* Peter was a changed man - he knew God had told him he could preach and hang out with the Gentiles.

* Cornelius, a gentile who loved God, sent six men to bring Peter to them so he could preach.

* 10:28 - Peter obeyed because God revealed the truth to him.

* See Acts 11:12 - he had no doubts he heard from God.

* Galatians 2:11-12 something changed.

* He went from new Peter back to old Peter.

* Why?

* Because of FEAR! He was afraid of offending people.

* This is still one of Satan’s primary ways of getting us off track.

* He’ll bring people into our lives who we want to please more than God.

* Don’t let that happen!

* The “goad” is a long pole or stick with a pointed end.

* Farmers use it to prod oxen along.

* When a stubborn ox kicks back from the discomfort they could injure themselves.

* The goad is made for an ox only - often called an “oxgoad.”

* It’s designed to make the cows uncomfortable so they start moving in the right direction.

* Shepherds used staffs, but cow farmers use a goad.

* Cows are more difficult to corral and have tougher skin.

* Jesus was telling Saul that he was only hurting himself by resisting the truth of Jesus Christ.

* The truth of God is a like a goad - it is designed to prod us into the right direction.

* But it is uncomfortable, so we sometimes kick against it by rejecting the truth.

* If we do we only hurt ourselves, then we’ll blame God for it.

* Saul eventually got it right. Will we?

* Asa followed the Lord and was blessed.

* With blessing comes options.

* When an enemy came Asa relied on his own riches to get him out of it.

* And it worked. But it grieved God.

* It takes faith to trust God to bring the money when you don’t have it. But it takes just as much faith to trust God by not using the money when you do have it.

* vs 7-8 - Asa “forgot” his history.

* vs 9 - God is looking to help those who’s hearts are loyal to Him.

* The enemy could have been a test from God.

* How did Asa respond to the rebuke?

* vs 10 - He got ticked when he should have repented.

* Asa took his focus off God and put it on the stuff God had blessed him with.

* If you love God for what He gives you you’ll hate Him for what He takes from you.

* Asa became prideful and his spirit manifested itself when he was rebuked.

* Matthew Henry - “Those that idolize their own conduct cannot bear contradiction.”

* You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle rebuke.

* Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar when he was inaugurated as king.

* There was no command to do this and was WAY more than customary.

* This is like giving hundreds of thousands of dollars away.

* He spared no expense for God.

* How did God respond?

* He decided to give Solomon something in return - a chance to ask for “anything” he wanted.

* Solomon gave to God what was already God’s (the animals) and so God gave Solomon something he didn’t have - wisdom.

* Key - give God what you have and then you can expect him to give back to you a hundredfold return.

* Solomon’s wisdom was far more valuable than 1,000 animals.

* First Baptist Dallas took down their billboards that said “American is a Christian nation” when the Mayor demanded they take it down.

* The Men of Ephraim turned back on the day of battled - they forgot what God had done.

* The cover of Newsweek magazine in 1982 - “How the Bible Made America” on the cover.

* Our nation was founded as a Christian nation.

* This is a very interesting verse.

* At the foundation of the church, which had just been born, God established the principle of fear.

* Ananias and Saphira pretended to be something on the outside that wasn’t true on the inside.

* Because of this God had to clean up the church.

* NOTE - Warren Wiersbe said that God punishes sin severely at the beginning of a new period in salvation history.

* When the tabernacle was erected, Nadab and Abihu were killed for offering strange fire.

* When the Israelites came into the Promised Land, Achan was killed for disobeying God’s order.

* When the church was birthed Ananias and Saphira both died when they lied to the apostles.

* Proverbs 9:10 - “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.”

* We need to have a healthy fear of God - He’s like Aslan in Narnia.

* He is a provider and protector, but he’s not a tame lion!

* Same as a dad - if a kid doesn’t have a healthy fear of his dad he’ll end up in rebellion against all authority.

* vs 14 - notice how the church keep growing in the midst of this fear.

* The reason why is because this was a healthy fear!

* We need a healthy dose of fear to get back on the right track as a church today.

* Peter walked in the power of the Spirit, doing the same thing Jesus did when He was on the earth.

* He then gives the key to experiencing refreshment for your soul - repentence.

* Think of being in the middle of a desert with a dry throat - what you would give for a nice tall glass of water.

* Imagine the refreshment you would experience.

* Our souls long for this type of refreshment as well.

* God made us this way so we would search for the only thing that truly refreshes - Jesus!

* Only through repentance are we able to quench the thirst in our souls.

* Refreshment is the result of repentance - both for unbelievers and believers.

* When David desired to build a temple for the Lord God responded by giving him the promise of an everlasting kingdom.

* David was humbled, recognizing God didn’t hold his sins against him.

* vs 16-7 - you know your motive by how you respond when it happens (or doesn’t happen).

* vs 18 - When God forgives us He doesn’t hold our sins against us any longer.

* We shouldn’t walk around in guilt. We are forgiven.

* However, we should always hold the memory of how forgiven we are.

* David said to God, “For You know Your servant!”

* He was reminding himself of how forgiven he truly was.

* This is what keeps you humble, and is what made David a man after God’s own heart.

* This is good memory.

ronicles 15:22 - Excellence

* Chenaniah was leader of music “because he was skillful.”

* He was excellent at his job.

* Because of this he was chosen to be the leader.

* Leadership starts by being excellent at whatever we do.

* We work excellently when we work “as if” God Himself gave us the job.

* Imagine how distracting it is in the middle of a worship service for the piano player to be off key.

* Chenaniah wasn’t just gifted, he was anointed.

* He was a LEVITE! The Levites were called to lead in music.

* Today we hire gifted people for worship services but not anointed - there are many churches who don’t even require their people to be saved.

* But excellence is the key here - operate in excellence and it will prepare you for leadership.

* When Jesus first responded all the men fell to the ground.

* Peter probably thought, “Yea! Take that!”

* But the second time the men didn’t fall down.

* Maybe Peter thought, “Come on Jesus! Do it again.”

* But Jesus let them take Him.

* So what did Peter do when Jesus didn’t respond like he thought He should?

* He took matters into his own hands.

* He may have thought, “Well, if you’re not going to fight I will!”

* We do the same when we don’t see Jesus doing what we think He should do.

* The result is that we hurt people, just like Peter did.