God's gift to accomplish God's Work
Witness to the world: Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 41:44
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Did you hear, see that?
Did you hear, see that?
Pentecost has come and there were things that were heard, things that were seen and things that were fulfilled. Pentecost brought the Spirit, the church, the assurance and the blessings. Tonight may we look at these things.
Did you hear that (Act2:2)?
Sound live a violent rushing wind, filled the whole house
Did you see that (Act2:3)?
Appeared tongues of fire, rested on each one of them.
Did you comprehend that (Act2:6)
It left them bewildered, amazed
From hearing, to seeing, to proclaiming (Act2:14-36)
It led to the first gospel message, first gospel meeting
It was historical
It was was proving
It was convicting
From proclaiming to piercing and then commanding (Act2:37-38)
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
All the previous came for it to be resulting (Act2:41)
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
So, here we have great things that have transpired on this Pentecost. Things were not what people were expecting, but were what was God’s plan and Jesus promise. The Helper, the Comforter had come and that is what we want to look at tonight. The gift and the blessings of the Holy Spirit.
Gift of the Holy Spirit
Gift of the Holy Spirit
There is much debate, question, concern about the Holy Spirit. May we never shy away from talking about the Holy Spirit the third person of the Godhead.
Peter delivered the gospel message and offered hope to those who heard the message (Act2:36-39) (contextually speaking)
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
I want to take a few minutes and look at things, going from the contextually to grammatically too.
In Act2:38, ‘the gift of Holy Ghost’, the clause is epexegetical, the gift being the Holy Ghost Himself.’ - Vine Expository Dictionary
I want to add a few other sources too
“Unique to Acts is ‘gift of Holy Spirit’ (Act2:38; 10:45), but here the genitive is epexegetical; the gracious gift is the Holy Spirit.” - - - Exegetical dictionary of New Testament
Maybe you are wondering about epexegetical, it comes from
epexegesis: the addition of words to clarify meaning.
words added for the purpose of clarifying meaning.
“The genitive is appositional, as in v.33 the promise is the Holy Spirit, so here the gift is the Holy Spirit.” - - Lenski, The Act of the Apostles
This is but a sampling of some of the scholars that the gift is the Holy Spirit. Now when we look contextually and hermaneutically at the passage and exegetically in other passages let’s wee what we can learn.
Jesus spoke of the promise (Act1:4-5)
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Peter said the promise has appeared (Act2:33)
33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
The promise was for them and for you (ACt2:38-39)
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
What is the instructions?
What is the reason?
What is the promise?
Who is the promise to?
There are only two promises made in the passage, remission of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit, so contextually when looking at this what can we know. It is for remission of sins, and gift of the Holy Spirit since that is the only matter at hand here.
Stepping back a little more and considering who the promise is made to:
Given to those who obey (Act5:32; Act10:44-47)
32 “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
and add to that
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
Given to those who believed (Jn7:37-39)
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
So in the John passage it was Jesus words about the promise that was to be given after He was glorified, but I have to expand on the benefits of the promise. So hold on, get ready, this is a bible study, so here is a lot more bible coming right now.
The promise is
God’s seal (2Cor1:21-22); God’s pledge (2Cor5:5)
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
God’s pledge (2Cor5:5)
Who sealed us, sealed us with what, and where? God did, through the Spirit, in our hearts, as God’s pledge
5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
God prepared the apostles and prepared us, the Apostles to give us the message that we would believe, repent, obey and receive the spirit, and know it is God’s pledge, God’s assurance and God’s power to carry out what He has for us to do.
God’s assurance (Gal4:6); God’s mercy poured out (Tit3:5-8)
6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
God’s mercy poured out (Tit3:5-6)
Man oh man, The Spirit cries out Abba Father on our behalf for we belong to Him through the Son and assured by the Spirit who was given to us. When God’s mercy was poured out as we have read previously in Tit3:5-8. The spirit washes, regenerates, renews
God giving life (Rom8:11); God’s reminder (Rom6:18-20)
Now just for a minute, we have looked grammatically, contextually, looked at some scholars, but how about some more historical look outside of the bible?
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
God’s reminder (Rom6:18-20)
“The Holy Ghost is one of the promises of the New Testament, Act2:38-39 - Barton W Stone, Works of Elder
Gives us life and takes up residence in us and lives through us! This spirit that reminds us of what God has done
“The gift of the Spirit promised in Act2:38 was the Spirit itself.” - David Lipscomp, Queries and answers
18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
“I believe the Holy Spirit is the gift to those who repent and are baptized.” - - Ferrell Jenkins, The Finger of God
And who we are now
Blessings of the Spirit
Blessings of the Spirit
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Who doesn’t like some good blessings? May we find truth, comfort, assurance in the blessings of the Spirit.
Blessings of regeneration (Tit3:4-7)
I think we have touched on the Titus passage enough already, but it sure is a blessing of the Spirit and much as it is a work of the Spirit in regenerating us!
Holy Spirit empowers us (Rom8:12-13; Eph3:16)
Blessings of being reborn (1Pt1:22-23)
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
Blessings of being washed, sanctified and justified (1Cor6:11)
Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Rom8:26-27)
Blessings of being washed, sanctified and justified (1Cor6:11)
The sanctifying work of the Spirit started with the washing and the regeneration and justification by the Spirit.
Holy Spirit seals, marks us (Eph1:
Blessings of indwelling (Rom8:9, 11, 1Cor6:18-20)
When looking at Rom8:9, without the Spirit indwelling, you do not belong to God through Christ.
For It is the Spirit that gives life according to Rom8:11 which we read earlier.
18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Our body is the house, the temple, the home of the Holy Spirit of God!
Blessings of empowering (Rom8:12-13; Eph3:16)
In Rom8:11 the Spirit gives life, now here in (vv.12-13) gives empowering with a purpose, so check it out.
Blessings of empowering (Rom8:12-13; Eph3:16)
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
What are we under obligation to?
What are we to do under the power of the Spirit then?
What is the promise if we operate under the power of the Spirit?
So that is a blessing isn’t it, the empowering so that we may live!
I said under the power of the Spirit, so here is scripture back up to that.
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Blessings of intercession (Rom8:26-27)
Blessings of intercession (Rom8:26-27)
Spirit helps us in our weakness, intercedes for us when we don’t even know what to ask
He intercedes on our behalf for God’s will to be done in those who are His, those who believe and have obeyed. for then.
Blessings of being sealed (Eph1:13, 4:30; 2Cor1:22)
We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph1:13)
Sealed for the day of redemption (Eph4:30)
Sealed with the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2Cor1:22)
In book I referenced earlier “Finger of God” there was another quote worth mentioning.
“It is our conviction that when a person obeys the gospel he is given the Holy Spirit. In this way God seals the person. In effect God says, ‘This person belongs to me; let everyone take note.’” - (Finger of God, pg. 19)
We still have a few minutes and the blessings are not done, but I want us to pull apart these and grasp them.
Blessings of guarantee of inheritance (Eph1:13-14)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
What did you do to inherit the blessing?
What is the blessing? (let the blessing sink in, don’t rush this one)
Blessings of bearing Spirits fruit (Gal5:16-18, 22-25; other passage to consider Rom8:5-6; Rom7:15-16)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Gal5:16-18
What is the command? What is the results if you follow the command?
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Gal5:
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
God’s fruit produced through the Spirit bringing about the spiritual graces mentioned in (vv.22-23)
Gal5:26
26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
One more blessing, love and hope (Rom5:5)
5 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.
(Encouragement slide; Scripture slide- love poured out)
Spirit came on you, in you, and upon you to accomplish God’s work (expand on this)
(Encouragement slide 2 - But by the grace of God I am who I am) prayer (Exit slides)