Hartland Summer Conference 2018: Prepared for the Final Crisis

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Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Giancarlo De Miranda

The ‘I’ Problem

...Parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, but it doesn't stop there.

It says, "...and despised others." Another characteristic of self-exaltation is despise other people.

And we can reflect in our own lives how many times we have actually reward people, even in church settings.

Thomas Tarrant says towards the end of his thought, it says, toward others, it is an attitude of contempt and indifference.

Now I want to show you an example of pride in the apostolic church.

And the reason I want to show that is because the disciples had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2.

And they had a higher experience at this point than when they were with Christ.

And in the case of Paul, that is in this story that I will share with you, we know that he had a major conversion experience and he also partook of the prophetic outpouring of the Spirit.

Peter also partook of the prophetic outpouring of the spirit, but yet because of perhaps destruction of a moment, self tries to gain the mastery again.

And in the case of Paul, we are going to read this story in Acts chapter 15.

In the case of Paul, he actually didn't know himself that well and he needed to expand his understanding of God and how God deals with people.

Here in Acts chapter 15 is right after the Jerusalem Council.

The Apostolic Church was divided over the issue of circumcision, but finally, they believed, they settled the matter, and they came to a conclusion.

It was an official gathering of the Apostolic Church and that's why the Christians should follow the decision that was made there which was based on the Word of God but we know the story many decide to ignore that decision and Paul had to deal with the rebellion that followed throughout his ministry from those that believed that you should be circumcised to be saved.

After they finished the Jerusalem Council, Paul had already gone to his first mission trip and raised congregations, and now he was about to go to his second mission trip.

So in verse 36, the Bible says, and some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.

Verse 37, And Barnabas determined to take with them, who?

And who was John Mark at this point here in the story?

He was a disciple of Christ that had gone with Paul and Barnabas to the first missionary trip.

But along the way, because of the hardship, John Mark did what?

And he returned to Jerusalem And he left Paul and Barnabas to do the work of God and they really needed his help.

And Paul was deeply disappointed with John Mark.

He understood that John Mark needed mentorship.

And I want you to see here what happens next in the story.

It's interesting how the Bible tries to describe in few words what took place which was major, but it's amazing how the Bible expresses a lot with few words.

Let's read verse 38, But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work.

And the contention, and again, contention rises because of what?

So we will learn what side was actually manifesting pride.

It says here again in verse 39, and the contention was so, what's the next word there?

And that's what I think is interesting, how the Bible expresses much with just a few words.

And none of them were willing to let go of their opinion.

And we can see here in the side of Paul the pride of opinion.

To the point that they prefer to split and not work together anymore.

Now, Notice the continuation of the verse.

The contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder 1 from the other.

And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed on to Ziphrath.

And verse 40 says, and Paul chose Silas and departed.

What to do in situations like this, Especially if you believe you're right because both of them believe they were right.

For me, the worst scenario if they were not cherishing pride, the worst scenario, okay, would be Paul or Bernadotte say, let's agree to disagree.

You know, instead of having that so sharp contention.

They had a major problem here, both of them.

They could have separated and said, you know, Barnabas, you have your conviction that you should give him a chance and work with him, but I don't believe that way.

I don't think he's fitted for the ministry, so let's agree to disagree.

I'll continue my work and you continue your work and let's live in peace.

Not really, There was a sharp contention here.

Hopefully, the best scenario would be for Paul, through humiliation and through humbling himself before the Lord, to recognize that he was wrong.

We are going to see in a little bit here.

The worst scenario would be for them to agree to disagree and not fight.

I want to share this statement so you can see what inspiration complements in this passage that we see here with just a few words that has a lot in these few words, a lot of concepts that we can learn and draw from this experience.

Now, the spirit process says, this, this assertion calls Paul to judge Mark, what?

Barnabas, on the other hand, was inclined to excuse him because of his inexperience.

So we can kind of see their arguments when they were having that sharp contention.

So here's not describing the contention, he's describing their rationale.

But we can imagine that they expressed this rationale during the contention.

He felt anxious that Mark should not abandon the ministry.

He said he should not leave the ministry, for he saw in him qualifications that would fit him to be a useful worker for Christ.

And after years, Notice, because he took Mark, John Mark, with himself, in after years his solicitude in Mark's behalf was richly rewarded, for the young man gave himself unreservedly to the Lord and to the work of proclaiming the gospel message in difficult fields.

So from here we can see that Paul was wrong.

And then he goes on to say, under the blessing of God and the wise training of Barnabas, you know, it takes some time, but God vindicates us.

Barnabas is being vindicated here before all of us.

We just saw in the Bible that they have a sharp contention.

And I have heard people saying that they thought, you know, both were right and maybe Barnabas should be more flexible after all Paul is, You know, the disciple that we see the most here in the Book of Acts preaching the gospel and raising churches, maybe he should have listened to Paul.

He had the gift of, you know, the spirit of prophecy.

But we see here Barnabas being vindicated.

Under the blessing of God and the wise training of Barnabas, he developed into a valuable worker.

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The ‘I’ Problem

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