(Personal actions of the Holy Spirit,) start in Antioch, the church is gathered, Acts chapter 13 names prophets and teachers serving the Lord and fasting. Barnabas is there, Saul is there, other leaders are there, they are not trying to manufacture urgency, they are waiting together. Then the Holy Spirit speaks, Acts 13:2, the message does more than rather than create a feeling in the room, two people are named, a work has already been identified, the speaker claims that work as his own. Then the church continues fasting and praying, they lay hands on Barnabas and Saul and Acts 13:4 says they were sent out by the Holy Spirit.
The first personal action is speech joined to purpose, the Spirit speaks, Acts does not tell you whether the message came through one of the prophets, through an audible voice or in some other way. You should not invent the mechanism and you should not use one scene in Antioch to certify every strong impression anyone has ever introduced with the words, “the spirit told me.” But the passage gives you something firmer than speculation, the church recognizes a message with a speaker, content and intention.
The Spirit is not merely the power behind their mission, he identifies the mission and notice how the people respond, no one grabs the message and uses it to become important. Barnabas and Saul do not separate themselves, the community prays, fasts, lays hands on them and sends them, personal guidance does not remove discernment, it creates responsibility for discernment. There is a human pressure inside that process, once someone believes God may be directing them, certainty can become tempting, it feels stronger to say, God told me, than to say, we have prayed, examined this and believe this is where he is leading, but the stronger phrase is not always the more faithful one.
Antioch does not confuse humility with unbelief, the church can take the Spirit’s speech seriously without pretending its own response is beyond examination. They remain dependent even after the direction comes, that is a useful distinction for anyone trying to discern the Spirit. Biblical confidence is not the same thing as personal invulnerability, the Spirit’s personal guidance gives his people a reason to obey, not a license to become unaccountable, that matters, because the believer in the crowded church may eventually face a decision with no music underneath it, a job, a move, a relationship, a ministry opportunity. Someone may say, just follow the peace, as though every feeling of relief is the voice of God, Antioch gives a richer picture.
The first personal action is speech joined to purpose, the Spirit speaks, Acts does not tell you whether the message came through one of the prophets, through an audible voice or in some other way. You should not invent the mechanism and you should not use one scene in Antioch to certify every strong impression anyone has ever introduced with the words, “the spirit told me.” But the passage gives you something firmer than speculation, the church recognizes a message with a speaker, content and intention.
The Spirit is not merely the power behind their mission, he identifies the mission and notice how the people respond, no one grabs the message and uses it to become important. Barnabas and Saul do not separate themselves, the community prays, fasts, lays hands on them and sends them, personal guidance does not remove discernment, it creates responsibility for discernment. There is a human pressure inside that process, once someone believes God may be directing them, certainty can become tempting, it feels stronger to say, God told me, than to say, we have prayed, examined this and believe this is where he is leading, but the stronger phrase is not always the more faithful one.
Antioch does not confuse humility with unbelief, the church can take the Spirit’s speech seriously without pretending its own response is beyond examination. They remain dependent even after the direction comes, that is a useful distinction for anyone trying to discern the Spirit. Biblical confidence is not the same thing as personal invulnerability, the Spirit’s personal guidance gives his people a reason to obey, not a license to become unaccountable, that matters, because the believer in the crowded church may eventually face a decision with no music underneath it, a job, a move, a relationship, a ministry opportunity. Someone may say, just follow the peace, as though every feeling of relief is the voice of God, Antioch gives a richer picture.
