Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

36 - Clean

Peter is under attack. He’s having to defend himself. A sizeable and vocal group within the early church were deeply convinced that faith in Jesus in no way changed their requirement to observe the Law of Moses. They believed the statutes and ordinances in the Torah were meant to be eternal commands and therefore must be kept by anyone who wishes to be saved (Ac 15:1). And they were furious with Peter for two reasons. First of all, he had ritually defiled himself by entering a Gentile home and eating improperly prepared food. But second, and even more importantly, they were dismayed that he had actually baptized these Gentiles, because it meant he believed they were saved. By baptizing them, particularly as an apostle, he had welcomed them into the church. They were to be thought of as brothers and sisters. They were to be included in church gatherings. But in the minds of Peter’s accusers unless these Gentiles kept the ceremonial laws they were still “unclean” (Ac 15:5). By welcoming Cornelius’ household into the church Peter had opened the door for unclean people to sit next to them in a worship service, and if they touched them they, too, would become unclean. So as soon as he arrived in Jerusalem they cornered Peter and scolded him. And Peter’s only defense was to point to the fact that it was God, not he, who had welcomed these “unclean” people into His church. By baptizing them in the Holy Spirit, He proved that in His eyes they were perfectly “clean.” 

35 - Peter’s Revelation

While praying on a rooftop in Joppa Peter received an amazing vision. God spoke to him three times in that vision, but afterward he had no idea what He’d been trying to tell him. It had remained a puzzling mystery until the moment he stepped into the home of a Roman soldier. As he stood there looking at their faces and feeling God’s presence in the room, he instantly understood. In fact he finally understood something Jesus tried to teach him years earlier. So this was what He meant when He kept preaching about reaching Gentiles. He’d tried to understand, but it just never made sense before. Now, at last, he could see it, and it was so clear he marveled he hadn’t seen it before. Two days earlier when the messengers arrived at the gate he knew God wanted him to trust these strangers and go with them, so he left Joppa and came to Caesarea, and now here he was, only a short distance away from Herod Agrippa’s palace, in the living room of one of the officers of his palace guard. The sensation he felt at that moment was not unlike the time he stepped out of the boat and walked on water. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. His life could be at risk, and he had to violate his conscience to even be here. After all, Jews weren’t supposed to be in Gentile homes. But here he was…and amazingly, Jesus was here too. And finally, he understood why. 

34 - Saul and Peter

Since its founding, the United States has been a predominantly Christian culture. Not that everybody was a good Christian, they weren’t, but by and large people did believe that Jesus is the Savior and the Bible is God’s Word. Obeying His Word was another matter. There was a consensus. We generally agreed on what we should or should not be doing. When opinions are polled today it seems there is still a majority who say they believe these things, though more and more qualifiers are being added. Yet in spite of what people may claim to believe, the United States as a culture is progressively rejecting its historical faith. And a growing number of people are becoming hostile to that faith. What may have worked in the past to bring “lost sheep” back to the fold doesn’t work with secular skeptics. With these, old fashioned evangelism often produces mockery or verbal abuse. The question many believers are asking today is, “Has America become hard ground? Are the days of soul winning here drawing to an end?”

The examples of Saul and Peter help us answer that question. During its first decades of life the church in Israel faced a culture much more resistant to the gospel than we do. They might have angry mobs gather or an assassination squad plan their execution. And the government provided them no protection. In fact, some leaders joined the persecution, if they thought it benefitted their careers. This was the culture into which Saul of Tarsus and Peter went to preach. Both men faced a hostile environment, but the way they ministered to it was very different. Their message was the same, but the way they proclaimed it was not, and as we will see from this portion of Acts, the way the people in that resistant culture responded was also very different. And if we observe them carefully they will teach us how to reach a changing America. 

33 - Trusting Saul

I recently met with a pastor and his wife and when the conversation finally moved to the topic on their heart the question they wanted to ask was this: How do you know who you can trust? They had gone through some painful experiences of betrayal, and admitted they had now emotionally withdrawn to protect themselves. They hadn’t seen it coming so they didn’t know what to do differently the next time. They said they had started out by being open and vulnerable with people, assuming the boundaries and matters of conscience which governed their own walk with God were at work in all Christians. There were things they just couldn’t think of doing because their conscience would make them miserable, and on top of that they feared the discipline of the Lord. But then they watched other Christians do those very things apparently without a trace of guilt or remorse. One of them said, “I just couldn’t do that, and if I did I would be miserable. Why can they? They hurt us and lied about us, and then went on as if they were the ones who’d been offended. I don’t understand. Where does Jesus come into this picture?”

I don’t know anyone who claims to be perfect, but some people come under conviction when they sin, and sooner or later they’ll admit the truth or apologize or make it right. Yet there are others who claim to be Christians, who go to church and believe all the right things, yet out of the blue they can do something grossly immoral, cruelly selfish, or coldly dishonest, and not show any sorrow. Years pass and they never make it right, and the worst part of it is, God doesn’t even seem to punish them. If being a Christian doesn’t make someone trustworthy, then what does? I really need to know, because when I trust the wrong people I get hurt.

32 - The Son of God

There are mysteries that lie hidden for centuries and then God, in His perfect timing, chooses to reveal a deeper level of that truth. Until that revelation is given we must believe as much as He has shown us, and then humbly acknowledge there is still much we don’t know. Those who try to solve these mysteries before God reveals them always get it wrong, and end up leading others astray. The human mind is simply incapable of discerning God’s mysteries on its own. We must wait until He explains them. In fact, His spiritual truths are so deep we will spend a lifetime trying to understand just a portion of what He has shown us.

The arrival of Jesus Christ revealed God at a level far deeper than anything that had ever happened before Moses and the prophets told us about God. He spoke to us through them. But when Jesus came we actually saw God. We listened to God speak, we watched God minister, and we even touched God (1Jn 1:1). He wasn’t merely a teacher or a prophet, though He was these things. He certainly wasn’t just a good man, though He was and still is a man. Jesus is the missing piece to the puzzle. He’s the key that finally fits the lock so the door can be opened. When we understand who He is and what He has done we can at last look back on the entire Bible and find that mystery after mystery suddenly makes sense. From the things God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, to the sacrificial offerings in the tabernacle and temple, to the prophecies that an eternal king would come from the house of David…to the mysterious references in the prophets about a “Son of God.” Once you meet Jesus these passages, and many more, make sense. And they did for Saul of Tarsus too. Seeing Jesus in His glory on the road to Damascus changed everything. This great Jewish scholar now held the key that unlocked the mysteries of scripture. And it didn’t take him long to begin unlocking. Within days after being baptized he was in the synagogues of Damascus proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God. 

31 - Chosen Vessels

Here we go again! We just read how an angel told Philip to walk down a particular road and then the Holy Spirit pointed out an Ethiopian official he was to lead to Christ. Now we hear the Lord speak to a disciple named Ananias and tell him to go to a certain address and lay hands on Saul of Tarsus. Both situations are “divine appointments.” In both, Jesus sends His disciple after someone He has targeted. He knows whose heart is ready to receive Him, but He also can see into the future. He can see a person’s obedience and fruitfulness, and some will be more fruitful than others. Some will choose to be apathetic and do little for Him, others will passionately serve Him the rest of their lives. There’s no way a human being can know these things. We cannot see into this realm. We have no idea who these highly fruitful people will be, but God sees the heart and knows the future, and because of this He does pursue some people more aggressively than others. He does so because He knows certain people will bring many others to Him. As illogical as it might have seemed at the time, Saul of Tarsus was one of these. This ravager of the church would become a great apostle, and write half of the books in the New Testament. God knew all that but Ananias didn’t. All he knew was that he had to put his life on the line and knock on that door.

30 - Paul Meets Jesus

Three days after wanting to kill the disciples of Jesus Christ, Paul is a completely different man. Sure, he has a lot to learn, and almost nobody trusts him yet. When he tries to meet with other believers they suspect he’s just pretending so he can gather names and come back later with the police. But he is different. Totally different. And for the next three decades he will live a life that is completely sold out to Jesus. 

As we marvel at the transformation of this man we need to ask ourselves what it was that changed him. Was what happened a special miracle because Jesus knew Paul would make a great apostle, or is this level of profound change available to anyone? Was he a unique work of God or just the most prominent example of someone whose life Jesus turned around?

Before we investigate what changed Paul, let’s notice what didn’t. No one out-debated this brilliant Pharisee or theologically convinced him that Isaiah 53 speaks of a suffering Messiah. He didn’t wake up one morning and decide he needed to be a nicer, friendlier person, and chart a self-improvement program. What changed him was he met the resurrected Jesus Christ. He didn’t gradually get better and then decide to investigate the truth about this Jesus of Nazareth. Walking toward Damascus he was worse than ever. Luke uses wording here that implies that he had, by this point in time, fallen under demonic influence and was functioning at an unnatural level of anger. He was totally committed to killing all of Jesus’ followers, and his ultimate goal was to kill Jesus Himself…again.

29 - A Divine Appointment

Not every human heart is ready to receive Jesus Christ. Different people are at different places in their spiritual journey. Some aren’t willing to hear the gospel, but others are and God knows where that person is every moment of the day. You and I can’t tell what’s going on inside another person’s heart, especially by merely looking at their outward appearance. But God knows the secret thoughts and longings within each of us. And He knows there are people all over the world, some of whom would really surprise you, who would come to Him today if only someone would tell them the truth in a way they could understand.

Philip shows us that God is aggressive. He will send believers after those with open hearts. He will arrange divine appointments. Putting you and me next to someone who needs to hear the truth is of utmost importance to Him. It’s a matter of life and death for many, and His great loving heart bursts with compassion for them. So if you and I will learn to listen and obey, like Philip, He will do whatever it takes to have our path cross with theirs. And this is where prophetic guidance comes in.

28 - Authority To Minister

How many times have you been confronted with someone who was ill or troubled and thought to yourself, “We need to find somebody to pray for this person!” The individual in front of you needed a touch of God’s power and you wondered who you knew who could pray with real authority…you know, someone who actually has power and believes in miracles. Those kind of people! And there are such people, aren’t there? But sadly there aren’t nearly enough, and they usually aren’t around when you need them.
Luke gives us a very honest report of what took place in Samaria. He says amazing miracles occurred when Philip ministered (vs 6, 7) and he tells us that Philip faithfully proclaimed the gospel and water-baptized those who believed. But he also reveals that not one of Philip’s converts received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and that it was necessary for two apostles to walk 40 miles north from Jerusalem to lay hands on these new believers so they could receive the Holy Spirit. This raises serious questions. Why didn’t Philip do that? Were the apostles the only ones with such authority? And then when we read what happened when the apostles laid their hands on them, the questions become even more troubling. Did these baptized believers not have the Holy Spirit until Peter and John arrived? After all it says, “He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized…” (v16).
These aren’t silly questions. We really need them answered if you and I are to see that those we bring to Christ have every blessing God wants for them. So let’s do some careful study, because Luke is very precise in his language, and when we look closely, solid answers are there. And those answers will embolden all of us to minister with authority.

27 - Shepherds and Wolves

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is kind and compassionate. When He began His ministry He introduced Himself this way: 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Lk 4:18, 19; Isa 61:1, 2).

This is why the Father sent Him to earth, and this is His heart toward us: to save, to release, to heal, and to set free. He’s a good shepherd. And when He comes to live inside us He changes our heart to make it like His, and in doing so turns us into shepherds too. All of us. Every single one. How could it be any other way? If we have the Good Shepherd living inside, how could we not love His sheep? God is love, and if He lives inside me, how could I not live a love-filled life? (1Jn 4:15, 16)

Which is why Peter instantly knows Simon isn’t saved. Simon said he believed and had been water baptized. He’d hung around with Philip and watched him minister to the sick and oppressed. And then when Peter and John arrived he had been amazed at what he saw when people received the Holy Spirit. Now he wanted that same power, but he wanted it for wrong reasons. In spite of his confession of Christ his heart hadn’t changed. He wasn’t a shepherd, he was a wolf.