Okay, so let's be honest. Most questions about what God wants we know the answer to.
Should I murder my neighbor? No
Should I cheat on my wife? No
Should I get a job or continue to mooch off of my parents? Get a job
And we know the answers because the questions are specifically addressed in the Bible.
But there are some questions that go unaddressed in Scripture.
For example;
Should I change jobs?
Should I move to a new city?
Which car should I pick?
Where should I go to college?
Should I buy organic?
For those questions, and many more, we often go to God asking for some direct revelation.
But that is not typically how God works. He doesn't give specific instructions about every decision in your life. So how do I make those decisions, but still stay in tune with God's directions for the bigger stuff?
I preached this sermon out of Acts chapter 11, the story of how God gave directions to Peter about visiting the house of Cornelius. Let me share with you what I learned.
Acts 11:1 Now the apostles and the brothers[a] who
were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem,
those who were of the circumcision
(you probably ought to put quotation marks around the circumcision. That's the name of a party. )
contended
(The word contended means to have a dispute including doubts. They didn't believe this in the first place so they argued. Contended is in the imperfect tense, which means it was a prolonged thing.)
with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!”
(You didn't have fellowship with uncircumcised people and eat with them, least of all God forbid would you ever include them on an equal basis in the church. And he did both, and so they just really laid into, they were infuriated.)
A. Cornelius retelling
B. What’s the problem?
1. God’s Word
2. Jewish Tradition
3. Racial Hatred
4. Peter’s action
C. This is an extremely important story
You say, "Well why is it so important? It says exactly what we said in Chapter 10." You're right. It's verbatim. It's just a repetition of Chapter 10.
Now you know I can honestly say in my study of Scripture that I can't think in my mind of one other place in Scripture where you have the same thing repeated twice in a row, one time immediately after the other. Interesting thing enough that is, but one other additional point, after Cornelius all that description of Cornelius' vision when Peter got to his house Cornelius described the whole thing back again, and the Holy Spirit put all that in there again. So part of this thing is three times in the same two chapters. That means that it's very very important. When God says something it's important. When He repeats it, it is very important. I mean it's assumed that if God wrote it down in the Bible you could read it a hundred times if you wanted to, if He bothers to repeat it two or three times then He's really got a message that we ought to hear.
You know it's interesting too that the average papari that they used, there was a paparus plant, a kind of a bulrush plant from which they made a long scroll, which they used to write on. This was before book form had come into vogue, and the longest ones that we could ever find; assuming that this would be about the maximum was 35 feet. Now that's a good-sized scroll, 35-foot scroll. But on a 35-foot scroll you could probably crowd about the content of the book of Acts, 28 chapters to 30 chapters and that would be pushing it.
So Luke had a limited amount of space. He was going to put the whole thing on the scroll. He also had a tremendous amount of things to select from just from a human standpoint. There were many incidents in the church that had happened. There were many miracles. There were many signs and wonders done by the apostles and prophets. I imagine there were some fantastic conversion experiences. I just think about all the three thousand saved on the day of Pentecost. Just imagine what their testimonies could have been like. And all of the other thousands that were being saved all over the place, they could have been included. There were so many fabulous things yet he spends all this space saying the same thing three times just filling a whole chunk of that scroll with this Cornelius account.
You say, "Why are you making a point of that?" Just because I think God made a point of it. I think it's very important for us to understand how important this is. You see from our standpoint we can't see how very easily Christianity could have become another sect of Judaism.
It is important as well because it guides us in seeking God’s will
II. Prayer for Guidance
4 But Peter began, and explained to them in order, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying,
10:3 3 At about the ninth hour of the day,[a] he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?”
He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
A. Prayer is assumed
1 Thess. 5:17 Pray without ceasing
3:10 10 night and day praying exceedingly
Luke 21:36 36 Watch therefore, and pray always
Romans 12: 12 rejoicing in hope, patient[c] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
B. Is commanded
C. We pray about decision things: jobs, church decisions, our children,
III. Visions—direct word from God--angels
4 But Peter began, and explained to them in order, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision: a certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners. It came as far as me. 6 When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat!’ 8 But I said, ‘Not so, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered into my mouth.’ 9 But a voice answered me the second time out of heaven, ‘What God has cleansed, don’t you call unclean.’ 10 This was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.
A. Cornelius as well
B. Rare—even in scripture—happens when God is moving in a radical direction
Joel 2:28 [ God’s Spirit Poured Out ] “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
Directly applied by Peter to the beginning of the New Testament—peter, paul had them, john—revelation had them---prophets of old---rare occasions for important reasons
C. Getting rid of dietary laws and Jew/Gentile distinction
D. Must always come with Scriptural confirmation
16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’
E. I am not saying that it can’t happen today—in fact---Islamic man in “insanity of God”—similar experience to Saul, similar to Cornelius
F. We have to be careful—dreams and visions—scriptures
G. Satan can work through visions, dreams, angelic appearances
Jeremiah 14:14 And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.
H. “God told me” –be careful—does it come into line with other means of revelation—especially scripture
IV. Circumstantial confirmation
11 Behold, immediately three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me.
13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying to him, ‘Send to Joppa, and get Simon, who is called Peter, 14 who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house.’
A. Sometimes how we decide to move to a new job
I apply for the job. I call my references. I look into details about the new job in order to be well-informed
B. Pray, God, you work it out if it is to be
C. Scriptural
Genesis 24:14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Gideon
Jonathan 1 Samuel 14: 9 If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.
Joshua 1:8 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[a] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
D. But we would prefer a direct word
I went on an errand in Haysville one morning last week, on returning I thought I would get a cup of coffee from Kwikshop, I also thought that I would get Denise something for Breakfast. I made my coffee. I looked at what was available for breakfast, and though we don’t usually go to Kwikshop, I thought, Denise would like the Biscuits and Gravy. But I didn’t just get it, I did what first? I called, she said, “Biscuits and Gravy” and commended me for knowing her so well. Why did I call? Because I wanted to get it right.
V. Guidance by God’s Spirit
12 The Spirit told me to go with them, without discriminating.
15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning.
A. Scriptural—you have no need that anyone teach you
1 Corinthians 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 John 2:26-28 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to[a]deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you [b]will abide in Him.
B. How can you amplify the voice of the Spirit?
1. Study and know the Word of God
2. Obedience—quench not the Spirit
3. Quiet—be still and know
VI. Confirmation of fellow Christians
These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying to him, ‘Send to Joppa, and get Simon, who is called Peter, 14 who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning.
A. These six saw it all—they could confirm what happened
The Jews knew well Egyptian law and Egyptian law said that where there are seven witnesses the case is closed. And Roman law said that on any will or any testament there had to be seven seals, so seven became a kind of a number of sealing the authoritativeness of something.
B. Now Peter is conferring with other believers in Jerusalem
C. He could have tried to pull rank, “God talked to me” How dare you question me.
D. Scriptural
1. All have different gifts
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
2. In the case of two or more people—God will not lead in different directions—marriage---I’ve talked about it before---christian guy thought God was leading him circumstantially to open a pizza restaurant---he could get a loan---but his wife didn’t want to do it---there are times to assert your leadership---there are times to consider the wisdom of your Christian wife---his business went bankrupt---he violated many of these principles of God’s leading
3. In the case of the church
Now one way that you can verify the leading of the Spirit of God is if the Spirit of God is doing the same thing in other lives at the same time at the same place.
E. We vote here—it is not perfect---Truth is not determined by majority vote—but nor is it determined by minority
There is wisdom in consulting with Godly counsel
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
VII. Scriptural confirmation
16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’
A. Though this is listed last—it is primary for us
B. That is why it is imperative that we know the Word
C. Scriptures that show someone consulting scripture—The reason the Jews missed who jesus was, the disciples were confounded by the crucifixion---they didn’t know scripture
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Matthew 26:54 How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
D. Many in the “Christian” world rely on visions, angelic appearance, emotional ecstatic experiences, feelings, even majority opinion—will not be swayed by Scripture
E. How do I apply scripture?---I don’t know where to begin---make a list of factors involved in your decision
F. Are there any moral issues?---look it up---what does the bible say about
G. Are there other people involved---wife, parents, children---look it up
H. Are there financial issues?---look it up—debt
I. Are there spiritual/ ministry issues?---how will you serve God in both circumstances?---look it up
VIII. Reason
17 If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?”
A. Putting two and two together---consulting, scripture, vision
B. Most of my decisions---reason---because most decisions are not necessarily spiritual in nature---exaggerate---which toothpaste should I buy—pro and con lists---
C. Scriptural
Isaiah 1: 18 “Come
now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
Isaiah 41:21 [ The Futility of Idols ] “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.
Acts 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
D. Should not work on reason alone
E. Peter had all of these—which demonstrates how important this event was
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”
I want you to know people. That statement right there is one of the most shocking statements in Jewish history. That's a statement for which Jonah, the failure for Jonah really in his whole life was the fact that he wasn't willing to make that statement. And there weren't very many Jews who were in the history of Judaism. What was the statement? Simply this: God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Shocking for a Jew to make that admission. Gentiles can get saved, guys. How can we argue? Look at what happened up there. Fantastic admission and people I want you to know that the importance of that statement is hardly able to be measured. You say why? Because until the Jews who were Christians made that statement they could never begin the work of evangelizing the Gentiles, you see. They had to come to that.
Why did God give all these types of confirmations; visions, circumstances, God’s Spirit, fellow Christians, scripture, reason—because this was of monumental importance
God doesn’t give us all of this all the time—to be frank—we want an angel or a vision---but look at what we have--he gives us scripture, fellow believers, His Spirit, sometimes circumstances, our reason working alongside of those
No believer needs to feel lost, every lost person should be envious of such guidance—if we take it---and listen to it