Last week Pastor Jude preached from 2nd Corinthians 3:17 wherein The Apostle to The Gentiles, Paul states ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
Paul is writing to the church in the Greek city of Corinth. Paul had actually lived in Corinth for about 18 months in AD49 and he was the founder of the church there.
No details are given but if Paul followed his usual pattern for founding churches he would have arrived in the city and then, as soon as he could, would have gone into the local temple and preached, with authority, from the Old Testament law of Moses.
The Jews in that time were living in various cities around the middle east but their religion and religious practices set them aside and isolated them from the local population. They couldn’t even enter the house of a gentile, a non jew, and the couldn’t eat with them, and they definitely couldn’t intermarry with them.
Back in Exodus 19:5-6 God had set the Israelites apart from the other nations. He told Moses; 5 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Mostly the Jews were tolerated in the places where they settled although occasionally a Roman Emperor would order them out of the country, or persecute them, or worse.
But Paul’s strategy, and Peter’s before him, was to seek out Jewish enclaves, in cities throughout the known world, and build the foundations for the new system of belief by, firstly, teaching Jews about Jesus, using their knowledge of The Law Of Moses and of Old Testament Prophecy.
In Peters case he used his own knowledge taught to him as a boy, brought up in the Jewish faith, and his 3 years of experiences with Jesus, and also the power of the Holy Spirit that he received at Pentecost.
Because; ‘.....the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
For Paul it was different in that he had formal religious training and, before his conversion to Christianity, he was a leading light amongst the Pharisees. An expert in the law. He too received his portion of The Holy Spirit when he encountered Jesus on The Road To Damascus.
If you were a Jew in the first century AD, cut off from the homeland of Israel, you would welcome fellow Jews who have come from there. You would be eager to hear the latest news and gossip described from the point of view of a fellow Jew. And this is the opening that Paul and his fellow travelling evangelical apostles needed.
The pattern of early church founding was set in stone. As far as we can tell it almost never varied. The Apostles would enter the local temple on the sabbath day and when the priest welcomed visitors the apostles would stand up and firstly give any news, perhaps answer questions and then, led by the power of The Holy Spirit, they would testify for Jesus, basing their testimony on the Old Testament prophecies and The Law, and how Jesus came and fulfilled them both.
Because, ‘........the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
For The Apostle Peter there were miraculous healings to support his ministry. You remember the story in Acts 3:1-20 which goes as follows;
1. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
Notice the following key points; firstly Peter and John had both received The Holy Spirit Of God at Pentecost.
Secondly that Peter spoke to the man and thirdly that he commanded the man to walk in the name of Jesus Christ Of Nazareth.
Fourthly, you will note that the matter didn’t end there. Peter and John were on their way into The Temple at the time of prayer and the healed man, holding onto Peter, was walking and jumping in the temple. The regular worshippers knew him and knew that up to that point in time he was disabled, but now he wasn’t and the people were astonished, and this provided an opportunity for Peter to testify concerning Jesus. They didn’t heal in their own power and they didn’t testify in their own power. They healed and testified in The Spirit Of The Lord; because ‘.... the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
Hopefully you see the pattern. Let’s call it The Peter Pattern.
The Paul Pattern is similar but not the same. He too performed a number of miracles but only one led to the conversion of a non believer and an opportunity to testify for Jesus.
In Acts chapter 9:15 Jesus says to Ananias of Paul, “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.”
In Acts 13:6-12 we read that Paul, Barnabas and John have travelled to the island of Cyprus where; ‘They travelled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.’
Let’s pick out the similar points from Paul’s ministry to that of Peter’s and see if there are any differences: Firstly Paul, Barnabas and John have all received The Holy Spirit. Paul received his portion on The Road To Damascus.
Secondly, when confronting the false prophet Elymas, Paul, like Peter before him, spoke to him. But instead of invoking the name of Jesus, Paul speaks a different kind of power over Elymas, he says, “Now the hand of the Lord is against you.”
When I read this I wondered why Paul didn’t say, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth you will be blind for a time”? And then it occurred to me that it is not Paul speaking at all. Yes, the words are coming out of his mouth but it’s actually The Holy Spirit of God speaking because, V9, Paul is filled with The Holy Spirit and it spoke through him.
It follows then that The Holy Spirit, or The Holy Ghost, is part of the Holy Trinity which is One God in three person, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so God filled The Apostle Paul with His Spirit and spoke the curse words through him.
Elymas is blinded and the question should then be asked, “How does this serve The Kingdom Of God?” and the answer is that the Roman Pro Consul, a Gentile, is convicted of his sin and converts to Christianity, on the spot.
Remember 2nd Corinthians 3:17 wherein Paul says ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’
God is The Spirit and The Spirit of The Lord is God, and Paul, filled with the spirit declares that where the spirit is, there is freedom.
Pastor Jude gave us a taste of what that means last week and he pointed out that in his own King James version of the bible the term used is ‘Liberty’. “Where the spirit is, there is liberty”.
And this prompts us to ask the question, what is this liberty and what is this freedom?
To answer that question we need to remember something which I have preached on before and that is that God is unchangeable. From the beginning of time and to the very end of eternity, whenever that will be, God does not and will not change.
In order to be faithful to Him it is us who have to change to conform to His will and His ways.
We do that through faith in The Son Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, God in the flesh and the son of man, to give Him but a few of His titles.
We have to accept Jesus as our Lord and as the one who came to save us from the consequences of our sin by making Himself the atonement sacrifice for the whole world.
Once we have done that, once we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, then we, according to our Baptist denomination, are baptised and then we receive our portion of The Holy Spirit of God.
And to be very clear, God is The Holy Spirit and The Holy Spirit is God, and He has entered into us in spirit.
We, the bible says, are indwelled by God. He lives in us in spirit and we, like Peter and like Paul, are literally filled with Him.
And that filling of the spirit gives us both liberty and freedom to speak and to act in His name, exactly as the disciples and apostles who have gone before us did.
I also stated two weeks before Christmas that as we speak these words of power we must expect that God would never do anything that did not fit with His plan.
That taken into consideration, the last question to ask ourselves, and to ask our church, is what are we going to do with this Holy Spirit Of God Power, that lives in us, this year in 2024?
How can we follow in the footsteps of The Apostles Peter and Paul, and how can we do our part to build The Kingdom here on earth?
The Holy Spirit Of God is power and when we speak in Jesus name or allow God to speak through us we must expect things to happen.
Could we, speak words of power to our family or to our friends, or work colleagues.
A prayer I often use is; Oh Lord, give me the right words to speak to the right person at the right time and in the right place. In Jesus’ name, amen.
And He always does. It never fails. That’s The Peter Pattern.
Alternatively I sometimes use The Paul Pattern wherein my prayer is; Oh Lord, use me. Your will be done. May your voice be my voice. In your name I pray, amen.
This power we are talking about is the very same power that God used to create The Universe, this World and everything in it.
It’s the same power that Moses used to hold back the waters of The Red Sea, and the same power that destroyed the city of Jericho, and the same power that Jesus Himself used to change water into wine, and that Peter used to heal the man born lame and that Paul used to blind Elymas and convert the Roman Pro Consul in the city of Paphos.
It’s the same power that lives in you and the same power that pervades this place.
Lets ask God to help us to use His power to build His Kingdom in this year, 2024.
Lets ask God to help us to discover and exploit opportunities to testify in His power to build His Kingdom here on earth, in this place, amongst this people and further afield, wherever the freedom and liberty of His spirit may take us.
Let us pray; Holy Father God, we thank you for the gift of Your Holy Spirit that lives within us and within this place. We thank you for the gifts that it brings into our lives.
In this new year, may that very same Holy Spirit lead us into opportunities to witness and testify in your name.
In this new year, may that very same spirit empower us to work for you in this church and in our town.
In this new year, may we be ever your salt and your light in our families, amongst our friends and colleagues and even further afield.
In this new year, may we always have your word upon our tongues and your spirit in our hearts.
We ask in Jesus name. Amen
