21 NIV) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
1. The word for wind there is the same one used to describe the Holy Spirit.
G. Also the spirit exercised control over the chaotic waters at the beginning of creation
(Gen 1:2 NIV) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
H. The Holy Spirit was also with Noah, and was a part of the process of saving Noah and his family.
(Gen 8:1 NIV) But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
I. John’s parents, were informed that their son will "be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb"
(Luke 1:15 NIV) for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
J. Also, the angel Gabriel visited Mary with the news that "The Holy Spirit would come upon her.
(Luke 1:35 NIV) The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
III. In the New Testament after Jesus’ death and resurrection the Holy Spirit came to the forefront of things.
A. The reason for that is that God’s spirit could not live in His people because they were separated from Him because of Sin, but after Jesus died to take our sin away God’s Spirit was free again to live in His people.
B. Now, there are some people who teach that the Holy Spirit comes after we are saved and that it is a separate experience. Well its not.
1. There is one verse in the bible that lays it out pretty plain.
(John 7:39 NIV) By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
2. What that says is that those who believe in Jesus also receive The Holy Spirit. It’s a package deal.
3. It is not that we are not given the Holy Spirit when we are saved and accept Jesus and what He did on the Cross as the only way that we can be right with God, it is that we don’t allow the Spirit the room to work in our lives.
4. I do believe that we receive more of the benefits of the Holy Spirit as we learn to allow Him room to work in us, but he is not and accessory to salvation that we have to add on later.
C. THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS A GIFT FROM GOD THAT IS A PART OF SALVATION. But, as we all know a gift only benefits us as much as we put it to use.
D. If someone gave us the cure for cancer and we put it in a closet it would never do anyone any good, but that is what a lot of us do with the Holy Spirit.
E. It’s as if we forget or are afraid to allow the Holy Spirit room to work in our lives. I think that there are a lot of people who have learned to be scared by the Holy Spirit, because they think that to let the Spirit have freedom in their lives means that they have to do certain things or act certain ways.
F. And the result of that is that we lose access to the greatest power available to us to have the life that God intended.
(Luke 24:49 NIV) I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
1. The promise that Jesus was talking about was the Holy Spirit. GOD’S SPIRIT BEING GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO WORK IN OUR LIVES, PROVIDES FOR US A POWER THAT NOTHING ELSE CAN BRING.
(Acts 1:8 NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
2. God’s Spirit being allowed to work in our lives gives us the power to have life the way that God intended us to have it.
3. All that habits that I have been talking about us developing come a lot easier to us when we put ourselves in a position to be lead by the Holy Spirit.
4. We will never be able to be what God wants us to be on our own. It is only though the power of the Holy Spirit that we can be what God wants us to be.
G. ALSO ACTS 1:8 THAT WE JUST READ TIES THE HOLY SPIRIT TO OUR BEING A WITNESS. It is a fact that most Christians don’t witness to others and talk with them about becoming a Christian.
1. I think that the main reason that they don’t is that they are not hooked in to the power source that God provides, which is the Holy Spirit.
2. We all wonder if I start talking to someone about being a Christian what am I going to say?
3. Well the power to be a witness for God comes from God through the Holy Spirit, Act 1;8 says that plainly, and Luke 12:12 tells us that the a part of the function of the Holy Spirit is to give us the things that we are to say at times when we need them.
(Luke 12:12 NIV) for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
(Mat 10:20 NIV) for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
4. We are to prepare ourselves through reading the bible and studying it to be able to witness to others, but the burden is not on us solely, for what we are to say.
5. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, the we can trust the Spirit to help us in what we are to say, but the problem is that we don’t give the Spirit room to work in our lives.
H. Another thing that we have to be aware of is that there are a lot of Christians that wonder why they have so much turmoil in their lives. ONE OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TO COMFORT US.
(John 14:26-28 NIV) But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. "You heard me say, ’I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I. The word that was used in the John to describe the Holy Spirit was parakletos. Which means comforter, or counselor, or helper.
1. In the culture of that day a the word paraclete was someone in the courts who helped someone who was having trouble.
2. The Holy Spirit is our helper, our comforter, our counselor.
3. And when we allow the Holy Spirit room to work in our lives he is there to comfort us, to bring peace to our lives, to remind us of God and help us to remember that God is our source of peace.
4. The Holy Spirit is able to do that because he is God living in us, but we can only have the peace from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we allow Him room to work.
5. We have to make the effort to give The Holy Spirit room to work in our lives. That means that we have to be willing to turn the control of things in our lives over to God, and we begin doing that by spending time with God and giving him access to our lives.
6. We have to tell God that we want Him to be in control and try to align our lives with Him and His will for us, that means that we have to look at our lives and see what it is in them that is not in obedience to God and make it our goal to change what is not lined up with what we know God wants from us.
7. When we do that we are giving God Spirit room to work in our lives, and the more room we give Him to work the more the Spirit will help us to live in ways the will bring us the peace that God intends us to have.
8. A lot of Christians have constant turmoil in their lives because they don’t make room for the Spirit to work in their lives and guide their decisions.
J. THE BIBLE ALSO SAYS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US TO TEACH US. the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
1. When we talk about developing the habit of studying the bible we can’t put a value on how important it is to put to use our gift of the Holy Spirit.
2. God’s spirit that lives in us, is a gift that God give us to help us learn what it is that God wants us to learn.
3. The bible says that the spirit teaches us all things and will remind us of the things that Jesus said.
4. If you are having a hard time understanding what the Bible says then you might want to look at how much you are allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to work in your life.
K. And, do you ever feel that your prayer life is ineffective and weak? Then maybe you should see how much room you are giving the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
(Rom 8:26 NIV) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
1. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT ENHANCES OUR PRAYER LIFE. Even in the times that we don’t know what to pray for the Holy Spirit communicates our needs to God in ways that we can’t even comprehend.
2. He is our intercessor. He speaks to God on our behalf, and aids us in our prayer time, and solidifies our communication with God.
IV. Now, somebody might ask, well why would we not want to have the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Or maybe you are saying Wow, that sounds good how do I get that?
A. Well, I am glad that you asked, but when you find you the answer you might not be.
B. ANOTHER THING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES IS, REMINDS US OF THE THINGS IN OUR LIVES THAT ARE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD’S WILL.
(John 16:8 NIV) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
C. That means that the Holy Spirit will make us aware of the things in our lives that need to be changed, to line up with what God wants.
D. First I want to clear up one thing lest you should get the wrong idea. This is one of the places that I don’t agree with the way the translators of the NIV translate a word, because it can give the wrong idea.
E. The phrase that they have there translated " of guilt in regard to sin", is really one word in Greek, and it means just plain sin, or transgression.
1. The reason that I don’t like the way that it is translated is that it makes it sound like guilt is from God, and it is not.
2. The job of the Holy Spirit is not to make us feel guilty, but to make us aware that we are doing things that are not pleasing to God so that we can make the changes that we need to make.
3. Guilt is from satan, because with guilt He can keep us focused on what we are doing wrong so much so that we can’t see what it is that we need to be doing that will make us right.
F. And that guilt that satan brings may be one of the biggest factors that keep us from having the benefits of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
1. The Holy Spirit does expose to us the sin that is in our lives but not for the reason of making us feel guilt, but to remind us of the things that need to be changed, and there is a difference.
2. The Holy Spirit exposes the sin in our lives because when we sin and don’t admit it, it harms our relationship with God, and it gives the Holy Spirit less room to work in our lives.
3. When we’re doing things that are against God’s will the Holy Spirit is that twinge that we feel in our conscience. And we don’t want to make the changes that we need to make, so we try to push those feelings to the side and ignore them, because satan makes us feel guilty when we are really forgiven, if we will admit that what we have done is wrong.
4. So we push those feelings aside, and try to make ourselves believe that what we are doing is really ok, and as we try to ignore that twinge of conscience what we are really doing is closing off parts of our lives to the Holy Spirit and giving Him less room to work in us.
5. When that happens what we are really doing is pushing the Holy Spirit out of our lives, because we want to justify what it is that we are doing, instead of making the effort to change it.
6. It is easier a lot of times to try to remove the thing that reminds of our sin than it is to face the fact that we are doing things that need to be changed and remove them.
7. But what we have to realize is that when we do that we are hurting ourselves, because the more we try to push the Holy Spirit into the background so that we don’t have to deal with the things in our lives that need changing the less we are going to have peace, because the bible says that the Holy Spirit is our peace.
8. We are also cutting ourselves off from the source of power in our lives that will help us in having the life that God wants us to have, because the bible says that the Holy Spirit is the source of our power.
9. We are also refusing God the access that will give us the ability to have the words to say to be a witness for him that we are suppose to be, and we are hindering our ability to learn what God’s word says, because the bible says that the Holy Spirit will give us the words that we are to say, and teach all things.
G. We have to realize that to have the benefits of the Holy Spirit we also have to allow the Holy Spirit the room to remind us of the things that we need to change to be what God wants us to be.
1. And instead of trying to ignore those things we need to acknowledge that we live by grace, and admit the things that we do wrong to God, so that we can be forgiven, but just as important we need to allow ourselves to be forgiven.
2. Because when we allow satan to use guilt to make us run from the leadership of the Holy Spirit then we are letting him cut us off from the source of our power, and peace, and ability to speak for God and learn his word, and pray with power.
H. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God that is the result of Jesus’ dying on the Cross as much as salvation, and without the help of the Spirit we can never have the kind of life and relationship with God that we are suppose to.
1. We have to quit running from God’s Spirit when He exposes things that we need to change, and quit allowing satan to use guilt make us run from Him, because the greatest thing that we can do to make our life the kind of life of peace and power, and ability that God intends it to be is to allow the Holy Spirit as much room to work in our lives as possible.
I. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God, but any gift that we get is only as much good to us as we put it to use. I hope that you will give God’s Spirit the room to work in your life, so that you can find what Life was really meant to be
