Good morning. Smile, please, smile. Thank you.
Well, like what you've heard, this is the last
of the series on the presence, living life with
the Holy Spirit. And the topic I'd like to share
with you is quite familiar, but at the same time
quite challenging when you are asked to explain.
The comforting presence, which is, of course,
referring to the Holy Spirit. But I would be
talking specifically about being empowered to
endure sufferings. Being empowered to endure
sufferings. So I have two questions for you,
and help me answer these questions. Number one,
does the Holy Spirit help us in our time of suffering?
Of course, many of you will say yes. Please say
yes. Yes, okay. You will say yes. And then the
other question is, does the Holy Spirit help
us endure suffering? And of course, many of us
will say yes. The first one to me is, I mean,
it's easy for me to say yes, but it's challenging
for me to define because, number one, at least
this is how I look at it. Probably you have a
different way of understanding the question number
one. How does the Holy Spirit help? How am I
going to describe how the Holy Spirit helped
me? Do I feel His awesome presence when I need
His help? So probably all of this may be very
subjective, and we will explain this in our own
different ways. And then the other question is,
how do you define suffering? How do you define
suffering? That's another challenge for me because
it's too broad. It's too broad. So one time,
one brother came to me. He said, oh, let me explain
it to you. He said, the Holy Spirit comforts
us in times of pain and loneliness. That's good.
At least he has narrowed down the definition
or the word suffering. For him, suffering is
pain in times of pain and loneliness. Still,
to me, that's a bit broad in one sense, because
how do you define pain? Is stomach ache a pain
in that you need the help of the Holy Spirit?
Or, I mean, I was sharing this morning, I have
an allergy. That allergy is triggered by... the
sudden change of weather from hot to cold. Every
time, here, it happens here, most of the times
here in Thailand, so hot outside. And then when
I get into the sanctuary of ECV, it's so chilling.
I notice some of our brothers and sisters, if
they don't feel cold in this sanctuary, they
wear t -shirts and on flip -flops. But others
of you really... wear some really thick clothing.
So it's different. So that triggers my sinus
allergy. But do I call upon the Holy Spirit to
help me on that? No, I don't. I just call on
Mr. Tylenol and it helps me. But again, this
is a chance of trying to understand what we say.
How do we express what we see from the Scriptures
and then try to apply it in our lives today?
The Holy Spirit comforts us in times of pain
and loneliness. Because, I was told, and it's
true, the Holy Spirit, He told me, the Holy Spirit
is our comforter. That's true. But did you know
that this attribute of the Holy Spirit originally
was taken from John chapter 14, 26. In John 14,
26, it says here, the author John says, all this
I have spoken while still with you. Jesus was
the one talking to his disciples, okay? But the
advocate, or the King James Version, one of the
oldest versions in the world, the King James
Version used the word comforter. The Greek word
for that is parakletos. The comforter. But the
NIV found out, oh, we should translate it more
modern. Advocate or helper. The Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach
you in all things and will remind you of everything
I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. And
my peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled
and do not be afraid. So if you will closely
look at the passage where the concept of the
Holy Spirit being comforter, what Jesus was trying
to say is that, I know that I'm leaving you,
okay? I know that I will no longer be with you.
That day will come, I will no longer be with
you. But do not be sad, because the Father in
heaven will send the Holy Spirit who will comfort
you. So the context of the fact that the Holy
Spirit is our comforter, comes from the concept
that it has something to do with Jesus appeasing
and encouraging his disciples that it's okay
if I leave you, the Holy Spirit will come. That
kind of comfort. Now, can we extend that? When
you're doing Bible interpretation, can we extend
that to other applications? Maybe you can, as
much as you want to. But we as disciples of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility
of making sure that when we share this with others,
we go back to the original context so that they
will have the freedom to also understand what
was the original setting of the word or the concept
of comforter. And then, you're still okay? Are
you being comforted? You're okay? And then there's
another brother who came to me. Nelson, he said,
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. Oh,
I've heard about this. Yeah, that the Holy Spirit
helps us in our weakness. I have so many weaknesses.
How many of you do not have weaknesses? Any weakness
at all? It's okay. Okay. All of us then. I have
so many. I don't know if you can tell what type
of weakness is there. I do. And what compounds
this weakness is the fact that this guy is diabetic.
Yeah, I've been diabetic for 30 years. But this
is a... Wow, now I'm craving. It is a weakness.
So, what do I do? Do I call upon the Holy Spirit
to help me? during my cravings for this awesome
sneakers bar, chocolate? Or do I call upon the
Holy Spirit to help me, to heal me with my diabetes?
That, again, is part of the discussion when you
look at the statement, the Holy Spirit helps
us in our weaknesses. Now the concept of the
fact that the Holy Spirit Helps us in our weakness.
Was taken. Was taken from the apostle Paul. Paul
wrote in Romans chapter 8. Verses 26 to 28. He
said. This is where that concept was taken. That
attribute. It says. In the same way. The spirit
helps us in our weakness. We do not know what
we ought to pray for. But the spirit himself
intercedes for us. Through wordless groans. Wordless
groans. Because the Christians that Paul was
ministering to, they couldn't express their prayer
to the Father. So he said, And he who searches
our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because
the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance
with the will of God. So what was the weakness
here? The weakness is that there are Christians,
or there were Christians who wanted to pray to
God. But they couldn't express, they couldn't
articulate or even express the details of their
prayers. So Paul was saying, don't worry. The
Holy Spirit will intercede for you and help you
express these prayers to the Father in heaven.
That's the context of the word weakness here.
Now, do you take the word weakness and extend
it to any kind of weakness that you have and
say, Holy Spirit, please help me through this
weakness? Probably you can do that. However,
we are responsible when we mix, make certain
expansions and extensions of what we see from
the text. By the way, that's my job at ABTS to
teach a Bible interpretation. But what I'm trying
to say is that we need to understand what the
text says and then how we make applications in
our situations, present situations right now.
So we go to the second question, which is easier
for me to answer. And just let me remind you
what was the second question we asked. Does the
Holy Spirit help us endure suffering? Yes. My
answer to this is yes. Why? Because I can find
exact or clear examples in the Scriptures of
the fact that the Holy Spirit indeed helps believers
and disciples endure suffering. The question
is, what type of suffering? Well, you will find
many examples in the New Testament. But specifically,
you will find in the book of Acts. The book of
Acts has a lot of examples where disciples...
had to endure suffering in order for the gospel
to be preached. They needed to endure that suffering
because if not, if they would have just said,
okay, just kill me now, then the gospel wouldn't
have preached. They needed to endure the suffering
so that the proclamation of the gospel will prevail.
So, let me make it clear then that my sharing
with you will be from the book of Acts. And it
will be highly contextualized, but this is quite
important, right? In this case, suffering in
the book of Acts, even in other letters of Paul,
but here specifically in the book of Acts, suffering
in the book of Acts is persecution. So how do
we define suffering in the book of Acts? It's
always persecution. It's not headache. It's not
toothache. It's not anything else of all kinds
of pain. It's always persecution. That is the
kind of suffering that the disciples had to go
through. Persecution. And why were they being
persecuted? Well, they were being persecuted
because of their proclamation. So in the book
of Acts, the way they suffered is through persecution.
And why were they being persecuted? It's because
they proclaimed God's word. If they were not
proclaiming God's word, I don't think they will
even go through persecution. It's most of them,
if not all of them, were commissioned. Okay,
they were called, disciples were called to proclaim
the word of God. Now, this is very crucial because
I want you to be reflecting from your seats right
now. Wait a minute. Am I a disciple? Because
if I am a disciple right now, I should be facing,
I should be experiencing some kind of opposition
from the devil right at this moment. If you are
not facing or feeling any opposition at all,
because you, I mean, that probably means that
you are not proclaiming. Because you are not
a threat to the devil in the first place. Yes,
you are saved. Yes, we are saved. But how come
I'm living a very easy life right now? Hey, I'm
beginning to forget that I am called to proclaim
God's word. Yes? Oh, bless you. See, in the Bible,
in the book of Acts, persecution was the result
of proclamation. What else? Well, did I turn
this off? There. For proclamation in the book
of Acts, in the New Testament, for this proclamation
to prevail, they needed some serious power. What
do you mean by that? Well, it was not simply
that they will do this on their own. That serious
power was needed in order for them to face their
opponents. Who were their opponents? You have
Jewish leaders, you have Rome itself, and you
have the devil. And for the disciples, for them
to endure suffering so that their proclamation
will not stop, so that their proclamation will
prevail, they needed some serious power. What
was that power or where did that come from? The
source of that power or that serious power is
the Holy Spirit. Now, how is this gained in the
book of Acts? The Holy Spirit, the empowerment
of, I mean, this serious power is called the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which in Acts
you will find has something to do with when they
were baptized in the Holy Spirit. You see, I
completely misunderstood this. I got saved when
I was 17 years old, still young. And I got saved
in a small, charismatic... In fact, a small Catholic
charismatic church back home. And what I was
oriented or what I was taught is that we should
open ourselves for the empowerment of the Holy
Spirit. And you will conquer the world. I will
conquer the world. And I can use this power to
whatever I need to accomplish or whatever I needed
to do. You know what I did? Would you believe
if I tell you that I used to lay my hands on
things that don't work. Anything at all. Because
I thought that I am empowered by the Holy Spirit.
I will lay my hands on something that doesn't
work. And that power will transmit through me,
go through me. And power, it will become alive.
And this is true. I used to lay my hands on a
flat iron that wasn't working. Yes. I was late
for school and I needed some power. I didn't
know that, I forgot that it was blackout. So
there was really no power coming from the outlet.
But I laid my hands on it. This is how I was
oriented. Especially from charismatics. This
is for people. I was part of that prosperity
gospel thing. That the Holy Spirit will come
and power will come through you and do whatever
you want to do with that power. Did you also
know that during that time, I called upon the
Holy Spirit to empower me so that I can control
people? I did. I was so infatuated with a young
girl then in the church, at the church. This
is true. Well, it's okay. My wife is already
married. Anyway, I was so infatuated with a girl.
And at a Christian church, their service was
10 o 'clock in the morning. The youth fellowship
was 9 o 'clock in the morning. And I was consistent
in attending the youth fellowship. Not because
of Jesus, but because of that girl. And I fasted
for two weeks. I fasted for two weeks and I called
upon the power of the Holy Spirit. I told the
Spirit, help me convince this girl so that she
will be my girl. And so after two weeks, I was
there at the fellowship, youth fellowship. And
you know, this girl loves to wear yellow. Her
favorite color is yellow. She dresses always
in yellow. And I told the Holy Spirit, if she
comes today wearing yellow, That means you've
answered my prayer. I did that. Yes. That means
you've answered my prayer and she's mine. And
then, so I was early at the youth fellowship
venue. And I saw her coming. And I was so hurt
because I could see that she's wearing red, not
yellow. And I was forcing, I was forcing myself,
no, no, no, that's a yellow, right? That's a
yellow, but it's red. Now those are, that could
be the most extreme kind of colors that you could
force a red to be yellow. So I went up to her
and I said, did you know that the Holy Spirit
told me that you will be mine, you are my girl.
And she was so shocked, she cried. She hated
me from that. She left. She didn't even attend
the fellowship. The first thing I did when that
happened to me is go to the... I was so disappointed.
I was so... I was even angry at the Holy Spirit
because I was so hungry. I ordered two Big Macs.
While I was eating, I was bawling and crying
because I was let down. Well, this is not how
the Holy Spirit's empowerment works. Not this
way. That's why it's very important for us to
search God's Word and carefully do our hermeneutics,
our interpretation, our theology, so that we
can be a blessing to others and guide them properly,
especially in the application of the text. In
the book of Acts, and this is clear, in the book
of Acts, there are three reasons. why the disciples
received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Let me repeat that. In the book of Acts, there
are three reasons why the disciples needed the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit. What was it for?
They needed empowerment for proclamation. Nothing
else, okay? not for reviving flat irons, not
for healing headaches. Do you find any headaches
being healed in the book of Acts? No. The empowerment
of the Holy Spirit was for the disciples primarily
for proclamation. And what are these three reasons?
Number one, the apostles especially, they needed
the empowerment of the Holy Spirit because they
were fearful. Number two, They needed the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit because they were, some of
them, not all of them, some of them were ignorant
or what I would call they felt inadequate. And
I will give you examples about this, on this.
And number three, they needed empowerment in
the book of Acts is because they were outgunned
or ill -equipped. Why? They were not against
just human beings. They were against superpowers.
That's why they needed the empowerment of the
Holy Spirit. Let's start with the first one.
They were fearful. So let's ask this question.
Why did Jesus instruct the disciples to stay
in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the
Father? This you will find in Acts chapter 1
verses 4 to 5. The answer there is because they
needed to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. But
why did they need to be baptized by the Holy
Spirit? Because they were all in fear. They all
went into hiding when Jesus was sentenced and
crucified. Do you remember, if you recall, reading
the Gospels, when Jesus resurrected, He said
to His disciples, Go and meet Me in Jerusalem.
And then He commissioned them, when Jesus ascended,
He commissioned them to preach the Gospel. Did
you hear them go and preach the gospel? No. Something
happened. And you will need to catch, especially
if you're reading from the gospel of Luke, you
will see that they had to go to Jerusalem to
wait for the empowerment for the coming of the
promise of the Father. How fearful were the apostles?
How fearful were the disciples? Let me give you
a beautiful account that the Gospel of Mark wrote.
I know you have read this before, but probably
you didn't see the significance of these verses.
You see, during the Last Supper, Jesus already
predicted. He told His disciples. the shepherd
will be arrested and the sheep will be scattered.
And he was telling his apostles and his disciples,
you will all leave me. You will all abandon me.
And the apostles were shocked. No, Lord, we will
not do that. Never, never abandon you. Even Peter
rebuked Jesus, you know. But later on, you know,
Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times.
But all of them literally left the Lord Jesus.
From the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Garden
of Gethsemane. They finished celebrating the
Feast of Pentecost. They went to the Garden of
Gethsemane. By the way, they had a meal, the
Last Supper. I'm sure they had a lot of wine.
And they were all probably sleepy. And Jesus
asked the three, Peter, James, can you stay here,
watch and pray? Because at least give me a heads
up if somebody is going to arrest me. And these
three, yes Lord, we will pray. But they couldn't
hold their men. They were probably really exhausted.
They just couldn't do it. Jesus came and said,
oh, it's useless now. My betrayer is here. So
when Jesus was arrested, Everyone scampered.
Everyone left the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Mark
adds some detail to that arrest in the Garden
of Gethsemane. And he says in Mark chapter 14,
verses 50 to 52. He says here, Then everyone
deserted Jesus and fled. A young man wearing
nothing but a linen garment. was following Jesus.
When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving
his garment behind. Now, you need to study, read
this in context. What was going on? What was
probably going on, and this is my proposal, is
that there were many disciples who wanted to
see and follow Jesus. This guy, a young guy,
probably heard, Jesus is on his way to the Garden
of Gethsemane. So he was probably sleeping and
then he got up. Took a garment. I love the Lord
Jesus Christ so much. I don't even care if I
need to put on other clothes. Just put on a linen
garment and went to see Jesus. That is how committed
he is to see the Lord Jesus Christ. But then...
He didn't know that Jesus was going to be arrested.
And so the arresting team came. You know what
this guy did? Who was so excited to see the Lord
Jesus Christ. When he saw the arresting team,
he didn't care. He was so scared that he was
willing to flee naked all in Jerusalem. Because
that is how scared he was. Now the reason why
this is here is to give you a picture of how
the apostles really left. Jesus alone was arrested
and was taken to the court of the high priest.
This kind of fear remained with the apostles.
And that's why the Lord Jesus knew these disciples.
I've spent three years, more than three years
with these guys and yet they all left me. I want
you to wait in Jerusalem and wait for the promise
of the Father. What happened in Jerusalem? This
you will find in Acts chapter 2. When the day
of Pentecost came, they were all together in
one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing
of a violent wind came from heaven and filled
the whole house where they were sitting. They
saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them. All of them
were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled
them. That was the last time. They feared. When
the Holy Spirit came upon them, they didn't even
wait a second. They all came out. They started
to preach, proclaim the gospel. The Holy Spirit
empowered them. All of them, by the way, were
executed except for one. All of them died proclaiming
the gospel. Why didn't they fear? Because of
the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The next
one is found in Acts chapter 2. So the first
one is that the disciples were fearful, the apostles.
Now, there are also a group of disciples who
were not actually fearful, but you will find
that their teaching is a bit inadequate. They
too needed the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
You will see this in Acts chapter 18. You've
heard of the name Apollos, and of course, Paul
has referred to him too. In Acts, Luke was writing,
he says here, Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos,
a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was
a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the
scriptures. He had been instructed in the way
of the Lord. It is very important that the author
Luke mention where he comes from. He is a native
of Alexandria. If I say, hey, I'm a graduate
of Cambridge University, or I'm a graduate of
Oxford University, or I'm a graduate of Harvard
University, that's quite impressive. That is
what is happening here. Unlike Harvard, of course,
Harvard is in Massachusetts. Cambridge and Oxford,
did you know that these are cities in England?
And then in the city, you have Oxford University,
and then you have Cambridge University. Well,
in Alexandria, this is it. That's the city. That's
the place where all educated people come from.
Really educated people. So what is happening
here is that the author is giving you the credentials
of the disciple Apollos. And it says here, we
will continue, it says, Until he spoke, and he
spoke with great fervor, And taught about Jesus
accurately. But there's a statement there. Though
he knew only the baptism of John. That is very
crucial. Despite the fact that this guy is a
learned person. Despite the fact that he comes
from Alexandria. And despite the fact that he
teaches. spoke about Jesus accurately, there's
something that you will find that is missing
about this guy. He only knew the baptism of John.
That is very important. So he began to speak
boldly in the synagogue when Priscilla and Aquila,
who were disciples of Paul, by the way, when
Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited
him to their home and explained to him the way
of God more adequately. They saw something that
was not adequate about him. So they explained
to him about God. After this story, immediately
after this story, is Acts chapter 19. During
those days, when Luke was writing the gospel,
there were no chapter and verse divisions. So
these two will go together, and you will see
that there's something significant about the
baptism of John. He says here in Acts 19, While
Apollos, now that's a connecting literary device.
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road
through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.
There he found some disciples and asked them,
did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
He asked the disciples. They answered, no, we
have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
Not even a baptism, but they didn't even hear
that there was the Holy Spirit. So, Paul asked,
then what baptism did you receive? John's baptism,
they replied. Paul said, John's baptism was a
baptism of repentance. He told the people to
believe in the one coming after him, that is,
in Jesus. So, verse 5, on hearing this, They
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy
Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues
and prophesied. They were about 12 men in all.
What do you find similar between the story of
Apollos and these 12 disciples? What is similar
is that all they knew and all they had was the
baptism of John, a baptism of repentance. They
didn't know about the empowerment coming from
the Holy Spirit. That which makes them both inadequate.
They may be disciples, they may be teaching about
the Lord Jesus Christ, but their preaching and
their teaching is a little bit inadequate. And
what is the cure for that? They need to be empowered
by the Holy Spirit. I have a theory, okay? And
this is just my theory. I think there's a difference
between a believer and a disciple. Okay, this
is just mine. It's okay. Well, a believer for
me is one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ,
forgiven, washed by the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Spirit attends to this believer's
needs. I believe in that. But a believer is somebody
who simply comes to church, worships the Lord
Jesus, really gives his heart or her heart to
the Lord Jesus Christ, but is not a proclaimer
of the gospel. This person, this believer, may
be regularly coming for services, but does not...
is not even involved in any ministry at all that
pushes the gospel to be proclaimed. And I know
of brothers and sisters, great brothers and sisters,
who are members of the church, but I doubt if
I can call them proclaimers of the gospel. And
this is what, similar to the baptism of repentance
of John. What was the teaching of the baptism
of repentance? They were to repent of their sins
and God in heaven forgives them. That's it. That's
it. But in this case, a disciple is the one not
only is saved by the grace of God, washed by
the blood of Jesus, but he fulfills, he or she
fulfills the calling of a disciple. And what
is that? To proclaim the gospel. So the question
that I ask you right now, are you a believer?
Of course you will say yes. But are you a disciple?
Do you proclaim the gospel in your own way that
the Lord has impressed upon you? Are you a proclaimer
of the gospel? I'm here. I mean, we're okay.
We're okay. Say yes, please. Yes. Okay, good.
That comforts me now. Well, that's... is what
you call people they felt, Apollos, as educated
as he was, it was still inadequate until the
coming of the Holy Spirit upon him. The third
one, the third one is they were outgunned or
ill -equipped. Now, a good example is the Apostle
Paul. Now, this is what you will find in the
book of Acts. And even in his letters. Paul was
not fearful of anything. He didn't fear anything
or anyone. Even when he was still Saul. When
he was still Saul, he pursued Christians. He
was so determined. He was so zealous. I'm going
to arrest all this. people who follows the way
of the Lord, calling them the way. He pursued
them. He arrested them. He imprisoned them. He
persecuted them. And he even killed them. Remember
Stephen? Stephen was stoned to death in front
of Paul. He didn't stop it. He was even holding
the cloaks of other people executing Stephen.
So Paul was never fearful of anything. And this
is a good thing because when Jesus met him, that
kind of fervor, that kind of zealousness, that
kind of commitment, Paul used to proclaim the
gospel. So that was not even the problem. Paul
was not inadequate of knowledge. He is a Pharisee
of the Pharisees. One of the most educated persons
you will find. He is responsible for a big bulk
of the writings in the New Testament. His letters.
Because he was that educated. So, why did Paul
need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? Well,
the answer to that is so that Paul could endure
suffering. One thing that he needs is the ability
to endure so that he can prolong his life. and
make sure that the gospel is proclaimed. What
was his target? His target was Jerusalem, and
his final target was Rome. Unlike us, me, my
target is just what? Chatuchak, or what? But
Paul, his target was Rome. And that's a big goal,
but he did it. See, this guy, this is very interesting,
because you can see the... The enthusiasm and
the commitment that Paul had when it comes to
preaching the gospel. There's a story in Acts,
in Acts chapter 20, that probably we may have
misinterpreted. This is the story about Eutychus.
Do you know who Eutychus is? Well, Eutychus is
the one who fell from the building because he
fell asleep. Anyway, let's read this. He said,
I want you to understand what... the author Luke
is actually trying to say. This is not about
the story of Eutychus being raised from the dead.
No. That's not the point of the story. And sometimes
we focus on the miracle rather than what the
author is trying to say. It says here, on the
first day of the week, we came together. This
is Luke talking. We came together to break bread.
Paul spoke to the people and because he intended
to leave the next day, he kept on talking until
midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs
room where we were meeting. I don't even know,
probably those lamps even contributed to the
atmosphere that made, what's this, Eutychus fell
asleep. And then it says here, seated in a window
was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking
into deep sleep. Now, Luke could have stopped
there. But he said, as Paul talked on and on,
When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground
from the third story and was picked up dead.
Now let this serve as a warning to you, those
who are falling asleep right now. First, I don't
think I can erase you from the dead, so that's
even worse. But what the story is trying to tell
is that this guy just wouldn't stop. Have you
attended a service where it was already overtime
and the pastor wouldn't stop? Then you lose all
the blessing. I just want to get up. It's lunchtime
and you're so hungry. This is even worse. He
kept on talking and talking until midnight. This
poor guy fell from the window. Paul went down,
threw himself on the young man and put his arms
around him. He said, don't be alarmed. He said,
he's alive. And thank God, probably the other,
he's alive, right? But this is funny. What comes
after is funny. He said, the Bible says, then
he went upstairs again and broke bread, ate.
After talking until daylight, he left. The people
took the young man home alive and were greatly
comforted. If somebody dies right now in the
middle of my preaching, just for example, I'm
not talking, it's going to be you. But in case
somebody does, if that happens, I will call on
the elders. Can we stop the service now? Let's
just go home. This guy didn't. Probably because
he raised him from the dead. But shouldn't that
serve as a warning? If I continue preaching again,
probably all of these people will die. But he
didn't stop. What that story is trying to tell
is giving you a picture of who Paul is. You will
not be able to stop this disciple in proclaiming
the gospel. I wish I had that kind of fervor,
that commitment and zealousness. That kind of
definition of what a disciple, an empowered disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ is. So, why did Paul
need... The empowering of the Holy Spirit. Well,
Luke lays out the answer clearly in Acts 18 to
24. Now, look at this. From Acts 18, even from
Acts chapter 16, all the way to 24. This is all
about Paul and his proclamation of the gospel.
This is all about Paul and the opposition he
received. All the persecution he received. And
later on you will find out he was executed in
Rome. But he didn't stop. But why did he need
the proclamation of the gospel? Why? Well, because
Paul's proclamation was not mainly for people
who did not know Jesus. His proclamation was
directed at those who opposed Jesus. That's different.
That opposition came from both evil spirits and
the human leaders who held power in the temples,
Jerusalem and Rome. Luke and Paul doesn't see
any distinction between evil spirits and evil
humans. They are all under the evil kingdom.
All persecution is an opposition to the gospel.
And its purpose, of course, is to be perpetrated
by evil. That's why he said in Ephesians. In
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12. This is Paul talking.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world, and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. He did not distinguish them. He didn't
say, these are humans. Oh, these are spirits.
No, he sees it all together. And in order for
the battlefield, the leveling of the battlefield,
Paul needed power. And what is that power? Power
to endure. So that the proclamation of the gospel
will prevail. Are you familiar with the saying?
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was
convincing the world he didn't exist. You know
where that comes from, right? To me, this is
true. Didn't you notice? This is what I've noticed.
I'm old, you know. But I've noticed that... Did
you notice that the... It's now very common for
people to say the F word. Very common. Even when
they're joking or when they are upset. Even when
people are happy. Some people are just used to
saying the F word. To me, oh boy, this society
is getting worse. This is, to me, the influence
of the devil. He's taking hold. But at the same
time, did you also know that... revivals are
going on, powerful revivals are going on right
now in Africa, in China, in all over, in different
parts of the world because I believe that the
constant mistake the devil makes is believing
that true Christians have ceased to persist.
Look at what the Apostle Paul said in Acts 20.
And now, Compelled by the Spirit. Pastor Pablo
read this last Sunday. And now compelled by the
Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. He was determined.
Not knowing what will happen to me there. I only
know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns
him. The word warning here means the Holy Spirit
is preparing him. The Holy Spirit was not stopping.
The Holy Spirit was not taking away persecution.
The Holy Spirit was warning him that prison.
and hardships are facing me. However, he said,
I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only
aim is to finish the race and complete the task
the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying,
that task of testifying to the good news of God's
grace. Well, Paul achieved his objective to get
to Rome. In AD 64, he was beheaded. In Rome.
He spilled his blood on the streets of Rome.
And then 248 years later, the emperor of Rome
became a Christian. And you know the story. I
took a break when I was preparing this message.
And I was asking God, how am I going to end this?
And the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit provided
a very ample ending to this message. So, there
was one new student that we just finished the
course. I was the one teaching. That one student
said, Dr. Estrada, can you give me the opportunity
to take you out to lunch? And you know, whenever
I hear lunch, I would always say yes. Especially
if it's free, okay? And I said, yes, yes, of
course. So, I met him at Central Rama 9. I haven't
met this guy. I just saw him on Zoom. On the
left is Pastor Frank Mangti. On the right is
Brad Pitt. Anyway, to cut the story short, he
shared a testimony with me that I didn't even
know. I was not even telling him about what I
was preparing. He said he was so scared one time.
He is a missionary and a pastor of Salvation
Army. So he was brought as a missionary here
now in Bangkok to pioneer churches amongst the
Myanmar nationals. He's from Myanmar. He's a
pastor. On the eve of sometime in July 2023,
he said he was riding his bike on the way to
lead a Bible study and prayer meeting. And unfortunately,
he saw a checkpoint manned by the military men.
They stopped him. And he was explaining, I'm
a pastor, blah, blah, blah. But they were about
to probably let him go. I'm not sure what actually
happened. But what happened is that they took
his wallet. And in his wallet, they saw an ID,
Salvation Army. And it says, Lieutenant. Lieutenant
Rang Monty. Because in the Salvation Army missionary
group, they have ranks. Captains, lieutenant.
His rank was lieutenant. And the moment they
saw that his rank was a lieutenant, they thought
that he was part of the PDF, the People's Defense
Force, the rebel army in Myanmar. They immediately
took him to prison. Immediately. And he was crying.
He was telling them, Pastor, I'm not with the
military. They wouldn't believe that. They locked
him in prison. It was a dingy, dark prison, he
said. And he was crying to God, asking, Lord,
I was on my way to a Bible study, and you allowed
this to happen? He was praying to the Holy Spirit
for strength. And then eventually he said, just
gracious Holy Spirit, I pray that you just give
me the power to endure this. Now that is suffering,
because he was proclaiming the gospel. You know
what happened is that every now and then, every
two days, he would have a new cellmate. Most
of them were Myanmar nationals who were Buddhist.
And this guy, just like Paul, he wouldn't stop
sharing the gospel to all of his cellmates until
he was released. And he met some of them and
they said, can you please guide us to the Christian
faith? Now that's suffering. That's persecution.
That's proclamation. And that's the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit to endure suffering so that
the gospel will prevail. Bow your heads with
me, please. Lord Jesus, gracious Holy Spirit,
I pray for your blessing. Clothe my brothers
and sisters with your power. And I pray that
we will recall, remember that we are not just
believers. but rather we are disciples and we
are called to proclaim your name. I pray, Lord
God, in our own small way, tell us which ministry
you want us to really get involved with because
we want to be part of the proclaiming group,
the proclaiming army of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Lord, may your name be glorified through
our lives. In Jesus' precious name, amen. If
God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.