Podcasts about holy spirit so

“I believe in the Holy Spirit” So, starts the Creed's third paragraph. From the creating work of the Father and the rescue work of the Son, we now turn to the re-creating work of the Spirit, whereby we are made new in and through Christ. Join Pastors Kirk Sexton and Bruce Johnson as we discuss the theology surrounding the Holy Spirit and the doctrine of the Trinity.

Guidance  Perhaps this is one of the questions that Christians ask at one time or another: "How does God guide me?" Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Isaiah 6:8: "Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." When Jesus Christ called you personally and said: "Follow Me!" and you responded "YES, Lord!" that was the start of a beautiful relationship between the Living God and yourself.   Perhaps the most common question all Christian Disciples ask is "How can I know God's will and His guidance?"  Now of course, being active in prayer and studying the Bible play major roles, in this and they are assured ways of building the relationship between God and yourself.  We will discover that are other aspects to be considered about being guided, and discerning what is God's will for you and I.  These involve being controlled by the Holy Spirit, through counsel and circumstances and through making wise decisions. 1. Controlled by the Holy Spirit So firstly, the Christian Disciple is guided by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Another way to say this is by submitting to the Spirit's leading.  Fundamental to being guided by the Spirit, is for you and I to be filled with the Spirit and to keep on being filled with the Spirit, or controlled by the Spirit.  When the Spirit is quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or grieved (Ephesians 4:30), then the Spirit no long has control of you and I.  In order to allow the Spirit control of us, we need to resubmit ourselves to God! It is a good daily practice for you and I to do the following on a daily basis. Confess all known sin (1 John 1:9) and accept unreservedly the certain assurance of being forgiven for your sins including the sin of quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit. Sin is sin and there are no degrees of sin, big or small, it just is... Any sin creates a barrier whether (in our earthly terminology) it is a big sin like murder or a small sin like lying... Homosexuality and pornography are just as bad as lusting after that girl who just walked by - all are adultery.... That's one of the reasons the Pharisees got it so mixed up and why Jesus Christ was indignant with scorn towards them misleading people. Devote to being a living sacrifice for Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2) Enable the Holy Spirit to convict you of anything wrong and sinful in your life (Psalm 139:23-24) Seeks the Holy Spirit's divine power in order to serve Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 3:16) and to do all things for glory of Jesus Christ, for this is one of the prime roles of the Holy Spirit, and sadly, often a neglected part of the Holy Spirit's role in the life of the believer. Additionally, part of being controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Christian Disciple is to yield to Him.  Romans 6:13 and James 4:7 command this.  In yielding to the Holy Spirit, the body (1 Corinthians 6:20) and mind (Romans 12:1-2) are given to Him sacrificially for the glory of Jesus Christ.  Both the body and the mind are yielded, because the body activates what is conceived in the mind.  It is a total dedication of all thoughts, plans and actions into God's hands and the seeking of His divine wisdom. Being guided by the Holy Spirit is illustrated in Acts 16:6-10 where Paul and his group of people acted quickly!  "Paul and his companions went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas. That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans." 2. Counsel and Circumstances Additionally to submitting to the Holy Spirit, other people and circumstances are also great helps in regards to guidance.  Proverbs 24 reminds us that: "The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.  So don't go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many advisers.  Wisdom is too lofty for fools. Among leaders at the city gate, they have nothing to say." We may not be going into physical war, but seeking the advice of others in trying to understand God's guidance, plays an important role in deciding God's will in the life of the Christian Disciple.  When seeking the advice of others, we should bear in mind that the person should be a reliable, godly and faithful servant of God - and know us well.  As Proverbs 25:19 says "Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot". However, as Christian s we must also be aware that even the godliest of people make mistakes, such as Nathan the prophet when he exhorted David to build the temple in 2 Samuel 7.  In the end, each of us alone, is responsible for our own actions and for discerning God's guidance for themselves. Then we also have circumstances, which are a great learning tool.  Circumstances surround us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  However, as Christians we are to live above all circumstances, while being mindful of them.  Through circumstances, God often disclosed his perfect will.  As Paul writes in Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Some examples of where God's will was discovered through circumstances include: Abraham being asked to substitute a ram caught in a thicket for his son, Isaac (Genesis 22). God arranging for Pharaoh's daughter to be bathing in the River Nile as the baby Moses floated by (Exodus 2). Paul's nephew over hearing a plot to murder Paul, and then reporting it to the authorities and therefore saving Paul's life (Acts 23). Now some may sceptically claim that these are purely coincidental, but if they are, and all others like these are, its an awful lot of coincidence! 3.  Wise Decisions: Now, its all very well to say that we are to make wise decisions. That would seem obvious!  But how do we go about it? A great way is by endeavouring to maintain a right attitude, and asking ourselves the following questions: Have I prayed and meditated on God's Word regarding the decision? Have I given every area of my life to Jesus Christ? Am I prepared to be obedient to God? (Proverbs 3:5-7) Am I willing to sacrifice my desires for God's Will? Do I truly love and acting lovingly towards other people? It should not control me habitually (1 Corinthians 6:12) Will it cause another person to sin/stumble? (1 Corinthians 8:9-13) Does it build Christian character? (1 Corinthians 10:23) Does it bring glory to God? (1 Corinthians 10:31) Can I thank God for this activity - could Jesus accompany me? If in doubt, throw it out! (Romans 14:22-23) Abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)   For more to think about please do read Isaiah 6. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them.  Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together. Q1. Am I willing to do whatever God commands me to do? Q2. Am I willing to be humble enough to ask other people's advice? Q3. Am I willing to sacrifice my desires so that God's Will is achieved and His glory acclaimed?  Tap here or right mouse click to save/download this audio Podcast as a MP3 file You can now purchase our Partakers books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site! Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

Luke 13.10-17 & Hebrews 12.18-29 -- We conclude our series with Wesley's third general rule: Stay in Love with God (attend to all the ordinances of God). When it comes to justice, we must begin with our own relationship with God. How can we see God's justice if we are not in relationship with God through the means of grace made available through the Holy Spirit? So often today we hear many voices from multiple sides of justice issues all claiming to be speaking the truth. How can we stay grounded in truth in a way that is responsibly biblically responsible (not a typo)? What is our relationship with God? Is it like Mt. Sinai or Mt. Zion from Hebrews 12? Are we like the synagogue leader from Luke 13 or Jesus? We must attend to our own souls if we hope to ever attend to the world around us from the perspective of God. If we wish to be in pursuit of God's life made available to us, we must walk our faith with the utmost serious devotion and allegiance to the Holy Spirit who promises to shake us up and help us reach perfection. Upon what do we build our foundation in our faith? How do our choices speak to our motivations, our allegiance, and our devotion? The Flip-Side of God's justice is an unshakeable joy. Are we ready for to find it?

This message is designed to help you see that the purpose of work is all about displaying the glory and character of God. God, the Creator, is a laborer and He sees work as a good and valuable attribute. In John 14-10-12, especially verse 12, Jesus declares that the disciples will become workers of the works of God as was Jesus and testify about Him with the wonderful works of God, the Father. Working the work from God, the Father, to Jesus, the Son, to those who do the work of believing in Jesus. And where does the ability and power to believe in Jesus come from-- The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit- So the circle is completed-- It begins and ends with the workings of God---

How I Came to Credo Baptist Convictions Hi, I'm Andy Davis. I'm Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church. I was wondering, with a number of you, if I would remember how to preach, I hope so. Someone likened it to roller skating, which made me a little nervous. I grew up ice skating and I had a mishap the first time I roller skated a few years ago. But yeah, about two months ago, I don't remember the exact number of weeks, I was preaching along in 1 Corinthians 1:1-17 and just making my way through that text and this little thing, this clock was... I thought it was lying to me, but it wasn't, it was like quarter of, and I was about two-thirds of the way through that sermon and I knew I wasn't going to be preaching for about two months, so I said, "Alright, what shall I do?" But I didn't worry about it because I had two months to figure it out. What I feel led to do is to go right back into that text and to try to pick up on Paul's argument. He is dealing with the factions and divisions in the Corinthian church, but he zeroes in on water baptism. And I want to talk, having laid the groundwork, the context of his comments on water baptism, to talk about the significance of water baptism, the limitations of water baptism and just give you an understanding of that ordinance. So that's what we're going to do this morning. Now, I myself was baptized in the Ipswich River in Massachusetts in the early summer of 1984 by Mark Dever. He was pastor of a church that we were planting up there. And I'm telling you right now, in the early summer, Ipswich River flows with water that has recently been snow and ice. So it was a vigorous experience that I had. I mean, it was a spiritual experience. And I have the photo on my phone, I was actually going to bring it, I was going to project that photo on the screen while I preached, but I thought better of it at multiple levels. First of all, I'm just not big on projecting images while I preach. But when I looked again at the photo, it had been a number of years since I've seen it, I was like, "Okay, yeah, we're not putting that up on the screen." First of all, my hair was a lot longer and thicker. It's always tended toward bushiness. Mark Dever was wearing a... If you could call it a graphic tee, you have to understand in 1984 the science of graphic tees hadn't developed much. So Mark was wearing a shirt, a blue shirt that said in very small letters, "Mark." Okay. And I was wearing tennis shorts that were popular back then and if you know anything about what the tennis players wore back then you can picture it. So I'm not showing that picture to you. But what happened was, I'd been a Christian for a very short time, less than two years at that point, and I was led to faith in Christ while a student at MIT by a parachurch group, Campus Crusade for Christ, and I was immediately discipled by a very skillful man, a godly man named Tim Schuman. And he poured into me lots and lots of helpful things in the Christian life, Bible study, evangelism, concern for missions, so many things. But many parachurch groups do not really focus on local church involvement, it's not really a strength. And so, water baptism just really never came up. Until a year into my discipleship with Tim, we started doing evangelism in the college campuses there in the Boston area, MIT, Harvard, BU, Northeastern, and we kept running into a cult there called the Boston Church of Christ. Now, the Boston Church of Christ is a cult, they have a branch here in the Triangle region called the Triangle Church of Christ. As a denomination, all churches of Christ are kind of a schismatic group broken off from the baptistic movement that goes beyond to something known as baptismal regeneration. And baptismal regeneration is the teaching that if you are not water baptized you cannot be saved, or more specifically, it's at the moment of water baptism that you are regenerate, that you are born again, that your sins are forgiven, which I think is not true. But I hadn't really developed many convictions and so as we're trying to refute these Church of Christ disciplers and evangelists on these campuses, Tim Schuman and I were going through the Scriptures and we were walking through the New Testament on water baptism, and I came to some very strong baptistic convictions. I came to believe that water baptism should be administered to people who can give a credible profession of being disciples of Jesus Christ, that they've come to faith in Christ, that's a basic baptistic conviction, but that water baptism was not required for heaven. And there were some verses that we studied and this one today, in which Paul says that, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel," was actually a key to my understanding. And so also some other verses that we're going to talk about today. But in the course of that study, I came to realize that I, having been born and raised as a Roman Catholic, I was baptized as an infant by another church that also teaches baptismal regeneration. Namely, the Roman Catholics. I didn't realize that this was true until as a believer many years into my Christian walk, I think it was already at seminary, I went to the infant baptism of a Roman Catholic family, I was invited to come, and the priest was there and was baptizing the infant and was declaring that at that moment the infant was now born again. And I said, "Wait, what?" I wanted to raise my hand and say, "Excuse me, can I ask a question?" I wanted to do all kinds of things, but it was not the time. But I came to realize years before that, that I had never been baptized really. Whatever it is that my parents did for me, I could not, in good conscience, call it baptism. And so, I needed to be water baptized as a believer. Now, I wasn't connected at that point with a church, but Mark and some others, including me, were starting a Southern Baptist church there, near Gordon-Conwell. So I started talking to Mark about water baptism, and I was baptized in the Ipswich River. Return to 1 Corinthians 1. Now, as we return this morning to 1 Corinthians 1, I want to talk about the issue at hand, what Paul's dealing with here, which is factions and divisions in the Corinthian church. But then I want to go off and talk some about the theology of water baptism. So that's what the sermon is going to be today. Now, in the first number of verses in 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul greets the church that he helped plant by preaching the Word, and he gives thanks for them, he wishes grace and peace to them, as he always does in his apostolic reading, gives thanks for the sovereign grace of God at work in their lives. He gives them a sense of confidence, that grip of grace by which Christ has seized hold of them, that he will continue and protect them until they are finally saved and in heaven. And so he's confident and he thanks God, he thanks God for their spiritual gifts and speaking and knowledge, but then he rolls up his sleeves, and he begins to address the many problems that we're going to be following in this epistle in 1 Corinthians, and the first is factions and divisions. Now, these divisions were a huge issue in the life of this Corinthian church, this local church. And indeed, it is a huge issue for churches all over the world: Factions, divisions, disputes, dissensions, arguments, conflicts. This is common in local churches around the world and it's grievous to have to say so, and it's a huge issue. Sinners divide from each other, sinners argue with each other, sinners do not get along with each other, sinners are prideful with each other, sinners force their own way with each other and push their own agenda with each other, and churches are made up of sinners. And so this is going on all the time. Now, in Corinth it's articulated in this way, Paul hears that there are factions and divisions. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul." Another says, "I follow Apollos," and another says, "I follow Cephas," and another says, "I follow Christ." And you can imagine how the arguments would go. "I follow Paul, he planted this church to begin with." "Oh, yeah? Well, I follow Apollos, he's far more articulate and a better speaker than Paul." "Well, I follow Cephas, Peter, he's the apostle back in Jerusalem, he's the key apostle, he was an apostle before Paul was." "Oh, yeah? Well, I follow Christ better than all of you." Factions and divisions. And these divisions were a work of Satan in their midst. Now, the Greek mythology back then, there were lots of stories of the Greeks' gods and goddesses. But there's this one story that all of the Greeks would have known, about how the war between Troy and Sparta started. Some of you are aware of this story. The gods and goddesses were together having a big heavenly party, in Elysium or wherever they were. And there was a goddess that wasn't invited, Eris, the goddess of discord. Gee, I wonder why she wasn't invited. Can you imagine that being your job description, to sow discord and division everywhere you go? Well, she was so put out with the gods and goddesses that she decided to get her revenge and she crafted a beautiful golden apple and inscribed on it, "For the fairest, for the most beautiful," and rolls it in amongst the goddesses. Well, they immediately started fighting. Here are the queen goddess, and Aphrodite, and Athena, and they're all fighting. And it led eventually to the war between Troy and Sparta. Now, that's all myth, but there is, I think, a god of discord and his name is Satan, and he loves to roll that golden apple of discord in amongst Christian people, he's been doing it for 20 centuries and, as Paul says, "We're not unaware of his schemes," we need to be willing to stand up and fight. So he's dealing with this issue of factions, "I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ." And he's going to return to this topic, he develops it here and then he's going to return to it and settle it in chapter 3 by really minimizing himself. “What after all is Paul? What is Apollos? Only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord assigned to each one his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” We are nothing, that's what he's saying. So here he says it this way, I follow Apollos, he says, "Is Christ divided?" Look at verse 13, "Is Christ divided?" Are we really rent apart?" What he's going to end up saying is, "You get it all, all things are yours, you get Paul and Apollos and Cephas and best of all, you get Christ." And anything Paul brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through Paul and anything Apollos brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through Apollos, and anything that Peter brings to the table, it's really Christ blessing you through him. But we're just vehicles, we are nothing. Christ is everything. And so he says, "Is Christ divided?" And he says, "The focus should be on Christ. Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" I wonder what Martin Luther would think about people being called Lutherans. I don't have to wonder at all. It would be appalling to him. Was Martin Luther crucified for you? That's what he's saying. Paul's saying, "I didn't die for your sins. I'm not the incarnate Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life and won a perfect righteousness that he's willing to give you as a free gift," this is the gospel. "And not only that, but willing to take all of your sins and rebellions on himself and die in your place at the cross. I didn't do any of that. I just told you about him. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? You were baptized in the Christ's name not into mine." I. Paul Puts Himself and Water Baptism in its Place So then he somewhat, it seems, puts water baptism in its place. And this is really interesting. Look at verse 14-37, "I'm thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius so that none of you can say you were baptized into my name." "Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel." These are amazing statements. He says he's thankful he didn't baptize hardly any of them, Crispus and Gaius. Oh, yeah, also the household of Stephanas. It's a very interesting moment in inerrancy for you. Anyway, any of you that are into this, go ahead and work at that, but at any rate... Oh, yeah, also, but... And he's not saying they all weren't water baptized, they were, but he just delegated that task to others, it wasn't important who did the baptism. That's what he's saying. What matters is what it signified. He somewhat dismisses, "We're just servants." And then he makes his final statement in verse 17, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." Now, he's going to develop that over the next number of verses. We're not getting into that today, but how reliance on human wisdom and human heroes and human leaders would empty the cross of its power. We are nothing. Christ crucified and resurrected is everything. Now, I will say that this statement, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel," is a killer statement for baptismal regeneration. It should end it. Because if water baptism is required to go to heaven, then this statement is actually incredibly confusing. They would say water baptism to some degree is the gospel or an essential part of the gospel. Paul would say, "I disagree." So the bottom line alone is, Christ alone is the Savior and human messengers are merely servants. II. The Origin of Water Baptism Now, what I want to do is talk about water baptism, the significance of it, so I can try to just explain what it means biblically. Water baptism, immersion in water, the spiritual significance, was unknown in the Old Testament. It's not Old Testament ordinance that was brought over. It came up, it seems, during the intertestamental period when the Jews had been expelled out of the promised land because of their sins, northern kingdom under the Assyrians, the southern kingdom of Judah under the Babylonians, they were scattered, the dispersion, and everywhere they went, they continued to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Gentiles were converted to Judaism. And when they were, the men would be circumcised to become Jews, but they added another ritual, the ritual of washings, it seems, to say, "You Gentile dogs are dirty morally and you need to be washed with water so that you can become clean." And so, the Gentile converts would be washed. Suddenly, there came into Jewish history a man, unlike anyone who had ever been except one, Elijah, and this man was John the Baptist, and he was out in the desert, and he was proclaiming a whole new message. He was saying to the descendants of Abraham, to the Jewish people, "You need to be baptized too. You're as much on the outside as these Gentiles because of your sins." It says in Matthew 3:1-6, "In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' and people went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." Now, we need to stop and talk about the word itself, baptism. The word, the Greek word, baptidzo, from which we just bring the letters over and get baptized or baptist, means to plunge or immerse or sink or dip. Those are the ways that it's used. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, whenever the word baptidzo or baptisms, that kind of thing comes in, there's always a dipping or a plunging into a container of a liquid. So the priest would baptize, would dip his fingers into blood and then sprinkle the people. Two different actions, or a ship would sink or Naaman would wash himself in the Jordan River multiple times to be cleansed of his leprosy. Same word. Or you remember Jonathan dipped his staff into the end, into some honey and lifted it and tasted it, he dipped it in. So, it's a plunging action, it never means sprinkle or pour. There's always an immersion. So John the Baptist was immersing Jews in the Jordan River for their sins, as they were confessing their sins. Now, in the course of time, John's primary ministry, I'll never forget, John MacArthur said, "John the Baptist came to do three things: To prepare the way, proclaim the way, and get out of the way." I never forgot that. I think that's really, really good. So he was there proclaiming and doing all, preparing and then when Jesus came, he proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." But in the Matthew account, he's there in the midst of the baptism, water baptism and then Jesus comes and he's there. From John's gospel we learned, "I wouldn't have known him except the Holy Spirit descended and remained, and I knew who he was." And this is what John the Baptist said to Jesus, he said, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?" Now before Jesus came, John set the stage for Jesus, and he said, "After me will come one more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." Why do you say that, John? Why is he so much greater than you? He has, actually, a number of answers to that, but he zeroes in on the baptism. "I know he's greater because his baptism's greater than mine." "I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one more powerful than I, whose sandals I'm not fit to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering up the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Wow, that's how John preached. Powerful. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Or the Baptism of Fire Now, the key with this is... Again, the word baptize means immerse. He will plunge you in the Holy Spirit and fire. How do you understand that? Well, the key is the fire, he's very clear about the fire. He's going to be clearing his threshing floor of wheat and chaff. Chaff always represents the wicked and the chaff, or drawn away, in Psalm 1. They are the wicked, they're like chaff that's blown away. And so the chaff represents the wicked, and Jesus is going to come and he's going to clear his threshing floor. Everybody is going to get dealt with. You're either wheat or chaff, you're either righteous or wicked. And he's going to gather the wheat into the barn. But he's going to, listen to this, "Burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," as John preached in Matthew 3:12. Now, whenever you hear "unquenchable fire," you must think about Hell, which we learn in Revelation 20, is likened to a lake of fire. So he's going to plunge the wicked into a lake of fire. He's far greater, John is saying. That's the kind of power he has. But he will also immerse you in the Holy Spirit. So, I really sense he was speaking to a mixed group, a mixed assembly, some of them were his bitter enemies, talking about John the Baptist, and some were very repentant sinners. He's talking to a mixed group. I think we can change the "and" to "or. " Jesus will either immerse you in the Holy Spirit or he will immerse you in fire, that's how great he is. And he's going to clear his threshing floor. Jesus will baptize everyone in one or the other. And clearly not both, because I believe that he immerses you in the Holy Spirit leading to eternal life, or actually you could say that is the essence of our experience of eternal life here on Earth. Or he will immerse you in eternal death, condemnation. And so Jesus came at the right time, and John tries to stop him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?" But Jesus said, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." John consented. And Jesus was baptized by John, and as he came up out of the water, Heaven was opened and the Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus and remained on him, and a voice came from Heaven, "This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased." Now, Jesus was baptized not because he had any sin, but to show solidarity with John's ministry and methods, because a lot of that would be similar to what his disciples would do. They would preach repentance for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand and a need to repent from sins and then they would do water baptism, and so that's what happened, Jesus began doing his ministry there in Judea, and people were coming to him, and Jesus is making lots of disciples and was baptizing them. But then you find out this key statement in John 4:2, actually, it wasn't Jesus doing the baptism, but his disciples, Jesus didn't water baptize anyone. And I think the reason why was that would confuse the image. It's the same reason Jesus didn't take a wife, it wouldn't have been ungodly, it would just confuse the image, because the bride of Christ is the church. And so he didn't water baptize because the real baptism of Jesus is the Holy Spirit, but his disciples were baptized. III. The Command to Be Baptized... and to Baptize And then after he died on the cross for our sins, and won for us to salvation, freeing us from all of our sins. If you just believe the gospel message that I've already proclaimed to you this morning, if you just believe that God sent his son, he lived a sinless life, died on the cross for you, rose again from the dead. If you believe that, you have become his disciple, you're forgiven of all your sins. He sent his disciples worldwide with that message in the great commission. He said, "All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely, I am with you always to the end of the age." So therefore, everyone of Jesus' disciples, having been made a disciple by faith, should be water baptized, and water baptism is going to be a part of the spread of the gospel and the advance of the church worldwide. IV. Baptism with the Holy Spirit So, we need to understand then what it signifies. The water baptism signifies baptism of the Holy Spirit. After his resurrection, before his ascension to Heaven, Jesus had 40 days with his disciples to teach them many things. And in Acts 1:4-5, it says, "On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Well, that few days later was the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2, they were all assembled in one place and the day of Pentecost came, and "suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came and filled the whole house where they were sitting, and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each one of them, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." As the gospel spread more and more through the Book of Acts, more and more disciples trusted in Christ. People became disciples, they trusted in Christ, became disciples, and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, just as Peter said they would. There's Pentecost sermon there, at the end of Acts 2, "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' 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 for your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.'" And they did. Those who accepted the message were baptized. You hear that? The believers in the message, in the gospel, those were the ones that were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number, that began the church. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to breaking of bread and prayer, that was the start of the church, and wherever the gospel went after that, water baptism went. Now, what does it signify? Water baptism was one of the two ordinances of the Christian church. The other one, we're going to celebrate at the end of the message, the Lord's Supper. So we have water baptism and the Lord's Supper. We Baptists call them ordinances, because they were ordained or established by Jesus. Water baptism is an outward and visible symbol of an internal, spiritual reality, and I'm telling you, that reality is baptism with the Holy Spirit. You've already been baptized with the Spirit, now you're showing to the outside world that reality, so everyone can see. And we have had some wonderful baptisms right behind me. I have often been moved to tears by the stories of people and what God has done to bring them to faith in Christ, and I've seen baptisms. I myself was baptized, as I mentioned, in a cold river. Ron said it looked like a swamp, I think is because there was a log coming up out of the river, it was not a swamp. I was not baptized in a swamp, Ron. I appreciate it, but it was a river, it was flowing, alright. But I've been involved in baptisms at oceans and ponds, lakes, but mostly here. And it's a sign, it's a symbol to the people watching, so they can see the physical symbol of something that's already happened. V. The Significance of Water Baptism We Baptists would not water baptize somebody that we don't believe has already been baptized in the Spirit, by faith in Christ. And so that linking, I think, is reasonable to make, 'cause later in the same book, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greek, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." In other words, the moment you came into the Body of Christ, you were baptized into the body by the Spirit. So to be baptized with the Spirit means to be immersed in Christ, think about that. I am immersed in Jesus, I want you to keep that image. I am plunged into Jesus, he is the Spirit of Christ, after all. So by the Spirit, we're immersed in all that Christ is, we're immersed in his cleansing blood, we are immersed in his wisdom, we are immersed in his love, we are immersed in his power. We are immersed in his plan, we are immersed in Christ. I love St. Patrick's prayer, as St. Patrick said, "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I rise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me." It's an immersed life that we're talking about. Water baptism, also from Romans 6, represents union with Christ. There's not any difference between them, you must see, immersed in Christ, united with Christ, it's the same thing. But in Romans 6, Paul deals with the issue of sin in the Christian life, he says, "Don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death." You are immersed in Jesus' death. "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." So baptism signifies union, spiritual union with Jesus in his death and in his resurrection. Dead to sin, alive to God. That's what it symbolizes. So full immersion in water baptism does symbolize this union. As we lower the individual down in the water and the water covers them, and then we bring them up out of the water as a picture of resurrection. But I have come to believe that that's not the end of the baptism, that's not it. What are you raised up out of the water into? You are into an immersed life in the Holy Spirit, that's what walk in newness of life is all about. So the baptism doesn't actually stop when you're lifted up, it actually really begins at that point. And we are immersed in the Holy Spirit, immersed in Jesus for the rest of our lives, that's what we're talking about. VI. Proper Subjects and Mode of Baptism So what are the proper subjects and mode of baptism? Therefore, as I've said, baptism should be administered only to believers, to people who can give a creditable testimony, profession of faith in Christ, not to infants. There is not a single command that Christian parents should baptize their infants, there is not a single clear example of Christian parents baptizing their infants. There are actually no thematic precepts, if you understand the relationship with the covenants properly, by which you can make that argument. So therefore, we repudiate infant baptism, as I did by being water baptized in the Ipswich River. Now, keep in mind, Jewish fathers were clearly commanded to circumcise their sons in the Old Testament. There's chapter and verse on that, but there's no such commands for Christian parents concerning infant baptism. So we will baptize a person if this has happened. Romans 10, 9-10, "If you confess 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 confess and are saved." Alright, now, I just want to see if you guys are paying attention. Okay. Alright, what is the proper mode of baptism? Immersion or sprinkling? Immersion. Please tell me you've been listening. What does the Greek word mean? It means to immerse. I actually saw a very intelligent Presbyterian teacher, brilliant guy, argue that the best mode of immersion, he said baptism, but the best mode is sprinkling. It'd be like saying the best mode of immersion is sprinkling. They are two different actions, so we immerse, we immerse. VII. The Limitation of Water Baptism Now, let's limit water baptism, let's limit it. Water baptism doesn't save anyone automatically. There's nothing about water baptism that saves the soul. Neither is water baptism required for salvation. First, we've got this statement here, "Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel." We also have the thief on the cross, who was not water baptized, and yet Jesus said, "Today, you'll be with me in paradise." So water baptism isn't required; neither can we say it's the moment of justification, etcetera. And therefore, much of the so-called spread of the gospel in Europe, let's say, throughout Christendom, for about, I don't know, 15 centuries, in which there was forced mass baptisms. Have you ever heard of these things? Like some prince or king would think Jesus was the way to go, like... Well, I'm going to say specific names, Constantine, I hope he was genuinely converted, but he painted the Chi-Rho on the shields of his Roman soldiers, and that kind of pattern was regularly followed. Like in 988, Prince Vladimir, of the pagan Rus people, from which we get the word Russian or Russia, studied religions, decided his own paganism was wanting, and turned to what we would know as Greek Orthodoxy as the best religion he could find, better than the Muslims, better than paganism, so he became effectively an orthodox. And he decreed that all of his people should assemble at the river tomorrow or face the displeasure of the prince. So if you are one of his subjects, what are you going to do? I'd be at the river. And then, you're all like, "What do we do?" "Go in, go in the river, yes, go in." So we're in the river, alright. And then a priest came and said some words and then that was it. And in the account I read, which is a contemporary account, everyone was celebrating this huge influx of Christians and that Satan had been defeated. These folks didn't know anything about the gospel, they'd not been proclaimed to, nothing, they're not converted, they're still pagans. But then that was a Christian country, that went on in countries all over Europe. This we repudiate, we Baptists would never want governmental force on anybody pressing them toward becoming Christians, that's just anathema. We don't want those kind of human coercions and pressures, we want you to hear and be pressed from the inside to follow Christ and baptism and to obey. True baptism is something done by the Spirit, where as it says in the words of Ezekiel, he reaches down and takes out the heart of stone and puts in the heart of flesh. By the power of the Spirit, he transforms you, and by his spirit, he moves you to obey God's commands and his decrees and ordinances. That's the transformation that we're talking about. VIII. Applications Alright, applications. Well, more than anything, the proclamation of the gospel is central. It is essential to each one of you to believe in Christ, to trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. That's the key thing. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. And so that power is here now, by the proclamation of the gospel. Will you trust in him? Have you trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior? That's the key thing for the forgiveness of your sins. That's why Paul says in the next chapter, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." So if you confess your sins to God, if you believe in your heart that Christ is the Son of God, died on the cross in your place, rose from the dead, then you are forgiven of your sins. Now, the next question I want to ask is, have you testified to that by water baptism? It's one thing for me to stand here and say, "You don't have to be water baptized in order to be saved," but it's a whole different thing to refuse to be water baptized. Now, that's different. The thief on the cross had no opportunity, but I think if he had lived after that, and he had understood, he would have been water baptized. So you can't refuse. I'm just asking, I went a long time, I went a couple of years as a born again believer, who had not been water baptized. That might be the case for some of you. For me, I, as a church, I want to see lots of water baptisms. I want to see water baptisms of many types, those that are raised in good Christian homes, where their parents saturate their kids with the gospel from infancy, and at the right time, they come to faith in Christ and then testify it by water baptism, I love that. I also want to see others, and I've mentioned this, of a different category. I was lost, I met so-and-so, or a group of so-and-sos from your church, I don't mean it that way, but anyway, I met people from your church, they shared the gospel with me and now I'm here today testifying to faith in Christ. Don't you want to see a lot of those? We have to go out and win them. We have to go out and win those baptisms, those people. Now, we're not doing it so we can count the baptisms and send them into the state convention. That's not important. What matters is, each of those represent new lives in Christ. I want to see that. And if you have been baptized, I'm going to say a few things to you, "Don't trust in your water baptism." Don't say, "Well, at least I was baptized." If you're not living a holy life, you should seriously question whether you're born again. You need to know, Romans 6, "If you're baptized spiritually, you are baptized into his death." You should be living out that crucified life. You should count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, and live a holy life. That's the life that he wants. And just final word here, I want you to think of yourself as a baptized believer, as continually immersed in the Holy Spirit, in Christ. Christ inside you, Christ around you, in front of you, behind you, under you, over you, every moment immersed in Christ. When we were missionaries my wife and I, in Japan, we were in Tokushima, and it's a center of indigo dyeing, had been from the 10th century. Indigo is the color of blue jeans. And they would take white cloth, and they would immerse it, baptize it, they didn't call it baptism, but they would immerse it in a vat of purple dye. And the thing is, the longer they left it in there, the darker the color would become. The more the dye would influence the cloth, put it that way. You know, if any of you ever do Easter egg dyeing, have any of you done that? So you have a color, like let's say blue, and you put an egg in there, if you leave it in there for 10 seconds, and take it out, barely anything. It's like a pastel kind of light robin's egg blue. But if you put it in there and do what I did one time, which is forget about it, and then come back. If it's still an egg at all, you lift it up and it's a deep midnight blue. So I want to just set those analogies, those are just analogies, but I want you to be immersed in Christ. So the way He thinks is the way you think. We have the mind of Christ. And the way he lived, is the way that you will live. That is the baptized life. That's what I want to come in. And if so, you will see it in actual works of holiness, where you're putting sin to death by the Spirit. And works of evangelism were filled with the Spirit like Peter was. You can say, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven, given to men, by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12. That came from being filled with the Spirit. So we're going to be bold in evangelism, and holy in our private lives, as we're immersed, baptized by the Spirit. I'm going to pray now, and then we're going to go to the ordinance of the Lord Supper. And I'm going to pray that this experience will be an immersed experience. Do you know what I'm saying? That we are going to sense the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit in this ordinance. So, let's pray. Father, thank you for the Word of God, thank you for its truth, its power and its reality in our lives. And now, as we turn our attention to the Lord's Supper, Father, I pray that you would send forth the Holy Spirit of God, I pray that we would have a sense of being immersed in Christ in his death and his resurrection. That we would be immersed in the idea that some day we'll sit at table in Heaven with Jesus and with the redeemed. I pray that we'd be immersed in the fact that our sins have been forgiven, and that we're feasting on Christ and he is giving us nourishment. O God, send your Spirit that it would not be an empty ritual, but a powerful experience. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Transformation Tuesdays was inspired by the CD "The Jesus Question" by Matthew Kelly. Deacon Jimmy Ghiglione and Aaron Emig recap the Gospel from the prior Sunday and give action steps and resources to transform our lives for that week every Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. at Morris Hall from Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Collinsville, IL…A Spiritual Home from Everyone where we strive to Be, Grow and Make Disciples. Music and vocals provided by our parish choir. Deacon Jimmy: Hello, I’m Deacon Jimmy… Aaron Emig: And I’m Aaron Emig… And this week are celebrating the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time… And our question for the week is: What does the Kingdom of Heaven mean? This week’s Gospel come from: Matthew 13:44-52 Deacon Jimmy: I read once, The Kingdom of Heaven should be understood as the good life for all people and it begins in the present moment. In today's Gospel, the man who found treasure seized the moment for a new life when it came. He was willing to trade everything he had for this new-found treasure. So, must we. It doesn’t matter how old or how young you are, it’s never too late or too early in life. Please understand, God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us so much that He refuses to leave us just the way we are. Aaron Emig: Jesus again talks to us in parables… This time he explains what the kingdom of heaven is like… He compares it to the great riches of the world so people can understand… Like a buried treasure in a field… And pearls that are very valuable… The person that finds the treasure goes and gives up everything he owns to buy that field… The merchant also sells everything he owns just to have the pearls… For us to reach heaven we must give up our lives and possessions to do God’s will… Not our will but to serve God at every given moment… Are you willing to give up everything in your life to God’s will to reach heaven? Deacon Jimmy: If the Kingdom of Heaven starts right now, then it requires some action on our part. So, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth then, is more a verb than it is a noun. It is an action word. Jesus calls us to be an active part of this Kingdom of Heaven. Not just a by-stander but an active participant. God calls us all to be great Saints, don’t miss the opportunity. Start today, it’s just the right time. Aaron Emig: Not to be assumptive, but I’m assuming most people would like to go to heaven… Because we will be with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit… So, if that’s our ultimate goal in life then what do we need to do to get there? In Matthew 11:27 Jesus promises us this… “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” So, if Jesus will introduce us to Father… Then doesn’t it make common sense for all of us to build our personal relationship with Jesus? We need to become BFFs with Jesus through the daily gospel and prayer… So, he will he will send the Holy Spirit to guide us to do God the Father’s will here on earth… Deacon Jimmy: Wisdom Words of the Week are… "It doesn't matter if you're a late bloomer as long as you don't miss the flower show." Aaron Emig: The Transformation Tool is… A Quick Introduction to Bible CD by Matthew Kelly… I just listened to it again and picked up some more ideas… Just like we have heard stories from the Bible a few times… Each time they can have a different meaning to you based on where you are in your life… Again, Matthew gives a guide to really get the most out of the Bible… We are giving out free copies at Morris Hall each Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. Aaron Emig: Transformation Tuesday Prayer… “Jesus, how do You want me to transform my life today?” Deacon Jimmy: We would like to thank our parish choir for the music and vocals in our program. And God Bless you all from Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, a Spiritual Home for Everyone where we are striving to Be, Grow, and Make Disciples…

Acts 20 Guided by God to serve… I know what people think. They think that I work alone. That I enter a town like a lone superhero and boom – people are instantly wowed with my good news of salvation. That I am so intelligent, speaking things which are difficult to comprehend and without emotion. But you know what. Those people who think like that, are wrong. I don’t work alone. I am always surrounded by a great team of people. Check out these folk with me on this occasion, or will be soon – Luke, Sopater; Aristarchus and Secundus; Gaius; my dear son, Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus. A community of God’s people from different places working with me. It is for God’s sake that I work and am His. It is my conviction that the good news of salvation can be had by all, through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection from the dead. As for being without emotion, clearly, they have never met me and therefore misunderstand me. Emotions are part of the human experience and that is what I am, a mere human being used by the God I proclaim, worship and serve. I once was very different though. I was on a mission – a mission from God – or so I thought. A mission to defend God’s truth. It was my job to be God’s defender and root out the miscreants known as ‘The Way.’ Those people claiming that Jesus, Yeshua ben Joseph, had risen from the dead after being crucified. No way could God have a Son. That was blasphemy! Rubbish it was! It was! How could the Saviour of my people, the Jews, the Messiah, die on a cross – a Gentile cross at that - and be cursed by God? Patently absurd! Bald-faced and blatant blasphemy! No! No! No! It was my duty as a man zealous for the Law, to eradicate all those who were followers of this man, Jesus. Those heretics. Then… I still remember it as if it was yesterday. I was on the road to Damascus, embarking on my mission and boom! Suddenly a voice from heaven cried out “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” I asked who it was that was speaking and the voice spoke again “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” God had stopped me, arrested me (Philippians 3:12), shone his light upon me (2 Corinthians 4:6), and the mercy of God overflowed upon me (1 Timothy 1:14) and within me. Jesus is alive! WOW! It is true! Jesus is alive! Did you hear me? Jesus is alive! Jesus, the Messiah did die on a cross. But he came back to life, rising from the dead three days later just as He repeatedly said He would. Afterwards, he made many public appearances before He ascended back to God the Father. Then He appeared to me! Me! Saul of Tarsus! WOW! That was about 20 years ago now. Now I am on a different mission. A mission given undeniably to me, by God – a mission which is to tell the world, by all possible means, this good news of Jesus the Christ. I, now named Paul, am no longer an enemy of Jesus, but now His friend. A friend of God! God calls me, friend - converted from a persecutor to being one of His faithful followers. This conversion was a total transformation by God upon me. My attitudes, character & relationship with God, have all been transformed and for His glory alone. My God loves me! Me! Unbelievable, isn’t it? My conversion is real, God continuing to work in me, upon me and through me. So here we are today! Having just left that majestic city of Ephesus, where I spent the best part of the last 3 years. A city and people I love dearly – loved often with tears and joy. Recently as a result of my preaching and sharing the Good News of Jesus, some folk took exception and caused a riot. So, onwards to Jerusalem and the believers there. I have a gift for them. A wonderfully sacrificial gift from the Gentile churches, to the Church there in Jerusalem. It is a practical way of looking after the welfare of the Church of fellow believers there in the magnificent city of Jerusalem. The churches in Macedonia and Achaia, are wanting to make a practical contribution towards the Christians in Jerusalem . Headlong we go, guided by God and serving Him. I will catch up with Timothy and Erastus whom I have sent ahead of me! Firstly though, let’s look at the map so that you can see where I am and where we are going tonight. v1-2 – first we go north from Ephesus to Macedonia. I may just stay in Corinth for the winter. v3 – Then I will return through Macedonia instead of sailing to Syria v7-12 - Troas - Eutychus is raised from the dead by God v13 - By foot to Assos v14 - sailed to Mitylene v15 - sailed to Kos, Samos and Miletus v17 - Ephesus elders came to Miletus And still on our way to Jerusalem! We will get there, even if not directly! Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file ----more---- 1. Overview With that introduction, we come to tonight’s passage of Acts 20. We may just finish by midnight and hopefully nobody is sitting on any window sills to fall asleep and fall. The chapter, as you can see, breaks down into 3 sections. v1-6 - Paul in Macedonia and Greece v7-12 - Paul in Troas v13-39 - In this section, Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian leaders. We have the only sermon in the book of Acts, which is given by Paul to other Christians. All others are preached to those who were not Christian. As ever, there is a lot in this chapter for us. In preparation, as I read the passage, listened to it being read repeatedly and meditated on this chapter, two words came over and over to my mind. Two words which are important for the church today, just as they have been down through history. 2. Guidance How was Paul guided by God to fulfil God’s purposes and will? I know some people probably think that Paul was guided by God putting visible arrows in the sky, pointing Paul and his team in the right direction! Maybe you are one of those tonight, and if you are, then I am sorry to disappoint you by saying that is not how God guided Paul. As far as we know anyway! Another time, the Holy Spirit stopped Paul and his team from entering a place – twice. Acts 16:6-7 tells us this. How the Spirit stopped them, we don’t know, but soon afterwards, we find out why He did. God spoke to Paul in a vision. A vision whereby a man in Macedonia implored Paul to visit. So, Paul went and preached the Gospel there! But that was probably quite a rare event. So how was Paul primarily guided by God? I would like to suggest that in the main, Paul just used his brain. He set out where he wanted to go, and proceeded to go there. If he got stopped, he went somewhere else, just as we have seen here in this passage and in previous weeks here. We have that intriguing phrase in v22 “compelled by the Spirit” or as the New Living Translation puts it “bound by the Spirit”. What are we to make of that phrase? Is that in direct contrast to Paul using his mind to work things out, as some people today would suggest? By no means, no. Paul knew, as he has said, that he was to be in Jerusalem. He was obligated by his convictions. The Spirit was binding Paul to his inner conviction that Jerusalem was where he was to go. He also had that gift from the Gentile churches to give to the Jerusalem church. That thought also played on his conscience. He had undertaken the task and was honour bound to fulfil it. Therefore, Paul was bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem – bound by the Spirit through conviction and conscience. His overarching conviction was that people must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. It was his aim to preach that message everywhere he went. His conviction fed his aim in v24 “to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Paul was also guided by circumstances (v3). Once he had found out that the Jews had made a plot against him, Paul changed his plan and went back through Macedonia. It would have been easy for a boatload of Jewish opponents going as pilgrims to Jerusalem to get hold of Paul and dump his body overboard into the sea. Or with Eutychus in verse 10. When it occurred, do you think Paul had an internal debate with himself: “Hmmm. Is God guiding me to keep speaking now or is He wanting me to go help that lad?” Of course not! Paul saw the need, used his brain, went to the lad, prayed, held him and the lad was resuscitated. God also would have guided Paul through prayer into His purposes and direction. Perhaps that is why Paul went alone on his journey by land to Assos– to spend time with God alone and seek His face. So, Paul had set his face towards Jerusalem. Another way Paul used his mind in being guided by God, was by relating his future to his past. In this sermon, Paul says “You know” (in relation to his past in verses 18, 20 & 34) and “I know” (in relation to his future, in verses 23, 25 & 29). Paul had learnt the lessons of his past to help him in his future. All he knew that lay ahead, as he preached the Gospel, was that suffering and persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ was to be his. Of course, these are only some of the ways. He certainly also sought and used the counsel of others. How are we guided? 2a. Guidance So what can we learn from this, for us to put into practise in our life? We saw that Paul was guided by a vision, his brain, his convictions, his conscience, his circumstances, the past, prayer and wise counsel. Not a mystical arrow in the sky in sight! Perhaps the most common question we get asked is “How can I know God’s guidance for me – to know his purposes and will for me?” Controlled by the Holy Spirit So firstly, the Christian Disciple is guided by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. We see this clearly in evidence in the life of Paul. Another way to say this is by submitting to the God the Holy Spirit’s leading. Fundamental to being guided by the Spirit for the Christian is to be filled with the Spirit, or another way of saying it, is to be controlled by the Spirit. When the Spirit is quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or grieved (Ephesians 4:30), then the Holy Spirit no longer has control of us. To allow the Holy Spirit control, we need to resubmit ourselves to God. Part of being controlled by the Spirit is to enable Him to convict us of sin (Psalm 139:23-24), regularly confessing our sin (1 John 1:9) and accepting the assurance of being forgiven. Sins such as quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit. We are to go on devoting ourselves to being a living sacrifice for God (Romans 12:1-2) and seeking the Holy Spirit’s divine power and wisdom in order to serve Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 3:16). We show our devotion to God by yielding all things to Him, including our gifts and our plans. In yielding to the Holy Spirit, the body (1 Corinthians 6:20) and mind (Romans 12:1-2) are given to Him sacrificially for the glory of Jesus Christ. Both the body and the mind are yielded, because the body activates what is conceived in the mind (Proverbs 25:19). We are called to a total dedication of placing all thoughts, plans and actions into God’s hands and the seeking of His divine wisdom. We set out where we want to go and let God steer, accelerate or brake. Sometimes all three at once. It’s like driving a car. No point just sitting in the car hoping to get somewhere if you aren’t willing to turn it on and actually drive! So we start out and let God do the steering, accelerating and braking. Just as Paul has done here. Convictions and Conscience We saw tonight how God the Spirit leads through convictions and conscience. How are we doing at standing firm in our convictions and allowing God to refine them? How are we doing at allowing God to refine our conscience – pricking and poking it? Counsel and Circumstances In addition to submitting to the Holy Spirit, other people and circumstances are great helps in regard to guidance. We saw that earlier tonight with Paul. Seeking the advice of others in trying to understand God’s guidance, plays an important role in deciding God’s will in our life. The Ephesian Elders were certainly guided by God through the ministry of Paul. When seeking the advice of others bear in mind that the person should be a reliable, godly and faithful servant of God. How often have we not asked for advice because we don’t want to humble ourselves and actually ask for help and advice? Or am I alone in being like that? In the end, each of us as individuals is responsible for our own actions and for knowing God’s guidance for themselves. Then, again as we saw earlier, we have circumstances, which are a great learning tool. Circumstances surround us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through circumstances, God often discloses his perfect will and guidance. You can see examples of this in the lives of Abraham (Genesis 22); Moses (Exodus 2) and again, Paul (Acts 23). Lessons from the past Are we learning the lessons of our past, both individually as well as those passed down through Church history, to help us in our future – both individually and as a body? That is one reason we should be studying what has gone on before, in order to be ready for what is to come. 3. Service What did Paul do with that guidance? He served – served God and served others! Showed his love of God by loving others and serving both. That is our second word - service. 3a. Paul’s Service - How did he serve We see here, just in this passage, as we do elsewhere, Paul served where ever he was – in public spaces as well as in private spaces, such as homes. We see that Paul served God and showed that, by serving others. Serving others both in private and in public. He served groups of people, such as the leaders of the Ephesian church. As well as individuals, such as Eutychus. Paul overcome opposition while on his acts of service. Opposition as we saw last week in Acts 19. We see in v23 that Paul has been warned what is to come – persecution and suffering for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of God. What can we learn of Paul’s use of words and of his knowledge in his acts of service to God and others. We see that with words Paul challenged, comforted, encouraged, evangelized, healed, prayed, preached, taught, warned and worshipped – all with words. We also see that he worked manually with his hands, probably as a tentmaker. We see a couple of times where Paul says that he served with tears in his eyes, verses 19 & 31. That is not something we usually associate with him, is it? In all these ways of serving God, Paul showed that service of God, by serving others and being a consistent example to others – is a good witness for God to others. Paul knew, that he knew, that he knew, he was called by God to be a witness to the Gentiles of a loving God of mercy and grace. Let’s see just in this passage how Paul did that. v2 encouraged. v7 worshipped by sharing in the Lord’s Supper and s preached v10 Prayed v19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. v20-21 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. v24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. v25 preached the Kingdom v27 I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know v31 my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you. v34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and the needs of those who were with me. v35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need Not only do we see Paul encouraging others to go serve but we see other people serve as well, such as when they engaged in worship and the Lord’s supper. We also saw that God Himself serves by his grace and mercy. We know that the Son, Jesus Christ, was the greatest servant of all. One way, the Ephesian elders were to serve, amongst others. was by protecting their flock. To be on their guard and have their wits about them. They were to be on their guard for when wolves would enter amongst them to try and steal the sheep. Wolves as animals, hunt in packs and are predators. Collectively they use guile, intelligence, cunning and speed, panicking their prey and usually concentrating on the weaker prey. Their prey, as a collective defence, have a great sense of smell, good hearing, agility, speed, or sharp hooves. What Paul means as wolves, are those people being ear-tickling false teachers trying to lure people away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Wolves that knew nothing about the real gospel of Jesus Christ and repentance and are only in it for what they could get out of it. Ergo, the elders are to use their senses, their wisdom and knowledge to sense out these wolves. It wasn’t long after this, that we see that it did occur, just as Paul said it would. 3a. Service Once again, what can we take away with us tonight, so that we can go from here to live lives worthy of Jesus Christ? Just as Paul was gifted, so were the Ephesian elders. Eutychus obviously had the gift of falling asleep! Who has Spiritual Gifts? All of us here tonight have what we call spiritual Gifts. We know from other parts of the Bible, that God, through His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace bestows these gifts that belong to Him, upon His servants, you and I. These gifts are to be used primarily to bring glory to God! (1 Peter 4:11). That was Paul’s motive, as we saw earlier. They are opportunities for you and I to serve other people. Some gifts like teaching, helping or leadership quite possibly are enhancements of natural abilities. Whilst others like faith, healing and miracles are from the Holy Spirit’s empowerment alone. The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts The reason that the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to us Christians, so that the body of Christ is built up (Ephesians 4:12), for the common good of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7, 14:12) and “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:12). That was certainly evident in the life of Paul, even in our brief glimpse of him tonight. As all Christian people have gifts, we have a responsibility to discover and develop them (1 Timothy 4:14)! We are also, to help others discover and develop their gifting. Again, just as Paul did earlier. When was the last time that you and I did that? We are to discover, discern, develop and put into effect our spiritual gifts, so that God can be glorified and His church built up! Have you discovered your gifts of service yet? We are to employ our gifts & talents faithfully by asking God to continue their development, strengthening and opportunities to use them! We are to seek gifts that build up others, commands Paul (1 Corinthians 14:1-12). We are to ask God faithfully for gifts that give opportunity for service to God and others! Each of us here is creative in some way! How creative are you in your service of God and of others? Do not neglect or ignore your gifts and talents – the Church needs you. Church local and church universal. If you need help, ask somebody! How are you serving God – in this church and outside of church, in the workplace and at home? Where ever we go, work, rest or play – online or offline, we are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and serving Him. Serving Him in our office, our home and where ever we go. How are we doing at that? 3 quick questions to ask ourselves Q1. Am I willing to do whatever God commands me to do? Q2. Am I willing to be humble enough to ask other people’s advice? Q3. Am I willing to sacrifice my desires so that God’s Will is achieved and His glory acclaimed? How are we doing at looking out for wolves amongst us as warned by Paul? The church we used to belong to in London, would often hae people from the nearby Jehovah Witnesses or the Church of Scientology sneak in to visit the congregation after the services, to see if they could steal people away to join their cult. Usually by inviting their prey to do some form of “bible study.” But as Paul said, not only wolves from outside, also wolves from amongst us. I am sure it has happened here before. Let’s all be on our guard. Not primarily from what is taught up front, though do keep your minds active to hear what is being said. But more what happens after the service, particularly by others, and away from here during the week. Possibly evern from within the home groups. Let’s all be on our guard – for ourselves and for those that we know. Let’s use our own knowledge of Scripture, our common sense and our senses to sense out the wolves. Words Let’s have a look now to our words – our use of words. How are you and I doing in our use of words? Words are our central means of communication and miscommunication. Are the words you and I use, filled with grace, always of truth, healing, uplifting, encouraging and building up others! Words of comfort and of challenge – as appropriate. Serving others with your words. Sure, there are times when words are to be used for rebuking in love, but always used under the control of the Holy Spirit. The words we speak reflect our inner attitudes, our inner thoughts and our inner being. The words you speak and communicate reflect who you are. Just as mind do. If the words we communicate are derogatory, inflaming and cursory then that reflects your inner thoughts and attitudes. Your words and all your communication have the power to bring life, healing and encouragement but also on the contrary, have the power to bring corruption, degradation and death. Are we sometimes embarking on gossip, under the pretence of “sharing”? “You know, ooo listen, did you hear about such and such? “No! Really? WOW!” Let God Himself help us to use our words for the supreme glory of Jesus Christ! That is one of the ways in which you and I will truly be seen to be one of His disciples! Our words have power – we are to use them wisely. As for silence. Sometimes silence is golden. Proverbs 17:28 says “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” But at other times it too is misused. We stay silent when we should say something particularly encouraging and building up. We all at times ignore people in need of care, but use our silence against them. Am I alone in doing this? Conclusion As we go now, into the new week, let’s go with the confidence that God is guiding us when we ask him too, that we are to serve him where ever we go – work, home and play. As C.S. Lewis once said, “It is not your business to succeed, but to do right. When you have done so the rest lies with God.” Too many Christians are afraid to do something different, in case it fails or because they think it somehow goes against God. If it is against God, He will soon let you know! We are to use words to glorify God – words that comfort, challenge gently, heal and to communicate the Gospel to other people, those outside God’s Church. Our confidence, like Pauls, is to be in God and His words of grace. The words we use can heal people – heal their hurts. Our words of encouragement, can be a boost to others and ourselves, and glorifying to God. I know what it is like to be hurt by the words of others – people telling lies about me and gossiping – from the realms of fantasy. Even recently. But I also know beyond doubt that words can be a healing balm. Also recently. Daily I have to repent to God, of my misuse and abuse of words. I have to ask forgiveness of somebody I hurt with my words or my silence. Lastly, our knowledge. Let’s go on growing in knowledge – particularly knowledge of God, so we can pass that knowledge on. Bernard of Clairveaux in the 12th century once said: “There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is Curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is Vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.” I am convinced that is why Paul sought knowledge and to distribute what he knew – to serve God and others with love. Who will you share your knowledge of Jesus Christ with this week? How will you use your knowledge this week to be a help or encouragement of somebody else? Who will you protect from the wolves this week with your sensitivity, your sense and your knowledge of God? Let’s go from here knowing we are being guided by God and to serve His purposes and will. With v24 in mind, determined, where ever we go – work, home or play “to go on to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” We are not all called explicitly to be evangelists but we are called to do the work of an evangelist. We are not all called to be pastors and elders, that is shepherds of God’s people, but each of us can take care of others in our own inimitable way. May God continue to guide us as we serve him in word and deed. May God be glorified in each of our lives every day as effective witnesses for Him, in this town, our workplaces, this country and this world.    Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file   You can now purchase our Partakers books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site! Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!