Don’t Be a Herod

Don’t Be a Herod
Acts 12:18-24

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

This past week ended up being pretty wild and chaotic- crazy amounts of rain, tornado warnings, a school board meeting discussing masks, schools starting up, but then getting immediately shut down because of flooding- we’re already living in a generally stressful season of history, and this week was probably one that could have escalated for many that stress. Now, there’s many scriptures we could look to, to help us remain centered and rooted in Jesus, in encouraging us how to positively react to the stresses of our environment. A verse that often comes to my mind is Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  For me, it’s helpful to remind myself not to be anxious, but to take all my concerns to God along with thanks to Him, and ask that He would honor this promise that His peace would guard my heart and mind in Jesus. I also think of 1 John 5:5 “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? It’s helpful to remind myself that God’s word says I will eventually have victory and be an overcomer, because of my persevering faith and belief in the work of Jesus.

           

Now hopefully you have some promises, some verses that you cling to, that you remind yourself of when you find your emotions getting out of hand, or your stress level increasing, so that you can be reminded of what you should do in these situations. But sometimes we also need to be reminded of what we should not do in these emotional, stressful situations. We often learn what not to do in life as a result of our own mistakes, and this is good- but what’s even better is learning what not to do by watching others make mistakes. Yes, much wisdom can be gained from watching Funniest Home Videos, right? Raise your hand if you learned what not to do by personally sticking something in an electric outlet. Raise your hand if you learned what not to do by watching, or hearing of someone else stick something in an electric outlet. This morning, I encourage you to learn from the mistakes made by someone else, a man known as king Herod. We’re going to note some characteristics he displayed in a stressful environment that ultimately lead to his death- characteristics we must be alert to avoid in our own lives as we face stressful environments.  

Now, in this passage I’m referring to Herod Agrippa I. There are several “Herods” mentioned in the Bible, each related to one another by blood. There’s Herod the Great, who interacted with the wise men around the time of Jesus’ birth, who sought to kill Jesus by mandating that all male children in the Bethlehem vicinity two years old and under be killed. Then there’s his son Herod Antipas, who was ruling as king when Jesus began His ministry, who had John the Baptizer arrested and killed, and who was part of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. His nephew was Herod Agrippa I, the Herod we are looking at this morning, who ruled from 41-44 AD; so this gives you a little time perspective on where we are in history in this place in the book of Acts- roughly 10-15 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Later we’ll see another Herod, Herod Agrippa II who witnessed Paul being put on trial in Caesarea. But right now we’re looking at Herod Agrippa I, and before we look to our passage in Acts, I want to bring your attention to the stress he was feeling. King Herod was in the precarious position of being a Jew employed by Rome to keep things calm, peaceful, and orderly during the unrest that occurred as a result of this man Jesus. The religious leaders and others had formed mobs, things had gotten out of control as they stoned Steven, Jesus-followers were being hunted down and dragged from their homes, yet… miracles had been taking place, and no matter what pressure was applied, these Jesus-followers continued to defy orders and kept boldly sharing about Jesus. Things were divided; there was much unrest. Life was not easy for a leader who had to keep Rome happy and the Jewish people happy at the same time. And so, let’s look at how king

 Herod unhealthily dealt with the stress. Let’s first revisit the beginning of the passage Pastor Dave walked us through last week, verses 1-3 of Acts 12…

           

Herod, in this stressful environment, decides maybe the peace would be best kept if he cracks down harder on the people who are getting the religious leaders all riled up. So, he puts in jail some more church people, and seemingly even without trial, has James killed with a sword. This isn’t just some random dude, this is James, brother of John, one of the 12 disciples, one of the guys who had been the closest to Jesus- in Jesus’ inner circle. And note what this in effect did- verse 3- it pleased the people. It pleased the religious Jews who had grown to hate this new group of people now known as “Christians.” Because it pleased the people, Herod thought it a good idea to arrest Peter and perhaps do the same thing to him. Now the outcome of James, very well could have been the outcome of Peter, but note verse 5- “but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”  That word fervently means they were praying passionately and intensely- there was a burning in their hearts to cry out to God for His intervention. And as we saw last week, God in His goodness answered their fervent prayers and miraculously rescued Peter. As a side note, I think there’s probably a good lesson for us concerning prayer in seeing the church’s ironic response to God answering their fervent prayers- they told the little girl who had seen Peter that she was out of her mind. (verse 15) They didn’t believe her. Just make a quick note to self that if you’re going to pray fervently for something, be looking for signs of how God might be unexpectantly answering your prayers. Because that is often how He works. He very often answers prayers in the ways we least expect, and I believe we often miss the fact that He has indeed answered our prayers.

           

But back to king Herod- what I want you to notice in these first 3 verses of chapter 12, is that in this stressful environment, Herod was reacting not according to logic, not according to facts being sought out and discovered, not according to what was right or wrong, not even according to a personal conviction- Herod allowed his actions to be dictated by opinions and pleasures of others. Now, the Bible commands us in Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” While we are to do our best to promote peace, we as followers of Jesus cannot live our lives striving to please others. Paul says it like this “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10) In the book of Proverbs we find: “The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.” (Prov. 29:25) Throughout the Bible, scripture after scripture, we are warned not to live our lives or make decisions based on what others around us think, but rather solely on what God thinks. We are to look to His word, His teaching, His truth, and live to please Him alone. As soon as a stressful situation causes you or I to drift from what the Bible clearly says, that is the moment when confusion starts to settle in, with potential of leading us down a pathway that in the end leads to destruction and death. Don’t be a Herod. In the stress, don’t look for other’s approval.

           

After Peter was rescued by the angel of the Lord, Herod found himself in additional stress. Let’s read today’s passage in its entirety, verses 18-24, and then we’ll walk back through it step by step…

           

Alright, so we’re looking at how not to be a Herod, and we’ve already noted that in the stress, don’t look for other’s approval. Verses 18 and 19 here are going to give us a couple more ways to learn from Herod’s mistakes and aim not to do what he did. Verse 18… “No small disturbance” is the Biblical way of saying, there was a very large disturbance- people were freaking out! Back up in verse 6 we are told Peter was chained up with two chains, in-between two soldiers, locked in a cell with guards at the door. Verse 4 tells us that ultimately there were four squads of soldiers assigned to guard him. It was a big deal to Herod for Peter to all of a sudden be missing. It caused quite a stir amongst the soldiers and all eyes had to have been on Herod. So, what does he do in this moment of stress, as people are calling on him to make sense of the situation? Verse 19…   

           

Packed in this verse are two different examples of what not to do in reaction to stressful circumstances. Number one, notice how quick Herod is to blame and hold someone else accountable, how quick he is to punish and throw someone else under the bus. He ordered that the guards be executed. Was it the guards’ fault that Peter was missing? No. Herod made the decision to arrest Peter, influenced by the pleasure of the people, and when God disrupted the situation, Herod was quick to judge and cast guilt on someone other than himself. All around us, we see the blame shifting, and it is very rare these days to see someone take responsibility for their own actions. Yet, at the very core of the gospel is the foundational idea that in order to receive Jesus’ forgiveness, in order to receive eternal life, in order to follow Him and His teaching- we have to take responsibility for our own actions. We have to realize our mistakes, our sins, the ways in which we miss the mark- and we have to humbly admit to God that we need His forgiveness and salvation. And that humble attitude of admittance, repentance, confession- is not to stop after the moment of receiving Jesus. No, we as His followers are to live in that humility as a lifestyle. We are to be quick to own things, apologize, and make things right. We are to do what we can do personally, to change ourselves rather than attempting to change others. We aren’t to seek revenge, that is reserved for God. We aren’t to be a judge, that position is reserved for God. Don’t be a Herod. In the stress, don’t be quick to blame others.

           

Then notice what Herod does next in the remainder of verse 19, he leaves the palace in Jerusalem where all the stress is, and goes to Caesarea. In Caesarea was another palace, right on the Mediterranean coast. In fact, much of its remains still stand today. It’s right on the beach overlooking the water, and there are large corrals for horse and chariot racing- it was kind of like a vacation/ entertainment palace. Now there’s nothing wrong with taking a vacation, and often it might be wise and best to remove yourself out from the place that is causing the stress, but I think rather what’s happening here is that perhaps Herod is running from the problem, attempting to ignore and escape the situation that God would rather him face directly. Here was an opportunity for Herod to dig deeper, to search for truth, to ask the right questions- hopefully leading him to the conclusion that these Christians served a living, powerful, miraculous God who has revealed Himself to mankind through the resurrected Jesus. But no… he chose to run from, and ignore the opportunities that might have led to this conclusion.

           

In whatever stressful situation you might find yourself, don’t be tempted to just “check out.” Don’t just put it on autopilot. Ask the questions: What is God wanting you to learn through the circumstance? How is He wanting you to react? Is He building your character in some way? How might He be wanting to work in the lives of those around you through the situation? Don’t be a Herod. In the stress, don’t run from and ignore what God wants you to face. Verses 20 and 21…

           

It seems that even in the Caesarean vacation palace, Herod was not able to truly avoid stress, but rather he was just confronted with yet another stressful situation. Two northern areas, outside of Israel- Tyre and Sidon, which would today be in modern Lebanon- these two areas were dependent on the hand of Rome in Israel for their food supply. We don’t know all the details, but it appears that there was some sort of conflict, some way in which the trade agreement was not functioning correctly, and the people of Tyre and Sidon united in their common frustration, and had won the favor of one of Herod’s own leaders. I’m sure this isn’t something Herod wanted to be bothered with, verse 20 tells us he was very angry with these people. This situation made him angry. Now anger is a response we often see from within ourselves or from others in stressing times, but anger in itself is not a negative, sinful response. Anger is a neutral emotion that can be acted upon for good (in Godly ways) or for bad (in sinful ways). Often anger is the emotion vehicle through which God’s people seek to right wrongs, stop injustices, or stand up for what is right. So even in Herod’s anger, there was opportunity for him to tune into the Lord’s work, to respond correctly to the Lord, and thus be used greatly by the Lord.  

           

But this is not what takes place. I can imagine him rolling over from sunning on the beach and reluctantly, frustratingly- in anger- scheduling an official time for him to answer and deal with this issue. So, whenever the date and time arrives, perhaps beforehand he rinses off the salt and sand in one the luxurious bath houses, then gets on all his official, royal, fancy attire- and I’m kind of picturing king Julian in Madagascar- he’s like “let the peasants gather round to hear the great oracles of king Herod.” We don’t know exactly what he said, but it appears whatever speech he delivered sounded wise and authoritative because in verse 22 we are told… (verses 22-23)

           

This was the last straw, even the patience of God has a limit. And it’s interesting to note that perhaps Herod didn’t himself proclaim any connection to deity, rather the last straw was that he didn’t refute what others were saying about him, in order to give the credit to God. Pride can definitely eat at you from within, in this case Herod was literally eaten from within as a result of his pride. Through the supernatural working of miracles Jesus performs in the New Testament, He points to the future reality of His kingdom. God’s display of power illustrates the coming reality for those who trust in Him. This supernatural working of Herod’s death also points to a future reality, it illustrates the coming reality for those who pridefully reject God.

           

Now, most of us probably learned at an early age that bragging is not something good to do, but most of us probably enjoy it when someone else brags on us. We’re like, “it’s not pride if someone else said it,” right? There’s nothing wrong with giving or receiving a compliment and giving or receiving thanks where thanks is due, but very quickly- if we’re not careful- a line can be crossed where we start to elevate men and women or ourselves, and we ascribe a greatness to someone that should only be ascribed to God. We should be careful in justifying our words, our actions, our deeds, our viewpoints- careful not to become puffed up and proud of what we’ve said, where we stand, what we’ve done, or what we think. Especially in stressful life situations, it can become easy to blame others for all the bad, but then to take credit for whatever good there might be. Don’t be a Herod. In the stress, don’t react with pride. Verse 24…    

           

Here’s the thing. With or without you and me, God is going to work and move and spread His good news. The advancement of His kingdom will not be stopped. You nor I, nor any other person, organization, politician, famous person, government can prevent Him from bringing about His Kingdom- and along with it- blessings for God’s people. But instead of standing in the way of Kingdom work, by seeking the approval of men rather than the approval of God, standing in the way by passing the blame on others, standing in the way by running from and ignoring what God wants you to face, or standing in the way by reacting with pride- instead may we be vessels God can use and work through for the building of his Kingdom and for the encouragement of His church.

Discrimination Within the Church - Still?

Discrimination Within the Church - Still?
Acts 10

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

Last week we looked at the grace of God displayed in the life of Saul (who would later become known as Paul) He was known as a great persecutor (even murderer) of Jesus’ followers, but became himself a follower of Jesus. On his way to Damascus Syria, he encountered Jesus and that experience forever changed his life. It’s an incredible story. The believers in Damascus were nervously shocked, but eventually they embraced Saul within their fellowship. I think it’s pretty cool to learn that there even existed a group of Christ follower’s in Damascus. Damascus is over 200 miles away from Jerusalem, it was one of the major cities included in the Roman occupied region known as the Decapolis. That region might sound familiar to some of you, Matthew records that during Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, that there were some from the Decapolis region that had heard of His work and came to follow Him in His ministry. (Matt. 4:25) And then in the book of Mark, Jesus and His disciples landed on the eastern shores of the Galilee, which was considered the border to the region of the Decapolis, and there Jesus healed a man oppressed by a legion of demons. That man wanted to follow Jesus, but Jesus told him to go back to his home and tell the people the great things the Lord had done for him, and so in Mark 5:20 we are told “And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.” And a couple chapters later in Mark, we see Jesus return once again to minister on the Galilean shores of the Decapolis region. (Mark 7:31)

           

So here we are in the book of Acts, years later, and we see that because some curious few from Decapolis followed Jesus around the Galilee, and because of a healed man sharing about the work of Jesus with others in his hometown, and because Jesus returned to the border of that area- knowledge of Jesus has now spread miles and miles away from the land of Israel and there is now a group of believers meeting together in Damascus… whom Saul learned about, set out to hunt, along the way had a change of heart, and now is living in Damascus amongst those he had previously set out to arrest. And during his time there, some of the Jews living in Damascus made attempts on Saul’s life. I can imagine they were bothered by the few believers there, but they were really bothered by someone like Saul who was previously a devote religious leader like themselves, who had now become a bold and obnoxious follower of Jesus. But God protected Saul through the other believers there, in verse 25 of Acts 9 we see they lowered him down the city walls in a basket, and he was able to escape, making his way back to Jerusalem- verse 26. We later learn that Saul was in Damascus and other parts of Arabia for three years, before coming back to Jerusalem. (Gal. 1:18)    Now, in returning to Jerusalem, we see in the following verses that the believers’ minds there were blown- they as well couldn’t believe Saul had truly changed- but with the help of Barnabas, eventually they put down their guard and Saul ministered amongst them until again, other folks were seeking to take his life. The believers in Jerusalem helped him escape to the coastal city of Caesarea, from where he got on a boat and sailed to Tarsus, a city in Turkey where Saul was born and raised as a child, before his family had moved to Jerusalem.

           

Now remember, Saul was one of the key leaders who had been instigating the persecution amongst the church- perhaps he was even the main dude heading up the persecution- but now having submitted to Jesus, there’s not too much persecution going on against the church- just some groups aiming their persecution directly at Saul. So, Saul took some heat off the church, and now with his move far away to Turkey, verse 31 tells us…

           

And in the verses that follow, we learn about more miracles that were done during this special time of God’s working and spreading the good news of Jesus. We learn about Peter traveling around Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and about how he heals a paralyzed man in the name of Jesus, and as a result, more people place their faith and trust in Jesus. And then Peter prays over a woman who has died- a well-known, kind-hearted woman who had loved others well- and she is raised up back to life. And as a result, more people place their faith and trust in Jesus. The city where this occurred was Joppa, a coastal city, now known as Yaffa/Tel Aviv. And about 40 miles north of Joppa is Caesarea, the city Paul sailed out of, and the city in which Philip eventually landed as he preached Jesus up the coast of Israel, back in Acts 8. (Acts 8:40)

           

So, while Peter is in Joppa and God is miraculously raising a woman back to life, God is also at work simultaneously in the life of a man 40 miles north in Caesarea- a man by the name Cornelius. And we’re about to see God’s orchestration of bringing Peter and Cornelius together, an extremely unlikely encounter that forever shaped the face of Christianity, an encounter that heavily impacted and completely transformed Peter’s perspective, and as a result broke down spiritual barriers, cultural tensions, racial discrimination, and spiritual elitism. May our reading of this encounter heavily impact and transform our perspectives, may we allow the Holy Spirit to shape our understanding of Christianity, and our understanding of God’s heart for those different than ourselves. Join with me as we read from Acts 10, if you don’t have a Bible, please feel free to grab one from the back of the pews- you’re even free to take it home with you if you don’t have one. There are a few different translations scattered throughout the church, find one you like and you’re more than welcome to keep it. Acts 10:1-2…  

           

Verse 1 tells us this guy is a Roman soldier, a real deal Italian Roman soldier who, as a centurion, was in command of 100 men. Verse 2 tells us he is a decent guy- he fears God, has taught his household to fear God, he gives money to the Jews living around him who were poor, and he prays to God. Who knows how much or little he knew of God and what the scriptures say- it sounds to me like he’s just doing his best to do what’s right, and to be humble and gracious before his creator. And God wants to draw him into His Kingdom. Verse 3 and following… (Acts 10:3-8)   

           

Now I want you to note that God very well could have directly given Cornelius the full message that God wanted to give him, yet God was fulfilling His promises to use the Jewish people as the mouthpiece proclaiming salvation to the world. In addition to this, I believe there was double work that God wanted to do that would best be accomplished in a corporate, unifying setting, rather than in an individualistic setting with Cornelius alone, and then Peter alone. So, Cornelius obeys and sends his men on to fetch Peter, and like we’ve seen before, this was just a single step of obedience, without knowing anything about the steps or results that would follow after this. Verses 9-16…

           

So, Peter has this dream- a vision- and having been hungry, perhaps he first thought this vision was a bit of a spiritual test. God gave the Jewish people dietary restrictions in the Old Testament, particularly concerning meat. For example, concerning land mammals, they were only to eat meat from animals that have a split hoof and eat grass. A cow is such an animal- so there was no problem with tenderloin steak or a juicy quarter pounder with fries. However, a camel or a rabbit, though they both eat grass, neither has a two part, divided/split hoof- it’s joined together- and therefore camels and rabbits were off the menu for Jewish cuisine. A pig has a split hoof, but doesn’t eat grass, therefore it too is off the menu. “Where’s the bacon?” No bacon for you! Concerning seafood, the animals that could be eaten must have scales and fins- salmon, tilapia, tuna, trout- all good. Shrimp, catfish, flounder, crab- no sir. Predatory birds were off the menu- no vultures, falcons, hawks, and also no mice or reptiles. And then there’s this verse that says do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk, which has been taken to mean do not eat diary with meat. In other words- no cheeseburgers, and especially no cheeseburgers with bacon! These are all part of what is known today as kosher food laws- and what that has to do with a dill pickle- I won’t take the time to explain- but just know these kosher food laws have been followed by Jewish people for thousands of years. Contained in the Old Testament law are also other guidelines concerning dress, family relations, sexual relations, cleanliness, disposal of excrement and carcasses, dates for certain celebrations- all kinds of rules for living that God gave the Jewish people upon their exit from Egypt. So, these laws were given specifically to the Jewish people living in a specific time, and while there is a little bit of debate surrounding understanding the Old Testament Law in light of the New Testament, one of the more predominate views is that the Old Testament law consists of three types of law: ceremonial, civic, and moral. The ceremonial laws related to Israel’s worship of God (temple activities, sacrifices, priestly duties) and are now considered fulfilled by Jesus- followers of Jesus are no longer bound to them- but the underlying principles behind the ceremonial laws: worshipping, loving, and serving God still apply. The civil laws pertained to Israel’s daily living and contained the consequences for harming your neighbor intentionally or unintentionally- and again Jesus fulfilled the law- followers of Jesus are not bound to ancient Israel’s civil codes, many of which would be very difficult to specifically follow in today’s modern cultures and societies. But still, there are many underlying principles that we can glean from these laws and apply to living with respect and harmony within our communities. The moral laws pertained to ethics, right and wrong, most of the ten commandments are good examples of moral law, and again Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfilled even the moral law, but what Jesus taught is that His New Testament standard of keeping the moral law was even higher than what the Old Testament law stated- as He aimed at the purity of one’s heart, mind, and intent in addition to just merely the outward action of keeping the law.

           

The dietary laws fall under the category of ceremonial law- one who ate of the forbidden foods, or one who even touched a dead carcass of one of the forbidden animals was considered unclean, and thus not able to take part in the corporate worship of God. In the New Testament, Jesus teaches the disciples, (in the book of Mark) that food itself coming into the body does not defile one spiritually, but rather it’s the evil that comes out of the body, out from within one’s heart, that defiles one spiritually. And as we’ll see later, Paul will make the case in his letters that followers of Jesus are no longer bound to Jewish dietary restrictions, but- some believers to this day still attempt to abide by the Jewish Kosher food laws, not because they believe it’s a sin to eat bacon, but because they believe God set these parameters for the Jewish people out of a genuine interest for their well-being and health, and therefore it’s a good diet to keep. You can perhaps see some of the health concerns, especially for primitive societies, in many of the prohibited foods. Many of the prohibited animals don’t rid their bodies naturally of toxins, or they are scavengers who eat dead animals and even excrement- and thus have a higher probability of carrying diseases. But other theologians would argue that the dietary laws had nothing to do with health, but rather they were just laws to further set apart the people of God from the surrounding nations- laws given in order to make them look and act drastically different than the societies and cultures around them. 

           

Now I don’t want to spend a huge amount of time on this, we’ll probably talk more about this as we get into some of Paul’s New Testament letters, but I wanted you to have a little background on the dietary laws as we look at Peter’s vision. And I’m going to go ahead and give you a spoiler alert- Peter’s vision has nothing to do with if it’s ok to eat bacon, or whether it’s ok to indulge in a cheeseburger. That’s not the take away here. Again, there are other scriptures you could specifically apply to the issue of foods, but as we’ll see, the issue here has nothing to do with food, rather it has  everything to do with people. Let’s keep reading, verse 17… (Acts 10:17-23a)

           

Now I’m sure this had to be a little intimidating for Peter in light of previous encounters with Roman soldiers- you have to remember here that the Romans are the enemies of the Jewish people- the Romans are the conquerors, the oppressors, the unfair tax collectors of the land. The Romans believed in all kinds of false gods, their presence in Israel brought in all kinds of perversion of God’s commands- they were a ruthless people, despised by the Jews. But, God’s Spirit prepares Peter’s heart (verse 20) and says go with them without any “misgivings,” in other words- without any fear, regret, hesitation- because God Himself has sent them. Verse 23 (Acts 10:23-28)

           

And here in verse 28 we have the interpretation of the vision. Not just the Romans, but foreigners in general, were so despised that the Jewish people had created their own laws -not God’s Old Testament Laws, but their own laws- that made it illegal for a Jew to associate with a foreigner, much less visit a foreigner’s residence. Now there were many examples demonstrated to the disciples of Jesus showing God’s heart for other cultures and nations, but I think many of those examples were perhaps brushed off and explained away. The Samaritans were hated, but they were at least a mix culture of some Judaism. There was a rub with the Hellenistic Jews who had conformed to Greek culture, but they were still Jews more or less. Sure, Jesus healed the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, and another Roman centurion’s servant, and as I mentioned earlier- the demoniac from the Decapolis region, but maybe the disciples saw these as isolated events, or as compassion that only Jesus could express, or they saw some of these acting “Jew enough” for them to temporarily overlook any differences in culture or nationality. Either way, somehow, Peter is just now realizing that Jesus has broken the cultural, racial, and spiritual barrier- no one should be considered unholy or unclean- no, God’s heart is that the whole world would follow Him and look to Jesus as King.

           

In the following verses, Peter then asks why he was summoned, and Cornelius then responds conveying what had happened with the angel of God telling him his prayers had been heard and for him to fetch Peter, and then Cornelius basically says, “Lay it on us Peter- tell us why we’re all here.” Verses 34-35…

           

Here it is again, the meaning of the vision- does God welcome to Himself only certain “foods”- certain colors, races, nationalities? No, he welcomes one who fears God and who does what is right- no matter their background, experience, color, ethnicity, household religion. Now before anyone takes this to mean God approves of universalism, and that all roads eventually lead to Him, let’s see what Peter says to them about what it looks like to fear God, do what is right, and be welcomed by Him- verses 38-43… 

           

There we go: Jesus, sent by God, did good and healed, was put to death, but was raised up on the third day, this Jesus is the Judge of the living and the dead. His coming has been proclaimed by prophets for years and years, and EVERYONE who believes in HIM receives forgiveness of sins. Everyone who places their faith, trust, hope, and belief in Him and Him alone- receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is the true gospel message, and anything other than this is not the true gospel message. It’s wild to think that as close as Peter was to Jesus, and the awesome ways in which God had used Peter- at Pentecost when thousands were saved, later healing the lame beggar at the temple gate and thousands more saved, raising someone back to life, etc.- despite all the good Peter was doing and the way God was using him, he was still intellectually missing the full gospel message. He still had been holding on to some internal biases, prejudices, spiritual and cultural pride- that was preventing him from seeing the full gospel, and preventing him from experiencing its full power. Author and seminary professor Chris Green says this: “Man has one problem: sin; there’s one Savior: Jesus; we’re all part of one race: human; with one hope: the resurrection.” That pretty much frames the Biblical response followers of Jesus need in dealing with the highly polarized issues of our time. Verses 44-48…

           

These Romans heard the gospel message and believed, and were instantly filled with God’s Holy Spirit. No delay, no laying on of hands, they believed and received God’s Spirit- and during this time the Spirit of God was displaying Himself through the gift of speaking in other languages, most likely for the quick startup and advancement of the gospel message around the world. Maybe the Romans understood Aramaic, the common trade language of the day, or perhaps Peter knew a little Latin and spoke to them in Latin (the Roman language of the day), or perhaps there was an interpreter, but I bet when these Romans received the Holy Spirit, they just might have begun praising God in Hebrew, the heart language of Peter and the others with him- which would have blown their minds and proved to them that God indeed had accepted these Romans. But there was perhaps even still some resistance from amongst these who accompanied Peter, but in verse 48 Peter ordered that the Romans would be baptized, making sure that no one would exclude them from taking that first step of obedience in publicly proclaiming their new life in Jesus Christ.

           

This issue of elitism was a big issue for the early church to tackle. In the chapters that follow we’ll see that even later there was still some resistance to the idea that God desires all of mankind to follow Jesus, and not just the Jewish race. Even today, this is still something I believe God’s people can wrestle with. I want us this morning to put ourselves into Peter’s shoes and to ask ourselves: “Is there anyone who we might consider unworthy of the gospel?” Now, I know that most of us can probably say, “No, we don’t think that- Jesus died for everyone”- and quote John 3:16. But perhaps by our actions we can appear to deem some people unworthy of the gospel, or unworthy of Jesus’ compassion, or we see them as in-capable of ever understanding Jesus. Have we perhaps written off the family member who is extra annoying towards us when we mention something of spiritual significance? Are there certain people we feel have rejected God and there is not much hope for them- because of their weird beliefs, or because of their lifestyle, or because of their viewpoint, or because of the monstrous sin they have committed, or because of the awful way they treated us? How about this, how well are we supporting organizations and people who are attempting to reach the unreached with the gospel? Could we perhaps, in action or lack of action, be deeming others unworthy of the gospel by personally not going to share with them, or by not praying for them, or by not giving financially to organizations/people attempting to reach them? Or, perhaps we are so overwhelmed with the problems of the world, with the viewpoints we feel are incorrect, with the widespread corruption, with all the people that disagree with us- that we forget “Man has one problem: sin; there’s one Savior: Jesus; we’re all part of one race: human; with one hope: the resurrection.”?

           

May we come to the same conclusion as did Peter, and may our lives and His church reflect this message: That God does not show partiality, but anyone who fears Him and does what is right by accepting Jesus, is welcome to Him. No matter the past, no matter the current situation, there is hope for everyone to turn to Him. And we never know when that day might be that someone who has been so opposed to Jesus their whole life, on day might finally do a 180 and choose to follow Jesus. A pastor friend of mine, his dad who is in his 80s, just last year after resisting Jesus his whole life- for 80 some years, finally placed his faith in Jesus. Don’t lose hope. Don’t write off people. Continue to live out and share Jesus to this world without partiality.

Philip and the Ethiopian: Steps of Obedience

Philip and the Ethiopian: Steps of Obedience
Acts 8:25-40

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

We’ve been walking through the book of Acts, looking at the acts- the works- of Jesus through His newly formed church. And most recently, we’ve also seen attempts at human orchestrated acts/works, as Pastor Dave presented last Sunday- looking at a man named Simon who desired to “buy” the ability of giving out the Holy Spirit. And Peter called him out on it, calling out the human sin nature being displayed though bitterness and bondage to sin. God had, and still has, His way of working and moving in this world, and we can choose to humbly submit to His ways, or we can wrongfully try to push our own agendas and attempt to work in our own ways- according to our own selfishness, wisdom, and pride.    

 

Now this man Simon, had believed in Jesus because of Philip’s proclamation of the gospel, but then Simon gave the impression through his actions that perhaps he hadn’t yet really fully surrendered to Jesus. And as Pastor Dave mentioned, we don’t know what happened in the life of Simon, whether he turned away and proved himself not to be a true follower of Jesus, or whether he repented and got his heart right with the Lord. We just don’t know the rest of his story. But we do know more about what took place in the life of Philip after this event. What took place- specifically Philip’s step by step obedience- is something I believe will offer hope, inspiration, and encouragement for each one of us this morning. So, let’s get into it!

           

We see in Acts 8:25, that after many believed in the city of Samaria- Philip, Peter and John were on their way back home to Jerusalem; and as they were traveling back, they stopped along the way in various villages within the Samaritan region and preached Jesus- Acts 8:25…   

           

Now I imagine, this journey back to Jerusalem was a trip highly anticipated, I’m sure they were excited to be heading back home. If you look back to verses 4 and 5, we are given the impression that Philip was one of these “scattered” from Jerusalem, in other words he had left Jerusalem in order to avoid being dragged out from his home by the hand of Saul and others persecuting the followers of Jesus. Now maybe by this time the persecution has moved away from Jerusalem on to other regions, like Damascus as we’ll see in the next chapter of Acts, and if so- I can imagine Philip feeling a little bit of a relief and excitement to be returning back to Jerusalem. Perhaps there was a little feeling of accomplishment: “I did my part, I accomplished my mission, I shared Jesus with people in Samaria...” But look what happens in verse 26… and then verse 27: “So he got up and went…” 

           

Now we don’t know how this angel appeared to Philip, whether it was in a dream, or in a face to face encounter, but I imagine the human reaction to this could have very well been “What? After the good things that happened as a result of my obedience to preach in Samaria? No- I’m ready for a break. You want me to go past my home in Jerusalem, after I’ve been away for a while (Samaria was a region north of Jerusalem) you want me to go further south, past Jerusalem, into the desert… to do what? I went to the big city of Samaria, and even little villages in Samaria, why would you tell me to go hang out on an unfrequented desert road, when I have my eyes set on my home in Jerusalem?” Now I’m just speculating, we don’t know for sure if all these thoughts passed through Philip’s mind, but if we put ourselves in his shoes, it’s probably not too far-fetched to imagine these types of thoughts attempting to break into his mind. I believe here we have another example of an opportunity for someone, Philip, to do things God’s way, or man’s way… and Philip chooses to submit to God’s way- not giving into any temptation to elevate his own desires and comfort, and, he takes this first step of obedience. Without knowing anything about where it will lead him, without knowing the results of doing what God through the angel told him to do, not having anywhere close to the whole picture, Philip just obeys and goes, doing what the angel of God told him to do.

           

Part of my wife and I’s story is that we were introduced through a friend while living 1000s of miles apart. And as we got to know each other via phone calls, letters, emails, I wrestled with God on what this relationship would eventually turn out to become. You see, I was previously engaged and had lost my fiancé in a car wreck, and that combined with the distance, and not having met Nikki face to face, made it very difficult for me to trust God, and difficult for me to have hope in what would be the result of this long-distance relationship investment. But one day as I was praying and expressing to the Lord these fears, concerns, hesitations- I felt Him very clearly speak to my heart that I didn’t need to mentally wrestle with the outcomes and results that would happen several steps down the road, no- I just needed to focus on the step God was prompting me to take today, and then let Him handle the further steps in their time, to let Him handle the outcomes and results down the road. I believe this is where Philip might have been here- maybe not quite understanding why he’s ended up here- why the Lord would allow him to get scattered from his home in Jerusalem, why Peter and John were able to return, but he was to travel further south… yet- he’s trusting the Lord, resisting any temptation to be disobedient- choosing to take that next step of obedience. Verse 27-28…

           

Ethiopia, also known as Cush in the Bible, was a region south of Egypt, that also bordered the Red Sea. According to our modern borders, much of modern-day Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia would have been included in the biblical area known as Cush or Ethiopia. This area, at that time, was one of the four great powers of the world. You had Rome, Persia, China, and Ethiopia- all very powerful earthly nation states. And so this man, this Ethiopian eunuch, was super high ranking. He was perhaps even considered to be second to the Queen- second in charge- of this powerful, wealthy kingdom. And it was a cultural norm in several nation’s royal courts for the male servants, the males running the day to day operations of the kingdom- for them to be castrated for the purpose of ensuring trustworthiness and dedication to their high responsibility role. This ensured there wasn’t any sexual activity with a queen, or a king’s hareem, and it also discouraged any possible overthrow attempts since eunuchs would be incapable of establishing their own dynasty through descendants. Now if you have any more questions about eunuchs, after the service Pastor Dave will be available to answer those questions. J 

           

Now, you may be wondering “what was this guy doing coming to Jerusalem to worship?” He’s not Jewish, life is probably pretty good and luxurious for him down in Ethiopia, there were plenty of other “gods” for him to worship there, and the distance was roughly 500 miles away- which is a pretty long way when you’re traveling via horse drawn carriage. Personally, I think the answer to that question might be found in remembering that many years earlier, the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon to see with her own eyes the magnificent kingdom that God had blessed Solomon with. There she saw the temple he had built, and she tested him, and was thoroughly impressed with his God-given wisdom and blessings. The land of Sheba is now considered to have been the land of Ethiopia, so I believe that ever since the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon, there have been those coming from Ethiopia, especially those in governmental positions, in order to worship the one true God in Jerusalem. That’s my theory at least. And you can imagine Philip walking on this dusty, remote desert road that descends down from the higher elevation of Jerusalem, and there on the road from a distance he sees this dark-skinned man in a fancy, large, horse drawn chariot/carriage type thing, with a top, doors, open windows, a driver, perhaps some extra servants, and food/water/supplies attached on the back. Perhaps they had just stopped their journey for a quick break. Perhaps the scroll of Isaiah had just been purchased after visiting the Jewish temple, and here he is, reading out loud, what was written. And here in this moment, Philip is told to take another step of obedience. Verse 29…  

           

Now, put yourself in Philip’s shoes… wouldn’t it be really easy to be like “God, you’re not talking out loud, but I kind of feel in my heart that maybe you’re nudging me to go up to this guy… but I’m not sure I can connect with him… I mean… he has different skin color than me, and his country’s customs are so different, he probably won’t even understand… as a servant of the royal court I heard those guys don’t even have a whoo hoo… J right? He’s already reading your word, I’m sure You can take it from here and speak to him… it’s probably better if you just connect him with someone back in Ethiopia… besides, he’s obviously super wealthy, he has all the Queen’s wealth at his disposal… I don’t want to bother him on his trip, he has a super long journey ahead of him… he might even get mad at me for having the audacity of approaching him, those are pretty long spears the driver and guards are carrying…” Aren’t these types of thoughts pretty common when God is nudging us to interact with someone over spiritual matters? We have to be aware and prepared that thoughts are going to attempt to dissuade us from interacting with someone on a spiritual level. But don’t be deceived, don’t give in to these thoughts- trust God and take that next step of obedience without worrying about the results and outcome. Do as Philip did, and even run, hurry as quick as you can to obey, verse 30. (verse 30-31)

           

God had gotten Philip to this point, through the circumstances of persecution in Jerusalem, through the encounter with Simon and others in Samaria, through the angel telling him to go down south to the desert road, through the Spirit in his heart saying to go up to the Ethiopian’s chariot. And I’m sure there were other God-obeying steps in his life beforehand that proceeded all these. And with each step, he’s adjusting and interacting according to what God prompted and according to the circumstance being presented. At this point in his journey walking with the Lord, Philip is probably starting to see why God had him take some of these previous steps- he probably at this point can see that God wants him to minister to this man who is seeking God through coming to Jerusalem for worship, and who is seeking God through reading the book of Isaiah. Let’s continue, verse 32… (verses 32-35)

           

It’s pretty awesome that God intended for Philip to be right here in this moment, as the Ethiopian was reading this specific passage, in which Isaiah was prophesying details about the death of Jesus the Messiah. And I like the way the bible says “then Philip opened his mouth.” He wasn’t shy. This was obviously a God orchestrated event, there wasn’t any reason to hold back or tip-toe around the truth- Philip opened his mouth. I think we as followers of Jesus really struggle with this at times- we sometimes don’t open our mouths in moments like these when we should, yet we open our mouths in other moments when we shouldn’t! Lord, give us peace, trust, and humility when we shouldn’t open our mouths; and courage, boldness, confidence when we should open our mouths. Verse 36 and following… (verses 36-40)

           

So, at some point, the carriage gets going again while Philip is talking about Jesus with this man, and Philip doesn’t seem to get antsy that he’s getting further and further away from Jerusalem, on a not highly traveled, lonely desert road. And judging from the Ethiopian’s question about baptism, it’s clear Philip not only explained about Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Jesus, but also explained what Jesus commanded His followers to do after choosing to follow Him. Perhaps Philip was aiming to give this man as much information as possible in the time he had, knowing that he probably would never see him again. How often is it that we bump into someone in life, in which we have a few minutes with them, knowing that more than likely, we’ll probably never see them again. It happens all the time. And yet, even in knowing we’ll probably not ever see them again, we’re a little nervous about what they’ll think of us if we get “too spiritual” with them. If anything, knowing we probably won’t see them again, should cause us to be emboldened to share an encouraging Jesus truth with them. That moment, right there, may be the exact moment in time in which God has

orchestrated you meeting them, so that you might be able to pray for them, or so that they could hear a scripture verse, or so they could receive encouragement to think more about their spiritual journey.

           

I still have a long way to grow in this area, but I’m trying to be more aware of opportunities in which God would have me to be bolder. I’m an introvert, and sometimes I have difficulty in engaging with people, especially people I don’t know. But again, I’m trying to be bolder, and take those first steps of obedience without worrying about the outcome. A couple weeks ago, my family and I were at a swimming hole in the forest, and we were the only ones there. It was awesome. And then all of a sudden, a van showed up and out poured a bunch of teenage campers with two camp counselors. Ugh. But we were friendly, and exchanged some small talk, helped them with the rope swing that was there, and I noticed one of the camp counselors had a tattoo in Hebrew. I asked him about it, and he told me he and his family were Jewish- in ancestry, not so much spiritually- as in they weren’t practicing Judaism. The brief conversation ended, but I felt like if there was an opportunity, I was supposed to encourage him in some way concerning his relationship with Jesus. Well, that opportunity happened a few minutes later, as he walked back to the van by himself while the rest of the group stayed by the water. I felt God’s Spirit tug on my heart to follow him and take a moment while no one else was around, to say something to him about Jesus. I very easily could have said “No, this is dumb, don’t bother him, I’m with my family on a break, what could I possibly say to him without sounding like a weirdo?” But, I took that step- I followed him to the van, wearing my swim trunks and my big rimmed Indiana Jones hat, and said (probably somewhat awkwardly) something like this: “Hey it was cool meeting you- I want to give you an encouragement and blessing, and tell you that your purpose in life, especially with Jewish ancestry, is to find Jesus and have a relationship with Him. May He guide you, lead you, and bless you in your life.” And he said thank you for that blessing, and then all the other campers came up from the river and began loading up in the van, and they were off. I have no idea what has taken place in his life as a result of that little conversation, but I don’t have to worry about the results, my part -your part- is to just take that next step of obedience no matter what it is we sense the Lord leading us to do.

           

It’s beautiful that here in this account, not only do we witness courageous steps of obedience from Philip, but also even from this new Ethiopian brother in Christ. Here he is with eagerness to take the next step of obedience in following Jesus, by getting baptized. No fear of getting delayed even further on their trip, no concern of what the chariot driver or other servants might think, no hesitation based on what might happen when he returns and the Queen and others hear about his new faith and the ceremony of baptism he took part in. Think about what could have been at stake here- his job was not a job someone would want to risk losing, I mean, he had body parts cut off in order to get this job. J I’m sure there could have been all kinds of thoughts entering his mind trying to persuade him to just play things cool, and process and decide later what he should work out concerning what he has now learned about Jesus. But no, he felt God’s Spirit nudging him to take another step, and seeing the opportunity of water (which probably wasn’t a common thing to see on a desert road) he then seized the moment, and took another step of obedience in getting baptized.

           

In verse 39, God’s intervention and orchestration ramps up to a whole other level and whisks Philip away to Azotus which is modern day Ashdod, Israel, a city on the Mediterranean coast, West of Jerusalem and north of Gaza. Scotty from Star Trek ain’t got nothing on God concerning teleportation. Beam me up Jesus! At this point Philip is probably further from Jerusalem than he was when meeting with the Ethiopian, and instead of trying to make his way back to Jerusalem, he goes up the coast (most likely because that’s the way God’s Spirit was leading him), stopping and sharing Jesus in the cities along the way, all the way up to the coastal city of Caesarea, which is way beyond Jerusalem and way beyond Samaria.

           

As with many of the events in Acts, this story is a big deal. In this extra-ordinary time, God was miraculously orchestrating events and circumstances so that people very much different than the Jewish people, would hear of Jesus and have the opportunity to receive His forgiveness and blessing. He loved this Ethiopian so much that he rerouted Philip’s life in order that this Ethiopian would get to hear of God’s love for him. And the knowledge of God’s love and salvation did not stop with this Ethiopian man- no, I believe he took with him this newfound knowledge- Jesus’ message of hope, forgiveness, and salvation- and through one slightly uncomfortable step of obedience followed by another, followed by another, followed by another… many throughout the nation of Ethiopia surrendered their life to King Jesus, and are now part of his eternal Kingdom as a result. Why do I think this? History tells us that in the 300s, Jesus’ gospel message in Ethiopia, by that time, had spread so widely that the nation adopted Christianity as it’s official religion. A nation loosely connected to the God of the Jews because of a historic encounter between their Queen and King Solomon, ends up professing Christianity as their recommended and official national faith, why? Because of one uncomfortable act of obedience, followed by another, followed by another, followed by another. The rerouting of Philip’s life, his step after step of obedience, ended up having eternal significance in the lives of millions of people.    

           

I don’t know about you, but I pretty much loose it in my car when I’m following my phone’s directions and it all of a sudden says “rerouting.” That drives me crazy. Just get me to where I want to go, right?! Stop changing it on me. J Philip could have totally felt like God was doing this… rerouting… “What, the desert road?- I’m heading to Jerusalem!”… rerouting… “What, Azotus? …rerouting… “Caesarea?” And each step, he could have resisted those reroutes, he could have let them harden his heart towards God. But no, he trusted, and took one more step of obedience.

           

I want to ask, is there anyone here this morning that feels like their life has been somewhat rerouted by God? If so, I want you to consider who God might be wanting to share His love and truth with, as a result of your life reroute, and as a result of your next step of obedience. (repeat) As we’ve seen, these little steps of obedience can have massive effects- but don’t worry about the results and effects of your obedience, just focus on tuning in to the Lord’s voice closely that you can adjust to a reroute and take whatever that next step is, so that He can do the big things He wants to do in you, through you, and around you.

           

Right now, I’d like for you to hear from some of our folks here at One Church. They each have a quick, truncated, real life, true, personal story they want to share with you. And I hope that as they share, you and I would be encouraged and inspired to take one more step of obedience as His followers and witnesses. 

           

What is your next step of obedience? There are specific ways in which God wants to use you, and He might not give you the full details, but trust He’s going to get you there- you just have to take one step at a time.

Stephen’s Sermon that Changed the World

Stephen’s Sermon that Changed the World
Acts 6:9-8:4

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

This morning we’re going to unpack another large portion of scripture, and there’s a bunch of golden nuggets scattered throughout it- go ahead and put your seatbelts on for a ride; I hope you’re ready to drink from the fire hydrant of God’s word. Pastor Dave walked us through the beginning of Acts chapter 6, where there was a problematic situation arising within the church. The Greek (Hellenistic) Jews were complaining against the native Jews concerning the neglect of their people when food was shared. This was a perceived racial problem, a group of people felt that they were being mistreated on account of their culture and ethnicity. Now this is the type of issue that could have very easily blown up and devasted the early church, tearing them apart, and damaging their testimony to the community. Fortunately, that was avoided- why? Because the issue reached the leaders of the church. And the leaders, in God’s wisdom, made some good decisions to resolve the issue and counteract any future tension. They delegated responsibility and formed a team of deacons (servants), who were men of integrity, men of the Spirit, men of wisdom who would see to it that there wouldn’t be any racial discrimination when it came to serving and taking care of needs within the church. Now, what’s interesting is that all of the names mentioned in verse 5, are all Greek names. Here you have 12 apostles, who are all native Jews, and when the Greek Jews came to them with this issue, they didn’t’ appoint native Jews to fix it, they appointed all Greek Jews to address the Greek Jews complaint. Brilliant. Totally nipped the problem in the bud. And what’s beautiful, is now they have leadership from two different groups of people, working in conjunction with each other in order to minister within the church, and in order to minister to those not yet within the church.

 

Now this is a really healthy reminder for us as One Church, to deal with issues, complaints, assumed discrimination- in like fashion. Don’t let murmuring, disgruntled-ness, problems- fester and spread throughout the body of Christ, no- bring the issue before the leadership and let’s take care of it in God’s wisdom. We are not immune to the same attacks that the early church experienced, we’ve seen the early church already attacked by Satan through governmental persecution, through an attempted embezzlement plot (Ananias and Sapphira), and now through a grumbling and complaining over a perceived unfair church dynamic. This third attack especially, is a strategy used over and over by the enemy to create division and ineffectiveness for God’s kingdom. Please be on guard against this, and attempt first to resolve any issues biblically and directly with those parties involved, and if that doesn’t work, then please come to the leadership so that together we can find a solution and cause no shame upon the name of Jesus Christ. You might even be seated right here this morning because of an experience of some sort of mistreatment issue from another church fellowship, and I want you to know that you are welcome here with open arms and we want to partner with you in your spiritual journey and partner with you in our call to minister to those inside and outside these walls, but if there are issues with another fellowship in which you have not yet dealt face to face with the parties involved and/or the leadership- then I highly encourage you to honor the Lord in this and do that- do all you can do to avoid causing any damage to the Body of Christ.    

           

Now after the early church dealt with this issue, we’re presented with the story of what took place shortly afterwards, in the life of Stephen- one of these newly appointed Greek Jew servant-leaders. And here’s a spoiler alert- he’s about to preach the longest sermon we have recorded in the New Testament, and then be killed for it directly afterwards. Now he wasn’t killed for the sermon’s length- don’t anyone get any ideas- Pastor Dave and I don’t want to see any guns pulled out if we go a little longer one Sunday. In all seriousness, this is a big deal, Stephen is about to become the first martyr of the Christian faith, the environment within Jerusalem is about to change drastically, believers are about to disperse, and the gospel message is going to spread with them, and through this event eventually Saul will submit to Jesus and become known as Paul and will further spread the news of Jesus throughout the world. The is a game changer event. The message, the miracles, the unity of the Church- all these things were having great impact on the community around them, and many were newly placing their faith in Jesus, but in the tragedy of Stephen’s death, the growth of the Church exploded with new exponential gains. Miracles were cool, and the unity was awesome, but it was a game changer for the world to see that the message of Jesus Christ was even worth dying for.

           

God made sure that through this terrible tragedy, the church would be strengthened, empowered, emboldened, and the gospel message of hope would spread like wild fire to other nations. God used this man named Stephen to do this. We really don’t know much about him, other than what verse 5 tells us- he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” and verse 8 tells us he was “full of grace and power,” and “was performing great wonders and signs among the people.” Before we get into his story much further, I just want to encourage you that that was enough- one bold act from someone full of faith, grace, and power of the Holy Spirit was the catalyst that changed the world. Stephen wasn’t one of the apostles, he wasn’t like one of the “special guys,” he could have perhaps even just been a relatively new convert to Judaism and then Christianity, but as we’re about to see, He had read God’s word and he knew it. And what I find interesting is that judging from his sermon, he probably could have very well joined with the apostles in their work of boldly preaching and teaching, but instead he served tables- taking on a servant-leadership role in an effort to maintain unity within the church.

           

Here at One Church, there’s many ministries and serving opportunities available, and we encourage you to plug into a place of service that number 1- you are equipped for, or number 2- you have a passion for, or number 3- there is just a need. Stephen wasn’t “above” serving food just as Jesus wasn’t above washing His disciples’ feet. I don’t imagine Stephen being passionate about distributing food to the Greek Jews, or Jesus having a special skill in washing feet (“Now Peter, this is my special technique for flossing in between toes…”) -no, they just humbled themselves and did it in order to minister to God’s people. Stephen seemed to be an “ordinary” dude, who was full of faith and the Spirit, who dug into God’s word, who was willing to humbly distribute food or boldly preach a convicting message before religious and governmental leaders. I want to encourage you even now, to be like Stephen. To be that ordinary man or woman, who spends time with the Lord learning His story and His truth, growing your faith and attentiveness to the Spirit, willing to serve in whatever capacity God might call you to- willing to jump in when a need arises, whether it be the smallest and simplest of tasks, or whether it be something carrying a much heavier weight, whether you get a pat on the back for it, or… whether it ends up costing you your life. This is the person I believe God is calling us to become. This is the surrender He desires from every one of His followers.

           

What we see in the remainder of Acts chapter 6 is that a group of people were debating with Stephen, and Stephen knew God’s word and was defending Jesus with wisdom and with authority of the Holy Spirit, and so in anger and frustration, this group stirred up a crowd and laid their hands on him, dragged him to the religious leaders, and then basically told accusing lies about him. Now this is interesting because beforehand, we’ve seen trials against Jesus-followers initiated by the religious and governmental leaders, but now this is the first time a trial has be initiated by the general public. And as we enter into chapter 7, we see Stephen take this moment before his accusers and the religious leaders, as a moment to remind them of the history presented in God’s word. He begins his message to them speaking of Abraham whom God called to leave his own country and relatives in order to follow God into a new place, the land in which they now stood. And from Abraham, there was Isaac, and then Jacob who had the twelve sons who would father the 12 tribes of Israel. One of those 12 was Joseph, who was sold to Egypt, but God provided for His people through Joseph’s position in Egypt. But years later a new King became ruler in Egypt and he enslaved this people of Abraham, who were becoming known as the nation of Israel. Not only did Egypt enslave Israel, but they even began killing Israel’s newborns for population control. But God saved a baby named Moses, who later as a man, God called to be a rescuer for His people. And through signs and wonders God led His people out of Egypt back to the land of Israel, where God used Joshua to drive out the other nations in the land. Years later, a man named David (who served as king) wanted to build a house for God, but Solomon his son, was the one who ended up building the temple for God... And every time I’ve read through the Bible and have read Stephan’s sermon here, I was thinking- “Man, Stephen’s building a case, He’s walking through the Old Testament, walking through Jewish history and is about to tie it all to Jesus,” but he gets to the subject of the temple and in verse 51 he stops his fast track story and drops a bomb on them… (verse 51-53)

           

And with this, they were intensely angered, Stephen then sees the heavens open up and cries out that he could see Jesus and God, and the people then rush at him and stone him to death. Some of you might remember the box gospel statement I mentioned a couple weeks ago. I hope that you were able to formulate a simple gospel focused response for when things get difficult, and I hope that you’ve remembered to use it. We talked about a general rule of not accusing people in that statement, as the apostles kind of did and thus negatively triggered their oppressors back in chapter 5. (Acts 5:30) Well, I guess Stephen didn’t learn from that incident and here he just blasts his listeners which ultimately triggered his death. As a side note, in 1 Timothy 3 and the book of Titus, there is outlined the qualifications for service as a deacon and then also the qualifications for service as an elder or pastor. And the qualifications are very similar concerning the integrity and godly living requirements, but the main difference in requirements is that elders/pastors are to be able to teach, and that is not listed as a requirement for the office of deacon. I wonder if Paul when he was writing those instructions to Timothy and Titus, if he was like… “the last time a deacon preached, he got stoned… and I was actually partially responsible for the stoning… maybe it’s better just to keep preaching out of the deacon role…”  

           

So, in the past I’ve read this and have been kind of disappointed that Stephen didn’t just stick to the fast track Biblical story, and point them to Jesus though the chronology of Jewish history. But this time as I studied, with the help of some other pastors who are smarter than me, I now see that there was a different thread Stephen was weaving through his message. It wasn’t just the Jewish history through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, that would point to Jesus. He had a different angle he was working. Let’s look at his message a little closer. After recalling the promise to Abraham, Stephen reminded the people (chapter 7 verse 6) that God told Abraham (long before it would happen) that His people would be oppressed by the hand of those in a foreign land, yet- God would intervene as Judge and save them (verse 7) . And then Joseph was oppressed at the hand of His own brothers and sold to Egypt, yet- God was with Him (verse 9). And then God’s people were oppressed at the hand of Egypt, yet- God provided for them and protected Moses. (verse 19-20) Then Moses was oppressed at the hand of his own people when he attempted to stop an argument between brothers (verses 27-28), yet- God appeared before Moses in the burning bush and declared that He would be with Moses as He sent him to rescue the people through mighty acts (verses 35-36). After God rescued his people from Egypt’s oppression, Israel rejected God and Moses, and they then made with their own hands a golden calf to worship. Verse 41…

           

Throughout this message, Stephen is weaving in this idea that throughout the history of Israel, there has been a rejection of God’s plan and an embracing of the people’s own plans- a rejection of God’s work and an embracing of the people’s selfishness and work of their own hands apart from God. And yet, time and time again, God answered and rescued, and proved that it was His plan that would prevail. Stephen is building a case of mankind’s handiwork, verses God’s handiwork. This verse 41 is a little bit of a catalyst to the grand finale. I want to draw your attention to the words “rejoicing in the works of their hands.” In the verses that follow, Stephen then points out another work of their ancestors’ hands- the idols they made to worship while traveling from Egypt to Israel- and he contrasted these handmade idols with the God ordained work-of-hands that made the tent tabernacle according to God’s design, in which God inhabited. Verse 44… Do you see the emphasis on how it was made as God directed him, according to God’s pattern, in contrast to the objects of worship in which the people made according to their own plans and patterns in the previous verse 43? And then look at the climatic verses here, the punchline verses 48-50…

           

In his message up until this point, and then even in his accusation that followed, the point was that throughout history, there has been man’s work through his own hands, and there has been God’s work through His hands. And man’s work has resulted in oppression and rejection of God’s people, and God’s work has resulted in the salvation and blessing of God’s people. Here they stood in the courtyard of the temple, built by human hands, that represented for the religious leaders their place of work, their honor, their tradition, their pride, their zeal. The temple represented their achievements, their fulfilling of the law, their ability to cross all the “t”s and dot all the “i”s. And in contrast, God’s hand had orchestrated salvation in Jesus alone, God’s hand was doing miracles, God’s hand was empowering ordinary people like Stephen to wisely and boldly defend truth. The implication was that their hand was fighting against God’s hand- the very same message that Gamaliel had warned them with previously in Acts chapter 5. (Acts 5:38-39) And whose hand was going to win and be the hand that brought salvation and blessing to the people? God’s. (Typical Sunday School answer J) As hard as Stephen’s accusation was to hear, it was an opportunity for the religious leaders to see the pattern they were falling into- to realize they were doing things according to their own strength, plans, traditions- by their own hands- seeking their own prosperity, elevating themselves by squashing others… this was a clear opportunity for them to self-reflect and repent, asking the Lord for forgiveness and to, from that day forward, seek God’s work and not their own.

           

How easy would it be for us to fall into the same trap? To rejoice at the work of our hands, to take pride in our achievements, to wrongfully take the work of God and turn it into something through which we worship ourselves? May it not be so. It wasn’t that many years later that God allowed the Romans to completely destroy the temple, yet even through persecution, trials, oppression, and death- God’s real temple, the one made with His own hands- flourished. And you and I are part of that structure being built by God’s hands. One Church is part of that magnificent building being orchestrated by God. And it we’re not careful, we too can be like the religious leaders here who thought their spirituality was all about themselves and what they had accomplished. We too can start looking inward, instead of outward. We too can start thinking it’s all about our own needs being met rather than about how God wants to work and meet the needs of others.

           

Look at the last two verses of the chapter- even as Stephen was wincing at the pain of rocks hitting his face, he was surrendering to Jesus and concerned for others. (verse 59-60) How do you say that? How do you say- “Lord, take me, but just forgive these guys”? I think Stephen got it, it really clicked for him. His words echoed His master- His Savior, His King’s words on the cross- “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Stephen chose to continue building his life on, trusting in, modeling, submitting to- the work of God’s hands, rather than giving in to the temptation to pattern his life on the work of human hands- his human selfishness, pride, anger, resentment. But you don’t just wake up one day and suddenly feel prepared to submit to God’s work for better or worse no matter what- no, this kind of temperament comes from time with God in His word, soaking in His story, intaking His truth. He had committed to memory God’s word, this whole chapter 7 is sprinkled throughout with scripture he was citing, and he obviously spent time zooming out and learning the whole over-arching storyline of God’s word. He had spent enough time with God where he was able to just leap into this sermon, under extreme pressure, on the spot, without any head’s up, without time to prepare a specific message to address this specific situation. Now, yes, he had massive help from the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not going to remind anyone of scripture if they haven’t already internalized that scripture. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be a reminder to us of what He said (John 14:26), but you can’t be reminded of something you’ve never read before. You can’t be reminded of a lesson you’ve never experienced. You can’t be reminded of a truth you’ve never processed. God, through His Spirit, wants to remind us, strengthen us, help us to remain in the work of His hands, but we have to put in the time with Him. When difficult times come, when life is unfair, when I’m staring death in the face- I want to be able to say “It’s cool, God take me if you want, but I want to see Your forgiveness extended to all I know, even to those who have been unfair, and even to those who seek to take my life.” In the midst of difficult, pressured situations, I won’t be able to have the peace to say those type of things unless I’ve already put in the time.

           

It’s kind of like Jiu-Jitsu. Most of you probably know about our Monday night Jiu-Jitsu classes, we have a parents with young kids class, and then afterwards an adult class. One of the biggest principles of Jiu-Jitsu is to be able to be calm in the chaos. To be relaxed and comfortable when someone is throwing punches at you, or is on top of you, or behind you trying to choke you out- Jiu-Jitsu teaches techniques that enable the practitioner to defend attacks, escape and control, and even turn the tables to where the aggressor’s attack becomes an opportunity to attack and submit them. Jiu is the Japanese word for gentle, and Jitsu is the Japanese word for art- it’s the gentle, calm art of self-defense. But with this being the case, every single person- myself included- every single person who begins to study Jiu-Jitsu, gets on the mat and exerts tons of energy. Every single person goes into panic-mode, resisting and fighting heavily, burning lots of energy, relying on their own strength and on their own quick responses for defense. And it takes weeks, if not months, sometimes a year or two- of time on the mat before it suddenly clicks, and you feel you have the mindset, the tools, the experience to relax and be comfortable in the chaos. You can understand that Jiu-Jitsu is the gentle art, and you can have the head knowledge that you are to remain calm so that you can survive whatever attack is presented; but when a fight comes your way, you won’t be able to respond in that gentle, relaxed manner unless you have… put in the time on the mat.

           

The art of following Jesus is very similar. You can know the Jesus type responses that we as Christian should have. You can have the head knowledge that we as Christ followers are to have His peace, and we are to be cool under pressure, and we are to respond in love no matter what the situation. We can read this account of Stephen and see that whether in life or in death, we are to honor the Lord Jesus. But we will not have these Jesus type responses unless we put in time on the mat- reading and praying through God’s word. Through that time, we will slowly discover, learn, apply- His truth to our lives. Now the other correlation here between this concept and Jiu-Jitsu, is that when we’re on the Jiu-Jitsu mats, we learn a new technique or two every time. The technique is presented, and there’s a time to slowly practice the technique with someone else, and practice a few variations in order to learn the different nuances of the technique according to the situation presented. After we learn the new technique, we’ll then simulate a fight on the mat. I say simulate, but it’s grappling, wrestling on the mat. And often what happens is that the new technique, because it’s so fresh in the mind, it doesn’t get acted out in the real-life application opportunity of the wrestling match. And so, when we “roll” on the mat, as we call it- as we wrestle- both participants have to be very intentional in creating opportunities in order to use the freshly learned technique. There has to be an intentionality to use the new technique in a seemingly real-life situation in order for that technique to be truly learned and internalized so that muscle memory kicks in and that technique can be relied upon in the future.

           

The same is true in our walk with Jesus. We can spend time on the mat, reading His word, learning truth, understanding principles, listening to sermons, studying “technique,” but if we are not intentional about applying those learned techniques to our real, day to day life- then they won’t really be of much use to us. We won’t be able to really, truly, personally rely on the truth of God’s word unless we have made a habit of not only reading it, but of attempting to practice it in real life scenarios. Stephen had put in the mat time, and here seized the opportunity to test the technique he had learned in real life and… he was killed as a result. But look at what happened as a result of his death, chapter 8:1-4…   

           

Now you would think that perhaps this terrible tragedy would spark fear amongst followers of Jesus, and that there might be a little more hesitation to “preach the word” as Stephen did. But just the opposite happened. Look again at the connection between verses 3 and 4, verse 4 begins with the word “therefore.” Any time we’re studying scripture and we see the word “therefore,” we need to figure out what it’s there for. Here, verse 3 is the cause, with the word “therefore” connecting it to the effect in verse 4. Verses 3 and 4…

Saul is dragging people out of their homes, putting people into prison, therefore- wherever people from the church were dragged, wherever they were put, wherever they were scattered… they went about preaching the word. If ordinary Stephen- who wasn’t an apostle, who wasn’t one of the famous people, who wasn’t an original native Jew- if he could fearlessly preach with words and with his life, in the face of death… if he could do it, then by golly we all can do it.

           

Now it was totally cool, the sermon one of the famous guys preached- Peter, back a couple chapters ago. 3,000 people placed their faith in Jesus. Miracles were happening immediately afterwards. Everyone was in awe. It was good times, a pretty awesome high. Now contrast that with Stephen- not a famous guy- he’s chosen to wait on tables, calm down a racial dispute- and he preaches- and the result is not tongues of fire, not understanding, not immediate salvations, not miracles, but the result is rather cold, hard, depressing, real life stuff-hitting-the-fan type of a result. He gets killed and the church gets raided- dragged out from their own homes. But the sermon preached through pain is often more powerful than the sermon preached through blessing. And in time, Stephen’s testimony, and the good news of Jesus upon which he committed his life to, was boldly conveyed to the world and not 3,000, but rather millions were saved, and are being saved as a result of this scattering and preaching from ordinary guys and gals like Stephen. You can imagine the impact this had on Saul, how this primed him and actually made it possible in his heart for the dramatic change that was soon going to take place in his life.

           

Now I hope that none of you ever have to experience giving your life as a result of sharing God’s truth, then again… maybe that does sound better than getting taken out by cancer. Maybe dying as a result of sharing the gospel is a better way to go, I don’t know. God is sovereign, I’ll leave that up to Him- He has even our hairs numbered and has a plan even for our exit from this world. But regardless, whether you consider yourself as ordinary or extraordinary; whether you serve in little ways or you serve with great responsibility; whether you are new in the faith or mature in the faith; a new participant in One Church or a long-standing member of Next or Glady Branch- God has purpose for you and wants to use you for His glory. He wants to fill you with His Spirit and fill you with His wisdom, grace, and peace. But it's probably going to take some mat time. It’s going to take intentional time with Him in His word, and intentional attempts of applying His word to your real life. Throughout the book of Acts we see the early church go through ups and downs, good times and bad times, times of blessings and times of persecution- yet they continued to grow. They continued to focus on Jesus- on His word and teaching- no matter what the circumstance. May the same be said of us here at One Church.

Fighting Against God

Fighting Against God
Acts 5:38-39

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

This morning we’ll be looking at the events that took place in the life of the early church in Acts chapter 5, but I want to first share with you where we’re headed- I want to go ahead and let you know the key verses that we’re going to hone in on and work on applying to our lives, verses 38 and 39. One of the religious leaders is speaking, and he’s one of the top dogs amongst the leaders- he’s older, has tons of experience- many looked up to him as a wise teacher. So, concerning the apostles who have been arrested, he says to the other religious leaders… (verse 38-39)

        

These verses have huge implications for us- I can’t wait to dig into them with you. But in order to feel their full weight, we’ll need to back up and understand the full context. In Acts chapter 4 we learned that while being in this same area in the Temple courtyards, two of the apostles (Peter and John) were arrested and threatened that they were never to speak again of the name Jesus. But they prayed with the church and God answered their prayers giving them renewed boldness to continue sharing and teaching others about Jesus.

        

And last week we looked together in the first half of Acts chapter 5, soaking in the story of Ananias and Sapphira who were dishonest, in-authentic, and who were putting on a bit of a show to make themselves look godly. And in the midst of this special time of God’s working, God made it very clear that faking godliness was completely unacceptable. After God took the lives of Ananias and Sapphira, there was a renewal of fear, respect, reverence, awe- for God and His holiness. The church continued sharing with others within the church who had need, miracles were still happening regularly, more and more people were choosing to place their trust in Jesus, and they were all meeting together regularly in Solomon’s portico- or porch as we might say today. This area was basically built into the temple courtyard walls, imagine the temple building in the center with two smaller “town square” type courtyards that were surrounded by walls, and then that entire complex was surrounded by a massive courtyard- think basically a football field of flat open space to the front of the temple, and to both sides of the temple. And then all that entire area was surrounded by tall, military/castle type stone walls that on the inside portion attached to a roof covering that extended a little inwards towards the courtyard, supported by massive pillars. If you look on the screen there’s a pretty good rendering of what the Temple area looked like in Jerusalem in the book of Acts. Solomon’s porch was an area underneath one of the pillared coverings, and this is where the church was gathering- where they listened to the apostles and engaged with others in conversations about Jesus. And this is where round number 2 arrest takes place, this time it wasn’t just Peter and John, but it sounds like perhaps all the apostles were rounded up this time and put in jail. Let’s check it out, starting in verse 17… (17-21a)

        

So, against orders, the apostles are teaching and boldly talking about Jesus. And a mob of religious leaders come (most likely in collaboration with the Roman leaders) and put them in jail. But God sends an angel, leads them out, and then tells them to go back and continue teaching- and they do just that. Now, if I were in their shoes, I might have been thinking, “Uh… I don’t know Lord, this might be like baseball- 3rd strike and you’re out. Can we just go somewhere else to talk about Jesus?” It would be like getting pulled over for going 80 mph on the highway and getting off with a warning. And then God says to go pass that patrol car again, going 100 mph this time. I’d be like “God, I don’t know if that’s going to go so well- aren’t we pushing things just a little?” But, no, they’ve built this relationship with Jesus, and are learning to trust Him no matter what the circumstance, and so they go back and continue teaching despite any temptation to give way to fear.

        

Meanwhile, in the verses that follow, we learn that the leaders aren’t aware of the escape, and they send for the apostles in order to put them on trial, but they can’t find them, and are now greatly confused about what is going on. But then someone runs in and says “The same guys you arrested are out again teaching the people!” So, they go out again, round up the apostles another time, and make their now 3rd arrest, and this time, instead of throwing them in jail- they bring them directly in front of the jury, and say this to them, verse 28...

        

This is the “we told you not to do this” moment. It’s the pronouncement of the apostles’ clear violation. And the apostles could have responded in many ways- they could have gotten all riled up, been angry, they could have attempted to justify themselves, but no- look at their gospel-focused response, verse 29… (29-32).

        

They respond with just a clear, simple presentation of the gospel. To paraphrase their response, they basically said: “We live to obey God. God sent Jesus who was killed on a cross. God raised up Jesus. Jesus is the Savior who gives opportunity to repent in exchange for forgiveness. And this is our story.” They kept the focus on God, on the truth, on the heart of the matter. They could have responded and chased other justices and talked about human rights, political rights, suing, freedom of speech, whatever- but no, instead they just presented the gospel- clear and simple.

        

Before my wife and I went overseas we did a 3-day interrogation/security training. It was intense- guys dressed up in black would storm the classroom, take a “hostage,” and place them in a separate room to be interrogated. There was a video camera in the room that displayed on a screen to the rest of us what was taking place. There were different scenarios- different motives, threats, stories presented- acted out and taught on with the purpose of equipping those being sent out with the skills to handle a threatening situation while living in countries that could be hostile towards Americans or hostile towards followers of Jesus. And one of the most useful tools taught to us was the idea of keeping responses within a predetermined “box.” You had to keep it in the box. The box contained truthful answers that were simple, and that would keep things focused where they needed to be. Answers outside the box could dig deeper holes, could lead to further misconceptions, and could cause more endangerment to yourself and/or to others.

        

In our time overseas, we ended up utilizing our box responses quite often for our own safety at checkpoints when traveling in and out of areas. One of our box responses when we were questioned was something like “We’re volunteers with the such and such organization.” And no matter what question was asked, that was our response. “Why were you going into this area?” “We’re volunteers with the such and such organization.” “And who did you talk to?” “Sir, I’m sorry, we’re just volunteers with the such and such organization.” “And what is it that you do?” “Um, we’re volunteers with the such and such organization.”

        

And I believe this box strategy is kind of what the early church used over and over again when questioned, threatened, and interrogated. “Why are you talking about things that are contrary to our customs and beliefs? “We live to obey God. God sent Jesus who died on a cross but was raised back to life. He’s the Savior who gives forgiveness to the repentant.” “Why are you helping them?” “We live to obey God. God sent Jesus who died on a cross but was raised back to life. He’s the Savior who gives forgiveness to the repentant.” “What do you think about me slitting your throat if you refuse to renounce this Jesus guy?” “Well… we live to obey God. God sent Jesus who died on a cross but was raised back to life. He’s the Savior who gives forgiveness to the repentant.” How well we would do to already prepare our box statement as believers, so that no matter what challenging circumstances arise, our response would focus our own minds, and the minds of the those who might come against us- to be focused on the gospel. “We live to obey God. God sent Jesus who died on a cross but was raised back to life. He is the Savior who gives forgiveness to the repentant.”

        

Well, as good of a box statement as it was, the religious leaders’ response was not positive. Maybe it was because their statement did also have a little bit of accusation to it in verse 30, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death…” That was probably the trigger. It would be good for us to note, don’t accuse the interrogators in your box statement… hey, the apostles did as best as they could, they didn’t take the 3 day security training. Verse 33…

        

The phrase “cut to the quick” means the statement cut deep, it cut past the outward skin and deeper into the living, inside tissue. In other words, they were deeply offended and infuriated by their words. But, now here is where we get the wise counsel from the top dog religious leader, verse 34… (34-42)

        

Gamaliel was old enough to have perhaps been one of religious leaders questioning and listening to Jesus when Jesus was a young boy visiting the temple with His parents. (Luke 2:46-47) Later on in Acts (Acts 22:3), we’ll see that Gamaliel was whom Paul studied under before his surrender to Jesus. And whether Gamaliel was beginning to trust in Jesus or not, I believe that God used him here in this moment to speak Godly wisdom. He pointed out that previous uprisings had faded into nothing, and that perhaps this was something else that would also fade into nothing, and therefore they should not get heavily involved in trying to squash it. Or, if it was something that truly God was doing, then they should still not get heavily involved in trying to squash it, because they’d be fighting against the very hand of God. Now obviously, sitting on this side of history, we can clearly see that God was involved and that it was His will that the message of Jesus be taken to the ends of the earth. And there in the moment, the apostles clearly knew God was involved and that it was His will to spread the message of Jesus. And because of their confidence and their trust that God was at work, we see in verses 41 and 42 that the apostles just let this incident roll off their back like water on a duck, and they continued to teach and proclaim Jesus there under the temple porch gathering place, as well as in homes as they met together casually and organically in smaller numbers.

        

Now, surely a large part of the application of this passage to us today is to be bold in our witness no matter the situation, to have gospel-focused responses, to obey God above any governmental law. But I want to make sure you don’t miss the wisdom from Gamaliel here in verses 38 and 39.

        

I want us to put ourselves in the shoes of the religious leaders during this time. We’ve looked at the book of Acts so far mostly from the perspective of the believers, but now I want us to consider what was going on in the minds of the religious leaders. Now, some chose to believe in Jesus- some openly, others secretively. And some were really sincere in their attempt to please God and follow Him, but others were just going through the motions. Some had open hearts to Jesus and were perhaps shifting their stance after learning more and witnessing all the events surrounding His death and resurrection, but others had only become more hardened against Jesus. While there was some variation amongst them, generally speaking the “Jesus followers” were a bit of a threat to the religious leaders’ way of life. The situation was uncomfortable, with perhaps a mix of emotions- pride for attempting to keep their religion pure and untampered with, but also maybe some remorse and questions after sentencing Jesus to death. And they’re hearing about miracles, and this group meeting under the porch covering is growing each week, there’s less people coming to sacrifice in the temple- what had been comfortable, stable, and predictable for years and years- was suddenly being overturned. And they were fighting it, tooth and nail. Perhaps it was beginning to consume them- a desire to keep things from changing, to get things back to how they were, to snuff out anything that was causing discomfort. And Gamaliel’s advice was to stop fighting it so hard, because either things would just work out in the end anyway, or if it was God causing the changes they definitely didn’t want to be fighting against God.     

        

Now again, some of these guys were godly and were really seeking the Lord- they knew their Bibles, they never missed a worship time, they spent time with God in prayer, and yet- they were still missing something that God was doing. Perhaps their own pride, selfishness, guilt, hard-headedness- was in the way of allowing them to see Jesus for who He is. If they only could see for a moment that it was God causing the disruption, that it was God bringing in a little discomfort, that it was God making things less stable, that it was God bringing the unpredictable into existence. He was causing this unexpected shift in the lives of the religious leaders, so that their lives would actually become improved, bettered, and blessed- but they weren’t seeing this element of the gospel and were actually resisting and fighting against the uncomfortable change. And if they would only stop resisting and fighting, they would be led to true life, joy, peace, and contentment through their surrender.

        

And see, this is where I believe you and I can sometimes live. God is doing something, or allowing something to happen, and… it rubs us. We somehow miss that it is Him at work ultimately behind the scenes- working in the midst of a fallen word, wanting to bring redemption to the brokenness of this world. Obviously, the best-case scenario would be to recognize how God may be at work, but if we are missing that, we would probably at least do somewhat ok if we just kept on and ignored the rub, trusting that it will work out eventually. But instead… we fight. We strive. We let circumstances dictate our emotions. We become reactive, and often not in Godly, gospel- centered ways. We react negatively to another’s counsel, or to a rebuke, or we respond with anger, or demand in our prayers that God would change things or change other people. We get defensive, bitter, frustrated, stressed. And I think we often fail to ask the questions of “How might God be working and orchestrating things through this situation?” How is God building my character and preparing me for His kingdom through this rub?” “How can I glorify God in the midst of this circumstance?”

        

Now yes, there are spiritual attacks that we need to discern and fight against, but that’s not what I’m referring to right now. The type of fighting that I am referring to is the self-preserving type of fighting and striving because things aren’t going like we want them to go. The religious leaders and the Jesus-followers both had reason to become frustrated and bitter as a result of self-preservation, rights infringement, unmet expectations, anger at God for not doing what they would prefer Him to do. The religious leaders filtered their frustration through the lens of their own self-esteem, but the Jesus-followers filtered their frustration through the lens of Jesus’ work on the cross. They both were experiencing negative life circumstances, but their responses to those circumstances were completely different, and thus their life trajectories ended up completely different.

        

There’s an illustration that someone put together that describes the difficulties we experience in life as being the “heat” of life. And we are all like trees growing in that environment of heat- at times, scorching heat. And our responses to that heat determine what are lives, as trees, produce. Often we respond to the heat of life in sinful ways, and we thus grow thorns. We react to life’s heat with escapism, depression, fear, anger, deceit. But if we can respond by applying to our lives the work of Jesus in His life, death, and resurrection- then we have the opportunity to grow fruit in the heat of life. Fruit of endurance, wisdom, patience, trust, joy. Our reactions and responses determine so much. And I believe that often we respond to life in ways that would give the impression that we, (like the religious leaders here) are missing some element of the gospel. Are there times in which we are, in the moment not seeing some part of the work of God through Jesus? How do avoid being like the religious leaders here? For them, the element of the gospel they were missing was the very foundation of the gospel- Jesus! And without a relationship with Jesus, you are missing so much of the life God desires you to have here on earth, and without a relationship with Jesus you will miss out completely on the life to come in eternity that He desires for you.            

        

But if we have a relationship with Jesus, you and I can still, through our reactions and responses to life- ignore, miss, forget- elements of the gospel. I talked about the apostles’ gospel- centered “box response” to being questioned, threatened, and interrogated, and how we too could benefit from that model; but perhaps we could also benefit from having a bit of a personal box response prepared for any circumstance in life that might cause us to feel a little anxious and unsettled. To have just a little mantra, or small check list, or a verse we train ourselves to immediately recall whenever we start to feel like life-as-we-know-it is getting altered in some way, or when there’s a rub in a relationship, or when something unexpected happens. And it’s something that we probably need to decide now will be our response, before whatever happens, because in the moment it might be difficult to come up with a godly, gospel-focused response. This week I felt like my box response for when something happens that makes my blood pressure rise, my box response needs to be a prayer: “God, you are still fully in control. You are always at work in every situation. What might you be wanting to accomplish in this situation, or accomplish in my heart and life as a result of this situation?” How much healthier could I be if I were able to make that my first, go to reaction in every circumstance? Feel free to attempt to adopt that or a similar “box” prayer response, but maybe yours might be more like a statement followed by a scripture verse. Something like: “God is my Father who loves me in ways I can’t even comprehend, and I love Him too. He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) Or maybe you need to aim to make your reaction just super simple: “God is with me.”

        

I want to give you a couple minutes to process this idea- I encourage you to right now in this moment, predetermine how you want to respond to life’s heat- from little annoyances to major upheavals. How can you go ahead and aim to bear fruit rather than thorns, for your responses to be filtered through the work of the cross rather than through sinful nature? I want you to go ahead and think of a personal “in the box,” gospel-centered type response so that you, (and those around you) would be able to focus on God’s work, and not fight against Him or miss what He might be doing on your behalf and for His glory.

The Church Model for Engaging in Difficulty

The Church Model for Engaging in Difficulty
Acts 3-4:31

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

It’s been cool to look together at the early church community described in the book of Acts, and to imagine what it was like during that time of God’s special anointing upon His people. God was moving in very unique ways as He was empowering His church to very quickly spread His message of repentance, forgiveness, and salvation through Jesus the risen Messiah. God broke the language barrier so other nations could hear of His deeds. His followers were boldly sharing with those around them. They continually devoted themselves to being taught, to fellowship, celebrating the Lord, eating together, and prayer. They helped those among them who were in need, and there was a spirit of gladness and sincerity of heart as they praised God and as He was adding to their number.

        

Today as we continue our study in the book of Acts, we’re going to take a bit of a “zoomed out view” of a large chunk of scripture. Most often on a Sunday morning we bite off a smaller passage of scripture and go through it verse by verse, but today I’d like for us to take a bigger section of scripture and we’re going to fly high and look at the events and application to us from an overarching, grander perspective. And I believe in doing this, God’s going to give us some good insight for our personal lives, and our corporate lives together as One Church. We won’t read the entire passage together, but I’m going to narrate the passage in my own words, yet highlight key verses and point out some observations as we go along. You can still follow along with me in your Bibles, we’ll start the narrative in Acts 3:1, it says…

        

Now the ninth hour would have been 3pm, and there’s evidence that suggest this was perhaps a long-standing Jewish tradition to have set times of personal prayer three times a day- at 9am, noon, and then 3pm. And so, people would perhaps stop in the field where they were working, or in their homes- or if they were able to- they’d come to the temple courts and spend a few minutes in prayer with God. So, Peter and John are heading to the temple at 3pm and if you continue reading, you’ll see that right there at the gated entrance to the temple courtyard is a man who couldn’t walk, begging for money. This was his gig- everyone was accustomed to seeing him there daily- this is how he made his living. And so, the man calls out to Peter and John, and even as he is calling out perhaps he’s already looking around to make sure he doesn’t miss anyone else coming in that he could ask for money. So, Peter wants to make sure he has the man’s full attention, so he says, “Look at us!” And the guy looks at them, expecting the coins to rattle his cup any second. But Peter says, verse 6…    

        

Notice this wasn’t a “pray for God’s healing and then hope and wait for it” type moment. It was a command with instant effects. Now, as believers we pray for God’s healing, and many times in His mercy He answers our prayers with healing; but at other times He doesn’t heal, because He has a different plan. And there are groups today that would look at a passage like this and say “See, you don’t ask God for His healing, you just speak it into existence and claim that healing and it will be yours, just like Peter did here.” And then if healing doesn’t happen, it means you just didn’t have enough faith. I want to caution you that God is the only one with the power to speak things into existence. That is one of His attributes that separates Him from us. Yes, we are to aspire to be more like Him, and yes, our words are powerful, but we should be very careful in attempting to claim His attributes. As we move through the book of Acts and we see the powerful things God did, I want you to see that this was a very special time of God’s power- He was inaugurating the reign of Jesus, ushering in the beginning stages of His Kingdom, confirming the holiness and message of Jesus, and fast tracking the knowledge of Himself around the world. And Peter knew this- He knew God had given Him access to this healing power for a time. And as we see God work in and through the early church, we see that He manifested His power for specific Gospel focused reasons. But this season of extra-ordinary miracle working from the apostles didn’t last permanently. In fact, we’ll see later in Acts and in the other New Testament books that this season of Pentecost miracles appears to die down a bit as time went on. But in saying that, I know that God still works in similar ways, He still miraculously heals, and does things on behalf of His people and for His glory that are otherwise completely inexplainable- I just want you to recognize the specialness, the uniqueness of this super concentrated season of miracles we see at the beginning of the book of Acts.   

        

Ok, back to the narrative- after Peter says walk in the name of Jesus, he reaches out his hand, helps up the man, and the man begins to walk and leap and praise God. Now all the people were amazed- they knew this was the same man they had seen there daily- who had been lame since birth, who needed help every day from others getting there and then back home. There was no question of “could this have been rigged?” but rather they recognized this was an impossible miracle from God. And so, as the people were looking strangely at Peter and John, Peter recognizes (in fact he was probably counting on) the opportunity to share about Jesus. Immediately Peter speaks to confirm that the miracle did not occur because of his and John’s power or piety, but rather the healing occurred through Jesus, who was put to death by even some of those standing right there listening. Yet, Peter explains, God raised Him back to life, and this was all part of God’s plan, as seen in the books of the prophets. And then he tells them what they should do in response to what he is sharing with them, verses 19-20…    

        

I love the phrasing of this verse… Repent and return to God so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Isn’t that what the world needs right now- a refreshing season? Isn’t that what we ourselves, our friends, families, co-workers need- a time of refreshment caused by God’s presence? The Bible makes it very clear that what holds us back from that refreshment is sin in our hearts- a wandering in some way away from the Lord. Now obviously for the unbeliever, there is refreshment, peace, hope and renewal that will occur as faith and trust is placed in Jesus for the first time and His forgiveness received. But I think this verse speaks even to those of us who have received Jesus and his forgiveness. Even as we follow Jesus, as life goes along, it is inevitable that there will arise areas in our life in which we will need to repent and be corrected, and if we are able to recognize these areas, and confess them before the Lord- greater refreshment from the presence of the Lord will be the result.

        

Peter goes on to say that Moses and others from their ancestors foretold the coming of Jesus, and that Jesus was the prophet whom all must listen to or they would end up facing destruction. But God did not desire destruction for them, but He rather desired blessing for them- the blessing of Abraham. This blessing is given through Jesus, who desires to turn hearts from evil to Himself. Now, as Peter and John are interacting with the crowd and speaking these things, a bunch of formal religious leaders (the ones who crucified Jesus just two months earlier) come and arrest Peter and John. This had to have been a little shocking for them, since the last time these guys arrested someone from their group, they crucified Him (Jesus). I’m sure scary thoughts were going through their minds- “thanks for the cool miracles God, but are they going to kill us now?” So, they keep Peter and John in prison overnight, but look what verse 4 of chapter 4 says…

        

Sweet. Obviously, there were many who responded negatively to the message of repentance through Jesus (like the crew that arrested them), but this verse 4 tells us there was still a good number of those who took the words to heart and wanted to get right with God. Meanwhile… the very next day Peter and John are put on trial before the religious leaders. And there, Peter seizes a second opportunity to talk about Jesus. He tells how it is Jesus and Jesus alone who has the power to do this type of miracle, and that (verse 12) “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” How’s that for boldness? He basically told them “There’s no other hope for you other than Jesus- period.”   

        

Now the religious leaders recognized their bold audacity, yet observed also that they were “untrained.” As in, they didn’t appear to have passed Pharisee 101 in school, or they hadn’t taken the class “How to Sound Religious.” They weren’t speaking in King James English with “thees” and “thous,” yet- they spoke with confidence. Interesting. They also realized there wasn’t much they could punish them for, the story was pretty clear whether they liked it or not- the guy who was healed was right there, walking around. They couldn’t deny the miracle, so they decided they would just threaten them to never speak of or teach about Jesus again. But, verse 19-20…    

        

What an awesome response. “You guys figure out amongst yourselves whose authority is greater- yours or God’s, but either way, we’re not going to stop.” And the religious leaders threatened them even further after this answer, but then released them. And so, Peter and John left and found the other believers and reported to them what the leaders had said. They shared with them how they had been threatened to never talk about Jesus again- or else, and after filling everyone in on this negative change to their situation, they prayed together. I’m sure they were tempted to become fearful- and I’m sure that they realized their need for God to encourage them and give them guidance on how to respond to this serious change in situation. Everything had been hunky-dory for the past 2 months- it looked like God was allowing them to experience a little bit of Heaven on earth with miracles, awesome fellowship, unity, speaking in new languages, people listening and receiving the message. They knew God to be a miracle working God, yet after what had just happened with this arrest and threat, it was obvious God wasn’t just going to miraculously make life super easy every day. I’m sure part of them was thinking, do we move away somewhere else, do we become a little more discreet in talking about Jesus- do we only talk about Him behind closed doors, or is God wanting us all to just join Jesus in being crucified? Let’s read the passage together that records their prayer- this is a super critical pivot point for the early church. So, they tell the church about the threats, then in verse 24 they pray. (verse 24-31…)

        

Not a massively long prayer by any means, but an example of a prayer that was taken very seriously by God and answered with a physical display of His power during this special season. I want us to look a little more closely at how they prayed considering their difficult situation. Again, since Jesus arose from the dead, things had become pretty awesome. But now just 2 months later, there was a serious obstacle, a serious threat, a serious source of discouragement. The tide had turned. I’m sure you’ve probably experienced similar situations. Things were going ok, and then all of a sudden it’s like “God, what are you doing? Why did that happen? What am I supposed to do now?” Here we see the church immediately turn to God and talk to Him about it. Now, did they complain a whole bunch in their prayer? “God, it’s not fair… Why did You allow this to happen… I can’t believe we have to deal with this now.” No. Did they beg him over and over to do a bunch of different things? “Please God, just change their minds, miraculously don’t let them hear us… take the bad guys out of the situation… may we never be harmed by them…” No. Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to complain to God- God wants to hear from your heart, and he’s big enough for you to voice your emotions to Him, and we have examples of David in the Psalms talking (rather singing) very candidly of his anger and frustrations- graphically voicing his concern and anger over those doing evil and over God’s appearance of being slow to intervene. And it’s not wrong to ask for God’s protection and salvation from enemies, we have examples of those type of prayers in Psalms as well. But in this scary scenario, I want you to notice the predominate elements of this prayer. Some might break it down differently than me, but I see 3 distinct sections in this prayer. The first section is one of praise and worship, in verse 24…

        

They start out praising God and addressing Him for who He is as creator of everything that exists. In praising Him they quoted scripture, describing God with the same words in which He described Himself to Moses in the book of Exodus. (Ex. 20:11) They recognized God for His authority and position as Maker and Ruler of the world. That’s a good way to start out, and put into context whatever negative situation is at hand. And then after praising Him with words from scripture, they framed their situation with scripture that applied to their situation, verses 24-26, quoting from Psalm 2 that foretold leaders would rise up against the Messiah; and in verse 27-28 they applied that scripture to their present situation. Lastly, they asked Him to work on their behalf: To see the threats, to give them confidence despite those threats, and to continue His miraculous work through Jesus.

        

Their prayer consisted of scripture praise, scripture remembrance, and scripture application. In the past, I’ve described this pattern of prayer as Praise, Promise, and Petition. Praising God for who He is, remembering His promises in His word, and then based on His character we have just praised and the promises we have just remembered, we then form our requests- what we petition of Him. This is actually a pattern of prayer we see throughout scripture over and over again, but this time as the church prayed in this way together, during this special season- the building shook. Notice it doesn’t say they all shook, and notice too what Luke the author notates as God’s answer: “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” and… began to see crazy miracles happen even more regularly. No, that’s not what it says. There were more miracles and wonders that would come, but the impressive, miraculous, building-shaking, God sized answer to this prayer was that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” The speaking with boldness was what was emphasized, just like we saw on the day of Pentecost- it wasn’t the speaking in tongues of other languages that was the end goal- the end goal was: clearly communicating the gospel. And here at a very critical moment that very realistically could have stifled the spread of the gospel, to the point in which you and I might have never even heard of the name Jesus, here in this moment the church has the wisdom to ask God for boldness no matter the threats; and God then grants them that boldness. You and I would in this situation would have also probably asked for the miraculous signs to continue in addition to that boldness, and like I said, that continued for just a little longer, then gradually began to fade- but what remained strong was a boldness in sharing so that the gospel ended up spreading through the Mediterranean, and then into Europe, eventually making its way over to you and I here in the United States. Incredible. The church triumphed and remained victorious even through the threats, the negativity, the persecution, the change from good atmosphere to bad atmosphere.

        

I want you to see this pattern of praise, promise, petition- this pattern was not just a form of praying- it was a lifestyle. What began this whole series of events? Peter and John were heading to express their worship- their praise of God- through the time of prayer with others at the temple. And along the way they had the opportunity to speak of God’s promises of a Messiah, to share God’s Word with those around them. And they then coupled God’s Word with an explanation of how His Word applied directly to those there listening- petitioning the listeners to react as a result of what was just spoken.

        

This pattern was present in the early church’s prayers, in their lifestyle, and even in their conversations- look at Peter’s defense chapter 4 verse 10… Do you hear his praise of Jesus: the exalting of the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection, and the exalting of His name that alone has the power to heal and do the impossible? Verse 11 Peter then quotes scripture, recalling the promise of God in His Word from Psalm 118:22 that the Messiah would be rejected, yet would become the very foundation of the structure God was building. And then God’s promise was applied to the current situation and topic being discussed in verse 12… Here the petition was more of a declaration of truth, a rhetorical response stated to urge them to trust in Jesus alone as the Messiah and only way of salvation. 

        

This is Christianity 101, 201, 301, 401 and 501. This is the lifestyle, this is the way we grow, stay connected to the Lord, experience His work, impact others for His Kingdom. We live a life of praising God- recognizing His greatness, living a life of worship, thanking God even in difficult circumstances, confessing His wisdom and rightness. We learn and recall His promises- we spend time in His Word, we seek to understand His ways through this record of His works, we seek understanding, we share His Word with others. And then we petition- we apply God’s character and Word to our lives and to other’s lives and then petition God to work in our lives in accordance with His character and Word, and we petition others to respond to God’s character and Word in receiving Him and following His ways. Our time of worship on Sunday mornings even follows this pattern. We praise God through song, rehearsing again and again who He is and His attributes. We look at His promises, diving deep into His word, seeking understanding through what He has spoken and done. And we petition. We petition one another to apply the truth of God’s word to our daily lives, and we petition God in prayer to work on behalf of His people.

        

And my specific petition to you, and to God this morning, is that you would carry this simple formula with you, and no matter what situation arises that might tempt you to fear, doubt, get angry, frustrated, discouraged… that you would be able to step back and praise God for His goodness- even there in that difficult moment- recognizing that He is still good, and still in control, and still loves you. May you be able to recall His promises, searching out His word, knowing that there is something from His word that He wants you to understand there in that moment- for yourself, AND for those around you. And as you praise God and recall His promises, may He guide you in what to petition of Him, and what to petition of others. Live a lifestyle of praise, soaking in His promises, and making petitions that are framed by His praise and His promises.

Defending God's Truth

Defending God's Truth
Acts 2:14-41

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

Last week we looked at God’s heart for the nations of the world, as he miraculously provided a way for all the various nations present in Jerusalem to hear in their own language the mighty deeds of God. Yet, there’s always a critic somewhere, and the critics that day of Pentecost were mocking and saying that the disciples of Jesus were “full of sweet wine.” (Acts 2:13) Now, there’s probably a time to ignore critics and not to engage, and just keep on doing what you know is right. But there are other times in which it would be beneficial to engage, explain, and give an appropriate defense. There are probably many instances over the past several years which, in general, followers of Jesus have shied away from engaging with our culture, and have not offered much resistance in the form of an appropriate biblical response- times where we haven’t countered well the world’s deteriorating morality with solid biblical reasoning. And now looking back, many are now thinking maybe Christians in general should have been a little more vocal in our viewpoints. And even on a more basic, personal level, more than likely we each can probably recall a time or two (or more), when we probably should have been a little bolder in answering those who criticize God’s people and God’s truth. Peter obviously could recall a time when he could have engaged better with the critics- the night of Jesus’ arrest. That night, Peter chose to deny Jesus instead of entering into a potentially heated debate. Today we’re going to look at how much Peter has learned and changed since that dark night. And as we look at his response, may the Lord convict our hearts, and give us the tools and boldness to appropriately engage with others concerning God’s truth. Let’s look now at Acts 2:14-16…

 

Now before we continue reading the scripture from Joel that Peter proclaimed, I want you to notice the way Peter sets up His defense. It is so simple, and so transferable to us even today as we consider how to defend truth. Peter took initiative and was bold in standing up to engage. He raised his voice, which wasn’t out of anger, but his voice was raised just so all could hear him. He then respectfully addressed those listening, “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem,” and now that he had their attention and had respectfully addressed them, he then respectfully voiced his disagreement: “these men are not drunk, as you suppose,” then explained why that was not likely: “for it is only the third hour of the day.” The third hour of the day, according to Roman time was 9am. Now, I know there are those who are in a tough battle with addictions who wrestle with substance abuse even early in the day, but the general principle here is that there were way too many people at one time acting “drunk” at just 9am. That kind of widespread behavior would typically only happen in the bars and parties at night. So, he respectfully disagreed and gave backing to why that assumption was not correct. Then he pointed to scripture (which we’re about to read) in order to show the proper interpretation. To sum this up, it appears this equation for entering into a disagreement looks like this: 1. Boldly yet respectfully disagree (doing so in a manner where you are able to be clearly heard), 2. State why the other’s assumption is incorrect, 3. Give scripture and properly explain its meaning and significance to the situation. This is a fantastic, simple, 3 step formula for entering into spiritual/moral conversations with critics and mockers. Let’s look now at the scripture passage from the book of Joel that Peter uses in his defense, verse 17. (Acts 2:17-21)

 

Peter quotes from the Old Testament book of Joel, which contains prophecy describing the days of the Messiah. Now, there’s something you must know concerning many of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. The days of the Messiah are often described in the Bible as being great and awesome- as in celebrating the fact that the Lord’s salvation, provision, and restoration is coming; yet these days are also described as being terrifying and dreadful- as in the judgement of the Lord will come and He will slay His enemies and time as we know it will end. Those living during biblical times most often anticipated the prophecies concerning the Messiah to one day occur close together- thinking the blessing AND the judgement would all happen close together as the Messiah came, but we as believers living today have the gift of seeing the broader scope painted by the entirety of the Bible and history, and thus understand Jesus coming as the Messiah ushered us into a season of His blessing (yet still with persecution) as we await the Messiah’s return. And His return will end this current season and His judgement will be pronounced on this world, which will result in even greater blessing for His followers in His Kingdom.

 

With this in mind, let’s consider what Peter referenced from the book of Joel. In the last days, in the season of the days of the Messiah- God will pour His spirit on mankind. In other words, there will be a special presence of God poured on mankind that will cause many to prophesy- prophesy as in proclaiming what God has said, has done, and what God has said He will do. And this anointing with His spirit won’t just be available to the leading priests- no, it will be experienced by sons and daughters; young and old; men, women, and children. And that was what was happening right there in that moment. God’s spirit had been poured out; and men, women, children who were gathered together as God’s people, began to share boldly with these from all over the world who had yet to hear of the mighty deeds of God. But Peter didn’t stop there, he continued reciting from the book of Joel about the signs on earth and in the sky, and of the symbolic language inferring war and judgement and the end of the world as we know it. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and now this miraculous event to the nations of the world- basically kicked off a heavenly countdown that would ultimately end in the return of Jesus, His judgement on those who reject His salvation, and then the creation of a new Heaven and Earth. In the next verses Peter attributes these “Messiah signs” to Jesus, and then he moves on to other scripture in order to defend his position that Jesus is the Messiah the prophets (including Joel) were expecting, verse 22 and following… (Acts 2:22-28)

        

Then in the verses that follow, Peter goes on to explain that this passage from Psalm 16 that David wrote wasn’t referring to David Himself, but rather his words were referring to the Messiah who would be a descendant of David, verse 29 and following… (Acts 2:29-33)

        

Just in case that’s not enough evidence that David was prophetically referring to the Messiah rather than Himself, Peter mentions one more passage of scripture from David’s Psalm 110. Verse 34… (Acts 2:34-35)

        

Basically, what Peter is referring to from this verse is that David was saying, “The Lord God said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Jesus sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” He’s drawing out that King David knew one would come after him, who would be Lord AND God, in whom God would judge all those who were opposed to His plan of salvation. Verse 36…

        

And thus, Peter concludes His 3 point argument: Boldly yet respectfully disagreeing, stating why their conclusion was incorrect, then stating scripture and properly explaining its meaning and significance to the situation. Let me give some short, modern day examples using this same formula:

        

“No, true Christians are not racist. (disagree) True Christians follow the example of Jesus, and Jesus was obviously not racist. (therefore your conclusion is incorrect) Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of ALL nations Matt. 28:19, but the Bible says that “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, [man this is a long list!] brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [now listen clearly to this next part!] holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power.” 2 Tim 3:2-5 In other words, the Bible tell us that true Christians obey Jesus and are unbiased in how they share God’s love and good news with others, but there are those who appear to be “Christian” in some sense of the word (holding a “form of godliness”) yet are living in sin and are actually denying His powerful work in their lives.” (Scripture and explanation) Here’s another example:

        

“No, I don’t agree with you- gender can’t be fluid. (disagree) Choosing one’s gender is inconsistent with what science shows us. (therefore your conclusion is incorrect) God created people as male and female Gen. 5:2, but people exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, and women and men thus exchange their natural function for that which is unnatural.” Romans 1:24-27 (Scripture and explanation) We as God’s people, need to know what God says on the issues facing mankind, and be able to boldly and respectfully point others to the truth of His word. And what was the result of Peter’s defense using God’s word? Verse 37 and following… (Acts 2:37-41)

        

Peter’s words, or rather God’s word, pierced the people’s hearts. Hebrews 4:12 describes God’s word as “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  You and I might be able to make a decent argument, but the real power lies in God’s word, in His scripture, in this amazing book we call the Bible. The people’s hearts were humbled- they realized after hearing these words, they could not go on living, thinking, believing in the same way as they had before they heard these words. So, they asked, “what shall we do?” Peter responded for them to repent- in other words to admit their wrongness and God’s rightness, and thus do a 180 turn back to God; and then he told them to publicly proclaim their repentance/surrender to God/new life accepted, through the symbolic act of baptism. And please don’t think that repentance is one thing, and then baptism is another thing, and it’s the baptism that grants the forgiveness- no, it’s repentance AND the follow though showing that you really have repented and are taking the first step of obedience to Jesus by obeying Him to be baptized. The repentance and baptism go together. Now, also don’t take what I said to mean that if someone repents and accepts Jesus on their deathbed and then dies 5 minutes later before they get a chance to get baptized that they aren’t forgiven and saved. No, I don’t mean that at all. What I do mean is that repentance is what leads to forgiveness, and baptism serves as an outward sign and proclamation that one has repented and surrendered to Jesus. Now if you are here this morning or listening online and you have chosen to follow Jesus, but haven’t yet celebrated that decision by getting baptized, please reach out to Pastor Dave or myself and let’s work on getting that done.

        

Repentance, baptism, forgiveness, and then what? The end of verse 38 tells us: You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit- the Counselor, the indwelling presence of God in your life. And then verse 39 reiterates our last week’s conclusion that forgiveness, knowledge of God’s love and salvation, His gift of the Holy Spirit- is available to all. In this setting Peter was referring to those there right in that moment, and even their children back home, and then all those scattered across the face of the Earth. Verse 40 lets us know that Peter’s sermon was slightly condensed for the reader here in the book of Acts and that he continued in encouraging the listeners to be saved from their immoral culture, and to thus escape the judgement of the Messiah. And what’s crazy is that… they listened! Verse 41 tells us 3000 that day chose to surrender to Jesus, and to immediately publicly profess that surrender through getting baptized.

        

Now that number of 3000 is extremely significant. I have mentioned before how Pentecost was the Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” it was the 50th day after the Passover celebration, and that specific day was the day to celebrate the harvest of wheat. On the day of Passover Celebration Jesus was crucified as the Passover lamb whose blood saved the people, and 50 days later on the day of Harvest Celebration, 3000 souls were harvested for God’s kingdom. John Piper says that “it’s a shame that the term ‘Pentecostal power’ has for many people become more associated with speaking in tongues than with the harvest of world evangelization.” The speaking in tongues was not the main event, the speaking in tongues was just the vehicle through which God accomplished in extra-ordinary power His goal of making sure the whole world would know of His plan for salvation. God’s main objective is not empowering individuals with a special personal prayer language, but rather His objective is a harvest of souls, rescued from this world that is heading for judgement in a hurry.

        

This 3000 number not only contributed to more joy in God’s work during the Harvest Celebration, but I believe that specific number has even more significance. Throughout the Bible we see many parallels and threads woven- tying one event to another. An example of this on a large scale is: the Bible begins with creation and it ends with creation. The first creation in the book of Genesis gives us an idea of the world as God intended it to be, before evil was acted out by mankind. The 2nd creation in the book of Revelation shows us the world God intended will be redeemed and remade in even more brilliance and splendor. And everything in the middle describes the journey between one creation and the other. The first creation points to the second creation. So much of the Old Testament points to the New Testament, so much of the Old Testament sets up what would later be partially fulfilled in the New Testament and also fully fulfilled in the coming Kingdom.

        

We’ve talked about the Old Testament significance of the first Passover as God rescued his people from Egypt, and how that pointed to and culminated into the final Passover sacrifice as Jesus hung on a cross. Well, scholars and Jewish tradition tell us that 50 days after the first Passover in Egypt, was when Moses went up to Mount Sinai and received the commandments from God. We read in Exodus 32 that when Moses came back down the mountain, he found that the people had already turned away from wanting to follow God, and had made for themselves a little cow of gold to worship. Of course Moses couldn’t believe it, the people had just witnessed God’s spirit powerfully coming down on Mount Sinai with smoke and fire, and even so they somehow decided to trade their real creator God for a fake golden calf god. And so anger burned within Moses and he called out “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” (Ex. 32:26) He basically drew a line in the sand saying right now decide who you will worship: idols or the real God. After everyone had made their decision, the ones who repented and chose to worship the Lord God, killed everyone else. Now this isn’t prescriptive, it’s descriptive- just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t mean it’s an example to follow. Right or wrong, I’m just telling you what happened. And it says that “about three thousand men of the people fell that day.” (Ex. 32:28) 50 days after the first Passover, on the day that would later become the Celebration of Harvest (Pentecost)- on that day 3000 people died.

        

God was one day going to redeem the evil that took place in the garden in the first creation, and God was one day going to redeem the evil that took place leading up to the first Passover, and God was one day going to redeem the evil that took place on Mount Sinai that first day of Pentecost. And here in the book of Acts we have at least a partial fulfillment of God’s redemptive work concerning Pentecost. Where there was once death of 3000 people who turned away from the Lord in Egypt- there is now life through 3000 people turning to the Lord in Jerusalem. Concerning Passover- at the end of the gospel books and entering into the book of Acts we have at least a partial fulfillment of God’s redemptive word concerning the Passover Lamb. Where there was once death of a Passover lamb- there is now life through the resurrected Passover lamb Jesus who has ascended into Heaven. And the fulfillments of Passover and Pentecost are the events that pave the way for God’s second creation to come into existence. His redemptive work through the good news of Jesus as the Passover Lamb, and His redemptive work through spreading this news throughout the world through Pentecost- this redemptive work will be fully realized in the full installment of His coming Kingdom. It’s coming. And right now, we are still in this season of “Pentecost,” this season of making sure everyone possible is able to hear of the “mighty deeds of God.” (Acts 2:11)

        

And so my charge to you is to take advantage of the opportunity while we still have it, and to boldly and respectfully speak up and engage with others concerning your faith and your convictions- may you boldly and respectfully speak up concerning God’s word. And we’ll be praying that your words- God’s words- will pierce others to the heart and that your boldness and application of scripture would result in a harvest of many for God’s Kingdom.

Christian Perspective on Race and Diversity

Christian Perspective on Race and Diversity
Acts 2:5-13

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

This morning we are continuing our walk through the book of Acts, and the passage we’ll be looking at is extremely timely and relevant for our day and age- the current hot topics of race and diversity.          Pastor Dave a couple weeks ago got us started looking at this wild event we call Pentecost. Pentecost is a Greek word, basically meaning fiftieth. I had mentioned earlier that Jesus’ followers had met with Jesus up in the region of Galilee, and then had returned back south to Jerusalem, most likely because 7 weeks after the Passover celebration, there was another Jewish celebration known as the Celebration/Festival of Weeks, or the Celebration/Festival of Harvest. This Jewish holiday also became known in Greek as Pentecost, being that it happened 7 weeks after Passover (7 weeks, 50 days, Pentecost meaning fiftieth), and it was a time to celebrate the harvest of wheat, to thank God and remember Him specifically for His provision. You might equate it to how our modern-day Thanksgiving Celebration started- feasting with family, friends, neighbors- in thanks to God for the food goods harvested.

 

And so, what would happen is that, Jews from all over would come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover- Jews from villages all over Israel, and even Jews from all sorts of other countries, would all come back, and those who came from far would often stay in Jerusalem for Passover, and then remain there seven more weeks so they could also celebrate Pentecost. It was like a 2-month homecoming for God’s people every year with a special feast at the beginning (Passover) and then at the end (Pentecost). And so, it was on the day of Pentecost, the homecoming-ending-day feast of thanksgiving for the harvest- that God showed up with extra-ordinary power amongst His people.

 

Now before we take a look at our passage for today, there’s a couple things I want to point out from the first few verses in chapter 2 of Acts. Notice in verse 2 the word “suddenly.” This word conveys to us that the Holy Spirit is free and not conjured up by our own efforts. In Acts 1 we don’t see the early church attempting to conjure up the Holy Spirit that was promised to them, but rather they were meeting together, praying together, considering God’s word together- and God’s presence suddenly showed up. The Holy Spirit is not bound by anyone’s timing or technique for tapping into God’s power. We follow God’s instructions found in his word for how to live, and we pray asking for His presence to be with us and to guide us and we ask Him to show up in powerful ways and to do powerful things that only He can do. We live lives that are inviting for the Holy Spirit to work in, and we verbally invite, asking God to show up in unexplainable ways; but we cannot force His spirit to come. When He comes, He comes suddenly- on His terms, according to His ways, and according to His timing.

 

Next, I want you to consider the imagery of the tongues of fire in verse 3. Throughout the Bible there is an association between God’s presence and fire. There’s the calling of Moses at the burning bush, God’s leading of His people through the wilderness by a pillar of fire, the descending of God’s presence in the form of fire on Mount Sinai, fire coming from Heaven and consuming the offering at Solomon’s temple dedication. The people were even commanded to continually have a fire burning 24/7 inside the temple, most likely as a reminder of God’s 24/7 refining, holy presence with them. Now with this in mind, think of the implication this brings us, as we consider this fire appearing on each one of Jesus’ followers there that day. The people were used to going to the temple to see the fire there, reminding them of God’s presence, but now that presence rested on each of them as they gathered collectively. God’s people are now no longer defined just by attending a location such as the temple (or a church building) where they would hear God’s word proclaimed- no, we are now to be His temple where we proclaim His word wherever we go. This is further symbolized by the fire not being little bonfires resting on each of them, but rather a “tongue” of fire, a single flame that resembles the shape of a human tongue, the tool we use to speak.

 

And speak they did. In a miraculous way, God enabled them to speak on this specific day, for this specific time, to all those who spoke different languages, from all different cultures and countries, who had assembled there in Jerusalem. It was like a supernatural jump start, that was necessary for the good news of Jesus to spread quickly throughout the world. Let’s read the description of this event. (Acts 2:5-13)

 

People from all different nations and cultures, were gathered in Jerusalem. Jews had dispersed themselves, moving because of business, or as a result the exile to Babylon many years before, or as a result of the recent Roman presence in Palestine, etc. A portion of God’s people had spread out and assimilated into different countries of the world, but would come back to Jerusalem for the Jewish festivals. And there were even people from these foreign countries who had chosen to leave their own cultural religion of their native country in order to follow the Hebrew Creator God. Even these who were not Jewish by DNA, were now coming to worship Yahweh in Jerusalem during this special festival. People from the places we now call Turkey, Italy, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, countries in Northern Africa, islands off of Greece, and more. Now, we don’t know if verse 5 is a bit of a hyperbole, an exaggerated statement, just aiming to convey the general, grand idea that there was a ton of people from all kinds of countries, or if it really means literally every nation at the time. Also, we might consider that during the time of the Bible, the term “nation” wasn’t quite as rigid of a defined term as it is today, with our well-defined national borders and militaries, kings, presidents, etc. And quite possibly there were many other nations represented on this day and the author Luke just mentioned many of them, but not all- either way- there was obviously a lot of cultural and linguistic diversity, yet what brought them together was one thing: Was it their humanity? Was it their color blindness? A social agenda? No, they were brought together and unified spiritually, through worship, celebration, and acknowledgement of the one true LORD God, the one who had created them in His own image, according to their own uniqueness, and had given them salvation and provision.

 

That is the unity that is needed today. The world will never achieve unity through laws, social programs, military or political alliances, through Republican or Democrat agendas. We must acknowledge that we are image bearers of our creator. We must humble ourselves and recognize that no matter the color of our skin, we each somehow reflect the likeness of the God who created each of us. And we have the choice to function more accordingly to His image, or function less accordingly to His image. As we function more accordingly to His image- to His attributes, characteristics, His truth, His ways- as we humble ourselves and confess where He is right and we are wrong, as we obey the teaching of Jesus- loving God and loving others- then there is peace, unity, rest, blessing, and invitation for God’s Spirit to show up suddenly and powerfully. But, when we function less accordingly to His image- when we don’t pursue His attributes, characteristics, His truth, His ways- as we feed our own pride and selfishness, as we defend our own rights and rightness, as we ignore the teaching of Jesus- not loving God nor loving others- then there is friction, chaos, turmoil, struggle, and we quench the fire of the Holy Spirit before He even gets close to coming down upon us.

Notice in this passage, God’s desire for all these nations, for all the nations of the world, to hear the “mighty deeds of God,” as verse 11 puts it. God loves mankind, all of mankind who have all been created in His image. In the book of Revelation we are given a glimpse into what God’s heavenly Kingdom will look like one day, chapter 7 verses 9-10 say: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” In order for heaven to look like this- filled with people from every nation, tribe, people, and language- this event in Acts had to happen, and God’s church around the world continues to replicate this event by sending out those who will carry His message to others of different cultures, beliefs, nationalities, and languages. The Creator of this universe, desires to unify His creation, mankind- He wants to heal us from injustice, hatred, prejudice- but that will not happen apart from His creation turning to Him in repentance and receiving Jesus as King.       There is brokenness in our governments, in our laws, our political parties, in our systems worldwide. The cause of the brokenness of our world, is that individuals, groups of individuals, businesses, corporations, governments, nations, even churches- have sinned against God, and have not sought the unity that can only be found through the transformative work of Jesus Christ. He is our only hope. The Bible tells us that sin, (going against our Creator- disobeying Him) is what causes brokenness in the world. The only race we are to blame is the human race- we are each guilty and in need of Jesus’ forgiveness and rescue. And the message of One Church is not just two churches coming together, but rather our message is that- unity in Jesus reaches across social and economic lines, across denominational lines, across multiple generations, across cultures, languages, borders- and that unity brings purpose, peace, fulfilment- and ultimately results in God glorified and His people blessed. Repentance is what this world needs- a turning to God for forgiveness, healing, and instruction- is what every individual, every race, every nation and culture needs.

 

It’s not just within this moment of Pentecost that we see God’s heart for the nations, this is not the first time we get a glimpse of God’s desire to unite people          under His authority. Even before the nation of Israel was formed, God was already conveying His message of hope for all nations. God called Abram, telling him to leave his own country to go to another, and said “I will make you a great nation… and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3) It was through Abram, who became known as Abraham, through who’s descendants God formed a nation, that was to be a nation for the purpose of blessing all the other nations. Years later, after Abraham’s descendants had multiplied, and Israel had been formed, they became enslaved in Egypt. The people of Israel were treated horribly at the hand of the Egyptians, and yet, when God freed his people- there was still opportunity for the Egyptians (and others from other nations) to join them. Exodus 12:38 tells us that when Israel left, a “mixed multitude” also went with them. This mixed multitude, made up of Egyptians and other nationalities who were living in Egypt, became Jewish- not because of their blood and DNA, but because they recognized the one true God and chose to forsake all other identity in order to be known as the people who followed the LORD God.

 

That’s really where you and I need to be. Forsaking all other identities, titles, history of origin- in order to be counted among the people group who follow the LORD Jesus. A citizen of the Kingdom. That’s how the Bible describes the nationality of the followers of Jesus. Ephesians 2:5-6 describes us being dead in our transgressions- that’s our original origins right there- dead because of the disease of sin, but we are “made alive together with Christ,” for He has “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:20 says it even clearer “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

You see, ultimately the promise to Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations of the world was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who not only died for the Jewish people, but died for every human being no matter what the nationality. We just looked recently at Jesus’ command to all His followers, to go and “make disciples of all the nations.” I think sometimes, in our day to day lives, at best we maybe remember Jesus saying to “make disciples,” but I think we often forget that He said to “make disciples of all the nations.” The question for each of us, if we claim to follow Jesus, is how am I personally attempting to fulfil that command? That might be a little convicting for each of us, right? We need to ask ourselves, and ask the Lord- how can I, and how can we as One Church, be intentional in obeying this command to make disciples of all nations? If it is the Lord’s desire to unite cultures, peoples, and nations under His authority, what role are we to play in accomplishing that?

The world has ideas about how to accomplish that unity as well. Unity apart from God, is no new idea either. In Genesis chapter 11, before Abraham is even mentioned, we read that the world was uniting in order to build a city and a tower that would reach the heavens. The people were aiming to make a name for themselves, and it appears they were doing so selfishly and pridefully for themselves, building and working and aspiring together- with the Lord being completely absent from their minds. And the scripture says that God came down and confused their languages, and so scattered the people all over the face of the earth. The place ended up being called Babel (meaning confuse) because the Lord confused the language of the people.

 

What a wild parallel. There’s the tower of Babel where we have the people turning away from the Lord- and the result was confusion in communication and disunity. And here in Acts 2 we have the early church turning to the Lord and the result was clarity in communication and unity. Now I’m no rocket scientist, but I think the lesson here is that if we want to see unity, we must turn to the Lord. Turning to Him in repentance, and seeking Him in His word, and letting Him love people through us. In contrast- if we get selfish, prideful, and ignore our God- surely confusion and disunity will be our experienced result.   

 

As we seek community with one another and with those around us, I know that we often gravitate toward individuals who are like us- like us as in sharing the same interests, or as in being of the same age bracket or similar season of life- and that is awesome- I hope you find common ground and community with many in these areas; but I also want to encourage you to seek community and learn from those who are different from you, even in this very building. To be willing to learn from others who are older, younger; who have kids, who don’t have kids; who are new in their faith, who have walked with the Lord many years; who wear a mask, who don’t wear a mask, etc. Part of God’s plan, of His people being in community, is sanctification. Sanctification being defined as the process of becoming more holy, more set apart- it’s the process of becoming more like Him in our thoughts and actions here on Earth. If we’ve received Jesus into our lives then God already sees us as holy and perfect in His Kingdom, but sanctification is the process of us becoming more holy and perfect in our day to day life here on Earth. And God’s desire for us in relational community is that we would be challenged, stretched, refined, sharpened- as we gather together, placing our differences aside, so that we can continue being sanctified- in order that we might glorify God together as His church. Even the relationships that rub you wrong, are a God sent opportunity for you to be refined, and more sanctified in your relationship with Jesus. And then I want to challenge you to look outside the walls of this building, in order to see all the different people from different walks of life, from different cultures, from different nations of origin- and consider how the Lord wants to use you to speak to them, of the “mighty deeds of God.”

 

In closing, I want you to look at verse 13 again… Here was this great work of God taking place- people hearing and understanding God’s good-news-message in their own heart language- and yet, there were some that mocked this event. I want to warn you that even as God is working and moving- even as His people are making good God honoring choices, doing good God honoring deeds, and seeking unity- there will still be critics. You will be judged by this world for your parenting decisions, your convictions at work, your life choices, who you befriend. Even in all the beauty of two churches coming together, who are envisioning the body of Christ experiencing greater “oneness”- even as that is taking place, there will be mocking critics. It’s ok though, next week we’re going to look at Peter’s defense as he addresses the mockers with God’s word- and may we learn to do the same- making all our decisions based on the guidance and parameters God gives us in His word, seeking the unity that only He can give, so that we can live confidently and always have the defense of His word backing us no matter what the world may say.

Chickens and Church

Mid-week Devotional
Chickens and Church

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

Hey church! Before we talk about chickens and church, I wanted to say that in our last mid-week message, I presented some teaching on ADHD, and I need to apologize. Many might have been thinking “Where did that come from?” I just want to let you know that I didn’t have an agenda concerning ADHD or ADHD medicines- I wasn’t targeting any specific families in that teaching- the reason behind that subject was that I was assigned it to do a research paper in one of my graduate classes, and I should have explained that reasoning last week. And I made a statement that I want to briefly clarify, I mentioned that “Concerning matters of physical/mental/spiritual health- I am encouraging that we as believers, would seek first the Lord’s help, prayerfully searching our hearts and minds looking for any disconnect between our lives and God’s word, looking to see what resources and means that perhaps God has already provided naturally in this world, and then lastly prayerfully seek the counsel of doctors and medicine.”

           

I want to clarify that I am not advocating for doctors and medicine as a last resort, like as in a last-ditch effort when all else fails. My intent, my heart behind that statement, is that in every area of life-decisions, we as God’s people should make seeking the Lord first priority. When facing decisions, when navigating life’s choices, medical or other- there’s a proper order for believers to follow- a “chain of command” so to speak. We pray and seek the Lord, we evaluate our walk with Him, we look for resources/truth/guidance He has already given, and then we seek the counsel of others. The idea is that we do all these things- together- but in that order. I didn’t mean to sound like if you walk up to a horrific automobile accident, that you pray and ask God to heal the injured person, and if He doesn’t, then enter into a time of personal reflection and confession before the Lord, then go find a natural herb in the woods to control the bleeding, then if that doesn’t work, then and only then- call 911. No- call 911! But even in that scenario- yes, pray for the involved person’s healing, and seek the Lord- asking how He might be working in your heart and in the heart of this person through this terrible situation, consider that maybe there is something already there that God would have you use to help- maybe you have a first aid kit in your car, or can help flag traffic in order to keep the person safe until further help arrives, etc. My point was: don’t just seek doctors and medicine- as a follower of Jesus seek His wisdom and healing, weigh what spiritual lessons He might be wanting to teach through the situation, and consider some possible means of help that perhaps He has already provided. Cool? Cool.

           

I have a story I want to share with you that I think serves as a good illustration for us. Recently my family and I got away for a few days at the beach. My mom lives down the driveway from us, and she took care of our dog Layli, and our chickens while we were gone. Each day we let the chickens out of their coop in order to free range, and then we close them up back in the coop in the evening so that raccoons, ‘possums, neighborhood dogs, etc. don’t eat them. So, my mom was doing this for us, and she called us one day to tell us that Layli had jumped over the fence at her house and had ran back up towards our house. Layli was gone for about 30 minutes, and when she returned to my mom’s house, she brought down a chicken in her mouth. I said, “Well, mom, what happened- what did you do with the chicken- was it dead, will it be ok?” And she told me she was pretty confident that the hen wouldn’t survive, it was injured and breathing really strangely- gasping for air, and that she had put it in a cooking pot outside. I don’t know if she was planning on eating it the next day or what. But I prayed, I prayed something like “Lord, it seems like there is always some sort of drama when we try to leave town, in your mercy and goodness, please don’t let it be so this time. Please heal the hen, restore it to health, may nothing be lost or hurt or damaged while we are gone.”

           

Well, the next day mom called me and told me she couldn’t believe it, but the hen was up and walking around in her yard, and that she had tried to catch it to return it back up to the others and the coop, but she couldn’t catch it, and she had fallen chasing it around. I told her, “I’m so glad it’s alive, but don’t try to catch it, just let the neighbors know, and we’ll be home the next day and we’ll deal with it then.”  I thought in my mind that hopefully it would survive another day and not get eaten by some predator during the night. When we got home, we couldn’t find that chicken anywhere. I was almost more discouraged than I was when I had first heard about Layli deciding to run away and chew on a chicken. I thought, “Lord, surely you didn’t answer my prayer, healing the chicken, only for it to get eaten by another animal in the middle of the night?” Well, another day and night passed, and mom called to tell us she saw the chicken again in her yard. My boys and I immediately raced down there and for the next hour or so, attempted to catch that bird. It was impossible. Even with the three of us, we couldn’t corral it, it would run up into the underbrush, and with every step through the briars and mountain laurel, it would just take another step away from us. It didn’t trust us- we were attempting to save its life, but all it felt was a threat. We ended up fanning out and bush whacking through the thick woods, slowly pushing it closer and closer to our house, until it finally recognized its surroundings, and entered into the coop. Whew- what a saga.

           

Through this whole ordeal, I couldn’t help but see the parallel illustration that Jesus gives in the Bible for His sheep. Jesus is the good shepherd, the one who goes out to find the lost sheep in order that He might care for it and bring it back to safety. (John 10:11-18, Matt. 18:12-14) In my mind, I related the other chickens to the body of Christ- the church; and myself and my boys as followers of Jesus concerned for one who has wandered off and is isolated. Do we love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to that degree, that, if they are isolated from the fellowship of other believers- whether it be by their own choice coming from a place of hurt, or whether circumstances out of their hands have hindered them from regular fellowship- are we willing to pursue them, through the thorns and thickets of life, even as they attempt to avoid us and run away- will we continue to lovingly pursue them, calling them back to safety and fellowship with others? Church- I want to encourage you to be alert and sensitive to the Lord’s leading in how He might want to use you to minister to someone who might be hurting and isolated.

A Christian Perspective on ADHD

Mid-week Devotional
A Christian Perspective on ADHD

Pastor Wes

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Transcript

ADHD (Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder) is a rapidly spreading diagnosis, not just in the United States of America, but across the world.  It is uncertain the exact source or cause of ADHD, but research seems to point towards a combination of factors: genetics, brain injuries, nutrition, and physical/social environments which possibly trigger an unbalance of chemical levels within the brain, which causes “inattentive” or “hyperactive-impulsive” behavior.  Symptoms often displayed are described as a pattern of: not being able to complete work, fidgeting, squirming, interrupting, forgetfulness, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and disorganization. There is no standard diagnostic protocol for ADHD, rather medical professionals use many different behavioral checklists and rating scales in order to determine whether or not a patient is diagnosed with ADHD.  Once diagnosed, the most common form of treatment is through stimulant medication. Stimulants increase the amount and longevity of certain chemical levels within the brain, and are the most common form of ADHD medication. There are nonstimulant treatments available, such as biofeedback, physical activity, being outdoors in nature, and cognitive behavioral therapy that have been used in order to treat ADHD as well.

 

However, there also exists much criticism amongst those who claim that ADHD is perhaps a pharmaceutical money-making scheme, one that exploits the ‘medicalization’ of problematic behaviors in children, especially in children who are expected to behave and learn a specific way in a public school. There exists much controversy between researchers who support ADHD and researchers who debate the legitimacy of ADHD as a true medical condition. For the follower of Jesus, does the Bible offer any wisdom concerning ADHD and/or symptoms of ADHD?

 

It has been suggested that perhaps Simon Peter displayed behavior of what would now be classified as symptoms of ADHD. Notice Peter’s impulsiveness in response to Jesus after the disciples obeyed His instructions to cast the nets into the deeper water and they caught a miraculous amount of fish, Peter rashly says “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) Peter again responds impulsively with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, in a way that could perhaps even be described as “hyperactive” when he suggests making tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. (Mark 9:5) Peter’s actions with the sword, cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant and then moments later his denial, on the night of Jesus’ arrest, would seem to further indicate traits of hyperactive, impulsive behavior. (John 18:10) Perhaps even Jesus addressing Peter three times back to back, after the denial and resurrection (John 21:15-17), was an attempt of Jesus to make sure He was heard and communicating well His forgiveness and charge of love to one who struggled with, (perhaps) a learning disability, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. 

 

While suggesting that Peter had ADHD is highly speculative, one does get the impression from the gospel books that he does appear to be rash, impulsive, focused on the wrong things, and hard-headed. No matter where one stands on the validity of ADHD being a true medical condition or not, it is obvious that Jesus deeply loved Peter and used him powerfully, despite the negative character traits or negative medical symptoms he displayed.

 

Two other biblical passages to consider concerning ADHD is 1 Samuel 16:7, “God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” and Romans 12:2 “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” In any attempt to help behavioral or mental symptoms, it is absolutely critical to consider what God’s word says concerning the heart and mind. Often the outward symptom (outward appearance) is focused on, and treatment for the symptom is attempted, yet it is the heart that the Lord is most concerned with- it is often within the heart that the true root of the problem exists. The same can be said of the mind. This passage in Romans tells us that the life of the believer still needs transformation, and that transformation occurs through the renewing of the mind. It is the heart and the mind that control thoughts and behaviors, and both heart and mind need the redemptive, transformative, renewing work of Jesus in order to achieve the best results for life change.

 

Whether you are a parent whose child is expressing ADHD symptoms, or whether you, yourself, wrestle with ADHD symptoms, the example of Peter should be one of encouragement and hope. No matter the medical issue, the Bible is clear: Jesus has power to work through and use physical ailments for His glory and the benefit of His people. But even in knowing God has the power to heal any infirmity and any issue of the heart/mind, it is perhaps tempting for the believer to ask God, “Why was I made like this- why do I have to wrestle with this issue?” The Bible cautions us against this thought process in Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker-- An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands '?” The question to God should not be “why Lord?” but rather, “What would you, Lord, have me do/know from this point moving forward?”

 

Now, I’m no doctor, and I have no right to counsel anyone medically, but because of the controversy surrounding ADHD, and because of increased concern surrounding brain altering prescriptions, I would encourage followers of Jesus to very prayerfully seek information and medical counsel before taking or administering ADHD medications. Prayerfully considering the state of the heart and mind spiritually is a good first step in attempting behavior modification. A next step might include trying some alternative, non-medicinal options, before ingesting mind altering pills. Research has proven that physical activity and being outside can help in focus and in allowing the release of vital chemicals in the brain. Nutrition, vitamin support, and diet modifications should also be considered in the treatment of ADHD symptoms.

 

Now, it might sound like I am completely against doctors and prescription medication- which I am not, that is not the case. My own child has a prescription for mind-altering medication that helps to control seizures. Rather, what I am advocating for, is that concerning matters of physical/mental/spiritual health- I am encouraging that we as believers, would seek first the Lord’s help, prayerfully searching our hearts and minds looking for any disconnect between our lives and God’s word, looking to see what resources and means that perhaps God has already provided naturally in this world, and then lastly prayerfully seek the counsel of doctors and medicine. So often it is doctors and medicines that we seek first, without giving any thought to the fact that we are children of the King, children of the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the Universe, the giver of life and gifts- the one who holds all power- even power to heal.

 

Ultimately, a believer wrestling with ADHD should take much comfort in the example of grace, patience, and forgiveness demonstrated by Jesus towards Simon Peter. We each are created so differently, each with such differing experiences and various struggles, and yet the love of Jesus extends to us all as He desires us to be formed more into His image, character, mindset, and behavior. God sees you, and loves you, may He give you wisdom, blessing, and victory in life as you pursue Him!

What To Do When God Doesn’t Do

What To Do When God Doesn’t Do
Acts 1:9-26

Pastor Wes

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This Jesus whom we see worshipped in the book of Revelation, as the Lamb who is worthy “to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev. 5:12) is the same Jesus in the book of Matthew who says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20) High and “lo” He is with us through the end of time and beyond. Last week we transitioned from the books of the gospel into the book of Acts, where Luke records the works of this newly established group of people that would be known as the “church.” What great timing for us as One Church to be looking at and learning from the early, first church.

 

I like what Pastor Dave said last week about how Matthew recorded that as the disciples gathered around Jesus in Galilee, some doubted- and by “doubted” Pastor Dave mentioned that perhaps they were doubting themselves and the role that Jesus was entrusting them with. Jesus definitely addressed their doubt and fear by immediately putting their focus back on Him, saying that all authority was His; and in his command calling for them to be His representatives, He was emphasizing that He would be with them- they wouldn’t be alone or have to work in their own efforts. They, (we) would have adequate support from Jesus as we attempt to share with and teach others about Jesus’ teaching.

 

I have been studying and attempting to connect Jesus’ great commission command in the book of Matthew (Go and make disciples of all nations) to His great commission command in the book of Acts (You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and the remotest part of the earth). I think in the past I had considered both commands being given by Jesus around the same time, and Luke and Matthew just give different parts of the conversation. Before either Pastor Dave or I had looked too much into this, we were talking and I asked, “Are both passages describing the same event?” And Pastor Dave responded “Well, I think Jesus just ascended back into heaven one time, right?” All joking aside, if we look closer, the setting of Matthew is in Galilee (Matt. 28:16) and then when we get to the book of Acts, Jesus’ ascension into Heaven is set on the Mount of Olives, just outside the walls of Jerusalem. (Acts 1:12)  

 

Now maybe you’re like “It doesn’t bother me one way or the other, who cares if Jesus left His disciples from a mountain in Galilee or a mountain in Jerusalem,” but for me I am wired to where I need what I am reading to make sense, and if there appears to be a contradiction in the Bible, I know there has to be logical reason behind it appearing that way. When that happens there must be something I am not seeing correctly, and I want to find out what it is. For those of you who might feel like that too, here’s what I think makes sense of these two passages. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, during the Feast of Passover, and when He arose the disciples were still there in Jerusalem, and He appeared to them a few times there, but then instructed them to meet Him in Galilee. So, they went up to Galilee, and that’s where we see in the book of John Jesus meet them on the lake’s shore, where He served them breakfast and encouraged Peter’s love for Him to be shown through caring for His sheep. So why did they end up back down in Jerusalem at the beginning of the book of Acts? Well, the book of Acts tells us in chapter 1 verse 3 that Jesus appeared several times to His followers over the course of 40 days. Now perhaps they immediately heeded Jesus’ command in the book of Matthew and left the small villages on the shores of Galilee to go where the biggest concentration of people would be- Jerusalem. But, consider also that 7 weeks after Passover, was the Jewish Festival of Weeks- a celebration of the wheat harvest and a time of nation-wide remembering of God’s provision for them as a people. 7 weeks is 49 days after Passover, and the 40 days mentioned in the book of Acts would be in range for when people from all over Israel (including the disciples) would again be returning from their home towns and villages back into Jerusalem.

 

And so, the disciples are there, just a short walk from Jerusalem’s walls, on the Mount of Olives which overlooks the city. And it probably seemed like something heavy was about to happen, in verse 6 they asked Him “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” They were hoping their political situation would at that time be fixed. They had hoped Jesus would fulfil the prophecies foretelling His forever rule of justice- in other words they were hoping Jesus would exercise His authority as King and Judge, and kick out the Roman occupation. But there is another, future day coming in which Jesus will exercise His authority as King and Judge. As you and I wait for that day, it is so easy for us to ask questions like this, “Lord, is it at this time You… will make life better for us?”  We all are waiting for that better life: better finances, better house, car, job, improvement in our relationships, happiness, health. And as we get antsy for these better things- as we pray for them- I wonder if Jesus wants to answer us in a similar manner as He did His followers here in Acts 1:7-8: “It’s not for you to know God’s timing, he’s sovereign and in control of those things, but focus rather on these two things: being filled with the Holy Spirit and being a witness here in your hometown, in your greater vicinity, and even beyond.”  (my paraphrase) We need to take our focus off of the things we want God to hurry up and do, and place our focus onto the things God is wanting us to hurry up and do.” You might want to write that down, that might be really helpful the next time you are feeling impatient. Let’s look now at verses 9-11…

Wow. The answer to the question about ushering in the full heavenly Kingdom was answered not just with a statement putting the responsibility of action onto His followers; Jesus also answered that question by immediately ascending into heaven- basically enforcing His words with a physical act that showed there was work now for them to do on Earth before the day of His full Kingdom installation. And the two men in white, assumedly angels, reinforced that as well: “Don’t just stand around- get to moving- He’ll come back in the same manner.” (again, my paraphrase) So, what did they do? Verse 12… (Verses 12-14)

 

So, after Jesus ascended into Heaven, they went back to the house where they were temporarily staying at in Jerusalem, and were gathered together with other followers of Jesus in an upper room. Perhaps this is the same upper room in which the disciples ate the last supper with Jesus before His death, but not necessarily so. Most of the houses in Jerusalem during this time had flat roofs with fencing on the edge, that provided a large open space for meetings and gatherings that often took place in the cool of evening after the day’s work- and these spaces were called “upper rooms.” This passage tells us in the following verse (verse 15) there were about 120 persons gathered on this rooftop, and that leads us to believe this particular home seems to be a very large one, probably a multi-family unit owned by a fairly wealthy family. You can imagine them all gathered under the setting sun, maybe there’s kids running around, there’s emotion in the air as everyone is attempting to process the past month and a half of events: Jesus declared King, then he’s killed, then He raised Himself back to life, He’s appeared and re-appeared in closed rooms, it’s assumed that now He’ll be the King they expected, but instead He says wait in Jerusalem for His Holy Spirit to come down (and what does that really mean anyway?), and they are to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, and to the furthest parts of the earth, and then He flies away like Superman. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. So, there’s men and women talking, praying together and for each other, supporting each other, sharing meals together- as they all process through everything. This is the setting, and all of a sudden someone clears their throat “ahheem”… verse 15. (Verse 15-22)

 

This is the new Peter. He’s starting to get it. Maybe for the first time in his life he is beginning to see the bigger picture, seeing that God is sovereign and in control, and that God has a plan He is working, and not even those who would appear to be enemies can stop it. This guy Judas who betrayed Jesus- who seemingly caused Jesus’ death- wasn’t an unexpected blip on the radar, he wasn’t a glitch in the matrix, he wasn’t a surprise variable thrown into the equation, no- God saw it coming from a long time beforehand, and everything was still working out according to His plan, for the benefit of His Kingdom and His people. And Peter is starting to see it. In verse 20 he recalls to them the verses in the book of Psalms that, at the time were descriptive of King David’s experience, yet also were foretelling of the man who would betray the Messiah. The old Peter, in response to Jesus speaking of His death, was like “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” (Matt. 16:22) And here’s the new Peter, whose perspective has been shifted, who has found new understanding and new life perspective from His time reading scripture. He’s now like “Oh, I get it. God has been working His plan from the beginning. It’s all good.” The question is no longer “Why did all this happen,” or ‘Why won’t God do what we expected Him to do?” or “When will God do what we wish He would do?”- the question is “What are we going to do now in moving forward?” And Peter’s suggestion, is that they would assign to full time dedicated ministry, one more eye witness who knew and experienced Jesus first hand, from the start of His ministry when John baptized Him, all the way up to when He ascended up into Heaven. Verse 23-26…      

 

According to the criteria of needing to have known and been with Jesus over the span of His 3- ish years of ministry, they nominated Joseph (who had two other nicknames) and Matthias. And they prayed. I love this short, one sentence prayer, basically “God, You know all things, so show us the decision to make.” And they didn’t debate over it, have a vote over it, go home and “sleep on it.” And we don’t know exactly how they “drew lots” but it was a similar concept to our modern-day coin toss. “Heads Joseph, tails Matthias. God- may you guide the coin to land how You want it to land.” And the denarius landed on tails. Matthias was now set apart and recognized by the church for the specific work of being sent out as an apostle to make Jesus known.

 

All those gathered together were considered disciples of Jesus, and they would all be His witnesses, but some would be His witnesses as they continued working their “secular” job, some would be His witnesses as they continued their role in taking care of their family, but there were others dedicated to the specific work of being an apostle- an eyewitness of Jesus sent out on mission to teach, preach, and tell others about Him. The word apostle is most likely related to our word “postal” with the same Greek root meaning of being sent out- as in letters sent out to other places, or pastors/missionaries sent out to other places. We each, as followers of Jesus, are called to be His witnesses. We each are to be His disciples. But there are some that He draws out from traditional places of employment, into specialized areas of ministry. And while full time ministry is a heavy path to be led on, please don’t consider your journey with the Lord any “less than” than those whom He has called to full time ministry. Your obedience, your witness for Jesus in the place He has placed you is just as precious in His sight as the missionary called to the other side of the world. Somehow over many years, there has been this perspective cultivated that if you are really serious about following Jesus, then you will become a pastor or missionary. This just simply isn’t true. Jesus wants to use you right where you are. He desires for people to seriously follow Him- from all walks of life, in all different areas of life. Having personally, myself, worked in the music industry, in the white-collar corporate industry, the blue-collar manual labor industry, overseas mission field, and pastoral ministry; I have sensed God’s call to be His representative in each area and I believe He is calling each of us to walk with a missional, ministerial focus no matter where He leads us. I’ll never forget what my wife Nikki felt the Lord saying to her one day as she considered this concept. She sensed His conviction saying “Nikki, your obedience is just as important whether I tell you to move overseas to minister in a refugee camp, or if I tell you to take soup to your neighbor.” We each are called to be His representatives and witnesses. We just have been given different areas in which to do that in. Ok, back to the passage…    

 

Now, maybe Peter and this first church should have waited, for the special filling of the Holy Spirit they were all anticipating, before making any ministry decisions. Maybe specifically nominating one other person was unnecessary, maybe God wanted to use Paul as this “12th Apostle.” The Bible doesn’t give any guidance to if this is what they should have done or not. But I have a feeling that if they were functioning with one mind and devoting themselves together in prayer, as verse 14 states, that surely God wouldn’t have let them somehow screw it up and make a wrong decision. God was surely moving amongst them and leading them, and leading even Peter in His speech here. But either way, the whole point is that they took what Jesus said seriously, and were able to view this hurtful betrayal by Judas through the lens of scripture and through the lens of knowing God is in control. They heeded Jesus’ instructions and stopped worrying about when God was going to do this or that. They took initiative and made a decision to move in a way that would give momentum to redeeming the past, and at the same time give momentum to building the future Kingdom. God was going to use them to spread the good news of His salvation no matter what curves or twists in the road were ahead- if they would continue to view life through the lens of His truth.

 

Now, I want us to walk through some practical truths that we can discern from this passage. Whenever we are tempted to ask all the “when” questions, all the “Are you going to do this thing now Lord?” questions, may we be reminded of Jesus’ words in verses 7 and 8. May we recognize He is in control, and may we wait for His Spirit to work in us, and allow His spirit to use us in speaking His truth to those around us.

 

Secondly, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of followers of Jesus meeting together with “one mind” and “continually devoting themselves to prayer” as verse 14 tells us. How do all of us from different experiences and backgrounds meet together with one mind? We all come with the mind that recognizes Jesus as Lord- Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. We humbly want Him to teach us and for Him be honored above all else, knowing that one day we will share in His greatness. We devote ourselves to prayer- praying for each other throughout the week, praying with others on the phone, before meals, along with the Pastor on Sunday morning as he leads in prayer, with others gathered on Wednesday nights for prayer. Whether gathered formally on Sundays or Wednesdays or through other church activities during the week, or gathered together informally over meals, in homes, at the workplace, on the phone or online- Jesus intends to work and move through, shape and mold, encourage and equip His followers as they meet together.

 

And a huge way in which we encourage and equip ourselves, and encourage/equip one another is through applying scripture to our current situations and life. Peter found scripture that spoke to what was weighing on his heart. He studied the scriptures to gain insight for his present situation. He found comfort in seeing in scripture that God knew beforehand what Judas would do, that God was going to judge Judas accordingly, and that scripture foretold of another who would take Judas’ place. Now scripture might not speak to you as specifically and detailed as it did concerning Judas, but there is an enormous amount of wisdom, and direct transferrable, truth- application-life-lessons to be gained from the Bible that speak on some level to any situation we have ever or will ever face here on earth. But you will probably need more than just our Sunday morning time in God’s word, to be most fulfilled and equipped for the mission Jesus has for you in this world. I encourage you to seek Him in His word throughout the week. He wants to speak to you. He wants to use you. He wants you to live with purpose and mission. And I’m sure there are questions we could be asking, concerning when is God going to do this, or that. But the question right now for you and I in our relationship with Jesus is “What are we going to do now in moving forward?”