The Acts Of The Holy Spirit Series

Hello everyone! May the Lord bless you and be gracious to you. Let us continue to enjoy all that God has given us, and that includes the Bible, His holy Word.

• Let us pray and ask God to bless us as we feed on His Word.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You to receive the food of your holy Word. Take Your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in Your likeness, so that the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.

Speak, O Lord, and fulfil in us all Your purposes, for Your glory. Teach us Lord full obedience, holy reverence, true humility. Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of Your purity. Cause our faith to rise and our eyes to see Your great love and authority. Words of power that can never fail; the truth that prevails forever.

Bless all who come before you this day, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

Acts 13:1-12 The Acts of the Holy Spirit

1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger [Latin Black], Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch [Herod Antipas]) and Saul. 2While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

4The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

6They travelled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who 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. 8But Elymas the sorcerer [Greek magician] (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10"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? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable 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. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

If you are a believer of Christ, the Holy Spirit is always with you, to guide you and help you. So be always aware of His presence and listen to Him well.

Acts 13 marks the beginning of the third phase of our Lord's great commission.

• In Acts 1:8 the disciples were called to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, then in all Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.

• It’s time to move beyond Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth, the Gentile world, and the Holy Spirit initiates the move.

The Holy Spirit has never been absent in the book of Acts. It has the most references to the works of the Holy Spirit.

• Right from chapter 1, we have the mention of His coming Spirit and then in chapter 2 the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost.

• Chapter 4 after the threat from the Sanhedrin, the believers prayed and were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.

• Chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and were judged.

• Chapter 6 the church chose the Seven men who were full of the Spirit.

• Chapter 7 Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he preached to the Sanhedrin without fear.

• Chapter 8 Peter prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Philip to meet the Ethiopian in the desert and he was taken away by the Spirit.

• Chapter 9 Ananias prayed for Saul after his encounter with Christ and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and received his sight.

• Chapter 10 the Spirit spoke to Peter and instructed him to go to Cornelius’ house and the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles.