This winter, we've been looking at the explosive growth of Christianity, as recorded in the book of Acts. You may remember how Jesus commanded his disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the end of the earth. At the beginning of Acts, Jerusalem was the epicenter. The gospel went first to the Jewish people. Peter and James were the most prominent Apostles there.
But then at Antioch, the gospel expanded from a primarily Jewish to Gentile population. At Antioch Paul and Barnabas were the most prominent leaders. But they had that sharp disagreement about John Mark, so they parted ways. Barnabas took John Mark, and in Acts 16:1-5, Paul selects Timothy to be his co-laborer in the gospel. We'll come back to Timothy next week.
Now we learn from Acts 16:6, that as Paul and Timothy travel, they have in mind to take the gospel to Asia! Asia is where the churches mentioned in 1 & 2 Peter, 1-2-3 John, and the Churches in Revelation are located. If you look at a map, Asia is modern Turkey (we’re a long way from Kansas…Jerusalem!). Paul was relentless! For him, it was always “where next." Paul is spiritual equivalent to Alexander the Great. He had an insatiable appetite to subdue world for Christ. Asia was now in his sights!
But Acts 16:6-7 tells us, “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” This is very strong language. Forbid? Did not Allow?
At the end of Acts, we find Paul preaching the gospel “boldly and without hindrance.” Throughout Acts, the Spirit of God effectively demolishes everything that is set against the gospel. But here it's the Holy Spirit that opposes Paul's plan, hindering him from going into Asia. It's not too strong to say, that in Acts, the Holy Spirit “controls” the mission of the church. The Spirit says, “Not Asia, not you.”
There is a principle staring right at us from these verses. The principle applies as much to the “mission” of Jesus, as to the everyday “life” of a Christian. The same principle appears in Acts 1. Allow me to refresh your memory. Before the disciples were to ever “go on mission". . . they were commanded “wait on the Holy Spirit.” In Acts 1:4-5 it says, “While [Jesus] was with [the Disciples], he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” If there is one thing we hate more than anything else, it’s waiting. We want everything on demand, served up upon the swipe of finger.
What we see in Acts, however, is that the church is prohibited at every juncture from leap frogging over, or ahead of the Spirit. And whenever the church tries, the Spirit inhibits, forbids, disallows the Church from doing so! For all our missional ambition, Kingdom dreams and visions, strategizing… our first task is to “wait." As we look back through salvation history, there were countless times God could have rushed Christ into Jerusalem. But what does the Bible say? It says in the fullness of time (God' time) Christ was sent forth. Throughout the New Testament Paul reflects on how God opened this door, or that door, for the gospel. We don't force doors open; we humbly ask God to open doors.
This same principle is just as important in the Christian’s Life. The essence of the Christian life is verses like Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit. . .”; Its Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” What does it mean to “walk” and “keep in step with" the Holy Spirit? I think in part it means, don't walk ahead, nor trail behind, nor wonder off in another direction… but walk in the presence (under the control of) the Holy Spirit! When we walk in step with the Spirit, when the Holy spirit regulates the mission and our very life… we experience the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23a, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
The Jews had a word that encapsulates the fruit of the spirit. It was “shalom”. Shalom is a life ordered by God Himself, subdued, yielded to the Spirit. But if we let the flesh leapfrog the Holy Spirit, all matter of chaos breaks out!
Why must we wait for the Holy Spirit? Jesus told his disciple why. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “. . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Nothing is more impossible in the flesh than becoming like Jesus, or advancing his mission. We only grow in Christlikeness and in mission through the enabling presence and power of Holy Spirit. Apart from Spirit, we spiral into failure.
Now, another question is “How do we wait for the Holy Spirit?” Now I don't know about you, but I was kind of struck by the lack of ambiguity in Acts 16. That the Holy Spirit “forbid” and “did not allow” something was crystal clear! How many of you would say you have such a compelling walk with the Holy Spirit to have felt such clear direction, or heard such a clear word? The text doesn't tell us how Paul and Timothy discerned the Spirit's direction—it just tells us they did. How might we also discern the Spirit's direction today?
One passage that's always struck me is Jesus’ statement in the Gospels, in John 16:8, that “When [Spirit] comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.” It’s true that there is a particular way in which the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer. But there is also a more general sense in which the Holy Spirit convicts even non-believers (the world) of certain spiritual realities. This was always God's promise. In Joel 2:28, God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity;” Our reformed brethren refuse to take John 16:8 and Joel 2:28 at face value. They believe God's Spirit only convicts a smaller, select number of people within the larger scope of humanity and world. But that's not what it says!
Just as God's divine power and good nature are evident in creation in a general way, so the Spirit's voice can be discerned in a general way. Jesus first says the Spirit will convict the world in regard to sin. Sin are those areas where the Spirit says, “Absolutely NO!” The Ten Commandments are all prohibitive, “Thou shall not…” It’s true that the world doesn’t use Judeo-Christian Lingo, “i.e. sin"; Nevertheless, even Gentiles, in their conscience, in their own laws, show that God's law is written on their hearts.
The Spirit also convicts the world in regard to righteousness. When Christ’s beautiful life is held up, at some level, people recognize his unique glory, beauty, goodness, righteousness. I think of Jesus’ statement in John 12:32, where he says, “As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” Jesus' life has universal appeal. Even the person who isn't living like Christ acknowledges his goodness. Even the godless, to a degree, savor his mercy, justice, and humility.
And the Spirit convicts in regard to the coming judgement. A central feature of human nature is self-justification. We're always justifying ourselves to others, hoping to assuage our conscience or maybe deflect another person's judgement. If we're not lying about “what” we did, we're trying to justify it with “Here’s why…" Yet still, the convicting power of the Spirit cuts through. The Spirit is a Spirit of truth, “Here is your sin. Here is righteousness. Here’s “what” you’re accountable of before Living God, and why. Every word, deed, and idle thought will be judged.
The convicting power of God's Holy Spirit is loud enough. But the Spirit's voice is amplified infinitely louder to the degree you know the Spirit-inspired Word of God. James tells us the Word of God is a like a mirror that's held up to our face. The Word instantly and clearly allows us to see ourselves as God sees us. The Hebrew Writer tells us the Word of God is like a surgeon's scalpel. Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.”
If you're Spirit-convicted conscience doesn't silence you, God's Spirit-Inspired Word certainly will! The more you know the Word, the less ambiguous the voice of the Spirit becomes. I've never “audibly or externally" heard the voice of the Spirit… but I can assure you that “spiritually and internally” the voice of the Holy Spirit is the single loudest voice in my life. And it only grows louder and clearer!
Now beyond the Word of God, the voice of the Spirit can be amplified still further. We already mentioned keeping in step with the Spirit. But over in Ephesians 5:15-18 Paul says, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:”
There is a sense in which you can passively be filled with the Spirit, but then there are ways you proactively seek a greater measure (a greater, deeper filling) of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 5:19-21 Paul explains how, “but be filled with by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”
Just like the volume of Spirit's voice can be raised exponentially by time spent in the Word of God, his voice can made clearer in Christian community. The early church continuously sought the Spirit together in prayer. They fasted together for guidance and wisdom. They devoted themselves together to the apostles teaching, and the WORD. They worshipped together in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. They gathered together in one another’s home giving thanks for the goodness of God (evident most fully in Christ's death on the cross.) They gathered together for spiritual formation—there was an exponential power to being around other like-minded, spirit-filled people. In Community iron sharpens iron. Your fear of God sharpens my fear of God. My submission to the Spirit inspires deeper submission to the next person. When it comes to seeking the presence and power of Holy Spirit, community is a force multiplier! In contrast, nothing quenches the Spirit's work in our life quicker than when we forsake the assembly of God.
Acts 16:6-7 tells us, “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Sometimes the Holy Spirit says “No"… “Not ever" “Not Yet" “Wait" “Yes" “Go"
The Holy Spirit didn't ever send Paul into Asia—instead he sent Peter and John to minister there. Acts 6:8-10 say, “8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
We shouldn't imagine that the Apostle Paul was a strategic conqueror like Alexander Great. We shouldn't imagine that the Apostle Paul sat down with his Timothys, Titus and Silas and concocted a plan by which to conquer the world with gospel. In actuality, the Holy Spirit was orchestrating His own Mission in the world. Paul's place wasn't to orchestrate the mission, it was to wait upon and obey the Spirit!
Just to give you a preview… next week were going to come back to Acts 16. Acts 16 marks the momentous occasion that the Gospel begins its spread across all Europe! Campbell Morgan wrote: ‘That invasion of Europe was not in the mind of Paul, but it was evidently in the mind of the Spirit.’ John Stott writes, “With the benefit of hindsight, knowing that Europe became the first Christian continent and was (until fairly recently) the main base for missionary outreach to the rest of the world, we can see what an epoch-making development this was. It was from Europe that in due course the gospel fanned out to the great continents of Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America and Oceania, and so reached the ends of the earth.”
It's not just that the Spirit might have something different in mind for us… he often has something infinitely greater than all we could ask or imagine. The invitation of Europe begins in Acts 16, in Phillipi, but we'll save that story for next week!