Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180046B
|
00:01 Welcome back to our study here at the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:05 We're continuing now on Tuesday's lesson 00:07 with Shelley Quinn, "The Spirit is Leading" 00:09 "The Spirit is Leading" 00:11 Okay, as you've already said, the Jewish understanding 00:14 of the Law of Moses was that a Jew could not 00:17 eat with a Gentile without being contaminated. 00:20 So when the Jewish leaders in the church, 00:24 the Christian Church - they were Christians 00:28 but they were all Jews... they heard about what happened 00:31 in Caesarea with Cornelius and they were highly offended. 00:36 They are upset with Peter and so they demand that he 00:42 explained his conduct and we'll pick it up in Acts 11:1-18... 00:48 "Now the Apostles and brethren who were in Judea 00:51 heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God, 00:55 and when Peter came up to Jerusalem, 00:57 those of the circumcision (that's the Jews, but they're 01:01 Christians), contended with him saying... "You went in 01:06 to uncircumcised men and ate with them." 01:10 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning..." 01:16 So he's going to tell them everything that happened. 01:18 ... saying: "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a 01:21 trance, I saw a vision, an object descending like a great 01:24 sheet let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. 01:27 "When I observed it intently and considered, I saw 01:31 four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, 01:34 creeping things, birds of the air. 01:36 And I heard a voice saying to me, "Rise, rise Peter; Kill 01:40 and eat." "But I said, "Not so, Lord! 01:43 He walked with Jesus for 3-1/2 years - this is some time 01:48 after Christ's death, he'd still never eaten 01:51 any unclean food and he said, "For nothing common or 01:55 unclean has at any time entered my mouth." 01:58 Why would God say, "Rise and eat and kill?" 02:02 This reminds me of what he did in Jeremiah 35 02:06 when he said, (we don't have time to look at it) 02:09 but He told the prophet, "Go to the Rechabites 02:12 and invite them and come and tell them to drink wine." 02:16 He knew (God knew) that they wouldn't. 02:21 The prophet goes, he brings them in and these guys are 02:24 going... "Absolutely not, we've been taught not 02:26 to drink wine." And then God uses them 02:28 as an example saying, "See, they still mind the words of 02:32 their Father, why don't you listen to Me?" 02:35 So this was kind of a test of Peter. 02:37 And Acts 11:9 continues... He said, "The voice answered me 02:41 again from heaven, "What God has cleansed 02:44 you must not call uncommon." 02:47 He's already defined the answer in Acts 10:28- when he said, 02:55 "Here I was wondering about this dream, 02:58 but God has shown me that I should not call any 03:02 man common or unclean." 03:05 That is what the vision was all about. 03:08 Then he says... okay, verse 10, happens three times, 03:13 gone back up to heaven, then suddenly there's men 03:15 standing outside where I was, having been sent from 03:20 Caesarea, then the Spirit (I love this verse) 03:25 ... the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing." 03:28 This shows that the Holy Spirit is a person. 03:32 The Holy Spirit speaks to people - He leads people, 03:36 and He is an individual. 03:38 And then He says, "Moreover six brethren accompanied me." 03:43 Boy, he was smart enough to take along six Jewish brethren. 03:47 And when I say, "Jewish," they're Christian, 03:49 but of the Jewish heritage as witnesses. 03:53 I mean, he took them along, I know, on purpose. 03:55 "And he told us how he had seen an angel standing 04:00 at his house saying, "Send men to Joppa and look for Peter. 04:05 He's going to tell you words by which you and your whole 04:07 household can be saved. 04:09 And as I began to speak, he says in verse 15, 04:13 the Holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning. 04:20 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said, 04:23 "John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be 04:27 baptized with the Holy Spirit." 04:31 So obviously, the six Christians that have the Jewish background 04:37 that are with him, they see God has poured out 04:40 the Holy Spirit and unquestionably, the Holy Spirit 04:43 led them to baptize them into the name of Christ. 04:46 And verse 18 says... "When they (this is the people 04:51 there at the church in Jerusalem) heard these things 04:54 (it was like "shut my mouth") they became silent and they 05:00 glorified God saying, "Then God has also granted to the 05:04 Gentiles repentance to life." 05:06 Now I don't know if they thought this was going to be 05:08 a one-time occurrence, but certainly the Holy Spirit 05:12 had other things in mind. 05:13 Let's jump down to Acts 11:19-24, we'll see what 05:17 happened next in the early church. 05:20 Acts 11:19 says... "Now those who scattered after the 05:24 persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as 05:27 Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word 05:32 to no one but the Jews only." 05:36 So as in the early ministry of Paul, these scattered 05:39 Christians first went to the synagogues, 05:41 and they preached to the Jews. 05:43 But verse 20 says... some of them were men from 05:47 Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, 05:50 spoke to the Hellenists, (now there's good manuscript 05:55 evidence that this word should 05:57 be rendered Greeks instead of Hellenists. 05:59 I mean he's talking about Grecian Jews... 06:02 I mean Hellenists were Grecian Jews... 06:06 He's talking about talking to the Gentiles here. 06:09 So and if that rendering is followed, it makes more sense 06:15 why he says, "Jews only" in the preceding verse, 06:18 and now these are bold enough to talk about Jesus... 06:22 And you notice... if he had been talking to Jews, 06:25 the Hellenistic Jews, it would have said - he would have been 06:28 telling them about the Messiah, but he's talking about 06:31 Jesus to the Gentiles! 06:32 So 21, says... "The hand of the Lord was with them, 06:35 and a great number believed and turned to the Lord." 06:40 These people had been driven and scattered from their homes, 06:45 and these anonymous laymen, we don't know their names, 06:51 but they were aggressive in their approach to evangelism. 06:55 God had converted them, He had redeemed them, 06:58 He had changed their lives, and, man, they're ready to 07:02 share what is going on in their life. 07:05 And you know, this is one of the most wicked... Antioch 07:09 was one of the most wicked Pagan cities 07:13 in the whole Roman Empire, and there were a great 07:17 number of people, the Bible says, who believed and 07:21 turned to the Lord and the church starts turning 07:25 the world upside-down. 07:27 Verse 22... "The news of these things came to the ears 07:30 of the church in Jerusalem and they sent out Barnabas 07:34 to go as far as Antioch. 07:36 Barnabas had a great reputation for piety and being 07:39 filled with the Holy Spirit, an encourager. 07:42 And who better to send to encourage and investigate 07:47 the Jews from Cypress, than a Jew from Cypress, 07:51 you know - so the church sends him out and in verse 23 it says: 07:56 "When he came and had seen the grace of God... 08:01 because a great number of Gentiles had been saved 08:04 by the grace of God, Barnabas was glad and 08:09 encouraged them all that with purpose of heart... 08:14 (in other words, with planned action, he is telling them here 08:20 that they should continue in the Lord; in other words, 08:23 once you had a revival, don't let the enthusiasm wane. 08:29 He's saying, "With purpose of heart keep it up, 08:32 remain loyal - don't backslide, don't apostasize, 08:37 but persist in walking in Christ's footsteps. 08:39 And then Luke records, in verse 24 and said... 08:42 "For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit 08:46 and of faith and a great many people 08:49 were added to the Lord." That's good news. 08:51 This is the same description that Luke used of Stephen... 08:55 That he was a good man, filled with the Spirit. 08:59 So apparently, Barnabas went to do more than just to 09:04 observe, he ended up, per se being the first 09:07 senior pastor there at Antioch. 09:11 He stayed by, he encouraged them and there is 09:14 500,000 people in Antioch and so Acts 11:25-26 09:20 "And Barnabas said, "Hey I need help here." 09:22 It says," Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 09:26 And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. 09:29 So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the 09:33 church and taught a great many people. 09:36 And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." 09:39 So we see that persecution spread the gospel beyond 09:45 Judea and Antioch became the launch pad of Paul's 09:50 missionary efforts to the Gentiles. 09:52 Wow! Amen, praise the Lord! Covered well! 09:55 That's a walk through Antioch, I mean through the 09:58 whole story and then it gets really sweet as it goes on. 10:03 So Pastor Kenny, it's up to you now. 10:06 The ball is in your court. Well and kind of drawing 10:08 from what each one has said so far in Acts 15:1-2... 10:13 there are two points because this is Wednesday's lesson 10:16 and it's talking about what two issues cause serious 10:20 conflict in the church. Okay. 10:22 Well it has to be what we've been mentioning here; 10:24 one of them first was in Acts 15:1-2, when we read it, 10:27 but I want to bring out some other points I think 10:29 is very interesting because the brethren got together 10:32 and it's like they do a lot of times nowadays... 10:34 and they'll come up with some kind of point of doctrine 10:37 or teaching and they'll say to you, Pastor, 10:39 "This is a salvational issue," that means you're going to have 10:43 to listen because that's what.." Well, you know it's in 10:46 chapter 15:1, it said here... "Ye cannot be saved - unless 10:51 you're circumcised," you can't be saved. 10:53 So they're saying this is a salvational issue, so everybody 10:55 better listen up... in Galatians so that's one point, 10:59 and it certainly goes deeper, Galatians 2:11-14, 11:02 here we find that there was a rebuke of an inconsistent, 11:07 I want to say "a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ," 11:10 of Peter because Peter was one who, after the council 11:14 and after a kind of permission, 11:15 but not really to hang out with the Gentiles. 11:17 He spent time with them, he ate meals with them, 11:20 but when the brethren came around, he was a ghost! 11:23 He didn't show up... so it caused confusion, 11:27 not only with the leadership, but also with the 11:29 Gentiles because they're saying, "Now wait a minute, 11:31 what's right here?" He did this before... 11:33 And sometimes, as Christians, we have that - we'll do 11:36 certain things, but if the Pastor is around, 11:38 we may not say or do that very thing... 11:40 so you have to be very careful with that! 11:42 Today, we do, we hear the same thing - it's salvation, 11:44 and you have to listen to it, 11:46 and it might be or it might not be - so I always 11:49 have ears to hear, to listen and then to decide 11:52 by the word of God - is it something we really 11:53 need to get sidetracked with or is it something 11:56 we need to really study to find out. 11:57 So many claimed, at that time, certainly to follow Jesus; 12:01 following the teachings of Jesus that we know 12:03 they were teaching - the Jews were teaching for doctrines... 12:06 we call it "commandments of men." 12:08 They are teaching things that after Christ died on Calvary, 12:11 that no longer pertained. 12:14 They could be of no value any longer, but they were 12:16 still putting these practices and teachings out there 12:18 and demanding everybody follow in the footsteps, 12:22 so we find the typical service, we find in ceremonies, 12:26 Colossians 2:17 talks about it's a "shadow, a shadow," 12:29 which these things were abolished at the cross we know. 12:34 The shadow, as we read many times, the shadow ceased 12:37 to exist in the substance... when the substance was there, 12:40 but the shadow is gone. 12:42 The antitypical Lamb of God became what? 12:44 Became the offering! That's right. 12:46 And so they were still trying to push things, so we have here 12:49 an account of the first major, at least from what I can 12:54 figure out here, the first major problem 12:56 that confronted the church. 12:57 And if you're in a church and you have church fellowship 13:00 and you're dealing with people, I guarantee you, 13:02 you're going to have issues. 13:04 There are issues going to be coming out and it's so nice 13:06 to be able to have a pastor who knows the word of God. Amen! 13:10 And so that way, he can understand what's going on, 13:12 and he can - I want to say, "nip it" some time 13:14 before it's gets too carried away because if you let 13:16 things go sometimes, Pastor, you find out, most of us here, 13:19 if you let it go too long, it festers up 13:21 and it's really, really, really a mess! 13:22 So the first major controversy problem in the church, 13:26 we're looking at here, that we knew it was going 13:29 to surface - as you study this, you knew - what? 13:31 How did you know it was going to surface? 13:32 Because the church started to grow and you also 13:35 realized that as soon as the message got farther than 13:39 Palestine - when they began to get out and to reach 13:41 other people, there is going to be others that are going 13:43 to rise up against it, we do know that. 13:45 And the first converts to Christianity were Jews, 13:49 we realize, but what did they do? 13:51 They retained most of their practices and they retained 13:55 most of their prejudices that have been talked about here. 13:58 And so the Gentiles, they said, "Come to church if you want, 14:02 even those they said was filled with the Holy Ghost, 14:04 and we want them into the church, but you know what? 14:06 You still have to be circumcised. 14:08 That's kind of an interesting thought! 14:10 Recognizing the Holy Ghost calling; recognize the 14:12 Holy Ghost approved; but yet you still 14:15 have to go through these rituals to be one of us. 14:18 So, you know, Judaizing - to me, was a very hard thing 14:22 in my thinking and some could maybe disagree if they want. 14:25 This really affected, in a sense, Paul. 14:29 It affected his writings; it affected the New Testament. 14:34 All over the New Testament, you'll see there were things 14:36 that had to be written about this. 14:38 It affected the post-apostolic times even there with 14:42 the Christianity literature, so this was a major 14:45 issue and it continued right on down... 14:49 all through Paul's ministry. 14:50 It was like, bless his heart, he just had to fight. 14:54 He just had to endure and I think that's what God 14:56 tells us today and when something is right, 14:58 we stand up and we fight with the 15:00 word of God - that it is right. 15:02 A question... "Why didn't Jesus make this issue 15:04 a little more clear?" 15:06 Now my brother said one time, he said, "Well for Pete's sake," 15:08 if it's alright to say that... he said, "For Pete's sake, 15:10 if Paul had just said things a little bit clearer, 15:12 we could all understand it!" Laughter... 15:15 He was younger, you know, he talked in circles 15:18 sometimes but, you know, he was talking pretty deep. 15:20 And so, but sometimes we say, "Man, just make it clear, 15:23 just tell me - is it right or is it wrong?" 15:25 So we want to know... "Why didn't Jesus just come up 15:27 and say, "Hey, this is the way that it is." 15:28 Well, as you study your lesson, you'll find out - he did 15:31 generally, he explained the importance of religion 15:34 as being of the soul, right, and not of outward observances. 15:39 And so Jesus talked about that many times and I thought that 15:42 that was just gold right there. 15:44 You know God has a plan for His church - we know that. 15:47 What was God's plan for His church? 15:49 Here we have a church that's growing and beginning to 15:51 do well, and so growth with the devil comes in, 15:52 opposition - people begin to complain and gripe 15:55 and separation, division and a little group over there, 15:57 a little group over there... 15:59 But God's plan, I think, for His church is He wanted to lead 16:02 the church step-by-step, that just truth 16:05 on top of truth each time... that would answer the 16:08 questions that confronted the church. That's right. 16:11 And that's what we do, you say, "Well yeah, but how 16:13 is it done?" 16:15 I'll tell ya one thing, it's not done by 16:16 changing Scripture and it's not done by compromising. Amen! 16:20 It's done by searching the Scripture. 16:22 Jesus says, "For in them you think you have eternal life, 16:25 and they are they which what? ... testify of Me." 16:28 Romans 15:4, real quickly says, "Whatsoever things were 16:31 written aforetime - what were they written for? 16:34 For our learning that we, through patience, 16:36 notice and comfort of the Scripture might have hope." 16:39 Those things that are written, they're good, we can hold on to. 16:42 New light is going to come, we know that the new 16:44 churches are growing. 16:46 Today, I find things - I'm learning all the time, 16:48 and praise God for that! 16:49 But new light - God knew would come in the early church. 16:52 But also, He said right here that we need to be aware, 16:55 and when the new light came, it would solve problems 16:58 that would develop, but the church had to be studying; 17:01 but the church had to be praying; the church had to be 17:05 witnessing - doing our part but staying in the study of 17:09 Scripture and if problems then arose and they couldn't 17:13 quite be settled, this was about the Jerusalem here, 17:16 you know, they'd take the problem and it would be 17:18 solved in Jerusalem by the apostles 17:19 and the elders and so on and so forth. 17:21 I think it's nice some time that if we have a problem, 17:24 maybe it's a little too big, we can't handle it, 17:26 that we can talk with one another. Yes 17:28 We can pray about the issue. That's right. 17:30 And then we all would be led back - what does God say? 17:33 It's not what this group said, it's not what he said, 17:36 or what she said... what does the word of God say 17:38 that's the bottom line. 17:39 Now look at this lesson quickly about the bottom line 17:41 on here is - because there's so much conflict, 17:44 things that were going on, but yet when you had Peter 17:47 when he was really ready to go and ready to fight again, 17:49 and Barnabas when he was ready to go do his thing, 17:51 and Paul was doing his deal... we find out they shared 17:54 what God had revealed to them. 17:56 They shared the mighty workings of God 17:58 for the Gentiles and they preached from the heart, 18:02 when they told their experience - just like when I 18:06 hear one of you said - "You know this is how I met God." 18:09 "This is how I was born again." 18:11 This is what happened! It's exciting! 18:13 And you will listen every time. 18:15 So they began to relate these things... 18:17 Peter said in Acts 15:11, he simply said, "We believe 18:21 that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18:24 we shall be saved in the same manner as they," 18:28 (Peter was talking about the Gentiles) 18:29 So, you know, we find these very interesting. 18:33 If we are, and that's today too, that's talking to you, 18:36 that's talking to me, that's not just - well, that's 18:38 back, you know, in the New Testament or the Old Testament. 18:40 If we're holding on to traditions, sometimes they're 18:44 not easily given up. That's right! 18:47 Sometimes pride won't let us give some things up, 18:49 but notice this and I think good news is 18:52 we can be, through the light of the gospel as it is shared 18:56 as we read, as we study, and certainly we must first 18:59 have a willing heart and a willing mind. That's right! 19:01 But it's hard, it's hard to give up. 19:03 And I find out myself, it's hard to give up certain things 19:05 that you just thought that this was the way that it is, 19:07 and I'm just not gonna give it up. 19:09 You know, the other way is, "God has blessed me all 19:11 these years," and you've heard people say this, 19:13 "I'm not gonna..." Be open to the word of God. 19:15 Let God's word speak to you and I'll tell you 19:17 that if you have a willing heart and mind, 19:18 God is going to do great things for each and every one of us. 19:22 So I encourage you, if you have problems or issues 19:23 in the church, get into the word of God; 19:25 study the word of God; sit down and counsel together; 19:27 pray together; work together, and I guarantee you, 19:30 God has an answer, just like He had for the early church. 19:33 All the problems will be ironed out as you set down, 19:36 as you study the word of God with an open heart, 19:38 and an open mind. Amen! Amen! 19:41 Thank you so much Pastor Kenny! 19:43 What a wonderful setting there for what I have 19:46 on Thursday which is... "A Difficult Solution" 19:50 It's interesting as we have been talking along the 19:52 panel - each one, this issue as you brought out 19:56 so eloquently, Pastor Kenny, of circumcision - of whether 20:00 circumcision was to be a salvational issue; 20:03 whether the Gentiles had to be circumcised even to become 20:06 Christians - it was a huge issue in the New Testament Church 20:10 because it went against their prejudices; 20:12 it went against their traditions; 20:13 it went against everything they had been taught; 20:16 everything the Jewish Christians knew from birth... 20:20 And so it was a complete 180 switch for their minds 20:24 to start to think something different. 20:26 So we know that there was controversy over this issue, 20:29 and that the brethren gathered in Jerusalem, 20:33 at the Jerusalem Council we call it, here in Acts 15, 20:37 to discuss the matter. 20:39 We know there was division and dissention about it 20:41 because verse 2 of Acts 15 says, "When no small dissension 20:45 or dispute arose." 20:46 So we know this was a big issue and then when they met 20:51 together, in verse 7, it says, "When there had been 20:54 much disputes," so that means even after all the 20:58 representatives, you could say, from the various 21:01 churches had come together to Jerusalem - the leadership 21:04 of the church had gathered to address this matter 21:08 once and for all to settle it, 21:09 and to figure out what was to be done. 21:11 Even then among the leadership, there was great discussion 21:15 and dissension. 21:17 Then we see where the leaders spoke... 21:19 As you mentioned, Pastor Kenny, Peter rose up... 21:22 Now he was one of the leaders in the early church, 21:24 and he rose up and he spoke, and I love this Scripture 21:28 you read in verse 11... "But we believe that through the 21:32 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the 21:34 same manner as they." 21:36 And he said...Here, this is what happened when I went to 21:41 Cornelius' house and this is how the Holy Spirit was 21:45 poured out and this is how I understood that God is 21:48 no respecter of persons and that the Gentiles, too, 21:51 can become Christians. 21:52 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke and they shared their 21:56 experience and how they had shared the gospel 22:00 with the Gentiles and how they had become Christians, 22:03 and received it as well. 22:04 And then James, he is the leader of the church and he spoke. 22:09 Now we know this James is not James the son of thunder. 22:13 This is not John's brother, the disciple because 22:17 that James was already killed. 22:18 In Acts 12, Herod stretched out his arm and killed James. 22:22 This is James, probably, the brother of Jesus and he was 22:27 a leader in the New Testament Church as well, and he spoke, 22:30 and when he spoke, (we are in verse 14) he said, 22:34 "Simon Peter has declared how God, at the first, visited the 22:37 Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name." 22:40 So he reiterates the experience that Peter had already had; 22:44 then he quotes from Scripture to validate Peter's 22:49 experience. 22:50 I think that's important when we're involved in any 22:52 discussion or controversy. 22:54 We don't just gather together and we don't just 22:56 share our experience. 22:57 We need to share a "Thus saith the Lord." Amen! 23:00 He quotes from the Book of Acts. 23:02 Acts 15:16-17, and he says... "After this, I will return 23:09 and we'll rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down; 23:12 I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up; So that the 23:15 rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles 23:20 who are called by My name, 23:21 Says the Lord who does all these things." 23:24 So James is saying... Listen, Amos prophesied back 23:28 in the Old Testament, what did he prophesy? 23:31 That even the Gentiles would be called by My name. Amen! 23:35 So then what is the decision of the Jerusalem Council? 23:39 He gives the decision there and then the brethren actually 23:42 wrote out the decision from verse 23 all the way 23:46 through verse 29- and we won't read it all. 23:48 #1... The decision was - God called the Gentiles 23:52 to be Christians as well and that the Gentiles 23:55 were supposed to be Christians. 23:57 #2... The Gentiles are not required to be circumcised 24:02 in order to become Christians. 24:04 We see that clearly in verse 24. 24:07 He says... "Since we have heard that some who went out 24:10 from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, 24:14 saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law," 24:18 to whom we gave no such commandment." 24:22 So James reiterates and says, Okay, the Gentile believers 24:26 do not have to be circumcised in order 24:29 to be Christians, but he does give the Gentiles 24:32 four things that they are to abstain from. 24:36 He asks them to give up customs that we would say 24:39 are inconsistent with the principles of Christianity. 24:43 The four customs would be: Abstain from foods 24:46 offered to idols; abstain from things 24:49 strangled; abstain from blood and abstain from 24:54 sexual immorality. 24:56 Now why were the Gentiles asked 24:57 to abstain from these four things? 24:59 You could say there is a twofold answer... 25:02 First, they were trying to foster Gentile-Jewish 25:06 relationships, right? 25:07 If this really bothered the Jews, then we need to 25:11 make sure we abstain from that on the Gentile side. 25:14 Leviticus 17 and 18 gives the customs - not only for the 25:17 Jews but for the "strangers who dwell among you." 25:20 So in that sense, you could say - trying to have the 25:23 Gentiles uphold to those same laws that the 25:26 strangers had to do. 25:27 But I think more importantly, the reason that they were 25:31 required to abstain from these four things 25:34 is that all four of these items are associated with 25:37 pagan worship. 25:38 The Gentiles worshiped idols; the Gentiles worshipped 25:42 false gods; they were involved in idolatry and pagan worship. 25:46 And the New Testament Church believed it was important 25:50 that it was apparent not only to other Gentiles, 25:54 but to the Christian believers that the Gentiles 25:56 had forsaken that former life. 25:59 They had put aside idol worship. 26:03 They were to abstain from food offered to idols, 26:05 and if they didn't eat it, it would show that they had 26:07 pushed aside that idol worship. 26:09 They were to abstain from sexual immorality, 26:12 and the Gentiles, especially the Greeks, engaged in 26:15 much sexual immorality. 26:16 So this shows they were becoming separate 26:18 from that old lifestyle. 26:20 They were to abstain from things strangled and the 26:22 Gentiles - that's how they killed the animals. 26:25 And they were to abstain from blood - of course the Jews 26:28 held that blood was life and the shedding of blood 26:32 was a consequence of sin. 26:34 So what was the result of this decision? 26:37 It was accepted with joy by most people. 26:41 We see in verse 30, they sent the brethren... 26:45 Paul and Barnabas with some other brethren back to 26:48 Antioch and it says, "When they gathered the 26:50 multitude together, they delivered the letter. 26:52 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 26:56 They were so excited to know that they were part 26:59 of the believers. 27:00 They were part of the body of Christ as well. 27:04 So what are the takeaways 27:06 that we can take from this lesson? 27:09 #1... Understand the time and place for discussion. 27:12 Discussion is not always to take place amongst 27:15 ourselves - there's a certain time and a place for discussion. 27:19 Mollie always says, "Never complain down." 27:22 In other words, if you have an issue, don't gossip 27:25 to someone who is your subordinate. 27:26 Don't talk to them about issues and neither should you 27:29 complain sideways to someone who is your equal. 27:31 If you have an issue, you need to take it up; take it up 27:34 to a supervisor. 27:36 So in this case, it there is an issue within the church, 27:39 we need to take it to the leadership with 27:45 the representation of the leadership. 27:46 Now in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 27:47 we have the General Conference every 5 years where 27:49 representatives all over the world gather together, 27:52 pray and seek counsel and seek God's word. 27:55 #2... Don't be afraid of discussion or discouragement. 27:58 It's not a bad thing, discussion/discouragement, 28:01 Pastor, discussion and disagreement not discouragement. 28:04 Discussion and disagreement can be a healthy thing. Amen! 28:08 Freely share and be open to hear 28:10 someone else's point-of-view. 28:11 #3... Learn to listen to leadership. 28:15 They listened to Peter; they listened to Paul 28:18 and Barnabas; they listened to James when they 28:21 spoke in the council. 28:22 Come to a decision and support the decision 28:26 once it's made - that is a very important point, 28:31 and I don't have time to read all this, 28:33 but in "Acts of the Apostles," Sister White talks about 28:35 how the entire body of believers was called to 28:38 vote upon this question. 28:39 Not the entire body but the apostles and elders were 28:42 called to vote upon this question there 28:43 at the Jerusalem Council. 28:44 But she says, "Not all of the brethren were pleased 28:48 with the decision and these men indulged in murmuring 28:52 and fault-finding with the decision that took place 28:56 here in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council, 28:58 and they worked to counteract the decision that was made." 29:03 So even though we read this and we think... 29:05 "Oh the brethren were happy." 29:06 There were some brethren that were still upset, 29:08 and who worked to counteract that. 29:10 So whatever decision is made, as a body, 29:14 on the unction anointing of the word of God, 29:17 it is our call to standby and to support that decision. 29:21 And don't be surprised by those who oppose the work of God. 29:25 Like Nehemiah, we're called to stand on the wall. Amen! 29:28 And keep doing the work of God. That's right! Wow! 29:31 What a wonderful lesson! Yes! 29:32 It's been gingerly and it's been spicy! 29:37 It's not gingerly, it's spicy! Yeah, spicy! 29:39 Greg, let me give you some chance to summarize 29:41 what your day was about. Okay. 29:42 I'm actually going to go to Acts 10:34-35 and it says... 29:47 (this is after Cornelius has shared his story with Peter) 29:50 Peter says, "And he opened his mouth and said, "Of a truth 29:53 I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 29:56 But in every nation he that feareth God and worketh 30:00 righteousness, is accepted with God." 30:03 I need to do likewise. Amen! 30:06 You said that preconceived opinions is what causes 30:09 prejudice and preconceived opinions CAN effectively 30:13 insulate our mind against the truth. 30:15 So what my day was about was "The Spirit is Leading," 30:20 and we need to follow the leading of the Spirit. 30:23 As you've been talking about what happened at the 30:25 Jerusalem Council, it was only a handful of the sect of the 30:29 Pharisees who were saying this and they were the ones 30:33 that kept going out and working against the Spirit's leading. 30:37 Amen! I found out something 30:39 interesting - our Fundamental Beliefs, we talk about here 30:41 in practices and lifestyle make us a unique people. Amen! 30:46 Three seconds Jill... 30:48 It's an incredible blessing to be a part of the body 30:50 of Christ and work through issues. Amen! Amen! 30:53 Paul says, "Our citizenship is in Heaven." 30:55 Philippians 3:20, "Let's look 30:57 not where we came from, but where we're headed. 30:59 May the Lord bless you until we meet you again. |
Revised 2018-11-15