258 - Let All That You Do, Be Done With Love

Overview - Let All That You Do, Be Done With Love. Acts 8:19-25. In our message today, we mainly spent our time on Simon and his desire to buy the gift of laying his hands on people to be able to grant people the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and Peter’s response to him for having this desire, for it was totally sinful. Now, this desire of Simon’s was sinful of course, and Peter rebukes him for it for sure, but it is within the way that Peter rebukes him for his sin that I bring into question in this message, because boy oh boy, does Peter rebuke him for his sin. You see, Peter’s rebuke of Simon seems very harsh, rude, and terribly unloving. And the reason I call his rebuke into question, is because of what the title of our message says. That title again: Let all that you do, be done with love. And, the reason I call Peter’s rebuke into question is because it sure doesn’t seem as if Peter rebukes Simon in very much love at all. In fact, I would have to say that Peter’s rebuke of Simon seems more like a verbal punch in the face, than any kind of love, but is it? And the problem with Peter’s seeming lack of love in rebuking Simon is that our title comes from 1 Corinthians 16, which means that it is the way that God wants His kids to act towards others. So big question here: Did Peter sin by rebuking Simon the way that he did? So since that is the big question today, I take this sermon to answer it, as well as much more. Very good message if you have ever wondered if Peter's response to Simon is sinful or not. May the Lord Bless you as you seek Him Pastor Ed.