Hope Sabbath School Lesson 5 Spirit Empowered Witnessing

welcome to hope sabbath school an in-depth interactive study of the word of god i'm so excited about our new series on making friends for god we should call it making friends with god and for god because first we have to know him before we can share the truth about god with others but it's a great series and through this series we've been talking about the importance of the holy spirit and so i'm excited about today's topic spirit empowered witnessing and i'm glad you joined us and team what do you think of the series so far it's been awesome hasn't it's been inspiring maybe it reminds us of some things we already know but we need to put into practice on a daily basis and if you've missed any in this series you can go to our website hopetv.org hope ss you can watch the first parts of this series you can download the same outline that we'll be using i'm always excited to hear of people who are downloading the outline and starting interactive bible studies in their part of the world that's awesome we pray for tens of thousands of small interactive bible study groups around the world talking of around the world we've got some emails and we're always happy to share those this is from nyabs he's from rwanda living in kenya and he says i want to thank god for hope sabasco amen i appreciate the teaching methodology you have viewers in your hearts as you share your experiences i find that very encouraging so we're not just talking theory are we we're talking about life your sacrifice every week to have the panel discussion is appreciated you've been a source of an in-depth study of the word of god since 2016 when a friend introduced me to hope sabbath school amen amen but thanks for writing to us nyabs from kenya god bless you may you be a witness right where you are rose writes to us from ohio in the united states of america and she says i really love that there are multiple teachers on hope savage school well we've got several stephanie you can wave and jason can wave and travis can wave and pouya can wave did i miss anybody you know someone came to me and said you really need to have other teachers on hope sabba school and i said but there are a million people watching and the person said exactly that's why you need to have multiple teachers so you can inspire other people well that person happened to be my wife so i listen carefully to her because she has a vision for multiplying what god's doing and rose says i appreciate that and i like how interactive the class is praying the lord will continue to grant you wisdom so that you can teach others about his love amen that's coming from toledo ohio thank you for writing to us rose here's a note from a donor in the united states who says we've watched hope sabbath school since it began we appreciate the format and the insights given by the class it really enhances our weekly study please find a check enclosed to help continue the production of hope sabbath school and a gift of five hundred dollars i just want to say thank you we're a donor-supported ministry and it's more than just the funds it's partnering together in mission so thank you so much for that gift all the way from south sudan desmond writes and says i'm very grateful to hear you discussing the words of god it makes me smile and i like the scripture songs amen i'd like to join with you if it's possible to be where you are thank you very much for your commitment my friends well desmond thanks for writing from south sudan isn't it amazing how many countries we have hope sabbath school members we we know of about 220 plus countries and so wherever you are we'd love to hear from you you can write to us at sshope hopetv.org but desmond thanks for writing from south sudan and one last note from eduardo and kenya in chicago illinois that's in the united states of america we love hope sabbath school so much it's so deep and fun we sing the scripture songs with you we can't wait for the next one we play it several times good job well eduardo and kenya we need your help right now because we're going to sing our theme song for this series on making friends for god it's a 3 000 year old scripture song taken from psalm 105 word for word my wife put a tune to help us and i like it because it's a happy song you can download it from our website mp3 files sheet music if you've learned it already let's sing it together oh give thanks to the lord his name all give thanks to the glory in his holy name let the hearts of those rejoice ever more remember oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name and the class said i love that song it's really a song of focusing on god but it also says make known his deeds we're talking about making friends for god and today about spirit empowered witnessing that's a theme we've been hearing in this series let's pray the holy spirit would be our teacher our father in heaven thank you that we could take these moments just to praise you and give thanks to you to call upon your name and i pray in the name of jesus that you would guide in our hope sabbath school discussion today that the holy spirit was speaking about spirit empowered witnessing the holy spirit would empower us even today as we speak and as we listen and interact together not just in the studio but around the world may lives be impacted for the honor of your name and for the blessing of those around us we pray in the powerful name of jesus amen amen amen well we're going to begin with jesus and a promise he made just before he ascended to heaven and brittany if you could take us to acts chapter 1 verse 8 some of you have heard this before is actually a lot of information here because it tells us even how jesus will return literally right visibly and we'll see him coming that's a whole nother study but in the context of that jesus has a message for his disciples acts 1 and verse 8. i'll be reading from the new king james version acts chapter 1 verse 8 but you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem and in all judea and samaria and to the end of the earth right after that they see jesus caught up and they're standing there gazing into heaven and two angels appear remember this says in white apparel that was kind of a clue as to who they were and said why are you gazing up into heaven this same jesus will so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven but but let me ask you to put yourself put you in their shoes at the sandals maybe not jews they're looking up what kind of emotions do you think they're experiencing is they're seeing their lord and savior being caught up into the clouds i believe in some ways maybe abandonment because they have been with jesus for the past three years and suddenly he's leaving them for good in some ways and although he told them that he was coming back i think in some ways they probably felt as if they didn't have a friend in jesus anymore anyone else that's a strong word but there may be some of that they were feeling anybody else how do you think they were feeling jason probably surprised because he's been with them for three plus years here now and then all of a sudden now there's a drastic change okay so yep trevor i think a longing to kind of go with him like take us with you you know he's caught up into the air yes so even though jesus had given them instruction i can't help but think they're thinking now what yes you know like hey you know he had given them instruction but they had always had him to rely on you know what do you think jesus and so now it's like okay now what happens so with all of that in mind it would be helpful if they could remember something jesus had told them fairly recently john chapter 16 and verse 7. john chapter 16. and verse 7 chuck if you have that could read it for us sure john 16 7 i'm reading from the new king james version nevertheless i tell you the truth it is to your advantage that i go away for if i do not go away the helper will not come to you but if i depart i will send him to you and the helper is the holy holy spirit i have to guess it says that the help of the holy spirit later on in john 14 26 the help of the holy spirit help me with that why would it be to their advantage haiti if jesus went away they're feeling loss and sadness and i think when he came he took on a human form so he could only be in one place at a time but if he came in his spiritual form in the form of the holy spirit he could be everywhere at once so we've got the father the son and the holy spirit the son of god comes into humanity and sets aside his omni presence right he's limited in in in humanity fully god fully man but jesus gives us a clue as to why it would be of advantage for him to go away and the holy spirit amen third member of the godhead to come amen right you talk about jesus being limited jesus says that he will be with you and in you that's right he'll be with you and in you that means if you're in switzerland or if you're in what are the countries represented brazil brazil or if you're in myanmar myanmar or if you're in the united states the united states of america right that he can be with you and and even in you an advantage uh jesus says it's not that the holy spirit's greater than the son of god but that ability to be in different places at the same time as haiti mentioned travis i'd just like to um point out too that in the context of uh the the verse we just read jesus was telling them he was going to away and so they were already worrying so he's so there he's like no no it's going to be okay i have an advantage for you which will outweigh your sorrows yeah in another place in john 14 of course he says let not your heart be troubled if i go and prepare a place i will come again but the question is what about in between those times right and he says it's okay okay i'm gonna send you a helper he'll be with you and in you wherever you are and look at let's look at some of the blessings that jesus promised john chapter 15. lord if you could read verses 26 and 27 you know what i love about hope sabbath school is we're not just saying well this man or this woman no no we're we're reading what jesus said amen right this is what jesus said is the blessing haiti laurel sorry would you read verses 26 and 27 of john 15. i'll be reading from the new american standard bible when the helper comes whom i will send to you from the father that is the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father he will testify about me and you will testify also because you have been with me from the beginning so several advantages will come in this one testimony of jesus give me one of them what's the holy spirit going to do stephanie be a comforter he's going to be a comforter he will guide you in all truth while you're quoting from another text just now let's stay in john 15 26 and 27 he'll testify of jesus he will point us to jesus we might say i can't do this look to jesus right but what else is he going to do what's the next phrase brittany he'll be so those are the two things now travel i'm going to take you okay if you would with us go to john chapter 16 because you were quoting ahead okay verse 8 and verse 13 because in addition to pointing us always to jesus and helping us to point people to jesus what does jesus tell us in john 16 verses 8 and 13 and i'll be reading from the new king james translation verse 8 and when he has come he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment and verse 13 however when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come so i got a confession to make when it said i will guide you he will guide you into all truth i was thinking of like a lot of little truths but but who does the bible say is the truth jesus that's right and it says in another verse i'm going to testify about jesus right so he's going to guide us into all truth which is embodied in jesus now it's also found in his teachings right and that's why he's going to bring his words to our remembrance will you i appreciate that we read verse 8 and verse 13 there because if we were only to read verse 8 it said the holy spirit would convict of our sins now if that is the only job that the holy spirit does we would be hopeless if we all know our sinful nature our sinfulness but without hope but then the holy spirit is not only pointing out and convicting us of our sins but also leading us to jesus amen amen that's so important isn't it now we've got a whole study ahead of us but we've been seeing even in early studies how important the holy spirit is so let me ask a applicant an application question before we move on if the holy spirit's so important that jesus says it's actually to your benefit that i go away i'm going to send him to you we've learned some of the things he can do how can we learn to be more cooperative with the work of the holy spirit amen how can we learn gary well part of uh what john is saying the holy spirit would do or jesus is saying that he would do is he would testify of me so getting to know the me getting to know jesus would help right so you would say um spending time in the gospels reading the story of jesus because we said he's going to bring that word to our remembrance right that would be a way of cooperating sabina and i also think it's very important that not only we're able to listen but also obey and that's how we can cooperate with the holy spirit because if he convicts you of something and still you are not willing to obey him it's pointless right isn't there a text in acts chapter five that the holy spirit is given to those who obey him yeah verse 32 so not that we earned the holy spirit by being obedient no jesus said if you love me you'll keep my commandments i will pray the father and he will send you so it's because of our relationship with jesus but sabine has a good point if we're demonstrating a rebellious and resistant attitude we will hinder what the holy spirit wants to do in us pouya i think it's also helpful for us to realize that this is the work of jesus the work of the holy spirit not ours right so in terms of talking about cooperation i think it would be helpful for us to realize that god can accomplish his work even without us and yet he wants us to participate and cooperate with him so by realizing that this is his work and it is a privilege for us that he has invited us to join in the mission but but being opening up to be available jason i think it can also be a mindset maybe we don't have a rebellious or hardened heart but oftentimes we can get so busy and focused on other things that aren't necessarily bad but they may not be a spirit led so there's a part that we need to kind of maybe sometimes shut down from other things and and really open ourselves to the holy spirit right go somewhere without our phone yeah yeah what an amazing thought right amen brittany and we also need to ask it's a daily choice that we need to ask because the bible says that the father is more willing to give good gifts than we are to our children so when we ask he will give us the holy spirit but we it's a daily thing it's not a one time i received the holy spirit now i'm good for life i have to be daily filled luke 11 13 how much more right will your father in heaven give the holy spirit to those who ask people yeah so god i'm available right yes um and and i want i want to make friends for god amen but it begins by being friends with god doesn't it amen so we're going to take a look now at a few stories in the book of acts i've wondered if we should call the book of acts the acts of the holy spirit because they're amazing stories but just to give us a perspective on what god would do innocent to us if we were fully available amen to the holy spirit sabine could you read for us in acts chapter 2 verses 37 to 41. okay so i'll be reading from the new international version therefore i let all israel be assured of this god has made this jesus whom you crucified both lord and christ when the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to peter and the other apostles brothers what shall we do peter replied repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the lord our god will call with many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them save yourselves from this corrupt generation those who accept his message were baptized in about 3 000 were added to their number that day is that awesome what did the holy spirit do on that day of pentecost that human beings could not do convict the heart convict people's hearts they interrupt his sermon peter and the other apostles they're preaching in other languages aren't they they interrupt they say brothers they interrupt the sermon they're under such conviction brothers what shall we do isn't that amazing you know i remember when i was in high school determining what i should do with my future i felt the holy spirit speaking to my heart and i'm saying that in context what we're learning today and there was a call made by a pastor at a week of prayer and as he was making the call he was calling us to stand up if we wanted to be baptized i had not been baptized yet and i sat there and i do not want to stand up it's going to be embarrassing other people are going to look at me and and i'll feel awkward but the call was so powerful i had no choice but to stand up and i think this is what the holy spirit does when the holy spirit convicts us he um it's powerful and and i praise god for that decision amen and here you are today that's awesome we could look at lots of stories in the book of acts i'm going to take us to acts chapter 5 now verses 12 to 16. i should could you read first acts 5 beginning with verse 12. yes i'll be reading from the new international version the apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people and all the believers used to meet together in solomon's colonnade no one else dared joined them even though they were highly regarded by the people nevertheless more and more men and women believed in the lord and were added to their number as a result people brought the sick into the streets and led them on beds and mats so that at least peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by crowds gathered also from the towns around jerusalem bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits and all of them were healed you can't read that travis without going supernatural things are going on by the way i don't know if the shadow cast caused the healing i don't know that it just they were hoping maybe they could even get a shadow we know healing comes in the name of jesus right but miracles were happening people were being healed physically people were being set free from the power of demons what do you think about this kind of spirit empowered ministry amen stephanie i guess in my mind i'm thinking if it happened then god can do the same thing at the latter reign for us amen so would it be too much to expect that god would do that no no no sabine indeed jesus had warned us that we would do even greater things in his name and when i look at that it's just i see his his word being fulfilled right where he probably how could we do greater things you're right that he said that how can we do greater things he he raised the dead and he fed 5 000 with five loaves and two fish how could it be that we would do greater things than these because i go to my father what do you think chuck this it's the concept that the spirit is everywhere at all times so the holy spirit can be with every believer everywhere on the globe and every believer can have that connection and by the holy spirit and through the power of christ be doing miracles i mean it's exponential yes maybe it's like i talked about at the beginning if you go from one teacher on hope sabbath school to 10 000 teachers yes all empowered by the holy spirit man that's it and i think another greater is it's one thing to see jesus son of god perform a miracle it's another thing to see jane yeah yeah trusting in the power of the holy spirit or i could mention one name then i have to go to all of you you know what i'm saying people might say that's even more amazing because you're just like me right fully yielded to the holy spirit we've got to look at one more like i said we could spend our hour in the book of acts but acts chapter 16 verses 5 to 10 one more story gary if you have that would read it for us okay acts 16 verses 5 to 10 and i'll be reading from the new king james version so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily now when they had gone through fergia and the region of galatia they were forbidden by the holy spirit to preach the word in asia after they had come to micea they tried to go into bethena bethenia but the spirit did not permit them so passing by micea they came down to troas and a vision appeared to paul in the night a man of macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying come over to macedonia and help us now after he had seen the vision immediately we sought to go to macedonia concluding that the lord hath called us to preach the gospel to them what's the holy spirit doing here haiti opening and closing it's like a gps right you go the wrong way is like what does it say on the gps recalculating encapsulating rerouting whatever it says in your language you know it's like wrong way rerouting um can the holy spirit you talked about could the holy spirit be that clear in directing saying puya i'm not going to send you here i'm going to send you there i believe so i mean we may not have dreams like this literally but i believe god through the holy spirit intentionally closes doors in our lives and opening doors for us so i believe the holy spirit is still at work in the same way today so we're not only seeing what we would call signs and wonders in terms of miracles casting out demons but very clear direction given to followers of jesus sabine and i find this passage amazing also because it speaks on how much the holy spirit was essential in the expansion of the church because this part when he is moving to macedonia is actually when the church started expanding in europe afterwards it was the first time he crosses to that side that's right he went from asia minor into what we call europe exactly and even paul as much as a godly person he was maybe he didn't have the strategic vision that god only could give him through the holy spirit no no no yes go this way and even give a vision to tell you because his intent was to keep going to to asia you know to keep going in another direction in the holy spirit this is so exciting so it can happen today yeah in fact it is happening today and i'm going to give you an opportunity whether it's in in india or in myanmar or in malawi or wherever where you've seen the holy spirit empowering people for mission and you say god is at work here give me an example of that you've seen anybody yes travis well i've seen it in malawi we talked about this in a previous study a gentleman named golden that that i'm fortunate i have actually the pleasure to work with there but since he and his wife have become christians they have worked without money without you know without anything basically and more than 60 000 people have given their hearts to jesus and they've just labored and the holy spirit has just used him and used used him over and over him and his wife because without his wife golden would be done so she's a a super important part of that ministry as well but he's used the two of them to go and just share with power the gospel in the in the country and by the way some of you might say well it's easy to do it there but we're talking about in very difficult non-christian environment that's right the holy spirit is working in phenomenal ways and a sign that the holy spirit's working is if you were to talk to that evangelist he would tell you it's all god's work that's right all right someone else where have you seen the spirit empowering for mission pouya a couple of years ago i had the opportunity to go back to myanmar a country was born in and myanmar is a buddhist country and one of the schools that i visited was a buddhist young man who came to me after i preach a sermon and i preach about the love of jesus and that god exists i mean in the buddhist teaching god doesn't exist so i presented this presentation and he came to me and he said pastor i want to get baptized i was very surprised and i asked him what prompted the decision well all along god has been leading him in the journey of faith and he told me a very amazing story that took place two years earlier where he had a dream and in his dream he saw three people he couldn't see their faces but he just realized that these are holy people three people and he woke up the next day and he realized this must be a dream for god from god telling me that three people would come to me to lead me to the truth now by the time i arrived at school two years after he had that dream was when he came to me he said pastor you are the third person from my dream because i had been watching a sermon from one pastor on youtube and the second person was a medical doctor who was giving me bible studies but something hasn't clicked yet but through your sermon tonight about the fact that god exists and that he loves us i believe you were the third person from my dream two years earlier and i have to get baptized and so i just realized wow god the holy spirit god through the holy spirit has been working with that person leading him on a journey and here i was two years later god works in miraculous ways even today now i know those of you on the front row can't see puya's face but you guessed that he's smiling right yes because it's a joyful thing to be a spirit empowered witness yes to see the holy spirit going way beyond you yes yes to change people's lives yeah we want to move on in our study and we want to talk about the holy spirit and the word of god amen now the word of god in the scripture is used in two ways it's referring to jesus he's called the word the word of god and also to the written word the holy spirit follow me now was crucially involved both in the coming of jesus conceived of a virgin by the holy spirit remember and in speaking to the prophets inspired by the holy spirit preserving that text for us so there's a very close connection you say derek why are we mentioning that we just want to talk about spirit empowered witnessing i had someone come to me one time i'll never forget and said i don't need the bible anymore i have the holy spirit and i thought something's wrong because the holy spirit will always point to the word of god yes so let's look at a few texts that emphasize that point let me just say this though don't say well i've got the bible i don't need the holy spirit because people who had the word of god and not the spirit crucified jesus yeah right yes that's right and also led a great apostasy in the christian church so we need to be empowered by the spirit connected to the living word of god and obedient to the written word let's look at a few texts together john 14 and verse 26 is a text jason that we've kind of we quoted a few times how does it read in your bible i'm reading here from the new king james version john chapter 14 verse 26 but the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that i said to you so he will bring to remembrance the words of jesus jesus where did we find we we weren't there then were we right where do we find the words of jesus they're written down by the holy spirit right they're written down for us do you remember a text which talks about when we stand before the council we shouldn't be afraid what we'll say yeah but it will be the spirit of my father who speaks through you yes i think what happens there is not just we're just going to go to the book the holy spirit is going to bring the word of jesus amen to our mind yes yes and we will quote with boldness the word of god let's look at another text john chapter 16 verses 13 to 15. trevor could you read that for us please john chapter 16 and i'll be reading from the new king james translation starting with verse 13. however when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come he will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you all things the father has are mine therefore i said that he will take of mine and declare it to you you can't separate verse 13 which is guiding you into old truth from verses 14 and 50 which says he's going to point you to me right yeah yeah do you see how important that is always pointing to jesus john acts chapter 4 verse 31 acts 4 and verse 31. gary if you have that would read it for us this is one of my favorite verses uh in the book of acts i've got lots of them but this shows us the importance of the holy spirit prayer and the word of god see how they're linked together okay and i'll be reading from the new king james version acts 4 verses verse 31 and when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit and they spoke the word of god with boldness amen what happens when we're fulfilled with the holy spirit it's not just some kind of unknown speech right we're speaking the word of god and how are we speaking it that's the same word by the way as is found in in uh acts chapter 4 verse 13 when they saw the boldness of peter and john it's the same word right they took note that they had been with jesus right so here they're speaking the word of god boldly that's what acts 8 verse 4 it says they went everywhere preaching the word preaching the word one last insight of the holy spirit and the word in acts 13 verses 44. brittany could you read verses 44 through 49 for us please i'll be reading from the new king james version acts chapter 13 verse 44. on the next sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of god but when the jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the things spoken by paul then paul and barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of god should be spoken to you first but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the gentiles for so the lord has commanded us i have set you as a light to the gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth now when the gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed and the word of the lord was being spread throughout all the region amen now it says the whole city came together hear the word of the lord to hear the word of god you're right to hear the word of god but how did they get there the spirit brides the holy spirit brought them that's right that's crucially important isn't it just like the holy spirit brought that young buddhist gentleman to your meeting because you were the third one in the dream yes right so the holy spirit's working all the time that's right and what what i'm hearing in our study today is as witnesses we want to be available yes to be used to be in the right place at the right time at the right time so that we can join god in what he's doing powerful powerful story the word of god spread throughout the whole region well there's one verse in hebrews chapter 4 that i misunderstood there's a few others i've misunderstood but i i limited i limited my understanding because i didn't read the next verse so i'm going to ask jason if you'd read hebrews 4. if you'd begin by just reading verse 12 and then i'll ask you to read verse 13. i'll be reading here from the new king james version hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 says for the word of god is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart is there anyone that's heard that text before amen okay maybe someone watching you say derek i've heard that one before i can remember hearing that the word of god is living and active yeah sharper than any two edged sword and and what did i think that was referring to the physical to the bible yes right now i'm not saying it isn't that true yes but i want you to read on to verse 13. because the word of god is not simply referring to the written word and verse 13 of hebrews chapter 4 in the new king james version says this and there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account who's that talking about gary jesus no it's not the holy spirit jesus that's jesus right he is the word yeah doesn't it say in the bible in the beginning what's the word and the word was with god and the word was god and you say well he was in the beginning with god by him all things were made and without him nothing nothing that was amazing nothing was made that was made oh i'm so thankful for verse 14 of john 1. what does it say brittany council counsel it the word the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth oh i love it when people memorize the bible because it can't get much more important than that jesus is the word of god that's why he could say these are they that testify of me is the bible important absolutely we wouldn't know about jesus without the bible we have a reliable inspired record but more important than the written word is the living word he is the one who's sharper than any two-inch sword amen isn't that important and see the relationship the holy spirit always pointing to jesus and always pointing to the word so again an opportunity to testify you're in a situation and you're not quite sure what to say and the holy spirit brings a word of god to your remembrance that's just the right word for that situation you are a spirit empowered witness yes amen and you don't walk away going i'm good you walk away he's going thank you thank you god right can you share a time when that happened for you when the holy spirit helped you brought a word to you anybody yes brittany when i was in college i went on a short mission trip to lebanon and there we were doing a week of prayer at a high school and an elementary school and the majority of the students there were not christians and there was a student that came up to me after one of our presentations and she had a lot of questions for me and we were on the playground it was recess time and she was a high schooler and she came up to me and she started asking me you know one question after another after another and i had my little bible with me and i just was praying for god to guide me because i didn't always know where to go but the holy spirit was giving me verses to share with her to try to answer some of the questions that she had and that was the first time i think that i had experienced god guiding me through the word to share with somebody else and after that experience the whole team had been eating lunch and afterwards i wasn't even hungry because i was so excited by what god had done through his word maybe that's one of the names of the holy spirit is the helper did you have an experience you wanted to share yes i remember a time when i traveled to a school and i did a week of prayer and one of the students came to him afterwards and shared with me her anxiety and her worry about the future and she was overwhelmed about the challenges that she was facing and i was praying my heart i didn't know what to say honestly i didn't know what to tell her that could give her the comfort and then then i remember a verse from the bible and it was from matthew 6 34 where jesus said do not worry about tomorrow right for tomorrow we'll worry about its own thing and it's good enough for a day right sufficient for the day it's its own trouble so i tell her hey just take it one day at a time and she she thought about i said i've read that verse before but i've never looked at it that way and then the holy spirit who is the holy spirit hold your thought who is the holy spirit working on that moment both of you that's right yeah the speaker and the hearer yeah yeah i thought that was just powerful that she has read the text before but somehow as we were praying together and seeking the lord through his word god the holy spirit spoke to us once again through the word amen i don't know if this has happened to you where god brings the text and you share it and they say that's my favorite bible verse how did you know that that's a verse that was given to me when i was a child how did you know that and the answer is we didn't know that right but the holy spirit was our helper amen yes one time i got a phone call from a young man his wife had just dropped dead and i'm thinking what can i say i get to the emergency room she she worked in the hospital she died in the hospital she dropped that her heart never started again she was a young woman and and right in front of me someone walked up and said to this now widower he lost his wife how's it going i thought what a silly thing to say how's it going i mean it's obviously going really poorly right i'm like god help me text of scripture flashed into my mind and i said i have a word for you from the lord fear not for i am with you yes amen be not dismayed i am your god amen i will strengthen you amen i will help you he he'd had addictions in the past his his wife it was a christian she led him to jesus he was walking in the way of the lord people said he's just going to walk away again i will help you amen i will uphold you with my righteous right hand amen amen i don't know why god brought he could have said those who wait upon the lord will renew their strength but that was the word god said that's the word i want you to share with steve i didn't walk away from that going wow i'm i'm good when the holy spirit empowers you it's always connected to the word and pointing to jesus yes and you sense that yes there's something really powerful when you experience that well let's talk about life transformation in our last section of a few stories that illustrate the book of acts is full of them we're going to look at three and then you can share another one that you say that one's amazing maybe it will encourage some of our hope sabbath school members to go read the book of acts the acts of the holy spirit that's right because the acts of the holy spirit is about spirit empowered witnessing acts chapter 16 verses 11 to 15. laurel could you read that for us beginning with verse 11. i'll be reading from the new american standard bible so putting out to the sea from troas we ran a straight course to semo trace and on the day following to neopolis and from there to philippi which is a leading city of the district of macedonia a roman colony and we were staying in this city for some days and on the sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside where we were supposing there that there would be a place of prayer and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled a woman named lydia from the city of thyrea theria a seller of purple fabrics a worshiper of god was listening and the lord opened her heart to resp to respond to the things spoken by paul and when she and her household had been baptized she urged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the lord come into my house and stay and she prevailed upon us amen so if you know anything about fire tyra that was that tricky word that reminds me of somewhere in revelation right thiatara and you also look at this successful businesswoman a seller of purple cloth by the name of lydia what might you think when you go to a quiet place to pray and you see a successful businesswoman there chuck from tayatara by the way you probably are not thinking there's an interest in her heart for what you have to share right it's not a good thought i'm saying but that would tend sometimes to be a response and i'm not saying that would be your response but a natural response could be here's a successful businesswoman and she's from a city that at least what we know about from the book of revelation was there were a few devout people there but it was not really a center of righteousness was it not like philadelphia okay you might just say but what happens what does paul notice what do you what do you see in the text the lord lord open her heart amen the lord opened him up not only does the lord open her heart her household but her household thank you laurel she says do we need a place for a house church right amen yeah she becomes a leader could we have a house church here yes what does that tell you travis well it's interesting she doesn't just say can we do it here she persuaded them she was so excited she wanted to have a house church there okay so it was uh we just don't know where we're going to meet somebody who got who's willing to have their heart open anybody else what do you see i don't know where the men were they should have been praying too right here's some godly women gathered by by the way i was i've been by that river i have a picture of my wife dangling her feet in that river we know where philippi is located and they don't move rivers the river's still there fed from springs in the mountains just thinking about these women praying what do you think they were praying they're probably praying for some for understanding could it be like in puja's experience god could you lead someone to bring truth to us but it would be easy if we were not spirit empowered to go i don't know this successful businesswoman from where was she from again you know i don't know but god opened her heart it's not amazing story yes anybody else what impacts you so behind i i think it's so amazing because the text says that she was a worshiper of god so even before listening to the message that paul had maybe you know she i have no information but maybe she was a drew herself or had some heard something about the law before or maybe she just had had an experience with the holy spirit and she was eager to learn more about one god if there was any and god led someone that had further light to talk to her and i think it's very beautiful how god is listening to people's hearts and we should be attentive to seek for those who are seeking as well beautiful beautiful well we're still in acts chapter 16. i'm going to take us to verse 23 because things get pretty difficult there and they get beaten and let's pick up the story in verse 23. chuck could you read it for us beginning in acts 16 verse 23 um you might they're probably rejoicing in the lord at everything that's been happening but then the enemy turns the tide of popular opinion against them let's pick up in verse 23 of acts chapter 16. so i'm reading from the new king james version in acts 16 23 and on and when they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely having received such a charge he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stalks but at midnight paul and silas were praying and singing hymns to god and the prisoners were listening to them suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed and the keeper the prison waking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open supposing the prisoners had fled drew his sword and was about to kill himself but paul called with a loud voice saying do yourself no harm for we are all here then he called for a light ran in and fell down trembling before us paul and silas and he brought them out and said sirs what must i do to be saved so they said believe on the lord jesus christ and you will be saved you and your household then they spoke the word of the lord to him and all that were in his house and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and immediately he and all his family were baptized now when they had brought them into his house he set food before them and he rejoiced having believed in god with all his household amen so how many transformed lives were there by the holy spirit that night whole family yes any of the prisoners silas paul right yeah could you could you be in that situation without being transformed right could it be that even spirit empowered witnesses are transformed day by day right from glory to glory right yeah what what what uh remarkable miraculous work do you see in this story there's lots of miraculous pieces the spirit is the one who convicts hearts and souls the spirit is the one who prepares people to accept christ for us it's for us to be there and be aware where the spirit is working but reality is it's not us as christians who change people's lives is the spirit who does all right for us to just be aware of it cognitive of it so i'm going to change this jayla's life and his family tonight so i need you there in the dungeon that's right sorry they had to beat you god's at work in all of those situations travis the fact that god the power of the message that god has given us through jesus can transform someone's life from killing themselves to taking the word to their family is just amazing absolutely and have an earthquake where no building falls on them and kills them just uh doors open and change my life and by the way the jail is about to kill himself it's still dark and paul knows it and calls out don't harm yourself that's a miracle too isn't it yeah yes i want to be part of a ministry where god's working like that don't you yes spirit empowered ministry we don't have time for you to share you'll have to write ssopenhopetv.org and we'd love to hear from you a story that means something to you in the book of acts where you see spirit empowered witnesses but as we've heard in our study today it's not just about back then it's about now it's about with us that's right when we surrender to the holy spirit connected to jesus obedient to his word and we say god i'm available to be a spirit empowered witness for you is that your prayer today that's our prayer amen let's pray together that the work of god would be fulfilled in us and through us father in heaven thank you for this powerful study of your word thank you holy spirit for guiding our study today thank you for the many accounts of spirit-led people and transformation by the power of the holy spirit god worked the same miracles innocent through us today we pray for the honor of your name in jesus name amen amen amen well thanks for joining us for hope sabbath school this series is called making friends for god but we also want to make sure we've made friends with god and if you want to learn more about the word of god go to hopebiblestudy.org hope biblestudy.org study the bible for yourself fill yourself with the word of god let the holy spirit use you and go out and be a blessing to those around you you

Channel: HopeSabbathSchool

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Keywords: 7-26-20

Id: eEWFlWB3yTA

Length: 58min 17sec (3497 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 26 2020