Scripture: Acts 13:1-4; Galatians 3:1-6
As I said last week, the Book of Acts, otherwise known as the Acts of the Apostles, could just as rightly be called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit”—or even the “Acts of the Holy Spirit Working Through the Apostles and Other Early Christians.” Because there’s simply no getting around the fact that the Holy Spirit plays a prominent role in everything that happens in this book. I’m tempted to say that he’s the “star of the show,” except Jesus Christ, as always, is the real star. One theologian has called the Holy Spirit the “shy member” of the Trinity: because he never draws attention to himself, only to Jesus!
But in this week’s sermon I want to continue last week’s theme of emphasizing the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives and in our church. I believe we need to have a more supernatural orientation in our lives. And today we’re going to look at two scripture passages—both of which showed up in last week’s “Journey Through the Bible” plan—and both of which relate to this theme. And I want to make three points: Point Number One: Expecting the Spirit to do powerful things. Point Number Two: Expecting the Spirit to speak. And Point Number Three: Expecting more of the Spirit here at Toccoa First.
So let me begin Point Number One by talking about what’s going on in Galatians chapter 3… which again, many of you read last week.
In Galatians Paul is angry and indignant because false teachers have infiltrated the churches that he and Barnabas started on Paul’s first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14, and, as best we can tell, these false teachers are now teaching the Galatians something like this: They’re saying, “In order to be saved, yes, by all means, you have to have faith in Christ and his atoning work on the cross—just like Paul taught. But… you also have to do a few things, too… and this is where Paul got it wrong [or so they said]: You have to be circumcised… if you’re a man. And both men and women have to obey a few other laws from the Old Testament… like dietary laws. Do that… and then you’ll be saved!”
That’s what these false teachers in Galatia were teaching.
And Paul strenuously and passionately and with great emotion objects. Salvation comes through faith in Christ alone… The gospel—by which I mean the true gospel—means we no longer have to fulfill the Law—even if that were possible, which it’s not—because Christ himself has fulfilled God’s Law for us. And we Christians will never be punished for falling so far short of obeying God’s Law because why? Because Christ has suffered the penalty for our sin in our place!
You simply can’t add anything to finished work of Christ. Faith in Christ alone means salvation; faith in Christ plus something else… means you won’t be saved at all.
So the stakes couldn’t be higher for Paul.
And at the beginning of chapter 3, Paul begins a new argument. I want to highlight two important verses. Verse 2: “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” It’s a rhetorical question: Paul expects all of his readers to respond, “We received it by hearing the gospel with faith.” Of course… Because the members of the churches in Galatia received the Holy Spirit long before any of them even thought about being circumcised, for instance… long before any of them were told they needed to follow the dietary laws or observe Old Testament festivals or holidays.
That being the case, Paul goes on to ask them in verse 5, “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith…” Notice those startling words: “he who… works miracles among you.” Paul says that because these believers have received the Spirit, they have witnessed and apparently continue to witness miracles by the power of the Spirit—which they can each attest to… and again… they saw the Spirit perform these miracles long before any of them were tempted to believe they needed circumcision in order to be saved.
So this is Paul’s argument: if God already gave you his Holy Spirit—and God gave you the Spirit based on faith in Christ alone—why would God start requiring something in addition to faith in Christ now?
God wouldn’t do that.
It’s a good argument!
But please note: the argument depends on one premise that no one in the Galatian churches would dispute: All of the Galatian Christians would agree that they really received the Holy Spirit. Therefore Paul’s argument holds. End of discussion.
These Galatians know they received the Spirit.
Paul knows that no one would be able to say, for instance, “Hold on a minute, Paul. How do we know we received the Holy Spirit? Maybe we didn’t. You told us that we did, but we don’t have any evidence from personal experience that that happened. It’s your word against the word of these other teachers. And maybe these teachers are right… And maybe we won’t receive the Spirit until we get circumcised and follow these other laws!”
But that won’t happen. These Galatians know the difference that the Spirit has made and is making in their lives! It’s obvious to them that they’ve received the Spirit!
Do we?
Brothers and sisters, I want us to be a church that knows for sure that the Holy Spirit lives here, is active here, is working in the lives of believers here. Don’t you?
I’ve told you before about my two trips to Kenya in East Africa back in 2012 and 2013. I went there to teach classes to indigenous Methodist pastors. These were among the best experiences of my life! Praise God! And while I was there, I got to preach and lead worship alongside another ordained Methodist minister named Susan. And near the end of the service, after the sermon but before the closing hymn, a Kenyan pastor in our group invited sick people in the congregation to come to the altar… for healing prayers and anointing with oil—just like James 5:14 tells us to do—healing prayers and anointing administered by the visiting pastors from America… i.e., Susan and I! And when he said that, we exchanged glances at one another as if to say, “Yeah, we’re Methodists… we don’t do that sort of thing… at least not in America.”
But why? What do we believe about power of prayer or the power of the Spirit that prevents us from “doing that sort of thing in America”? Do we not think that prayer is effective here? Do we not think that the Holy Spirit can do powerful things through prayer here?
That’s Point Number One… Let’s expect the Spirit to do powerful things right here!
Point Number Two… Let’s expect the Spirit to speak to us.
Now let’s turn our attention to the other scripture passage, from Acts chapter 13… The members of the church at Antioch clearly had high expectations about the power of prayer. Because in Acts chapter 13, verses 1 to 3, we see a church that immerses its work in prayer… along with worship… and along with fasting. Notice the author, Luke, doesn’t mention in verse 2 that the members of the church were praying—he says they were praying in verse 3, but not in verse 2. Instead, in verse 2 he says they were “worshiping the Lord and fasting.”
But let’s not be confused… In the Bible we should infer that wherever God’s people are fasting, they are also praying. Fasting is always done alongside prayer—as a way of intensifying our prayers… amplifying our prayers… enabling us to discern more clearly what we ought to be praying for… and dare I even say it, making our prayers more effective? God’s people in scripture understood the power of fasting! Do we? Regardless, this church at Antioch has very high expectations about what the Holy Spirit can accomplish through their prayers! So they are doing it!
And sure enough, the Holy Spirit does something remarkable while this church is praying. See verse 2: “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.’”
But I want to focus on those four crucial words: “the Holy Spirit said.”
And my main point here is, the Holy Spirit speaks… Did you know that? And this is not the only place in the Book of Acts where this happens, by the way! It happened in last week’s scripture… with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. An angel tells Philip to go to a certain geographical location. And once he got there, Chapter 8, verse 29: “The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’” 1
There are those four glorious words: “the Holy Spirit said.”
But wait… there’s more. How about Peter in Acts chapter 10? He has just had a vision that’s meant to tell him that Gentiles are now ready to receive the gospel. And then verses 19 and 20:
Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, [here are those words again] the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
But wait… there’s even more. In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas are on their second missionary journey. In verse 6 we’re told that “the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.” In the very next verse we’re told that they wanted to go to another region “but again,” Luke reports, “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.”
So sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks… even if only to say no.
Do you think that the Spirit “spoke” to the church in Antioch in an audible voice—you know, the way God spoke on Mt. Sinai? In a loud, thundering voice that terrified the people so much that they told Moses, “Let God speak to you. Don’t let him speak to us! It’s too frightening!” Or the way God spoke audibly to Jesus and his disciples in his baptism or his transfiguration? No… I don’t think so.
God can speak that way when he wants to, of course, but that’s probably not how the Spirit speaks to Christians in the Book of Acts, including the church at Antioch in Acts 13. Because notice that after the Spirit spoke in verse 2 and said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”… notice that the church doesn’t immediately send them on their way. No, verse 3 says, “Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
So after spending time praying and fasting before the Spirit spoke, they spent even more time praying and fasting after they heard his voice. They were likely praying and fasting some more in order to make sure that they heard the “voice of the Spirit” correctly.
Because the Spirit spoke to these Christians the same way he spoke to Philip in chapter 8, the same way he spoke to Peter in chapter 10, the same way he spoke to Paul in chapter 16, and the same way he usually speaks to us today: through inward promptings… through our own thoughts… through our own intuitions… and through other people who’ve been given a prophetic gift to share a word from God with us. Yes, the New Testament is clear that this should happen in church. 1 Corinthians 14:1: “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”
Do any of us “earnestly desire” to prophesy these days—or have we bought into that deeply unbiblical false teaching that the Lord doesn’t do that sort of thing anymore?
John and Charles Wesley and we Methodists never thought for a moment that the Holy Spirit doesn’t do that sort of thing anymore! So let’s be good Methodists!
The Spirit spoke to me, for instance, at age 30, when he said, “Quit your engineering career, uproot your family, move to a little town north of Macon, go to seminary, and go into pastoral ministry.” He spoke to me the same way the Spirit spoke to Pastor April… [and Pastor Eddie… and Pastor Jamie… and Pastor Janice] when the Holy Spirit told each of them to go into pastoral ministry. Each of us who became Methodist ministers had to endure—I’m not exaggerating—years of discernment by various committees and boards before the conference sent us off to be pastors. Jane Finley herself, a beloved member of our church, was a part of that discernment process; that’s where I first met her. So you can blame her!
It wasn’t years of discernment before the church sent Paul and Barnabas off on their missionary journey, but it sounds like it was at least days… Because notice verse 3 says, “So after more fasting and prayer…” 2 That suggests that a lot of time elapsed between verses 2 and 3… during which they continued to fast and pray. Because as was the case with us ordained pastors in the Methodist church, this church wanted to make sure that they heard the voice of the Spirit correctly.
That’s important. But the key point here is that the Spirit spoke… and gave these Christians guidance to help them know how to proceed.
The Spirit speaks to us… in order to guide us.
This shouldn’t be a controversial idea… But years ago, I read a book by a theologian I admire named… Phillip Cary. Dr. Cary, for instance, wrote one of the best commentaries I ever read… which happened to be on the Book of Jonah. When I preach Jonah, you better believe I will consult with Dr. Cary. I like him so much that it pains me to say how wrong he is another book he wrote, called Good News for Anxious Christians. In chapters 1 and 2 of that book, he argues that Christians shouldn’t expect to hear the voice of the Spirit—that they should never expect to get specific information from the Spirit, that they shouldn’t expect to be guided by the Spirit.
The Spirit won’t speak to us today, he said, because the Spirit has already spoken. Right here, in the pages of this book, the Bible… Here are the words that the Spirit of God breathed out. We don’t need more words, he said. We’ve got about 450,000 of them right here, at least in the original languages. And about 750,000 words in English. That’s enough, he says.
And, listen… I’m aware of the danger of saying that the Holy Spirit speaks to us today. And so is Dr. Cary… He’s taught Christian students at an evangelical university, and he knows situations in which young Christian men have approached co-eds whom they hardly know and have said, “The Lord told me…” Or even “the Holy Spirit told me… that I’m supposed to marry you. What do you think?”
I agree with Dr. Cary that that’s crazy… It’s manipulative and crazy and harmful.
Just like it’s manipulative and crazy and harmful when some cult leader “hears the voice of the Spirit” and suddenly you’ve got Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification Church, the Branch Davidians—among many others. That’s also manipulative, harmful, and crazy!
But see, one way that we can know that that it’s manipulative, crazy, and harmful is by testing what someone “hears the Spirit say” against God’s Word—Holy Scripture. Nothing the Spirit truly says will ever contradict what’s in this book. If it does, we can be sure that the Spirit isn’t speaking! Moreover, there’s all kinds of wisdom found in this book to guide us, practically… theologically… to prevent us, for example, from marrying someone we hardly know… or from joining a cult!
See… I agree wholeheartedly with Phillip Cary that the the primary way that the Holy Spirit speaks is through the Spirit-breathed words of this book. But I would also add that we usually get these inward promptings of the Spirit, and Spirit-directed thoughts and intuitions about what the Spirit is telling us to do as we read, or study God’s Word… or listen to God’s Word proclaimed… often in the context of a gathering of fellow believers.
But here’s what Dr. Cary never addresses… the fact that there are many, many questions about what God wants us to do—what God is calling us to do, in specific situations—that simply won’t be answered… in the Bible… Which makes sense: the Bible is written for everyone at every time in every place… Not for Brent Lane White living on East Tugalo Street in Toccoa, Georgia, in 2024.
The Bible alone couldn’t tell Philip last week to run up to this one specific chariot… Just like the Bible alone can’t tell the church at Antioch exactly who needs to be set apart for this missionary journey… and where exactly these missionaries are supposed to go!
Are we listening to the Spirit? Do we believe that the Spirit wants to guide us in the specific situations of our lives?
This church at Antioch… along with believers throughout the pages of scripture clearly do.
For that matter, consider Jesus in Luke chapter 6. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each include the call of the Twelve disciples. But Luke gives us one more pertinent detail about it. Verses 12 and 13 say the following:
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…
What was Jesus praying all night about? We can rightly infer that he was praying for guidance… about who… among a large group of disciples… who specifically he should name as his inner circle of Twelve.
Doesn’t that stand to reason?
The Bible is clear: The Holy Spirit speaks to us… So we need to listen. That’s Point Number Two…
Point Number Three… What does this mean for our church?
As I said, I want us to be a church who believes and expects that the Holy Spirit will do powerful things in our lives, in our church, and in our world… as we trust and believe and pray and fast and listen…
I’m going to be in Orlando celebrating a wedding for the next two weeks. So please contact Pastor April if you need anything the next couple of weeks.
But here are some practical things you can do in response to this message:
First, in my absence, Pastor April is going to preach a sermon on 1 Corinthians and talk about the gifts of the Spirit… of which each of us believers has at least one. The Holy Spirit has given each of you at least one gift! And at the end of that sermon she’s going to invite you to take an online “spiritual gifts inventory” tool, which will help guide our church as we discern the best place for each of you to serve the Lord at this church.
Second, literally every person in this church needs guidance in their lives about something. Are you listening for the Spirit to speak to give you that guidance? The Bible teaches us that prayer with fasting can help with that!
Some of you even feel guilty because you know you ought to fast, and spend extra time in prayer… but it just seems so hard… so daunting… Start by skipping one meal, perhaps lunch on a Wednesday… and devote that extra time that you’d spend eating to praying. A typical fast—the kind that Wesley did twice a week for most of his life—was 24 hours—which means skipping two meals: stop eating after supper one night… and resume eating the following night.
Drink water, by all means… but refrain from eating.
But I want us to have the faith to believe that the Lord will honor that… and the Spirit will do powerful things when God’s people fast and pray.
Let me leave you with some of John Wesley’s words, from his journal, about the time the King of England called for his nation to fast and pray… when the French were threatening to invade. On February 6, 1756, he wrote the following in his journal:
The fast day was a glorious day, such as London has scarce seen since the Restoration. Every church in the city was more than full, and a solemn seriousness sat on every face. Surely God heareth prayer, and there will yet be a lengthening of our tranquillity.
And reflecting on this same event 23 years later, he wrote:
[T]he fast day was observed on account of the threatened invasion by the French, which was averted. The danger was so great as to make all England tremble. But it came to nothing.
I want us to fast and pray like that… believing that God will do powerful things through it! Amen.