ACTS 13:1-3 THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 13:1-3 The Holy Spirit Speaks

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Well, this evening we're going to be looking at Acts chapter 13 and specifically verses 1 through 3. And so let's begin by reading those verses here in Acts chapter 13. Again, it's verses 1 through 3. Here's what it says in verse 1.

Now in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manan, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. As we begin Acts chapter 13 this evening, I've titled the message, The Holy Spirit Speaks.

As we go into this chapter, we're heading into a new section in the book of Acts where the focus has been changed, no longer focusing on the church at Jerusalem and the ministry of the apostle Peter and those who were there in Jerusalem, but now the focus is going to shift to the church in

at Antioch, which was far north, about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It was a Gentile place, and it was, you know, part of this new work where God was bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, and they were believing in Jesus and being saved. And now this church is

has been established here in Antioch. And you might remember from chapter 12, we saw Barnabas go and minister there in Antioch, and he saw the work that was going on, and he said, you know who would be perfect for this is Saul of Tarsus. And so he goes over to Tarsus, he gets Saul, who had formerly persecuted the church, but had been crucified,

changed by the Lord in Acts chapter 9. And he spent some time there in his hometown in Tarsus. And Barnabas went and got him and brought him to Antioch. And they were ministering in Antioch. Now, they also, as they were ministering in Antioch, were entrusted by the church with a financial gift to Jerusalem because of a famine that had been prophesied about. And so Barnabas and Saul went down to Jerusalem, brought the gift. And at the end of chapter 12, we see them come back

to Antioch and they continue then to serve the Lord there at Antioch. And now we're going to see that develop a bit more as we go into chapter 13. We're going to see Barnabas and Saul sent out on the first missionary journey.

Now, maybe you could consider, you know, when Jesus sent out his disciples, either the 70 or the 12, he sent both out and sent them out to, you know, proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. And so perhaps you could look at those and say, you know, that was the first missionary journeys. But here we see in the church, you know, this is really the first time there's a very specific purpose and an intentional plan. Now, we've seen earlier in the book of Acts that

People going out and the gospel spreading, but it wasn't an intentional plan. It was just people responding to the persecution.

So in Acts chapter 8 verse 1, when the persecution broke out upon the church and everybody left Jerusalem except for the disciples, it tells us that they went everywhere preaching the word. And so it was a response to that persecution. But this time as they go out from this place, it's going to be the direct result of the Holy Spirit speaking and leading them to go on a mission trip and to go reach people with the gospel message.

And it's a work of the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit speaking to these men and to the church that puts all of this together. And as we talk about that and kind of begin to work our way through chapter 13, I want to just allow us this evening to have the opportunity to be reminded that the Holy Spirit speaks.

That the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives and speak to us about what we do as a church, but also as individuals, believers in Jesus, walking with the Lord. It's not that we have to figure out everything all on our own.

It's not that we have to come up with the plan for our life. It's not that we have to figure out ways to reach people so much. It's really that we need to be in tune with what the Holy Spirit is saying because it's the Holy Spirit who speaks and leads, and it's a promise that has been given to us. If you're reading with us through the Bible in three years, we're in Isaiah chapter 59 today.

And as I was reading through that this morning, I encountered verse 21 there at the end of the chapter. And here's what God says in Isaiah 59, 21. He says,

Now that specifically is, of course, a promise to the nation of Israel and God's people Israel. But it's interesting as he gives that promise of the Holy Spirit. He says, my spirit who is upon you shall not depart from you. And how did we see the church begin? And back in Acts chapter two, it was the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church. The Holy Spirit is a promise that's given to every believer.

the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Our Christian lives are meant to be filled with the Spirit. That's God's design. That's God's desire. That's God's plan. And God's promise to us as believers is that the Holy Spirit will not depart from us. In fact, so much so that Paul says in Romans chapter 8, if you don't have the Spirit, you're not saved. That those who are saved have the Holy Spirit, and those who are not saved, they don't have the Holy Spirit.

And so we have this promise of the Holy Spirit, and yet for us as believers, many times we operate not in the power of the Holy Spirit and not by the leading of the Holy Spirit, but we lean on our own understanding. As we were just singing, I won't lean on my own understanding. But so many times we do, and I want to take this opportunity this evening to remind us

The Holy Spirit speaks. We don't have to rely upon our own understanding. We don't have to come up with our own plans. We don't have to use our own resources. But we can look for the Lord to lead us and speak to us by the Holy Spirit. It's something that God has provided, a promise that we have. The Holy Spirit will not depart from you. You're a believer in Jesus. You have the Holy Spirit and he desires to speak to you and to lead you.

in big things and in little things. In Galatians chapter 5, the apostle Paul says this. He says, I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Here's the exhortation. Walk in the Spirit. And there's a benefit. If you walk in the Spirit, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. You know those battles that we have day by day with the flesh and those temptations and desires that are there and we wrestle with them and how do we avoid those things or how do we keep ourselves from engaging in the things of the flesh?

He says, look, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. There's a battle. And if you walk in the spirit, you win the battle. If you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, if you walk in the leading of the Holy Spirit, he says, then you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.

You don't have to live a defeated, you know, desolate life because you're constantly living in the flesh. You can walk in the Spirit. That's the exhortation. But then notice the condition in verse 18, if you're led by the Spirit. That's the choice part of it, where we have the choice to be led by the Spirit, to be influenced and instructed. We can allow the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives.

In big things and in little things, the Holy Spirit speaks. And that's what I see as we look at Acts chapter 13, the first three verses here. Again, I titled the message, The Holy Spirit Speaks. And there's three points that we'll look at as we work our way through this to help us think about and consider the Holy Spirit.

the speaking and leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And if we desire for the Holy Spirit to speak to us, well, we can learn some valuable aspects to our parts and what we need to be doing in order to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us. We'll find the first point in verses one and two, and here's point number one. The Spirit speaks while you minister to the Lord.

Here's what we see take place in this passage. While they are ministering to the Lord, the Holy Spirit speaks. Look again at verse 1. It says, These five guys specifically are highlighted, and they're given this message.

title or this role of prophets and teachers. There was a church at Antioch. That's where Paul and Barnabas were ministering or Saul and Barnabas. But they weren't the only guys ministering. There was these other guys as well. They were prophets and teachers. These were leaders within the church at Antioch.

Now, as it talks about prophets, a prophet is someone who is speaking on behalf of God. These are guys who had the gift of prophecy that the Holy Spirit had enabled them to speak on behalf of God and

And they were also teachers. Now it's probably not that, well, you have to figure out, okay, which of these five was a prophet and which was a teacher. But it's probably that these two things are messed together. That they had a prophetic teaching ministry. That they would teach the word of God and God would speak through that. And so they were prophets and teachers. They were explaining the word of God and speaking on behalf of God. And it says in verse 2, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit came.

said. They are fulfilling their ministry. They're fulfilling their role. They're teaching. They're prophesying. And while they are serving the Lord in that way, the Holy Spirit speaks while they teach, while they prophesy, while they are ministering to the Lord. Now, as we talk about prophets and teachers, I'd like to just take a moment and remind you that these are spiritual gifts that

And we've talked a lot about spiritual gifts over the years, but it deserves the reminder that these are gifts that God can give to any of us at any time. That, in fact, we're encouraged, we're commanded to desire these kinds of spiritual gifts. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 1, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

And I would ask you to consider, as you came to service this evening, did you come with a earnest desire to prophesy? Did you come with a desire, with a passion, with a fervency? Lord, use me to speak on your behalf to other people. Because I love these people that I'm gathering together with this evening. That's the idea that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 1. And that's what we see happening in Acts 13.

They loved one another. And so they were pursuing love and desiring spiritual gifts. And especially they would prophesy. And they were doing that. They were engaging in that. They were involved in prophesying and teaching and bringing forth the word of God. Here are these prophets and teachers and they're fulfilling their role within the church. And it's while they are fulfilling that role as they ministered to the Lord. That is, they're fulfilling their function. That word ministered

It means to do a service or to perform a work. It was used to describe the work or the office of the priest in the Old Testament. And so it's that kind of like official role, that official duties assigned to a person who has an office or a role within the church or within the temple. And so it says, as they ministered to the Lord, referring back to these five guys mentioned in verse one, here are these leaders, these prophets and teachers who

They ministered. They fulfilled their office. They were fulfilling their role within the church at Antioch. And while they did that, that's when the Holy Spirit spoke. While they were faithful in their role, the Holy Spirit spoke. They were prophets. They were teachers. They were busy prophesying and teaching, ministering to the congregation there at Antioch. And while they did that,

It was as they were engaged in their role that the Holy Spirit spoke to them this word that we'll dig into in just a moment. But again, in verse two, it's as they ministered to the Lord. That's really important because they weren't just sitting there, you know, not doing anything, waiting for some type of revelation, but they already knew their role. They already had something that God had given them to do, and they were being faithful to fulfill that role.

And it was while they were faithful to fulfill that role that they were able to hear from the Lord the next things that God had for them. There's a need for us to be engaged in the things that we know God has called us to do. And so you could begin with that, you know, by looking at just the commands of the scriptures. Obey the word of God. That's an important part of ministering to the Lord and doing what we've been called to do.

But there's also other roles and responsibilities and gifts and opportunities that God has set before us. And sometimes we don't hear from the Spirit because we're not engaged in the things that God has already called us to be doing, that God has already spoken to us about. The Holy Spirit speaks while you minister to the Lord, while you're fulfilling your role and doing what God has called you to do. He will continue to speak and direct you as you have need.

Now, another thing to consider as we look here at verse 2, as they ministered to the Lord, it's appropriate to take note that ministry is to the Lord. They were ministering to people, right? They were prophesying. Now, prophecy isn't speaking to God. It's God speaking to people through the person that he's enabled to speak on his behalf. They were ministering to people. They were teaching people.

And they were not teaching God. You know, they weren't writing down points on a chalkboard and saying, see God, this is, you know, the points, this is what this verse means. No, they were teaching the people. But it's interesting, as they ministered in these gifts of prophecy and teaching, they were ministering to the Lord. That it wasn't, it was people that they were ministering to, but as they were ministering to people, it was ministry to the Lord.

You might remember the parable that Jesus shared in Matthew chapter 25, where he was telling people, hey, thanks guys for visiting me in the prisons and feeding me when I was hungry and clothing me when I was naked. And the people were saying, well, we don't remember doing that. When did we do that? And Jesus, as he's telling this parable, says the king answers and says, and as much as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.

When you serve God's people, you serve the Lord. Ministry to people is ministry to the Lord. I think it's appropriate for us to just consider this thought, to think about this and remind ourselves. Many of you, I know you're involved in serving and we get on schedules and sometimes we don't even remember how we ended up on schedules, you know, but we're on the schedule. And so there's work to be done. There's stuff we got to do.

And sometimes we forget that stuff that we do, that ministry that takes place, it's ministry to the Lord. It's not just getting things done. It's not just filling a gap. It's not just, you know, making something happen, but it's ministry that is to the Lord. And so when you serve the children, it's ministering to the Lord. The Lord is pleased and the Lord is blessed and the Lord...

loves it as you give of yourself to serve others. And cleaning is ministering to the Lord. And it may not feel that awesome or amazing, and maybe there's not lights that shine down on you from heaven whenever you're scrubbing the toilet, but it's ministering to the Lord, and the Lord is pleased. And the Lord loves as we fulfill. He loves it as we fulfill our role in the body of Christ.

Worship is ministering to the Lord. Here specifically, prayer and fasting are also mentioned. And so many times we get things backwards in our heads that we think, well, I come to church to be ministered to, right? But you know, as we come to church to engage in times of worship, in times of praying for our missionaries, it's not for us. We benefit, we're blessed, but it's ministry to the Lord, right?

You see, our lives are meant to be lived, to be pleasing to God. Our goal in life is supposed to be to be pleasing to the Lord. Ministering to the Lord is not just something that's reserved for these five guys in the church in Antioch, but ministering to the Lord is the responsibility of every believer that we are to be seeking and living our lives to please God. And so that when we come here for service,

And maybe you have a responsibility, maybe you have a role, and so you're ministering to the Lord by running the sound booth. Thank you, Adam. Ministering to the Lord up there. Everybody, congratulate him. No, I'm just kidding. Ministering to the Lord, you might have a role, but if your role in a given service is to be part of the service as the congregation, you still have the opportunity and the responsibility to minister to the Lord. Worship is ministering to the Lord.

And we need to be reminded that worship is not about me. It's not about if I like the song. It's not about if I can hit the note. It's not about if I can harmonize to it. It's not about what I get out of it or if I feel emotional in it. It's not about the songs that I like or don't like or the worship leaders I like or don't like. Worship is not about me. Worship is ministering to the Lord. That we come and we spend time in song in order to minister to the Lord, to bless Him.

to lift up our voices, to please him. And he does a work in us. I'm not trying to take away from that. There is a blessing for us and we are ministered to as we minister to the Lord, but we minister to the Lord. That's the primary objective. And as we spend time in prayer, it's ministering to the Lord that we're seeking. It's ministry to him that we're looking for. That's the goal. That's the objective.

That's what service is about. That's what the gathering of believers together is about. It's about ministering to the Lord. Many times that involves ministering to one another because as we do it to one another, we do it to the Lord. But the objective and the goal is to glorify God and to please God. And so here's the heart of these guys. They were serving in the role that they had been given of the prophets and teachers. And while they ministered to the Lord,

while they sought to live their lives to please God and fulfill the things that God had given to them, while they were engaged in seeking that fulfillment and that pleasing of God, that is when the Holy Spirit spoke to them. And that's something to consider if you want the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Are you ministering to the Lord? If you want the Holy Spirit to speak to you, let me just encourage you, be ministering to the Lord.

Be looking to live your life to please God and to honor him, to glorify his name. Be serving the Lord. Make sure that your life is all about pleasing God so that when you come to worship, it's about pleasing him. When you come to a time of prayer, when you come to service, when you go to work, when you go home, that your focus, your goal, your objective is to please the Lord. As you fulfill the role and are obedient to what God has already given to you,

seeking to honor him and to please him, the Holy Spirit will then speak even more to you. Here's what Warren Wiersbe has to say about this. He says, if you want God's guidance, get busy where you are and he will show you the next step. If you want God's guidance, get busy where you are. Be faithful right now to do what God has set before you and then he'll give you the next steps. And that's what we see happening here. Specifically, Barnabas and Saul are going to be singled out.

They've been faithful. They've been ministering. They were sent to Jerusalem. They came back. They fulfilled what had been given to them. They came back. They re-engaged. They got involved again, prophesying and teaching. And now the Holy Spirit is going to speak the next thing. The Holy Spirit speaks while we minister to the Lord. Well, moving on to point number two, we're going to be staying here in verse two. Point two says, the Spirit speaks while believers gather.

I think this is an interesting one to consider. The Holy Spirit speaks while the believers gather. Now again, we're talking about the context of the church. Looking for a moment at verse one again, it says, now in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers. We're talking about the gathering of believers. The church, the word church literally means a gathering of citizens called out from their homes to some public place.

So it's a people that are called out from their individual places to a single gathering place. That's what the church is. It's not originally just a Christian word. It's just a word of, you know, an assembly, gathering together. Now, in the church context, it's God's people that are called out of their individualness or individual lives and called to be together in

as the body of Christ. And we see that picture at all throughout the New Testament, that picture of the body where, which shows us and demonstrates to us that, that we are designed by God to be integrated into one another's lives, that we're called out of the individualness of God

Well, it's just me and Jesus. That's all I need to be saved. And that's it. You know, I'm just, just me and the Lord. But, but that there's the, the gathering together of believers. There's the uniting together. There's the interdependency upon one another. We're not just loosely connected, but we are the body of Christ and we are dependent upon one another. And my spiritual life depends on your spiritual life and your spiritual life depends on my spiritual life.

And your growth depends on my growth and my growth depends on your growth that we are connected together as the body of Christ. We're part of each other's lives and part of each other's eternity that God has designed us and worked us together in such a way. And as we gather together as the church, God works uniquely in our midst. As we come out of our separateness and gather together in the way that he's called us to, he has a unique work inside.

in store for us. And that's why the author of Hebrews reminds us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Because there's a danger when we insist on our individualness and stay away from the gathering together. If we don't participate in the body in which he has placed us, there's a danger. Notice he says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

There's a part that we have to play in each other's lives. There's an exhortation that needs to be brought from each of us to each other. In the previous verse, he says, consider one another to stir up love and good works, that there's to be this interaction, this fellowship. And it's really a warning also that if we don't have this, that, well, many grow cold, that they lose that vision, that passion for the Lord. There's a need for us. We need one another. We need to gather together together.

And God works uniquely in our midst as we gather together in the way that he has instructed us. Well, looking again at verse two, it says, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. In the gathering of believers, while these men ministered to the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke. But notice, here's what I want to pay attention to in this verse.

The message the Holy Spirit gave was in regard specifically to Barnabas and Saul. God wanted to send out Barnabas and Saul. And so how did he speak to Barnabas and Saul regarding this work? Now, I'm confident that there is a lot about this whole event that is not recorded for us. And so Barnabas and Saul probably had been hearing from the Lord prior to this.

And the Lord had been ministering to them and talking to them and preparing them and, you know, like the Lord does. But the final word from the Lord that kind of set the events in motion, that actually launched them out into the missionary journey that God had set apart for them, it was not through some private, personal experience with God that they got this instruction. Now, the Holy Spirit can, and He does, speak to people personally and privately.

And there is an importance, there's a need for us to have our own devotional life and relationship with God and the Holy Spirit will speak to us in those individual personal times. But let's not forget that many times he also speaks in a public gathering. And that many times he wants to bring forth his instruction and his direction, but he's not gonna do it when it's just you and him. He would rather do it

Sometimes, on some occasions, that's up to him. It's his prerogative to speak to us and reveal his will when he wants to. But many times, he will choose to do that in the gathering of believers. There's been so many times in my own life where I have experienced specific instruction from the Lord coming as I was engaged in a gathering of believers. There have been times also where just privately, just me and the Lord, the Lord spoke and

But God also wants to speak when we gather. God will also speak as we gather together. Now, I'm going to pick on Dave Burnt a little bit here. Dave Burnt, he wore a bright colored shirt because he wanted to be used as an illustration. He's retired. He's been praying. We've been praying with him. What does the Lord want to do with his retirement? What's the Lord calling him to? Is he called to be sent out? Maybe he needs to go plant a church in Argentina or South Africa or

Maybe he needs to go somewhere. Maybe he needs to find a specific role here at Living Water and fulfill that role. We've been praying. He's been praying. I don't think he has an answer. Yeah, I've been gone, but maybe the Lord spoke to him this week. Or maybe God said, you know, I don't want to show that to Dave privately. Maybe I want Jerry to share it as an illustration on a Wednesday night, and we're going to have a time of prayer and ministry after the word. And you know what? Maybe God wants to use you

to bring forth the instruction that he wants to give to Dave. And maybe the Holy Spirit tonight is going to say, separate to me David and Jackie and give some instruction for them. That is one of the ways that the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit speaks while believers gather together because he's designed us as the body to be interdependent. We can't hear the instruction from the

We can't hear the instruction that we need to hear from the Lord without the other gifts and the other activities of the Spirit that God has given to us as a body. And so if we want to hear the Holy Spirit speak, sometimes it will be just on our own, personally, between us and the Lord. But also, there's a need, there's a necessity, and there is the opportunity that the Holy Spirit will speak while believers gather together.

And there is the possibility that we will not hear what the Holy Spirit is saying if we are not gathering together with the believers. If we're forsaking the assembling of the saints, as is the manner of some. It's important for us. God has designed us to gather together. And so to hear the Holy Spirit speak, I would encourage you to first of all be serving as you minister to the Lord, the Holy Spirit speaks, but also to be gathering together.

Because as we gather, because of the gifts, because of the way that God has designed us, it enables the Holy Spirit to speak to us in ways that he otherwise would not. He could, but he might not because he's designed it this way for us as a body. Well, finally, point number three, we'll look at verse two and three. Point number three is the Spirit speaks to those who will receive.

Looking again at verse 2, it says, Notice the progression. In verse 2, And then, verse 3, Okay?

The Holy Spirit spoke, and then they did what the Spirit said. They were willing to obey the Holy Spirit. And so having fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them away. We're super blessed here at Living Water, right? We've got Pastor David, Pastor Pule, Pastor George, Pastor Cisco. We've got a lot of people who are gifted, who are led by the Lord, who

are solid in a relationship with the Lord, are leaders within the church, right? Check out the church at Antioch. There's five guys mentioned as prophets and teachers. Now, we saw previously, there was a big work that was happening in Antioch. This was a big church. This wasn't a, you know, few people gathered together on a Wednesday evening kind of church. It was a big church. But there was these few who were leading, prophesying, teaching, ministering in that way.

So to part with two of them, you could understand, would not be probably the first thing on their list, right? If they're thinking, what do we need as a church? Well, let's get rid of two of our primary leaders. That's what we need. Well, no, no, no. I mean, we probably need to hold on to those guys. Is there anybody else we could send out besides those guys? Probably wasn't their first choice to send out Barnabas and Saul. But what did the Holy Spirit say? The Holy Spirit said, separate to me Barnabas and Saul.

The Spirit spoke to the church as well as Barnabas and Saul. And so there was a responsibility of the church in addition to Barnabas and Saul. The church, the Lord said to them, separate them, release them, let them go to the work that I've called them to do and set before them. The Spirit spoke to Barnabas and Saul, now go do the work that I've called you to. And again, probably the Holy Spirit had already been speaking to them, but the Spirit spoke to them,

given them some direction and vision, and this was the final confirmation, I would imagine. There's a lot of details, I'm sure, that are not there, but you get the point. The church had a role, a responsibility. The Holy Spirit spoke to them and said, you guys got to let them go. As much as you want to hold on to them, as much as you want them to stay and be ministering to you, you need to let them go. And so what did the church do? In verse 3, it says, they sent them away. That word sent them away, it means they released them. You're free to go.

No guilt, no burden. Go do what God's called you to do. There was a freedom that they were given to go forward with what God had put upon their hearts. And so the church obeyed. And we also see that Barnabas and Saul obeyed. And the rest of the book of Acts will be watching that unfold as they go out and launch out in obedience to what the Holy Spirit says here. They go do the work that the Lord had called them to.

And so you see the progression. The Holy Spirit said, and then they did. Whether you're talking about the church or whether you're talking about Barnabas and Saul, they responded, they were willing to be obedient to what the Spirit said. And here again, we have this third point. The Spirit speaks to those who will obey. If you want the Holy Spirit to speak to you, then I would encourage you to be willing to obey. We need to approach our seeking the Lord with a heart that's right, saying,

Whatever you say, that's what I'm going to do. Even if it's not my first choice, even if it's not my favorite thing, even if it's not what I would desire or what I would plan, I'm willing to obey when the Spirit speaks. Are you willing to obey? I want to close the service this evening with a time for us to worship the Lord and to pray and to seek God and invite Him to work. But as we enter into this time, I would ask you, I think we would all say we want the Holy Spirit to speak, but

But are you willing to obey? Are you willing to say, Lord, whatever you want to say, however you want to direct, whatever you want to do, I will do it. I will respond and I will obey as you speak. Are you willing? Can you approach this time of worship and prayer with that heart? Let me go back to the beginning. The Holy Spirit speaks while you minister to the Lord.

this evening. Kim, you can come up and get ready. She's going to lead us in a couple songs in just a moment. But as she prepares, are you prepared to minister to the Lord? As we enter into this closing time of worship, are you prepared to sing to the Lord? No matter if you prefer the song or like the song or don't like the song, whether you can sing it or hit the notes or sing the harmony or whatever, are you willing to just minister to the Lord? Are you willing to just

to lift up your voice, to lift up your hands perhaps, to kneel, to stand, to respond as the Spirit's moving you, to please the Lord, to glorify Him and honor Him? Are you willing? Will you go into this time with the desire to minister to the Lord? The Holy Spirit speaks while you minister to Him. Now, we don't get to place rules and demands and say, the Holy Spirit, you need to speak to me right now because I'm going to worship and minister to you. We don't get to do that. But

But if we want to have the opportunity of the Holy Spirit to speak to us, if we want to give Him a chance, we need to enter in to this place and to His presence with a heart that says, I want to minister to the Lord. My goal here is to please You, Lord. I want to honor You and worship You because You're worthy. And the Holy Spirit speaks while believers gather. We're gathered, so we have the opportunity. The Holy Spirit works in our midst while we're gathered together.

I just remind you of that, not because, hey, you need to be at church because you're already here, but just to give you a little bit of boldness, a little bit of a reminder. Remember the promise that we have? We have the Holy Spirit with us right now. He's in our midst. He's wanting to speak. He's wanting to minister. He's wanting to work. We're gathered together in the way that he's called us to. We have great promises to hold on to. We can have a boldness.

And let me remind you that the Holy Spirit is given not by works. So even if you've just been blowing it all day long, you're gathered together here. You're in the midst of the presence of God and the Holy Spirit is able and willing to move, to work, to speak, to refresh, renew. The Spirit speaks while believers gather. And finally, the Spirit speaks to those who will obey. As we enter into this time of worship, I would encourage you, come with a willing heart. Come with an attitude of,

saying to the Lord, Lord, whatever you speak, whatever you want, I'm willing to obey. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to serve. I'm ready to stop. Whatever it is, I'll do what you say. As Kim leads us in these couple songs, I want to encourage you to take this time between you and the Lord. Minister to him. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak. Spend this time in worship. Spend this time in prayer. Respond as he moves upon your heart, and that might mean

standing and raising your arms. That might mean kneeling and calling out to him. That might mean going and praying for someone else and ministering to them. Maybe God wants to use you to speak to someone this evening. Let's take this opportunity to just allow the Holy Spirit to work in us the way that he desires us. Whatever he wants, let's let him do that. Let's give him a freedom as we worship the Lord together. So worship, pray, minister to one another as the Holy Spirit leads. Let's worship him.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.