This evening I’d like to share some of my perspective on the meeting at Indian Mission Baptist Church. In doing so I’d like to point to something which many Christians might think strange, but which happens fairly frequently in Holy Spirit controlled meetings. When get done I’ll let Darren and Austin share their thoughts, if they’d like to. I have given you an outline of the speakers, their texts and what I think were their sermon titles. Austin and Darren may correct me if I got any of the details wrong, and that is quite possible, because God works on every ear just a little differently. The preacher may have a message for the congregation, but the Spirit may actually bring another message to some individual heart.
The scripture we read a minute ago was the text used by Brother Tom Gilliam on Tuesday morning. His subject was “salvation,” and the title, I believe, was “Love’s Birthing Work.” He was one of the two featured speakers, and his messages were a part of a series on divine love. In what was basically his introduction, he used verse 8 to point to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but cast not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth…” That was not the first reference to what, I think, became the motif of the entire meeting.
The theme of the Jubilee meeting.
The pastor of the church, Brandon White, announced at the outset that he had selected I Timothy 1:17 as the theme of the conference. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” That may have been the intended theme, however, I remember that verse being mentioned only two or three times after that announcement, and I was one of those who used it on Monday morning. Because here is the thing: “The wind bloweth where it listeth…” The Holy Spirit goes where He chooses to go. Men, even godly men, may make their plans and head down a certain road, but if they are submissive to the Lord, they may eventually hear Him say, “No, don’t go that way. Over here is the path I want you to tread.” I think many in those meetings last week would say the Lord did exactly that.
And my application to you is this: the Lord has plans for each of His children, and they may involve taking you in directions you have never anticipated. For example, I don’t know if, as last year’s meeting began, that Bro. Jarred Parris realized that the Lord would call him into His ministry and that he would surrender to that call a week later – a year ago today.
It is a funny story that I will leave to Austin to share at his convenience, but he was the first speaker. This was during the Sunday School hour, when congregation was made up primarily of the members of the church. One point in Austin’s message was: We should do whatever the Holy Spirit asks us to do. 3 or 4 hours later, a small Indian church called to say they were awaiting someone to come and preach. The door opened; the Spirit spoke and Austin volunteered to carry out the Lord’s wishes. At that point, I couldn’t see the Lord’s theme for the meeting but, it was a small step toward it.
The first message Sunday night was on the work of the ministry, and that demands the work of the Spirit. Then the final message of the day was on the ministry of prayer, which demands the work of the Spirit. One of the essential elements of a meeting like that one is the leadership of the Lord for the pastor in choosing those to speak while not having room to preach everyone. And timing is a part of that leadership. I was asked to be the second speaker on Monday morning, and I felt lead to preach from Hebrews 13:8. In keeping with the announced theme, my message was on “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday …” Not knowing ahead of time what Bro. White had chosen for the meeting’s theme, my message was in sync with “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, only wise God, be honour and glory… Amen.” Then the man who was asked to follow me took his text from Hebrews 1, telling everyone I had preached half his message, so he began with Hebrews 1 and seamlessly moved into an entirely different message from chapter 2 skipping over what I had already preached for him. If he had been called to go before me, someone who he called “Brother Oldham,” I would have been forced to preach something entirely different. But the Holy Spirit was in complete control. The first message Monday evening was entitled: “Are You a Foot Washing Baptist.” It was a thoroughly Spirit controlled sermon; it move my heart and it moved the hearts and feet of many. One of the brethren outside our church, but one whom you know, came to me as the message concluded, hugged me tightly and thanked me for washing his feet over the years.
Tuesday morning began with a message on the “Intercession of the Spirit,” which obviously was Spirit-led. Two messages later we were taken into God’s throne room, on an ordinary Tuesday morning. “A Book like No Other,” reminded us among other things of the importance of the Holy Spirit in that Book. Then Brother Gilliam brought us back to the “The wind blowing where it listeth…” which results in salvation. Pastor White’s brother preached about the power of God – “The Lord is More than Able,” and it is through the Spirit that we see the evidence of God’s power in people’s hearts. And Brother Parris’ theme was the protection of God in the midst of the battle, pointing out how the Holy Spirit brought him to salvation, through people’s prayers. The first message Thursday was about the two types of worship – the religious variety and that which is led of the Spirit. And as I said this morning, Daniel Pearson, brought out how the Holy Spirit gave life to dead, dry bones, concluding with exhortations and encouragement to trust the Lord as we serve Him in our own valleys. Another man taught us about the crucified life, which essentially means submission to the Spirit of God.
Each message seemed to be directed by the Spirit in one way or another. And even though there were little things about which we might have disagreed with each other, there was such a spirit of joy and union that nothing disturbed the Spiritual nature of the week. In message after message we heard Christ Jesus magnified, because when Christ is properly glorified, you can be sure that the Spirit is involved. That is the basic ministry of the Holy Spirit. Several times during the week, people of various ages, testified of the Spirit’s movement in their hearts, often with tears running down their faces. Some were teenagers, some were preteens and some were much, much older
And then we come to the music: At times the music seemed to be as Spirit-filled as the sermons. There were professional gospel musicians there, and there were others who were professional quality. At the same time there were singers who found it almost impossible to find the right note or key. But because both those with perfect pitch and those with no pitch at all – unable to get the ball to the plate – because of the Holy Spirit within them, neither one was either proud or ashamed. They just appeared to minister for the glory of the Lord.
Of course, there was much more to the meeting than just singing and preaching. There were great meals prepared for the glory of Christ. And each afternoon, during the meals, then after the evening services late into the night, there were the hundreds of conversations, good natured teasing and Spirit-led, loving fellowship. In other words, if I had to describe the theme of last week’s conference, I would say that it all revolved around the leadership of the Spirit.