Acts 10

All of Acts 10 this morning.

So, kind of after talking to Nathan, it became pretty clear that really, it would be really hard to divide this up.

! It would be best if we just preached all the way through it.

And as you look at the text, as you're glancing over it, you see that there's so much there.

And especially if you're familiar with the Bible, too, you know that there's a lot of the weeds there that you can really easily get lost in.

Because we're talking about some really, really complex topics this morning.

And there's probably about six little mini sermons in there that you really could use as a springboard to talk about so many different things.

So, how do you make just one concise sermon?

That's the thing that I've been praying about this week and that I've been thinking about in this morning is,

I want this to be clear. I want there to be clarity.

I want us to walk away with an understanding of the text and for us to be changed by the Lord.

As I was looking through some of the commentaries on this text, I came upon this quote by R.C. Spirrell.

So, he says,

So, now there's no pressure on me or any pressure on you.

We can kind of look at this text and discern what is God teaching the original people that were reading this text?

What is he teaching the people that were going through this story?

And then what is he teaching us right now?

Is that text relevant to our situation right now?

And I would say an overwhelming yes.

So, the way that I'm going to do this, I just, after looking through a lot of the commentaries and looking over this text,

there's not, I can't really present this sermon to you in this really clever way of this happened and this happened and this happened.

So, what I'm going to really do is I'm just going to walk through the text with you this morning.

I meant that, that I don't have clever bullet points.

I'm just not that clever.

But, the text is really powerful and so what we're going to do is we're going to walk through it together

and we're going to explain some of the things that God's doing here.

So, but the, kind of the theme, if you're taking notes,

the thing that I want you to be thinking about as we're going through this text together is

how does God relentlessly pursue sinners of every kind?

How does he do it in this text?

How has he been doing it in Acts?

How has he been doing that so far in the times that we've been talking as community groups?

So, how does God relentlessly pursue sinners of every kind?

So, with that, I do want to take a second and just pray and ask the Lord that he would give clarity,

that he would allow our hearts to understand this text.

If you've been bringing, whatever it is that you brought in,

whatever it is that you're about to leave and go towards this morning,

I believe that God has something to say to us from his text and that that is extremely relevant

and that we pay attention to that.

So, let me just pray for us real quickly.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word.

Thank you that we get to meet in public this morning without fear,

without shame, that God, the majority of the people in this room have a copy of your word.

And we know that those pages, these words have been fought over and then have died over these words.

And that you've preserved this text so that we can look at it, God.

This is not just another story.

This is not just another piece of wisdom literature.

But it is your word, Lord.

We believe it is from you.

So, Lord, would you speak to us through your text this morning?

God, the man or woman who feels alienated from you this morning, who feels hopeless,

God, would you bring them in?

Or would you make this message clear for those of us that have grown cold to the gospel,

have grown apathetic to it, Lord?

I pray that you would wake our hearts up to it, God.

We love you.

Please give me clarity as I preach this morning.

God, I just pray out with David that the words in my mouth and the meditations in my heart

would be pleasing and acceptable in your sight.

We ask this in your name.

Amen.

Okay.

So, what has God been doing so far in Acts?

I'm not going to spend 20 minutes going over that because we've been talking about it for the past couple of months.

But just to paint the picture so that we all understand what God has been doing.

Let's kind of look at it really, really quickly.

So, Jesus, before he's crucified, he promised the Holy Spirit.

He says, hey, it's better that I leave and that the Holy Spirit come than it would be for me to stay.

Which is kind of an insane statement because I know that if you've read that, you've kind of thought to yourself,

like, I would much rather have Jesus around here in the flesh.

But we learn, we soon learn why he says those things.

So, he says that.

He's crucified.

He's resurrected.

And then he's ascended.

And then right after he ascends to heaven, there's this insane event that happens called Pentecost.

And that happens in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Then after that, we see these massive conversions.

We see Acts chapter 2, verse 41.

Acts 2:41

We see, like, 3,000 people coming in one day.

We see Peter preach a sermon and 5,000 people come.

And we keep seeing the Lord add day after day to their number.

So, we see these massive conversions despite persecution, right?

Like, we've kind of started getting to that a little bit more as far as Stephen was persecuted.

But we still see the church growing.

And then we see these wonders and signs.

We see people being healed.

We see people being resurrected from the dead.

So, just imagine this picture if you're kind of in the early church.

Like, all these things that are happening.

You've seen, like, your world's kind of been changed over the past year or so.

So, and then the text that we talked about last week that Clay preached on, he talked about healing.

And this situation in Acts 9, verses 32 through the end about Peter healing someone and then raising someone from the dead.

Acts 9:32

So, if you haven't gotten a chance to listen to that sermon, I really, really recommend it.

Clay talks about, does God still heal today?

If he does, why does he?

And if he chooses not to heal in certain circumstances, why does he not?

So, I would really recommend going back and listening to that.

But if you've listened to all those things that I just talked about, 95% of those things really pertain to Jews only, right?

Pentecost, mostly Jews.

The massive conversions, we see Paul or Saul as Jewish.

We see all these things.

And the trend that's kind of going throughout them is Jews.

We do see Peter go to the Samaritans.

And the Samaritans are kind of, they're not quite Gentiles, but they're not quite Jews.

They're kind of in between.

So, with the exception of, does anyone know what would be the exception to that list?

Someone that wouldn't be a Jew.

The Ethiopian, right?

So, we had that story where the Ethiopian was converted.

And then he goes back.

That's kind of the catch point, is that he goes back to Ethiopia.

He doesn't stay with the church and fellowship with the church.

So, we see that 95% of the things that I just listed really pertains to Jews only.

So, let's pick it up in chapter 10 at verse 1 and see that this story, that narrative, that list is about to change.

Let me rip some more.

So, starting in verse 1.

At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort.

A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him,

Cornelius.

And he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord?

And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.

He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.

When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him.

And having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

So just as a pause there, we're going to get through the rest of the text, but I want to take a moment and kind of talk about who is this Cornelius guy.

Clay found a way to slip himself into my sermon, so I have to give him credit about what does it mean to be a Roman centurion of the Italian cohort.

And I say that because Clay is our history buff.

And so what does this mean for Cornelius to be Roman and the Italian cohort?

So it's most likely that he would be comparable to a captain in the Roman army.

And he is Roman with a capital R.

So think about that for a second.

He's from the Italian cohort.

That would mean that his origins are from Italy.

He's not someone who was kind of drafted into the Roman army because as the Roman army spans their reach, they're going to take over new lands, right?

And they're going to bring people into their army.

So, and but they would be considered Roman at that point, but they're not from Rome.

And so Cornelius is from Rome.

Okay, what are the other things that we see about him?

We see that he's a devout man.

In verse 2, he fears God with all his household.

He gave alms generously.

And he prays.

Okay, so this word you'll see in verse 2.

Look, it says a devout man who fears God.

That is actually a term, like a label, not just describing him necessarily with just a kind of a bunch of random adjectives.

So, there's a couple of labels that the Bible gives to different groups of people that are in this geographic area.

So, there's Jews.

There would be Gentiles.

There would be Samaritans, which we talked about earlier, which is kind of they, I don't know if this is an offensive term, but like half-breeds, you know what I mean?

Between Jews and Gentiles.

And then there were God-fears.

And God-fears were Gentiles who conformed to the Judaic law and the customs.

So, that means that Cornelius probably got to see all the gods of the Roman Empire and then decided that he most likely, or that he agreed with most of the Jewish God.

So, that meant that he worshipped God of the Torah and that he, but the only difference would be that he wasn't circumcised.

I'm sorry, I'm trying to say that right.

So, the only difference would be that he's not circumcised.

He worships God.

He gives alms.

We see that he's devout, but he's not circumcised.

And then he prays.

So, this is kind of a, this is a really good description of Cornelius, right?

Like, if you're reading this and you're looking at Cornelius, this is a good guy, right?

He does all those things.

Like, how many of you would like to be described in that way?

That's a good description.

You're devout.

You fear God.

You give alms.

You pray continuously.

And we find out that God hears his prayers.

So, Cornelius is a good guy.

But I want to ask the question, is Cornelius saved?

Is he forgiven?

Is he clean in the eyes of God?

I mean, and what do you say?

Like, he, there are all those things that we just listed.

He sounds like a really, really good guy.

Like, he does everything right.

And even, I can hear the objection of someone saying, wait, are you suggesting that he's not saved?

Like, look at all the things that he does.

Look, let's look at, or so what, are you saying that you're better than him?

Are you saying that Mother Teresa, if, with all the good things that she did, that if she didn't believe in Christ, that she's not saved?

This is the question that you're going to get when you talk to other people about the gospel.

Because Cornelius, on paper, looks like a really, really good guy.

But we learn that he is later on referred to as not saved.

And so that's the offense of the gospel that our, the offense of the gospel is that even our best works,

the things that we do that you might volunteer at the homeless shelter out of the goodness of your heart,

you might not cuss, you might not drink, you might not be as bad as someone else.

But the offense of the gospel is that our best deeds, our best things that we do, apart from God,

are like filthy rags before him.

That it doesn't matter, that God's not saying like, God's not impressed with Cornelius' record.

That in the eyes of God of being considered holy.

And I'm going to, I will say Cornelius is a good guy.

He's a moral guy.

But in terms of holiness, Cornelius is not.

And so you would say, how do you know that?

If you turn one page over to the left or to the right, you're going to see in verse 14,

Peter is later on recounting this story.

And this is a little bit of a giveaway, but he says in verse 13,

Peter's recounting this story of what I'm about to talk about with Cornelius.

And he says, and he told us how he had, how Cornelius had seen this angel stand in his house and say,

Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter.

He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.

So despite Cornelius' good-looking resume, he's not in the eyes of God forgiven.

He's not saved.

There's something missing.

So that tells us that to be righteous before God requires more than attending a church service.

It requires more than being a good person.

It requires more than giving your money away to the poor.

It requires more than even just praying to God.

That is a huge statement.

There's another problem with Cornelius.

Cornelius is a God-fear, but he is still a Gentile.

In that he is unclean according to the Jewish law.

So, what do I mean by that?

Surely, if you know anything about Jewish traditions and Jewish customs,

you knew that they followed a very strict dietary law.

That's kind of the thing, the problem that Jesus keeps running into as he's talking to the Pharisees,

is these laws that they have that Moses set up in the Old Testament.

So, for reference, what I'm talking about there is specifically Leviticus 11 when it comes down to food.

So, in Leviticus 11, God is laying out this law to Moses,

and he's telling him all the foods that you can and cannot eat.

He says, hey, like, you can't eat a pig.

You can't eat a rock badger.

You can't eat the things that are crawling on the ground, swarming bees.

He lists off all of these different animals that they cannot eat.

So, they've got dietary laws.

The next thing is circumcision.

So, Cornelius is neither of those things.

So, in the eyes of the Jewish law, Cornelius is not clean.

Now, see, the Jews actually used these verses in Leviticus as justification

to put in bigger divide between them and the Gentiles,

just to kind of understand what's going on in that culture

and what that divide actually looks like.

I found a quote from a rabbi in the Talmud,

which is when we're talking about the Old Testament combined with rabbinic law,

which is things that they kind of added on to the Old Testament laws.

This rabbi said this about a Gentile.

He said,

When a Jew has a Gentile in his clutches,

another Jew may go to the same Gentile,

lend him money, and in turn deceive him,

so that the Gentile shall be ruined.

For the property of a Gentile, according to our law, belongs to no one.

And the first Jew that passes it has full right to seize it.

So, that's kind of the animosity and the divide that we're talking about here.

And is that from God? No.

I want to make that clear.

God sets up these dietary laws to set his people apart,

and the Jewish people ran with that even further

and came up with things like what I just said.

So, what's the point about the food?

Have you ever wondered about that?

Like, why did God say,

You can't eat these foods.

You must have your cloth of these different strands.

You can't have tattoos.

Like, all those Levitical laws,

not the Mosaic law,

not the laws of the Ten Commandments.

But, have you ever wondered,

What was the point of why God did all that?

And are those things still in place today?

And a lot of people would say,

It's for health reasons,

as far as circumcision and food goes.

And there might be some legitimacy to that.

But the bigger thing that I want you to get

is that God was setting his people apart.

So, turn with me to Leviticus 11,

just so you can kind of see with your own eyes.

And then look down at verse 43.

Okay.

So, what's the point of all these laws?

What's the point of all these rules?

And so, in Leviticus 11,

God very clearly points it out.

Okay, this is okay.

This is not okay.

Here's why this is not okay.

Here's this is okay.

This is not okay to eat.

So, he keeps going.

It's very, very specific.

And then in verse 43 of Leviticus 11,

it says,

You shall not make yourselves

detestable with any swarming thing that swarms,

and you shall not defile yourselves with them

and become unclean through them.

So, here it is.

Verse 44.

For I am the Lord your God.

Consecrate yourselves, therefore,

and be holy, for I am holy.

You shall not defile yourselves

with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.

So, you get that 44 at the very beginning

where he says,

For.

So, it's basically like God's saying,

For this reason.

He just listed off all these animals,

and now God's saying,

Do you want to know why I'm saying this?

This is why.

I'm saying that you can be set apart

so that the other nations could look

at the nation of God in Israel

and see that they dressed differently,

that they ate differently,

that all their customs were different,

but those things were meant to be

a shadow of how God was making them holy

and set apart as a people.

So, this reflects to us something

about the nature of God,

that God has a concern for holiness.

These strict laws,

they point out to God how,

they point us out

how God has a big concern

about his people being set apart

and being different.

So, going back to Cornelius,

he is not those things.

He's not circumcised.

It's unlikely that he prescribed

to the Jewish dietary law.

So, if you are Peter,

if you're a Jew,

if you're looking at Cornelius,

let's just be honest,

even though he's got this good record,

he's unclean, right?

Like, he's not clean before God.

And that even came down to the fact

that, like, a Jew would not touch

the glass of a Gentile

after he had put it to his mouth

because it was then,

at that point,

considered unclean.

So, isn't Cornelius hopeless

in the eyes of a law?

Like, what hope is there for Cornelius?

What hope is there for this man

to be saved, to be forgiven?

Is there any hope for him?

In the eyes of a law or the Jew,

there's no hope for him, right?

There is this barrier

that's separating Cornelius

from being forgiven

and being a son of God.

And with that,

we need to talk about how

we're similar to Cornelius

in that same spot.

There is a barrier

between us and God.

The fact that

if you are in Christ right now,

at one point,

you were considered unclean.

You were considered unforgiven.

Or if you're not a believer today,

you stand in that spot

where God looks at us

and we're not clean before Him

because God's standard

is holiness and righteousness.

And Cornelius,

it doesn't matter how good he is,

he falls short of that record

because he's not.

He's not righteous

and he's not holy.

And Cornelius,

at this point,

in his own power,

he's hopeless to change.

How does the Bible

describe an unbeliever?

Think about it for a second.

Think about those verses

that you've thought about

where the Bible said,

hey, you were this at one point

before you were in Christ.

How does the Bible describe that?

Surely some of you

are thinking about Ephesians 2, right?

Where it says,

you were dead

in your transgressions and sins.

in the sins in which

you once walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince

of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience,

among whom we all once lived

in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires

of the body and the mind,

and were by nature

children of wrath

like the rest of mankind.

God describes us as dead.

So, a dead man can't get up

and change his behavior.

A dead man can't get up

to take a pill

to become healthier.

A dead man is dead.

So, what hope

is there for a dead man?

And maybe that's a state

that we need to remind ourselves of

is that for the unbeliever,

there is no hope

in and of yourself

to change.

Do you remember that time

when you were an unbeliever

or if you still are

where there was things

that you saw about your life

and you felt hopeless

to change those things entirely?

They seem too big.

Even as believers right now,

we still see some of those things

in our lives.

It's like,

I just can't overcome this sin.

I just can't get past this.

I've tried and I've tried

and I've tried

and I can't do it.

It makes me think of

the story that

when I worked,

I still worked there,

but I worked at a

drug and alcohol

treatment center.

It's a 30-day treatment center

where someone,

people fly in

all over the country

and people that are struggling

with different drugs

and alcohol come there.

They live there for 30 days

and then they kind of

go through a rehabilitation process

and then they leave.

And I remember working there

and listening to this story

about this one guy

who was kind of a little bit

of a troublemaker

and he wasn't necessarily

following all the rules

and he was kind of on the line

of whether he was going

to be allowed to stay

because the administration

can make decisions like,

hey, this guy's no good

for this program.

He needs to come back

when he's ready.

And I remember talking to him

and kind of like thinking,

maybe I can get a chance

to just talk to this guy

and just convince him like,

hey man,

this program's going to

save your life.

Like, you go back out

and you could,

this addiction could kill you.

And me just thinking,

all right,

maybe I can say something

to this guy.

And I remember him walking up

and I was talking to him

and I was asking him

how treatment was going

and I said,

what are you going to do

when you leave?

Are you going to go

to an intensive outpatient?

Are you going to go

to sober living?

Like, what are you going to do?

And the guy was like,

he looked at me in the eyes

and he said,

I'm going to go back

to drinking.

Are you kidding me?

Like, I know I have a problem

and I know I'm going to go

right back to the bottle

as soon as I leave.

So I'm just here

to do my time

and do this program

and leave.

And I remember like hearing that

and just the hopelessness

kind of sank in to my heart

and thinking about

what hope is for this guy.

He's pretty much

all but given up on this.

So how is God

going to relentlessly pursue

that attic at Black Bear?

How is God going to

relentlessly pursue

this guy Cornelius

who again,

though his best efforts

still fall short

of God's standard

of holiness

and righteousness.

How is God going

to relentlessly pursue you

if you might still be

living in your sin?

You might be not

as bad as the next guy

but your best actions

still fall short

of God's standard.

And then an even bigger question

is how is Jesus' commandment

at the very end?

What did he say

at the very end

of Matthew 28?

He says,

go and make disciples

of just Jews.

He says,

go and make disciples

of all nations.

So how is that

going to happen

when there's this divide

when Cornelius

is unclean

in the eyes of the law

and the Jews?

So let's pick it up

back in verse 9.

The next day

as they were on their journey

and approaching the city

Peter went up

on the housetop

about the sixth hour

to pray

and he became hungry

and wanted something to eat

but while they were preparing it

he fell into a trance

and saw the heavens opened

and something like

a great sheet descending

being let down

by its four corners

upon the earth.

In it were all kinds

of animals

and reptiles

and birds of the air

and there came

a voice to him

rise Peter

kill and eat.

But Peter said

by no means Lord

for I have never eaten

anything that is common

or unclean.

And the voice came to him

again a second time

what God has made clean

do not call common.

This happened three times

and the thing was taken up

at once to heaven.

Now while Peter

was inwardly perplexed

as to what the vision

that he had seen

might mean

behold the men

who were sent

by Cornelius

having made inquiry

for Simon's house

stood at the gate

and called out

to ask

whether Simon

who was called

Peter

was lodging there.

And while Peter

was pondering the vision

the spirit said to him

behold

three men

are looking for you

rise

and go down

and accompany them

without hesitation

for I have sent them.

And Peter went down

to the men

and said

I'm the one

you are looking for

what is the reason

for your coming?

And they said

Cornelius

a centurion

an upright

and God-fearing man

who is well spoken

of by the whole

Jewish nation

was directed

by a holy angel

to send for you

to come to his house

and hear what you

have to say.

So he invited them

to be his guests.

The next day

he rose

and went away

with them

and some of the brothers

from Joppa

accompanied him

and on the following day

they entered Caesarea.

Cornelius was expecting them

and had called together

his relatives

and close friends.

When Peter entered

Cornelius met him

and fell down

at his feet

and worshipped him.

But Peter lifted him up

saying

stand up

I too am a man

and as he talked

with him

he went in

and found

many persons gathered

and he said to them

you yourselves

know how unlawful

it is for a Jew

to associate with

or to visit anyone

of another nation

but God

has shown me

that I should not

call any person

common or unclean

so when I was sent for

I came without objection

I asked them

why you sent for me

and Cornelius said

four days ago

about this hour

I was praying in my house

at the ninth hour

and behold

a man stood before me

in bright clothing

and said

Cornelius your prayer

has been heard

and your alms

have been remembered

before God

send therefore

to Joppa

and ask for Simon

who is called Peter

he is lodging

in the house

of Simon a tanner

by the sea

so I sent for you

at once

and you have been

kind enough to come

now therefore

we are all here

in the presence of God

to hear all that you

have been commanded

by the Lord

okay

so

real quick

let's look at

Peter's first response

what does he say

he says

so he has this vision

these sheets come down

all animals

of every kind

come down

and it says

rise

kill and eat Peter

and his first response

is by no means Lord

so

let's not jump

on Peter

too quickly

and say

like hey

how dare you

respond to God

like that

Peter's response

is actually

really similar

to the prophet

Daniel

if you think

about it

he objected

to the dietary

he objected

to the food

that he was being

served and said

no I have to

observe my customs

because this food

that you're feeding

me here in Babylon

is unclean

but it's interesting

though

like you and I

have read the rest

of the story

we know what's coming

we know that God's

not just talking

about food

right

we know that God

wasn't just

taking bacon off

the list of things

not to eat

but Peter

if you think

so Peter had

been with Jesus

he had been with

the resurrected Jesus

he had seen

Pentecost come

he had been

preaching to

Samaritans

he had probably

heard the story

about the Ethiopian

eunuch

right

like he's probably

heard all these

things but he

still doesn't

get it

he still doesn't

get that

that through

Christ's work

that divide

is gone

that now

the only thing

that makes us

clean or unclean

in God's sight

is whether we

have believing

faith

in Jesus

he still doesn't

get it

isn't that

interesting

like this is

a thick-headed

dude

but everyone

else is probably

like that

in that same

spot

we see that

because of

all the other

responses

Peter had been

with the

resurrected Jesus

but he still

didn't get it

so what

changed

why is it

that God

is saying

hey you can

eat all these

foods now

doesn't that

seem a little

bit like God

is flip-flopping

right

doesn't it

seem a little

bit like that

doesn't it

seem like God's

changing his

mind

so I would

say no

and here's

why

you know

he said yes

and that's the

end of the

sermon

but no

so

so what

changed

obviously

something

changed

so let me

just as a

little example

so let's

say there

is a father

who has a

five-year-old

son

and his son

is standing

on a cross

from the

street

and it's

a busy

intersection

and his son

is about to

cross the

street

and his father

says don't

know don't

cross

why because

he's five

years old

and that would

be irresponsible

of his dad

to just let

his son cross

this really

busy intersection

okay so

then let's

go forward

ten years

and now his

son is 15

and he's

standing across

the other

side of the

street and

his son and

his dad says

hey like come

on over to

me now

and so then

the son

crosses the

busy intersection

did the

father flip

flop

no you

would just

say the

situation

changed

the son

grew up

things have

changed

things are

different now

and so now

it is appropriate

for his son

to cross the

street

in a similar

way

God is not

changing his

mind but the

fulfillment of

the law has

come and

things have

changed

so if you

have your

ESV Bible

look at

verse 15

so it says

and the voice

came to him

a second time

what God has

made clean

do not call

common

so we're

actually kind

of at a

loss for our

ESV translation

the NASB

renders this

what God

has cleansed

no longer

call unclean

so God

is changing

things

did he change

it right at

that moment

no

the truth

is that

he changed

it with

Jesus

and the

thing is

that we

can

if you're

really

thinking

about it

Jesus

was saying

this the

whole time

flip over

to Mark

starting in

chapter 2

chapter 2

okay so

the point

that I'm

getting at

in this

text is

that I'm

saying that

it kind

of appears

a little

bit like

Jesus is

disregarding

a lot

of laws

like that's

kind of

what is

the friction

between him

and the

Pharisees

a lot

of the

times

so we're

not going

to read

all these

verses

but I'm

just going

to have

you

follow me

here

so

this

in chapter

2

at the

very end

of 23

he's

going

through

and his

disciples

are walking

through a

grain field

and they're

picking grain

and they're

eating it

and the

Pharisees

have an

issue

with that

and they're

like why

are you

guys eating

on the

Sabbath

they had

very strict

rules

about what

you could

and could

not do

on the

Sabbath

how far

you could

walk

what kind

of work

you could

do

in order

to keep

the

Sabbath

day

holy

and

Jesus

gives them

this example

of don't

you know

the story

of when

David

did this

when David

ate

the bread

of the

priest

and then

the verse

that I want

to draw your

attention to

is verse

27

and he says

for the

Sabbath

so the

son of

man

is Lord

even of

the

Sabbath

and then

keep looking

at verse

chapter 3

there's this

situation

where this

guy has

this

withered

hand

and

Jesus

is about

to heal

this man

with withered

hand

but he

knows

what the

Pharisees

are thinking

they don't

want him

to heal

it

because

they think

that that's

something

blasphemous

that he's

doing

but instead

he does

heal

and they

get mad

and then

flip over

a couple

pages

to chapter

7

now this

is the

kicker

that's so

important

to get

look at

chapter 7

verse 14

so

Jesus

says

and he

called the

people to

him again

and said

to them

hear me

all of

you

and

understand

there is

nothing

outside a

person

that by

going

into

him

can

defile

him

but the

things

that come

out of

a person

are what

defile

him

whoa

that's so

not in

line with

what we

just looked

at in

Leviticus

right

like that's

Jesus

don't you

don't you

know your

Old Testament

don't you

know that

yes it

is

what

defiles

a person

like

no no no

you're

wrong

like

you eat

these meats

you eat

these different

types of

animals

and that

defiles you

that makes

you unclean

in the eyes

of the law

so is

Jesus

seemingly

disregarding

these laws

it seems

like it

right

like if

you look

at it

first glance

and you

really look

at Leviticus

and you

look at

to now

it seems

like Jesus

is disregarding

this

so

how is

he not

how is it

that Jesus

is right

in what

he does

what

is the

point of

these laws

what is the

point of

these Leviticus

laws

what is the

point of

all these

laws

it's really

made pretty

clear

the disciples

seem to

get it

in Acts

you can

flip back

over to

Acts 10

where we're

going to

kind of

pick back

up there

but

earlier in

Acts 3

they quote

Moses

from Deuteronomy

and they

said

Moses

even said

this at

one point

Moses

even said

that the

Lord

God

will raise

up for

you a

prophet

like me

from your

brothers

you shall

listen to

him

in whatever

he tells

you

it shall

be that

every soul

who does

not listen

to that

prophet

shall be

destroyed

from the

people

so Moses

is actually

talking about

Jesus

he's talking

about how

Jesus is going

to be the

fulfillment

of all these

laws

so they're

pointing to

Jesus

so I guess

that begs another

question of

what's the

point of the

law

Romans 7

Paul talks

about the

law being

kind of like

a mirror to

you to show

you how

filthy you

are

Paul says

if I

didn't

have

the

law

I

wouldn't

know

that

I

was

in

sin

if

someone

didn't

say

hey

you can't

rob a

store

I

wouldn't

know

that

it's

wrong

to

not

rob

a

store

so

the

law

acts

as

a

mirror

the

most

the

big

point

here

is

that

Moses

and

the

prophets

they

all

are

pointing

to

an

event

they're

all

pointing

to

Jesus

is

coming

so when

Jesus

shows up

on the

scene

it's

like

the

Pharisees

like

they're

missing

it

they're

missing

the

thing

that

the

law

was

supposed

to

point

them

towards

Jesus

is

the

fulfillment

of all

these

things

if

you've

heard it

said

that

a

huge

point

of

the

law

was

to

show

us

how

we

couldn't

keep

it

that

that's

a

huge

purpose

of

the

Leviticus

law

all

these

rules

isn't

that

why

Jesus

says

hey

unless

your

righteousness

surpasses

that

of

the

scribes

and

Pharisees

the

guys

that

kept

all

these

rules

that

kept

all

the

dietary

laws

down

to

the

minute

details

and

Jesus

is

saying

you

have

to

are

hopeless

just

like

Cornelius

okay

so

what's

Peter's

second

response

so

Peter

hears

this

he soon

realized

this is

about

more

than

food

that

God's

doing

here

and

his

response

is

complete

obedience

he

understands

that

this

vision

is

more

than

about

food

we

see

that

in

verse

28

he

says

you

yourselves

know

how

unlawful

it is

for a

Jew

to

associate

with

or

to

visit

anyone

of

another

nation

but

God

has

shown

me

that

I

should

not

call

any

person

common

or

unclean

which

is

a little

weird

because

that

vision

was

about

foods

but

Peter

is

smart

enough

to

make

the

connection

oh

you're

not

just

talking

about

food

right

now

you're

talking

about

all

people

so

what

does

he

do

he

does

two

things

that

would

be

in

violation

of

Jewish

law

verse

23

so

he

invited

them

in

to

be

his

guests

these

are

Gentiles

and

Jews

are

not

supposed

to

house

Gentiles

inside

their

home

the

next

thing

that

we

see

is

that

he

walks

with

them

from

Joppa

where

Peter

is

to

Caesarea

which

is

about

40

miles

and

that's

not

something

a

Jewish

person

is

supposed

to

do

with

a

Gentile

so

Peter

gets

that

he

has

to

be

completely

!

obedient

to

this

he

understands

that

his

way

of

doing

things

is

subservient

to

what

God

says

his

traditions

the

things

that

he

holds

close

he

lets

those

go

to

be

obedient

to

God

that's

his

response

to

outsiders

Peter

he

allows

his

reputation

to

be

tarnished

in the

eyes

of

other

people

because

he's

being

seen

with

Gentiles

he's

hosting

them

in

his

home

but

his

response

is

complete

obedience

what

is

our

response

to

in a

similar

way

to

those

what

we

would

consider

taboos

what

would

be

our

response

to

outsiders

college

students

what

is

your

response

towards

those

that

have

a

different

lifestyle

than

you

and

choose

to

party

and

drink

and

what

about

what's

your

response

towards

those

that

are

socially

awkward

that

aren't

inside

your

friend

group

we

see

God

relentlessly

pursuing

Cornelius

and even

more so

relentlessly

pursuing

Peter

to get

him

to

understand

God's

greater

purpose

here

and

Peter

submits

that

to

God

are

you

submitting

your

preferences

your

taboos

the

people

that

you

most

easily

jive

with

like

are

you

submitting

those

to

God

for

the

sake

of

pursuing

those

for

the

kingdom

what

about

parents

what about

those who

choose to

raise their

children

differently

than you

are you

letting go

of your

preferences

for the

kingdom

and glory

of God

are you

pursuing

those that

choose to

raise their

children

differently

than you

that have

a different

household