Living Life with the Holy Spirit - Part 8: The Comforting Presence | Dr. Nelson Estrada

Good morning. Smile, please, smile. Thank you.

Well, like what you've heard, this is the last

of the series on the presence, living life with

the Holy Spirit. And the topic I'd like to share

with you is quite familiar, but at the same time

quite challenging when you are asked to explain.

The comforting presence, which is, of course,

referring to the Holy Spirit. But I would be

talking specifically about being empowered to

endure sufferings. Being empowered to endure

sufferings. So I have two questions for you,

and help me answer these questions. Number one,

does the Holy Spirit help us in our time of suffering?

Of course, many of you will say yes. Please say

yes. Yes, okay. You will say yes. And then the

other question is, does the Holy Spirit help

us endure suffering? And of course, many of us

will say yes. The first one to me is, I mean,

it's easy for me to say yes, but it's challenging

for me to define because, number one, at least

this is how I look at it. Probably you have a

different way of understanding the question number

one. How does the Holy Spirit help? How am I

going to describe how the Holy Spirit helped

me? Do I feel His awesome presence when I need

His help? So probably all of this may be very

subjective, and we will explain this in our own

different ways. And then the other question is,

how do you define suffering? How do you define

suffering? That's another challenge for me because

it's too broad. It's too broad. So one time,

one brother came to me. He said, oh, let me explain

it to you. He said, the Holy Spirit comforts

us in times of pain and loneliness. That's good.

At least he has narrowed down the definition

or the word suffering. For him, suffering is

pain in times of pain and loneliness. Still,

to me, that's a bit broad in one sense, because

how do you define pain? Is stomach ache a pain

in that you need the help of the Holy Spirit?

Or, I mean, I was sharing this morning, I have

an allergy. That allergy is triggered by... the

sudden change of weather from hot to cold. Every

time, here, it happens here, most of the times

here in Thailand, so hot outside. And then when

I get into the sanctuary of ECV, it's so chilling.

I notice some of our brothers and sisters, if

they don't feel cold in this sanctuary, they

wear t -shirts and on flip -flops. But others

of you really... wear some really thick clothing.

So it's different. So that triggers my sinus

allergy. But do I call upon the Holy Spirit to

help me on that? No, I don't. I just call on

Mr. Tylenol and it helps me. But again, this

is a chance of trying to understand what we say.

How do we express what we see from the Scriptures

and then try to apply it in our lives today?

The Holy Spirit comforts us in times of pain

and loneliness. Because, I was told, and it's

true, the Holy Spirit, He told me, the Holy Spirit

is our comforter. That's true. But did you know

that this attribute of the Holy Spirit originally

was taken from John chapter 14, 26. In John 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

26, it says here, the author John says, all this

I have spoken while still with you. Jesus was

the one talking to his disciples, okay? But the

advocate, or the King James Version, one of the

oldest versions in the world, the King James

Version used the word comforter. The Greek word

for that is parakletos. The comforter. But the

NIV found out, oh, we should translate it more

modern. Advocate or helper. The Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name, will teach

you in all things and will remind you of everything

I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. And

my peace I give you. I do not give to you as

the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled

and do not be afraid. So if you will closely

look at the passage where the concept of the

Holy Spirit being comforter, what Jesus was trying

to say is that, I know that I'm leaving you,

okay? I know that I will no longer be with you.

That day will come, I will no longer be with

you. But do not be sad, because the Father in

heaven will send the Holy Spirit who will comfort

you. So the context of the fact that the Holy

Spirit is our comforter, comes from the concept

that it has something to do with Jesus appeasing

and encouraging his disciples that it's okay

if I leave you, the Holy Spirit will come. That

kind of comfort. Now, can we extend that? When

you're doing Bible interpretation, can we extend

that to other applications? Maybe you can, as

much as you want to. But we as disciples of the

Lord Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility

of making sure that when we share this with others,

we go back to the original context so that they

will have the freedom to also understand what

was the original setting of the word or the concept

of comforter. And then, you're still okay? Are

you being comforted? You're okay? And then there's

another brother who came to me. Nelson, he said,

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. Oh,

I've heard about this. Yeah, that the Holy Spirit

helps us in our weakness. I have so many weaknesses.

How many of you do not have weaknesses? Any weakness

at all? It's okay. Okay. All of us then. I have

so many. I don't know if you can tell what type

of weakness is there. I do. And what compounds

this weakness is the fact that this guy is diabetic.

Yeah, I've been diabetic for 30 years. But this

is a... Wow, now I'm craving. It is a weakness.

So, what do I do? Do I call upon the Holy Spirit

to help me? during my cravings for this awesome

sneakers bar, chocolate? Or do I call upon the

Holy Spirit to help me, to heal me with my diabetes?

That, again, is part of the discussion when you

look at the statement, the Holy Spirit helps

us in our weaknesses. Now the concept of the

fact that the Holy Spirit Helps us in our weakness.

Was taken. Was taken from the apostle Paul. Paul

wrote in Romans chapter 8. Verses 26 to 28. He

Romans 8 · chapter mention

said. This is where that concept was taken. That

attribute. It says. In the same way. The spirit

helps us in our weakness. We do not know what

we ought to pray for. But the spirit himself

intercedes for us. Through wordless groans. Wordless

groans. Because the Christians that Paul was

ministering to, they couldn't express their prayer

to the Father. So he said, And he who searches

our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because

the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance

with the will of God. So what was the weakness

here? The weakness is that there are Christians,

or there were Christians who wanted to pray to

God. But they couldn't express, they couldn't

articulate or even express the details of their

prayers. So Paul was saying, don't worry. The

Holy Spirit will intercede for you and help you

express these prayers to the Father in heaven.

That's the context of the word weakness here.

Now, do you take the word weakness and extend

it to any kind of weakness that you have and

say, Holy Spirit, please help me through this

weakness? Probably you can do that. However,

we are responsible when we mix, make certain

expansions and extensions of what we see from

the text. By the way, that's my job at ABTS to

teach a Bible interpretation. But what I'm trying

to say is that we need to understand what the

text says and then how we make applications in

our situations, present situations right now.

So we go to the second question, which is easier

for me to answer. And just let me remind you

what was the second question we asked. Does the

Holy Spirit help us endure suffering? Yes. My

answer to this is yes. Why? Because I can find

exact or clear examples in the Scriptures of

the fact that the Holy Spirit indeed helps believers

and disciples endure suffering. The question

is, what type of suffering? Well, you will find

many examples in the New Testament. But specifically,

you will find in the book of Acts. The book of

Acts has a lot of examples where disciples...

had to endure suffering in order for the gospel

to be preached. They needed to endure that suffering

because if not, if they would have just said,

okay, just kill me now, then the gospel wouldn't

have preached. They needed to endure the suffering

so that the proclamation of the gospel will prevail.

So, let me make it clear then that my sharing

with you will be from the book of Acts. And it

will be highly contextualized, but this is quite

important, right? In this case, suffering in

the book of Acts, even in other letters of Paul,

but here specifically in the book of Acts, suffering

in the book of Acts is persecution. So how do

we define suffering in the book of Acts? It's

always persecution. It's not headache. It's not

toothache. It's not anything else of all kinds

of pain. It's always persecution. That is the

kind of suffering that the disciples had to go

through. Persecution. And why were they being

persecuted? Well, they were being persecuted

because of their proclamation. So in the book

of Acts, the way they suffered is through persecution.

And why were they being persecuted? It's because

they proclaimed God's word. If they were not

proclaiming God's word, I don't think they will

even go through persecution. It's most of them,

if not all of them, were commissioned. Okay,

they were called, disciples were called to proclaim

the word of God. Now, this is very crucial because

I want you to be reflecting from your seats right

now. Wait a minute. Am I a disciple? Because

if I am a disciple right now, I should be facing,

I should be experiencing some kind of opposition

from the devil right at this moment. If you are

not facing or feeling any opposition at all,

because you, I mean, that probably means that

you are not proclaiming. Because you are not

a threat to the devil in the first place. Yes,

you are saved. Yes, we are saved. But how come

I'm living a very easy life right now? Hey, I'm

beginning to forget that I am called to proclaim

God's word. Yes? Oh, bless you. See, in the Bible,

in the book of Acts, persecution was the result

of proclamation. What else? Well, did I turn

this off? There. For proclamation in the book

of Acts, in the New Testament, for this proclamation

to prevail, they needed some serious power. What

do you mean by that? Well, it was not simply

that they will do this on their own. That serious

power was needed in order for them to face their

opponents. Who were their opponents? You have

Jewish leaders, you have Rome itself, and you

have the devil. And for the disciples, for them

to endure suffering so that their proclamation

will not stop, so that their proclamation will

prevail, they needed some serious power. What

was that power or where did that come from? The

source of that power or that serious power is

the Holy Spirit. Now, how is this gained in the

book of Acts? The Holy Spirit, the empowerment

of, I mean, this serious power is called the

empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which in Acts

you will find has something to do with when they

were baptized in the Holy Spirit. You see, I

completely misunderstood this. I got saved when

I was 17 years old, still young. And I got saved

in a small, charismatic... In fact, a small Catholic

charismatic church back home. And what I was

oriented or what I was taught is that we should

open ourselves for the empowerment of the Holy

Spirit. And you will conquer the world. I will

conquer the world. And I can use this power to

whatever I need to accomplish or whatever I needed

to do. You know what I did? Would you believe

if I tell you that I used to lay my hands on

things that don't work. Anything at all. Because

I thought that I am empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I will lay my hands on something that doesn't

work. And that power will transmit through me,

go through me. And power, it will become alive.

And this is true. I used to lay my hands on a

flat iron that wasn't working. Yes. I was late

for school and I needed some power. I didn't

know that, I forgot that it was blackout. So

there was really no power coming from the outlet.

But I laid my hands on it. This is how I was

oriented. Especially from charismatics. This

is for people. I was part of that prosperity

gospel thing. That the Holy Spirit will come

and power will come through you and do whatever

you want to do with that power. Did you also

know that during that time, I called upon the

Holy Spirit to empower me so that I can control

people? I did. I was so infatuated with a young

girl then in the church, at the church. This

is true. Well, it's okay. My wife is already

married. Anyway, I was so infatuated with a girl.

And at a Christian church, their service was

10 o 'clock in the morning. The youth fellowship

was 9 o 'clock in the morning. And I was consistent

in attending the youth fellowship. Not because

of Jesus, but because of that girl. And I fasted

for two weeks. I fasted for two weeks and I called

upon the power of the Holy Spirit. I told the

Spirit, help me convince this girl so that she

will be my girl. And so after two weeks, I was

there at the fellowship, youth fellowship. And

you know, this girl loves to wear yellow. Her

favorite color is yellow. She dresses always

in yellow. And I told the Holy Spirit, if she

comes today wearing yellow, That means you've

answered my prayer. I did that. Yes. That means

you've answered my prayer and she's mine. And

then, so I was early at the youth fellowship

venue. And I saw her coming. And I was so hurt

because I could see that she's wearing red, not

yellow. And I was forcing, I was forcing myself,

no, no, no, that's a yellow, right? That's a

yellow, but it's red. Now those are, that could

be the most extreme kind of colors that you could

force a red to be yellow. So I went up to her

and I said, did you know that the Holy Spirit

told me that you will be mine, you are my girl.

And she was so shocked, she cried. She hated

me from that. She left. She didn't even attend

the fellowship. The first thing I did when that

happened to me is go to the... I was so disappointed.

I was so... I was even angry at the Holy Spirit

because I was so hungry. I ordered two Big Macs.

While I was eating, I was bawling and crying

because I was let down. Well, this is not how

the Holy Spirit's empowerment works. Not this

way. That's why it's very important for us to

search God's Word and carefully do our hermeneutics,

our interpretation, our theology, so that we

can be a blessing to others and guide them properly,

especially in the application of the text. In

the book of Acts, and this is clear, in the book

of Acts, there are three reasons. why the disciples

received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Let me repeat that. In the book of Acts, there

are three reasons why the disciples needed the

empowerment of the Holy Spirit. What was it for?

They needed empowerment for proclamation. Nothing

else, okay? not for reviving flat irons, not

for healing headaches. Do you find any headaches

being healed in the book of Acts? No. The empowerment

of the Holy Spirit was for the disciples primarily

for proclamation. And what are these three reasons?

Number one, the apostles especially, they needed

the empowerment of the Holy Spirit because they

were fearful. Number two, They needed the empowerment

of the Holy Spirit because they were, some of

them, not all of them, some of them were ignorant

or what I would call they felt inadequate. And

I will give you examples about this, on this.

And number three, they needed empowerment in

the book of Acts is because they were outgunned

or ill -equipped. Why? They were not against

just human beings. They were against superpowers.

That's why they needed the empowerment of the

Holy Spirit. Let's start with the first one.

They were fearful. So let's ask this question.

Why did Jesus instruct the disciples to stay

in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the

Father? This you will find in Acts chapter 1

Acts 1:4–5

verses 4 to 5. The answer there is because they

needed to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. But

why did they need to be baptized by the Holy

Spirit? Because they were all in fear. They all

went into hiding when Jesus was sentenced and

crucified. Do you remember, if you recall, reading

the Gospels, when Jesus resurrected, He said

to His disciples, Go and meet Me in Jerusalem.

And then He commissioned them, when Jesus ascended,

He commissioned them to preach the Gospel. Did

you hear them go and preach the gospel? No. Something

happened. And you will need to catch, especially

if you're reading from the gospel of Luke, you

will see that they had to go to Jerusalem to

wait for the empowerment for the coming of the

promise of the Father. How fearful were the apostles?

How fearful were the disciples? Let me give you

a beautiful account that the Gospel of Mark wrote.

I know you have read this before, but probably

you didn't see the significance of these verses.

You see, during the Last Supper, Jesus already

predicted. He told His disciples. the shepherd

will be arrested and the sheep will be scattered.

And he was telling his apostles and his disciples,

you will all leave me. You will all abandon me.

And the apostles were shocked. No, Lord, we will

not do that. Never, never abandon you. Even Peter

rebuked Jesus, you know. But later on, you know,

Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times.

But all of them literally left the Lord Jesus.

From the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Garden

of Gethsemane. They finished celebrating the

Feast of Pentecost. They went to the Garden of

Gethsemane. By the way, they had a meal, the

Last Supper. I'm sure they had a lot of wine.

And they were all probably sleepy. And Jesus

asked the three, Peter, James, can you stay here,

watch and pray? Because at least give me a heads

up if somebody is going to arrest me. And these

three, yes Lord, we will pray. But they couldn't

hold their men. They were probably really exhausted.

They just couldn't do it. Jesus came and said,

oh, it's useless now. My betrayer is here. So

when Jesus was arrested, Everyone scampered.

Everyone left the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Mark

adds some detail to that arrest in the Garden

of Gethsemane. And he says in Mark chapter 14,

Mark 14:50–52

verses 50 to 52. He says here, Then everyone

deserted Jesus and fled. A young man wearing

nothing but a linen garment. was following Jesus.

When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving

his garment behind. Now, you need to study, read

this in context. What was going on? What was

probably going on, and this is my proposal, is

that there were many disciples who wanted to

see and follow Jesus. This guy, a young guy,

probably heard, Jesus is on his way to the Garden

of Gethsemane. So he was probably sleeping and

then he got up. Took a garment. I love the Lord

Jesus Christ so much. I don't even care if I

need to put on other clothes. Just put on a linen

garment and went to see Jesus. That is how committed

he is to see the Lord Jesus Christ. But then...

He didn't know that Jesus was going to be arrested.

And so the arresting team came. You know what

this guy did? Who was so excited to see the Lord

Jesus Christ. When he saw the arresting team,

he didn't care. He was so scared that he was

willing to flee naked all in Jerusalem. Because

that is how scared he was. Now the reason why

this is here is to give you a picture of how

the apostles really left. Jesus alone was arrested

and was taken to the court of the high priest.

This kind of fear remained with the apostles.

And that's why the Lord Jesus knew these disciples.

I've spent three years, more than three years

with these guys and yet they all left me. I want

you to wait in Jerusalem and wait for the promise

of the Father. What happened in Jerusalem? This

you will find in Acts chapter 2. When the day

Acts 2 · chapter mention

of Pentecost came, they were all together in

one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing

of a violent wind came from heaven and filled

the whole house where they were sitting. They

saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated

and came to rest on each of them. All of them

were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled

them. That was the last time. They feared. When

the Holy Spirit came upon them, they didn't even

wait a second. They all came out. They started

to preach, proclaim the gospel. The Holy Spirit

empowered them. All of them, by the way, were

executed except for one. All of them died proclaiming

the gospel. Why didn't they fear? Because of

the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The next

one is found in Acts chapter 2. So the first

Acts 2 · chapter mention

one is that the disciples were fearful, the apostles.

Now, there are also a group of disciples who

were not actually fearful, but you will find

that their teaching is a bit inadequate. They

too needed the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

You will see this in Acts chapter 18. You've

Acts 18 · chapter mention

heard of the name Apollos, and of course, Paul

has referred to him too. In Acts, Luke was writing,

he says here, Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos,

a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was

a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the

scriptures. He had been instructed in the way

of the Lord. It is very important that the author

Luke mention where he comes from. He is a native

of Alexandria. If I say, hey, I'm a graduate

of Cambridge University, or I'm a graduate of

Oxford University, or I'm a graduate of Harvard

University, that's quite impressive. That is

what is happening here. Unlike Harvard, of course,

Harvard is in Massachusetts. Cambridge and Oxford,

did you know that these are cities in England?

And then in the city, you have Oxford University,

and then you have Cambridge University. Well,

in Alexandria, this is it. That's the city. That's

the place where all educated people come from.

Really educated people. So what is happening

here is that the author is giving you the credentials

of the disciple Apollos. And it says here, we

will continue, it says, Until he spoke, and he

spoke with great fervor, And taught about Jesus

accurately. But there's a statement there. Though

he knew only the baptism of John. That is very

crucial. Despite the fact that this guy is a

learned person. Despite the fact that he comes

from Alexandria. And despite the fact that he

teaches. spoke about Jesus accurately, there's

something that you will find that is missing

about this guy. He only knew the baptism of John.

That is very important. So he began to speak

boldly in the synagogue when Priscilla and Aquila,

who were disciples of Paul, by the way, when

Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited

him to their home and explained to him the way

of God more adequately. They saw something that

was not adequate about him. So they explained

to him about God. After this story, immediately

after this story, is Acts chapter 19. During

Acts 19 · chapter mention

those days, when Luke was writing the gospel,

there were no chapter and verse divisions. So

these two will go together, and you will see

that there's something significant about the

baptism of John. He says here in Acts 19, While

Apollos, now that's a connecting literary device.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road

through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.

There he found some disciples and asked them,

did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

He asked the disciples. They answered, no, we

have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

Not even a baptism, but they didn't even hear

that there was the Holy Spirit. So, Paul asked,

then what baptism did you receive? John's baptism,

they replied. Paul said, John's baptism was a

baptism of repentance. He told the people to

believe in the one coming after him, that is,

in Jesus. So, verse 5, on hearing this, They

were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy

Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues

and prophesied. They were about 12 men in all.

What do you find similar between the story of

Apollos and these 12 disciples? What is similar

is that all they knew and all they had was the

baptism of John, a baptism of repentance. They

didn't know about the empowerment coming from

the Holy Spirit. That which makes them both inadequate.

They may be disciples, they may be teaching about

the Lord Jesus Christ, but their preaching and

their teaching is a little bit inadequate. And

what is the cure for that? They need to be empowered

by the Holy Spirit. I have a theory, okay? And

this is just my theory. I think there's a difference

between a believer and a disciple. Okay, this

is just mine. It's okay. Well, a believer for

me is one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ,

forgiven, washed by the blood of our Lord Jesus

Christ, and the Holy Spirit attends to this believer's

needs. I believe in that. But a believer is somebody

who simply comes to church, worships the Lord

Jesus, really gives his heart or her heart to

the Lord Jesus Christ, but is not a proclaimer

of the gospel. This person, this believer, may

be regularly coming for services, but does not...

is not even involved in any ministry at all that

pushes the gospel to be proclaimed. And I know

of brothers and sisters, great brothers and sisters,

who are members of the church, but I doubt if

I can call them proclaimers of the gospel. And

this is what, similar to the baptism of repentance

of John. What was the teaching of the baptism

of repentance? They were to repent of their sins

and God in heaven forgives them. That's it. That's

it. But in this case, a disciple is the one not

only is saved by the grace of God, washed by

the blood of Jesus, but he fulfills, he or she

fulfills the calling of a disciple. And what

is that? To proclaim the gospel. So the question

that I ask you right now, are you a believer?

Of course you will say yes. But are you a disciple?

Do you proclaim the gospel in your own way that

the Lord has impressed upon you? Are you a proclaimer

of the gospel? I'm here. I mean, we're okay.

We're okay. Say yes, please. Yes. Okay, good.

That comforts me now. Well, that's... is what

you call people they felt, Apollos, as educated

as he was, it was still inadequate until the

coming of the Holy Spirit upon him. The third

one, the third one is they were outgunned or

ill -equipped. Now, a good example is the Apostle

Paul. Now, this is what you will find in the

book of Acts. And even in his letters. Paul was

not fearful of anything. He didn't fear anything

or anyone. Even when he was still Saul. When

he was still Saul, he pursued Christians. He

was so determined. He was so zealous. I'm going

to arrest all this. people who follows the way

of the Lord, calling them the way. He pursued

them. He arrested them. He imprisoned them. He

persecuted them. And he even killed them. Remember

Stephen? Stephen was stoned to death in front

of Paul. He didn't stop it. He was even holding

the cloaks of other people executing Stephen.

So Paul was never fearful of anything. And this

is a good thing because when Jesus met him, that

kind of fervor, that kind of zealousness, that

kind of commitment, Paul used to proclaim the

gospel. So that was not even the problem. Paul

was not inadequate of knowledge. He is a Pharisee

of the Pharisees. One of the most educated persons

you will find. He is responsible for a big bulk

of the writings in the New Testament. His letters.

Because he was that educated. So, why did Paul

need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? Well,

the answer to that is so that Paul could endure

suffering. One thing that he needs is the ability

to endure so that he can prolong his life. and

make sure that the gospel is proclaimed. What

was his target? His target was Jerusalem, and

his final target was Rome. Unlike us, me, my

target is just what? Chatuchak, or what? But

Paul, his target was Rome. And that's a big goal,

but he did it. See, this guy, this is very interesting,

because you can see the... The enthusiasm and

the commitment that Paul had when it comes to

preaching the gospel. There's a story in Acts,

in Acts chapter 20, that probably we may have

Acts 20 · chapter mention

misinterpreted. This is the story about Eutychus.

Do you know who Eutychus is? Well, Eutychus is

the one who fell from the building because he

fell asleep. Anyway, let's read this. He said,

I want you to understand what... the author Luke

is actually trying to say. This is not about

the story of Eutychus being raised from the dead.

No. That's not the point of the story. And sometimes

we focus on the miracle rather than what the

author is trying to say. It says here, on the

first day of the week, we came together. This

is Luke talking. We came together to break bread.

Paul spoke to the people and because he intended

to leave the next day, he kept on talking until

midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs

room where we were meeting. I don't even know,

probably those lamps even contributed to the

atmosphere that made, what's this, Eutychus fell

asleep. And then it says here, seated in a window

was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking

into deep sleep. Now, Luke could have stopped

there. But he said, as Paul talked on and on,

When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground

from the third story and was picked up dead.

Now let this serve as a warning to you, those

who are falling asleep right now. First, I don't

think I can erase you from the dead, so that's

even worse. But what the story is trying to tell

is that this guy just wouldn't stop. Have you

attended a service where it was already overtime

and the pastor wouldn't stop? Then you lose all

the blessing. I just want to get up. It's lunchtime

and you're so hungry. This is even worse. He

kept on talking and talking until midnight. This

poor guy fell from the window. Paul went down,

threw himself on the young man and put his arms

around him. He said, don't be alarmed. He said,

he's alive. And thank God, probably the other,

he's alive, right? But this is funny. What comes

after is funny. He said, the Bible says, then

he went upstairs again and broke bread, ate.

After talking until daylight, he left. The people

took the young man home alive and were greatly

comforted. If somebody dies right now in the

middle of my preaching, just for example, I'm

not talking, it's going to be you. But in case

somebody does, if that happens, I will call on

the elders. Can we stop the service now? Let's

just go home. This guy didn't. Probably because

he raised him from the dead. But shouldn't that

serve as a warning? If I continue preaching again,

probably all of these people will die. But he

didn't stop. What that story is trying to tell

is giving you a picture of who Paul is. You will

not be able to stop this disciple in proclaiming

the gospel. I wish I had that kind of fervor,

that commitment and zealousness. That kind of

definition of what a disciple, an empowered disciple

of the Lord Jesus Christ is. So, why did Paul

need... The empowering of the Holy Spirit. Well,

Luke lays out the answer clearly in Acts 18 to

24. Now, look at this. From Acts 18, even from

Acts chapter 16, all the way to 24. This is all

Acts 16 · chapter mention

about Paul and his proclamation of the gospel.

This is all about Paul and the opposition he

received. All the persecution he received. And

later on you will find out he was executed in

Rome. But he didn't stop. But why did he need

the proclamation of the gospel? Why? Well, because

Paul's proclamation was not mainly for people

who did not know Jesus. His proclamation was

directed at those who opposed Jesus. That's different.

That opposition came from both evil spirits and

the human leaders who held power in the temples,

Jerusalem and Rome. Luke and Paul doesn't see

any distinction between evil spirits and evil

humans. They are all under the evil kingdom.

All persecution is an opposition to the gospel.

And its purpose, of course, is to be perpetrated

by evil. That's why he said in Ephesians. In

Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12. This is Paul talking.

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the powers of this dark world, and against

the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly

realms. He did not distinguish them. He didn't

say, these are humans. Oh, these are spirits.

No, he sees it all together. And in order for

the battlefield, the leveling of the battlefield,

Paul needed power. And what is that power? Power

to endure. So that the proclamation of the gospel

will prevail. Are you familiar with the saying?

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was

convincing the world he didn't exist. You know

where that comes from, right? To me, this is

true. Didn't you notice? This is what I've noticed.

I'm old, you know. But I've noticed that... Did

you notice that the... It's now very common for

people to say the F word. Very common. Even when

they're joking or when they are upset. Even when

people are happy. Some people are just used to

saying the F word. To me, oh boy, this society

is getting worse. This is, to me, the influence

of the devil. He's taking hold. But at the same

time, did you also know that... revivals are

going on, powerful revivals are going on right

now in Africa, in China, in all over, in different

parts of the world because I believe that the

constant mistake the devil makes is believing

that true Christians have ceased to persist.

Look at what the Apostle Paul said in Acts 20.

And now, Compelled by the Spirit. Pastor Pablo

read this last Sunday. And now compelled by the

Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. He was determined.

Not knowing what will happen to me there. I only

know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns

him. The word warning here means the Holy Spirit

is preparing him. The Holy Spirit was not stopping.

The Holy Spirit was not taking away persecution.

The Holy Spirit was warning him that prison.

and hardships are facing me. However, he said,

I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only

aim is to finish the race and complete the task

the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying,

that task of testifying to the good news of God's

grace. Well, Paul achieved his objective to get

to Rome. In AD 64, he was beheaded. In Rome.

He spilled his blood on the streets of Rome.

And then 248 years later, the emperor of Rome

became a Christian. And you know the story. I

took a break when I was preparing this message.

And I was asking God, how am I going to end this?

And the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit provided

a very ample ending to this message. So, there

was one new student that we just finished the

course. I was the one teaching. That one student

said, Dr. Estrada, can you give me the opportunity

to take you out to lunch? And you know, whenever

I hear lunch, I would always say yes. Especially

if it's free, okay? And I said, yes, yes, of

course. So, I met him at Central Rama 9. I haven't

met this guy. I just saw him on Zoom. On the

left is Pastor Frank Mangti. On the right is

Brad Pitt. Anyway, to cut the story short, he

shared a testimony with me that I didn't even

know. I was not even telling him about what I

was preparing. He said he was so scared one time.

He is a missionary and a pastor of Salvation

Army. So he was brought as a missionary here

now in Bangkok to pioneer churches amongst the

Myanmar nationals. He's from Myanmar. He's a

pastor. On the eve of sometime in July 2023,

he said he was riding his bike on the way to

lead a Bible study and prayer meeting. And unfortunately,

he saw a checkpoint manned by the military men.

They stopped him. And he was explaining, I'm

a pastor, blah, blah, blah. But they were about

to probably let him go. I'm not sure what actually

happened. But what happened is that they took

his wallet. And in his wallet, they saw an ID,

Salvation Army. And it says, Lieutenant. Lieutenant

Rang Monty. Because in the Salvation Army missionary

group, they have ranks. Captains, lieutenant.

His rank was lieutenant. And the moment they

saw that his rank was a lieutenant, they thought

that he was part of the PDF, the People's Defense

Force, the rebel army in Myanmar. They immediately

took him to prison. Immediately. And he was crying.

He was telling them, Pastor, I'm not with the

military. They wouldn't believe that. They locked

him in prison. It was a dingy, dark prison, he

said. And he was crying to God, asking, Lord,

I was on my way to a Bible study, and you allowed

this to happen? He was praying to the Holy Spirit

for strength. And then eventually he said, just

gracious Holy Spirit, I pray that you just give

me the power to endure this. Now that is suffering,

because he was proclaiming the gospel. You know

what happened is that every now and then, every

two days, he would have a new cellmate. Most

of them were Myanmar nationals who were Buddhist.

And this guy, just like Paul, he wouldn't stop

sharing the gospel to all of his cellmates until

he was released. And he met some of them and

they said, can you please guide us to the Christian

faith? Now that's suffering. That's persecution.

That's proclamation. And that's the empowerment

of the Holy Spirit to endure suffering so that

the gospel will prevail. Bow your heads with

me, please. Lord Jesus, gracious Holy Spirit,

I pray for your blessing. Clothe my brothers

and sisters with your power. And I pray that

we will recall, remember that we are not just

believers. but rather we are disciples and we

are called to proclaim your name. I pray, Lord

God, in our own small way, tell us which ministry

you want us to really get involved with because

we want to be part of the proclaiming group,

the proclaiming army of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Lord, may your name be glorified through

our lives. In Jesus' precious name, amen. If

God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.