Evidence of the Spirits Presence in the Church

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Good morning to each one. It's been a blessing to be here this morning to sing and to pray and to study the scriptures together. Let's open our Bible to the book of Acts. And this morning, I simply want to be a cheerleader for the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:00:37] And I'd like to say a few words about his church. Every once in a while, you come across a quote that gives you a great deal of satisfaction to think about. It happened to me the other day, and I'd like to share that quote with you. I think it was on a church sign, or a church bulletin, I'm not sure. But this is the way the quote went. The church has many critics, but no rivals. [00:01:12] The church has many critics, but no rivals. Many critics? Yeah. Plenty of critics. But no rivals. If you know anything about the New Testament, and I'm sure that you do, it leaves no doubt that the church is central in God's plan. Now some people think national Israel is central in God's plan. [00:01:48] I would tend to feel that they are no longer. However, they have been eclipsed and replaced by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as central in the plan of God. There is no substitute. There is no replacement. The church has been born out of the side of the Savior. He promises his presence with the church. [00:02:20] Lo, I'm with you always. He identifies with the church. Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou me? Now, when did Saul ever persecute the Lord Jesus? He persecuted the church, and the Lord Jesus identifies himself with the church. And I'd like to suggest something for you to think about, that I tend to feel that you can gauge someone's loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we cannot see with our physical eye, by our loyalty to the local church whom we can see with our physical eye. [00:03:02] Now, you might have a little disagreement with that, but let's not quibble about it. Let's, though I'm with you always, what a wonderful, wonderful promise. There's many children here today, many young people, and these young people are going to be looking sometimes. [00:03:37] The Lord tarries, they're going to give their heart to the Lord. These children are going to give their heart to the Lord, and they're going to be looking for a church. And so now, if they come to you sometime and say, Mommy, Daddy, I've been born again, and I want to be a part of a church. What should I look for? We're looking for a church. What do we look for? What should we look for in a church? Now there are many answers, but one answer I think that I would probably give them is look for a church, young person. [00:04:14] Look for a church, people, children, where the presence of the Holy Spirit is evident. Now what does that mean? A lot of activity? I was looking at a church bulletin a while back and I was simply flabbergasted at all the activity. Now there was a watermelon supper and a pie supper and a volleyball game and this was a church, a Protestant church, and the Lord bless them, I think they were probably trying to... [00:04:52] And there was a movie night of a Christian movie. I think they were probably trying to gather their young people and try to keep interest. I don't know what they were doing, but they sure had the activities. Now, is that a sign of, is that an indication that the presence of the Holy Spirit is there? Well, maybe and maybe not. Now, in Revelation 3, verse 1, there was a church there that had a good reputation. There was a church, it says there that thou hast, the church is Sardis, it says thou hast a name that thou liveth and art dead. [00:05:33] So there was activity there. There was some movement there. But it was a dead church. There was some, I remember several years ago, we went up north for Thanksgiving and came home and the house was freezing cold. We would run out of propane, and the registers were creaking, the ductworks were creaking, but it was cold in there. And if somebody would have been freezing outside, they could have come into that house and froze to death. But now there was activity there, there was creaking there, there was noise there, but it was cold. [00:06:09] So, activity? No? No? Now, look for a church where the presence of the Holy Spirit is evident. Now, what are some marks of the Holy Spirit's presence in the church? That's what we would like to establish today. How do we know? How do we know that the Spirit of the living God is working and moving and evident in our church? Now, that's why we'd like to look at the book of Acts. Now, here we need to be careful, don't we? [00:06:42] We could look in the book of Acts and say, whoop, there it is. And we could say, here it is in the early church. That's the way it ought to be the pattern for our church today. So we're going to be looking at the book of Acts. But I'd like to say something. There are some things that happen in the book of Acts. Acts 2, we see the unlearned apostles preaching in various unfamiliar languages. [00:07:16] Should we look that as to be the norm? Here's something else. There were some spectacular physical healings. To the point that the sick and the lame were brought out to the streets and Peter's shadow healed them. I've never seen that, have you? What does that mean? Now remember, we're looking for a church where the Spirit is evident, and that was happening in the book of Acts. Acts 19, verse 12, articles of Paul's clothing, handkerchiefs, and aprons had healing property. [00:07:55] Now should we look for that as evidence? I've never seen it. Now, Paul was immune to a snake bite. People get sick today. Some of you have been sick this winter. Is that evident that you're outside of the will of God? Is that evident that the Holy Spirit is not working in your life? Well, I'd like to share my thoughts on this. [00:08:30] It doesn't trouble me that I've never seen anyone's handkerchief heal somebody. That doesn't trouble me in the least. It doesn't trouble me that I've never seen anybody's shadow heal anybody. That doesn't trouble me. Last few summers ago, our daughter was bit by a hornet, And she was become swollen and went into a reaction and she went to the emergency room. [00:09:02] It doesn't trouble me that we use the hospital. It doesn't trouble me that I couldn't lay my hands on her and heal her. I believe in miracles today. I do not feel that God's power has diminished one iota. I've witnessed some miraculous and wonderful miracles. But I believe that God saw fit to usher in the birth of the church with some unusual physical signs and wonders. [00:09:41] And I think if we would expect those things and look for those things and expect them from our church, We're going to find ourselves sorely disappointed if we look for some of these. I believe this was an unusual time. I think we'd end up out on a limb. But there are some marks from the book of Acts, some marks of the Spirit's presence, some evidence of the Spirit's presence, [00:10:12] and that's what we would like to look for today. And then we're going to close. Number one, if you're a note taker, here's the first one. I think one of the marks of the Spirit's presence in the church is that in the book of Acts you can see a growing understanding of the Scriptures and a keen interest in obeying it and living it out. And that is a mark, I think, you see in the book of Acts [00:10:43] of the Spirit working in the book of Acts in the early church. There was a growing understanding of the Scriptures. Now you go to Peter's sermon there on the day of Pentecost in chapter 2. And Peter rose up to speak and he explained what was going on there. He said this thing's been prophesied. This evidently is what Joel has been talking about in verse 17 to 21. And now Peter's seen it, and he began preaching it, and he said, this is what took place. [00:11:19] And you look at another sermon, chapter 3, verse 12 to 26. And now you remember that these apostles, Jesus tried to tell them what was out, lay ahead of them, and they seemed bewildered. They seemingly didn't understand, and now the Holy Spirit has come, and they understand, and they're starting to see, and they're starting to understand, and the Scriptures are becoming illuminated, and here's another account in Acts, the 19th chapter. [00:11:56] Now I'd like to just read a few portions of that because there's something there that is very interesting. And here, now we read in chapter 19, verse 13, several of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits. No, no, I am not in the right reference. I wanted to start in verse 17. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus. [00:12:28] And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds, and many of them also that used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men. This was sometimes what we call revival meetings, but here was a quitting meeting. There was a lot of quitting being done. There was a lot of things burned. They were quitting some of this stuff and burned them before all men and they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. [00:13:08] Now verse 20, so mightily grew the word of God and was and prevailed. Now here we have the Spirit of God illuminating the word of God and there was a spontaneous response and confession and there was a forsaking of sin and a putting it away and a bonfire. And this is the evidence, I feel, of the Spirit working where people are understanding the word of God And the Spirit is opening and illuminating the Word of God, and people see it. [00:13:42] And like somebody said, you know, I heard it, and I heard it, and finally one day, praise God, I heard it. And that's what happened here in the book of Acts. They heard it, they seen it, and they had a keen interest in obeying it. And high priority was given there to the Scriptures, and they set so mightily, grew the Scriptures, and it prevailed. They saw the scriptures as the final authority and the final word. [00:14:13] Thus saith the Lord. You know, I am concerned today what is happening in some Christian circles. And it's as though they're coming to the Lord. Lord, God in heaven, we would like to inform you, Lord, that we have set together as a church council or a denominational council And we would like to inform you, God, that we'd like to change a few things. Lord, this thing of homosexuality and perversion is no longer perversion. [00:14:46] And we'd like to inform you of that, Lord, in case you didn't know it. That's no longer perversion. And another thing, Lord, 1 Corinthians 11, the last part of it, we feel should be kept for the day. That's communion. But the first part, God, we would like to inform you now that that should not be kept for our day. Now, God, we'd like to let you know, just in case you're wondering. Our denominational council would like to inform you of that. [00:15:25] But I believe the church where the Holy Spirit is working will take the New Testament and say, Thus saith the Lord. And see it as the final word. That's point one. Point two. We note, and I think we could say that this is evidence that the Holy Spirit is present. And secondly is that they accepted only born-again believers into their membership. [00:16:02] Now we'd like to look at Acts 2, verse 40. Now here, Peter finishes his sermon, there was a response. In verse 38, and Peter said unto them, this was following his wonderful sermon there, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. For the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now we look there in verse 40. And then here I'd like to call this and suggest that this was the first instruction class in verse 40. [00:16:33] And he gathered these people around him that had responded to the message. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, say, save yourself from this untoward generation. Verse 41, then they that gladly received his words were baptized. And the same day there was added to them about 3,000 souls. They accepted only born-again believers into their membership. Were they looking for perfection? No. [00:17:04] Were they looking for halos about these responders' heads? No. Were they looking for wings growing, sprouting from the shoulders? No. They weren't looking for perfection. They were looking, though, for teachableness. Look at verse 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort And he taught them I believe this is a mark of a New Testament church That they accept only born again believers into their membership [00:17:39] And again, I think that we should look as a church Not for perfection in our converts But in at least teachableness They want to know what is God saying And we should look for teachableness. Now we have an hour and we have an instruction class going in our congregation's home. In that instruction class is a middle-aged man, an ex-Detroit policeman. He is eager to know the Word of God. He wants to know the Word of God. And he and his wife are a joy to meet with on a Sunday morning [00:18:12] and to go over the Scriptures with them and to teach them. And there's a teachable spirit, not perfection, no, No, but teachable. And we ought to look for that. We ought to, and I think that's one of the marks of the new birth is that we want to know what God would have and that we are teachable. And that's a mark, I think, of the spirit that has worked in their life. And we ought to, as a church, be careful only to allow into our fellowship those who are rightly and truly born again by the Spirit of the living God. [00:18:46] Let me tell you a little story about an Irishman. His name was Paddy, and he said that Paddy was riding a horse one day, and this horse was, it was summertime, and this horse was kicking flies, had flies up on his belly, and this horse was kicking flies, and he kicked, and the horse got his foot up in the stirrup, and caught in the stirrup, and Paddy looked down and said, listen now, if you're getting on, I'm getting off. And friends, if our people, if we as a church allow unsaved and unconverted in our midst [00:19:29] and commune with them, then you better get out. You better get off. A mark of the Holy Spirit working in our midst. One of the marks of a Spirit-filled church is that we would accept only born-again believers into the membership. Point three, another mark of the Spirit's presence in the church is a priority given to preaching. It's a priority given to preaching. [00:20:01] Now, as I look through the book of Acts, I see very little about volleyball games. I see very little about softball games. And I'm not anti some of that if it's in its right place. But I see rather a priority given to preaching. Now have you ever noticed in the book of Acts, I found at least four different sermons, some of them in great length. I look in Acts 2 and Acts 3 and Acts 7 and Acts 10. [00:20:33] Large portions are given in the book of Acts to preaching. And the contents of these sermons. Now you check it out if you want to. I think there's more. There's a priority given to preaching. And that is, I think, a mark of the Spirit's presence within the church. Now, preaching did not begin with Christianity necessarily. Now there was, in the Old Testament, there was discourses by the prophets. There was discourses by the synagogue teachers and so on. [00:21:05] And there was expositions and so on. But when the Holy Spirit came, there was a change not only in the content of the sermon, but in the authority of the sermon. And you look at it in the book of Acts there. And Peter, for instance, we've mentioned him already. He was obviously not a polished and an experienced orator. He was a fisherman. [00:21:38] He had not had the benefits of Bible school and so on. But when he stood in his own way in Acts 2, the Word was made alive by the Spirit of God. and he proclaimed it with power and there was a tremendous response there and people were saved. Now why? I think there was something intangible there [00:22:11] that might have been hard to put your finger on. But I think the power of God had descended And that assembly there had what made the difference. And I believe that God, the Spirit of God, can impart something to a message that learning and education and experience and practice and natural ability cannot give. [00:22:44] I believe the Spirit of God will do it. I think God can use practice, God can use education, God can use experience, God can use natural ability Without the Spirit of God, there's not much there How much there? With the Spirit of God, it becomes a, look at it in chapter 2, it becomes a life-changing message Look at it in chapter 10 It becomes a life-changing message. [00:23:18] I am not ashamed. Who said it? Apostle Paul? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God in the Greek, the dynamis of God, where we get our English word dynamite of God. It is a power of God and a salvation. Now, who was it? Archimedes, I think I'm pronouncing it right. Now, he said, he's the fellow that came up with this thing of the lever and the fulcrum. He said, if I had a lever, a fulcrum, and a lever long enough, and a place to stand, I could move the world. [00:23:55] He was that convinced of this fulcrum and lever, and this fulcrum and lever. And Apostle Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is a power of God unto salvation. And indeed, the power of the Holy Spirit moved here in the book of Acts, and you see him, it was said of them, they turned the world upside down. Something else, another mark of the Spirit's presence, this is number four, I think, is you see in the book of Acts, a rich experience of fellowship. [00:24:34] Acts 2 and verse 42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship In breaking of bread and in prayers And fear came upon every soul And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles And that's just a sample of what you see is a rich fellowship there The Holy Spirit had drawn them together They had been drawn together by what they had received of the Lord They had been drawn together by the fountain [00:25:06] They had gathered around the fountain of living water And they drank and all it drew them together And they rejoiced and sins forgiven and so on The word was taught, they were drawn together It is not a healthy sign, folks That the smallest excuse will keep us from coming together That's not a healthy sign. Like we sing sometimes, the whole family has to stay home to blow that, how does it go, poor kid's nose. [00:25:44] That's not a healthy sign. I believe where our heart is, our feet are going to follow. Where our heart is, our feet are going to follow. Malachi 3, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. Now this fellowship that they were experiencing, I notice in the book of Acts, brought a sensitivity of the needs of others. And there is an outstanding example of Barnabas. [00:26:15] He sold his field and gave the money. He was sensitive to the needs. He had a field. And he sold that field and distributed it to others. What a sensitive, godly man. Now, apparently, this was a common enough practice that there was some peer pressure involved Because there was a couple there who was not right with the Lord That was Ananias and Sapphira I think there was enough positive peer pressure there That they said, well, we probably ought to do it too [00:26:46] They didn't really want to And they lied about it I believe one of the marks of the Spirit's presence in the church There's going to be an experience of fellowship and of love and concern and of sensitivity. I want to encourage you that you be sensitive to the needs of others. You be sensitive to the hurts of others. You may not understand it. You don't know the whole story about it. [00:27:19] But you can reach out a hand and you can make a call. You can make a call. You can write a note. Note this, be sensitive. Have your ear out for hurting people and help. Be sensitive to needs. Be sensitive also to, I've just seen something interesting in an old reader's digest where the young man went to a barber and the barber noted, he said, [00:27:51] Hey, you have a mole on the back of your neck up in your hairline that you ought to look at. I don't like the looks of that mole. He said, I'm not a doctor, I'm a barber. I've only been to the ninth grade. But he said, that mole doesn't look good to me. Now he wouldn't have to have done that. He wasn't getting paid for telling people to check out a mole. That wasn't his job. His job was to cut his hair, but there was a sensitivity, and so he went. [00:28:22] This young man went, and he did indeed. It was a cancerous mole, and it was removed. I think, and this is sometimes hard to do, but we see Arius, brother, sister, I love you, but I see an area of darkness. I see a shadow there upon your testimony and I don't think it's going to drag you down. Brother, sister, here's what I'd suggest. [00:28:57] I'm sharing this out of love. I'm sharing this out of love, brother and sister. I want to see you grow and prosper in the Lord. I don't want this thing to drag you down. You speak the truth in love. In love. But you be sensitive And that's part of the rich experience of fellowship That we gather together and love each other and help each other And our desire is that we cheer each other around the base of life Their bases of life, we cheer each other on A common union in Christ [00:29:31] And this enabled them then To overcome some obvious differences Now Now, you look at the differences there in Acts 15. Here you have the Gentiles. Here you have the Gentiles. And here you have the Jews who thought they were the elite. And here we have them in the same congregation. And was there going to be some struggles? Absolutely there were. And that's the blessing in the book of Acts. Sometimes we look back as if there was a golden hue over everything. [00:30:07] There was not. There was issues to work through and the Acts tells us about it. But in Acts 15 you see how the Spirit of God led the Jews and the Gentiles to come together in the same congregation. Now, we have in our little congregation, we have quite a mixture of backgrounds. Has it brought some struggles? You bet it has. You bet it has. We have somebody said, told me one time, said, some from another church, he said, we've been watching and we don't know what's going to happen. You guys have drawn the conservative beaches and the liberal Amish. [00:30:48] Now, and along that you've got some neighborhood people and we're going, how is all this going to come out? I said, I don't know. I don't know. But I trust if the Holy Spirit is working there, we're going to be able to love each other. We're going to be able to blend together. And we're going to be able to work some things out. Now, the members of the body of Christ form a unified whole, not because they have learned to give and take. [00:31:29] That's involved. Here's why. Because they all partake of a common life, and that life is the life of Christ. That's scripture. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13 For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free And we have been all made to drink into one body The life and the unity of the body comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior [00:32:03] One by one, we have found the fountain of living water. What a blessing that is. Now, our life, now sometimes we think it is the church of Jesus Christ that is perpetuating the name of Christ. You know, the church is perpetuating the name of Christ. I disagree. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that is perpetuating the church. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ that is giving us, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that is giving us life and is perpetuating the church. [00:32:45] Now here's a little practical illustration. Our bodies, this hand and this hand, work together because there is a life flowing through my body. However, if life would leave this body, these two members would fall out of fellowship with each other. Removed from the body, the life that supports it, and the members fall out of connection with each other. [00:33:19] One of the marks that the Holy Spirit is working in our midst is when there are fellowship, one with another. Number four. Number five. There was another mark of the presence of the Holy Spirit is a missionary, is a missionary spirit among this membership. You look at the book of Acts, it almost looks like a missionary report. Acts 8, verse 4 and 5 There we see Philip going down through the desert [00:33:51] We talked about it a little bit the other night And then Acts, I think, is in 13 No, no, no, that doesn't sound right It's where there was a sending off meeting And there was a, yes, yes Alright, the church began in Jerusalem And then there was persecution there And it seemed like the devil got alarmed And he tried to stomp out the gospel fire and he stomped on it over here and there's a flame come up because of the persecution. There's a flame shot up over here in Antioch. [00:34:23] Now here we are in Antioch, the church in Antioch, chapter 13, and there's a sending off meeting. Here we have a church now in Antioch. A gospel flame has come over to Antioch and there's a sending off meeting. I'm reading now chapter 13, verse 2. And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work that I had called them Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful A missionary, a mark of the Spirit's presence in the church [00:34:56] Is a missionary spirit among the membership Not all of us are called to be foreign missionaries I know that But all of us are called to be missionaries For some of us, our mission field becomes our workplace. And those who surround us. And I do not know why we hesitate so much to talk about the name of the Lord Jesus. I feel that that's something we should practice and we should develop. I had a friend of mine, he's several years older than me, that I worked for. [00:35:29] What an example he was. Have you ever noticed that it seems as though some people have more opportunities to witness to others? Have you ever noticed that? You know why it is? I don't think they have any more opportunities. I think they have learned how to take opportunities that the Lord has given. Anyway, this friend of mine, we were bricking a house at that time for a man, and he had taken along some big pumpkins. I think it was pumpkins. No, no, it was sweet corn. Sweet corn, and we were working for a very wealthy, very worldly, and well-to-do, and stylish couple. [00:36:12] Anyway, he presented this sweet corn to this homeowner, and the homeowner said, Whoa, do you grow sweet corn? And my friend said, No, I don't grow it. We don't grow it. All we do is put seeds in the ground and our God in heaven grows it. Our God in heaven grows it. And then when it's ready, we go out and we just pull it off. It's that simple. Now he took that opportunity, or maybe he made that opportunity, and I don't know why. [00:36:46] Maybe it's because we're so afraid, some of God asks us hard questions, we're not going to know the answer. Or maybe it's because we're afraid we're going to say something wrong. I don't know why we don't. I had somebody tell me a while back about a church and there was a bit of a simpleton there. But he loved the Lord and he loved to testify. And this pastor of this church, young pastor, godly man, and he had a lawyer friend that he wanted to witness to and witness to and testify. [00:37:20] and if your lawyer friend was not interested. And finally, he said, you know, if my lawyer friend had come to church, I would love the opportunity to preach and be able to teach him for a half hour about the gospel. And so one Sunday morning, here comes his lawyer friend. And he was so happy. And he preached his heart out. That, and right after the message, this lawyer friend stood up, and here comes this simpleton, stood up and walked back here to him. [00:37:58] And said, oh no. Lawyer, the preacher said, oh no. What is he going to say? And he said, a simple man come up to him and said a few words, and there was a back and forth a little bit, and he said this lawyer friend headed on out the door. You wonder what happened. Anyway, that evening, 11 o'clock, Sunday evening, the telephone rang. It was his lawyer friend. [00:38:29] He said, why don't you come over tonight? I want to talk to you. I'm disturbed. There's something going on in my heart that I don't understand. And I want to talk to you about it. And so he got his Bible, preacher friend did, got his Bible, headed on over there, and he said, I would like to know the Lord Jesus. I would like to ask the Lord Jesus into my heart And so he was able to lead him to the Lord Jesus And he asked him then, before he went home, what was it? Was there something in my message? [00:39:01] What was it in my message? He said, there was nothing in the message really But he said, you know that simple fellow in your church? He said, right after the sermon, he come back here He said, and he asked me, he said, do you want to go to heaven? And I said, no. He said, well, go to hell then. He said, I went home. And I said, all I could think about, you know, heaven, hell, heaven, hell, heaven, hell. [00:39:36] That's all I could think about. Now, I wouldn't advise that. You see, we don't have to have everything just right. If God is directing us, if God seems to be leading us, we don't have to have all the answers. I think God can take a few stumbling words, a few stumbling explanations and clarify it in someone's mind. We don't have to be able to stand and just doot, doot, doot, doot, write down that. [00:40:10] We don't need to do that. But we do need to try. We do need to speak out a word for the Lord Jesus. Oh, the songwriter says, I have something I would tell you. Bowed a thorn upon his brow, however it goes. And friends, we have a life-giving message, and we need to share it. We really do need to share it. That's a mark of the Spirit's presence in our lives, in the church's life, is that there's a missionary spirit. [00:40:43] Now here's another one, and it's going to be the last one. Another mark of the Spirit's presence, and I would like for you to turn to Acts 24. And this is a mark of the Spirit's presence, another one is Acts 24, and verse 14 to 16. Now we're breaking in here. Paul's making a defense here before the governor, Felix. And somehow you notice that Paul, it seems as though he took the opportunities that come. [00:41:19] But this I confess, I'm reading now from verse 14. This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so believe I, the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets, and have hope toward God which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. And one of the marks of the Spirit's presence in the book of Acts or in the church [00:41:51] is where there is a focus on heavenly things. A focus on heavenly things. And it was the attitudes, you look at it, in the book of Acts, the general tenor, the general attitude of those in the book of Acts was that the church was moving toward something. And the church was moving toward a climax. And that was the second coming of the Lord, the return of the Lord Jesus. And of the resurrection of the dead. [00:42:24] Life has meaning. And the focus was on eternity and on eternal things. I know we need to work. I know we need to make a living. And I sure don't want to be, have to be supported by others. But folks, and you don't want that either, but remember the accumulation of things is not an end in itself. In fact, I'll just share this. The Good Samaritan, you read that story this afternoon. There are three philosophies of life in the story of the Good Samaritan. [00:43:01] The first philosophy of life is this, and that is the philosophy of the priests and the Levites. They had a philosophy. They bypassed this man. Their philosophy of life was what's mine is mine, and I plan on keeping it. But first of all, even before that was the philosophy of the thieves. And this is another philosophy. The philosophy of the thieves is, what's yours is mine, I'm going to try to get it from you. [00:43:35] They had a philosophy. What's yours is mine, I'm going to try to get it. Not much better than that was the priests and the Levites. What's mine is mine, I'd like to keep it. I'm going to kind of insulate myself with it. Then there's the philosophy of the Good Samaritan. What's mine is God's. I present it to God. And presenting it to God means helping this fellow laying here. I'll do it. [00:44:06] And he knelt down. And he doctored this fellow up. And he took this fellow to the inn. And he invested in this man. And sometimes, you know, when we make investments in the life of others, we become vulnerable. You can't read that that traveler ever said thank you. You can't read that that wounded traveler ever came back and joined his church. But you know what? That man's philosophy was right. He might have got taken, he might have, that good Samaritan might have got taken advantage of often in life. [00:44:42] I bet he did. What's mine is God's. I'm going to try to help someone with it. But I'll tell you what. That's the philosophy that I want. That's the philosophy that I want to cultivate. I don't have much, but what I've got is God's. And that's the philosophy you want. And that's the mark of the Spirit's presence upon the earth. Is that it focuses on heavenly things and not... [00:45:14] And I have written in the front of my Bible, By the grace of God, I do never want to allow that which is temporal, Stand in the way of that which is eternal And those are some marks of the Spirit's presence within the church And if they are in the church They must first of all be present in your life as a member May God bless you