Quality Converts: Prioritizing Genuine Faith Over Numbers

Holy Spirit, so what is Paul saying? He's saying that he has a plan, he has a strategy, he has a mission, and he's going to do it in a way that is acceptable to God and that is sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Several years ago, when I was an intermediate pastor, one of our senior pastors was discussing the work of our denomination. He said something that shocked me out of my chair. He had been saved for 30 years, and I had been saved for 15 years. He said that Paul did not serve our Lord in mission and evangelism and church planting with a plan. He said that Paul just woke up in the morning and went wherever he felt the Lord was leading him.

I disagreed with our dear pastor, who was a good, sincere, and model pastor. His view of not needing to plan God's work but just doing it was not right. When I challenged him, he said that Paul was led by the Holy Spirit.

People are confused about what to call the book of Acts. Is it the acts of the church or the acts of the Holy Spirit? Do we plan or don't we plan? As we come to the end of this series, I want to propose that having a plan and strategizing our lives as Christians and for ministry and the church is fundamental to fruitful work for Christ. The Bible says God is a God of order and not confusion. He doesn't just get up one morning and do things he never thought about.

When we read the book of Acts, we see very clearly that Paul had planned what he did. We read that he was led by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 9, Paul was called to be a minister to the Gentiles. He said he wanted to minister like a priest so that his offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul had a plan, a strategy, and a mission, and he was going to do it in a way that was acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was a prophet in the Bible who received the message from God and gave it to the people. The priest was the one who stood between the people and God, mediating with God on behalf of the people. The Apostle Paul wanted to be a priest of the Gospel of God for the Gentiles, bringing them up before God.

In the Old Testament, when the Jewish people brought their offerings to the temple, they had to bring their best, not a dumb, maimed, or defective animal. Paul wanted to bring an offering of the Gentiles so that they may become acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul has a lesson for us in our work for God. We must plan what we are going to give to God. Are we going to give something of our flesh or something that is acceptable to God and sanctified by the Holy Spirit? Evangelism should be about bringing people into God's Kingdom, not about making our church big. We must concentrate on quality, not numbers.

Paul's plan was to present to God a Gentile convert who has been changed by the Holy Spirit, not by us. We must plan to produce quality converts for Christ, not converts that are built around ourselves or our church. We must produce quality converts who have been sanctified by the Spirit and who are genuinely in the Kingdom of God.

Paul's second plan was to glorify God, speaking only of what Christ has accomplished through him, resulting in obedience. Paul says that when he goes about preaching the word, it is so that he may glorify God. He does not want to take credit or glorify himself. He says in verse 18, "For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me." He also says in verse 17, "Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in the things pertaining to God."

Paul admits that he was guilty of wanting to show off his preaching and teaching skills when he was younger. He says, "I remember when I got to the church in Rivoli, oh I used to parade my Greek in my messages like you don't know now." He warns young pastors to be careful and not to look for big platforms to speak on, but to remember that their greatest preaching platform is their own pulpit on a Sunday morning.

Paul talks about his priorities in verse 24. He says, "That whenever I go to Spain, I hope to see you in passing and to be helped on my way there by you when I have first enjoyed your company for a while." He was going to Jerusalem to serve the saints, and he had collected a lot of money for them. Paul had a plan to go to Spain, but he never got there. Instead, he went back to Jerusalem, where there was a famine and the mother church was in need.

We have a funny philosophy about church planting and church growth and church development in Ephesus, believing that a mother church should never be getting from the infant church, but rather giving. Paul knew that a mother church can become a suffering church, and that was so in Jerusalem. He had to get back to Jerusalem, as there was a great need there.

On the way to Jerusalem, a prophet in Syria said not to go back, as they would catch him and bind him for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said that if he got bound, that was okay. When he got to Jerusalem, a prophet prophesied and said not to go.

Paul had a plan to prioritize his mission. His first priority was to give to Christ quality, safe people. Secondly, he wanted to give Him the glory, not himself. Thirdly, he wanted to put Him first by taking care of those that needed him more.

In conclusion, Paul said to pray for him, that he would find a safe and acceptable ministry in Jerusalem, and that he would eventually come to them by the will of God and find refreshing rest in their fellowship. He did get to them, but was captured in Rome and taken as a prisoner. He blessed the Church of Rome and asked that the God of Peace be with them all.