Spirits on SermonAudio

The sermon addresses the pervasive challenge of discouragement by examining the Apostle Paul's resilience in the face of extreme adversity. It highlights four key spiritual resources that sustain believers: the privilege of the New Covenant ministry, daily renewal through Christ, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, and the eternal perspective of faith over sight. By contrasting Paul's immense sufferings with his unwavering confidence, the message encourages listeners to fix their eyes on unseen realities rather than temporary circumstances. The preacher emphasizes that spiritual strength is a daily appropriation of God's grace, ensuring that service does not lead to exhaustion but to inner vitality. Ultimately, the sermon assures believers that faithful labor yields a harvest at the proper time, urging them to remain steadfast and hopeful.

To enjoy God in duty is to enjoy his gracious assistance — that is, the enlightening, quickening, strengthening, and sanctifying influences and operations of his Spirit — without which it is impossible to perform any duty in a right, holy, and acceptable manner. One may conclude that he enjoys God in duty, when his mind is impressed with a deep sense of the reasonableness, use, and design of the duty; when he willingly and heartily engages in it in the name of the Mediator — with reverential thoughts and a holy awe of God;

Every man is to pray or call upon God, according as he is able, with respect unto his own condition, relations, occasions, and duties. Certainly there is not a man in the world who hath not forfeited all his reason and understanding unto atheism, or utterly buried all their operations under the fury of brutish affections, but he is convinced that it is his duty to pray to the deity he owns, in words of his own, as well as he is able; for this, and none other, is the genuine and natural notion of prayer. This is implanted in the heart of mankind, which they need not be taught nor directed unto.

Evidence of Election This teaching and exhortation centers on Paul's confidence in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 that the believers at Thessalonica were truly God's people. Paul could not see the unseen work of election, regeneration, or the Spirit opening their hearts, but he could see the evidence that God had worked in them. That evidence appeared in three clear ways: the Word was revealed, the Word was received, and the Word was redemptive. The gospel was revealed to them not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. Paul preached, but God opened hearts and made Christ known. The gospel was then received by the Thessalonians as the Word of God, even in the middle of affliction. They welcomed it gladly and allowed it to work effectively within them. Finally, the gospel proved redemptive because it changed the direction of their lives. They turned to God from idols, began serving the living and true God, and started waiting expectantly for Jesus to return. Their changed lives were marked by a work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope. Faith worked, love labored, and hope endured. Paul gave thanks to God for these qualities because they were evidence of God's grace rather than human achievement. The message emphasizes that we do not fuel God's work; God fuels us for His work as we abide in Christ. A major theme is that genuine salvation changes the center of a person's life. The gospel changes the what and the who. Who and what we love, who and what we trust, who and what we serve, and who and what we are waiting for. Conversion does not mean instant perfection, but it does produce a new purpose and direction. The Thessalonians still neede

In the Furnace Again! 1. David's Condition in the Furnace was Grim 2. David's Confidence in the Furnace was Glowing A. Because of the Source of It B. Because of the Shame in It C. Because of the Safety of It D. Because of the Strength on It E. Because of the Savior in It .......The Place to Commit our Trust ......The Practice of Committing our Trust ......The Price of Committing our Trust

Christians are continually being influenced by the messages, values, and ideas surrounding them. Romans 12:1–2 calls believers not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed through the renewing of their minds. In this episode of Anchored in the Word, Dave Jenkins explains how the Word of God reshapes the believer's thinking, desires, decisions, and conduct. He considers the difference between external behavior modification and the inward transformation produced by God through His truth. Dave also provides three practical ways Christians can pursue a renewed mind: consistently reading Scripture, evaluating their assumptions according to God's Word, and meditating on biblical truth. Because believers are united to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is actively renewing them and conforming them to Christ through the Word of God. For more from Anchored in the Word, please visit: https://servantsofgrace.org/anchored-in-the-wordpage/

The first thing we ascribe unto the Spirit herein is, that he supplies and furnishes the mind with a due comprehension of the matter of prayer, or what ought, both in general and as unto all our particular occasions, to be prayed for. Without this I suppose it will be granted that no man can pray as he ought; for how can any man pray that knows not what to pray for? Where there is not a comprehension hereof, the very nature and being of prayer is destroyed. And herein the testimony of the apostle is express: Rom. viii. 26, "Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

This midweek meeting lesson analyzes the Apostle Peter's Gospel sermon to Cornelius and his household in Acts chapter 10, highlighting the pivotal shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant where God accepts people of all nations. The lesson examines the context, in which we see Cornelius as a devout Gentile and in which we see Peter's vision regarding clean and unclean animals, which also indicates that our Lord's New Covenant is not restricted by ethnic boundaries. Key subjects related to the Gospel include Jesus Christ as Lord of all, the necessity of faith alone for the remission of sins, and the immediate anointing of the Holy Spirit upon believers regardless of their background. Peter's sermon serves as an instructional model for evangelism, and believers are urged to faithfully share the core elements of the gospel during divine appointments. Ultimately, it emphasizes that God has a specific message for everyone and calls Christians to seize opportunities to proclaim Christ to others.