January 19, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your call it. What God wants out of you is
always bigger than you could.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Pull off on your Doctor Tony Evans talks about the
challenge of living a life that matters, and if you.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Want to know God's will for you, You've got to
be at its presence.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We often admire
those whose talents are easily recognized, but doctor Evans reminds
us that God has given each of us unique gifts. Today,
he explores how to identify those gifts and discern the
(00:36):
best ways and times to use them. Let's join him
as he gets started.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, I'm not an expert or near an expert when
it comes to the issue of music. I know I
can't sing. You know I can't sing, So it's really
a collective body of knowledge on that subject. But I
think all of you know what falsetto is. Falsetto is
(01:05):
singing outside of your natural voice. It's where a second
tenor goes up the first tenor, or perhaps a baritone
goes up to tenor. If you're in false setta, you're
not designed to stay there. You're designed to visit there
and come back. When people come to the choir, I
(01:32):
would assume that they are placed where their natural voice is,
not where their falsetta is. Just as some people sing
in false setta, others serve in false cter, they operate
outside of their natural calling. They're functioning not where they
(01:56):
were naturally designed to be. And like a false voice,
you can only do that for so long. When you
are functioning outside of God's appointment for your life. It
may seem good for a while, but after the stress
and the strain of the service, after you've been doing
(02:20):
it for a while, you will begin to notice that
it's beginning to squeak. It doesn't sound or seem very
good today. In keeping with our series, I want to
focus in on another kind of fasting, and I've called it,
(02:41):
for want of a better phrase, fasting for your ministry. Fasting,
of course, is the process of giving up a craving
of the body because of a deeper need of the spirit.
In fasting, you intensify prayer. You take praying to a
higher deal, deeper, more impactful level. When you combine communication
(03:05):
with God with giving up on yourself and its desires
you have intensified the spiritual connection. One of the things,
and one of the reasons that that is done, is
so that I can find my calling and fulfill my ministry.
(03:25):
I'm concerned about the amount of Christians who have no
sense of divine appointment, no sense of spiritual destiny. Yes,
for some it may be to a foreign mission field somewhere,
or to some people it may simply be a representative
(03:46):
of Christ in the business world or in some other
aspect and educational system, in the medical field. It can
be any number. Sometimes it's combined with your job. Other
times your job simply facilitates you doing your ministry. It
is a sense of the hand of God resting on
(04:07):
me to serve Him in this way. In Acts chapter thirteen,
we have a wonderful thing where fasting is connected with
the appointment of God to ministry. First of all of
the four principles I want to share with you is
the purpose of ministry fasting. Now, please notice that the
(04:31):
church has begun. The Church of Jesus Christ has now started,
is in full fledged operation. And verse two says that
this church within a city called Antioch. Verse two says,
and while they were a ministering to the Lord. The
Holy Spirit said, set me apart. Set apart from me,
(04:52):
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
called them. Now, the first thing I want you to
notice is that this is not the Old Testament. This
is the New Testament Church. So while fasting is dominates
the Old Testament scene, the reason why it's not spoken
(05:14):
of as much in the New Testament is because it
was automatically carried over. As you can see in the
church at Antioch, it was part of the life of
the congregation while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting.
This is a continuous present. They were regularly doing this
to see the move of God in the life of
(05:34):
the church in many different ways, and in this case
in God giving guidance to the church about the direction
that should go congregationally and then specifically in the life
of two of its men. If you are confused about
the issue of what God would have you to do,
(05:54):
he says, the way to get clarity is through fasting soul.
In the midst of desiring to find out the will
of God, they were gathered together to search the mind
of Christ. Before you can find out what God wants
you to do next, you have to be doing something
(06:16):
for God. Now if you're doing nothing for God, now,
why should he show you more so you can do nothing.
Paul and Barnabas, who he's gonna speak about directly, were
already involved with ministry. They were already involved in serving God.
Look at chapter eleven, verse thirty, and this they did,
(06:38):
sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
And that way they took some financial relief funds to
the Church of Jerusalem because of economic woes that they
were experiencing. That's what Barnabas and Saul did. Look at
chapter twelve, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem where
they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with him John
(07:00):
who they called Mark. So they went to Jerusalem, came
back after fulfilling their mission. They did a little, and
now God's gonna give them a lot more. Don't be
doing nothing talking about God won't show me anything to do.
Do something so that God can lead you into the
next thing He has for you to do. Now, what
(07:24):
was the process of finding their ministry or their calling?
What actually took place? Verse two tells us. While they
were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
there is a connection in verses two and three between worship, fasting,
and prayer, because in verse three he adds prayer to
(07:46):
the list. They were ministering to the Lord. Ministering to
the Lord. Ministering to the Lord. To minister to the
Lord is to get your praise on That could be
a million other people in the room, But when you're
ministering to the Lord, you're focused on one person, that's God.
As they are fasting, giving up food and ministering to
(08:10):
the Lord, absorbed in worship, which is combined with praying,
they made a connection because verse two says the Holy
Spirit said. Now that raises the question because you got
a talking holy ghost here. First of all, let me
(08:32):
suggest to you that this is not unusual in the scripture.
Let me just show you a few places in Acts
chapter eight, verse twenty nine. And as he was returning
and sitting in his chariot and was reading like there
verse twenty nine, the Spirit said to Philip, go up
(08:52):
and join the chariot. That's what the Ethiopian unich. How
did he know to join the chariot? The Spirit sent
them on the mission ten verse nineteen. It says, and
while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said
to him, behold, three men are looking for you, the
(09:14):
Spirit told him. Chapter thirteen, verse four. Where we are
right now, so being set out by the Holy Spirit. Now,
the Holy Spirit, folks, is not cast for the friendly Ghost.
The Holy Spirit is not something morphous thine. He is real.
He's a person, and he talks. He's a person. Therefore
(09:37):
he speaks. And if you've never heard the Holy Ghost
talk to you, then you're missing out on the experience
of the Christian life. There's nothing like here and God
talk and call your name. Notice what the Spirit said,
sat apart from me, Barnabas and Saul for the to
(10:00):
which I have called them. Please notice the specificity of
the speech not set apart, y'all not set apart, some
folk set apart a man name a Saul and a
man name Barnabas to the specific task to which I
(10:23):
have called them. Oh, I like that, because when God
calls me, I don't want to hear your name. I
want to hear my name. I want to know that
I've been called to preach. I want to know that
I've been called. I want to know what my charge is.
(10:44):
So all this bird doesn't call him in generalities. He
calls them in specificity. He calls them individually. But he
called them when they were in God's presence. He called
them when they were in a trans fixed state of worship.
And if you want to know God's will for you,
(11:04):
you've got to be at his presence.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Doctor Evans will return with more in just a moment,
but first, if these messages on the subject of fasting
are hitting home, you need to know they're only a
small part of his two volume collection on the subject.
The set is called Fasting The Key to Spiritual Victory.
Tony is packed quite a bit into this series, and
all fourteen messages are our gift to you when you
(11:29):
make a contribution to help support our work here at
the Alternative and for a few more days now. Along
with the audio messages, will also send you the Cultivating
a Year of Kindness perpetual flip calendar filled with inspiring quotes,
scriptures and insights from doctor Evans that will help encourage
you to enjoy a life marked by the goodness of God.
(11:51):
To take advantage of this limited time offer, visit Tonyevans
dot org or give us a call at one eight
hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two and let a
friendly member of our resource team help you out. I'll
repeat that contact information after part two of today's lesson, and.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
This I encourage you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Doctor Craig Evans is a leading expert on the New Testament,
and he's talking about the Tony Evans Training Center course
on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible that.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Covers very important ground. What they are and what they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Discovered nearly eighty years ago by Bedouin shepherds, the Dead
Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy of the Bible.
These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove of historical and
spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and the shed
light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors
to the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever have before.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Explore
the Day at Sea scrolls and discover other fascinating biblical
studies at Tony Evans Training dot Org. Explore the Kingdom
anytime anywhere?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
How do you hear the Spirit's voice? That becomes the question,
how do I know it's God talking? How do I
know it's the Spirit talking to me? How can I
be absolutely sure He's calling my name to do this task?
(13:32):
He tells us when he starts the verse, there were
located in this church prophets and teachers. Why does they
say that? Because God always starts talking through his word. Now,
what's the difference between a prophet and a teacher. A
(13:55):
teacher was one who would communicate a clear understanding of
the Word of God. That was a teacher. A teacher
is when a clarity of what the Bible means by
what it says is given. But that's not a prophet did.
A prophet did say, thus said the Lord. But watch this. Now.
(14:18):
What a prophet did was he took what God said
and applied it to a specific situation. In other words,
when a prophet came out, he didn't just do what
a teacher did and help you understand it. A prophet
always said, thus, saith the Lord about what you're facing
right now. A prophet always applied what God said. He
(14:41):
never just recited what God said and explained what God meant.
So if you want to hear the spirit's voice, you
gotta be around the proclamation of the Word. That's part one.
Number two. There's the second way that they knew it
was the spirit. It was validated by others. The Spirit said,
(15:06):
set me apart, barnabas us all to the work which
I have called them. If God is telling you something
through his word, He's going to validate it through other
spiritual people. That's why the Bible says in a multitude
of counsel their safety. Now I'm not talking about a
(15:28):
bunch of cornor folk who wouldn't hear God talking if
he walked up in the flesh. I'm talking about other
folk or ministering unto the Lord. See, these folk were
alldministering to the Lord, and it became validated. It wasn't
determined by what everybody else thought. It was just recognized
(15:50):
by others. When Timothy was appointed to his position in
the church at Ephesus, there was the lay on the
presbytery who had recognized his calling. That's the whole point
of laying on of hands. That means we agree, when
you send somebody to the mission field, we agree God
(16:14):
has validated it. Look at it happening. In Acts fifteen,
there was a controversy in the church at Jerusalem, and
there was a controversy about a doctrinal issue, and James,
who's the leader of the church verse thirteen. And after
they had stopped speaking, everybody had an idea. Everybody had
a viewpoint. They wanted to run it by committee. That
(16:36):
wasn't working. They weren't getting anywhere. James comes up and says, brethren,
listen to me. So he took what we call senior
past the privilege. All right, He says, brother, listen to me.
And he comes out and gives renders. You can read
the chapter. But he renders a decision. He says, I've
(16:56):
heard all these voices. Everybody has a view, but this,
this is the way to approach this issue. He makes
a definitive statement about how to handle the problem, and
he speaks on God's behalf. But please notice something found
throughout the chapter Verse twelve twenty two then it seemed
(17:18):
good to the apostles and the elders verse twenty five.
It seemed good to us having become of one mind
verse twenty eight. And it seemed watched this good to
the Holy Spirit and to us you see the praise.
It seemed good. In other words, what God had led
(17:42):
James the apostle to render as a decision to solve
some confusion that had come into the church seemed good
to others. There was a validating process. It didn't determine
the calling, It just validated it. So if you feel
(18:03):
that God wants you to go into this area of ministry,
and you feel that that's what He is spoken to
you through a preacher, through a sermon, through a word
that you heard validated by other spiritual people who are
trustworthy and who don't mind ministering to the Lord with you.
(18:26):
But that's not the only thing. There's another thing that's
here about the speaking of the Holy Spirit. He says
verse two again, set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul
for the work which I have called them, that is
very important. They had already been called prior to the validation.
(18:50):
Well watch this now you see the ed on called.
They had already been called. God had already let them
know privately what he was having in mind. Maybe not
all the details, but he'd already let them know, guys,
I have a job for you to do. So God
(19:14):
stirred their own hearts about what they were to do,
coming from the word of God. That was recognized by
the broader church. That's why every member should be plugged
into a local church, because then you have a validating community.
But it came because He had already called them. In
other words, God let everybody else know outside what he
(19:35):
had already done inside. Your calling always thoughts on your inside,
what he stares your heart to do. And let me
tell you something, anything you're not stirred to do, you're
not called to do. God always stirs the heart. He
stirs the heart, he stirs the inside. You do it
(19:56):
when you don't want to do it, because it's a calling.
It's a calling. It may be the hardest thing in
the world, but it's the stay. In other words, when
you think about not doing it, you know you'll be
out of the will of God. So he simply tells
the church to set them free Verse three, lay hands
(20:17):
on them and send them away, cut the cord, release them,
and guess what either the two strongest men in the church.
Either the two of the strongest God's going, but they
were called. Finally, let me just summarize this by saying
a word about the productivity of ministry fasting. When Paul
and Barnabas are sent out, you now have missions. Because
(20:41):
prior to Paul and Barnabas being sent out by the
Church at Antioch, there was no worldwide missionary program. There
was no organized missionary effort. The gospel had not gone westward.
He had written no letters. But once the church send
them out to his calling, the gospel now opens up
(21:03):
to the whole Roman Empire. Paul writes thirteen of the
twenty seven books of the New Testament, so that God
is now going to use him the right much of
what we read today. The Gospel is going to go
all over the place. And the Book of Acts is
really what happens when God causes men in the public
service and everything opens up. World evangelization begins to take place.
(21:27):
The Gospel goes forth. They now able to move in
the direction of faith. And let me tell you something
about your calling, your calling. Watch this now you listen.
Your calling is always bigger than what you could do
(21:49):
on your own. Let me say that again. Your calling,
what God wants out of you, is always bigger than
you could pull off on your own. If you can
do it already without God, it's not your calling. Your
calling is always bigger than anything you can do on
(22:09):
your own. That's why God has to break us before
he can use us, to let us know how small
we are, to let us know how insufficient we are
in our own strength. Your calling is always bigger than you.
So if you can do it without prayer, do it
without dependency, do it in your own strength. Either that's
(22:30):
not your calling or you not ready to be called.
God had some big plans for Paul and Barnabas. They
were bigger than they could ever dream of. Who would
ever think that Paul would open up the whole Western
world to the Gospel, would become the leading writer of
the New Testament. He had a big task because he
had a big God. It was a big call. And
(22:52):
that's why many of us don't know want to know
our call. Because we don't know. We don't want to
know this big thing. That's why people always talk about
resisting their calling. What's your ministry? How are you serving God?
You say, I don't know. Fasting and prayer? Why you worship?
You'll hear the voice of the Spirit say in your
heart and to others through the proclamation of the Word
(23:14):
in a charge to keep your hand and a God
to glorifying.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Doctor Tony Evans sharing the promise that God will direct
your heart and hands in ministry.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Now.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
If you'd like to get the complete, full length version
of this message, check with us for details on the
title Fasting for Ministry. Better yet, get it as a
part of Tony's powerful sermons series Fasting the Key to
Spiritual Victory. As I mentioned earlier, it's available, but only
for a few more days now. As a gift and
appreciation for your donation to the ministry, we'll send it
(23:51):
to you along with a special bonus, the Perpetual Cultivating
a Year of Kindness phlip Calendar. Visit Tonyevans dot org
today to get all the details before time runs out again.
That's Tonyevans dot Org or call us at one eight hundred,
eight hundred thirty two twenty two. Our resource center is
(24:12):
open twenty four to seven. That's one eight hundred eight
hundred three two two two. Hearing stories of what God
has done for others can be incredibly inspiring, but let
me ask you what has He done for you lately?
If you need more than a second or two to
come up with an answer, then you'll want to tune
in tomorrow as doctor Evans presents a powerful message on
(24:33):
building an intimate relationship with God. Be sure to join
us
Your call it. What God wants out of you is
always bigger than you could.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Pull off on your Doctor Tony Evans talks about the
challenge of living a life that matters, and if you.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Want to know God's will for you, You've got to
be at its presence.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We often admire
those whose talents are easily recognized, but doctor Evans reminds
us that God has given each of us unique gifts. Today,
he explores how to identify those gifts and discern the
(00:36):
best ways and times to use them. Let's join him
as he gets started.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Now, I'm not an expert or near an expert when
it comes to the issue of music. I know I
can't sing. You know I can't sing, So it's really
a collective body of knowledge on that subject. But I
think all of you know what falsetto is. Falsetto is
(01:05):
singing outside of your natural voice. It's where a second
tenor goes up the first tenor, or perhaps a baritone
goes up to tenor. If you're in false setta, you're
not designed to stay there. You're designed to visit there
and come back. When people come to the choir, I
(01:32):
would assume that they are placed where their natural voice is,
not where their falsetta is. Just as some people sing
in false setta, others serve in false cter, they operate
outside of their natural calling. They're functioning not where they
(01:56):
were naturally designed to be. And like a false voice,
you can only do that for so long. When you
are functioning outside of God's appointment for your life. It
may seem good for a while, but after the stress
and the strain of the service, after you've been doing
(02:20):
it for a while, you will begin to notice that
it's beginning to squeak. It doesn't sound or seem very
good today. In keeping with our series, I want to
focus in on another kind of fasting, and I've called it,
(02:41):
for want of a better phrase, fasting for your ministry. Fasting,
of course, is the process of giving up a craving
of the body because of a deeper need of the spirit.
In fasting, you intensify prayer. You take praying to a
higher deal, deeper, more impactful level. When you combine communication
(03:05):
with God with giving up on yourself and its desires
you have intensified the spiritual connection. One of the things,
and one of the reasons that that is done, is
so that I can find my calling and fulfill my ministry.
(03:25):
I'm concerned about the amount of Christians who have no
sense of divine appointment, no sense of spiritual destiny. Yes,
for some it may be to a foreign mission field somewhere,
or to some people it may simply be a representative
(03:46):
of Christ in the business world or in some other
aspect and educational system, in the medical field. It can
be any number. Sometimes it's combined with your job. Other
times your job simply facilitates you doing your ministry. It
is a sense of the hand of God resting on
(04:07):
me to serve Him in this way. In Acts chapter thirteen,
we have a wonderful thing where fasting is connected with
the appointment of God to ministry. First of all of
the four principles I want to share with you is
the purpose of ministry fasting. Now, please notice that the
(04:31):
church has begun. The Church of Jesus Christ has now started,
is in full fledged operation. And verse two says that
this church within a city called Antioch. Verse two says,
and while they were a ministering to the Lord. The
Holy Spirit said, set me apart. Set apart from me,
(04:52):
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
called them. Now, the first thing I want you to
notice is that this is not the Old Testament. This
is the New Testament Church. So while fasting is dominates
the Old Testament scene, the reason why it's not spoken
(05:14):
of as much in the New Testament is because it
was automatically carried over. As you can see in the
church at Antioch, it was part of the life of
the congregation while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting.
This is a continuous present. They were regularly doing this
to see the move of God in the life of
(05:34):
the church in many different ways, and in this case
in God giving guidance to the church about the direction
that should go congregationally and then specifically in the life
of two of its men. If you are confused about
the issue of what God would have you to do,
(05:54):
he says, the way to get clarity is through fasting soul.
In the midst of desiring to find out the will
of God, they were gathered together to search the mind
of Christ. Before you can find out what God wants
you to do next, you have to be doing something
(06:16):
for God. Now if you're doing nothing for God, now,
why should he show you more so you can do nothing.
Paul and Barnabas, who he's gonna speak about directly, were
already involved with ministry. They were already involved in serving God.
Look at chapter eleven, verse thirty, and this they did,
(06:38):
sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
And that way they took some financial relief funds to
the Church of Jerusalem because of economic woes that they
were experiencing. That's what Barnabas and Saul did. Look at
chapter twelve, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem where
they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with him John
(07:00):
who they called Mark. So they went to Jerusalem, came
back after fulfilling their mission. They did a little, and
now God's gonna give them a lot more. Don't be
doing nothing talking about God won't show me anything to do.
Do something so that God can lead you into the
next thing He has for you to do. Now, what
(07:24):
was the process of finding their ministry or their calling?
What actually took place? Verse two tells us. While they
were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
there is a connection in verses two and three between worship, fasting,
and prayer, because in verse three he adds prayer to
(07:46):
the list. They were ministering to the Lord. Ministering to
the Lord. Ministering to the Lord. To minister to the
Lord is to get your praise on That could be
a million other people in the room, But when you're
ministering to the Lord, you're focused on one person, that's God.
As they are fasting, giving up food and ministering to
(08:10):
the Lord, absorbed in worship, which is combined with praying,
they made a connection because verse two says the Holy
Spirit said. Now that raises the question because you got
a talking holy ghost here. First of all, let me
(08:32):
suggest to you that this is not unusual in the scripture.
Let me just show you a few places in Acts
chapter eight, verse twenty nine. And as he was returning
and sitting in his chariot and was reading like there
verse twenty nine, the Spirit said to Philip, go up
(08:52):
and join the chariot. That's what the Ethiopian unich. How
did he know to join the chariot? The Spirit sent
them on the mission ten verse nineteen. It says, and
while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said
to him, behold, three men are looking for you, the
(09:14):
Spirit told him. Chapter thirteen, verse four. Where we are
right now, so being set out by the Holy Spirit. Now,
the Holy Spirit, folks, is not cast for the friendly Ghost.
The Holy Spirit is not something morphous thine. He is real.
He's a person, and he talks. He's a person. Therefore
(09:37):
he speaks. And if you've never heard the Holy Ghost
talk to you, then you're missing out on the experience
of the Christian life. There's nothing like here and God
talk and call your name. Notice what the Spirit said,
sat apart from me, Barnabas and Saul for the to
(10:00):
which I have called them. Please notice the specificity of
the speech not set apart, y'all not set apart, some
folk set apart a man name a Saul and a
man name Barnabas to the specific task to which I
(10:23):
have called them. Oh, I like that, because when God
calls me, I don't want to hear your name. I
want to hear my name. I want to know that
I've been called to preach. I want to know that
I've been called. I want to know what my charge is.
(10:44):
So all this bird doesn't call him in generalities. He
calls them in specificity. He calls them individually. But he
called them when they were in God's presence. He called
them when they were in a trans fixed state of worship.
And if you want to know God's will for you,
(11:04):
you've got to be at his presence.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Doctor Evans will return with more in just a moment,
but first, if these messages on the subject of fasting
are hitting home, you need to know they're only a
small part of his two volume collection on the subject.
The set is called Fasting The Key to Spiritual Victory.
Tony is packed quite a bit into this series, and
all fourteen messages are our gift to you when you
(11:29):
make a contribution to help support our work here at
the Alternative and for a few more days now. Along
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(11:51):
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repeat that contact information after part two of today's lesson, and.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
This I encourage you to take this course.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Doctor Craig Evans is a leading expert on the New Testament,
and he's talking about the Tony Evans Training Center course
on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible that.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Covers very important ground. What they are and what they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Discovered nearly eighty years ago by Bedouin shepherds, the Dead
Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy of the Bible.
These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove of historical and
spiritual significance.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and the shed
light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors
to the New Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever have before.
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Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Explore
the Day at Sea scrolls and discover other fascinating biblical
studies at Tony Evans Training dot Org. Explore the Kingdom
anytime anywhere?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
How do you hear the Spirit's voice? That becomes the question,
how do I know it's God talking? How do I
know it's the Spirit talking to me? How can I
be absolutely sure He's calling my name to do this task?
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He tells us when he starts the verse, there were
located in this church prophets and teachers. Why does they
say that? Because God always starts talking through his word. Now,
what's the difference between a prophet and a teacher. A
(13:55):
teacher was one who would communicate a clear understanding of
the Word of God. That was a teacher. A teacher
is when a clarity of what the Bible means by
what it says is given. But that's not a prophet did.
A prophet did say, thus said the Lord. But watch this. Now.
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What a prophet did was he took what God said
and applied it to a specific situation. In other words,
when a prophet came out, he didn't just do what
a teacher did and help you understand it. A prophet
always said, thus, saith the Lord about what you're facing
right now. A prophet always applied what God said. He
(14:41):
never just recited what God said and explained what God meant.
So if you want to hear the spirit's voice, you
gotta be around the proclamation of the Word. That's part one.
Number two. There's the second way that they knew it
was the spirit. It was validated by others. The Spirit said,
(15:06):
set me apart, barnabas us all to the work which
I have called them. If God is telling you something
through his word, He's going to validate it through other
spiritual people. That's why the Bible says in a multitude
of counsel their safety. Now I'm not talking about a
(15:28):
bunch of cornor folk who wouldn't hear God talking if
he walked up in the flesh. I'm talking about other
folk or ministering unto the Lord. See, these folk were
alldministering to the Lord, and it became validated. It wasn't
determined by what everybody else thought. It was just recognized
(15:50):
by others. When Timothy was appointed to his position in
the church at Ephesus, there was the lay on the
presbytery who had recognized his calling. That's the whole point
of laying on of hands. That means we agree, when
you send somebody to the mission field, we agree God
(16:14):
has validated it. Look at it happening. In Acts fifteen,
there was a controversy in the church at Jerusalem, and
there was a controversy about a doctrinal issue, and James,
who's the leader of the church verse thirteen. And after
they had stopped speaking, everybody had an idea. Everybody had
a viewpoint. They wanted to run it by committee. That
(16:36):
wasn't working. They weren't getting anywhere. James comes up and says, brethren,
listen to me. So he took what we call senior
past the privilege. All right, He says, brother, listen to me.
And he comes out and gives renders. You can read
the chapter. But he renders a decision. He says, I've
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heard all these voices. Everybody has a view, but this,
this is the way to approach this issue. He makes
a definitive statement about how to handle the problem, and
he speaks on God's behalf. But please notice something found
throughout the chapter Verse twelve twenty two then it seemed
(17:18):
good to the apostles and the elders verse twenty five.
It seemed good to us having become of one mind
verse twenty eight. And it seemed watched this good to
the Holy Spirit and to us you see the praise.
It seemed good. In other words, what God had led
(17:42):
James the apostle to render as a decision to solve
some confusion that had come into the church seemed good
to others. There was a validating process. It didn't determine
the calling, It just validated it. So if you feel
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that God wants you to go into this area of ministry,
and you feel that that's what He is spoken to
you through a preacher, through a sermon, through a word
that you heard validated by other spiritual people who are
trustworthy and who don't mind ministering to the Lord with you.
(18:26):
But that's not the only thing. There's another thing that's
here about the speaking of the Holy Spirit. He says
verse two again, set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul
for the work which I have called them, that is
very important. They had already been called prior to the validation.
(18:50):
Well watch this now you see the ed on called.
They had already been called. God had already let them
know privately what he was having in mind. Maybe not
all the details, but he'd already let them know, guys,
I have a job for you to do. So God
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stirred their own hearts about what they were to do,
coming from the word of God. That was recognized by
the broader church. That's why every member should be plugged
into a local church, because then you have a validating community.
But it came because He had already called them. In
other words, God let everybody else know outside what he
(19:35):
had already done inside. Your calling always thoughts on your inside,
what he stares your heart to do. And let me
tell you something, anything you're not stirred to do, you're
not called to do. God always stirs the heart. He
stirs the heart, he stirs the inside. You do it
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when you don't want to do it, because it's a calling.
It's a calling. It may be the hardest thing in
the world, but it's the stay. In other words, when
you think about not doing it, you know you'll be
out of the will of God. So he simply tells
the church to set them free Verse three, lay hands
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on them and send them away, cut the cord, release them,
and guess what either the two strongest men in the church.
Either the two of the strongest God's going, but they
were called. Finally, let me just summarize this by saying
a word about the productivity of ministry fasting. When Paul
and Barnabas are sent out, you now have missions. Because
(20:41):
prior to Paul and Barnabas being sent out by the
Church at Antioch, there was no worldwide missionary program. There
was no organized missionary effort. The gospel had not gone westward.
He had written no letters. But once the church send
them out to his calling, the gospel now opens up
(21:03):
to the whole Roman Empire. Paul writes thirteen of the
twenty seven books of the New Testament, so that God
is now going to use him the right much of
what we read today. The Gospel is going to go
all over the place. And the Book of Acts is
really what happens when God causes men in the public
service and everything opens up. World evangelization begins to take place.
(21:27):
The Gospel goes forth. They now able to move in
the direction of faith. And let me tell you something
about your calling, your calling. Watch this now you listen.
Your calling is always bigger than what you could do
(21:49):
on your own. Let me say that again. Your calling,
what God wants out of you, is always bigger than
you could pull off on your own. If you can
do it already without God, it's not your calling. Your
calling is always bigger than anything you can do on
(22:09):
your own. That's why God has to break us before
he can use us, to let us know how small
we are, to let us know how insufficient we are
in our own strength. Your calling is always bigger than you.
So if you can do it without prayer, do it
without dependency, do it in your own strength. Either that's
(22:30):
not your calling or you not ready to be called.
God had some big plans for Paul and Barnabas. They
were bigger than they could ever dream of. Who would
ever think that Paul would open up the whole Western
world to the Gospel, would become the leading writer of
the New Testament. He had a big task because he
had a big God. It was a big call. And
(22:52):
that's why many of us don't know want to know
our call. Because we don't know. We don't want to
know this big thing. That's why people always talk about
resisting their calling. What's your ministry? How are you serving God?
You say, I don't know. Fasting and prayer? Why you worship?
You'll hear the voice of the Spirit say in your
heart and to others through the proclamation of the Word
(23:14):
in a charge to keep your hand and a God
to glorifying.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Doctor Tony Evans sharing the promise that God will direct
your heart and hands in ministry.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Now.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
If you'd like to get the complete, full length version
of this message, check with us for details on the
title Fasting for Ministry. Better yet, get it as a
part of Tony's powerful sermons series Fasting the Key to
Spiritual Victory. As I mentioned earlier, it's available, but only
for a few more days now. As a gift and
appreciation for your donation to the ministry, we'll send it
(23:51):
to you along with a special bonus, the Perpetual Cultivating
a Year of Kindness phlip Calendar. Visit Tonyevans dot org
today to get all the details before time runs out again.
That's Tonyevans dot Org or call us at one eight hundred,
eight hundred thirty two twenty two. Our resource center is
(24:12):
open twenty four to seven. That's one eight hundred eight
hundred three two two two. Hearing stories of what God
has done for others can be incredibly inspiring, but let
me ask you what has He done for you lately?
If you need more than a second or two to
come up with an answer, then you'll want to tune
in tomorrow as doctor Evans presents a powerful message on
(24:33):
building an intimate relationship with God. Be sure to join
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