- 5 months ago
- #mlcc
- #church
- #churchonline
When Peter returned to Jerusalem after eating with gentile believers, he faced sharp criticism from those who prized Jewish customs above the evident work of God. How did Peter answer, what convinced the objectors, and what challenge does his wisdom pose to our own attachments today?
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/troubling-traditions
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/troubling-traditions
#mlcc #church #churchonline
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Traditions can be a blessing.
00:02Traditions are important.
00:03They can reinforce biblical teaching
00:06and those truths that have been handed down
00:09over the centuries to us.
00:10Even Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2,
00:14he said,
00:14so then brothers stand firm and hold to the traditions
00:18that you are taught by us.
00:21The body of teaching,
00:23that teaching that has been given over by the apostles
00:26and those to the church so that they would grow.
00:29Hold fast to those traditions that you were taught by us,
00:32either by our spoken word or by our letter.
00:35So traditions are valuable.
00:37They can be wonderful blessings.
00:39They can be really valuable.
00:41Traditions can give us a sense of order and security,
00:46a connection to previous generations,
00:48holding a tradition.
00:51However, the underlying meaning of a tradition
00:54can be lost over time.
00:56And pretty soon a group of people
00:58are simply doing their tradition
01:00and have forgotten what the meaning of the truth,
01:02what was behind the meaning of the tradition at all.
01:04And it becomes something just that someone does
01:07and wrote with no meaning attached to it.
01:10Let me give you an example.
01:12As people were filing out of a church building years ago,
01:15many, many years ago,
01:16they would walk past a certain wall
01:19on the way exiting the building.
01:21Everyone in a line would walk past this wall
01:23and they got to a specific spot in the wall
01:25and they would kind of bow down like that
01:27to this spot on the wall.
01:29Everyone did it as they walked by.
01:30That's how they exited the church.
01:32They kind of just bowed down to the spot on the wall
01:34and everyone exited out.
01:36And finally, some little girl goes,
01:37Mom, what are we doing?
01:39I mean, there's nothing on the wall.
01:41It's just a spot on the wall.
01:43Why are we kneeling down to it when we exit out?
01:46And the mother goes, I don't know.
01:49That's just what we do.
01:51Well, come to find out, three centuries,
01:54300 years before when icons were allowed in church,
01:57some churches at least,
01:59an icon is simply a description of a Christian person
02:02or a Christian symbol.
02:04And then people would give reverence or honor to it,
02:07not worship it in that sense,
02:09but would honor the Christian symbol
02:10or honor the Christian person.
02:12And so 300 years prior,
02:13they had this icon on the wall
02:15and everyone exiting out would bow before the icon.
02:18And then icons were forbidden in the churches.
02:21So they painted over the icon, but guess what?
02:24Everyone still stopped at the exact same spot
02:27every week for over 300 years,
02:30not knowing what they were doing.
02:33It lost the meaning of the truth.
02:35Now, I'm not advocating bowing down before icons.
02:38That's not what I'm trying to say.
02:39I'm simply saying this is an example
02:41of the meaning of the tradition was lost.
02:44At some point, somebody thought it was a good idea
02:47that we, in some sort of furtherance of reverence of God,
02:50they would have this icon.
02:51I disagree with it, but that's what they were thinking.
02:53They wanted to honor God with it,
02:55but they had forgotten the whole purpose
02:57of why they were bowing down before a church,
03:00a wall in a church building.
03:02It made no sense.
03:03Tradition can continue when no one knows why.
03:10It loses its meaning, but it's still practice.
03:15In today's text, Peter speaks about a tradition.
03:18It's not a biblical mandate.
03:19It's a tradition.
03:21A tradition of men that dictated behaviors
03:24between Jews and Gentiles.
03:26And this tradition was causing unrest in the early church
03:31because now we've got Gentiles entering into the church.
03:35We saw the salvation of Cornelius.
03:37Gentiles are entering into the church,
03:38but there's still this division between Jews and Gentiles
03:41basically because of this one idea
03:43of this tradition that they held.
03:46Acts chapter 11 is Peter reporting back to the church
03:50what happened in Caesarea with Cornelius.
03:53So it's just kind of a retelling of the story.
03:55So hopefully you have your Bibles, Acts chapter 11,
03:58your biblical devices.
03:59We want to look at this as God's word together.
04:01We want to look at it.
04:02What we'll see here is that a tradition of the Jews
04:05was an obstacle for the full inclusion
04:08of the believing Gentiles as a New Testament people of God.
04:13It was something that the Jewish people held onto,
04:16but they had to understand God is moving
04:18and he began something new.
04:21And they either had to get along with what God is doing
04:24or they will reject what God is doing
04:25and keep behaving in the same tradition.
04:29Sometimes you and I have traditions,
04:31family traditions, biblical traditions,
04:33and they're valuable.
04:35Again, they connect us to past generations.
04:38But sometimes those traditions can be obstacles
04:41in our life for spiritual growth.
04:43Maybe we can identify some traditions
04:46that would hinder us from growing in the faith.
04:50So God had marvelously saved Cornelius by his grace.
04:54And now Peter has to answer
04:56to the disgruntled Jewish believers
04:58why he did what he did.
05:01So Acts chapter 11, look with me,
05:03verses just one through three.
05:06Salvation is in chapter 10 of Cornelius.
05:08Cornelius, the Holy Spirit's poured out
05:10upon the believing Gentiles.
05:12The evidence that the Holy Spirit
05:14has poured out upon them
05:15is that they spoke in unknown languages.
05:17They were baptized following that.
05:20Verse number one.
05:22Now the apostles and the brothers
05:23who were throughout Judea
05:25heard that the Gentiles also had received
05:28the word of God.
05:29So when Peter went up to Jerusalem,
05:32their circumcision party criticized him,
05:34saying, you went to uncircumcised men
05:38and ate with them.
05:40They're not even excited
05:42that Cornelius got saved.
05:43They're more concerned about this tradition
05:45that you're not allowed to eat with Gentiles.
05:51Even before Peter gets back to Jerusalem,
05:54they already know what's happened.
05:57And they're waiting to criticize him.
06:01Even before he got to Jerusalem,
06:03news of the event had arrived.
06:05Gossip travels fast.
06:07You ever notice that?
06:10Gossip, what does it say?
06:11That a lie goes all around the world
06:13before truth puts his shoes on?
06:16It's not that they're saying something good.
06:18They're gossiping.
06:22It kind of reminds me of a parent
06:24waiting for that teenage child
06:26that's late for a curfew,
06:28standing at the door, tapping their foot.
06:30Just waiting to criticize them
06:32when they walk through the door.
06:33Any of your parents ever been there before?
06:35Just can't wait to,
06:36why are you late?
06:38They're just standing around,
06:39just tapping their foot,
06:40waiting to criticize Peter
06:41when he arrives in Jerusalem.
06:43They're not even excited
06:44that Cornelius got saved.
06:47Ugh.
06:49They don't understand
06:50why he would eat with Gentiles.
06:53I mean, that's the tradition.
06:54You know that, Peter.
06:55Jews do not eat with Gentiles.
06:57You may become unclean.
07:02This was a Jewish tradition.
07:03It's not in the Torah.
07:05That's the five books of Moses.
07:07It's in the teachings of the rabbi
07:08called the Talmud,
07:10the teachings of the elders.
07:11It's not in the Torah.
07:12Nowhere in the Torah do we see
07:14that Jews cannot eat with Gentiles.
07:16But the teachings of the Talmud
07:18gives us these rules,
07:19these additional rules
07:21above the law of God
07:22to guide Jewish life.
07:25In my Jewish learning website,
07:26we read this.
07:28According to the sages,
07:29that's in the Talmud,
07:30the real problem with eating bread
07:32prepared by Gentiles
07:34is that accepting a loaf
07:35could lead to enjoying it together.
07:37Oh, how dare you enjoy life together
07:39with a Gentile?
07:41Which could lead to friendship.
07:43How dare you be a friend
07:44with an unbeliever?
07:46Which could lead to intermarriage.
07:47Now that was a problem
07:48and that God did speak about.
07:52He did talk about don't intermarry.
07:54He did talk about that in the Torah,
07:55but he didn't talk about
07:56not eating with a Gentile.
07:59In Biblical Hermonius' website,
08:01the intended use of these prohibitions
08:03was to provide concrete,
08:05practical practices
08:06that would put a distance
08:08between the Jew
08:09and the danger of transgression.
08:12What seems to have happened in reality
08:14was that these additions
08:15diverted focus
08:16from the spiritual meaning
08:17of the precepts
08:18to external conformity,
08:20which the prophets decried.
08:23Think the Pharisees.
08:26Remember what the Pharisees did?
08:27They are so jealous,
08:29so zealous for God's law,
08:30what God has revealed,
08:32that they don't want anyone
08:33to violate God's law.
08:35So what the Pharisees did
08:36is they came along
08:36and wrote 600 and something,
08:38six extra additional rules
08:40for Jews to follow
08:42so that you don't violate
08:43God's commands.
08:45They wanted to put these big bumpers
08:47left and right of the Jew
08:49so that they would not violate
08:50God's law.
08:52So they added additional things
08:54on top of that
08:55so that they wouldn't violate
08:56God's law.
08:59Alfred Edersheim wrote
09:00in Jewish Life,
09:01Jewish Social Life,
09:03but there is no Old Testament
09:04regulation forbidding
09:06such social contact
09:07with Gentiles.
09:08Though the rabbis
09:09had added it
09:10and had made it
09:11a binding by custom,
09:13there is nothing more binding
09:14on the average person
09:15than social custom.
09:17It became a tradition.
09:19Nowhere in the Torah,
09:20nowhere in the law of God
09:21did you say you couldn't
09:22eat with Gentiles.
09:23I get it.
09:24They're saying,
09:25I want to be holy.
09:26I don't want the Gentiles
09:27to rub off on me.
09:28I understand that.
09:29I get that.
09:30Not eating with Gentiles
09:32was part of their tradition.
09:33It's hard to abandon
09:35age-old traditions.
09:37But when God's word is clear,
09:39we must.
09:41When he gives direction,
09:42we must.
09:42The question is,
09:45are we willing to abandon
09:46any cherished belief
09:47when the clear word of God
09:49teaches us otherwise
09:50and doesn't support
09:51what we even think?
09:52Are we willing to say,
09:53no, wait,
09:54God's word is clear on this.
09:55I've thought this all along,
09:56but no,
09:56God's very clear on this.
09:58This is the way
09:58I should be thinking.
10:03I get this protection thing.
10:05I understand that.
10:07James says that we should
10:08keep ourselves unspotted
10:09from the world.
10:10I understand that.
10:11It makes good sense.
10:12We don't want the world
10:13to influence us.
10:15But you and I,
10:16as believers in Jesus Christ,
10:18if we don't go out
10:19into the world,
10:20how are they going to hear
10:21the gospel message?
10:23We have to go out
10:24among unbelievers
10:25for them to even hear
10:26the gospel message.
10:28So I understand protecting.
10:30I understand we don't want
10:31to be spotted by this world.
10:32But you and I have to come
10:33to a place where we can be
10:34around unbelievers,
10:37influencing them
10:38for the gospel
10:39without allowing them
10:40to influence our thoughts
10:42and our beliefs
10:43and our behaviors
10:44and attitudes.
10:46Because if we can't go out
10:47among the unbelievers,
10:48how are they ever going to hear
10:49the gospel message?
10:50So I understand about protecting.
10:52I get it.
10:53But they missed
10:53the bigger picture.
10:55They were to be holy people,
10:57yes,
10:57but they were still to be
10:58in the midst of the nations,
10:59revealing God's word
11:00to the nations
11:01so that the nations
11:02would know God.
11:03But they said,
11:04it's just a whole lot easier.
11:05And let me be honest with you,
11:06it is a whole lot easier
11:08just to avoid going
11:09among unbelievers.
11:10It is easier.
11:12You don't have to worry
11:13about them influencing you.
11:15It is easier
11:16just to avoid unbelievers.
11:18But how are we going
11:18to get the gospel to them
11:20if we don't go
11:21among unbelievers?
11:24So these Jewish believers
11:26were continually criticizing Peter.
11:28It's written in a way
11:29that they kept nagging him
11:30over and over and over,
11:33just not one time,
11:34over and over and over again.
11:35And just nagging him.
11:37Just,
11:37I can't believe you did this.
11:39How could you eat
11:40with somebody?
11:41Just criticizing him.
11:44Anonymous author
11:45told about a story
11:46about one person
11:47told a pastor
11:47that he didn't think
11:48he could accomplish
11:49anything for God
11:50because he only has one talent.
11:52And the pastor said,
11:53don't be discouraged.
11:55God can use it.
11:57What is your talent anyway?
11:59And the person responded,
12:01my only talent
12:02is criticizing people.
12:03The pastor said quickly,
12:05go and bury it.
12:10So they questioned Peter
12:12on his actions,
12:13but they,
12:14but Peter didn't get offended
12:15by his questions.
12:17I like that.
12:18He's the apostle.
12:20He's the one that,
12:20the keys of the kingdom
12:21have been handed over
12:22to him by Jesus.
12:23We talked about that already.
12:24This is the pinnacle
12:27of the apostles.
12:28He's one among many.
12:28I got that.
12:29But Peter is the guy.
12:31But do you notice
12:32he doesn't get offended
12:33at their question?
12:35He could have.
12:37Why weren't they accepting
12:38his authority
12:38as the first among
12:39the apostles?
12:40How dare you question me?
12:41He didn't take that route.
12:42I love that about Peter here.
12:44He's had his problems
12:45in the past, right?
12:46Peter likes to open up
12:47his mouth and insert his foot.
12:48He's had his problems
12:49in the past,
12:49but here he's very humble.
12:53He could have said
12:54something like,
12:55who do you think
12:55you are questioning me?
12:57I'm an apostle
12:58of Jesus Christ.
12:59I'm the one who has
13:00the keys of the kingdom.
13:02How dare you?
13:02He didn't.
13:03He's humble,
13:04and I appreciate that.
13:06So in the midst of criticism,
13:07he teaches us
13:08to remain humble.
13:10Criticism,
13:11if it's valid,
13:12change.
13:13If it's not valid,
13:14ignore it,
13:15but remain humble.
13:17He didn't deserve
13:18the criticism.
13:19No.
13:20God had already
13:21convinced Peter
13:21about the inclusion
13:22of the Gentiles.
13:23Now the other Jewish believers
13:25needed convincing.
13:26Remember the sheet
13:27coming down?
13:27He was already convinced
13:28what God has made clean,
13:30don't call common.
13:31Don't call unclean.
13:32He's convinced Peter,
13:33but other Jews
13:34are not getting it.
13:35The Jewish believers,
13:35they don't understand it yet.
13:38They thought,
13:39well,
13:40for a Gentile
13:41to be part of this Christianity,
13:42this thing,
13:43they have to first become
13:44a full-blown Jew.
13:45They have to go through,
13:47undergo circumcision
13:47if you're a male
13:48and come into the covenant
13:50of the old.
13:50They were forgetting
13:51that's the old covenant.
13:52That's a sign
13:53of the old covenant circumcision.
13:55But a new covenant
13:56has been promised,
13:57and that's not a sign
13:58of the new covenant circumcision.
13:59But that's how they're thinking.
14:00Oh,
14:00they got to become full Jews
14:01before they can become
14:02really good believers.
14:06It's understandable.
14:08Christianity at first
14:08was seen as an outgrowth
14:10of Judaism.
14:10It makes sense.
14:11They're a part
14:11of the Jewish community.
14:13It makes sense
14:14that they just thought,
14:15well,
14:15everyone's got to be circumcised
14:16if you're a male
14:17to be part of what's going on.
14:19It's understandable.
14:21The legalistic Jewish believers
14:22did not question
14:23the baptism of the Gentiles,
14:25but rather about table fellowship.
14:28In other words,
14:29a person gets baptized
14:29because they're a believer.
14:31They didn't even ask
14:32about the baptism.
14:33They just said,
14:33why did you eat with them?
14:35Why?
14:35They weren't even excited.
14:37They weren't even excited
14:38that this Gentile got saved.
14:40They weren't excited
14:41that he got baptized,
14:42identifying himself
14:43with the people of God.
14:44No,
14:45they were more concerned
14:46about why did you eat with them.
14:48Crazy.
14:48That's how deep
14:49a tradition can go.
14:52Here's kind of what happened
14:53along with what the stuff
14:54I just shared with you.
14:56The Jews had transferred
14:57the idea of unclean foods
14:59to the Gentiles themselves,
15:04stating that they themselves,
15:05the Gentiles as people,
15:07as human beings,
15:07were unclean.
15:10Not what the people practiced.
15:12Not what they practiced
15:14or what their attitudes were
15:15were unclean.
15:16No, no, no.
15:16But the Gentiles themselves
15:18as human beings
15:19were unclean.
15:21But what the Jews forgot
15:23was that all human beings
15:26are unclean
15:27before a holy God.
15:29And it is God
15:30who makes them holy.
15:32It is God
15:33who works in the life
15:34of a believer.
15:35All people are unclean.
15:36They had forgotten that.
15:39Romans 3.
15:40What then, Paul says?
15:42Are we Jews any better off?
15:43No, not at all.
15:46For we have already charged
15:47that all,
15:48both Jews and Greeks,
15:50are under sin.
15:52So it wasn't that
15:52what they practiced
15:53was unclean.
15:55It's that the people themselves
15:56have become unclean.
15:58May we never take that attitude
15:59of an unbeliever out there.
16:01Oh man,
16:01I just never want to be around you
16:02because you could rub off on me
16:05and I become unclean.
16:06Well again,
16:06we want to get to that place
16:07in our heart
16:08where we can influence unbelievers
16:10but not be influenced by them.
16:12We can do both.
16:16Do both.
16:17So the real issue
16:18they failed to grasp
16:20was that by faith
16:21God had accepted
16:22believing Gentiles.
16:23They had missed
16:23the bigger picture.
16:25They were more concerned
16:26about this tradition
16:27that they had
16:27of not eating with Gentiles.
16:29They missed the bigger picture.
16:30You would think
16:31they would be excited
16:32that someone got saved,
16:33especially of the nations.
16:34So the next section here,
16:37Peter retells his vision.
16:39He retells what happened.
16:40He retells the story.
16:41He does add some things
16:42that we didn't know
16:43ahead of time.
16:44He adds them here.
16:45Look at verses 4 through 16.
16:49But Peter began
16:50and explained it to them
16:51in order.
16:52He just set out
16:53a logical order
16:54so they could understand.
16:55So he just retells
16:56what happened.
16:57I was in the city
16:58of Joppa praying
16:59and in a trance
17:00I saw a vision.
17:02Something like
17:03a great sheet descending
17:04being let down
17:05from heaven
17:06by its four corners
17:07and it came down
17:08to me.
17:09Looking at it closely
17:10I observed animals
17:11and beasts of prey
17:13and reptiles
17:14and birds of the air
17:15and I heard a voice
17:16saying to me,
17:17Rise, Peter,
17:17kill and eat.
17:19But I said,
17:20By no means, Lord,
17:21for nothing common
17:22or unclean
17:23has ever entered my mouth.
17:24He was zealous for God.
17:26But the voice answered
17:27a second time from heaven,
17:28What God has made clean
17:29do not call common.
17:31Do not call despised
17:32or unclean.
17:33What God has made clean.
17:35This happened three times
17:36and all was drawn up
17:37again to heaven.
17:39And behold,
17:39at that very moment
17:40three men arrived
17:42at the house
17:42in which we were
17:43sent to me
17:44from Caesarea.
17:45And the Spirit
17:46told me to go with them
17:47making no distinction,
17:49no partiality.
17:50They're Gentiles,
17:51but go with them.
17:52These six brothers,
17:53which is a new addition,
17:54we didn't have
17:55that information before,
17:56these six brothers
17:57also accompanied me
17:58so those six
17:59are standing by
18:00as witnesses right now.
18:02And we entered
18:03the man's house.
18:04And he told us
18:05how he had seen
18:06the angel stand
18:08in his house
18:08and say,
18:09Send a Joppa
18:10and bring Simon
18:10who was called Peter.
18:11He will declare to you
18:13a message by which
18:13you will be saved.
18:15You and all your household.
18:16That's new information too.
18:18As I began to speak,
18:20the Holy Spirit
18:20fell on them
18:21just as on us
18:23at the beginning.
18:25And I remembered
18:25the word of the Lord,
18:26how he said,
18:27John baptized with water,
18:29but you will be baptized
18:30with the Holy Spirit.
18:32So he answers
18:33their criticism.
18:34He retells a story
18:36step by step
18:37in an orderly sequence
18:38so that they would know.
18:39He didn't hide anything.
18:41He didn't say,
18:41Well, we didn't really
18:42eat with the...
18:43No, he just told them
18:45the truth.
18:46He had nothing.
18:48He wanted them
18:48to know though,
18:49I originally too
18:50had an inability
18:51to believe this
18:52until God showed me.
18:53He clearly taught me
18:54in his word
18:55that what God
18:55has made clean
18:56don't call common.
18:57So I had a hard time
18:58understanding it too.
18:59So I get you guys
19:00is kind of what he's saying.
19:01I identify with you.
19:03He adds the six men.
19:04Peter brought these six men
19:06as witnesses
19:06to what would happen
19:07at Caesarea.
19:08We had talked about that
19:09a couple of weeks ago.
19:10These six witnesses
19:11is three times more
19:12than what you need
19:13in a court of law.
19:14So to give witness
19:15of what's to take place
19:16so that no one
19:17would question it.
19:19So he shares more
19:20of what the angel
19:21said to Cornelius.
19:22That is why he was
19:23so excited to invite
19:24his family and friends.
19:25He says this message,
19:27these words
19:27are what you're
19:28going to hear
19:28that's going to save you.
19:30So he was excited
19:31about that.
19:32It also tells us
19:34that Cornelius
19:35was not saved
19:36until Peter came
19:37to preach the message
19:38to him.
19:39And then he by faith
19:40responded.
19:41He was pious.
19:43He gave money
19:44to the poor,
19:45to the poor.
19:45He took care of the Jews
19:46in his community.
19:47He did a lot
19:48of good works
19:49but he was not saved.
19:51I hope there is
19:54no one here today
19:55that is counting
19:56on your good works
19:57to get you to heaven.
19:59Your piety,
20:00your generosity,
20:02your goodness.
20:03I hope you're not
20:04counting on yourself
20:05to get to heaven
20:06because those things
20:07will never save us.
20:08The only thing
20:09that can save us
20:10is the blood
20:10of the Lord Jesus Christ
20:11that offers us
20:12forgiveness of sins
20:13when we repent
20:14of our sins
20:15and believe
20:16the gospel message.
20:18That is the only hope
20:19for us.
20:22He wasn't saved
20:23because good works.
20:24He was saved
20:24because he had faith.
20:26Notice in here
20:27when he retells the story,
20:28notice he does not use
20:30Cornelius' name at all.
20:33Luke doesn't use
20:34his name at all in this.
20:35Only thing that was
20:36important for Luke
20:37was his nationality.
20:38He was a Gentile.
20:39That's the only thing
20:40that was important.
20:41He didn't even mention
20:41his name in the whole thing.
20:44He said,
20:45this salvation
20:45that's been given to you,
20:46verse 14,
20:47he will declare to you
20:48a message
20:49that word
20:49is actually
20:50a plural form
20:51of the word words.
20:53So it becomes words.
20:54It doesn't make sense
20:55in English
20:55as if we said it like this
20:57in verse 14,
20:58he will declare to you
20:59words by which
21:00you will be saved.
21:00Well, kind of.
21:02But the idea
21:02is the message
21:03behind the words.
21:04The message
21:05behind the words.
21:07Salvation is attached
21:08to words.
21:10It's the gospel.
21:12It's the message
21:13that's recorded here.
21:14It's attached
21:15not to my opinion,
21:16your opinion.
21:17It's attached
21:18to God's word.
21:20That's where
21:20it's attached to.
21:21The message
21:22comes from God's word.
21:24So the salvation
21:25is attached
21:25to a message.
21:26It's kind of like
21:27in Romans chapter 10,
21:28Paul says this,
21:30who will ascend
21:31into the abyss
21:32that is to bring Christ
21:34up from the dead?
21:35But what does it say?
21:36The word,
21:37that's the exact
21:38same word here,
21:38rhema.
21:39The message
21:39is near you
21:41in your mouth
21:42and in your heart.
21:42That is the message,
21:44the word of faith
21:45that we proclaim.
21:46Because if you confess
21:47with your mouth
21:48that Jesus is Lord
21:48and believe in your heart
21:49that God raised him
21:50from the dead,
21:51you will be saved.
21:52For with the heart
21:53one believes
21:54and is justified
21:55and with the mouth
21:55one confesses
21:57and is saved.
21:58And verse 17,
21:59so faith comes
22:00from hearing
22:01and hearing
22:01through the word,
22:02the message
22:03of Christ.
22:05When we go out
22:06among the unbelievers,
22:08we carry a message,
22:09not my message,
22:10not Medical Aid
22:11Community Church's message,
22:12God's message.
22:14That's what we proclaim.
22:15It's God's message.
22:16His words.
22:19Notice that
22:20in retelling the story,
22:21he didn't really tell it all.
22:23He jumps to the most
22:24important thing.
22:25Spirit was poured out
22:27on Gentiles.
22:28You can imagine
22:28his eyes are probably
22:29still big at this moment.
22:30The Spirit was poured out
22:32on Gentiles.
22:33That's amazing.
22:35Making no distinction.
22:36God's showing no partiality
22:37between Jews
22:38and Gentiles.
22:40Peter is comparing
22:41this event to Pentecost.
22:43He has this phrase,
22:44as on us
22:45at the beginning.
22:47So that's pointing us
22:48back to Pentecost.
22:49So he's likening this
22:50to a Gentile Pentecost.
22:52On Pentecost,
22:53we see them speaking
22:54in unknown languages.
22:55This time with Cornelius,
22:57we see them speaking
22:57with unknown languages
22:58as well.
23:01Peter remembers
23:02the words of Jesus
23:03about John's baptism.
23:05Only believers
23:06are baptized
23:06with the Holy Spirit.
23:08So the Jews
23:09should have been excited
23:10that the Spirit
23:11was poured out
23:11upon them
23:12and then they were
23:12baptized in the name
23:13of the Lord Jesus Christ.
23:15They ought to be excited
23:16but they were more concerned
23:17about you eating
23:17with Gentiles.
23:18They missed the point.
23:22So Peter remembers
23:23and then Peter responds
23:25back with,
23:25listen,
23:26God is greater
23:27than I am.
23:28Who am I
23:29to contend with God?
23:31God is greater than me.
23:32Look at verses 17 and 18.
23:33If then,
23:35you could say
23:36since then,
23:38if then God gave
23:39the same gift to them
23:40to Gentiles
23:41as he gave to us Jews
23:43when we believed
23:44in the Lord Jesus Christ,
23:46who was I
23:47that I should stand
23:48in God's way?
23:49It's a good question.
23:51How could I get
23:51in God's way?
23:53He's made it super clear.
23:55When they heard
23:56these things,
23:57they fell silent
23:58and they glorify God
24:01saying then
24:02to the Gentiles
24:03also God
24:04has granted
24:05repentance
24:05that leads to life.
24:07They just,
24:08their mouths were closed.
24:09What could they,
24:10how can you contend
24:11with God?
24:12If God's at work,
24:13how could you say,
24:13oh no,
24:14we're not going to do this.
24:14No,
24:15God's at work here.
24:17Who's I
24:17that could stand
24:18in God's way?
24:19God's exercising
24:19his will
24:20in the salvation
24:21of the Gentiles.
24:22What am I to say?
24:22No,
24:24I don't think
24:24that's a good idea.
24:25I don't want
24:25my coworker
24:26to get saved.
24:27Not that person
24:27in my neighborhood.
24:28I don't want them
24:28to say,
24:28of course not.
24:29If God is going
24:30to save them,
24:30why should we
24:31stand in their way?
24:32Why should we
24:33stand in God's way?
24:36And to oppose
24:36the baptism,
24:38to oppose the baptism
24:39of believing Gentiles
24:40would be to oppose God.
24:42And I'm not going
24:42to do that,
24:43Peter said.
24:44God saved them.
24:46And the evidence
24:47of their salvation
24:47was that they,
24:48they spoke in
24:49an unknown language
24:50showing that the Gentiles
24:51are included
24:51with the people of God.
24:54I'm not going
24:54to stand in God's way.
24:56I wouldn't do that.
24:59These legalistic believers,
25:01these Jewish believers,
25:02God was,
25:03they had to admit
25:04that God is at work
25:04among the Gentiles.
25:06They couldn't deny it.
25:08For the legalistic
25:09Jewish believers,
25:10the problem
25:11was not solved though.
25:12Dietary laws
25:13and circumcision
25:14were still a problem.
25:15They were still issues.
25:16It's not going
25:17to be hammered out
25:17until chapter 15
25:19where we have
25:19a recommendation
25:20from the church
25:21in Jerusalem
25:22to send to the Gentiles.
25:23It's still an issue.
25:24Some still think
25:26they got to have circumcision
25:28and come into
25:28all the dietary laws
25:30and the ceremonial laws
25:31before they can be
25:31a good Christian.
25:32Read the book of Galatians.
25:34That's the argument
25:35in Galatians.
25:37It surfaces again
25:38in chapter 15
25:39when they'll finally
25:39then take care
25:41of this issue.
25:42There's an interesting
25:43statement that the
25:43believing Jews said
25:44at the end.
25:46It says,
25:46then to the Gentiles
25:47also God has granted.
25:50God has given repentance.
25:52Granted.
25:53Granted repentance.
25:55God gave repentance.
25:56The idea,
25:56the ability to repent.
26:00In their natural state,
26:01no man wants God.
26:03No one does good.
26:04It only is God's initiative
26:05coming to man,
26:06revealing himself to him,
26:08giving them repentance
26:09that they didn't even
26:09come to faith.
26:10God granted them repentance.
26:13God is the one
26:14who makes unclean humans
26:15clean by repentance
26:17and faith in Jesus Christ alone.
26:19God grants repentance.
26:20God grants life by faith.
26:22God guards believers
26:23by his Holy Spirit
26:24until the day of redemption.
26:26Until they come
26:27into their inheritance.
26:28God is the one
26:29who initiates
26:30all of these things.
26:32It was God's gracious work.
26:35At this point
26:35in the life
26:36of the early church,
26:37the mystery of the church
26:38had not been revealed.
26:40They didn't grasp
26:41this Jew and Gentile thing.
26:42Paul reveals it later on.
26:44Actually,
26:44God gives it to Paul
26:45to reveal to us.
26:47They didn't know that.
26:48All they saw
26:49were the Jews.
26:50They couldn't understand
26:51that there was this thing
26:51called the body of Christ,
26:53the church.
26:54It was a mystery to them
26:56and God revealed it
26:57to Paul
26:58and Paul reveals it later
26:59that there would be unity
27:01between Jews and Gentiles.
27:03Look at Ephesians chapter 2.
27:06These believing Jewish people
27:08have to move forward
27:09knowing that the Gentiles
27:10by faith
27:11are included now
27:12in the people of God.
27:15Remember that you,
27:16he's talking to the Gentiles,
27:17remember that you Gentiles
27:18were at that time
27:19separated from Christ,
27:21alienated from the
27:22commonwealth of Israel
27:23and strangers
27:24to the covenants
27:25of promise,
27:26having no hope
27:27and without God
27:28in the world.
27:29That was our state
27:30before believing.
27:31But now,
27:32that's a state in Christ
27:33by believing,
27:34but now in Christ Jesus,
27:36you who were once far off,
27:38that's the Gentiles,
27:39have been brought near
27:40by the blood of Christ
27:41for he himself
27:43is our peace.
27:44Our is the Jew
27:45and Gentile peace.
27:47He brings peace
27:48to the Jews and Gentiles
27:49who has made us both one,
27:52Jews and Gentiles,
27:53one body
27:53and has broken down
27:54in his flesh
27:55the dividing wall
27:56of hostility.
27:59Did you know
27:59in the temple area
28:00there was a dividing wall
28:01between the Gentiles
28:04and the Jews
28:04that went all the way
28:05around the temple complex
28:07and there was actually
28:08a sign saying
28:09no Gentile
28:11may enter in here
28:12on pain of death.
28:14It was a wall
28:15of separation.
28:16Christ came
28:17and he broke down
28:18that wall of separation
28:19by faith.
28:20Now we're all joined together
28:21in one body
28:22and the Jewish believers
28:23had to grasp this.
28:25They were having
28:25a difficult time with it.
28:28The believing Jews
28:29must try to wrestle
28:29with what God is doing,
28:31calling out Jews
28:32and Gentiles
28:33into one body.
28:35It's new.
28:36It's something
28:36they have to wrestle
28:37with right now.
28:39Edward Henson wrote,
28:41if the Jewish believers
28:42of the church
28:43at Jerusalem
28:43are to question
28:44Peter's action,
28:46they must first question
28:47the direct leading
28:48of God the Father,
28:49provision of salvation
28:51by God the Son,
28:52and verifying signs
28:53of God the Spirit,
28:55absolutely no one
28:56was ready to do that
28:57and so they grew silent.
28:59If God's at work,
29:00what are we going to say?
29:02We have to accept
29:03what God is doing here.
29:04You can imagine
29:06how this could cause
29:07great division
29:08in the church
29:08if this is not dealt with,
29:10that God's dealing
29:10with it now
29:11and will deal with it
29:12in chapter 15.
29:14They had recognized
29:15the hand of God
29:15and so they grow silent.
29:17They glorified God.
29:19The Jewish Christians
29:21showed a willingness
29:22to believe the truth
29:23once it had been
29:24clearly shown to them.
29:26Here's the truth.
29:28Oh, yes,
29:28I see it.
29:29So they get silent.
29:30May the same be said
29:33of Bible believers today
29:35that once the truth
29:36has been clearly
29:37demonstrated in the Bible
29:38that we are willing
29:40to respond
29:40in spite of our prejudices
29:42or age-held traditions,
29:44that we respond
29:46to the Word of God,
29:47the clear teaching
29:48of the Word of God.
29:51Psalm 119,
29:53Forever, O Lord,
29:54your Word is firmly fixed
29:56in the heavens.
29:57And verse 160,
29:58the sum of your Word
30:00is truth
30:01and every one
30:03of your righteous rules
30:04endures forever.
30:07As God clearly reveals
30:09to us from His Word
30:10that which is true,
30:11may we, you and I,
30:13be willing to accept
30:14the truth
30:14even if it is contrary
30:16to a cherished hell belief
30:18that we have.
30:20May we all yield
30:21to the clear teaching
30:22of the Bible
30:23in all things
30:24and not hold on
30:25to cherished beliefs
30:26that are not biblical
30:28or traditions
30:29established by men.
30:31Let's pray.
30:31Father, thank you.
30:33Thank you for clearing this up
30:35and helping the Jewish believers
30:37to begin to understand
30:38what you're doing.
30:39They didn't want to pollute
30:41themselves by going
30:42among the Gentiles.
30:43I can understand that.
30:45I pray that you give us
30:46this place in our heart
30:50where we can be among
30:51unbelievers,
30:52influencing them,
30:53yet not take on
30:54their beliefs
30:55or their behaviors
30:56or their attitudes
30:56ourselves,
30:57but be among them
30:59but not of them.
31:02And Father,
31:02I also thank you
31:03that you are so good
31:04that once you clearly
31:05show us from something
31:06in your Word
31:06that we are willing
31:08to say,
31:08yes,
31:08I trust your Word
31:10above all things,
31:11even a cherished hell belief
31:13or a tradition of men
31:14because your Word
31:15is firmly fixed
31:17in the heavens,
31:17O Lord.
31:20May we have the courage
31:21to be like these
31:22Jewish believers,
31:23that they grew silent
31:26because they saw
31:27that you're speaking.
31:28What more could they say
31:29when you have spoken?
31:31That is it.
31:32And we thank you
31:33in Jesus' name.
31:34Amen.
Comments