This is the manuscript of the second sermon in the Recognizing and "Responding to the Indwelling Spirit" series of sermons to start the year of 2022. Without a proper response to the Holy Spirit, our lives will be unproductive and our service will be feeble. We closed out 2021 with the series “Come Let Us Adore Him” and in the last message of 2021 we said the real spirit of Christmas starts when we accept the best gift of all, the gift who was born in a manger, the Son of God. When we accept Jesus Christ, we accept the gift of salvation, the gift of forgiveness. But that is not all. We also receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit, who comes to live in us and guide our steps.
How have you responded to God’s great gifts of salvation and forgiveness? How have you responded to God’s gift of his Son who came to be our Savior? If you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, how have you responded to God’s gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit
An audio recording of the sermon is at the end of the manuscript. You can also see a video recording of the entire service on the Christ Church YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8epxyuv9_DVac8R5jR2yPQ. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Scripture
Psalms 95:1-11 NIV Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Text:
Hebrews 3:7-11 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Hebrews 3:7-9 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.
Introduction
Have you developed the habit of making an appropriate response to some gift or act of kindness on the part of others? Many parents put forth a consistent effort to teach an attitude of gratitude to their children by instructing them to always say “thank you” when they are given a gift or rendered some significant service.
Some people always make an affirmative response when they receive a gift. Others never indicate an attitude of gratitude.
So here are some questions for us today.
How have you responded to God’s great gifts of salvation and forgiveness? We should really think of life itself as a gift from God.
How have you responded to God’s gift of his Son who came to be our Savior?
If you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, how have you responded to God’s gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit?
We ended last year and started this year by saying that when we accept Jesus Christ, we accept the gift of salvation, and the gift of forgiveness. But that that is not all. We also receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit, who comes to live in us and guide our steps.
Someone has said, “He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scripture in his hands has all he needs.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NIV Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
However, it is possible to receive this priceless gift of the Holy Spirit and not even recognize it.
God’s gift of his Holy Spirit is the gift of himself as an abiding presence. This divine Comforter, Counselor, Helper is present to work the work of God in our hearts.
John 15:26 NIV “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
John 16:12-15 NIV “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
It is with his guidance, energy, and assistance that we, as the disciples of Jesus, are able to become Christlike in our character and conduct. However this is only possible if we make a proper response to the Holy Spirit.
I. We are always in danger of making a negative response to the Holy Spirit.
A. You may grieve the Holy Spirit of God
Ephesians 4:30 NIV And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
This insight into the emotional reaction of God to our failure to respond properly should concern us. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul detailed some of the attitudes of mind and actions of life that can bring bitter grief to the Holy Spirit.
You grieve God’s Spirit and diminish your fellowship with him by disobedience, conflict with others, busyness, friendship with the world, and other sins.
Ephesians 4:31 NIV Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
The opposite side of this coin is that we can bring joy to the Holy Spirit if we cooperate with him in eliminating these bad character traits and these destructive forms of conduct toward others.
Ephesians 4:32 NIV Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Also look at.
Galatians 5:22-26 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
B. You can grieve the Holy Spirit and you can also quench the Holy Spirit
1 Thessalonians 5:19 NIV Do not quench the Spirit.
The picture here is that of pouring water on a fire to put it out. It is a picture of quenching the flame of a candle. It refers to a response toward the Holy Spirit that refuses to cooperate with him as he seeks to do God’s good work within us.
C. You can also insult and outrage the Holy Spirit
Hebrews 10:26-31 NIV If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This scripture contains a warning that should cause us to tremble if we are tempted to the point of yielding to the forces of evil and to the purposes of Satan.
The Scripture also teaches us that our Father God chastises his children when they live a life of disobedience growing out of little faith and a rebellious spirit.
Hebrews 12:5-11 NIV And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
II. Those are negative responses; grieving, quenching, or insulting the Holy Spirit but He gives us the invitation to respond positively.
Respond “Today.”
Hebrews 3:7-8 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,
Some people have a tendency to confine God to the past. They think of him as living in the ancient long ago when the Bible was being written. This is a sad mistake to think of God as some kind of an antique that must be relegated to history. Others make the mistake of confining God to the future. They think of him as being concerned only about the soul and its safety in heaven. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of the living. He is the God of the now. God is the God of current events. He is living today just as we are living today. He speaks to us today through his Holy Spirit.
Respond today “When you hear his voice.”
Hebrews 3:7-8 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,
It is rather shocking to read through the Scripture and discover both in the Old Testament and the New Testament the recurring comment “You would not listen” or “They would not listen.”
Jeremiah 17:22-23 NIV Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.
Isaiah 30:8-9 NIV Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
That's the Old Testament now let's go to the new.
Acts 7:54-58 NIV When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
2 Timothy 4:2-5 NIV Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Some people refuse to listen because they are preoccupied with their own pursuits. Others refuse to listen because they disagree, and disagreement often hinders a person from really hearing.
1. The Holy Spirit speaks to us today through the Scriptures.
2. The Holy Spirit can speak to us today through spiritual songs.
3. The Holy Spirit speaks today through pastors, teachers, parents, Christian literature, and other good books.
4. The Holy Spirit speaks today through the church.
5. The Holy Spirit speaks today through the events of life the things we call circumstances.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 NIV pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
God still speaks today through circumstances. He will use conditions and situations from our everyday life to place us in a position to hear His voice.
Does God create circumstances to make us do His will? No, but God will allow circumstances to flow into our life to accomplish His glory and our good.
Romans 8:28-30 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Are you listening to the invitation to respond positively? Are you tuned in to hear what God is saying to you with the still, small voice of his indwelling Spirit?
C. There is a warning for not accepting the invitation. Notice the warning,
Hebrews 3:7-11 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Let’s take a quick look at what the writer is referring to as the rebellion. It is mentioned in Psalm 95 which Jean read this morning. I'm going to read just 2 verses.
Psalms 95:7-9 NIV for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
Here's what the psalmist is talking about.
Exodus 17:1-7 NIV The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The Lord through the writer of Hebrews is warning of the consequences of hardening your heart. If you harden you heart you will not enter God’s rest. I don't have time today but I want to briefly describe the rest you will miss out on if you harden your heart.
Using the Israelites as an example of those who were not resting in God’s promises, the writer of Hebrews goes on in chapter 4 to make the application personal, both to the Hebrew Christians and to us:
Hebrews 4:1 NIV Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
The promise that still stands is the promise of salvation through God’s provision—Jesus Christ. He alone can provide the eternal rest of salvation through His blood shed on the cross for the remission of sins. God’s rest, then, is in the spiritual realm, the rest of salvation. Faith, is the key to entering God’s rest.
Hebrews 4:2 NIV For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.
Here's how you can harden your heart.
1. You can harden your heart by ignoring God’s voice. Have you ever turned off an alarm on your alarm clock morning after morning until finally you could turn it off without being aware that it had sounded?
2. You can harden your heart by disobedience to God’s will.
3. You can harden your heart by refusing to listen when God seeks to speak to you.
4. You can harden your heart by making excuses for yourself and by blaming other people.
Conclusion
So today rather than harden our hearts let's bow down in worship before the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who has come to dwell within each of us individually and all of us collectively.
Let us rejoice in the creative and benevolent purpose of this indwelling presence of God. He has come to enable us to be all that God wants us to be.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
He is present to reproduce within us the character of Jesus Christ which is reflected in the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Heavenly Father, how I thank You that by faith in the Lord Jesus, Your Holy Spirit has made us alive in Him and placed us into the family of God and the Body of Christ.
Thank You, that He has set His seal of ownership upon us and taken up residence within our hearts, so as to empower us in our spiritual walk, as He gradually transforms is in to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I pray that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us in all things, and that we would learn to listen to the gentle promptings of His voice, as we read Your Word or commune with You in prayer. Give us grace to recognise His still small voice as we search through the scriptures each day and the wisdom to discern Your spiritual nudges, when godly Christians are prompted to offer direction and give us advice.
May we keep our hearts open and develop teachable spirits. I pray that we walk in Your ways and live a life that is well pleasing to You, and glorify our Father in heaven. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen
Invitation
If you have not yet come to know Jesus as Savior, the Holy Spirit calls you to him. Don't ignore the invitation. Don't harden your heart. He invites you to Jesus by virtue of your need for forgiveness. He calls you to Christ by your potential for blessing others. He calls you by virtue of the fact that you are on the way toward eternity either without Him where there will be eternal torment or toward eternity where we will be with Him in eternal rest and peace. God wants to forgive your sin and give you the gift of eternal life if today you will receive Jesus Christ.
How do you do that?
Romans 10:9-10, 13 NIV If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Benediction
(May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’
Bible Study Audio
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