The Holy Spirit is the most underutilized power in the life of the Christian. Dr. Tony Evans talks about the most crucial ally in our spiritual journey. He is your helper. He is your guider.
He is your enabler. And when the Holy Spirit is free to do that, because that relationship is so thick, then you actually hear the voice of God. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Dr. Evans will touch on a number of powerful stories as he continues his look at the book of Acts today, highlighting the power of grace over law, the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding believers, and the miraculous events that unfold when faith is put into action, both in biblical times and today.
There's a lot to digest, so let's dig right in. We open up with the Council at Jerusalem, Church, chapter 15. This council came about, verse 1, because some men came down from Judea teaching the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. So they were making the law a qualification for salvation, coming under the law, visualized or manifested through the symbol of circumcision, because, of course, they were coming from a strong Jewish background. Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and a debate with them. They were making this requirement of works a part of the gospel.
And the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. The old covenant of law has now been replaced with the new covenant of grace. Romans 6, 14 says, you are no longer under the law. You're now under grace. The law could only show you what's wrong.
It could never help you make it right. And so it's hard to enjoy the Christian life and live under the law, because you're always in this handcuff. Not because the law is bad, the law is good, but the law can't help you keep it. When you learn to live under grace, you wind up keeping the law and enjoying it. The apostles and elders, they come together to address this matter. Peter then stands up in verses 7 through 11, and he says, you know how in the early days God made a choice among you, and by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word and the gospel and believe. Now therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? God wants a relationship with us that's not tied to a leash, but tied to a relationship.
And so cultivating intimacy is what He wants, because when you do that, you're still not going to run off, because the relationship is growing in its dynamic. And so He says we couldn't even handle the law when we were under it. Peter says, then he says in verse 11, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way that they are also. We're saved by grace.
We're not saved by law keeping. And then James, who's the leader, he's the leader of the group, says, brethren, listen to me. And then he lays out the fact that God always intended to include the Gentiles. He quotes, there's a quote there from Amos 9, 11 to 15. He quotes bringing the fact that what God was doing, He was always intending to expand to the Gentiles, verse 17, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who makes these things known from long ago. So He goes back to the Scriptures to help give direction to a controversy.
I chuckle when I look at the news, and I see all these smart people, brilliant people, educated people, just going through all of this stuff. Many of the items they are discussing would be simply resolved if the Bible was brought to bear, very simply resolved. And I'm talking about immigration, I'm talking about racial relationships. It's just, I sit there and it's somewhat frustrating because I know God has answers to all of these things, but some are more complicated than others, obviously. But James says there's a controversy here. We've heard the report, the Scripture has addressed it. Therefore, it is my judgment, so he takes the leadership, that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles. So we don't require of them retracting back to the Mosaic law, but that we write them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from fornication, and from what is strangled from blood. In other words, tell them, don't go out of your way to either sin and don't go out of your way to irritate people who are not where you are yet. So he sends a letter to kind of give them the decision.
You don't have to be circumcised, but you do have to be righteous and you do have to abstain from things that would bring unnecessary pain to people who were raised in this Jewish environment. Now we come to verse 36, and we have a little issue here. After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are. Let's go check on the churches where we've preached the word and started churches.
Let's see how they're doing. Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. John Mark, he's the author of the second gospel, Mark. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along, who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. If you recall, Mark quit on them. It was too hard, too tough, and he threw in the towel. He said, this ministry stuff is a little much. And ministry can be hard because it's people, it's problems, it's inconvenience.
And then if you're a missionary going to a third world country, I mean, you know, so ministry can be tough. And John Mark just wasn't ready for it at that time. So Paul says, no, we can't take him with us. Verse 39, and there occurred such a sharp disagreement. So they are going at it, and we're talking about two leading apostles, that they separated from one another.
So this was a strong disagreement. And Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. So you have such a disagreement that these two leaders split up and go in their separate directions. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord, and he was traveling to Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Okay, so I want to lay out a principle here with you. How God uses conflict. John Mark had failed. Barnabas is known as the encourager. His nickname was Son of Encouragement. So he saw potential in John Mark that had not yet been realized.
He said, let's give the guy a chance. Paul says, no, it's rough out here, and I can't be dragging him along, and he quit on us again. And so they went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. But out of it came two separate missionary journeys. So Barnabas and Mark go one way. Paul and Silas go another way. And when Paul and Silas go their way, they take the gospel to Europe. So now Europe is going to begin to be evangelized through Paul and Silas, while Barnabas and Mark go the other way and expand the missionary journey. What God did was he took a disagreement and used it to expand the gospel. My point is, God knows how to take a mess and make it a miracle.
In their humanity, the relationship could no longer exist. Now, Paul speaks positively of all of them, of Mark and of Barnabas and other writings. So it's not that he carried a grudge or anything, but it shows up in the book of Esther. The providence of God, when he can take things that aren't right and still do something right. To be able to say, this is not right, and it wasn't because either of them were wrong. Both of them were right.
John Mark was a deserter, and John Mark needed to be encouraged. So you had two things that were right. Now, if something's right versus wrong, then that's clear. But what happens if both points are right and you're disagreeing?
And it causes a movement of a different direction. God is able to take two rights and double the impact from it, and that's the providence of God. And when two righteous people disagree on something legitimate that they cannot get together on, then you always look for what new thing God is seeking to do. Because God is always up to something. He's always up to something.
He never is singular in his approach to anything. When Satan got Adam and Eve to rebel against God, he didn't know about this other plan, about him becoming a man in the person of Jesus Christ. So the churches are still getting strengthened and the ministry is still moving forward. When Dr. Evans returns to continue our message, he'll talk about Paul's first meeting with one of his most important partners in ministry. We'll see what's coming up in just a moment. Stay with us. Do science conflict with the Bible?
No, not at all. Observational science confirms the Bible over and over and over again. Equip yourself to face today's toughest cultural challenges with clarity and confidence. If we're going to deal with issues in our culture, we need to start from our foundation, first of all, to understand what we should believe. Discover faith-strengthening truths from Genesis and explore more courses to deepen your understanding of God's Word at TonyEvansTraining.org.
Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. Just a reminder, today's study is part of Tony's 14-message series on the book of Acts, which chronicles the early church's journey, highlighting the faith of the apostles and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. This audio collection will give you a deeper understanding of the church's foundation and mission, uncovering timeless principles that'll inspire and empower your own spiritual journey. And it's available on CD or digital download as our gift to you in appreciation for your generous donation toward the work of the alternative. As a special bonus, we'll also include a copy of Dr. Evans' insightful book, Kingdom Purpose, a valuable resource that'll help you uncover your unique calling and point out practical steps to fulfilling your God-given mission. This special double offer is only available for a limited time, so be sure to contact us before time runs out. Someone in our resource center is always available to help you when you call 1-800-800-3222. Or you can make the arrangements online by visiting TonyEvans.org. I'll repeat that contact information for you after Part 2 of today's lesson.
Here's Dr. Evans. Chapter 16. So they come to Derby and Lystra, and a disciple was there named Timothy. So now we meet Timothy, a son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was Greek.
So he's the son of an interracial marriage. And his mother and grandmother had a great influence on him, and he had a great reputation. Verse 2, he was well-spoken of. That means he had a high recognition and integrity, and Paul wanted this man to go with him.
And of course, this is going to be the young man who winds up, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy. So Paul takes him with him, and after they came to Micaiah, they were trying to go to Bethanyi, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Now we're introduced to the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding us.
So he blocked their travel. He said, no, I don't want you to witness here. The Holy Spirit, which is the whole book of Acts, is the most underutilized power in the life of the Christian because of the mystical nature of him. Okay, he's a spirit, and spirit is not a tangible, physical reality. But he is the one who Jesus Christ has left, as we said when we opened this up, to guide the Christian. He is your helper. He is your guider. He is your enabler. And he gets so specific that he'll tell you, don't say anything right now. Don't go there.
Go here. But unless the relationship is such, you'll never hear it because he speaks in a still, quiet voice. Slow down. Be still. God, are you talking now?
Are you saying something? Because that's God saying stuff. And when the Holy Spirit is free to do that because that relationship is so thick, then you actually hear the voice of God in your movements in life.
And there are all kinds of stories. But this is how he works. We're given another way he works in verse 9. A vision appeared to Paul in the night, and a man from Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
How did he know God had called him? A vision. A vision is when you're awake.
A dream is when you're asleep. And so he begins to obey, again, the work of the Spirit using the vision. In the apostles' case, visions were given that was the basis of writing Scripture. God's not writing anymore Scripture. The Bible is complete.
So for revelation, the Bible is complete, but God can still use dreams and visions for illumination, meaning to guide you. And then we get introduced to a special lady. Her name is Lydia. Lydia is from the city of Thyatira, and she is a seller of purple fabrics, which means she was couture, ladies. So she has a successful business. She is a worshiper of God, a God-thearer.
She got baptized, and if you judge me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. There's another girl, a slave girl having a spirit of divination, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying and saying, These men are bondservants of the Most High God.
Well, that sounds like she on that side, right? These men are bondservants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. She continued doing this for many days, but Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it came out that very moment, because Paul did not want the devil supporting him. People responded to her, even though what she was saying was good, then the fortune-telling could get wrapped up in the message, because she's a fortune-teller. So he did not want her to use the legitimate to draw it into the illegitimate. And when her masters saw that their hope of a prophet was gone, okay, because the devil has gone out of her, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe being Romans.
Okay, don't miss this. Their argument is civil, not religious. They're saying, This is not our custom being Romans.
That's going to be a key point here. So what they want to do is pit Paul and Silas against Rome, because see, Rome didn't care what religion you were, as long as you didn't compete with Caesar. The crowd rose up against them, and the chief priest tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. So having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened them feet in the stocks. So they're now chained on the inner prison about midnight. That's the darkest hour. Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. And while they're doing this, and the other prisoners were listening to them, because I know what they're thinking. Y'all got to be out of your mind.
There's nothing to sing about. And suddenly, I love this word suddenly. That means out of nowhere, bam, then came a great quake. So the foundations of the prison house were shaken. Immediately all the doors were open, and everyone's chains were unfastened. They were set free suddenly while they were getting their praise on.
Not complaining. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice. There were some believers nearby. Do not harm yourself, for we are here. Trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas, and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Turned into an evangelistic opportunity. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be saved, and your household too.
We're going to get the whole family. Because it was understood when the head of the house went one way, the family was going to follow. So they spoke the word of the Lord together, and they were in the house. And they took them that very hour, washed them their wounds. Immediately, they were baptized. He and his whole household, they brought them into his house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
So the whole household accepted Christ. And when day came, the chief priests and policemen saying, Release these men. And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Of course, you ain't there. Therefore, come now and we will go in peace.
But Paul said, No. They have beaten us in public without a trial. Men who are Romans and have thrown us into prison, and now are they sending us away secretly? They would tell them, Y'all get out of town. No indeed, but let them come themselves and bring us out. So here you have the first sit-in in the Bible. Never sit in. They say, No, we're going to sit right here. Y'all come move us.
Why? Because you could not do this to a Roman citizen without a trial. So Paul knew that they had broken the Roman law and he was a Roman citizen. So he was going to call them to obey the very law that they broke.
The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Okay, so they knew they were in trouble now. And they came and appealed to them.
And when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. God was still working, doing miraculous things, because the Holy Spirit was still working. And a life was saved, the family was saved, Lydia was saved, the church was born. A whole bunch of stuff took place when God is on the move. Dr. Tony Evans, talking about pivotal events from the book of Acts that have the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit all over them.
And that supernatural spirit power is still available today, but only to those who have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If you're not sure what that means or how to get it, Tony would like to help you cut through the confusion by explaining it in clear, simple terms. Just visit tonyevans.org and follow the link that says Jesus.
You'll find everything you need to know, including some free resources to help you. Again, that's tonyevans.org. If you missed any of our recent lessons on Acts or want to have the entire series for your personal study, I highly recommend taking advantage of the resource package I mentioned earlier. It includes all 14 messages from both volumes of Dr. Evans' teaching series, along with his insightful book, Kingdom Purpose, which helps you find and follow God's divine calling for your life. These resources are our gift to you when you make a donation to this listener-supported program. To make the arrangements, simply visit tonyevans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where our team is ready to assist you 24-7.
That's 1-800-800-3222. Or visit us online at tonyevans.org. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will continue his look at the earliest days of the Church, chronicled in the book of Acts. It's one amazing story after another, driving home again and again how much can be accomplished when we unleash the power of the Holy Spirit. He'll also focus on the importance of communicating our faith effectively to a non-believing world. I hope you'll be with us.
