The Gift Is Ours

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of November, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last week we looked at how God’s Holy Spirit is freely given to all who believe in and accept Jesus as Lord.  We learned that the Spirit will do many things for us, even give us the right words to say if we find ourselves speechless when called upon to testify for Jesus.  The Spirit is given to us, the words are given to us, and we need to give of ourselves in service to Jesus to honor what we have been given.  We need to honor the gift by putting it to good use, because in doing so, we honor the giver.

The Apostle Peter understood just how precious a gift had been given him when he received God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  He also understood the purpose of that gift, and how it should be shared with others.  Listen to what Peter told the people who had just witnessed the Spirit descending upon those who believed and followed Jesus, that day of Pentecost.  Listen and follow along to part of the sermon he delivered, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2 verses 22 through 24, and verses 36 through 42, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

--Acts 2:22-24, 36-42 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, while Jesus walked this earth as a man, You witnessed to His authority by the very miracles, wonders, and signs He was able to do.  He came to offer us the greatest gift of all: salvation from eternal death and torment.  Rather than thankfully receive Him, we took Him by lawless hands, crucified Him, and put Him to death.  Thank You, Father, for giving us another chance.  Thank You for allowing us to see Jesus for who He really is.  Thank You for Your loving mercy.  Please forgive us when begin to take Your many gifts for granted.  Help us to be more thankful.  Help us to grow closer to You and Your Son through Your Spirit within us.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us how we can be better honor You for Your many blessings.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


Thomas Kempis, a 15th century Roman Catholic monk, once commented that, “A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.”

But wisdom is so uncommon, so rare among mankind.  Thankfulness itself seems to have become a lost art.  Pastor Warren Wiersby illustrated this when he told of a young ministerial student who was part of a 19th-century life-saving squad in Illinois.  In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers.  In the process, his health was permanently damaged.  Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.


The love Edward Spencer held for his fellow man was not valued by those he saved.  Jesus tells us that, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  But how much greater must that love be for a man who lays down his life for complete strangers?

This young man put his own life in great jeopardy while saving people he would never know.  In return, they showed no gratitude, gave him no thanks, placed no value on his love.  He gave of his own health and well-being in service to God to honor the great gifts he had been given.  That was his way of saying, “Thank You, God.”

May we never be ungrateful for the many gifts we are given.  May we never take our gifts for granted, especially our gifts of salvation and God’s Spirit dwelling within us.  Stop every now and then and thank God.  Honor Him by serving His Son.


The truth of Peter’s words cut straight to the hearts of those who witnessed that glorious event at Pentecost.  And they were ashamed and filled with regret.  As we all know, you can’t un-ring the bell, you can’t squeeze the toothpaste back into the tube, you can’t go back and undo something you already did.  So in their despair they asked, “What can we do?  How can we make up for this horrible mistake?  Is there any hope for us now?”

Can’t you just feel their anguish?  Haven’t we all felt like that at some point or another?  How can I possibly make up for the stupid mistake I just made?  Well, we can’t – not really.  We can only atone for what we’ve done, seek forgiveness if it were done against another person.

And that’s what Peter told these folks.  Repent, turn from your sinful, disobedient ways and repeat them no more.  Be baptized in the name of Jesus so that your sins might be forgiven.  And I say “might be”, because someone can’t just go through the act, they must truly be changed.  Their heart must be changed.  They must accept Jesus as God, as Lord of all.

And then Peter makes them a promise.  If they follow his instructions, then they will receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit just like the disciples that day.  And not only they who were present and hearing his voice, but this promise is given to their children as well, and to all who are called by the Lord.  That last includes us, afar off both in time and in space, called by Jesus to serve Him.


Now Peter is simply repeating what the resurrected Jesus told His disciples before returning to heaven.  At this point, the Spirit had not yet been sent to dwell in the hearts of believers, for Jesus had not yet ascended.  In his Gospel account, chapter 24, the second part of verse 46 through verse 49, Luke records Jesus saying…

46b “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

--Luke 24:46b-49 (NKJV)

A couple of weeks ago we talked about how it was necessary for Jesus to die and return to heaven so that the Spirit could come to dwell within us.  Now it is up to us, aided by God’s Spirit, to carry on His work, to let others know that they must repent and turn from their wickedness to be forgiven.  And we are to preach this, spread this, to all nations, to all people!

We who believe have been endued with power from on high, the power of God’s own Holy Spirit, the power our Lord wielded as He walked this earth, the power that raised Jesus from the dead!  This is our gift from God, freely given to us.  The gift is ours for the taking.  And like any gift, we can refuse to accept it, we can accept it and not use it, letting it collect dust, or we can accept the gift and put it to use.  It's up to us what to do with it.  We should be thankful for so great a gift.  We should put this gift to use so that the Giver can see our thankfulness by our actions!  Listen to what James, the brother of Jesus, told the early Jewish Christians in his letter, chapter 2, verses 14 through 18…

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” — but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

--James 2:14-18 (NLT)

If we see someone in need, and we have the means to help them, is it enough to say, “Take care of yourself.  I hope everything goes well for you.  I’ll be praying for you.”?

Sometimes prayer is all we can do – we have to put it into God’s hands because we are unable to do more.  But if we do not put our faith, our belief, into action, how can anyone else see our faith?  If we do not use this great and wonderful and powerful gift from God to help others, then what good does it do for them?

James says our faith is dead if it is not put to use.  We’ve allowed the Spirit to lie dormant within the dark corners of our hearts, rather than setting Him free to work His miracles in others.


Let’s show our faith by our actions.  Let’s put the Holy Spirit to work as we serve our Lord.  Let’s value the gift of the Spirit, the gift of God’s love.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for so wonderful and so powerful a gift!  The gift of Your Spirit is ours for the taking, and once taken may we put Him to work advancing Your kingdom.  Forgive us, please Father, when we are too timid or shy, or just too tired to put our faith into action.  Please help us, Father, to make better use of this gift You have given us.  Help us teach others about Jesus so that they too might receive this beautiful gift.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You commissioned us to spread the Good News You bring with all the earth, and You saw to it that we would not be alone or unaided in that effort.  God’s Holy Spirit is our gift, a gift that is meant to be shared.  Lord Jesus, please help us remember just how powerful a gift this is.  And Lord, help us be brave in our service to You.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.