Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
Today, we're going to talk about communication.
It's kind of a practical message, but it's so relevant to all of our lives.
You're going to connect on so many things in this because we all experience it constantly.
But the title, communication is key in God's kingdom.
You know, we as believers are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we receive Jesus Christ,
He comes and dwells in us, right? So we have the same Holy Spirit.
So the Holy Spirit has a character that is predictable. He is good because He is God,
right? He represents God in us and to the world. And so we have that same Holy Spirit.
And yet there are diversities of gifts, of ministries, activities, but all work through God
throughout all in all. He works through all of it. All the different manifold mysteries of the
Holy Spirit may look different, but it's the same person, the Holy Spirit. And He's the same
in all of us. And yet it looks very different, doesn't it? Because in many ways, we have
different callings, different giftings. He has us in different spheres of influence.
And so it looks different as the Holy Spirit is guiding us, but it's still the same character
and quality of the Holy Spirit. And so even though each of us kind of have this unique ministry,
in a sense, we all work together, don't we? Because the Lord doesn't call one person to do
everything, does He? Most of the time He calls a couple, several, or a lot of people to do
one thing together. So He's working together through us. And that's why we're compared to
being a body of Christ and different members of that body, but He is the head of the body.
And so as members of one body, we have to communicate well together, don't we? We have
to communicate so that we can not trip over one another, not offend one another if at all possible,
and to work together. So we need to communicate. Communication is so essential, isn't it?
Because if there is no communication, what happens? Chaos kicks in, you know?
Misunderstandings, disappointments, and wherever there is a vacuum of communication, who gets in
there? Satan gets in, he loves, he loves vacuums. He fills vacuums. Wherever there's a misunderstanding
or things not spoken, he gets right in there and starts creating division or even starts creating
false narratives. That's just what he does. He loves it. So we need to communicate. The more we
communicate with each other, the more we understand and the more we realize, oh, I get it now. You
call it this, I call it that. It's the same thing, right? Terminology. How many times has
terminology gotten people in trouble, thinking that we totally disagree, only to realize, actually,
we completely agree, you know? And so communication is so important. And throughout the ages,
a lot of times when there's been a move of the Holy Spirit, it goes for a certain distance,
and then what happens? Miscommunication or lack of communication starts to manifest,
and the enemy gets in there and starts to cause disruption, right? And that's happened many times.
And when you go back throughout history, we see that the Holy Spirit moves in powerful ways.
You're like, if it would only just continue. Remember, in 1906, the Azusa revival, right?
The Holy Spirit was moving powerfully. And it was this black pastor, Seymour,
William Seymour, William J. Seymour, right? And he had gone to Los Angeles, California,
and he had been ministering, being moved by the Holy Spirit. And people of all different races were
coming to this church, and the Holy Spirit was moving in powerful ways. People were speaking in
tongues. There were miracles. It was amazing. And it was the Holy Spirit because something new
was happening. You know, in 1906, I mean, people weren't interracial gathering together. It just
wasn't a thing, right? And here, the Holy Spirit was unifying people. Disregard of any race or
background, nationality, anything, he was unifying them. And it was such a powerful time,
and it really moved. But what happened is miscommunication and disagreements and confusion,
because all of a sudden, like, oh, I don't think we're supposed to be doing that. The Holy Spirit
doesn't look like that. Yes, it did. And it still does, right? And then in the Jesus movement,
when suddenly, you know, church was a place where people, you know, got dressed up. They wore
their best. They went into the house of the Lord. And I think that's awesome. You know,
I mean, I would do it. If you want to wear, start wearing suits, I'll wear a suit.
It's up to you guys. All right. I'll do whatever you want to do. See, some of you are
in your hands. Some of you are wearing them. Praise the Lord. You know, I think it's great,
right? But I kind of just want to fit in with everybody else, right? And so,
but at the same time, during this move of the Holy Spirit in this Jesus revolution, in a sense,
in the late sixties, early seventies, you know, these people were coming into church.
They did the same thing every day. And all of a sudden, these hippies were coming in the door.
And they're half dressed. They're wearing bare feet. You know,
you don't wear bare feet. They have bare feet and they're dirty, right?
Dirty bare feet. And they're walking in. And well, you know, the old fuddy duddies are like,
like, look at this. Like, how can we let people walk in like that? It's disgusting.
And look at their feet. And we just installed new rugs. This is a real story, right? We just
installed new carpets and they're coming with filthy, dirty, bare feet, destroying the carpet.
We can't let this happen. They need to really better represent Jesus Christ by wearing nice
clothes when they come into the house of God. That's not what God was doing.
He was calling people in just the way they were, meeting them just the way they are and say,
no, I want your soul. People were realizing it's not really about the outside. Yeah,
we can dress up and look good, but it's about the inside, right? He wanted to redress our souls,
right? And it didn't matter about what we wore. And that's suddenly they realized, wow,
we don't have to get beautiful to come into the house of God. We come just the way we are.
In fact, the most filthy of sinners can wear beautiful clothes, right?
So suddenly the Lord was doing something new, but it caused chaos because it was a lack of
communication. In fact, there's a story of Chuck Smith's, I think Calvary Distinctors are one of
them. He's the founder of, he's not the founder, but he was the first pastor of a Calvary Chapel,
really. And he told this story of how when these hippies came in and everyone was
complaining to them, you know, the people that had been there in the church for a long time,
and they said, how can you let this, this is like a disgrace. And look, the ruining our new carpet.
And he said, well, then tear up the carpet. And then I love the, I love the quote. He says,
you see that, see that front door? If you don't like what's happening, it swings both ways.
Wow. You know, because you know, it's all about people getting saved,
discipled and following Jesus. Sometimes people just can't hang with it and they have to leave. Okay.
But communication, it's so important. And then just recently, the Asbury revival, you know,
that was in Kentucky, that little town, and I don't know a ton about it, you know,
but it seemed like the Holy Spirit to me. I mean, people were repenting and,
but a lot of people started saying, wait a minute, there's, there's not much
doctrine being preached there. Okay. How do we know this is the Holy Spirit? Well,
people are bawling their eyes at rededicating their lives. That might be a hint, right? But like
they're saying, and there's no like mentors there. These are all students just going up
and just bawling their eyes out and repenting and, you know, how can this be the Holy Spirit?
Like that looks like a Holy Spirit to me, right? I mean, you know, so it was all real. And yet
there can be miscommunication. So we do our best to bring clarity to every situation, don't we?
It's so important. I mean, there will always be fall off or fall out or whatever. People always
say, no, I can't hang with this. I want to stick to what I'm used to. Okay. We love you.
And you have to serve God the way you want to serve Him. Okay. But we just have to communicate
so we can part in love and in peace. In fact, I'll never forget when I came from a Baptist
church and we wore nice clothes when we went to church, right? And you dressed up and, you know,
and then the first Calvary Chapel, I went to the worship leader. Okay. I'll never forget
John Amick. Okay. And, and he's leading worship in shorts and sandals. And I'm looking at him and
judgment all over me, baby. I'm like, are you kidding me? Your feet probably stink if I was
close enough. And you have sandals on and, and shorts. Like that was to me a disgrace. Okay.
And, and I missed something. Wait a minute. Jesus wore sandals. Okay. I mean, so we could really
just be off track based on our presuppositions and what we're used to. Okay. But communication and
actually the Lord communicated directly to me. I didn't even need to say so, but somebody come
up to me and say, what do you think Jesus wore? So the Holy Spirit said, what do you think Jesus
wore? Like, Oh, I'm starting to get it now. You know? And so I say all this because we're going
to read about an encounter with Peter and it was all about communication and it was the Holy
Spirit moving, but people didn't understand what just happened. And so they were upset
and they were questioning, even criticizing Peter, of all people criticizing Peter. And yet the way
Peter responded to me tells me so many things, because I need to learn from this message.
If nobody else learns anything, I know I did and still will. Okay. Because I need to learn
because Peter responded in such a brilliant way and the Holy Spirit just continued to grow in,
in believers. Right. And so just a little recap. Last week, last couple of weeks where we shifted
from Paul to Peter and he went down. In fact, we have a map, if you can put it up there.
And he went from Jerusalem down to Lidda. Okay. And this is kind of also modern Israel here.
You'll see these, you know, these different areas, but he went from Jerusalem down to Lidda where he,
he raised up that paralyzed guy that was paralyzed for eight years. Actually it wasn't him, of course,
it was the Holy Spirit in him. And then he'd went down to Joppa and raised Tabitha from the dead.
Remember that? And he stayed there for a little while with Simon the Tanner. And then suddenly
Cornelius had this vision from God and he was told, you go and get this guy named Simon Peter,
who is staying at Simon the Tanner's house. Cause he has a message for you. And so last week we
heard about how, how Peter left with six other guys arrived there and he went in and he's like,
you know, it's not even lawful for me to be here. And, you know, but the Lord has shown me that,
you know, don't call anything unclean that I have made clean. And as he started preaching
and as he's preaching, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. They're shouting out in tongues.
And he said, the Holy Spirit has been given to the Gentiles and they were baptized. And Peter
stayed several days with them in their house. So an amazing thing just happened. Okay. It's not
just like a non Jew. It was, it was a Roman, a Roman soldier. I mean, the very enemy, right? To,
to a Jew, because they're being oppressed by the Romans. And so that's what just happened.
So now Peter, where we pick it up is he leaves there and he starts coming back to Jerusalem.
We don't know the route or he probably stopped back at Joppa got a stuff, whatever, but he's
on his way back. And now he's arriving in Jerusalem and we're going to hear about the
backlash of just what happened. And I've lived through backlash. Okay. And, and I've seen it.
And it's, well, we'll go back to that, but it's well, anyway, let's start reading. Ready?
So we're looking at only 18 verses in Acts chapter 11. Sorry, I should have told you
in the beginning, but anyway. So verse one, we're only stopping once in this. So,
okay. Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also
received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision,
in other words, his fellow Jews, contended with him, saying, you went in to an uncircumcised
men and ate with them. So let's just stop there is the only stop we're going to make right here.
But so they contended with him. So the word contended, if we have that word,
if you could put that up there, diachrono. Okay. Yours might say criticized, you know,
if you have an ESV or if you have an IV or some others, but they criticized them. And that word
really means just what you would think it means. But like, it's to discern, separate, judge. Okay.
In a sense, kind of ostracized, like, what did you just do? Let's, you know, let's,
let's not let him in. We got to like, kind of distance ourselves from him after criticized. So
in other words, he was like, repulsive to them because he had gone in and shared with the
Gentiles. And it shows how many times they're used to your doubting, judging, you know,
so they were really hostile towards him in a sense. Okay. When they heard what he had done.
Now, what was so bad about what he did? Like, what was wrong? Well, even Peter, when he went
into Cornelius's house, we read in Acts chapter 10, verse 28. And he said, if you could put that
verse up, he, when he went in, he says, you know, it is unlawful for me to be in this house right
now. Okay. To keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I
should not call any man common or unclean. So Peter thought he was doing something naughty too.
When he went into the house, I shouldn't be here. But why was it ever God's law
that said you can't eat with Gentiles? It wasn't. It was a man's law. It was something that
developed over years. In fact, it was the opposite. I found some verses to prove this
in Leviticus, 1933 to 34. He says, if you could put, there you go. And he said, you shall treat
the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself,
for you are strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So treat them like one of your
own. And not only that, but Deuteronomy 1429 says, and the Levite mean, and that was a priestly
tribe, right? The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you. And the sojourner,
that's a foreigner, that's a non Jew, right? The fatherless and the widow who are within your
towns shall come and eat and be filled that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of
your hands that you do. In fact, they say when they came out of Egypt, they even had sojourners,
foreigners with them that said, you know what? I want that God. I don't know about you. I don't
care what nationality I came from. When I saw that pillar of fire, I'd be like, I'm going with
them. I don't want to be anywhere else. I want to be on that side of the fire. Okay. Not this
side of the fire. I'm going with them, right? You know, it's actually what God had always
planned is to use Israel as like his evangelist. Did you know that? Like it was always his will.
He told Abraham, look, all nations will be blessed because of you. He wanted Israel to be
the compass to God. Like, oh, we got to follow the Israelites God and make him our God. And
some people did that, right? But he was, he was, so they were supposed to be the evangelist for
God, but it didn't work out that way. Because every time they got close with other people,
what did they do? They adopted their Gods. They started eating what they ate. They started
intermarrying with them and their whole, their whole sanctification was lost. And so that's why,
you know, the Messiah came. It was always planned for, but so anyway, so my, the bottom line,
it was not unlawful for Peter to go there and yet they had judged him in such a harsh way
as if it were, right? And so now there were reasons because remember there were customs
that the Israelites had to be careful of. Like they weren't supposed to eat certain foods, right?
That was considered unclean for, we don't have time to get into why, right? But, and also they
didn't sometimes wash their hands and the Lord had given them instructions on how to stay healthy
through the wilderness and beyond. I mean, perhaps, you know, the Lord gave the first,
the first instructions on how to properly prepare for a meal. Make sure you wash your hands,
right? Because it was cleansing. But back in that day, they didn't do that, you know? So,
so the Lord was preparing them and telling them to be safe around these Gentiles. But as long
as they're in charge of the meal, anybody can meet with them, right? So anyway, so let's read on.
Verse four, but Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning. That's important. But
Peter explained it to them from the beginning saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying,
and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from
heaven from all four corners, and it came to me. And when I observed it intently and considered,
I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts creeping things and birds of the air.
And I heard a voice saying to me, rise Peter, kill and eat. But I said, not so, Lord, for
nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth. But the voice answered me again
from heaven, what God has cleansed you must not call common. Now this was done three times,
and all three, and I'm sorry, and all were drawn up again into heaven. At that very moment, three
men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. And then the
Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me,
and we entered the man's house, and he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house,
who said to him, send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter,
who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved. And as I began to
speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning. And then I remembered the
word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with wooder, but you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit. If therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? Verse 18, when they heard these things,
they became silent, and they glorified God saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles
repentance to life. So you look at that whole, that whole flow. And as I'm reading that,
I'm realizing that there's a lot of things we can apply to our own lives on how to interact,
especially with other believers, when there's confusion. Because really, there doesn't need
to be confusion. If we're willing to discuss things and work through things,
more clarity is better, right? And so I figured I'd just run through some applications. I'm going
to skip over some stuff I had because I want to make sure we get to the applications and also
we get to the food sooner. No, I'm kidding. I'm not even hungry, but I think we want to get out
to that celebration. So I don't want to go late or anything. So, but let's jump in right to the
application because I think this is so, so important. So the first application is don't
assume you know the whole story, right? Because Peter showed up and they're like, you did what?
We heard about this before you got here. You went into not only a Gentile, but a Roman soldier's
household. We talked a lot last week about how this was like absurd. Like, you know,
they were the enemy. You're, you're like, you're dealing with the enemy. How could you do this?
Right. And so instead, what did they do then? But they asked questions, you know, instead of
rushing to conclusions, wouldn't it be better to just ask questions? Yeah. I'm learning that
more and more. I learned the hard way through life. I don't know why I never learned the easy
way or through someone else's mistakes. I always have to make my own. Okay. And then I learn,
right? But really asking questions is the best way to get to the core of things. Isn't it?
Just asking questions. And so they asked, you know, what is this all about? And Peter responded. As I
was thinking about this, I thought how easy it is for us to rush to conclusions and prejudge
situations. Remember when David, King David, who was not a king, he was a boy at the time,
and his dad said, Jesse sent David to the battlefield and to see how it's going with
his brothers, and he gave him some supplies. He shows up, and he hears this Goliath, 9'9",
Goliath in this battlefield, blaspheming God and the armies of the living God. And David's watching
this, and he's like, like, are you guys hearing this? You know? And as he's like walking around,
someone says, you know what's going to be done for the person who slays this Goliath?
The king will make him rich. He's going to give him his daughter as a wife, and his father's
household will be tax-free forever. I mean, that's, you know, wow, that's some bling, right? Okay.
But was that calling him into the battle? No. What called him into the battle was hearing this
guy defy the armies of the living God, right? So, as he's walking around, his older brother,
Eliab, sees him, talking to these people, and he's like, what are you doing here?
Why did you come here? And where are those few sheep that you take care of?
Okay, where are they at? You know, who's taking care of them right now, right?
I know why you're here because you're prideful, and you have an insolent heart. You're just,
it's all about you, isn't it? Like, they're prejudging David. Why? I mean, there's probably
a little jelly there, a little jealous probably, right? Because they know about the bear and the
lion, and he's the young, you know, he's the young brother, you know, and yet something's
different about him they could see, right? But he's prejudging David as to why he's there.
He's judging his motives, right? You just came down here to watch the battle.
I don't think so. He didn't watch anything, right? He fought the battle, right? I mean,
we can rush into judgment and prejudge people without really knowing, you know?
Eliab didn't ask any questions. He prejudged them. But another scenario pops into my mind,
and we went through it. We went through the book of Judges in Joshua 22 is when Israel was crossing
over. They all came as they were crossing over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, into Canaan.
Two and a half tribes said, we're going to stay over here. Now, a lot of commentaries agree that
that wasn't a good idea for a lot of reasons. We're not going to talk about that. But they
wanted to live on the east side of the Jordan River while everyone else lived on the west side
of the Jordan River, the true Promised Land, okay? And so because they wanted that, God just
defaulted, okay, they can do that. They can stay over there. And so we have a map there of the
divider line of the tribes. And I'm going somewhere with this, so hang in there. So
two and a half stayed there. And so they all fought together. All 12 tribes fought and took over much
of the land, right? And then towards the end of Joshua, these two and a half tribes say,
all right, we're going back home now with our families, okay? Because we left them over there.
So they go back, okay? But then they built an altar, okay? Probably right around here,
we're Shiloh, right? Somewhere around here. But anyway, probably right around here, there's Shiloh.
So they built an altar, probably somewhere around here on Canaan's side, and a big altar, okay?
And so you think, well, so what? Well, God said, when you worship me and you offer up sacrifices,
you have to go to the holy place. Everyone should be together. You don't offer up sacrifices
wherever you want to. You have to worship me the way I tell you to worship me.
So all of a sudden, Phineas and other important people of the other nine and a half tribes here,
wait a minute, the two and a half tribes, they're building an altar and they're going
to worship there instead. Like, what? Get your swords on. They're ready to have a civil war,
all because they were fearful how God will react to this, and a curse will be on all of them.
You know, a lot of times, we have to work together, right? We realize if one person
is falling away, it's going to impact all of us, right? So they said, we can't let this happen.
If they won't do what God wants them to do and all of us to do, we need to deal with it now.
So they're all heading for battle, ready to, like, give them a whooping, right?
And so they get there and there's this huge altar. What are you doing?
And you're going to offer your own sacrifices where you want to. And they're like, well,
whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, no. It's not what it looks like.
This altar is really just we're calling it witness to just be like almost like a simulator
or like a replica of the real thing in Jerusalem. That's what this is supposed to be.
It's not supposed to be a place where we actually offer sacrifices and worship to God.
We're not doing it. That's not what this is. It's really as a testimony.
That's why we're calling it witness that whenever you guys happen to come over here,
you're going to see the altar and say, they're part of us. We belong together.
And whenever they go back over to the Holy Land to worship where they're supposed to,
they're going to see that altar and say, we belong to them.
Okay. So that's not what this is. I know it looks like that, but it's not what this is.
All of a sudden they said, oh, all right, put away your swords. Sorry.
I'm paraphrasing, but suddenly because of communication, clarity happened.
You know, all of a sudden they realize we are unified.
You know, there doesn't have to be a separation.
Again, was it the best idea they stayed over there?
Probably not, but, you know, people are going to do what they do, right?
But at least this was not a divisive thing.
You know, it's interesting. I have a little quick story, a personal story that I can relate to this
because it's never, I love when God gives you this, this event and you say, all right,
that goes on that in that file. Okay.
But so way back many years ago, Jill and I just knew the Lord's leading us to something.
It's probably like 15, about 16 years ago, whatever.
And so I was talking to Pastor John and I said, you know, I know the Lord, he's,
well, just start something, start a Bible study.
And I'm like, yeah, but like, where?
He says, here, you got to go where the fish are.
That's exactly what he said.
And we were in Doyle's town at the time.
Okay.
So he like, oh, okay.
All right. So I'll start a Bible study here.
So it quickly became an outreach and it was awesome.
People got saved. It was great.
And we went out on the streets on Saturday nights and just shared the gospel and so forth.
And then we brought them down to this building and then we
had a little worship time and a Bible study and a lot of great things happened.
So in the meantime, we named ourselves The Journey, right?
And so when we would go down to Florida, okay,
a couple of times we visited this church and it just so happened to be called The Journey.
Okay.
Now, I don't know.
I really, this is on, I don't remember whether we first named it The Journey
and then sold the church and we're attracted to church.
Or we went to the church, liked it, and then named our thing The Journey.
I can't remember, right?
But in other words, we went to this church.
It was pretty cool.
And as we're there, you know, they're giving out visitor packets, right?
And along with it, they gave a t-shirt.
Okay.
All free t-shirt.
The Journey church, right?
So I'm like, cool.
So the next Sunday when we went home, I go to church.
Okay.
And I say, you know, I'm going to wear that The Journey church, right?
T-shirt.
So I put The Journey church t-shirt on.
And meanwhile, Jill and I were very plugged in to ministry there.
Like we led youth.
We were very involved.
Sundays, we stayed all three services.
We were like there for five hours, right?
Just like, and we just knew, it was so much fun, right?
But so I'm wearing this The Journey church.
And meanwhile, the pastors knew that we were starting this new ministry called The Journey.
And we're at the church wearing The Journey church.
Are you catching my drift?
I mean, just let that sit.
You think a lot of you are saying so.
So what's the chuckle about?
You have to be around a little while to realize some things, right?
When you're around a little while, you realize that ain't cool.
But I wasn't thinking.
I was like, well, we went to visit a church in Florida called The Journey church.
It's a cool shirt.
I'll just wear it, you know.
I wasn't thinking, yeah, but you got the Saturday night thing there.
And it's not a church, but what are you doing?
Right?
So I'm totally oblivious.
Pastor came to me later, you know, and he was very cool.
He's like, so what's up?
Like, are you now at church already?
And you're eight minutes away.
It's even worse.
We're eight minutes away.
We're going in, what, soliciting people for our new church?
Eight minutes away?
I mean, you know, yeah, you want God to spread out and use it,
but it's like, that's just not smart on my part, right?
But he asked, and I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
This isn't us.
That's down in Florida, Amelia Island, Florida.
That's where that church is.
We're just, yeah, that was pretty dumb.
Sorry.
But you understand, but communication.
A lot of times, my whole paradigm was not,
I'm wearing a church to get people in it.
That wasn't it at all.
In fact, soon after that, we realized, no,
this is just an outreach.
We serve here at this church in Chalfont.
So God really then clarified things to me,
and I realized that was just not wise.
You know, a lot of things we could do innocently, right?
Just like the altar, right?
That's not what that is, but clarity.
Communication is so important.
Otherwise, if we just assume we know the whole story,
okay, well, I won't go into what the Three Stooges say about assuming.
Only a couple of you ever watched the Three Stooges?
But we're in church, and we can't say that.
So anyway, and I shouldn't have put it there either.
Sorry.
Forgive me, Lord.
But so anyway, so that's the first application.
Don't assume we know everything.
Just ask questions, you know?
And what's the next application?
It's going to speed up after this,
but what's the next application we can learn, really,
is explain before you defend.
Like, here's Peter, okay?
The man, okay?
I mean, he's, you know, I mean, he gave the first,
very first Pentecostal sermon that 3,000 people got saved.
I mean, Peter was well mature.
He knew, he knew the Lord.
He had been with him from the beginning of his earthly ministry.
He just, he knew so much, right?
I mean, and they're criticizing him.
Could you imagine me and Peter like, like, you're what?
Like, you don't know anything.
This is me right now, you don't know anything.
You know, you're talking to me this way?
You think you know more than me?
No, no, Peter said, wait a minute, guys.
Let me just start from the beginning.
Let me explain everything.
That's humility.
You know, that's what I want to be like
is not being defensive.
Instead, oh, obviously there's more clarity.
Like, I really, yeah, I mean, you just need to be filled in.
Like, let me tell you why this is going on.
And again, I can relate to this
because one time when we were back at Christopher Dock
at this church, we had a couple of people
who wanted to be baptized.
By the way, if you want to be baptized,
come and see me, we'll get something going, right?
So we had about like two or three people
going to get baptized.
And I'll never forget because I said,
I think there's going to be a few more.
And sometimes I just say something
thinking if it happens, it's prophetic.
But no.
So I said, I think there's going to be 12 people
baptized here today, right?
I said it.
And so as those two or three people came up,
I don't remember how many.
They were getting baptized,
but the Holy Spirit just went boom.
Suddenly one person after another,
I want to get back, I want to get back, I want to.
And 12 people ended up getting baptized.
Is that cool?
I mean, like, just people came up in their genes
just the way they were and saying,
I don't know what I'm going to do
after I come out of that wooder,
but God will figure it out, you know?
And so 12 people, and I'm thinking,
this is, wow, this is Pentecost.
This is the book of Acts.
This is just live, you know, and raw.
Until someone came up afterwards, like,
like, don't you guys have, like,
candidate school or something?
Like, where's the baptism candidate school?
So people, and I explained it, by the way,
three weeks leading up to it,
explain baptism.
Two weeks leading up to it, explain baptism.
The day of re-explain baptism.
Come up if you are saved,
and either you've never been baptized
or when you did, you didn't fully understand it,
but, you know, fully explaining it.
Where's the baptism candidate school?
I'm like, what?
And I'll admit, I was getting a little defensive.
I'm like, are you kidding me?
Like, wait a minute.
Wait, wait, wait.
This just happened, and you're doing this?
Like, talk about, like, just, you know,
a nice flame going and you're coming up
with a nice bucket of water and just,
like, that was like,
I couldn't believe it.
I'm like, but I've learned.
I've learned that these are all teaching moments
for all of us, right?
Because you know what?
I got saved in a Baptist church.
I think we did have something like that.
I don't even remember.
But I think there was something like that, right?
And not only that, you know, but yeah,
but then I see it.
But the book of Acts,
did the Ethiopian eunuch have time to go to school?
All right, now, where do I go to this school?
Do I go back to Jerusalem for this school?
Where do I go?
You know, there was no time.
We're in Cornelius's house.
All right, hold on.
Wait a minute.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
All right, dim down the tongues.
Okay, wait till we get some water
and some schooling.
Okay, I'll be back this time next month.
No, I'll come back with some video series
about getting baptized.
And then once you fully get it, no,
there's none of that, right?
They got baptized right away, right?
So, but I was, you know,
but now I realize, well, that was his perception.
And I get it.
Like, we all come from a different background
and people we learn from
that are awesome believers and saints.
Who am I to like,
like, minimalize his perception of what just happened?
And he did understand.
We talked to him and worked through it
and he did get it.
You know, he probably didn't fully agree,
but he stuck with it.
And, you know, he was okay, you know?
And then he further learned.
I said, you know, read calorie distinctives
and this is how, you know, we just,
I was just used to it.
Like, this is what you do.
You know, people want to surrender their lives
and make a public proclamation of it.
Why would we get in the way of that?
Right?
You know, so, but don't get defensive.
And this is, number two,
is the biggest thing that I've learned.
And I'm still learning
because you just got to humble yourself
and say, who are you
to think that you don't,
they don't deserve an explanation
or clarity?
Like, who do I think I am?
Like, of course they do.
Like, don't we all want to understand
things the same way?
And even if we disagree in the end,
at least we gave proper explanation
and clarity, right?
And so, the next one,
I promise we're speeding up here,
but the next one is,
listen long enough to discern.
And notice one thing is first,
the disciples, okay,
shouldn't assume, right?
That's their part.
Don't assume, ask questions.
Peter's over here.
Don't get defensive,
but fully explain.
Now we're back over to the disciples.
The next thing is,
listen long enough.
You know how it's both ways?
Like, the Holy Spirit's in the middle
trying to bring us all together
and say, come on, let's bring clarity.
Let's bring peace,
unity, fully understanding one another.
Like, that's what he wants.
He wants us to fully grasp
what he's doing, right?
But we're choosing sides sometimes
to say, no, I'm right
and you're wrong.
When really he's like,
just listen.
You know, listen, right?
And so, listen long enough to discern.
You know, I love James 1, 19 to 20.
You know, everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak,
and slow to become angry.
For why?
Human anger does not accomplish
God's righteousness, you know?
If we're not listening,
we have two ears and one mouth.
I know you heard that before.
But really, we should be listening more
and then understanding
where they're coming from, you know?
And, you know, there's been people
that have come and they just
couldn't get past the Calvinistic,
you know, we're predestined.
Well, we kind of are,
but we're also, you know,
we also choose to receive
that predestination.
So we're not going to talk
about that today.
I just did.
Why did I?
I wish I didn't.
But anyway, you know what I'm saying?
Like, it's just like, you know,
we can move forward, you know,
and understand.
I don't fully agree with that,
but it's okay, you know,
because we're serving the same Holy Spirit
and the same Lord Jesus Christ, right?
And if the worship team could come up now
as we continue in these applications,
but really, we just need to listen more.
Ask questions, right?
And listen, give someone the benefit
of the doubt and say,
all right, maybe you're a little more
right than I am, okay?
And now I get it.
But the fourth thing is let
truth change your mind, really.
You know, it's, we have these biases,
you know, these presuppositions,
these things.
Well, this is how I was always taught.
And yet, when I hear you say it
using different terminology,
we're actually more aligned
than I thought, you know?
It's like, okay, I think we're coming
together in a truth, and it's,
and it's, and it's,
and I understand it now.
It's good, you know?
Just like the sandals,
the worship leader with the sandals,
you know, it's like,
why am I hung up on someone's garb,
you know?
And yet, I think it's wonderful,
you know, if someone wants
to wear a tuxedo,
go for it, you know?
It's like, whatever.
Now, if someone's obviously
dressed scantily, and we'd ask them
after a couple times of getting to know,
hey, you know, there's too many eyes
look in the wrong place, all right?
We need to be looking to the Lord, right?
But anyway, so the last thing,
rejoice when God is glorified.
Like, what did we just read that last verse?
Said, when they heard these things,
they became silent, and they glorified God,
saying, then God has also granted
to the Gentiles repentance to life.
I mean, isn't that what it's all about?
Glorifying God.
I don't want to be right.
I want God to be right.
In fact, so often, I find myself thinking,
I hope I'm wrong.
I hope I'm wrong about this.
I hope they're not really doing this,
or this isn't really happening right now.
I just want to be wrong.
Lord, help me be wrong.
Well, help it be right.
And if I'm wrong, that's great,
because we want to glorify God.
I love these few verses.
I chose two from Paul and one from Peter.
But in Colossians, I love the book.
I love it all.
But Colossians, God granted to make known
among the Gentiles the glorious wealth
of his mystery, of this mystery,
which is Christ in you the hope of glory.
That's what's so glorious about God,
is he is magnificent,
and he chooses to live in me.
Like, are you kidding me?
Like, why would you choose a shack like this?
Because he's magnificent.
We're jars of clay.
We're just holding him in clay,
and he's magnificent.
That's what makes him so amazing.
That's what's so glorious about him
is that he can wear you
anywhere he wants to go.
That's what the glory of God is.
The next, Colossians 3, 4,
which the verse right before that says,
for you died, past tense, you died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
So get it?
You already died, right?
And then he says,
and when Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you shall also will appear with him in glory.
You know, you can think of that
as some day in the future.
I think of it now,
because I'm already dead.
And guess what?
He's not.
And guess where he lives?
In me.
And guess what he wants to do?
Show up.
He wants to show up in you,
and that's the glory that happens.
When he shows up in a dead corpse on earth,
like you or I,
and he comes to life.
He is alive in you.
That is the glory
that Paul is writing about.
You know, because we already died,
and now we're alive in him.
For I've been crucified with Christ.
I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
And then finally, Peter himself,
what this has all been about,
Peter and these disciples,
this interaction, he said,
instead, rejoice as you share
in the sufferings of Christ
so that you may also rejoice
with the great joy of his glory,
when his glory is revealed.
You know, we rejoice
whenever he is glorified.
It's all about him.
Everything is about him.
Isn't that awesome?
It's like, if I don't matter,
and he matters,
then I don't hold offenses.
I don't have to.
I don't have to be right.
He does.
I don't have to win arguments.
I don't have to prove
why they're wrong.
It doesn't matter.
It's Christ glorified.
That's all that matters.
That's why we're still here on earth
to glorify Jesus Christ.
We get to be the temples
of the Holy Spirit.
That's what's so glorious about him.
And the more we communicate
with each other and say,
oh, okay, I could work with that.
Let me help you do this.
Let me help you do that.
Now I understand what's happening
the better.
Amen.
So let's all stand up.
You know, that suffering of Peter,
some of that suffering
is even just like kind of
interacting with one another
sometimes when we disagree
and we realize, you know,
I need to work this out.
You know, I really don't like,
you know, people that I've had
in my past.
If there's a disagreement,
I make every effort
to resolve the disagreement,
even if we disagree in the end.
It's to love each other.
You know what I mean?
Like not burning bridges,
you know, because, you know,
you burn bridges.
It's like, it's so hard
to ever go back and say,
you were right.
And I've done it.
I've done it.
I've gone to people said,
you were absolutely right.
And I was wrong.
It's so freeing when you can.
But it takes a lot of humility
to just say, okay, I get it.
You know, it's like,
we just need to humble ourselves
and be willing to,
do you hear people out
and just communicate
with each other?
So Father God,
we thank you, Lord,
that we want to represent you
and we want to love
each other better, Lord.
And even if we disagree
with each other
about some things, Lord,
help us be humble
and willing to vocalize,
verbalize our misunderstanding
or confusion.
And Lord, and when someone
comes to us
and has questions,
Lord, may we not be defensive
and irritated.
Instead, Lord God,
may we realize,
maybe all of us
are a little wrong at times
and we need clarity.
We need you to be right.
So Father God,
as we worship you
and finish up, Lord,
we look forward to a great,
a great potluck.
And Lord, we ask it in a head
that you would bless
the meal to our bodies.
Bless this food,
Lord God,
may we serve you better
and bless our fellowship
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's give the Lord
a round of applause.
Thanks for joining us
at Lansdale Life Church
as we praise God
and discuss His word.
Don't forget to join us
for Worship Live Sunday mornings
at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed
and have a great day.