Sermon preached by Ps Roy Pillay at the ABC Covenant Meeting, Verulam, South Africa. Hosted by Ps Manny and Annie Sewnath.
We find ourselves at probably the most significant place in our journey with God as we begin to explore the makings of the organic Church which places great emphasis of the ministry of one disciple to another. Walls, barriers and partitions that foster a sectarian spirit have to be utterly destroyed. Titles, rank, offices, top heavy authoritarian structures have no place in the organic Church. Grace determines and establishes everything. Much of our initial activity involves casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
We do not despise the various offices, but we have come to a place where these structures that started with God have now mutated to become a “high thing that is determined to exalt itself against the knowledge of God”.
These are the very structures that held so much promise in another season, are now counter productive in advancing the intentions of God. These structures have to be cast down. This would produce a level playing field. So simply receive what the Lord is releasing to you as a disciple of the Lord.
I can only speak for myself. This is probably the most difficult shift that I have had to make. For those of us who have tasted the excellence of the provisions and the fruits of Babylon, this shift is actually equal to laying down our lives. Nothing short of a spiritual death will transition us into this move. However if we can make this transition I believe that we will see the emergence of a far more attractive bride. Doors and opportunities will open to us at such a rate that the nets will actually break.
The pressure is on for us to to deliver the goods; to reveal what the whole earth is waiting for; the “coming out” parade; the coming out of the closet of the sons of God. One of the areas that is presently under scrutiny by a watching unbelieving multitude is our speech. Our speech will negatively influence the perception that we are the sons of the Most High God.
A few months ago I prayed from Matt 26 at the Forum where Peter’s speech betrayed that he was one of Jesus’ disciples. I would like to expand on this tonight.
Matt 26:73
73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”
PETER’S SPEECH REVEALED THAT HE WAS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS.
For us to fully understand what gave Peter’s identity away, we have to go and carefully study Peter’s speech. We have to examine the evidence.There are extracts from his speech that clearly reveals the influence of the Lord.
We know how the Lord arranged the meeting between Cornelius and Peter.
We will take up the story where both of them meet for the very first time.
Our purpose this evening is to study Peter’s utterances that would reveal that he had spent time with Jesus. That he had walked and ate and drank with Jesus.
Acts 10: 25-48
25 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”
If you have spent a significant amount of time with the Lord, this utterance would come naturally to you. John says He must increase, but I must decrease. The nature of our ministry ought to shift people’s positions. From a position of low self esteem and a perpetual state of neediness to a position of strength and confidence; we do this through instruction… “Stand up!” is a command. Doctrine is placed under the supervision and oversight of the sent one. We ought not to shrink from issuing clear instructions in any matter. Peter and John encountered the lame man who was positioned daily outside the temple called beautiful. They told the man they did not have money, but they had an instruction “Rise up and walk”. He resisted adulation and idolatry. This behaviour was consistent even with the other apostles By declaring “we are men”, we are in fact saying, we have limitations on our ability. We are vulnerable to every trial and temptation as the next person. The apostles were quick to declare “We have the same nature as you.”
THIS IS IMMEDIATELY DECLARING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
We remember Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. They vigorously resisted adulation and idolatry after a lame man was healed.
Acts 14:14-15
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
Now let us study Jesus’ speech on the same matter. Satan offers him the kingdoms of this world in exchange for a “falling down and worship” of satan.
Matt 4:9-11
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
From this you can gather that if we want the multitude to discern that we are with Jesus, we have to guard against adulation. There is nothing wrong with people honouring us; but worship is a strictly NO GO area. There is a demand for our worship. Daniel resisted the demand; Jesus resisted it; the apostles resisted it; and we should resist the demand.People around us will quickly conclude that we have been with Him.
Acts 10:27-30
27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man 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. 29 Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”
Peter begins to explain to the people the scope of his ministry. He says that although the traditional school of thought would frown at him engaging those who are outside the Jewish faith, but as a servant of God, as a disciple of the Lord, as a carrier of the Christ the voice of God will supercede any other voice in determining his assignment.
You see only Peter experienced the weight and the intensity of God’s rebuke when he received the vision of the great white sheet with all kinds of creatures. The sheet was shown to Peter 3 times so that Peter would have no doubt that he actually saw this. God basically told Peter to make an adjustment to his speech; not to call any person that God has cleansed common.
If we are positioned outside of this conversation between Peter and the Lord, we would struggle to believe it, because it violates all our traditional positions. It does not match with your 5 steps to salvation manual. A Jew who has been taught in the synagogue would call this heresy or blasphemy. The voice of religion will accuse us of exceeding the scope of our ministry. In fact this is exactly what happened when Peter encountered the circumcised believers in Jerusalem.
Acts 11:1-3
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
THE ORGANIC CHURCH
God is spirit. Peter’s ministry to the Gentiles was birthed through a Divine interaction with God. Peter was minding his own business, when the Lord interrupted his life with ground breaking revelation.A ministry was birthed in the spirit. Not created in the human intellect; or through a business strategy meeting on church growth.This is how many of our lives were interrupted. The Lord does not need to engage in a process of consultation to start anything.This is the challenge we face in this present day…how does one communicate fresh intentions of God without being charged for the disturbance of peace and the frequency of the house. I did a study on the word “another”. I have found that there are 2 words that translate another, namely “allos” and “heteros”Allos means another of the same kind. Heteros means another of a different sort.Here in this text, Peter is saying that the Lord has extended the scope of his ministry to include the “heteros” nations.
It’s a new day. It’s a new season that demands a new speech.Peter knew exactly what the Lord told him. When you are familiar with the voice of God, always back yourself.
This evening we are investigating the reasons that the multitude discerned that Peter walked with Jesus.
WHAT WAS JESUS’ VIEW ON THE SAME SUBJECT.
Jesus engaging the Samaritan woman at the well; Jesus agreeing to go to the centurion’s home. But the parable of the wedding feast best conveys the urgency of this seasonThe invitation must go into the highways.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
Peter is careful in his speech. He does not delay; he places an immediate demand for righteousness and fear of the Lord. He declares this to be the prerequisite for acceptance. We must be careful that the cry for reformation is not stifled by our zeal to save souls. Most evangelical crusades focus on the promises of God without placing any demands upon the believer. Peter’s speech clearly indicates who he has been spending time with.
Paul was direct in his speech at Lystra as well. He had an excellent opportunity to get decisions for the Lord, yet he never flinched when he boldly declared:
We preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
Listen we are sent ones of God. All our activities need to enhance our reputation as being sent by God. We must issue clear instructions.
Listen to what Jesus says:
Matt 6:31-33
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Jesus makes it clear that the primary demand is the quest for His Kingdom and His righteousness. So you see Peter, Paul, Jesus never shrink from their responsibility in ensuring that the demands for accessing the Kingdom were clearly articulated.
Like Elijah the prophet, we must discern that our present day challenge is ministering to a people who are faltering between two opinions:
“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.
These servants of God were consumed with a passion for people to shift positions. We ought to take our cue from these men. These men represent a first fruit company; an illustrious company. Let our speech betray the truth that we are indeed at one with them.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
As the culture of the Kingdom was communicated through Peter; as the character of Christ began to manifest through his ministry, the Holy Spirit fell upon the people.I would like to point out something here. As I said earlier, if you were not privy to the conversation between Peter and the Lord, you would also be astonished as the brothers who were in Peter’s company.
I believe that a greater measure of His Power and His Presence will accompany the preaching of His Word as our speech aligns itself to our walk with Him.
“Who do men say that we are?”
Our speech and our actions determine the perception of the multitude.It is our speech that would reveal who we spend time with; it was Peter’s speech that betrayed the fact that he had spent time with Jesus.
Who do men say that we are?The answer we should be looking for is that “ We are the sons of the living God, his representatives, the carriers of the Christ, the sent ones of God”
The sum total of all our activity in the Kingdom ought to lead to this revelation.When the multitude find us engaging the Samaritan, they see sons of God who shows no partiality; they witness people who have spent time with Jesus.When the multitude find us engaging the woman who sinned, they see sons of God who are merciful and compassionate; they witness disciples who have spent time with Jesus.When the multitude find us overturning tables that bring the house of God into disrepute; they witness disciples who are passionate about righteousness. Paul was writing to Titus, advising him on matters concerning the appointment of elders and other matters at Crete.
Titus 2:6-8
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
When any one of us speaks anywhere we represent the message that is celebrated by this gathering; the message that has brought us together consistently for many years. What one says in his or her personal capacity is a reflection of us as a group. The reality is that an attack against one is an attack against the whole tribe.
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