What to Expect?

Acts 13:4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. 6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

One of the most important aspects of ministry is to be sent by the Holy Spirit. Given the Holy Spirit is all-powerful and all-knowing, (omnipotent and omniscient,) it might seem the rest of the story of following the leading of the Holy Spirit would be smooth sailing.

But more often it seems what we experience following the leading of the Holy Spirit is what may be called ‘overcoming.’

More than anything else, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is an overcoming ministry. To begin with, we find the Holy Spirit overcoming our own flesh as we learn to follow and become changed into the image of Christ. This was the first step we saw in the ministry life of Paul the apostle, as he was converted on the Damascus Road. He, in effect, died. The old ‘Saul’ ceased to exist. The raging Christ-hater became the zealous Christ-follower in an instant. His hard heart was replaced by a soft one. The seat of power in his life had a new occupant: The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Living God. The Spirit of Jesus Christ.

At this point you might expect the fight to be over in the apostle Paul’s life, but it wasn’t. The war raged on. (See Romans 7.) Wherever the flesh exists, the ministry of the Holy Spirit will be opposed. It is a natural fact. And this is what we are to expect in a life in ministry: Opposition. We get to practice on our own selves, dealing with our own flesh, and then move outward in ever-widening circles of influence. But as much as we struggle with ourselves, should we expect less opposition in others? Elymas is a classic picture of how well-meaning ministry may be received, even by those sent by the Holy Spirit.

Am I saying the Holy Spirit will send us into forces of opposition? It seems very likely. But by faith we walk head-long into those opposing forces knowing we represent over-coming power. Unfortunately for our flesh, we don’t get to see the overcoming before the overcoming happens. This is an offense to our flesh, even as we minister to someone else’s flesh. And now we begin to understand why facing opposition is an important facet of ministry life.

- Pastor Bill