The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Click below for the manuscript of the first sermon in a new series "Recognizing and Responding to God's Gift of the Holy Spirit.

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 promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. (”Acts 2:38-39 NIV)

We all like to receive gifts. Parents enjoy receiving gifts from their children, and children enjoy receiving gifts from their parents. Husbands enjoy receiving gifts from their wives, and wives enjoy receiving gifts from their husbands. People enjoy receiving gifts from their friends. Employers occasionally receive gifts from their employees, and employees enjoy receiving gifts from their employers. There are times when we give gifts to strangers, and there are times when we receive gifts from strangers. But God is the greatest giver of gifts.

Scripture:

John 14:15‭-‬27 NIV “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, 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.

Introduction 

Last week at the end of our series on the Seven Deadly Sins we asked the question "Who is to deliver us from the power and presence of sin?" Our response was from

Romans 7:24‭-‬25 NIV What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

So we thank God that through Jesus Christ and the precious gift of the Holy Spirit we can have deliverance now from the power of sin, and ultimately, we will have complete redemption and salvation from the very presence of sin.

So now let's talk more about the gift of the Holy Spirit for the next few weeks.

Text: 

Acts 2:38-39 NIV Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of  nt33your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

We all like to receive gifts. Parents enjoy receiving gifts from their children, and children enjoy receiving gifts from their parents. Husbands enjoy receiving gifts from their wives, and wives enjoy receiving gifts from their husbands. People enjoy receiving gifts from their friends. Employers occasionally receive gifts from their employees, and employees enjoy receiving gifts from their employers. There are times when we give gifts to strangers, and there are times when we receive gifts from strangers. 

But God is the greatest giver of gifts. James declared, 

James 1:16‭-‬18 NIV Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Jesus contrasted the good gifts of God with the ability of fallen man to give good gifts to his children:

Matthew 7:9‭-‬11 NIV “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

God’s gifts come as an expression of his love not as substitutes for his love. They never come as a payment or bribe. 

The only gifts that God bestows are good gifts. All of us have received a gift that did not come with the highest motives. When God gives a good gift, it is always with the proper motive. 

God’s gifts are an indication of his hope for us. 

His gifts come to us as an expression of his divine confidence in us. 

We should recognize God's gifts as an affirmation of our worth.

 

Luke 12:6‭-‬7 NIV Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

God’s good gifts are always suitable. 

God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to each believer as an indwelling presence is unmerited, it does not come as an expression of gratitude or as a payment for service rendered.  It is an unearned gift.

As out text says 

Acts 2:38‭ NIV 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 promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is for all believers in all generations. Throughout the history of the church, the gift of the Holy Spirit is God's promise to the believers.

John 7:37‭-‬39 NIV On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 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.

The Holy Spirit is a gift, and as a gift, it cannot be deserved or earned. God does not give you the gift of the Holy Spirit as a reward for being good and being faithful, or for achieving or attaining a high degree of holiness. It is not a reward. It is a gift.

It is not given to you because you have achieved a degree of holiness because the Holy Spirit is given to you to make you holy. It has nothing to do with your worthiness. Satan will always point out your shortcomings and your failings. He will always condemn you, tell you that you are not good enough to receive God's gifts and he’s right.  You are not worthy.  But God isn't basing His gift on your worthiness He is  basing the gift on Jesus and what He did for you.

Romans 5:5‭-‬8 NIV And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As a gift, the Holy Spirit's presence cannot be earned; it can only be received.  A gift is not something that you beg for, it is something that you simply receive. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to you, in order that you might have power in your own life to overcome sin and to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. 

Romans 8:28‭-‬29 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.

The Holy Spirit is given in order that His power working through your life might enable you to be a powerful witness for Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not given to us to make us feel joyful, so that we might have an ecstatic spiritual experience. He is given to you in order that you might have power to witness for Jesus. 

As a gift, the Holy Spirit is not deserved or earned. He is not given as a reward, perhaps for being good and faithful, or for achieving or attaining a high degree of holiness, but rather to empower or enable you to be a powerful witness for Jesus Christ.

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.

The Holy Spirit, is a gift but He has to be accepted. He is not imposed on people. Neither is He grabbed. The Gift is accepted or received, by accepting or receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.

The Holy Spirit that the Christian receives, empowers and leads them to the life that God accepts, and also raises them to the status of God’s child and heir. 

Romans 8:14‭-‬17 NIV For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

The Holy Spirit is the power behind the rebirth of every Christian.

John 3:5‭-‬6 NIV  Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

It cannot be overemphasized that no one is a Christian without this Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9‭-‬11 NIV You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

It is interesting to note how the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is translated in different versions of the Bible. 

The Holy Spirit is called a “comforter” in the KJV, a “counselor” in the Revised Standard Version, a “Helper” in the NKJV, and the “advocate” in the NIV.   The Holy Spirit is all of these. 

Conclusion 

Let me conclude with this:

• The Holy Spirit is God’s gift.

•  The Holy Spirit is not a reward for hard work. 

• The Holy Spirit is not a prize to be won. 

• The Holy Spirit is not a property to be purchased. 

• The Holy Spirit is not a treasure to be stolen.

• The Holy Spirit is a present gift. 

• The Holy Spirit is a purposeful gift. 

• The Holy Spirit is a powerful gift. 

• The Holy Spirit is a precious gift 

• The Holy Spirit is a personal gift. 

God gave the gift of his Son, who came to die for us. He has also given us the gift of his Spirit to live within us to work the works of God so that we might be delivered from the power of sin. Let us thank God that through Jesus Christ and the precious gift of the Holy Spirit we can have deliverance now from the power of sin, and ultimately, we will have complete redemption and salvation from the very presence of sin.

Prayer 

By Your Holy Spirit grant us insight into Your Word. Teach us the sound of Your voice and the sense of Your prompting. You are the God of all wisdom and You have made us in Your image; make us wise.