An important note to my wider readers: What follows are the rough notes for my sermon on the above subject. Various constraints have meant that I have not been able to flesh it out in a way that might make sense to folk who did not hear me preach it. I publish it mainly for my congregation who are in the habit of reading my blog in order to find the references made during my preaching.
22 ‘And now, compelled
by the Spirit,
Howard reminded us this morning that God longs to speak to each one of us.
Paul
did not go to Jerusalem against the direction of the Spirit, as some have
suggested, but because of the guidance of the Spirit. People pleaded with him
not to go (21:4, 12 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days.
Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 12 When we heard this, we and the people
there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.),
People
pleaded with him not to go not because the Spirit prohibited his going but
because the Spirit revealed the capture that awaited him there (21:11–12). Through
a process of discerning the spirits … decided to go.
God’s
Spirit seeks to guide us in all we do (choosing a career after school, college
or apprenticeship or uni, job, spouse, a car … anything …. God wants to guide
us … so that we can say: Compelled by the
Spirit I decided …
Briefly, how does God guide us?
Go to the Lord
Understand His ways
Investigate all your options
Discuss it with others
Exercise your freedom
Whether
you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you,
saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Is 30:21
24 my only aim is to
finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me– the task of testifying to the good news of God’s
grace.
Paul
often uses the metaphor of a race/marathon.
Near
end of his life … 2 Timothy 4
I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith.
What
you do......do well. Finish what God called you to start. And most important, point 3: Keep the
faith......why? Because for Paul and of
course for us, everything in our Christian walk is by faith:
24 my only aim is to
finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me– the task
of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Paul
will later write a letter to the Eph where he will give us one of the grandest
teachings on faith, grace and salvation ... Eph 2:1-10
8 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –
9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.
What
are those good works … many, but back to Acts
35 In everything I did,
I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering
the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It
is more blessed to give than to receive.”’
None of the four canonical Gospels
record this saying of Jesus;
By this time—approximately ad 56 (25
years after the resurrection of Jesus)—written and oral collections of Jesus’
sayings had wide circulation. Some became a part of the four Gospels; others
did not. The Gospel writers didn’t record everything they remembered about
Jesus; rather, the Holy Spirit led them to record only selected sayings and
deeds of Jesus (Jn 21:25 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If
every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would
not have room for the books that would be written.). Other ancient
manuscripts about Jesus have been discovered, but we cannot rely on them as
God-inspired because the early church did not include them in the canon
(officially recognized books) of Scripture.
None of the four canonical Gospels record this saying of Jesus, however, it reflects Christ’s attitude
throughout His ministry. “The Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
(Mark 10:45). It is more blessed to give because that is when we best resemble
Christ (Matt. 10:8 Freely you have
received; freely give.;; Mark 9:35 ‘Anyone
who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’;
James 2:15–17 15 Suppose
a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says
to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is
not accompanied by action, is dead. ). So It
is more blessed to give than to receive
Mt 25:34–40 best example of how and what
to give … the best example of the “good works that God has prepared for us to
do”
Feed, thirsty, clothe … speaks of
caring about the poor
Visit sick, prisoners
Welcome strangers
So as he says farewell to the Eph
elders, Paul reminds them and us:
1. The Christian life is like a marathon … long haul;
2. Don’t be discouraged we have HS to guide us every step of the way and to
strengthen us every step of the way … because this is a marathon of service … 3. We are saved in order to serve …. Especially the least among us.
