With Us and In Us

Acts 13:1-12

"Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John/Mark was with them as their helper. They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the LORD? Now the hand of the LORD is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the LORD."

The LORD said, “when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come (John 16:13).” The Holy Spirit is God because He is the Spirit of the Father who is all truth, and the Son, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Living Life writer comments, "the Holy Spirit plays a significant role in accomplishing God’s work. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the apostles raise the dead, heal the sick, and embolden the fearful." Today we read about the Apostles Barnabas and Paul being set apart, sanctified, and made holy by God’s Spirit for the work of the Great Commission to Cyprus (v. 2). The Holy Spirit is God, for no authority exists to do such justification and purification, and to direct His people, but God’s. St. Matthew records for us “when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him (Matt 3:16)”. The LORD breathed the same Spirit of God’s authority and power, the power of His resurrection, upon His Apsotles to forgive as He did, He “said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld (John 20:21–23).” This is exactly what St. Paul, whilst filled with the Holy Spirit with discernment and authority to judge, pronounced over the false prophet Elymas (vv. 9–11), no one can be against God, His will, and His people (Rom 8:31). To us, to me practically, one very important work of the Holy Spirit is His indwelling and inner witness, He provides the deep-seated conviction of the truth of the Gospel, that Christ, “because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put My Laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.” Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more (Heb 10:14–17).” The Holy Spirit is God with us and in us. Brothers and sisters, let us pray, "LORD, help me to embrace a Spirit-filled life. May I be obedient to the leading of Your Spirit. Help me to follow the path You have placed me on, and empower me to fulfill the tasks to which You have called me. In Jesus’ name. Amen."