As you will hear in this PODCAST, there is embedded within the pages of the Old Testament one standout picture (one among so many) that we must consider together.
50 chapters were devoted to the painting of this one picture. (By way of contrast, do you remember how many chapters are devoted to painting the picture of the creation of the world? Two!)
When it came to painting the picture of Christ dying for our sins once for all time, God—forgive the cliché—spared no expense in painting this one.
This podcast—my stuttering, stumbling, verbal depiction of this painting—is singularly dedicated to the enrichment of your soul.
Enjoy!
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As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, the observation is this: The precision of Bible is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
A precision that goes down to the level of its individual words and phrases.
Case in point—The. Precise. Phrase that Peter used here in 1 Peter 2:11 to describe us as committed followers of Jesus. Peter wrote,
“You are foreigners and strangers on this earth.”
As you will hear, a most remarkable statement, the ramifications of which are wide-reaching, the depths of which we will only begin to plumb in this message.
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Did you know that Adolph Hitler survived at least six—SIX!—assassination attempts?
As you will hear in this PODCAST, these six assassination attempts occurred in 1921, 1938, 1939, two in 1943, and the final attempt on July 20, 1944.
Get this: Any one of which, if successful, would have either prevented World War II—as well as the wholesale slaughter of six million of our precious Jewish friends—or brought both the war and the Holocaust to a screeching halt.
The older I get, the more questions I have.
As but two examples:
First: Why did God allow each of these six assassination attempts to fail?
I’m not now going to debate the ethics or lack thereof of political assassination in a time of war. Whether or not as Committed Christ-Followers we should support or condemn such actions is way beyond the scope of tonight’s discussion.
I’m simply asking: Would not our world have been a better place if just 1 of those attempts had succeeded?
What possible purpose could have been served by God allowing the likes of Hitler to live and to continue to torment the human race?
The failure of the final attempt on Hitler’s life is to me especially curious given the facts that A) Just 9 months and 10 days later—on April 30, 1945—Hitler killed himself in his bunker in Berlin.
And B) Tried and executed as a conspirator to that final, failed attempt on Hitler’s life? A man of far greater and more positive influence than I could ever hope to have, a man—to quote Hebrews—“of whom our world is not worthy.” I’m talking about the German pastor, theologian, and prolific writer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A precious, priceless servant of the Lord summarily executed by hanging a mere three weeks before Hitler bit into a cyanide tablet and shot himself in the head.
Had Hitler killed himself just three weeks earlier, would not Bonhoeffer’s life had been spared? Could not Bonhoeffer have then continued—perhaps for many, many years—to instruct and inspire the lives of countless Christ-followers the world over with his positive influence?
Why did God spare the life of a servant of Hell named Adolph Hitler just long enough to cost the life of a servant of Heaven named Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
God does not owe an explanation. But He does allow me to ask the question. So ask it, I will and I do.
That’s my first question.
My second question is this: Why did God allow a King named Herod Agrippa—a Jew who sold his soul and sold out his own people to the Romans in a cynical quest for power, position, and popularity—to live just long enough to destroy countless lives of Jewish Christ-followers in Jerusalem, as well as kill someone as stellar as the Apostle James?
James–brother to the Apostle John. Member of Apostolic trio—Jesus’ inner circle—Peter, James, and John? A man—to quote Hebrews—“of whom our world is not worthy.”
God does not owe an explanation. But He does allow me to ask the question. So ask it, I will and I do.
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No surprise here. As you will hear in this week’s PODCAST, the hyperactive-apostle could not sit still long enough to put pen to parchment.
There is one of the four Gospels credited to Peter—but even that he could not write himself. Peter employed Mark to record his recollections. And no surprise that in reading what could-well be entitled, The Gospel According to Peter as Told to Mark, the one word that jumps out at us in Peter’s fast-paced, out-of-breath memoir is the adverb “immediately.” (Mark uses it 42 times).
All of which is to say that on the rare occasions when Peter did park himself at a desk to inscribe his insights (only twice—1 and 2 Peter!), we should sit up and take notice.
Case in point: 1 Peter 3:15.
“If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.”
Words, BTW, that define for us a biblical approach to personal evangelism—AKA witnessing, soul-winning, sharing your faith.
When they ask, we explain.
A principle that Peter learned, and learned well, here in Acts 10. The asker—Cornelius. Explainer—Peter.
Problem was—and it’s a HUGE problem indeed—Cornelius was an unclean Gentile centurion living in the unclean pagan city-capital city of Roman occupation of Peter’s land. This was for Peter One.Huge.Problem on multiple spiritually-threatening, faith-testing levels.
In order to understand, I need to put you into Peter’s sandals. And in order to put you into Peter’s sandals, I need to alert you to what has historically been the Greatest.Single.Threat to Judaism, and BTW, to us.
Now, allow me to lay out dots, and then connect these dots.
This entire discussion centers around one divine injunction, repeated several times in the Torah.
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As you will hear in this PODCAST, it was originally preached by a layman. He had no formal training in advanced biblical studies. There is no mention of any degrees. No diploma hung on his office wall, if he had an office. We have no indication that he had studied under a leading rabbi, such as Saul studied under Gamaliel.
His only claim to fame? Stephen was (Acts 6:3) “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom”; (6:8) “a man full of God’s grace and power.” And that was certainly enough!
Stephen was a humble, unassuming man, selected by Hellenistic, Greek-speaking Jewish believers in Jesus to be one of “The Seven,” chosen to care for their neglected widows.
Through circumstances not of his choosing, Stephen was suddenly thrust into the spotlight, hauled violently before the Sanhedrin, and forced to testify on his behalf.
But instead, Stephen chose to testify on Jesus’ behalf.
And oh what a testimony it was. You talk about power.
Stephen embodied God’s power as he took the High Court on an exciting excursion through Old Testament history.
And in so doing, provided for us a most-significant warning. One that you and I desperately need to hear.
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Make no mistake about this: As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, these “rumblings of discontent,” as Luke characterized them, represented anything but some small-time, garden variety, trivial church-squabble.
What happened here in Acts 6 exposed a clash of cultures that tore asunder the awe-inspiring oneness heretofore enjoyed by the Jerusalem Christian Community.
You might remember what we observed as recently as at the end of Acts 4.
Verse 32, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
Not any more!
Now, sadly, at the beginning of Acts 6, that blessed unity coupled with their selfless generosity Was.No.More.
Something had changed.
Their fellowship fractured. Their unity dissolved into disunity. A rift developed that literally rent the fragile fabric of unity completely in half.
Again, at the risk of sounding redundant, I must stress two vitally important points before I immerse you in the nitty-gritty of what exactly was going on here.
FIRST: We make a grave error of interpretation and application of Acts 6 if we view this not-so-exemplary episode as just the first of the kinds of common conflicts that characterize so many church squabbles and skirmishes today.
This was not some intramural argument about what style of music we should have in our worship services, or the color of carpet we should install in the new Fellowship Hall. You know—the kinds of stuff over which churches so frequently split these days.
Again, this was literally a matter of life and death. The lives of the most vulnerable of these first committed Christ-followers were in jeopardy, not because of external persecution.
SECOND: Please understand that this church fight exposed an internal underlying clash of cultures that was far more serious than we might realize.
On the surface of things, a casual reader might merely relegate this Acts 6 kerfuffle to growing pains—too many people added to the church in too short a time. Rapid growth that resulted in a first-of-its-kind food-fight within hallowed halls of that first century church. Because conflict certainly does involve growth and food. But dig a little deeper and we’ll discover that growth and food were merely symptoms of a potentially deadly disease that threatened to rot the soul of this newly-founded church.
Now listen carefully: Believe it or not, this conflict involved the exact same clash of cultures that we as committed Christ-followers are attempting to navigate even today.
It is Today as it was Then.
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That’s the tone with which I want to share this PODCAST with you tonight. A tone of celebration.
A celebration of a day unlike any other.
A day that began so ordinarily; but one that ended so spectacularly, in the Holy City, on the southern steps of the Holy Temple Mount.
So many miles from this place (McMinnville); so many years from this year (2017).
Yet this was a day—the effects of which are so clearly manifested in the fact that you would not be listening to this podcast right now if this glorious day had not occurred.
We’re talking, of course, about the Day of Pentecost, in or around AD 33. Which would make this the 1,984th Pentecost weekend since the Dispensation of God’s Glorious Grace began so wondrously nearly two millennia ago.
Jesus, in Matthew 16, made this awe-inspiring declaration to jaw-dropping effect as far as His disciples were concerned (Verse 18),
“I will build my ekklesia” (Jesus’ brand new, yet-to-be-born, worldwide family of faith), “and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
Jesus began to build His ekklesia here in Acts 2, on this dazzling Day of Pentecost. Yes! On this Day of Pentecost, Jesus’ ekklesia was born! 1,984 years later, the powers of hell have yet to conquer it. In fact, as you are about to hear, despite every effort of the Evil One to silence it, the witness of Christ around the world is more powerful today than it has ever been!
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As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, the Holy Spirit came to this earth in Jesus’ absence in part to bring a supernatural unity to committed Christ-followers throughout the world.
For example, we read in Ephesians 4:3, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
That phrase “the unity of the Spirit” notwithstanding, Christians throughout the world have arguably divided more over the gifts of Holy Spirit than any other single issue. Divisions that, quite frankly, have turned spiritually toxic.
There are those who will tell you and me with some measure of intensity that if you do not speak in tongues, you are at the least not filled with the Spirit; and at the worst, not a Christian at all.
There are those who will tell you and me with some measure of intensity that if you do speak in tongues, you are believing a false Gospel and consequently going to Hell.
So as we enter this discussion, I will give to you my promise, and make to you my plea.
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Ready to hit the ground running? This is so exciting. And just remember, I Love this stuff!
As you will hear in this PODCAST, in the culture of Jesus’ day, the agricultural cycle of sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting, was absolutely central to the existence of the Jewish people. So much so that the agricultural calendar was an essential part of the day-in and day-out rhythm of their lives, including Jesus’.
You can understand why. They could not simply go to Roths, Winco, Alberstons, Safeway or some other grocery store to buy their food. Their lives literally depended upon, revolved around their agricultural calendar. Hold onto that thought for a second.
Allow me now to shift gears ever so slightly, to this thought:
God wants you to know with absolute certainty, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that death is not the end, but is a gloriously grand beginning. Think about that for a second.
We live (in theory) with an awesome, palpable sense of anticipation for the day when we will get brand new bodies, just like Jesus’ resurrected body. That day coming in the Future.
Here in the Present, we are now watching the fulfillment of God’s promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit as He moves throughout earth in real time, every single day, saving the souls of precious people from Hell, and guaranteeing them, and you, an eternal place in Heaven. We are talking about the redemption of our bodies in the future, and the redemption of our souls in the present.
In order to paint that picture, God inserted Himself into the very soil of the culture of the New Testament. And He did so on two separate specific, picturesque days — separated from each other by exactly 50 days. Two Holy Days, Jewish holidays each, that were exactly 50 days apart. Both of which were agricultural. Both of which the people felt keenly.
And after hearing this podcast, you will feel it too.
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