Following the Work of the Spirit

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 

Few of us, even if we are very faithful, will be able to say such a thing about our life's work when it is done.  Whether our calling is to our city or our world, will we be able to say that we have "fully proclaimed the Gospel?"

We can look back on history and see people like Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and William Wilberforce who proclaimed the Gospel in such a way as to transform not only individuals, but their societies as well.  We can see those like Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, or Jim Elliot who devoted, and even lost their lives taking the Gospel to the corners of the earth.

What allowed them to achieve such great things?  Not what, but who.  These great Christians followed the work of the Holy Spirit.  They were not great, but God was great in and through them.

I've written before of one of my mentors, Mike Clark, Pastor and founder of Casa Para Ninos Aleluya in Guatemala.  Mike's willingness to admit he's nobody special has been a great source of inspiration for me.  Mike is the richest man on earth, literally hundreds and hundreds of children know him as "Papi."  Why?  He got in his car and followed the Holy Spirit, he answered God's call in his life.  Everything else has come from that act of obedience, and many other acts after it.


It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you."

 The Apostle Paul knew God's call in his life.  He followed the work of the Holy Spirit -in fact Acts 16 records Paul turning away from Asia because the Spirit prevented him from going to Asia or Bythinia, but sent him to Macedonia through a vision.

Paul's great ambition for the Kingdom was to preach where Christ was not known.  The Acts record his followup visits to nurture Churches that he planted, Paul was no slacker in that regard.  His letters to the Church at Corinth reveal his love for discipling believers, even when their failures broke his heart.  Yet, Paul's gaze went to the horizon.

But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 

There was no more work to be done?  Everyone was saved and discipled as a mature believer?  Hardly so.  There was much work to be done among the young Churches, most of whom were founded in cultures where the Kingdom of God was almost unknown.  You see, there was no more work for Paul in those region.  He was to move on and let others tend the crop and see the harvest.

Spain was the end of the earth in Paul's world.  People must have thought he was completely nuts to want to go there.  The journey would be long and arduous months of sailing, with danger from both Pirates and the sea itself.  The residents of Hispania were fiercely loyal to Rome, many were citizens, and very unlikely to listen to what Paul had to say about his Jewish God.  Yet, Paul longs to go to Rome, and on to Spain.  He does this not because he thinks the people will welcome him, but because the Spirit compels him.

Imagine that, the Spirit compels us to do something great with our life.  We might travel to the end of the earth like Hudson Taylor, or spend most of our days in our own city like Charles Spurgeon.  The question is not where we go, but whether we follow the Spirit to where He goes.