Fear & Favor, Part III: Fear of God or Fear of Man?

Pastor Harlow continued the church’s series in Acts, turning to the criticism Peter faced after preaching the gospel to Cornelius’s household in Acts 11:1-18. Working through the passage in two movements, the critics Peter answered and the repentance unto life that followed, Pastor Harlow considered the temptation to fear the approval of man more than the call of God. Peter did not defend himself but simply recounted what God had done, and his accusers fell silent, then glorified God for granting the Gentiles life. The sermon pointed us to the same freedom Peter knew: when we fear God rightly, we are released from needing anyone else’s approval to obey him.