This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
We're all so self focused. Unfortunately, and we're all so
easily offended and the Bible tells us that love is not easily
offended, but we unfortunately outside of having the love.
Of God working in our life, we get offended over the most
ridiculous. Things don't we?
Sometimes people won't talk in a family for years and they can't
even remember at times why they don't talk anymore because it's
such a stupid thing. Well, why didn't you talk to
your dad all these years? Or your mom or whatever?
Picture this. You find yourself in a Little
Mix up with someone you care about.
Sometimes, rather than patching things up, you let your pride
take the wheel and end up causing them pain.
Your ego can cause some serious emotional damage.
How often do you find yourself choosing to forgive and move on?
Today, Pastor Clark shares a heartfelt message about the
importance of embracing humility in your life.
God decided to wipe the slate clean for your sins.
How about doing the same with your loved ones now?
Here's Pastor Clark in Acts Chapter 15 as he begins his
message ministry. Leadership fallout.
We are in the book of Acts turn there in your Bibles Acts
chapter 15 and. Title The message today.
Is ministry leadership fallout? So.
Let's pray as we open our Bibles to Acts chapter 15, verses 36
through the end of that chapter. Father.
God, we thank you this morning. For your word, we thank you, for
the body of Christ, we thank you for a body of believers around
the earth today, Lord, and churches everywhere that are
true to your word, that are more desperate than ever, Father.
For change. Not any change in our country,
but change in the hearts of the human race, Lord.
And we know the only thing that can change a heart is the word
of God as you transform us as you convict.
Us as you teach. Us, Lord, your ways and Lord we
come to the acknowledgement and conclusion that Lord, we are.
All fallen people and we. Need a savior?
We need someone to deliver us from ourselves and this morning
as we look at the text, Father we.
Pray you would teach us about. The importance of reconciliation
and how we're to forgive and how Lord were to be.
First reconciled to. You and then Lord.
By your spirit of. Grace being reconciled to one
another. And so, Lord, guide us, help us,
Holy Spirit, teach. Us not only to.
Understand these things intellectually, but experience
them in our daily life to live them out.
To be doers of the word and not hear only bless all those you've
brought today and may you be glorified in everything we do.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. So let me read these verses that
we're going to look at today and then we'll begin to make some
comments. This is.
The challenge of life. And challenge of ministry that
I'm thankful. That in the Bible it teaches us
about how to deal with conflict and how to deal with.
Challenges of relationships. God doesn't skip over anything
that we might. Have to deal with as.
Human beings he addresses everything in the Bible and how
we can become more like Christ and so they had this finished
some wonderful conversation the. Apostles and the Elders.
In the Church of Jerusalem, they were having a conflict with the
Judaizers who were pushing the need to be.
Circumcised to be saved. Obviously there's nothing that
anybody needs to do to. Be saved other than to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible says we shall be saved
and. So they were going to report to
the churches on the second missionary journey.
Paul and Barnabas were going to head out and follow up churches
they had visited. About five years previous at
this. Point to see how they were
doing, but some difficulty occurred and so I'll start with
verse 36. Then after some days, Paul said
to Barnabas, Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every
city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
they are doing now. Barnabas was determined to take
with them. John called Mark, but Paul.
Insisted that they should not take with.
Them, the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia.
And that. Not gone with them to the work.
Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one
another. And so Barnabas took Mark and
sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and
departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.
And he went through Syria and Cecilia, strengthening the
churches. A tragic encounter here with
two. Brothers who loved each other
deeply, who served the Lord together faithfully for many
years. Barnabas word is encourager.
That's the definition, the meaning of the.
Word Barnabas and encourager he was a great encouragement to
Paul and now they had this disagreement now when you.
Read the commentaries about why this could have happened or how
it happened or what was the purpose of this happening some.
People say, well, this is just God's sovereign plan to get the
gospel spread out with more people than this Paul and
Barnabas going together. Now there will be two teams.
And so that's one way that some people can look at it.
But I've come to understand personally, as a pastor of 26
years, that we all. Fail.
As leaders, we all make mistakes.
Things we say and do that we regret, that we can't take back.
But that doesn't mean that. There isn't a possibility by the
Spirit of God and the grace of God to be reconciled.
To anyone that we might have stumbled or discouraged or was a
bad witness or testimony. Before in this case, both
Barnabas and Saul, Paul the Apostle are not great
testimonies. I talked to a lot of pastors.
Around the world, friends, others who have been in ministry
for a long time. That say this is one of the more
difficult times in the history of the church in the evangelical
world to be a pastor. Than ever before, there's many
contentions and disagreements. Among believers, whether it's
cultural things, moral things, political things, medical.
Things this unbelievable difficulties and challenges.
There's been more. Pastors who have resigned over
the last several years. Than probably any other time in
the history of the modern evangelical church.
I visited a church just to go take a tour of it as I was on
business. I went in and it's a very large
church. At the peak of their growth,
they had over 3000 people coming every Sunday to hear the Word
and people getting saved and baptized and discipled.
Now they have less than 2000 people over. 1/3 of the.
Congregation as left and no longer attends the church or
goes to the church. Some people have decided that
the way they do churches online and some people have to do
church online because of health issues I understand or distance
issues, but. God has called us to assemble
together physically. He told us not to, not to stay
away from the church or to stay away from one another.
We're to be with one another, to worship and honor the Lord, and
to be in the Word together. And to learn how to do life
together. No matter what the conflicts
might be, we're working through a book together as leaders right
now in regard to ministry itself and leading the church with
grace and very divisive times. And so we have to learn when we
read the Scriptures, what it is that the Holy Spirit wants us to
understand. It's interesting as we read
these. Verses today that when Paul and
Barnabas were having an argument, they didn't ask for
any. Input from the.
Rest of the council, the other elders.
They earlier had gone to Jerusalem when there was a
disagreement about this issue of circumcision and the Gentiles
being forced to be circumcised in order to be.
Saved from the Judaizers and their position on what they
thought salvation entailed, they prayed.
They met together. They discussed there was
contentious argument during that time, but the truth ruled.
Out and they gave the council that together they were to deal
with this issue of legalism in the church in a gracious way.
It's interesting when Paul and Barnabas started having problems
about John Mark. That they didn't say, well, you
know, first of all, we should pray about this together.
We should get some input from some of the other brothers that
we just are with here in Jerusalem.
How do we deal with this conflict in our relationship?
We've been together all these years.
God's used us. Many people have come to know
Christ. And now we're getting mad and
our pride is in the way. And we're not allowing the
Spirit of God to control our hearts.
So there was much dispute. This wasn't a simple issue here
and there was problems between both of them in their.
Hearts at this time. So you might say, well, who is
wrong in this contention? Was it?
Paul. Or was it Barnabas more than the
other person? Or was it both of them together?
This confrontation became so sharp that they actually stopped
on ministry. Together.
And this happens in just about any kind of church you've
probably ever been in. You see people that used to be
there that served. That loved one another.
They're no longer there. Or you see the doors shut of
churches. That used to be very vibrant,
but because of contention and arguments and.
Inability to be reconciled. The work of God is is thwarted
and and destroyed. And we know who's behind all
that. It's the evil one who wants to
scatter the sheep. Destroy your life as a
Christian. Destroy the integrity of the
body of. Christ and close churches down
this heated disagreement. This difference of opinion was
basically a difference of opinion.
Paul didn't like John Mark for whatever reason anymore.
Didn't want to give. Him a chance Barnabas was
related. To John.
Mark and he had a heart for him. He saw the.
Potential in him what's interesting is in spite of
everything that happened in this section of scripture, eventually
John Mark. Was reconciled to Paul, and Paul
said later on in one of his epistles, Please send John, he's
needful to me. And so there was that beauty of
reconciliation. Eventually it tells us in
Proverbs 1310. Only by pride cometh contention,
but with the well advised is wisdom, and so we see here that
there's pride. In the Apostle Paul's life.
And there's pride also in Barnabas life, God tells us in
the book of Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16 through 19.
These six things the Lord hates. Yeah, they are an abomination
unto him, A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent
blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that
be swift and running to mischief, a false witness that
speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the
brethren. So we see this disagreement
between people, in this instance Paul and Barnabas, leaders of
the church. I was thinking as I was studying
this, what scriptures did they have access?
To in regard to dealing with conflict up until this point,
well. We know that Jesus taught
clearly in the Beatitudes. How we're to live out our faith
and how we're to live in regard to conflict that arises in our
life. The Beatitudes were.
Responsible to help. Us to understand how to have.
A blessed. And a happy life, it says,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
God. Being poor in spirit is to be
humble, to acknowledge our own shortcomings, and to have
humility in the opposition of pride, the sin that comes before
the fall. Humility is always rooted.
In forgiveness and this desire to be at peace, that's the first
beatitude that Christ. Gave this is how he has been
toward us. Jesus, the lover of my soul.
Jesus, I will never let you go. You've taken me from the miry
clay. You lifted me up.
And the Lord. Wants us to be this way with one
another and we all fall so short in actually doing this this
morning I'm sure there's not one of us here who has not
experienced conflict in our lives, whether it's in our
marriages with our children, our family, our neighbors, our.
Co laborers in the ministry at work, it's everywhere and.
Unfortunately, I find that conflict is never really dealt
with in a biblical way. Usually it could.
Be someone in the church that's upset about something, about
someone who said. Something or did something and
they decide they're not going to go to the church anymore because
one person maybe didn't say hi to them or didn't smile at them.
Or wasn't pleasant toward them? I mean we're all so self focused
unfortunately. And we're all so easily
offended. The Bible tells us that love is
not easily offended, but we unfortunately outside of.
Having the love of God working in our life, we get offended
over the most ridiculous. Things don't we sometimes.
People. Won't talk in a family for years
and they can't even remember at times why they don't talk
anymore because it's such a stupid thing.
Well, why didn't you talk to your dad all these years or your
mom or whatever? Well, to be honest with you, I
can't remember. I just knew we fought about
something, we were upset and I can't even remember what it is
anymore. Isn't that sad?
And so the Lord looks at these things and wonders, you know,
how can we call ourselves as followers and we behave this
way. Blessed are they that mourn, for
they shall be comforted. Mourning is this morning over my
own sins, the sins of the world and the suffering.
That other people go through that should break us and make us
sad. And make us prayerful that we
want to see situations change and reconcile first in our own
heart with the Lord, and then in our hearts with one another, and
then our hearts in this broken world.
If we as believers. Can't forgive one another in
this. World, How in the world can we
reach lost pagans and people that are really out there that
are doing everything that would offend us as human beings?
How can we have love in our hearts to take the gospel, the
people that really need Jesus, if we can't live out the gospel
with one another as Christians? There's a movie coming out in
February called The Jesus Revolution and it's on the.
History of the Calvary Chapel movement.
Kelsey Grammar. The guy that played and cheers,
you remember him. He plays a part of Chuck Smith
of all people and but anyway, this is a phenomenal film about
this little. Church called Calvary Chapel.
That was. Dying because of religion and
self righteousness and. All the.
Suits and the ties and. Everybody thought that because
of the way they. Looked outwardly, they were
acceptable. God.
Inwardly, hippies started coming to this church because they were
in desperate need of a savior. They were broken people.
Their lives were messed up and ruined because of sin.
Chuck didn't know how to deal with it when they started coming
in and some of the wealthy people in the church said if
these. Kind of people come to our
church. The people.
That support this church financially will no longer be in
this church. Chuck took a deep breath and
swallowed. And said, I understand, but he
didn't know what to do. And finally this one young
hippie came to him and looked him straight in the eye and
said, Pastor Chuck, someone has to be willing to love people
that are not easy to love. Someone has to be willing to
give them a chance and invite them in, in spite of the way
they look and the way they dress and the things they've done.
Chuck heard this young man started getting choked up,
excuse himself, moved away to go wash his hands at the sink,
thinking about what was being said to him by.
This hippie who had just recently.
Become saved he then made the decision that he.
Was going to open the doors to whoever wanted to come into the
church regardless of the outcome.
And he told the. Congregation that the door
swings both ways. The door swings inwardly for
those who are broken. For those who are easily
offended, the door swings the other way for them to leave and
so. Some of those people got up and
left and never came back. But what happened because of
this brokenness in this one pastor's heart, which I need in
my own? Life, as we all need, is to be
at the point in our lives as Christians that we're not
letting things get in the way of what's most important, and
that's our relationship to Jesus.
And our. Love for one another, Jesus
said. By this people will know that
you're my disciples, not by your understanding of doctrine, which
is important, by the teaching in the Bible, which is also
critically important, but he said by the love you have for
one another. By this, people will know
you're. My disciples, what would
Barnabas and Saul say Paul say to those who would ask them?
Where's Barnabas now, Paul? What would they have said?
Well, we had an argument. And then the.
Christians would say, well you guys are supposed to be.
Leading us on how? To be Christians and how to act
as Christians. And you guys can't?
Get along together anymore. That's a That's a bad situation,
isn't it? It's not acceptable.
The Bible doesn't go into great detail on this, but later on it
goes into great detail and how Paul taught about dealing with
conflict because I'm sure he never forgot about this
situation that occurred in his life.
It was a a mark in his ministry, a bad mark in his ministry.
It says blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
The meek are the humble people, obedient and submissive to the
will of God. Jesus was meek and humble of
heart, it tells. Us in Matthew 1129.
He's learned of me. For I am meek and lowly of
heart, and you will find rest into your soul.
The only way that we can become like Christ is to become humble
and to meet our mistakes and our wrongdoings.
And ask for forgiveness. To those we have.
Perhaps hurt and offended, Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall receive mercy. And boy, do we need mercy.
Lord have mercy on us, the publican said.
Lord, have mercy upon me, this Sinner.
He wasn't judging the self-righteous person that
didn't think he had any problems, he was looking at his
own need of mercy. It tells us in the book of
Leviticus, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge
against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbors
yourself. I am the Lord.
That's straight from the scriptures.
That we're to love our neighbors.
We love ourselves. Ephesians 430.
One and 32 says And let all bitterness and wrath and clamor
and evil speaking be put away from you.
Anybody ever have any problem with any of those things?
Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
I mean, who am I to hold a grudge or be bitter or
unforgiving against anybody for what the Lord has done for me
and what He's done for you? This is the heart of the church.
Forgiveness. We preach forgiveness of sins
through the death, burial and resurrection and.
Shed blood of Jesus Christ. But how do we live out this
forgiveness? It says in the Beatitudes,
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of
God, a peacemaker, someone who can step between two warring
parties. The peacemaker initiates
reconciliation when others have. Wronged them the.
Peacemaker is quick to repent when they have wounded others,
so we're. All to be peacemakers, aren't
we? Christ is the ultimate
peacemaker. He stands between US.
And God the Father and through. What he's done on the.
Cross for us. He made it possible.
For us to not be at. War with God anymore?
Because of our sin in Jesus own words in John 1335.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you
have loved one for another. I struggle at times when people
come to our. Church for the first.
Time I find out like. Hey, nice to see.
You where you from where you've been?
I always love it when they say, well we.
Moved and we used to go to a really good.
Church in some other state, and we're here now, and we want to
come here because the Bible's taught.
I love that. But if they're at the door and
says, well, let me tell you, we were at such and such a church
and the pastor did this or I don't want to hear any of that
because I'm thinking it won't be too long before they're leaving.
You're saying that about me, right?
I mean, none of us are perfect, right?
And there's always going to be something, no matter what church
you go to, where you find that there's going to be some kind of
issue you got to either deal with or.
You know not deal. With I guess and.
So when does the? Migration of Christians begin to
end. Probably not until Christ comes
and sets up his Kingdom on earth and he rules and he's the pastor
and we're sitting at his feet. But when would end this
migration from one church to the next church to the next church
to the next church? How many churches do we have to
move to before we realize that the problem isn't really the
church? The problem is my own heart
usually and how I deal with conflict.
Or don't deal with conflict. For joining us on this journey
through Acts on today's edition of Living Waters of Grace,
Pastor Clark shares that one of the most remarkable things about
the book of Acts is how it shows the disciples transformation.
The followers of Jesus we meet here are very different from the
often confused and fearful disciples in the Gospels.
After Jesus's death and resurrection, and especially
through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles experienced
a profound change in their hearts and boldness.
Their faith became unwavering, and they move forward with
courage to spread the gospel despite opposition and hardship.
Acts reminds us that the same Spirit who empowered them is at
work in US today, shaping our hearts and giving us strength to
live boldly for Christ. Living Waters of Grace is a
ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we invite you to join us
this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
Unit 6B. Visit calvarychapelonline.com
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joined us today in Axe TuneIn again soon for another edition
of Living Waters of Grace.