The Strategy of the Holy Spirit
Acts 17:1-3
In Chapter 17, Paul seems to be a strategist doing tremendous evangelism in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, which are strategically good locations for evangelism. However, todays Words teach us that receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not following my own strategy, is the best strategy one can take.
First, the Holy Spirit guides us the place to bypass and the place to be.
In verse 1, Paul and Silasappear. In Philippi, where there was no Jewish synagogue, they suffered imprisonment, so they might have moved very carefully. So, it is possible that Paul bypassedAmphipolis and Apollonia where there was no Jewish synagogue, the places withbeautiful rivers and known for its golden mountains. In the Lake Volvi there is now the Apostle Pauls Memorial Church and the inscription saying that Paul had preached here. I think the reason the Bible tells us that Paul 'visited' these cities when in fact he more likely bypassed them is because Paul continued praying while passing by these two places. The best strategy for deciding where to go is asking the Holy Spirit, which is QT. Thessalonica, which was Pauls destination, was the heart of the Roman Empire and also was a strategic location for evangelism because there was a Jewish synagogue. Paul did nothing but asked the Holy Spirit in deciding where to go.
I have a testimony that I later realized the places I stayed for a short period of time were Amphipolis and Apollonia. Over 40 years ago, when my husband opened a hospital, I once led a QT meeting at the unfamiliar church. It was unavoidable that I had to introduce the pastor to them, and eventually I got involved in the uproar of the church. Fortunately, that church did notscatter butbecame a QT community. And it can be said that I 'bypassed' them because I helped their QT ministry but I was not directly involved in it. Since there was the time I made money out of the hospital, it can be said I passed Amphipolis. And also there was the time I preached the Gospel for a while, just like Paul did in Apollonia. Because my husband decided to go back to his old church a year before his passing away, we had to move to new house. And at the house we had moved, I started QT ministry and the whole church planting has begun. Since Gods Words was my only strategy, the Holy Spirit had guided me exactly where I would bypass and where I would go.
Second, 'according to ones own custom' is very important.
It was customary for Paul to teach the Bible wherever he went. And the word, custom, is used broadly to call a religious practice, but it can also mean a wide range of uses down to personal habits. In Luke 4:16, it says As he always did, he entered the synagogue and stood to read the Bible, and As he always did refers to custom. Both Paul and Jesus kept the customs and traditions of entering the Jewish synagogue. For Paul, after meeting the Lord on the Damascus road, teaching the Bible became a voluntary self-custom. The day before Jesus was crucified, he went to the Mount of Olives, and the Bible says that he went according to the habits instead of saying according to the Holy Spirit. Here, the same word is expressed as habit. Since Jesus also went to pray according to the habit, cultivating ones own habit and showing this habit to the people around us is the strategy to bring everyone back to the Lord. King Solomon built a nice temple with the best architectof the day,Huram, but did not show his son, Rehoboam,the way ofasking the community. So as soon as Solomon died, Rehoboam began to despise all the elders of his fathers day, and eventually the country was divided. It is so important to follow the habit of showing respect for the community of Jesus. Therefore, whether or not they listen to the Words, building the custom of having a lot of access to the Bible at home is the biggest strategy for your family to accept the Gospel. The Parents most valuable legacy is to show their children how to value the Church and the Bible and teach them to be altruistic to each other. And the most important of all is to learn the practice of always obeying the upper order. In this age of crying out for human rights, obeying the upper order is like bearing the cross, but by doing so you would gain authority over the twelve tribes. Parents must know that obedience to the upper order begins with the custom of worship, and children must learn it in the church. Doing daily QT may not make an impression every day, but it can help you make right decision whenits critical moment. The best strategy is tomakethe habit of praying and reading the Word every day. When my husband passed away, I was able to recover from a great sadness with the help of Ezekiel 18 within a day as I had followed the habit of reading the Bible.
Third, the strategy of the Holy Spirit isself-denial.
Unraveling the meaning means explaining one by one as one opens the Bible, but to testify was used to describe setting food or a table in front of a person. The purpose is to unravel the sins of many of the ancestors of the Old Testament to be able to read them as my own stories. When I see my sin, it becomes my own custom and the Bible is heard as my story. So, to testify is interpreting numerous events in my life through the lens of the Word and setting them up like a table in a way that the listeners can eat them most appropriately. The materials we use in that table is Christs suffering, death, and resurrection, and if only one of them is emphasized, it isheresy (three of them are equally important). If we look more closely at todays Verses, we can see that one must have been hurt and also must have resurrected. The apostle Paul explained that the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were determined by God to must have occurred. It is a strategy that Satan would have never conceived that the Creator can die for a small and insignificant creature. So the strategy of the Holy Spirit is self-denial, that is, you must die first in order to live again. Self-denial was difficult even for Jesus as he continued praying until his sweat turns into blood, and suffered severely before he accepted his own death. In our lives, it is difficult because I have my own wish and also my fathers wish. For everyone there is always one thing we must do for other persons salvation. Just as Jesus died so that all mankind was given life, carrying my own cross and dying for the others is the fastest way to save our families who are unwilling to change. I hope that all of you will bear the fruit of evangelism with the strategy of self-denial according to your own customs.
