The Holy Spirit Will Guide You

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

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What People Mean By God’s Will

Apollos And The Need For Accuracy

Twelve Disciples And The Holy Spirit

Why John’s Baptism Was Limited

Why The Spirit Guides Daily Decisions

Romans 8 On Life In Spirit

Galatians Warning Against Drifting

Invitation To Receive The Spirit

SPEAKER_00 0:13

I've got a message today to encourage and to strengthen you. I was reading how that Paul and some of the preachers in their day it said that they would come to strengthen the brethren. When we gather, we become strengthened in areas where we struggle with. You'll hear people say, What is the will of God? The will of God is covered very well in the book of the Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 17 through chapter 6 and verse 20. In that particular area, if the will of God is there for every believer, what are people talking about when they say, I want to know what the will of God is? What they're really saying is, what does the Spirit want me to do? Being led of the Spirit, living in the Spirit, having our being in the Spirit. For when we are in the Spirit, we will know what God wants us to do. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 14, there is a passage here that says this for all who are being led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Or we could say the sons of God, the believers, when they're being led by the Spirit, they're going to know exactly what must be done. We read in Acts 16, 6 that the Spirit directs. Galatians 5, 25. These are passages that should bring peace. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Like they are so clear. So let's read the passage in Acts chapter 18. And I'm going to begin at verse 23. Paul is on what is commonly reported as his third missionary journey. And having spent some time there, he left and passed successfully through the Galatian region and Pragria, strengthening all the disciples. Now, a Jew named Apollos, this just seems to be tossed in there, and we're thinking, why would that be tossed in there just like this? Because God wants to make it very clear, a few things very clear. So let's read this. A Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, and he was mighty in the scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John. So when we look at this, we're thinking this is a man that is doing a great work. It looks like that he's falling in the way he should, but not so. Let's look at it closer. And he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. A lot of Christians are good at rote, at following regulations and direction and obeying rules and all of that sort of thing. They're very good at that, but there's the way of God which is more accurately. When I was a young person, just beginning my walk with the Lord, and obviously anytime that the Lord would speak to me, and I still do this, but any time that God would speak to me and give me an hunger for something or a desire to look into something, I knew there was something there for me. And if I was to put it in biblical terms, I would say I was desiring to know the way of God more accurately. Now, I'm sure that there are some believers who really don't think that's important. They really could care less, really. They're just happy they're saved. Their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. But let's see what happens here. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Paul is in Ephesus now. Apollos is in Greece. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus and found some disciples, followers of the way, followers of Jesus. Just like Apollos, they were followers of Jesus. I'm going to touch on the baptism of John in just a moment. He said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, No, we've not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. Paul said, now notice this, John the Baptist was baptizing. Paul now knows where these men in Ephesus are from, just like Aquila and Priscilla knew the background, the spiritual, religious background of Apollos. Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus. And when they heard this is these disciples that he found in Ephesus, when these disciples heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesied, there were in all about twelve men. So we've got a lot of things moving here. We've got Apollos who is busy declaring and talking about Christ and God and preparing the people. When we look at John's baptism, we have to understand that John had one job to do, and his ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus. That was John's job. And the people who were steeped and rooted in traditional Judaism, because remember, they are all looking for a Messiah. We have to understand why Jesus came to earth. Jesus came to earth to save his people from their sins. And for all of mankind who will repent, he shed his blood so that there would be a remission of sins. John's job was to prepare the people for Jesus. Jesus' ministry was to prepare the people for a relationship with God. So John's baptism, when he would preach to them, he would say, There's going to be a greater than I coming, whose shoes I am not even worthy to untie, to loosen. He's greater than me. Now you know what Jesus said about John the Baptist. He said there was no greater prophet than John the Baptist. So he said, prepare. And the people said, What are we to do? He says, be baptized. Repent. And he would baptize them to identify them as people who are now genuinely expecting the Messiah. Because when the Messiah came, it was going to take them away from all their laws and their traditions and was going to move them into another realm or walk with God. So that's what they did. But yet we read here about men who were baptized the second time they're being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So they got baptized not knowing exactly who it was going to be, but after they got saved, they realized that we are now going to commit and lay down our lives and show that we are going to live for Jesus. This is who we are now going to follow. And that was a major step because when they got baptized, it meant that they were laying down the old way they were walking and they were going to walk in a new way. But it was limited because when they got baptized, the Christian into Christ, they received the Holy Spirit. They had hands laid on them. They talked in tongues, and there was no doubt about it. They had to be specific. That's why they said, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because now it's not just a Messiah that's coming, the Messiah has come, and we are going to be baptized in his name. That's how important it was. And that's why they did that. When we find ourselves and we're saying, what is the will of God? And it's God's will that they be filled with the Spirit. The reason that we have to be filled with the Spirit. A lot of people think I want to heal the sick and prophesy and have all these gifts and wonderful, and that'll come with it. But don't overlook. One of the great attributes of being filled with the Holy Spirit is that you will know what the Spirit would have you do in every situation. That is tremendous to know because we're sitting there and we're praying and we're saying, Lord, what will I do? What is it I'm to do? And when you possess the Holy Spirit, it says, This is what you're to do. Don't go that way, go this way. Don't take that. This is what you're to have. The Holy Spirit will guide you, and you will come to great rest and great peace. In Romans, we're going to go to the book of Romans for a moment. It's talking here, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. Romans chapter 8 and verse 9. You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. In other words, you walk in the Spirit if the Holy Spirit is within you. And a lot of people say, well, how do I know? You just see what happened to the twelve men at Ephesus. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit which dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now that's pretty strong. I'm talking about following on to know the Lord. I would be falling short of what God would have me do today if I did not tell you that you as a believer need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I have to tell you that. I want it to go on record. Every believer needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Follow on and do what Jesus would have you do. Because in the book of Acts, Jesus said, I'm going to send you another comforter, and it's going to lead you into all truth. So it's very established there. So then we get those in Galatians 3:3 talks to us about this. People who start out in the spirit, they do real good in the spirit, they go to church, they get saved, they get filled with the Holy Ghost, and they want to move in God. And you come along a few years later, and you'll find them cold and dried up and setting there and bound in tradition. Or maybe they don't even go to church at all anymore. Galatians 3 says, How is it you've begun in the spirit and you've walked away from this? What is wrong? So when I look at this, I am very encouraged. Let's go to this. Galatians chapter 3. Let's start at verse 1. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? People are watching you. You start off, you're gonna say, Lord Jesus, I want all that you have for me. People are watching you, and you enter into that. This is wonderful. So once again, today what I'm focusing on is this. This is what I want you to understand. If you say, What is the will of God? What does God want me to do in these matters? When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, He leads you into all truth. It just there. He just leads you. He's in you, and he says, just follow me. This is what I'm going to do. Just follow me. How many times have you opened the Bible and have said, I didn't even know that was in the Bible? Do you know why you found that? It's because the Holy Spirit led you to this particular moment for that particular verse. If you're a believer and you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, receive now the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. God bless you.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

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