Freeing Grace
Acts 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter
rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while
ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel, and believe.
There is always someone who wants rules, rules and more
rules. I was reading an article today
about actual laws on the books in California.
In one town it’s against the law to spit on the sidewalk. You are not allowed to detonate a nuclear
device within the city limits. I suppose
it’s okay to detonate it just outside of town since there is no law against it. This is just two of the laws that someone
actually took the time to write and pass.
One law says it is against the law for a vehicle without a driver to
travel at more than 60 miles per hour. I
had better be careful how steep a hill I park on. Hate to break that law.
The Jews have 613 basic laws. These are the specific laws contained in the
Torah as given to Moses by God. They
have added thousands of additional laws over the years to clarify and define
the parameters of the original laws. We humans seem to feel much better when we
can codify people’s lives to death with many rules and laws.
In Acts 15 we have just such a situation. Several Jewish leaders had decided that
Gentiles must obey Moses’ law in order to be saved. They traveled from Jerusalem to where Paul
and Barnabas were to tell them their opinions.
Paul and Barnabas thought their idea was a bunch of rubbish so all of
them chose to travel to Jerusalem and discuss it with the senior apostles of
the new Christian sect. Verse 7 above
brings us to the meeting where Peter once again speaks with great eloquence under
the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them
witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no
difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
His first point was that if God, who knows every heart, has
revealed His love for the Gentiles by anointing them with His Holy Spirit, and
has done so to uncircumcised Gentiles who have never sacrificed a single animal
for their sins. His question was, why
should people who have already received the Holy Spirit, who already spoke with
other tongues, be forced to obey the daily bondage of the laws of Moses? As Peter said, they had been saved by faith
and not the works of the law so why insist on the very works that their act of
faith made unnecessary?
Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to
bear?
The Pharisees used to disparage the common men and women of
their villages for their lack of adherence to the laws of Moses. That said, they had to admit that they only
followed those same laws perfectly by devoting every moment of every day to
them. This option was not available to
anyone who had to work hard to make a living.
What if your job was to collect dead bodies as an ancient coroner? You were ceremonially unclean every day until
evening. The same held true if you
tanned leather or did any other job that might place you in contact with death,
blood or disease.
Paul stated that he had indeed managed to live blamelessly (Philippians
3:6) and yet that very effort had been a waste of time. Peter had no such grand claims to make. He admitted that he had never been able to
obey every law of God. According to
James 2:10 he was guilty of missing the entire law of God.
Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
I love how he explains in verse 11 that if the Jews accept
the grace of Jesus that they might live up to the holiness found in
gentiles. That had to hurt. Making a statement that a gentile in
communion with Christ is holier than a Jew fully following the law of Moses
would have cut any Jew to the quick. In
spite of all their failures, they WERE more holy than the sinners around
them. All this changed when Christ came
and His Grace became the ONLY possible path to salvation (Acts 4:12). He became the true Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world (John 1:29-36).
I saw a program yesterday that described the death of Jesus
as a homicide. They acted as
investigators and tried to discover who was guilty of killing Jesus. Personally I found their premise silly since
the death of Christ was not a crime but an achievement, but they did indeed put
forth a lot of effort to figure it all out.
The suspects in the case were, Caiaphas, Pilate, Judas and even Jesus
Himself.
It was discovered that Caiaphas had the most motive and
desperately wanted Jesus dead, but he lacked the means. He was not allowed to put anyone to death
under Roman law. Pilate had all the
means in the world but he did not want to put Jesus to death and only did so
because of the crowds and his fear of starting a rebellion over one man. Judas was guilty of treachery but his actions
did not really cause the death of Jesus.
The only one who really drove this situation to its ultimate
conclusion was Jesus. He rode a donkey
into town as the Messiah (Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:5). This scared the religious leaders
terribly. He drove the money changers
out of the temple where the High Priest had allowed them to congregate (John
2:15). In doing so he declared Himself
to be higher than the High Priest and even declared God to be His father (John
2:16). He also attacked the finances of
the CHIEF PRIESTS (a made up and non-God-given title) and caused harm to their
wallets.
The crime Caiaphas wanted to kill him for was claiming to be
the Son of God (Luke 22:66-71, John 8:56-59).
Pilate cared nothing for that charge.
Caiaphas tried to say Jesus called Himself King of the Jews which would
make Him a threat to the Romans. He told
Pilate that He was not a king in THIS world.
As much as the Jewish priests wanted him out of the way, several thought
it possible He might be the Messiah and others feared the common people. Caiaphas pressed that it was better for one
man to die for the people and unwittingly prophesied the true reason for
Christ’s coming (John 11:47-52).
As High Priest Caiaphas still possessed the spiritual gifts
of his profession and used them without understanding. Peter’s statement was an indictment against
them for their lack of faith in following Jesus. He was saying that if the gentiles in their innocent
ignorance could accept and profit from this wonderful free gift then the Jews
in their pride and arrogance might even hear the call to choose Christ and
live.
Continuing Grace
Acts 15:37 And Barnabas determined to take with them
John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take him with
them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the
work.
Following the meeting of Apostles and elders in the previous
verses, a determination was made about the gentile converts. Since the vast majority of Christians are
non-Hebrew gentiles it is worth a brief examination of the standards God placed
upon gentiles via the disciples. Bear in
mind that God Himself put His word in their mouths. They did not speak their own minds, in fact
as Jews their mind would have been calling for more rules. It is evident that God had vastly trimmed the
rules placed upon the new Christians.
The final list contained only four prohibitions:
1.
Eat no food offered to idols. This is not because idols have any power, but
because people THINK they do and therefore eating food offered to idols might
cause someone to stumble.
2.
Do not eat blood products or drink blood. This one is extremely important. God said, “Life is in the blood (Leviticus
17:11).” Man has often felt that you are
what you eat. They would drink the blood
of their enemies or of powerful animals to somehow obtain their strength. Even today, hunters often drink the blood of
their first kill. This is a form of
pagan worship and God does not allow it.
Several cultures have developed food that use blood as a main
ingredient. This is against God’s
prohibitions. You would be amazed how many foods today are made using the
drained blood of cattle and other animals.
3.
Do not eat food that has been strangled. This rule was a Jewish one from the
beginning. There were proper ways to
kill an animal. The knife must be
extremely sharp and the throat cut to cause no unnecessary suffering. The animal is to be hung and the blood poured
out onto the ground so it could not be used for food.
4.
The fourth and final rule is that we abstain
from fornication. Why? Because we are supposed to be faithful to our
God. People who worship many gods are
considered adulterous by God. We are to
worship only our one true God and by example have intercourse only with the
husband or wife we are married to.
You would not think these four simple rules would be so hard
to follow but you would be wrong. Most
of us today don’t even know where our food comes from so in that respect we
ought to eat our meals with thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 10:25-28). In other parts of the world a man might kill
your food right in front of your eyes.
His faith may cause him to say a prayer to the spirit of the beast as he
slays it. Perhaps he will save the blood
for later use. We are to avoid these
things if possible and ignore them with thanksgiving if not.
It is obvious that if you heard of a particular slaughter
house that tortured their animals prior to killing them you ought to go
elsewhere for your food. The final
prohibition causes me the most grief because it appears to be the one we not
only ignore but laugh at in this country.
We have allowed college professors and psychologists to tell us that sex
is merely a recreational behavior that can ultimately cause pregnancy and
possibly disease if not done carefully.
According to God this attitude and teaching is a LIE.
There is no such thing as ‘safe sex’ outside of
marriage. A man who is married to more
than one woman has at least made a vow to each of them to love and respect them
as wives. There is no such vow or
commitment to unmarried couples. God
considers each of these lawless unions to be no better than being joined to a
prostitute. In His mind you are an
infidel who is unfaithful to Him and the one you have sex with. The fact that you are drawn to that person;
the fact that a homosexual is drawn to another of the same sex, is of no
importance to God. He expects you to
maintain your affections within the boundaries HE has established.
The truth is that your affections WILL come into subjection
to His will if you allow them no other outlet.
We human beings are subjective creatures and no matter how we might be
bent or broken into perverse affections, we can be healed and brought into
proper alignment to His will if we press in that direction and that direction
only.
Once these four prohibitions had been established and agreed
upon they chose to send the Apostles back out to spread the word. There was some contention in this area
because John Mark had gotten scared earlier and left Paul and Barnabas. Paul did not want someone with him that might
not remain faithful to the work.
Barnabas was more tender hearted and wanted to work with John Mark and
build him up in his faith. One must
consider that Paul was a Pharisee and still had times when he felt frustrated
by the immature saints. His response was
not particularly gracious in this case.
Note however that God did not allow his ministry to suffer for it. He simply worked on Paul’s heart over a
period of time.
Acts 15:39 And the contention was so sharp between them,
that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and
sailed unto Cyprus; 40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by
the brethren unto the grace of God.
This contention appeared to be a biting and damaging one but
it did have the effect of splitting two powerful witnesses, Paul and Barnabas,
into separate teams where they might reach even more souls. In that respect it almost appeared to be
heaven sent. Perhaps it was. Not all contentions and divisions are of the devil. God said our gifts and even the
administration of those gifts (how they work) are different for every single
Christian. Our God is not bound by
specific administrations of His gifts.
He loves diversity. Diversity
that goes against His Word however is sin so do not get the idea that Christ
makes all actions okay.
I love that the brethren allowed the men to work out their
differences and once decisions were made, sent them off in the GRACE of
God. Did God want them to break from
each other in anger? No. Did God take that split and use it for the
good of the kingdom? Absolutely. God does not waste any actions that can be
used for the good of the kingdom. He
continues to work on our weaknesses, expands our strengths and remains focused
on His plan of salvation.
Acts 15:41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia,
confirming the churches.
Men can argue and disagree without losing respect for one
another. This is frequently missed by
those who examine relationships. You can
respect someone’s abilities and life choices and still disagree with their methods. You can even love their methods and hate
their life choices. The point is, God
blesses us when we come to Him. He gives
us gifts according to HIS purpose and those gifts operate according to HIS
plan. I have the gift of tongues and
interpretation of tongues. Those two
gifts equal prophecy but I have had prophets tell me I could simply prophesy
and not do it in two steps. The truth
is, we have the gifts we are given and must operate in them.
If you listen to everyone who tells you how to use your gift
it can make it difficult to discover and become proficient in your gift. Our gifts are unique to the individual
saint. They MUST line up with God’s
Word, but in operation they are as unique as we are. As a minister I have observed any number of
gifts and am able to help young saints learn about their gifts and operate in
them more effectively, but I may not experience them in the exact same manner. This is the glory of God and the miracle of
God that He causes all things to work together for Good and for God.
I have had several ministers tell me to “Fear Not” and it’s
good advice. Can their words remove fear
from my life? No. Then what good is their advice? It shows me the direction God is taking me
and when their advice is given with specific scriptures (as all prophetic words
should be), it gives me a foundation to build upon. Eventually, their words, His words and a life
of faith will overcome all my doubts and on that day I will find myself exactly
where I need to be.
Perhaps I am a John Mark and take longer to grow than a Paul
(who has had decades to grow as a Pharisee under the greatest teachers). I know many outgoing, gregarious people who
simply click with others and are able to build a ministry quickly and I know
many who are shy or nervous about some things.
In my own case I know the gifts are there and understand how they
operate. I love God’s Word and enjoy
studying it and teaching it. Unlike the
natural Evangelists in our midst I find it difficult to approach people I do
not know.
That fact has hampered me in many ways but it does not hamper
who or what I am in the pulpit or in my office.
Churches should not become personality cults where a prophet begets only
prophets or an evangelist begets only evangelists. As a pastor I personally need a church with
evangelists in it. I need prophets,
teachers and the entire cornucopia of ministry gifts so my weaknesses will
always be addressed and my strengths can be utilized.
A Pastor may not have the organizational skills of an
administrator and if he or she does not have those skills they need to find an
administrator who does. An evangelist
may not be a great counselor or a prophet a great leader of men, but their gifts
are indispensible when needed. A pastor
once told me that prophets are messy (and it is true to a point), but we need
prophets. They require training and the
only true school for ministry in the bible is the school of the prophets.
They MUST learn to differentiate between God’s Words and
their own thoughts. In the beginning
they will make mistakes and the waters will be muddy. Some preachers fail to provide proper training
because it CAN appear the person lacks prophetic gifts. A non-prophetic preacher cannot train a
prophet. Prophets beget prophets because
only prophets can discern the prophetic.
Pastors train pastors and evangelists train evangelists. Prophetic pastors can train prophets and
evangelistic pastors can train evangelists but all of us NEED the rest of the
five fold gifts. We will never EXCEL
without them.
Believing Grace
Acts 18:25 This man was instructed in the way of the
Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the
things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
This man, a Jew named Apollos, knew the Hebrew scriptures
backwards and forwards and had been particularly touched by John the Baptist’s
ministry. He was a powerful orator and
spoke in the synagogues often. John’s
baptism of repentance struck a chord in his life. He was not so nationalistic that he could not
see the need for repentance. In many
ways he was like Paul in that he knew the Word of God well, but he was open
minded and more open to the Spirit of God.
Acts 18:26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue:
whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and
expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
When everyone around you is screaming, “CONQUEST!!!” and you
hear, “repent” it can be quite uncomfortable.
I had a friend years ago who used to party with her co-workers. One day she came to God and He touched her
life. She began to study scripture at
every free moment. Her co-workers who
would have a party during office hours began to be angry with her because she
would read her Bible as they partied. They tried to have her fired for studying
during office hours. Hypocrites. Even the Jews ought to have known God
wouldn’t bless them in their sin.
Apollos preached boldly to repent and when Aquila and
Priscilla began to reveal the true Messiah to him it changed his entire
life. His repentant heart could well
understand the need for a redeeming savior before the need of a conquering
king. He fully and completely embraced
his new Lord and once that missing piece of his life’s puzzle was in place
there was no holding him back. Apollos charged ahead to do the work of God.
Acts 18:27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia,
the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was
come, helped them much which had believed through grace: 28 For he mightily
convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was
Christ.
Verse 27 says they believed through grace. Scripture says, “By grace, through faith, ye
are saved.” When you go forth and preach
the Word of God, our Lord empowers your words and brings forth living
fruit. People repent and embrace the
lifestyle. This is a time filled with
danger. If Satan can come at this time
and steal the words from your heart he will.
Many have no strength in themselves and fall immediately after
conversion (Mark 4:17, Luke 8:13).
One reason churches fail to grow is that they fail to become
a true community. We castigate parents
for failing to have meals together as a family so parents can keep abreast of
what is happening in their children’s lives but we turn around and have only
one service a week or at most two, and wonder why people’s spiritual lives
suffer. Churches should be open as often
as possible during the week so spiritual children can come and be ministered to
and their lives be spoken into at all times.
Churches that have become clubs full of entertainment are a
waste of time because there is no spiritual component to build them in their most
holy faith. Churches that ONLY offer
spiritual food and care nothing for the school, home and every day life of
their members are not a community or a real family. As a pastor, if I do not see you more than
once a week, I can’t possibly know what is going on in your life. Many people won’t call me for a counseling
session or an appointment to speak but they might come to church during the
week in the hopes of ‘running into’ the pastor.
I consider myself truly blessed to come from a church that
was open during the week days and often in the evenings. Because we had always been there for the
tweens and teens, they were comfortable meeting together as young adults. As they matured they realized there were
things they wanted to do for the Lord and began to meet on their own as mature
saints with the pastor’s permission.
Instead of flogging the sheep to get some involvement, the sheep felt
they were involved because they had become part of a community.
There is a show on television about a family called the
Duggars. They have 18 or 19 kids and
their family is practically a church unto itself. Neither parent yells at the kids and they
homeschool and train them daily. Boys
and girls learn how to cook, shop and fix the family cars and they all learn
business techniques. My point is, every
church should in some ways model their family.
Pastors are parents and since our congregations are not
required to be there we shouldn’t be screaming angry preachers. Our home (church) life should be organized,
disciplined, well behaved and filled with love.
Children should be as comfortable there as they are at home (and
hopefully well behaved at both places).
Most the time as a parent I got to sleep comfortably all night, but
occasionally one of my children would wake me and say, “Dad, I don’t feel
good.” These things happen in a church
as well. Pastors have answered a call to
parent and raise their spiritual children.
You can’t do this from the pulpit one day a week.
If you have never experienced a loving and caring home life
you may not make the best pastor. If you
find yourself unable to speak comfortably to strangers or initiate the
conversations you may not be the best evangelist. If you cannot present the word of God in an
orderly and comprehensive manner you may not be the best teacher. Whatever your gifts, callings and skills, you
must discover them and determine how they operate in YOUR life.
Learn how to live from your pastor. Make sure you have a pastor who knows how to
live. Learn how to evangelize from your
evangelist. Learn how to teach by
studying under a great teacher. One day
God will take all you have learned and place you where you can give all that information
and training back to God’s people.
Never stop growing beloved.
Don’t be offended when someone reveals your weaknesses to you. Study the scriptures they give you and allow
God’s living Word to marinate through you.
When He has largely completed His work in your life you will come forth
as pure gold.
Bishop J
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