Apostolic Purpose

In this session, we explore the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing people to salvation. What are some ways that we can pray for people to come to faith in Christ?

Click here to view or download class notes for this session (PDF).

EXCERPT:

In general, we say that the Spirit works to draw the unsaved person to faith in Christ. If anyone is to be saved it will only ever be because the Holy Spirit drew them and pointed them to the salvation that God offers us through Christ. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, unless the Father who has sent me draws him…” (John 6:44) And the Father accomplishes this by the power and the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the agent of God, sent to fulfill God’s purposes in salvation.

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In this session, we discuss praise and worship. What does the Bible say about this important topic, and what does it mean to "minister to the Lord?"

Click here to view or download class notes for this session (PDF).

EXCERPT:

Thanksgiving is the gateway into God’s Presence.

Why thanksgiving? Two reasons. First, thanksgiving forces me to acknowledge God as my Creator and Sustainer. I’ve heard it said that a proud man can’t thank God, but a humble man can’t help it. If you want to enjoy God’s Presence in your life and catch His attention, start thanking Him.

Psalm 138:6 says: “Though the LORD is high, yet He has respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knows afar off.” We don’t want to be afar off. We want to be near. God says in Isaiah 57, “…I dwell in the high and holy place, [and also] with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit…”

A second reason to begin with thanksgiving is this: when you thank Him in humility, He draws nears to you. God is attracted to humility. And as you keep thanking Him, a sense will arise in your heart that you’re engaging the Presence of His Spirit.

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In this session in our course on the Spirit’s transforming power, we explore Jesus' description of the Holy Spirit's special ministries, found in John chapters 13–17. We also discussed how we can grow in friendship with the Spirit. We closed with a time of prayer to experience His ministries in these ways.

Click here to view or download class notes for his session (PDF).

EXCERPT:

The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. He is the author of the Scriptures. The Bible tells us that the Scriptures were “breathed by God,” and we understand that the Holy Spirit is the One who did the breathing!

He teaches us the Word. Never read the Bible without inviting the Spirit to teach you. In those moments when the Word makes sense to you and it all just clicks, that wasn’t because you’re so smart. It’s because the Spirit of God supernaturally opened your mind to His. When the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Bible says He opened their understanding, and the Spirit wants to do the same for you and for me.

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“Life in the Spirit” is a course I designed to help people experience and move in the Holy Spirit's transforming power through teaching and hands-on training. I believe God wants us to walk in daily partnership with the Spirit. It’s a hard thing for us to process, but Jesus actually said it was to our advantage that He left, so that He might send the Spirit. The first Christians enjoyed a sense of the nearness of the Holy Spirit, as well as His empowering. That can be our experience, too! Listen along with us.

Click here to view or download class notes for his session (PDF).

EXCERPT:

The Holy Spirit is not some kind of “junior God.” He is not just the power of God, nor is He simply the love that the Father and the Son have for each other, as we sometimes hear people say. He is a distinct person.

* The Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3-4).

* The Holy Spirit is called the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14).

* He is omnipresent (Psalms 139).

* Jesus said to baptize people in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

The entire Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—works together for our salvation and for our spiritual growth. Paul says: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

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This is a sermon I brought recently on Hebrews chapter 7, on how Jesus is “a priest forever, "according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek is a mysterious figure. Indeed, the Bible says almost nothing about him. We meet him only once, way back in Genesis chapter 14, some 1850 years before Christ. There we read how Abraham fought to rescue his troublesome nephew Lot from captivity. When Abraham returned victorious from that battle, Melchizedek went out to greet him. The Bible describes their meeting in just three short verses:

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, ​​Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.; And he gave him a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:18-20).

That’s the only historical reference to Melchizedek in the Scriptures; however, his name shows up again centuries later, in a psalm of King David, Psalm 110. Understanding Psalm 110 will help us unlock Hebrews 7, and the author’s rather dense teaching on how Jesus Christ is a superior—and forever—High Priest for the people of God.

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Thanks for being a part of our verse-by-verse study in Acts over these last six months! In this final session, we see Paul and his companions surviving shipwreck and arriving in Rome. As the book closes, we see the Gospel being shared boldly and without hindrance. Watch with us, and if you enjoy these teachings, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT:

We know that Paul had a first defense before the Emperor or the Emperor’s designate. At some point he was re-arrested and in his second imprisonment, shortly before his death, he also wrote 2nd Timothy.

He would preach to the guards and no doubt he saw some of them saved as well. To the Philippians he wrote, “All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:22). Right there in the Emperor’s house, Paul was a light!

It’s long been believed that Paul was martyred in the persecution that arose against Christians once Nero began to deteriorate mentally and morally, perhaps around the year 64 A.D.

But even though Paul’s light was put out, the Gospel is still going forth and reaching people and places those first apostles never dreamed of. Jesus said we would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon us, and we would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We’ve seen that gradually unfolding as we’ve journeyed through Acts. But the 28 chapters of Acts were really just the beginning, and Jesus said that before the end comes the Gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness!

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This is the next-to-last session in our study in the Book of Acts. (Sorry, I couldn’t bring myself to type “penultimate” today.) In this session, we see Paul making his defense and explaining his calling before the elites of this world. His appeal to Caesar will now send him on his way to Rome itself. Watch with us, and if you enjoy these teachings, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT:

Paul is going to present his testimony again: his career, his calling, and his commission. This is the third time we see his story, which indicates to us how important it is for Luke and for the story of Acts.

You can see here that in contrast to the way he spoke to the Romans, Paul is emphasizing the truths of Scripture to King Agrippa. He begins by getting straight to the point: he’s always tried to live as a strict and faithful Jew.

Now he’s being judged for the essence of Judaism – which for Paul was not about ethics or even laws, but the promise of God that would be realized through the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection.

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We’re approaching the end of our study in the Book of Acts. Join us for this session as we see Paul return to Jerusalem, where he is rescued by the Romans and then placed under arrest, beginning a new phase of his life and ministry. Watch with us, and if you enjoy these teachings, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT:

Why would Paul agree to go to the Temple and pay for these men sacrifices? People have debated whether he was right to do this. Certainly, Paul didn’t believe that Jews or anybody else could be saved by keeping the Law. Even James and the other Messianic believers didn’t believe that. It seems that Paul was willing to go along with this for the sake of unity.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul tells us his guiding principle: “…to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law… I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (See 1 Cor. 9:19ff.) For the sake of the Gospel, Paul would make accommodations if he could, so long as he didn’t compromise the message of salvation by the grace of Christ.

So, Paul agreed to go to the Temple with the men on the required days and go through the required rituals. It would show that he was a faithful Jew who still honored the ancient customs.

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Thanks for hanging with us as we begin to approach the end of the Book of Acts. In this week’s session of our study, we dig into the most fruitful period of Paul’s ministry, as he and his co-workers spread the Gospel in the occult stronghold of Ephesus, one of the Roman Empire’s largest cities. Watch with us, and if you enjoy these teachings, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT:

Apparently, Paul has already been receiving prophecies everywhere he goes to the effect that he will soon be in chains. However, he is determined regardless to go on and complete the ministry Jesus gave him, to share the Good News of the Gospel of grace.

Paul has done his best to share everything God gave him to share – the full counsel of God – so that he is now guiltless. Now it falls to the next generation to stand and safeguard the flock of God.

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In this session of our Acts Bible Study, we explore chapters 17 and 18, traveling with Paul and his team through the major cities of Greece: Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth. Be a Berean and join us! Watch with us, and if you enjoy these teachings, kindly share them to a friend.

Class notes are available here as a PDF.

If you like, you can also watch on my YouTube channel.

EXCERPT:

At Corinth, Paul didn’t even have to defend himself. Proconsul Gallio decided that he didn’t want to bother with something he saw as an internal Jewish matter.

This was a momentous decision because it gave Paul freedom to keep operating. Remember that the Jews had a privileged status: the Romans saw Judaism as a religio licita – a permitted religion. That made Jews exempt from some of the religious obligations that others had to follow. By making this ruling, Gallio was saying that as far as Rome was concerned, Christians were not different from any other Jews. That gave Paul, for the time being, protected status.

That wouldn’t last very long, and we know that the Romans viciously persecuted believers in Jesus on and off for centuries. But for the time being, the plan of the Jews at Corinth had backfired, and the Christians were free to live out their faith without government persecution.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nickuva.substack.com