Knowing The True Spirit Of God

Date: Sunday, November 16, 2014
Today's Chapters: Acts 17-19
Message Title: Knowing The True Spirit Of God

Hello My Friend, 

There has been a lot of talk about religion and civil rights lately in the media, it's as if there is nothing else to talk about. And guess who it is that they are calling the offenders? The Christians. You know, the same things that we are seeing today is the same things that have been happening since God created the world. Do you think that if one of God's creation from the very beginning rejected God, that it will be any different today? The problem is that people want to see proof of God's existence, and while they play their games, they fail to realize that God is everywhere, but He is not going to just appear out of the blue, He has done that, many times, and it never works. To know the living God we cannot find Him in a statue or image made by man nor animals or objects created by God. To know the living God we must believe that He is the only living God, God is a Spirit, therefore, in order to know Him, and understand Him, we need His Spirit in us. “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” - John 4:22-24.

Traveling through Greece, Paul witnessed many things, the Epicureans believed there was no God, and that the world happened of mere chance, and that the soul and body died together. Sound familiar? This is similar to evolution. The Stoics believed that matter was eternal and that all things were governed by fate, that virtue and godliness was its own sufficient reward, and vice its own sufficient punishment. This is similar to Buddhist beliefs. The Athenians prided themselves on their mythology, gods and goddesses, they had statutes everywhere depicting these images. Paul arrives in Athens, he was stirred by the Holy Spirit to speak to them. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” - Acts 17:24-30.

Paul knew that he was wasting his breath talking to the philosophers and spiritualists, his intention, through the Holy Spirit's guidance, was to open the door to the truth that some might listen, accept it and be saved. And many did get saved, but that did not stop those who were against Paul's preaching from causing trouble. “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.” - Acts 18:8-13.

Anytime we preach the Gospel to unbelievers we at least open the door to give them the opportunity to know the truth. The rest is up to their willingness to open their heart to accept it, it's actually not the unbelievers that we need to be careful of, but those who are dead set against preaching the truth because they know it will take away their revenue. A man named Demetrius prided himself on the statutes he made and sold, and he was not about to let Paul take away his business. “For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” - Acts 19:24-28.

You know, there is a lot of money and fame in false religion, in reality all they really believe in is a paycheck, and will stop at nothing to keep people from knowing the truth. Do you know how many TV evangelists there are out there? How many are actually who they claim to be? Speaking in tongues, faith healing, and prophetic messages, are all signs that they are not who they claim to be, these are acts of the devil, not God. By the way, I just heard of a group of teenagers passing out coloring books promoting Satanism in their high school, now the school board wants to ban everything that has to do with religion in the schools to stop that from happening. Let me tell you, our only defense is the Lord, Jesus Christ. We must get close to Him if we are to defeat the devil and everyone else He uses to try and keep the truth from us and the lost. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” - Ephesians 6:11-13.

Today's Prayer: God, When I gave my heart to You, I made the willful choice to no longer conform to the trends and philosophies of this world, but to seek Your truths so that I see this world through the eyes of Christ. We are put to the test daily in deciding what is truth and what is error. Sharpen our discernment and grant us the courage we need to readily know truth from error and are fearless in saying so. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. 

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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