Acts 13:1-12: Not by nor by power but by the Spirit says the Lord.
Notes
Transcript
We live in a time of competing stories, confusion, anger, and fear has filled our society. We want to act, to set things right, to bring order and end the confusion. Yet we too find ourselves motivated by anger and fear. We too find ourselves responding in confusion.
There are two great temptations for the Church today.
To hide in seclusion from the troubles of this world. Hoping the world will just go back to normal so we can live the good life we had.
To jump into action, taking the weapons of this world to subject those who threaten our normal life.
Today, I want to remind us of a great truth we often forget in times like these.
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
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Today’s passage I pray will remind us, that General is not our emotions, not our agendas, not our desires but, rather our General is the Holy Spirit.
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
It is the Holy Spirit Who Calls, Sends, and Gives Victory to the Gospel!
It is the Holy Spirit Who Calls, Sends, and Gives Victory to the Gospel!
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The calling, sending and defending of the Holy Spirit requires we hear him.
The calling, sending and defending of the Holy Spirit requires we hear him.
How Can We Know We Are Following the Holy Spirit and Not Ourselves or the Spirit of this Age?
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We need to be still and know He is God.
We need to be still and know He is God.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
With all the noise in the world today, we more than ever need to be still before we react.
With all the noise in the world today, we more than ever need to be still before we react.
turn off the news / step away from social media / Get quiet and listen!
But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
If Jesus withdrew from ministry to be still and hear God
Maybe we should withdraw from all the white noise in the world and be still and know He is God.
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We Must be Able to Distinguish Between the Fruit of the Spirit and the Fruit of the Flesh.
We Must be Able to Distinguish Between the Fruit of the Spirit and the Fruit of the Flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Graphic that compares the differences.
You may have miracles, charisma, a following, but if the ministry is not motivated and saturated in the fruit of the Spirit you are not being a minister of the Holy Spirit but of the spirit of this age.
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Cling to Jesus
Cling to Jesus
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Cling to Jesus not a political party
Cling to Jesus not a social movement
Cling to Jesus not a liberal or conservative philosophy
Cling to Jesus not your social status
Cling to Jesus and nothing else!!!
Cling to Jesus and nothing else!!!
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