Born in Us Today

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham.

A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get the best of 2021 Message Series. But first, here's Dr. Graham's message, Born in Us Today. This Christmas called the Spirit of Christmas, the Spirit of Christmas. And it is our desire in this message series to invite you to experience the true Christmas spirit, who is the Holy Spirit.

And it's my prayer that you, we, would be filled with the Spirit of God, not only this Christmas, but every day thereafter. That you would be filled with the presence and power. As the Apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians chapter 3, that you would be filled with all the fullness of God. When Christ came, the fullness of God was in Him and with Him. And when the Spirit comes, the fullness of God, the very presence of Christ is alive.

I want you to know Him, the dear Holy Spirit, and love Him and rely upon Him to give Him complete control of your life. So in John chapter 14, Jesus is concluding His ministry on earth. Jesus came to earth and He walked among us.

He was born, became a man, a mighty and powerful Messiah and Savior to the world. He was here and He walked among us. But Jesus is now on His way to the cross and in the upper room with His disciples. And He stuns them with the news, though He had been preparing them all along, but He stuns them with the news that He is going away. In fact, He was on the way to Calvary.

It was the reason that He was born. Jesus was born to die and the mission is now almost complete. And so He is preparing those early followers of Jesus for His absence, His physical absence.

And He is pointing them to the future and how they would then live. And so He says in verse 15, if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The Holy Spirit is present, permeates the entire story of the Bible. In fact, the Bible is breathed out by the Holy Spirit, preserving the record of God's revelation, the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, inspired by God by His Spirit, breathing out the words of Scripture. And of course therefore, the Spirit is present in the telling of the story of Jesus when He came to earth. All that we know really about Jesus Christ we find in the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit. So in the telling of the story of Jesus, in the telling of the story of Christmas, the Holy Spirit is always present. And specifically present, for example, when the angel came and made the announcement to Mary that she would deliver the Christ child, she wondered at this.

And she asked, how can this be since I have never known physically a man? And the angel answered her and said in verse 35 of Luke's Gospel chapter 1, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

Key component, core conviction of the Christian faith is Christ is born of a virgin. That Mary was overshadowed by the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is present at the conception of Jesus before His birth.

Later on, Matthew chapter 1 and verses 18, the Bible, verse 18 it says, now the birth of Jesus took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. But as she considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, that is Joseph. Joseph son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

And she will bear a son and you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins. When Joseph heard these words, he was ready to put away his betrothed wife, his beloved Mary. But God the Holy Spirit convinced him that what was happening was a miracle indeed. Again, when you read the story of the birth of Christ and the childhood of Christ, it's in John's gospel. We're told that John the Baptist, the first cousin of Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. We believe that life, according to the scripture begins in the womb.

Conception takes place and life begins. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb and he was kicking away. Elizabeth, the mother of John, she also according to the story of Christmas first, Christmas was filled with the Holy Spirit and then the father of John the Baptist, Zachariah, spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Later on when Mary and Joseph brought the young Jesus, the Christ child to meet Simeon, a man who had been given a promise that he would not see death until he witnessed the Messiah when Simeon embraced the Christ child in his arms. We're told that he was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. So all the way through and much more behind the scenes even, the Holy Spirit is moving, the Holy Spirit is working. Whether it is in the arrangement of the taxation of Mary and Joseph that would bring them to Bethlehem, whether it was in the shepherds watching over their flocks by night, whether it is in the directing of the event, in the details of everything that took place, God by His Spirit is stirring, God is surprising, God is moving, His Spirit is working.

This is a great reminder to all of us that what happened then happens now. God's Spirit is always working, always leading us, always strengthening us, always surprising us, always arranging our lives. What is it that makes the Christian faith, Christianity different from all the religions of the world?

It is the fact that God indwells His people. The difference of Christ in us, alive in us, that His Spirit indwells us to believe is to receive Christ and therefore to receive the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches when we become believers, followers of Jesus, that the Spirit of the living God, the very presence of Jesus, who was born in a manger is now born to us. Christmas means God is with us, He is Emmanuel, it means God is for us, He loves you with an everlasting love, He came to save His people from their sins, and it means that God not only is for us and God is with us, but now God is in us. Now, let me remind you that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an it, not an influence, not an inanimate force in the world. When we speak of the Spirit of Christmas or Christmas Spirit, we're not talking about just excitement or enthusiasm like team spirit. No, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Three in one, one in three. This is the mystery of the Trinity. The Apostle Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. But the Holy Spirit is just as much God as Jesus is God, as much God as the Father is God, He is God. The Spirit of God is not a feeling or a force, but a fact, a reality in the believer's life. So the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Spirit, you know why He's called the third person?

Not because He is the least of the three, but because He is the last full revelation of God. You know, many Christians have been to Bethlehem and to Calvary for pardon, but they've never been to Pentecost for power. The power of the Holy Spirit. No wonder so many Christians are living defeated, even disillusioned lives. Because as one young man said to me years ago, I've tried Christianity and it's just not working for me.

And maybe you've felt that way in the past. I've tried being a Christian. I've tried hard to live the Christian life and it's just not working for me.

You look at so many marriages. You would see that in so many homes today it's anything but a Spirit-filled, Christ-filled home and family. What we need in this country today, what the world needs most is a fresh wind blowing, the power, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is the Spirit of Christmas. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Born in Us Today. We hope you're enjoying today's message. And we're excited to share that for a limited time, your gift to PowerPoint will be doubled up to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Thanks to a generous matching grant to say thanks for your gift today. We'll send you the most popular and encouraging messages from this past year together in one collection called The Best of Twenty Twenty One. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request The Best of Twenty Twenty One is our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven nine five four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven nine five four six two seven.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to three one three one three one text PowerPoint to three one three one three one. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham dot o r g where you can shop our store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our Web site again is Jack Graham dot o r g. Now let's get back to today's message, Born in Us Today. We can't live the Christian life, but he promised that he will send the Spirit to enable us. Have you made the discovery that the Christian life is not hard?

It's impossible in our own strength, our own human effort. But the good news of Christmas, Christmas then and Christmas now, is that Christ has come and the Spirit has come to bring us life, to empower us with His presence. He transforms the Spirit of God the way we think. He shows us the will of God, the ways of God. He comforts us in life's biggest battles and most tumultuous tests and sorrows. He uses us to proclaim the gospel. And God is looking for ordinary people to do extraordinary things with us as we yield to the Spirit of God in our lives.

The Christmas Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. You know what the Holy Spirit does in our lives? This person who is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ? Well, we are saved by the work of the Holy Spirit. Did you know that it is impossible for you to be saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? You don't just decide one day, oh, I'm going to become a Christian.

No. The Spirit of God woos you and wins you. The Holy Spirit convicts you. Jesus said in this same upper room conversation with His disciples that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. You cannot be saved apart of the converting work of the Holy Spirit, the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit within. We are secured by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 1, 6, He who began the good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. We are saved and we are kept by the work of the Holy Spirit. Not only secured, we are assured by the Holy Spirit.

In Romans chapter 8 and verse 16, we're told that the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Do you know you're saved? How do you know you're saved? These things are written that you might know that you have eternal life. You can see in God's Word that you are saved, but there's something else.

There's something more. His Spirit is within you. The witness of the Spirit convincing you that you are a child of God. That's what the Bible says. I know that I'm saved.

You're looking at a man. I know that I know that I am saved. You say, well, that's arrogance.

No, it's not. I'm not bragging on me. I'm bragging on the one who saved me. Because the one who saved me has now secured me, and there is this witness within. The Bible says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Once you experience Jesus in your life, the Holy Spirit enlivens us, enables us to see Jesus, to know Jesus, and we are assured. We understand the Bible because of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is speaking now through His Word, through His messenger. The Holy Spirit not only inspired the Bible, breathed it out word by word, but the Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible.

That is, He gives us the light to understand it and interprets the Bible. We have the Holy Spirit as our teacher. Jesus said in that passage we just read that the Holy Spirit will help you remember all the things that I've said to you. We also, we pray in the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 26, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.

Remember, He's the Helper. So He helps us to pray. We don't know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with us with groanings too deep for words. All of us have been on our knees, on our faces at times, not knowing how to pray, what to pray. But you have a prayer partner. The Holy Spirit prays and intercedes within you.

So you just cry out to God, let the Holy Spirit take your prayers into the presence of the Lord. We serve God in the power of the Holy Spirit. God has given us spiritual gifts.

We're going to be giving gifts this Christmas to our families and friends. Well, when the Holy Spirit came into our lives, He came bearing gifts, spiritual gifts. And these gifts enable us specifically and strategically to serve Christ. We are to witness in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our witness is feeble apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, before the disciples were to go into all the world, Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Wait until My Spirit, and they did exactly as He said because in Acts chapter 1, 8, Jesus said, But you shall be My witnesses after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world. Are you witnessing this season of the year? Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and use you to invite, to bring, to witness to someone that they may come to Christ this Christmas season. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? That's the work of the Holy Spirit.

You say, I don't know how to do that. The Holy Spirit will take your words and your witness and use it to bring people for Christ. Remember, I said God is looking for ordinary people to walk in dependence and obedience to Christ in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Let me give you three take-homes. One, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells us. You don't have to plead, beg, borrow, ask, cajole the Holy Spirit to fill you if Christ is in you, if you are a believer. Because when you become a believer, you are immersed, you are baptized by the Holy Spirit, placed into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells you. The moment you are saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. This is what salvation is all about, God in you. And therefore, you don't need a second blessing or a third blessing. You got the blessing when the blesser, Jesus, came to live in you.

And you can spend the rest of your life enjoying the blessing and experiencing blessing after blessing after blessing because of the first blessing of Christ in you. So, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christmas, He permanently indwells us. Secondly, He powerfully infills us. He powerfully infills us. His presence means power and enabling. But so many Christians are fatigued and frustrated and failing in their Christian lives because they don't know this secret, which is an open secret really, that you have the Spirit of God in you.

And then finally, He personally invests in us. The Holy Spirit, as Jesus noted, will be in you. He will show you the Father.

He will reproduce my works in you. The Holy Spirit is the comforter. The word helper that you see there in your Bible is the word paraclete. And it means one called alongside. It means comforter. It means helper. It means encourager. The Holy Spirit is our counselor, our encourager, better than any human encouragement that you could ever experience. We, in our help series, spoke often of the need to get help. But ultimately, greater than what any human being can ever do for you is the helper, the Holy Spirit of God, who puts His arms around us and encourages us and says, Don't give up.

Keep going. Who wipes away the tears from our eyes and comforts us, strengthens us to keep going. David, when he was destined for the throne of Israel, already anointed, he was on the run from Saul and spinning his wheels in the desert often. And then while he was there with a band of fugitives of the government, really, he was attacked. His wife and family, his children were taken.

The Amalekites came in and raided their encampment and it was a disaster. And they were getting ready to stone David. He could have given up.

He could have given in, but what did he do? The Bible says that David encouraged himself in the Lord. How many times in our lives, when we found ourselves beaten and broken, that we have just come to the Lord, our comforter, our helper, our encourager, and we have found in Him the comfort and the encouragement, the dear Holy Spirit who carries us, who holds us close.

He is real. I can't tell you how many times I've walked a trail of tears with families and friends to funerals and gravesites, hospital rooms, and prayed for the Holy Spirit of God to minister His grace and His help and His healing, to wipe away those salty tears. And we have seen the Spirit of God bring hope and healing. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The world will beat you down and beat you up, but the Holy Spirit will build you up. If you need a fresh work of God in your life, what happened at Bethlehem so long ago when Christ came can happen into your life today because the Holy Spirit will come again. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Born in Us Today. As we prepare to step into our 28th year of ministry, generous partners like you are enabling PowerPoint to harness technology, to take the gospel into closed countries and hard to reach regions, and lives are being transformed by Christ. But in order to seize every opportunity God sends our way, your support is vital to ensure PowerPoint finishes this year on a strong financial footing. That's why we're excited to share that some generous friends have offered to double your gift this month, up to $150,000.

To say thanks for your gift, we'll send you the best of 2021, a CD collection featuring 10 popular messages from this past year that will help you deepen your faith. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request the best of 2021 as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Every one of us needs to walk in the Holy Spirit in order to get done what God wants us to get done. The life of the Spirit is the normal Christian life.

It's not something that is so strange and bizarre that you wouldn't want to have it. In other words, the Spirit for life is not an esoteric experience, just mere emotionalism or extremism. But it is the daily normal walk of the Christian filled with the Spirit, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. Some people, unfortunately, are more interested in the feeling of the Spirit than in the filling of the Spirit. But when the Holy Spirit fills us, we will be his witnesses.

We will exhibit godly character in our lives, and we will be able to do and to get done what God wants us to get done every single day. So, do you want the Holy Spirit to fill your life? Do you want him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to control you? Do you want to live for his glory? Then right now, thank him for his presence in your life.

If you're a Christian, if you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, he lives in you. And he wants now to control your life. So, yield control to him.

Give him charge of your life. Confess your sin. If there's anything in your life that's blocking the power, the flow of the Spirit in your life, ask God to remove that.

Confess your sin and turn from your sin, and then ask him with faith to fill you with his Spirit, and then watch God work in your life. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled and we'll send you the best of 2021.

Message series is our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And join Dr. Graham next time as he brings a message about how God promises to fill your life with his power and his glory. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.