“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his
face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before
certain men came from James, he used to eat with the
Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw
back and separate himself from the Gentiles because
he was afraid of those who belonged to the
circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his
hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas
was led astray.” Galatians 2:11-13
This reading is very real isn't it? It contains all the elements that we've been looking at
this week, namely purity, peacemaking and persecution and it contains some big names in
the New Testament. Paul, Peter, James and Barnabas are all there. Let's have a look at
some of them and a look at ourselves. Some of them come through in shining colours
and some of them don't; sounds just like us, doesn't it?
Peter wants to be pure of heart, in other words, his outer actions matching his inner
desires and motives. He knows what the right thing is to do and he does it, he eats with
the Gentiles. Then certain men arrive from James and suddenly Peter is no longer doing
what is right. Because of his fear of the circumcision group he withdraws from the
Gentiles, presumably refusing to eat with them any more. He wants to be in with the
right crowd and in order to do that he does what is wrong. We call this peer pressure
don't we, but isn't it surprising to see it amongst these people? This is what the fear of
persecution can cause us to do and it's not just schoolchildren in the playground that
succumb to it. There is a ripple effect and soon others are following Peter, their leader,
and even Barnabas is led astray. Perhaps all of this is being done in order to “keep the
peace” and make sure that “no one gets hurt.” Paul will have none of it and so concerned
is he with the purity of the early church and its teaching, that he confronts Peter and deals
with the issue. Was he afraid of the circumcision group? We don't know, but what we do
know is that it was more important to him to please God than to please people, even at the
risk of persecution.
Every one of us faces peer pressure almost every day in the area of purity and of
peacemaking and face the prospect of potential persecution. Pray for strength and
courage and remember that the same Holy Spirit who was with Paul is with you.
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John Wesley (1703 - 1791)
Was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. In contrast to Whitefield's Calvinism, Wesley embraced the Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England. Methodism in both forms became a highly successful evangelical movement in Britain, which encouraged people to experience Jesus Christ personally.Wesley helped to organise and form societies of Christians throughout Great Britain, North America and Ireland as small groups that developed intensive, personal accountability, discipleship and religious instruction among members. His great contribution was to appoint itinerant, unordained preachers who travelled widely to evangelise and care for people in the societies. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of the day, including the prison reform and abolitionism movements.
John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, with founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. In contrast to George Whitefield's Calvinism (which later led to the forming of the Calvinistic Methodists), Wesley embraced Arminianism. Methodism in both forms was a highly successful evangelical movement in the United Kingdom, which encouraged people to experience Christ personally.
Wesley believed that this doctrine should be constantly preached, especially among the people called Methodists. In fact, he contended that the purpose of the Methodist movement was to "spread scriptural holiness across England."
Throughout his life, Wesley remained within the Church of England and insisted that his movement was well within the bounds of the Anglican tradition. His maverick use of church policy put him at odds with many within the Church of England, though toward the end of his life he was widely respected.
John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist movement which grew from the 'Holy Club' of his Oxford friends into a great religious revival. An indefatigable traveller, preacher and writer, Wesley averaged 8,000 miles a year on horseback and gave 15 sermons a week. The reluctance of the Anglican clergy to lend him their pulpits led him to give some of his sermons in the open air, a decision which enabled him to reach those among the poorer sections of society who were not accustomed to going to church.