Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts Series #29

Back to the Beginning: When Church was Church

*Following the Spirit of God*

*Acts 16:1-15*

 

The Holy Spirit, the 3rd Person of the Trinity.

We tend to take extremes in regards to the Holy Spirit.

We either elevate him to a place beyond what is scriptural … Remember that Jesus said he will "glorify the Son" … that he will not "speak his own words but the Son's"  so we are not to EXALT him OVER the son …

 

But … we often take the other extreme in some parts of the Church, we all but ignore him all together … we don't speak of him, we don't listen to him, but worst of all we don't obey him and follow him.

God in his wisdom, majesty and glory has chosen to manifest himself in three personalities, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit …

 

Let me list some things about the Holy Spirit for you that we might be sure and know who He is:

 

Ps 139:7 - He is Omnipresent /Where can I go from your Spirit?/

1 Cor 2:10,11 - He is Omniscient - /The Spirit searches all things … /

Gen 1:2 - He is Omnipotent -

Heb 9:14 - He is Eternal

Acts 5:3,4 - He is called God - / You have lied to the Holy Spirit, … lied to God/

Mt 28:19,20 - He is equal with the Father and the Son

Rom 8:27 - He has a mind -

1 Cor 2:10 - He searches out the human mind

1 Cor 12:11 - He has a will

Acts 16:6,7 - He forbids

Acts 16:10 - He leads

Acts 8:29 - He speaks

Rom 15:30 - He loves

Eph 4:30 - He grieves

Rom 8:26 - He prays

 

The Holy Spirit of God IS God … His leadership is NOT as from a subordinate leader.

He is leadership should not be seen as suggestions from a friendly neighbor across the backyard fence.

The Holy Spirit of God IS God and he knows the mind of the Father, the plans of the Godhead, the purposes of divinity and seeks to lead us into union with God's will, plan and purposes

 

What is it to be Led by the Spirit of God

 

What is it to Follow the Spirit of God ..

 

Well … it is not something out of a movie, it is not something to be romanticized

 

Let's read from the story of the early church from the Missionary Journey of Paul

 

*READ Acts 16:1-15*

 

 

Now this is a large passage and we could preach three or four sermons from here, but let me make 3 Important Observations regarding Following the Holy Spirit of God

 

He is altogether God

He is altogether Trustworthy

 

We must be altogether Obedient

 

We worry so much about the what ifs

What if I misunder stand him

What if I make the wrong move

What if I didn't really hear the Spirit

 

I would venture to say though, that we are certain of some areas where the Holy Spirit is leading.

Perhaps we are uncertain about the results of obedience

 

Well Let me Give you Some Reasons today why NOT to follow the Spirit of God … That's RIGHT … reasons why NOT to follow the Holy Spirit.

Because Following the Holy Spirit can be Dangerous …

 

So Reason Number One

 

 

*1.

Following the Spirit of God Costs you MORE than you Thought*

 

Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit Paul invites Timothy along on the mission trip.

Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit Timothy agrees …

 

Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Something happens that the scripture just runs right by … /"so he circumcised him because of the Jews …"/

 

Hey folks this is not just like … "So, Timothy got a decoder ring" or "So, Timothy got an earring", or Timothy had to dress a certain way or "Timothy got a tattoo".

No, chosen, called, following the Holy Spirit, Timothy had SURGERY!

Timothy got a circumcision, that is surgery that is performed on a newborn baby before he's old enough to say "NO", done on a baby when it's rather insignificant, but on a young man this would be a BIG deal, it affected him physically, mentally, and spiritually.

It went to the heart of his identity.

You might ask WHY would they do this, In the last chapter the decision was made that Christians didn't HAVE to be circumcised, that they didn't have to be "burdened" with it but were taught to abstain from food sacrificed by idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from immorality.

So WHY?

Why take the extra, painful, humiliating, inconvenient route?

There is a difference in being required to do something as a requirement for salvation and CHOOSING to do something in order to better minister to a particular group of people

 

The Holy Spirit led in this way because he wanted to remove all obstacles from their success in ministry

 

How committed are you to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit?

Well it is going to cost you more than you thought

 

/William Lloyd Garrison, editor of the abolitionist paper, *The Liberator*, once SOLD his bed and slept on the floor to buy more newsprint to publish his attacks on slavery.

His epitaph cites the courage of conviction; "I am earnest … I will not retreat a single step, and I will be heard"/

 

Would you go through surgery in order to complete the ministry that God has for you?

I read of a missionary that was lead by the Spirit of God to take the gospel to slaves in a certain part of the world.

He SOLD HIMSELF into slavery so that he could most effectively preach the Gospel to those people.

Timothy could have said, "I'm not going to be circumcised, my Father is GREEK, and besides the church authority said, I don't need to do that, so if some people don't like it, that's too bad

 

But the Spirit led that way, so the question is, will you DIE to your SELF in order to relate to them?

Will you be willing as Timothy to set yourself apart as uniquely belonging to God, in order to follow the Spirit of God?

In the late 1800's if you served as a missionary in the Congo of Africa, it was called "A shortcut to heaven" …

 

Following the Spirit of God is difficult and will cost you much more than you thought …

 

Missionary Charles Thomas Studd a missionary in China, India and Africa is quoted as saying

/"Forward ever, Backward never, Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel Bell; I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of hell."/

Toward the end of his life after serving on 3 continents, Studd wrote /"My only joys therefore are that when God has given me work to do, I have not refused it"/

 

Reason number 1 NOT to follow the Spirit of God is because it will cost you MORE than you expected

 

Timothy became a great tool in the Spirit's tool box because he learned early on to commit to follow the Spirit no matter the Cost

 

But the second reason you should consider to NOT follow the Spirit is …

 

 

*2.

Following the Spirit of God will Change Your Plans*

 

See one of the "problems" with the Holy Spirit is that he doesn't usually follow OUR plans.

Paul traveled throughout Phrygia and Galatia WHY?

Because he wanted to?  NO … Because the Holy Spirit KEPT HIM from preaching in Asia

 

But Paul, I'm sure, had great plans for Asia, … By the way this reference to ASIA is NOT so much the Far East as would think of Asia, but most likely in the area of Turkey today.

But Paul had a heart, had a passion, had a mission to that area with the gospel.

Did they need to hear the Gospel?

Yes, did God love them, YES, but the Holy Spirit had a different Plan for PAUL.

If God has a different plan for, even if you have a passionate burden for some area of ministry, you can TRUST God, to take care of that area, and you Follow the Lead of the Holy Spirit of God

 

God changes our plans … that's what he does … so don't follow him if you don't want him to change your plans … I told you earlier of C.T. Studd … he was a famous athlete in England before God got ahold of him.

Yet after coming to Christ he heard the call to China.

While there he inherited the equivalent of $500,000 and within 24 hours he had given it away.

When sickness sent him home to England, he heard the call of the Lord again to Africa.

He was told he would quickly die if he went.

He said "I've been looking for a chance to die for my Lord".

In 1910 he left for Africa and the Lord even changed his quick death plans, as he served 21 more years before dying on the field.

Paul tried to go into Bithynia but the Spirit would not allow it

Twice there the Lord changed his plans.

Then in Troas Paul had a vision of a Man in Macedonia, North of Greece … that's Southern Europe … begging "Come over to Macedonia and help us"

 

The Lord had called to preach the gospel

 

So the next step in God's plan was finally revealed to Paul.

If you don't want God to change your plans …

 Don't stay close enough to him to hear