How to be right without being insufferable.

Steve Brown:
How to be right without being insufferable. Let’s talk on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is all about God’s radical grace, grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on it’s face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now, but if you’re hungry for the truth, that’ll make you free. Welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hope you guys had a great week-end and I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. If you were with us last week, in fact, for the past few weeks, we’ve been studying the book of Acts. And we’re up to the fourth chapter of Acts and it is a delightful chapter. And it’s the repercussions of what happened in the third chapter of Acts, when a man who was crippled, did a dance routine in church and blew everybody away. And he was healed because of Jesus. And that irritated the powers and this, and I’m not going to take the time to read this fourth chapter again, it’s quite long. But, Peter and John were, and the cripple were brought before the court. The problem with the politicians was there was a cripple man who was no longer cripple, standing in front of them and they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t like the disciples. They certainly didn’t like Jesus. They didn’t like anybody messing with the religious establishment, but there was that cripple and, you know, it’s hard, you know, we don’t have too many cripples dancing anymore and we should. It would be a good thing, but at any rate. We spent all last week talking about that. And, talking about how important it is that we as Christians not be intimidated in this culture. But we’ve got to be careful, if you were listening last Thursday, I spent some time identifying with those of you, because I’m exactly the same way, who don’t want to be associated with a lot of things that are called Christian in our culture. There’s a lot, I mean, if you ask most people, what comes to mind when I use the word Christian, everything get’s said, except forgiveness, except mercy, except love, except kindness. And that’s what this thing is all about, but there are some in our family and I’m one of them. And I repent. There’s some in our family, who have promoted a different agenda. And if we identify with Jesus, we’re afraid we’ll get identified with him. And I get that and I suggested, which I know wasn’t very helpful, but we do it anyway, in the way that Peter did it. I mean, he was in your face, he spoke his truth. He decided if they’re gonna, if they’re gonna throw me in jail, I’m going to go out in a blaze of glory. And he told them that they were lost and there was no other name whereby anybody could be saved except Jesus. And that wasn’t bad news. It was good news. And then he said, we’re going to speak what we have seen and heard, not what others tell us to say and speak. And the politicians didn’t have any choice, so they let them go. And then there was a prayer meeting where the house, this is all in that text, a prayer meeting where the house, where they were having this season of prayer, was shaken. You know, it just dawned on me. We generally pray on Monday. Talking about prayer and then I forgot. Let’s pray. And then we’ll talk some about this text. Father. I forget sometimes to pray and I repent of that. We do come before you and are privileged to be here, because of the Cross of Christ. As always, we pray for the one who teaches on this broadcast, forgive him his sins, because there are many, we would see Jesus in him only, and we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Alright. Okay. You got the problem, the problem is you’re going to be associated with the dark side of the Christian faith, if you tell people that you belong to Jesus. And I suggested do it anyway, but there is a question and I wrote an entire book on that particular question. And I have to be careful here, because I know a lot about this subject. I mean after you spent eight months working on it, you know that subject, and the title of the book is Talk the Walk: How to be Right Without Being Insufferable. And there’s a lot in Scripture about the fact that we’re right. We are, you know. Does that irritate you? If you’re not a believer that really irritates you, but I’m right and you’re wrong. And you, and you think you’re right and I’m wrong. And that’s okay too, but I really am right. And, God told me that I was right. I mean, that’s what the Bible is all about, but the problem is, how do you speak it. Well, when you’re given an opportunity in a very difficult situation, just do it, just be Nike, just do it. And speak out and let the devil take hine most, but most of us in our daily life are in different kinds of situations with that sort of thing. And so, go to the fruit of the spirit. Go asking that God make you kind and gentle and loving. And John told us that if we ask anything, according to his will, it would be granted. Is being kind and gentle and loving and civil and compassionate and concerned God’s will? Oh Yes. He told us it was his will. So, on the basis of the word of God, and I speak this to me and to you. Ask him, and it will be granted. You know, how he does that? He reminds you of where he found you. He reminds you of your sins, not just the ones where the statute of limitations is run out, but the present sins, he reminds you how often you’ve been wrong on other things. He reminds you, of how small you are and how big and kind and loving he is. And as he infuses that into the psyche of Christians, then he says, go out and irritate somebody. Listen, you don’t have to be irritating to irritate people, you just got to show. Cause you smell like Jesus and I do too. And don’t duck, don’t duck. And then you see in this text and it’s the last part of the fourth chapter of Acts, the prayer service that’s going on. The first thing you ought to know that’s going on in this prayer service, and Luke tells us, is that everybody’s surprised. You know, they thought they weren’t going to see the disciples again, they were going to be in jail. They thought, oh man, we’re in trouble, they crucified Jesus. They’re going to go after us next. And then Peter shows up and John. Tell the story of what happened and how they had been let go, about the cripple who was able to dance, about what God had done and the lives. Luke tells us that many saw this, and believed. They said, you’re not going to believe all this, and they didn’t, because that was not what they expected. And I don’t, I think that we, as Christians ought to learn, to expect great things from the God of the universe, who is great. So, they got on their knees and note that they quoted Scripture in that prayer service. They remembered what God said and that they were right about his love and about his kindness. And the place in which they were praying, Luke says was shaken. Oh man. You hear about the man who was standing with a church elder and the church was on fire and the fire people had come and they were trying to put it out. And the elder turned to his neighbor and said, you know, this is the first time I’ve seen you at church. And he said to the elder, this is the first time I’ve seen the church on fire. Maybe, maybe that’s our problem. Maybe we as Christians, if we’re going to stand the way Luke says the disciples did in this particular text, we’ve got to ask for the fire that is supernatural and that comes from the God of the universe. So, do what he told you, remember where he found you, remember the gospel. Luther said, we got to preach the gospel to each other or we’ll book I’m discouraged. And I would add to Luther’s remarks, not only that, we got to preach the gospel to each other, or we’ll be intimidated and go quiet, when we should be saying something and doing something and taking a stand. Remember where he found you. Preach the gospel to yourself and to your friends, and then go out and irritate somebody. That’s what this chapter is about. It’s about troublers in Israel and we need to be troublers in America and troublers in Canada. And to be civil about it. You’d think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
How to be right without being insufferable. Hey, that’s catchy, that would make a great book title. Thank you Steve. More from Acts tomorrow. Be sure to join us again then.

Knowing makes me feel important and smart and in control. Certainty is a heck of a drug.

That’s just a small snippet from an article You’re Probably Wrong by Chad West. In the piece, he points out the dangers of placing too much importance on knowledge, really thought provoking stuff. And you could find that article and the 2021 edition of Key Life Magazine, along with other great articles by Robin DeMurga, Chris Wachter and of course, Steve. Grab your free copy, right now, by calling 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for the magazine. If you would like to mail your request, send it to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

If you’re in Canada, send your request to

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

Just ask for your free copy of the 2021 edition of Key Life Magazine. Also, if you’re able, would you please give to Key Life? Big or small, monthly or one-time, every gift matters and every gift really does help. You could charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or just grab your phone right now and text Key Life to 28950. That’s Key Life, one word, two words, it doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, Key life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.