The Profile of the Preacher
Acts 5
Now, I am not
preaching this looking for sympathy, or self-pity, or admiration…none is sought
nor deserved.
Acts 4 and 5 reveal
a preacher in what I, as a preacher, perceive to be the opposite extremes of a
preacher’s life.
In Acts 4, Peter is
preaching and the number of men that believed was about 5000….I don’t know
anything that is richer for the preacher than to see folks embrace the Gospel
of Christ. But quick on the heels of that wonderful experience is Acts 5, and
in Acts 5…
Acts 5 Peter is standing before the Congregation
compelled of God to personally confront sin in the pew…and it is not
preventative preaching he is doing … Peter finds himself declaring the
indictment of God on potentially some of the very people who had responded to
the Gospel in Acts 4….
Thus 2 extremes…in a
very short time…he has experienced:
1.
The ultimate joy of what we
would call a rich, rewarding,
fulfilling and successful ministry.
2.
The sorrow of dealing with the
sins that indwell us all.
3.
The internal thoughts and
emotions and struggles that daily
living in those extremes will
potentially have on a
preacher.
Welcome to the normal,
24/7 life of a preacher…
Note…Peter’s response
after having experienced these two extremes and much in between…Acts 5:42 he is found “…rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.”
Reading of what Peter encountered, I put together a
profile for him…looking at his activity and responses, I put together this
profile…
Peter =
Confidently Christian in the Conflicts of his Calling.
I am preaching this
hoping to bring some understanding…
We will always function better, the more we
understand of one another.
Don’t you
agree?
That is a biblical
concept…
I Thess 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know
them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
I. It appears that they understood Peter was
called of God….
Their understanding
is assumed, as there is visible acceptance and contentment to Peter’s
ministering. I am basing my assumption of acceptance on the fact that in Acts 6 where they did have a problem, they approached
Peter about it…they murmured about it….
I am assuming they
were content and in agreement and of one heart and mind until this point.
Not only does Peter
need to understand that he is called of God, but the people also need to
understand that he is called of God….What does that mean??
Called of God does
not mean he is more important to God or more important among men.
It does not mean
that he is more gifted than other men.
A. It does mean that
he has been called to a particular and definite responsibility.
1. He understands
that he has been called of God to declare the message of God to the World at
any cost. Acts 4:19-20
2. He understands
that he has been called of God to oversee the flock of God at any cost. Acts 5:3
Duel and
Balanced
B. It does mean that
he has been gifted for that particular task…given gifts that enable oversight
responsibility.
Example …impossible
for a man to give birth to a baby…because that was not your calling, thus you
are not equipped…. I do not think it is a stretch to suppose that one not
called to pastor is just as ill equipped to pastor as a man is equipped to give
birth.
II. It
appears they understood the conduct that God expected of Peter….
A.
Note Peter’s spirit while
preaching to the World….Acts 4:19-20
There is a
commitment to truth with an expressed and demonstrated
spirit of respect and grace.
Peter is not
condoning the activity and beliefs of these officials, he is not giving up any
of his beliefs and responsibility but:
he does express a
harmlessness toward them…
he expresses a
spirit of tempered meekness…
he expresses a
measured and restrained strength…
he expresses a
controlled purposeful gentleness….
This is a struggle
for me…and I think others also and I wonder sometimes how really hard we
struggle at having a right spirit towards the World.
B.
Note Peter’s Spirit while
dealing with a fallen Believer in Acts 5:1-4
I believe Peter is
still meek, I believe he is still gentle, but I detect in this recorded
account, the presence of a special caution and special awareness, it is like
Peter is aware of a special vulnerability where his behavior must be very
calculated and cautious and circumspect.
See, we know we
are to walk circumspect in the world…but
Peter demonstrates a special circumspectness among Believers.
It is almost like
Peter is aware of his weakness to be influenced from his calling, not by the
world but by fellow believers…who innocently would influence him away from his
calling.
Have you as a parent
ever “painted yourself in the corner”?
One of our
vulnerabilities is that “what we would never embrace in the world, what we
might close our eyes to in the family, with friends….”
There is a unique
and often overwhelming pressure that the people we pastor can have that which
the world will never have. You have seen it in families that you pastor…a wife
will be discontent with the Church, pastor, preaching, program or because it’s
Tuesday…and to keep peace in the family rather than deal with the problem in
his own house and attempt to set things right in his own family, he will side
with his wife…and proudly attempt to save some sort of dignity by going down
with the ship.
The Pastor can
experience that same scenario…rather than confront evil in a calculated and
careful manner, we paint ourselves into a corner and go down with the ship.
Peter’s conduct in
these two settings allows us to observe the preacher’s proper conduct.
III. They understood the potential conflicts in
the Preacher’s life….
·
·
· We have already observed the potential to
bear with sin for the sake of fellowship…. Understand, Peter’s case is an extreme situation. I have
known guys who had one severe response to every varied weakness and they do not
pastor very long…they generally make good evangelists…but they often lack the
patience required to be longsuffering where even God is longsuffering….
·
·
· Peter had the occasion to run in fear…escape the entire scene…when he was
confronted with threats outside and evil inside.
·
·
· Peter
may have struggled to stay content where he was, dealing with the highs
and lows.
Acts 6 Peter finds that one of the heavy things of
ministry is the expectations of others upon him.
·
·
· Peter may have struggled with bloating or
gloating…from the success he
enjoyed.
Illustration: Someone said praise and flattery is
like chewing gum…it is to be briefly enjoyed but never swallowed.
·
·
· Peter may have struggled with
imploding…feeling responsible for sin in the pew…internalizing every event that
takes place on our watch.
Illustration: Auto Parts store…call individual and
confront…went to look for part and came back and said, Sir we don’t have that
part…and the emotional strain of what I just had to do hit me at that moment
and I started to shed tears and he said I’m sorry.
I can tell you one
thing the recording of this incident does…it destroys the often quoted
myth…that everything rises and falls on leadership.
It destroys the
false concept that we often hear that if we will have power in the pulpit,
there will be purity in the pew.
·
·
· Peter could have felt the weight of dealing
with sin up close in his own arena when his history with sin is well known…he
could have said, who am I…I
cannot, I am insufficient, I am powerless…it is too much….
IV. Peter is, in this incident, a confident and
courageous preacher, seemingly experiencing the understanding from his fellow
believers.
A.
Peter’s confidence and
courage and competence is the result of the people’s acceptance. Acts 4:23 Went
to their own company….
·
·
· Stood with Peter when dealing with external
opposition.
·
·
· Stood with Peter when dealing with internal
sin…Acts
5:11 …none of the Church expressed offence at Peter’s “lack of
sensitivity” as their loyalty to God was equal to Peter’s…as described in
Scripture…their commitment to the Scripture was equal to Peters.
B. Peter’s confidence and courage and
competence is the result of the people’s prayer for them…prayer…Acts 4:29
This is the people
praying for Peter…their prayer request to God is that Peter would have strength
to remain committed to the Word of God.
Lord, don’t let him
bow to the pressure of the world outside and don’t let him be influenced from
the Word in leading us as well.
Acts 5:19 Spiritual attendants deliver strength from on
High…this could have been in response to the prayer of the people.
Conclusion
