Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 3 Lesson 12
We continue our study of the book of Acts this week as we see the gospel go to the Gentiles. How did the gospel first formally reach the Gentiles? Why was it such a big deal to the early Jewish Christians for Gentiles to be included in God’s plan of salvation? Do we Christians appreciate our inclusion as Gentiles in Jesus’ salvation today? Or do we hypocritically, like some of the early Jewish Christians, resist the possibility of salvation of certain “unclean” peoples?
Our main text is Acts 10:1-48, though Acts 11:1-18 in also relevant.
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but in the passage we are going to look at today we can see that the Bible totally contradicts any message that says that Gentiles were indeed any person must perform a work or ritual to be saved in fact the whole purpose of the book of Acts I’m persuaded is a validation of the Gentiles really being included in the gospel of salvation by faith it’s a validation of Paul’s ministry it’s a validation of the gospel going to the Gentiles not as an aberration of the original message from Jesus but as a faithful declaration of it God did with the Gentiles God has done with the Gentiles what could never have been expected or demanded God extended to us salvation by faith alone in the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ and we who were far off as Paul says were brought near even to the very bosom of God so let’s play because there’s close attention to this wonderful text today being careful to keep one question in mind do I adore Jesus Christ for lovingly extending salvation to even me let’s pray before we go on our Lord and God thank you for this section of Scripture I pray that I might be able to explain it well and what would I pray that you would drive the drive the meaning of at home into the hearts of each listener today but they’d be affected that they’d be changed just as your word was meant to do so well God please work build up your church now in Jesus name England please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 10 this is we’re going to be spending our time today when we look the first half of this chapter let’s just bring ourselves up to speed on the context Acts chapter 9 we were primarily focused on the conversion of Saul Saul had been leading this persecution against the church the Lord arrested Saul on the Damascus Road gave salt faith to believe open his eyes and this persecution that Saul led subsided as Saul himself became a follower of Jesus church was growing up church was enjoying peace and in the latter part of Acts chapter 9 we hear again about the ministry of Peter Peter was not confined to Jerusalem he was traveling around Judea Samaria and Galilee he was preaching the message of salvation in Jesus and he was doing miracles we hear about two specific miracles that towards the end of Acts chapter 9 Peter heals a man who was paralyzed for eight years and Peter also raises a righteous Widow from the dead as people are seeing these confirming signs from God and hearing the message of Peter they believed and more people were saved now at the end of Acts chapter 9 peter is in Joppa and that’s where we find Peter in the beginning of Acts chapter 10 Giap is a coastal town in Israel actually part of modern Tel Aviv today now let’s look at Acts chapter 10 verses 1 to 23 and see what the Lord does with Peter in Joppa but before we hear about him we’re gonna hear about a new person so follow along with me Acts chapter 10 verses 123 now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius a Centurion of what was called the Italian cohort a devout man and one who feared God with all his household and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually about the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him Cornelius and fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed he said what is it Lord and he said to him your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon who was also called Peter he is staying with a Tanner named Simon whose house is by the sea when the angel who is speaking to him at left he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants and after he had explained everything to them he sent them to Joppa on the next day as they were on their way in approaching the city Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray but he became hungry or was desiring to eat while they were making preparations he fell into a trance and he saw the sky opened up and an object like a great sheet coming down lowered by four corners to the ground and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air a voice came to him get up Peter kill and eat the Peter said by no means Lord I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean began a voice came to him a second time what God has cleansed no longer consider unholy this happened three times and immediately the object was taken up into the sky now what Peter was created a perplexed in mine as to what this what division which he had seen might be behold the men who had been sent by Cornelius having asked directions for Simon’s house appeared at the gate and calling out their asking whether Simon who was also called Peter was staying there while Peter was reflecting on the vision the spirit said to him behold three men are looking for you but get up go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings for I have sent them myself Peter went down to the men and said behold I am the one you were looking for what is the reason for which you have come they said Cornelius a Centurion a righteous and god-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear a message from you so he invited them in and gave them lodging and on the next day he got up to weigh with them and some of the Brethren from Joppa accompanied him all right as we analyzed this text we want to follow our method of observe interpret apply and we start with observations in this passage we meet a certain man named Cornelius living in Caesarea and this is Caesarea maritima again that Roman capital of Judea city on the northern coast of Israel cameelious is a Centurion what’s a Centurion right technically a leader of a hundred it’s a Roman military position he’s a kind of a low-level commander in the Roman army and he would be the leader of a century a Roman military unit I says he’s from the Italian cohort and that would be a component of a legion that was raised in Italy so is this man a Jew or Gentile clearly a Gentile and he’s an Italian movie man would be the first Italian convert to Christ in the Bible I don’t know that makes me especially happy it says also that he’s a devout man i didäôt man with his entire household he’s giving alms he prays to God so does this man believe in Yahweh yeah he does that’s what it means to be at about man he is a God fear he’s someone who believes in Yahweh he’s even called a righteous minute but does he believe in Christ no he doesn’t yeah that’s gonna become even clearer in the rest of the passage or why doesn’t this a train believe in Jesus because he hasn’t heard the message about Jesus he is not very dissimilar from the Ethiopian eunuch a man who fears God but has not heard about Jesus Christ or has not heard the whole message about Jesus Christ so an angel appears to this Cornelius in a vision this happens at the ninth hour what’s the ninth hour again about 3 o’clock remember we started our day around 6 a.m. so the 9th IRB around 3 o’clock this is afternoon angel appears comes into his house and notice canoeists reaction he’s afraid as usually how people react when they see an angel or something supernatural the angel Clarke from announcing any message of doom he says that or he acknowledges the man’s prayers and generosity he said these have ascended as a memorial before God in other words what’s God’s attitude toward Cornelius’s prayers and giving if they’ve ascended as a memorial before God what’s God’s attitude he’s pleased the Lord is pleased with this man’s prayers and his giving and all right so what angel mentions this was the point so the angel gives kanye’s a message a command send to Joppa for a certain man named Simon also called Peter tell him to come to your house and you’ll find this guy Peter staying at the house of Simon the Tanner who’s dwelling by the sea by the way what’s a Tanner Tanner is someone who works would animal skins he makes leather so Peter is staying at the house of this certain Tanner named Simon now what’s this Peter going to do when he comes the angel doesn’t say but it does tell Crenn arias said for this Peter angel departs Cornelius after explaining the vision he sends three men two servants and a devout soldier that is another Gentile believer in Yahweh and he sends them to Joppa this would be approximately 30 mile trip takes two days for the trio to arrive and they arrive at Simon the Tanners house around noon the next day says the sixth hour and those with Peter doing when they arrive he’s praying on the roof of Simon’s house now we’ve seen this kind of behavior number of times in the Bible it’s not weird for them to be on their roof something that people in that culture and climate would do it was also a place that people would often pray or worship but he’s praying and he’s also hungry and he enters the trance he sees a vision while on the roof while praying notice what he sees he sees a sheet being let down by its four corners and then the sheet are all kinds of animals and birds immediately told specifically what these animals are or anything about them but what does Peter later note about these animals some of them at least are not clean perhaps all of them now recall that what is this referring to this goes back to the law of Moses this is one of the commands that God gave Israel through Moses specifically in Leviticus 11 where Israel whispered bidden from eating certain foods such as what kind of foods they couldn’t eat pig could mean any kind of pig could eat shellfish could eat reptiles couldn’t eat camels couldn’t eat rabbits couldn’t eat dogs and various other things why did I make this rule again yeah go ahead okay I think you finish answer yeah primarily it’s about keeping the people separate that’s true someone noted the dirt there may have been some health benefits to the law that God is God gave and to eating not eating certain kinds of animals at that time but primarily this is about keeping Israel distinct from its pagan neighbors because what’s the most basic way that you fellowship with another person you share a meal together but if you can’t eat what he eats you can’t do that so basically when in the law God had placed this provision where Israel would not be able to hang out with the pagans and learn their idolatrous ways they came down even to their food it’s not that these things are evil in themselves but this is a way that God is going to keep his people separate so this would be a great surprise then as Peter looks at these unclean animals and he hears this command from God rise Peter kill and eat heat these unclean animals you’re hungry go ahead eat what set before you and Peter’s reaction is no way I have never eaten something unclean and unholy and we can understand that reaction these dietary laws were deeply ingrained in the Jews how could he violate them in this command from God has certainly made no sense to Peter maybe this was a test from God but God’s response to Peters objection is profound God says what God has cleansed do not consider or no longer consider unholy so what was God saying about the food that was presented it’s clean I’ve cleansed it don’t consider it unclean anymore now this would be quite a declaration for almost 1500 years 1,500 years Jews were forbidden to eat certain foods now put that in perspective America has only been a nation for about 250 years could you imagine if some rule that was established at our beginning was suddenly overturned now imagine a rule that lasted five times longer a thousand five hundred years these dietary laws along with the Sabbath and along with circumcision they practically defined Judaism in the eyes of the world oh yeah he’s a Jew he’s one of those weirdos that doesn’t eat certain foods this is one of the things that really made the Jews distinct but now God is taking that away he seemingly cleansed unclean food what is going on and it’s not as that there’s a bad connection or an error in the vision because notice says the same thing happened three different times the Sheep dropped from its with its four corners there is this command from God three times to rise kill and eat three times Peter refuses and three times God declares don’t consider unholy what I have cleansed Peter doesn’t understand this vision it keeps pondering it he’s greatly perplexed but what do you know at precisely that moment three men appear at the door of Simon’s house the three men were sent by Cornelius is that a coincidence not at all since the Spirit then directly instructs Peter about these three men looking for him and tells Peter to accompany these men without misgivings because the Spirit has sent these men himself so Peter does receive the man these men explain their mission and then Peter invites the men in and gives them lodging so don’t miss the significance of those last two actions in inviting them in Peter a Jew has just invited Gentiles to stay in his house the Peter staying here he’s invited Gentiles to stay in his house and moreover it’s lunchtime so unless he’s an extremely rude host what else has Peter shared with those who have just arrived he’s sharing a meal now that literally is not kosher God God never specifically commanded Jews to have to not be in the same space as Gentiles to withdraw from Gentiles nevertheless this was a firmly established Jewish custom through all Gentiles ate unclean foods they would very likely be unclean so to be around Gentiles was to risk contamination so the Jews never if they could avoid it went into the dwelling of a Gentile will received Gentiles into their own dwellings much less shared a meal together with a Gentile in fact the Jews often view Gentiles with contempt as ignorant unclean disgusting pagans who will only fit for one of two things to be subjugated under the future Jewish Messiah when you came or to be destroyed outright in the day of the Lord Gentiles were dogs they’re not fit for fellowship and they’re not fit to have in your own home that was the prevailing attitude among the Jews but Peter and fights these Gentiles in gives them lodging shares meals with them and even worse one of Peters guests is a Roman soldier and how did the Jews feel about Roman soldiers the prevailing attitude is one of resentment and hatred because the Romans were the ones who ruled the Jews and the Jews greatly resented this they greatly resented paying taxes to Rome and now our Roman soldier is in a Jews house peter has committed and Simon along with him has committed some major taboos but it only gets worse because then Peter accompanies these Gentiles back to their dwelling the next day and he even takes some of the Brethren that is some of the Jewish Christians with him now what is going on this is extremely shocking well something wonderful has actually happened and we get to see the conclusion of it in the rest of the chapter before we moved to interpretation let’s observe the second half of this passage Acts 10 verses 24 to 48 follow along with me as we continue reading on the following day he that’s Peter entered Caesarea now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends but Peter entered Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshiped him but Peter raised him up saying stand up I too am just a man as he talked with him he entered and found many people assembled and he said to them you yourselves know how unruffled is for a man who was a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean that is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for so I asked for what reason have you sent for me Cornelius said four days ago to this hour I was praying in my house during the ninth hour and behold a man stood before me in shining garments and he said Cornelius your prayer has been heard in your alms had been remembered before God therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon who was also called Peter to come to you he’s staying at the house of Simon the Tanner by the sea so I sent for you immediately and you have been kind enough to come now then we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord opening his mouth Peter said I must certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to her the word which he said to the sons of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed you know of Jesus of Nazareth how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power excuse me just one second and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him we are witnesses of all the things he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem they also put into death by hanging him on a cross God raised him up on a third day and granted that he become visible not to all the people but to witnesses who had chosen beforehand by God that is to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead and he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly testified that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins while Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who are listening to the message all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God then Peter answered surely Noah can refuse the water for these to be baptized who received the Holy Spirit just as we did kitten and he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ then they asked him to stay on for a few days just a wonderful wonderful unbaling in the Lord’s grace let’s observe camellias has gathered together his friends and close relatives there’s a whole bunch of people ready to receive Peter when he comes but what does Cornelius do as soon as Peter arrives he falls down to worship Him now Peter were any other Jew of his day any typical Jew rather he’d probably have said that’s right pagan bow to your superior I’m God’s chosen you’re an unclean dog that’s not what Peter does if you don’t actually grasps Cornelius raises him up and tells him stand up I to him just a man Peter is coming to understand something by the way notice that Peter will not accept worship even though in contrast Jesus readily accepts worship every time it’s offered to him in the scriptures Jesus though a man that’s because he’s not just a man he’s also gone now Peter admits to those who had assembled that what he’s doing is unlawful according to Jewish tradition for him to visit Gentiles go to their house but God has shown Peter that Peters to call no men unholy or unclean he didn’t ask why he was called for Cornelius then relates his experience and his desire to hear whatever God has given Peter to say so what does Peter do it shares the good news about Jesus Christ and noticed the opening Peter declares I now see that God is no respecter of persons welcomes every person in every nation who fears him and does what is right Peter then rehearses the main points of the gospel he talks about Jesus’s life Jesus’s death Jesus’s resurrection and Jesus’s appearances after his resurrection the future judgment that Jesus will preside over and the availability of salvation and forgiveness of sins in Jesus to everyone who believes in Jesus 10 notice it says while Peter was still speaking these words so he hadn’t even finished his gospel explanation yet he has to me in an altar call he hasn’t called all the people to repent he hasn’t told them to prayer prayer what happens the Holy Spirit falls visibly on all of those who are listening to the message on the Gentiles and what did they start doing they speak in tongues and they exalt God of course what event does this remind us of this is like Pentecost this is like the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Jews at Pentecost and Peter notes the same thing by the way for the onlookers to notice that the people are exalting God and the various tongues what does that indicate about those tongues they had to be known languages they had to be understandable else they would have no idea what they were doing in those done so again we see that that same truth reinforced it’s just like a Dilla Pentecost a Pentecostal languages here at known languages nonetheless the Jews with Peter are amazed and notice how they’re described they’re not actually called Jews or brethren but the circumcised believers know that description brings out a contrast if there are circumcised believers then that means that there are some there who are not circumcised and yeah this is what’s happening to them these other believers not circumcised and yet they are being filled with the Holy Spirit this is amazing to the Jews I like Peter’s response to this he asked surely no one can refuse baptism for these who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did Danny that’s a rhetorical question the expecting answer is No obviously you can’t refuse baptism for these people Peter that Peter then orders though these holy spirit filled Gentiles to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and is brought into full identification with Christ and with Christ Church Peter then stays with there’s new Gentile brothers and sisters for a few days just wonderful alright we’ve observed this whole chapter now looked at various details let’s now ask a number of interpretation questions trying to answer things that aren’t stated explicitly in the text but through which we can look at the details that have observed and answer some questions first what was Peters vision of the sheet really about Peter says God has shown me I should say I should see no man as unholy or unclean so the vision was not primarily about food it was primarily about men do not call what I have cleansed unclean any longer now what was shown in the vision about food is still true there is a connection there if the food is clean then the men are clean and vice versa but primarily the message was it’s the men who are clean do you not consider Gentiles or any person unclean that’s why Peter says God has shown me this and that’s why I came Peter’s vision is she was really about people but consider it the way things play out I come near this house and how on the basis of that we should ask what is the necessary right for salvation is circumcision unnecessary right for salvation no and how do we know that boy wait we could go yes outside the scripture and go back to Abraham this is the point that the New Testament authors make Abraham shows that salvation does not require circumcision because Abraham is accounted righteous before circumcision but even in this passage we can say that circumcision is not necessary because the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles who are uncircumcised moreover we can also ask is baptism a necessary right for salvation it’s not and for the same reason because the Holy Spirit fell on these Gentiles who were not baptized now even is prayer unnecessary right for salvation that is do you have to pray a certain set of words before you can be saved answer is no and how do we know that because these people here do not pray and yet the Holy Spirit fills them so for the Holy Spirit to come upon them what must have happened in the span of Peters message that caused the Holy Spirit to end well them they believed they simply believed the gospel of Christ they believed in Jesus and that’s what Jesus taught repeatedly right he who believes in Me will have eternal life and that’s exactly what Peter declared in his own message everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins this is the essence of salvation this is what is required of those who would be saved simply faith in Jesus these Gentiles heard the message they believed it and they were saved and as a result the Holy Spirit and about them now we have a tradition today in our and our Christianity that you must pray to be saved and there’s nothing wrong with expressing your belief in Christ in a and a moment of prayerful worship but understand that if your heart does not truly believe in Jesus your prayer whether it’s uttered out loud or just in your mind it’s meaningless if your heart doesn’t believe your prayer is meaningless but if your heart does believe then you’re saved before you even begin to pray prayer is not even required it’s faith its belief and we see that modeled even here in this instance there is no right there is no ritual there was no work that is required for salvation it is simply by faith that God gives us his salvation grace so clearly adherence to the rituals the Old Testament what’s not required of the Gentiles for salvation but what about for the Jews actually we’re rich rules required for the Jews to be saved oh not if the Gentiles can be saved without them salvation is the same for each person God is no respecter of persons each person just as Peter says in his own message each person who believes will be saved there’s no original required but wait a sec how can God change the rules I mean he required these things for a long time fifteen hundred years how can he just change things and no longer require certain rituals for his people it’s an arbitrary declaration from God well we need to know two things sorry my nose keeps on that sniffling here first of all it hears two rituals in the Old Testament never saved salvation has always been by faith no man could perfectly keep all the rituals and sacrifices that were prescribed in the law I know somebody already alluded to we can go back to Abraham as the example of salvation he was accounted righteous before God because he believed God not because of anything he did not because of circumcision for any other ritual and Habakkuk 2:4 at the end the Old Testament it also says explicitly the righteous will live by faith it’s always been salvation by faith even though these rituals were present but in a second answer you need to understand that the rituals and ceremonial laws the Old Testament found fulfillment in Jesus Christ He fulfilled them on behalf of all those who believed in him so that there is no need for them anymore jesus said himself in Matthew 5:17 do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets I did not come to abolish but to fulfill the right of Hebrew says in Hebrew chapter 10 verse 1 for the law this is hebrews chapter 10 verse 1 for the law since it is only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of the things can never by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make perfect those who draw near so he’s speaking there specifically about the sacrificial system but he’s saying the law is a shadow of the good things to come referring to Christ and the realities in Christ Paul picks up on the same theme in Colossians 2 verses 16 to 17 and he applies this to various rituals and ceremonial laws Colossians 2 verses 16 to 17 therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance belongs to Christ these rituals these symbols of the Old Testament law they were fulfilled in Christ and therefore they are no longer necessary it’s not that God just arbitrarily canceled them but they fulfill their purpose and so they no longer need to be followed now if somebody wants to if they still to abstain from certain suits or if they still want to hold a certain day as special above others Paul says in Romans 14 that’s why can’t impose that on other people shouldn’t judge other people on the basis of that that’s fine if he wants to do that for himself wants to honor the or he wants to do that in order to honor the Lord not required it’s fine because those things have been fulfilled now what’s the implication of all this for Jew and Gentile in Christ Church if their ritual laws have been fulfilled and no longer apply and if the Gentiles are not considered unclean and receive the Holy Spirit the same way as the Jews was the implication for Christ church unity Jew and Gentile become one in Christ there was no inequality there is really no distinction they are full and fellow heirs and inheritors of salvation blessing this was no accident this was no reactionary plan of God this was always his good and gracious purpose to make one flock one body one bride listen to how Paul describes in Ephesians two in fact actually why don’t you turn over there if you didn’t at the two verses 11 to 22 I made a reference this not too long ago but we’re gonna read the whole passage now excuse me Ephesians 2 verses 11 to 22 Paul is writing to this primarily Gentile church in Ephesus and he says therefore remember that formerly you the Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so called circumcision which is performed by the flesh in human it by human hands remember that you were at that time the time before they were saved separate from Christ excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the Covenant of promise having no hope and without in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the pit the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity was the enmity he says which is the law of Commandments contained in ordinances staying in himself he might make the two into one new man blush establishing peace and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by it having put to death the emnity and he came and preached peace to you were far away and peace of those who were near but through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father so then you Gentiles are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and are of God’s household having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord and whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit we’re not going to analyze that whole text but notice the total emphasis on equality for Jew and Gentile in Christ they are fellow citizens they’re both part of God’s household they are part of the same holy temple of God they’re both in dealt with God’s Spirit there is no dividing wall there are no different ordinances for one or the other they have both received full salvation blessing consider the significance of effusions chapter 1 if you know that passage you know that it’s just this continual meditation on the great blessings of salvation verses 3 to 14 are all one sentence the original Greek but who’s that being spoken to you Gentiles so as you’ve been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Jew and Gentile but this church would’ve been predominantly Gentile you have these full salvation blessings you’re not second-class citizens knew not mere slaves while the others are sons whoa run into God’s family this is God’s great work Jesus has made all one you save them all and he will glorify them all all who believe in him therefore there is no room for prejudice for extra requirements from one member of God’s body versus another consider this great grace from God it was a great grace of the Jews they didn’t deserve salvation they were obstinate stubborn they had all the laws and the Oracles of God but they didn’t pay attention they didn’t follow after God and God save them gave an opportunity for salvation to them but then consider the grace of the Gentiles they were far off ignorant strangers corrupts didn’t even know about God in terms of a specific revelation the God brought the gospel to them Christ’s death is able to save them save us God because he is that good chose to bring the far-off near and save them by faith alone through grace alone through Christ alone this is a wonderful wonderful revelation from God what what an unexpected though foretold reality that is clearly displayed in this passage now well you might have been asking yourself this question as we went through the passage and even as we’ve discussed it where do camellias and his household already saved before Peter spoke to them after all they are said to be god-fearers Peter I’m sorry but the angel says to Cornelius your prayers and alms have done it before God as a memorial it’s hard to see that description applying to somebody who doesn’t know God so in one sense we could say yeah they were already saved they’re not that different than the Ethiopian eunuch but there was a difference there was not they were not indwelt with the Holy Spirit they had not seen the culmination of their salvation they had believed that Yahweh is merciful that they needed him for salvation they believed his words but they hadn’t seen how Yahweh’s salvation had been provided they were missing out on one of the great blessings the full revelation of God and so it was important for them to hear the message and to believe it now is it possible for them to have believed in Yahweh and then not believe in Christ to be saved but then not embrace Christ well know those who those who really belong to God they can’t help but acknowledge Christ as Messiah the wheat we can kind of see this in our different times in Acts people who don’t know the full message of of salvation in terms of Jesus specifically or even about the Holy Spirit when they’re told it they were readily embraced it is a serious cause for concern if someone said I believe in Yahweh and then when they’re told the message about Christ they don’t accept it now there’s something seriously wrong there so in a sense this house was already saved in another sense that it hadn’t hadn’t encountered the fullness of that salvation blessing yet Dwain it looks like you want to say something okay right yeah that’s a good point Duane and we’re actually not gonna read this patch that will refer to it again in just a second but acts 11 does describe the situation that there’s Gentile god-fearers were in it was one in which they needed to be saved and the message was you will be saved if you believe this but from what we also observed in the beginning in the passage they’re doing some things that seem impossible for somebody who’s not already saved to have something said about them so there’s there’s this bit of tension there I think in one sense it like you said to me and there was there was something missing in their understanding of salvation their appreciation of salvation it’s kind of like when when certain God feelers were looking forward to the Messiah in general the Bible describes it as someone is coming to save you unless Jesus actually came if you believe me god your salvation would never actually occur he needs to that needs to be manifest the one who actually is going to bring a mass salvation so there’s that that tension there but they already were God favors and yet if they had not embraced the message about Christ they would not actually be saved we need to move on just because we’re I want to make sure we get through everything but even though the question our comment about that we can come back to it and one other thing you might have noticed it’s kind of interesting in this passage why is it that the Holy Spirit comes upon the Gentiles in a way that’s different then it kind of upon the Samaritans if you remember the Holy Spirit came upon the Samaritans only after they believed after they were baptized and after the Apostles Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritan believers why did God do it differently with the Gentiles the answer is I don’t know I think what we can say though is God wanted to accomplish something specific for each group of people and he determined that doing it in the way he did was the best way for it to be accomplished reach of those groups perhaps the Lord wanted to show something about the connection between the Jews and the Samaritans and that’s why you have the Holy Spirit come the way upon them that it did but certainly we can see that the way that the Holy Spirit comes upon the Gentiles is extremely significant because it makes totally clear that there is no work right or submission to Judaism required from the Gentiles for salvation if he had caused the Holy Spirit to come upon them like it did the Samaritans there may have been some confusion do the Gentiles really need to become Jews that’s not the way God chose to do it God chose to do what he felt was right and what would be the best for each group now did the Jewish Christians wholeheartedly embrace God’s unveiled development in his salvation plan well not all of them we’re not going to read it but Dwayne has already alluded to acts 11 there’s an epilogue to this whole event when Peter returns to Jerusalem acts 11 tells us how a certain group of Christians their Jewish Christians actually condemned Peter for what he did they tell him you went to the house of uncircumcised men and you ate with them how dare you they were feeling the same compulsion to obey Jewish law as Peter had initially but when these Christians heard from Peter what had happened about their various visions and how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles they acknowledge that God has indeed extended salvation grace even to the Gentiles and the gluon God but as I mention in the beginning this would not be the last conflict over what is required of Gentiles in the church there’s a reason that there’s a jerusalem council on acts 15 and there’s a reason that we have the various letters of all that stress repeatedly that you do not need to submit to any sort of Old Testament ritual or ceremonial law and that if you do so you are dangerously close to missing out on salvation totally because you’re submitting to salvation by works that’s Paul’s great point in Galatians of course these things come up also now there’s a connection in Ephesians Colossians and other letters of Paul there’s a constant push you will see and you probably have already seen there has been a constant push in the history of the church to add external ritualistic Old Testament law back into Christianity it was true right at the beginning and it’s still true today there are various cults various movements even within the church now let’s say hey we need to obey these various Old Testament rituals we need to become like Jews but that contradicts the New Testament the contradicts even the passages that we’ve been looking at today but why why would early Jewish Christians why would others throughout history want to insist that the Gentiles need to follow the Jewish restrictions receive circumcision keep dietary laws even keep the Sabbath in order to be saved or acceptable to God why insist on that hmm yeah I think we could answer the question number of ways what you said is that they wanted the whole tradition think someone mentioned us something good that it was what they were comfortable with they didn’t want to move on from what they had already held to there’s a mixture of a fear of man there certainly in Hebrews but in other sections of Scripture it’s if you keep all the ceremonial things then you’re not going to offend the Jews that’s what they were most concerned about the external requirements of the law that was a way to avoid persecution that was a way to keep your family social connections etc so there’s a element of the fear of man I think you can also say that there’s an element of pride their pride and maybe one of two senses one is that that that pride that still thinks works are necessary for salvation that for a particular person this is certainly true of the Judaizers and those who are of the branch of the Pharisees that show up in the early church they still believe in salvation by works for themselves they’ve just added Jesus to it it’s faith and works and because they believe that for themselves they must see that view affirmed and other people they must see it affirmed in the Gentiles they can’t abide mere faith to save someone they must insist on adherence to the Old Testament law because that’s what they still believe is necessary for themselves it is a pride and their own ability to achieve salvation forced upon others perhaps alongside with or alternatively is a pride that believes that what I have chosen in my own life to follow God is the best way and therefore everyone and if anyone wants to be saved or acceptable to God he must do exactly as I do he must reach my standard otherwise he clearly will not please her be acceptable to God I think pride is definitely involved in this adherence to the Old Testament law and wanting to put it on others but other things could be involved there and like spirit man now what will the rest of the book of Acts be about it will be about what’s really unveiled in this chapter starting in chapter 11 going forward and 13 the rest we see the gospel brought to the Gentiles proclaimed all throughout the Gentile world especially through the apostle to the Gentiles the Apostle Paul that’s what we’re gonna see in the rest of the book of Acts now this book Acts has been full of surprises and we’ve seen another one this morning God formerly or formally affirms Gentile believers in Christ to be a true and equal part of his church and inheritors of every salvation blessing without becoming Jews themselves now I want to mention a few points of application for you to consider has to be closed today I’ve got four questions here for you to think about what does this all mean for us today first consider your own view of salvation do you yourself have salvation by faith alone in Jesus alone or are you still holding to some kind of work or ritual to make you acceptable to God have you forgotten what Romans 3:20 says which says by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in God’s sight no flesh will be made acceptable Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God you’re not acceptable and your works will not make you acceptable we cannot work our way back to God we cannot do enough good deeds we cannot say enough prayers we cannot give enough money nothing will make us acceptable to God except faith in His perfect son Jesus Christ Jesus is gone but he became a man for our sake living a perfectly righteous life and dying an innocent death in order that he might fully pay for the sins of all who believe in him and might give them those persons his perfect righteousness Jesus sacrifice was acceptable to the Father as proven by Jesus rising from the dead and is as a as dog tation to the Father’s right hand and Jesus will return just as Peter said Jesus will return one day to judge every man according to his deeds and only those who are clothed and Jesus own righteousness will be saved so is that you do you trust in Jesus alone to save you if you embrace everything that he himself declared that he is Lord he is Savior He is God he is your righteousness you know what Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not as a result of works that no man may boast second question do you love the Lord for including you and his salvation plan you didn’t deserve it why did you a Gentile if you’re a Gentile consider what grace has been shown to you by God bringing you near giving you full salvation blessing you didn’t deserve a seat at God’s table you were far off unclean totally undeserving of God’s grace have you understood that do you meditate on your own unworthiness to be blessed and exalted by God third question are there certain groups today to which you are prejudiced when it comes to salvation believing that they cannot be saved shouldn’t be saved or simply not worth the effort and seeing saved I could go through a number of examples but don’t have time do you not see that whatever group you consider to be unclean are no more unclean than you were before you were saved then that Jesus is able to make even those persons fellow heirs and citizens by his power do not be prejudiced and do not be afraid show the love to others that has been shown to you and see if God is likewise going to grant them repentance just as he granted you repentance remember what James said do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism and finally do you lay certain unbiblical requirements on others for the sake of tradition or simply to make those persons more like yourself we have a number of traditions in our Christianity in America today we must be careful that we don’t end up laying on others commands that go beyond the scriptures there are many things the Bible doesn’t address specifically the Bible gives us principles for those specific things but do we go beyond the principles do we start instead of teaching everybody according to the Great Commission dude instead of teaching them what Jesus commanded do we teach them what we’ve commanded or what men have commanded we want to truly obey the Great Commission and not fall into the same trap that some of the early Jewish Christians did by unhelpfully and pridefully forcing another as a standard that was not what God actually required now that’s it for this week we’re gonna be doing something special in the adult Sunday School class we do a special lesson on the biblical languages and how you can benefit even if you’re not a pastor in understanding some things about the biblical languages you have any other questions or comments you can email me let’s close in here acording God thank you for giving us a seat at your table we didn’t deserve it Lord you’ve done such great things for us in salvation what we thank you because of all the realities that there are this is the greatest all these things the world are passing away but your salvation lasts forever and I pray that the people would appreciate that and even more profound way as a result of this text and Jesus all right thank you I will see you next week