"A Study of the book of Acts" by Hiram Kemp - Part 6

about this, but there will be an adults class, so hopefully you can make it

for that. This morning we're continuing in our study on the challenges that the church

will always face. So if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it to

Acts chapter 10. As you're turning there, we've kind of looked at several things already

Acts 10 · chapter mention

as far as challenges the church has faced, and we'll cover 3 chapters today.

But let's just start with this: what would you say is the overall,

like, the main idea in the book of Acts? What's the main goal of the

church in the book of Acts? What is the church supposed to be trying to

accomplish in this book? What's the main objective as far

as you see it in the book of Acts? What would you say?

Establish and preach the gospel throughout all the world. That's right. That's what Jesus said

in Acts 1:8. He says that you'll receive power

Acts 1:8

from on high. The Holy Spirit will overpower you. You'll be witnesses unto me in

Jerusalem, in Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost

parts of the earth. So what you're reading about in the book of Acts is

literally the church trying to fulfill this mission in Acts 1:8. These are the marching

Acts 1:8

orders from Jesus, and according to to Jesus. This is

what successful Christianity looks like. The church would have succeeded if

they fulfilled what's found in Acts 1:8. So here's a question. We're up through chapter

Acts 1:8

9. So far, just based on what you know from Acts chapter 1 through

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 9, how would you say the church is doing so far?

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Well, thumbs up or thumbs down? That'd be easier for some of y'all. Yeah,

I would say great. Um, Acts 2, first time the gospel's preached,

3,000 people become Christians. That's Acts 2:41. Acts 2:47,

Acts 2:41 Acts 2:47

God's adding to the church. By the time you get to Acts chapter 4 and

Acts 4 · chapter mention

verse 4, Luke says there's 5,000 Christians counting at least just the men.

And so the church is off to a great start. There's even been some evangelism

in places like Samaria. Acts chapter 8 and verse 4, those that are scattered

Acts 8 · chapter mention

abroad go everywhere preaching the word. Acts 8:12-13,

Acts 8:12–13

Philip goes down to Samaria. So remember Acts 1 and verse 8,

Jesus says you're going to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, So far, so good.

Acts 8:12-13, even the Samaritans believe when they

Acts 8:12–13

hear Philip preaching, and they're baptized, and the church is off to a great start.

So far, so good. Acts chapter 9, convert one of the

Acts 9 · chapter mention

greatest members of opposition to the early church. Saul of Tarsus becomes a

Christian. And in Acts 9:36, there's even this summary statement,

Acts 9:36

Acts 9:30-32, about how much peace the church was enjoying

Acts 9:30–32

and how satisfying the times were because they were doing God's business. But then Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, there are new challenges, new difficulties. And I'll just go ahead and tell

you, one of the challenges we'll spend most of our time talking about today is

the welcoming in of the Gentiles. And it's not just the case— this

is in Acts 10 and Acts 11. Acts 12 is kind of a standalone.

But Acts 10, the challenge of welcoming in the Gentiles is found in

Acts 10 and in Acts chapter 11. This will be the challenge really

Acts 11 · chapter mention

throughout the rest of the book of Acts in a lot of ways. And you

could argue it's the challenge throughout the rest of the New Testament. How do Jews

and Gentiles get together into this family and be God's

people the way he wants them to? You really can't read any letter of the

New Testament, especially any written by Paul, without this coming

up. What's required of the Gentiles? What's not? Should the

Jews bind Old Testament kosher laws and rituals like circumcision, or should they not?

This challenge, which is ultimately begun and kind

of solved in Acts 10, but it'll keep reoccurring and keep coming up. So,

as we look at this challenge, it's important to see Most of what

you read in the New Testament surrounds how to deal with this issue.

And as you think about it, just think about Jesus early on in his ministry

setting the table for Gentile inclusion. In John 10 and

verse 16, Jesus says, other sheep I have which is— which are not of this

fold. Them I must bring in that there may be one flock, one fold,

and one shepherd. In John 10, Jesus is talking about himself being the

Good Shepherd, but then he says, hey, other sheep I have which are not of

this fold. Who is he talking about? Talking about the Gentiles and bringing them in

throughout Jesus's earthly ministry, as he was kind of setting the table for Gentiles

to be included. Can you think of any occasions when Jesus

encountered Gentiles, and how did it go? In Jesus's

earthly ministry, so just think Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus's primary mission was

to the Jews, but there were occasions, select times, when Jesus

encountered somebody who wasn't a Jew, or at least not a full-blooded Jew, And how

did those interactions typically go? Can you think of

some occasions? Woman at the well, she's a Samaritan,

mixed blood. How did that go? Great. You could say

John 4 sets the table for Acts 8. When Philip gets to Samaria, the ground

has kind of already been plowed because she went throughout all of Samaria saying,

come see a man who's told me everything I've ever done. Could this not be

the Christ? And so, they kind of already had the pump primed by Philip,

so it went well, the Samaritan woman. Who else? Any other Gentiles?

In Matthew 8, Jesus comes into contact with the centurion. Matthew 8:5-13,

Matthew 8:5–13

you remember, centurion says his servant is sick at home. Jesus says,

I'll come and heal him. What does the centurion say? I too am a man

under authority. I have servants. I say to one, go, and he goes. Another,

come, and he comes. To my servant, do this, and he does it. You don't

have to come. Just do what? Say the word. Jesus says, I haven't seen great

faith like this, not even in Israel. There's another occasion when

a Canaanite woman— Jesus is on his way to do a miracle, and a Canaanite

woman, Matthew 15:21-28, Mark calls her a

Matthew 15:21–28

Syrophoenician woman. She comes up, and what does she do?

Pulls the hem of his garment. And what happens with her? She's healed. And there's

the men that are demon-possessed in the Decapolis, those 10 cities, in Mark

Mark 7:21–27

7:21-27. Here's what I'm telling you. The challenge that the church

is going to face that we're going to read about in Acts 10 and throughout

the New Testament Jesus was already priming the pump for it throughout

his earthly ministry, and every single time— there really isn't an exception to

this— every time Jesus encountered Gentiles in his earthly ministry,

it was always positive. Even at the crucifixion, the centurion says,

truly this is the Son of God. And so, he was trying to get the

church ready. My mission is going to be broader and wider than just the Jewish

family, and I want you to take the gospel into all the world. But the

church struggled with this, and they would. So, here's our question to start our

class. What made this such a big challenge for Jewish people,

like this sharing the gospel with the Gentiles and welcoming them in?

And somebody may say this later, so I'll just say it now.

There's sometimes a discussion about Cornelius being the first

Gentile convert, and some people say, well, what about the Ethiopian eunuch? The Ethiopian eunuch

may very well be a Gentile, but there's something unique in Acts 10 that I

think puts this in a different category, and I believe this is the first Gentile

conversion. But if you think it's the eunuch, It doesn't really change anything about the

class. So just in case somebody has a question about that. But if you were

a Jewish person in the first century, based on what you read in the New

Testament, what made this such a big challenge for them?

Jews bringing in, welcoming in the Gentiles. What made it so hard?

Heritage. What was their heritage?

They were the chosen. Okay, so they're God's chosen people. Yeah, Exodus 19:5-6,

Exodus 19:5–6

God says you're a chosen generation. A royal priesthood to be.

Does that sound familiar? That sounds like 1 Peter 2:9, but it comes from Exodus

1 Peter 2:9 Exodus 19:5–6

19:5-6. Okay, they've got a chosen heritage, so they're the special

people. What else made it hard for Jews to reach across and welcome in Gentiles

fully?

Yeah, what the apostles start preaching is going to be a challenge and different,

and of course, this is going to make it hard for the Jewish people as

a whole to accept them in, but Jewish people hearing this for the first time,

hey, Gentiles are welcomed in just like you, that would be a challenge. Any other

things that would make it difficult.

Neil? Yeah, I think we fail to see that this

is a God-approved division in the Old Testament, at least to a certain extent.

So, God had told His people, Leviticus 20:26,

Leviticus 20:26

do not have fellowship with these people. Deuteronomy 7:1-5,

Deuteronomy 7:1–5

don't intermarry, break down their shrines, don't serve their gods.

So, you got the law commanding them, hey, whatever you do, don't engage with

the Gentiles, unless, of course, like Ruth or somebody they want to convert. But other

than that, Do not engage with them. So they got this rolling around in the

back of their mind. They have their heritage. What about the food laws? This is

a big deal. What do the Gentiles eat?

Anything. Yeah, pork chops, right? The Gentiles eat pork chops. The Jews don't

like that. Leviticus 11, this is a big deal. Peter's going to say this,

or they'll say it to Peter in Acts 11, the food laws are different.

Leviticus 11 gave strict food laws that the Jews were allowed

to eat certain things and not eat certain things. And okay, if the

Gentiles are going to come in, what are we going to do when it's time

for a fellowship meal? This is a big problem for them. The food

laws, what they were taught. And here's one more thing,

what other Jews were going to think about them. Never discount this,

that you can know the right thing, but peer pressure and what other

people— listen, it was hard enough that their Jewish countrymen are saying, hey, you guys

are following this new upstart religion, and now you're having dealings and eating food

and worshiping with Gentile people? Even worse.

And so they had a challenge to not give in to this peer pressure from

their countrymen. All right, anybody else? All right, let's flip

the tables and then we'll get into Acts 10. What would have made this hard

for the Gentiles? I think we always think about the Jews, like this would

have been hard for Jewish people to welcome in the Gentiles, but what did the

Gentiles have to overcome to become Christians? And what would have made fellowship

with Jewish people challenging for those of Gentile origin?

Yes, Miss Laura.

Yeah, I mean, they've got bad blood. If you go back to the Old Testament,

hey, the Assyrians, Gentile people, took the Jewish people, Israel, into captivity.

Babylonians took them. They've got this friction among themselves from

ancient history. What else? You're a Gentile. What makes it hard to come into a

Jewish faith or Christianity that's really founded on ancient Judaism? What would have been hard

for Gentiles? Joey?

Yeah, I don't think we think about the steep

learning curve of Gentile people. Paul says things like in 1 Corinthians 10, he'll say,

hey, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning our fathers. That passed through the

sea. And he starts recounting stuff from Exodus and Numbers, and he's basically saying

to these Gentiles, hey, you've got to get up to speed. You've got to learn

this Bible. You should know these things. It would have been hard being a Gentile

and coming out of pagan religion, and you're worshiping with people who pretty much— I

mean, when you're 12 years old as an ancient Jewish boy, you've got Genesis through

Deuteronomy committed to memory, not to mention the prophets and the Psalms.

And here you come right out of Aphrodite's temple, and you're in Bible class with

these people that know a lot more than you. So that would have been a

challenge. Miller? They knew that they were looked down

on by the Jews, and so there was animosity. They hate

us, we hate them. Yeah, there's some friction. Miss Laura mentioned that. Yeah, they don't

like us, we don't like them. What else? You're a Gentile person coming into this

new faith. What would be challenging? Kim?

That, and I'm going to put 2 things with that. Kim mentioned circumcision.

Let's put the food laws together. Here's what would have been a challenge if you're

a Gentile. You need to be interested in the sensitivity of the Jews.

You can't just come here and act, well, I'm a Christian, God says it's okay,

and you see these people are struggling and you're just like, hey, this is what

we're gonna do. Hey, I'm not circumcised, I eat pork, I do these things,

I don't do the ceremonial washings. The Gentiles would've had a struggle, and Paul deals

with this throughout the New Testament. Don't rub your liberty in the face of these

Jews who've got this long heritage of doing things a certain way. Here's the last

thing, and then we'll get into Acts 10. I think the Gentiles would have had

a big struggle, and this will come up later in Acts, we won't deal with

it today, but just their lifestyle. Romans 1:18-32

Romans 1:18–32

talks about the ungodliness and the worldliness that would have been true of the Gentiles,

the way they did marriage or didn't do marriage, worshiping all of these

gods, and now coming under monotheism, there's one God. Paul says,

you were led astray to these dumb idols, however you were led, 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 12:2

12:2, and coming under Judaism, you pray

to the one God through Jesus, you're indwelt through the Spirit, you can't just worship

this pantheon of gods. If you're a Gentile, this is a challenge. Here's why I'm

bringing all this up. It was hard for both sides. It's a challenge.

We tend to only look at it from the Jewish lens. The Gentiles had the

same problems. We're coming right down our street. I promise you, you'll see we

really haven't graduated from this same thing and the challenges they faced with welcoming in

Gentiles. We have our own Gentiles and it's a challenge and

we need to do our best to welcome them in. Russell, go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, I think Jews and

Gentiles had to die to self, and this is what Paul's normally talking about when

he's saying, hey, put other people's needs before yourself. 1 Corinthians 10:24,

1 Corinthians 10:24

look not every man on his own things, look on the needs of others.

Philippians 2:3-4, and it's driven by that, Russell. Like, hey, if you're going to be

Philippians 2:3–4

in this family with people with differences, you've got to overcome this. All right,

here's what we're doing today. We're getting through Acts 10 and verse 12. I know

this is VBS, you're getting ready for kids' songs, but if you get in the

way, we will roll right over you, okay? We are going to do Acts 10

through 12 today, I promise. Comment, go ahead. I have a saying, when you

stress, we regress. So the temptation,

all these things, I just— it's just they don't

have any— they have to learn to respect for the leadership structure in which they're

going to dress. Now they have to begin to speak to God's leaders, which is

difficult for them. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, their challenge would either be go back to

paganism or try to blend them in. And I think Paul in 1 Corinthians is

going to say this in chapter 6. He's going to say, hey, and in chapter

10, you can't eat at the table of demons and of God. You can't unite

yourself to a harlot and be God's person. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

It's this idea that, hey, if you're stressed, maybe just go back to what's comfortable

or just kind of synchronize it and put it together, and you can't do it.

All right, Acts 10, here are the challenges. The first one is the challenge of

the moral gospel. I'm going to read Acts 10:1-8. At Caesarea there was a man

Acts 10:1–8

named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,

a devout man who feared God with all his household. He gave alms generously to

the people, and he prayed continually to God. About the 9th 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's lodging with one Simon, a tanner,

whose house is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him had departed,

he called 2 of his servants, a devout soldier from among those who attended

him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. So, before the

Gentile inclusion, the first challenge is the challenge of the moral gospel.

So, we're introduced to this man named Cornelius. Introduction to Cornelius, look at verse

3. What do we know about him? His name's Cornelius. Why mention his

name? Think about it. The Ethiopian eunuch isn't mentioned by name. Why mention him by

name? It's possible after his conversion Cornelius becomes well

known to the early church. So, we mention him by name. He's a Roman centurion.

He's of the Italian cohort, so he has probably 100 soldiers under him.

He's a man of rank. He has a good job. He's probably well off.

What else do we know about him? Luke gets to his character, Acts 10:2.

Acts 10:2

He's a devout man. What does that mean?

He's religious. He's a pious and upright guy. Feared God with all his

house. In the book of Acts, this terminology, especially when it's used for a

Gentile, a God-fearer, it doesn't just mean somebody who is afraid of God. It's a

specific title. It's in Acts 13:16 and Acts 13:26.

Acts 13:16 Acts 13:26

A Gentile God-fearer means this person hasn't converted to Judaism.

They haven't proselyted in, but they normally hang around the synagogue.

They listen to Scripture and Torah. And they're very sensitive to Jewish

faith. So sometimes Paul will be preaching and he'll say, Jews and all of you

who fear God, all of you God-fearers. Cornelius is in that group.

He's a God-fearing man. And then it says he gave alms generously

to all people and he prayed continually. All right, let's just stop right here.

Based on what you know about Cornelius, just tell me the good

things. Like, I know what the verses say. He gave money, he prayed,

he was pious and devout. What kind of man was Cornelius based

on these verses?

He was just a good man. He was a good man.

Morally upright.

Respected. Honest. We're getting warmer. Let's give Cornelius a

little bit more credit. He's good, he's honest, he's respectable. What else?

He's disciplined. Starts with re-, ends with ligious.

What is he? He's religious. To which God, by the

way? To the true God of the Bible, Yahweh,

the God of the ancient Hebrew people? Great.

And then God says, hey, I'm going to have you send for Simon Peter.

Well, an angel tells him, your prayers have come up, in verse 4, as a

memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one who's called Simon.

Why did he have to send for Peter? He's a good and upright man,

morally right. This is the moral gospel, and I'm going to show you in a

minute, this is still our challenge today. Cornelius is a good and upright man,

praised, gives money, does all these things. Why send

for Peter? Miss Terry?

He needs to be baptized. What else?

He needs to hear the gospel. Listen, we know people like

this. This is the moral gospel. This guy has a good job. He's well off.

He's an upright person, good neighbor. You want him checking your mail, getting your

Amazon packages for you when you're out of town. This is a good guy.

He's more than just a good guy though. He's not just a moral man in

a general sense. He's religious and he's praying to God and his

prayers come up as a memorial. He's a good person, but he still

has to send to Joppa so that he can hear words so that he and

his household can be saved. And I think this is important because this

reminds us this: the moral gospel challenges us because it reminds us everybody

has spiritual needs. Even people that you think, well, they're good people,

They've got money. You've said this about people before, right? Like,

I don't really think they're interested in religion. I mean, their lives are pretty set.

Jesus says, what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and

what? The moral gospel is a challenge because it says to us, hey,

just because people are comfortable, don't ever fall into the trap of thinking they

don't have deep spiritual needs. Oh, he'll never come to church. He's got so many

boats and cars and he's so busy. There is a deep need

still, even for people in that circumstance, for spirituality.

And Cornelius reminds us of that. Also, the moral gospel

is a challenge that must be overcome 'cause it teaches us being generally religious isn't

enough. At this point, it's no longer just

ancient Judaism or patriarchy. If you're going to be saved at this point in the

book of Acts, salvation comes through who? One person,

Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says, there's salvation in nobody else,

Acts 4:12

no other name under heaven by which people must be saved other than Jesus

Christ. Being generally religious, well, they believe in God, they believe in a higher power,

that's not good enough. Cornelius has to come to know Jesus, and as Miss Terri

mentioned, he's got to be baptized, and we'll talk about that in a minute.

Here's another thing it teaches us: performing religious and devotional acts

won't save you. Well, I pray all the time. So did Cornelius. By the way,

his prayer was heard. Well, I give money to— that's

not enough. That's not going to save— you know, we came back from Florida yesterday.

We were in the airport, and I don't know who these groups were, not passing

judgment on them, just an observation. There were various groups in the airport,

at least 3, big groups that had on t-shirts affiliated

with some church, some religious group, and they all appeared from what I saw to

be going to do mission work, mission trips. I think that's a great and noble

task. Don't know what they believed, don't know what they practiced, but here's what I'm

telling you, good spiritual devotional acts wouldn't save anybody.

Sometimes you say, well, I know they just couldn't be lost. Look at them doing

it. They love Jesus Christ. They're serving the Lord, doing mission work. He's praying.

He's giving alms. He's religious. But good

moral works and devotional religious works don't

save anybody apart from a saved relationship with Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-9,

Ephesians 2:8–9

Paul says, for by grace we've been saved through faith. It's not our own doing.

It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Just reading somebody's spiritual resume and saying, hey, I know what y'all say, and I

know what that Bible says, but I'm telling you, Bob's going to heaven. Look at

all the good he's done. Cornelius is a testament that's just not so. Here's another

thing. Prayer is a spiritual blessing, but not a means of salvation.

Sometimes people think, well, I'm praying to God, God's hearing me, so I know

I must be good. But 1 Peter 3:12 says, the eyes

1 Peter 3:12

of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.

And so prayer is something God grants you as a Christian.

It's a spiritual blessing, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're saved.

Oh, one more on this, and then we'll move on to how we engage this.

Sometimes you talk to people and they say, well, I know I'm saved because I

had a religious experience. I saw an angel.

And I normally have 2 ideas when I hear that. Number one, you didn't.

But number two, if you did though, like we try to argue people

down, but if you did, here's the point: religious experiences don't save you. So we

don't even have to argue with people whether they saw the Lord, saw an angel.

Paul says in Galatians 1, even if an angel— if you saw an angel and

he preached a different gospel to you than the one in the Bible, you still

have to become a Christian. Cornelius sees an angel, an angel speaking to him,

and guess what? He still has to do what God wants him to do.

Religious experiences in and of themselves don't solidify

your salvation. So here's the question: how do we overcome this when we meet

people that are upright and moral? The moral gospel is a challenge. How do we

overcome it? We've got friends and neighbors in these situations, good people,

thoughtful, prayerful. What can we do? What should we do to engage them and overcome

this challenge? Is this still our challenge? Is this still one of the challenges we

face? Do you know people like this that by all accounts, if you just took

out the verses and gave somebody Acts 10:1-4 as an obituary for

Acts 10:1–4

a person, you know what most people would say about a man like that?

He's going where? He's going to heaven. This is a good person. You don't get

any better than this. And God says, hey, Cornelius, send men to Joppa. Call for

Simon Peter. He's at the house of a tanner and he'll tell you words.

So we know people like this. My question is, what do we do to engage

them and how do we overcome it? Kevin?

About God doesn't hear a sinner's prayer. Uh, 2 quick things and then

we'll get back on course unless somebody has a follow-up. John 9:31 says this about

John 9:31

Jesus opening the eyes of a blind man. First of all, Jesus doesn't say

John 9:31. The people come to Jesus and they say, now we know God doesn't

John 9:31

hear sinners. This is kind of a proverbial statement they're saying in general,

but I think what they mean is like God doesn't hear sinners in the affirmative,

like granting them what they want. But I think the Bible's pretty clear,

God does listen to people's prayers that aren't sinners, not in a saving

sense, not in the way He listens to Christians, but He heard Cornelius.

In Acts 9, before Saul becomes a Christian, He tells Ananias,

hey, go preach the gospel to this Saul of Tarsus. Behold, he's praying. How did

God know that? God hears everything, but the Bible says God hears

with a capital H with the intent to listen and to save and

to help only for Christians, Proverbs 15:29 and 1 Peter

Proverbs 15:29 1 Peter 3:12

3:12. I don't think we should make too big of a deal about that with

people, in my judgment. Like, God doesn't hear your prayers, he doesn't hear anything you

got to say. That's not really the sticking point. The sticking point is more of

you can't be saved through prayer. And what it— because if a person is a

non-Christian and they're praying, God, help me, I really want to be saved, I believe

God hears and listens to things like that and he honors it. Acts 16,

the people in Macedonia say, come over here and help us, and God sends Paul.

But that God's just hearing their wishes and whims and desires and honoring their

prayers in that sense. You've got to be in Jesus Christ for that to happen.

So that's what I would say. But John 9:31 isn't the go-to passage

John 9:31

to say God doesn't listen to sinners, because this is the commentary basically

of a mob telling a blind man, hey, you know, or the blind man,

excuse me, saying to these people, we know God doesn't hear sinners. And so

it's not really about a theological point that proves anything.

But anyway, yes, go ahead, Denver.

That's right. It's a great point. Yeah, he wasn't, he wasn't

just praying. Denver brings up the idea Cornelius's life matched his prayers for sure.

But the overall purpose of this in the book of Acts is it didn't save

him. So how do we apply this in our lives? How do we help people?

All right, great. I'm locked and loaded. Can't wait. All right. Acknowledge the good in

them. This is what we should do. We should acknowledge the good in other people.

I think sometimes this is a struggle for us. Like we see people that are

good that aren't religious and like, we're almost surprised. Can you believe he's reading the

Bible? Yes. Can you believe they're doing good? The Bible acknowledges Cornelius,

your prayers have come up as a memorial before God. If you want to reach

people that are in this sphere of the moral gospel, I think we ought to

acknowledge the good in them. Romans 13:7, give honor to whom honor is due.

Romans 13:7

Number 2, show them they're not far from the kingdom. Hey,

you're praying? I'm glad you're praying. Hey, you're religious? I'm glad. Hey, you go

to church? Love it. That's a great thing. I mean, you should agree with people

in religious discussion as far as you can go. I mean, ride it all the

way out. And then once you've got to part ways, then part ways. But as

far as you can go with the person and affirming the good that they're doing

without compromising biblical conviction, you should do that. The Holy

Spirit is modeling this by showing us this about Cornelius. Look at all of this

good, then send men to Joppa. We should show them they're not far from the

kingdom. Push for an encounter with the Word. Don't talk about their experiences

and yours and your church and their church and what we think and what they

do. You've got to hear the gospel, as was already mentioned.

Next, ask them their motivation for their goodness and let God define

true goodness. Whenever somebody says, I'm a good person, you should say,

well, what does that mean? And why are you a good person? And who gets

to define what's good? That's what Jesus told the rich young ruler in Luke 18.

He says, why do you call me good? And then keep Christianity and salvation

distinct, meaning people can do good works, but good works

don't save you. That only comes when you obey the gospel. So Acts 10:1-8,

Acts 10:1–8

the first challenge is the challenge of the moral gospel, and you overcome

it by introducing people to the truth. All right, now Acts 10:9-48,

Acts 10:9–48

and we won't be able to read all of this, but we got 3 chapters

and I intend to keep my word, so put on your running shoes. All right,

welcoming in the Gentiles. So here's the next challenge.

Peter is the perfect person to do this. We're going to send Peter to preach

to Cornelius. Why is Peter the right man to do this? Because Jesus

told him, I'm giving you, Peter, the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind

on earth will be bound in heaven. It was said to all of the apostles

in Matthew 18, but especially to Peter. On the day of Pentecost, who preached

the first sermon? And what did Peter say you had to do to be saved?

Repent and— but in verse 39, he said, hey, this promise

is for you and your children and everybody afar off, talking about Gentiles.

Peter already knew this. Gentiles are in. He knew it in his mind,

but maybe not in his practice. He's the perfect person to be

the one to preach the gospel to the Gentiles for the first time. And so

God appears to him. Acts 10:9-16, Peter's up on

Acts 10:9–16

his roof and he's praying, and God tells Peter

after he shows him this vision— there's this vision of this sheet coming down,

there are various animals— what does he tell Peter to do? Rise, kill, and what?

Eat. Peter says what? Nobody told God no

in the Bible more than Peter. You ever notice that? God's like, hey Peter,

you're going to deny me. Nope. I'm going to be crucified and die. No,

you're not, Lord. Peter, rise, kill, and eat. What's Peter's problem here?

Well, number one, what? He thinks he knows the book of Leviticus better than God,

right? He's like, not tricking me. I'm not falling for that. But number two,

he won't soften his heart and open up to what God wants him to do.

This vision happened several times. It says in verse 16, 3 times,

and then it was taken back up to heaven. It's interesting that

both Cornelius and Peter needed a divine vision or revelation

for them to get on board with what God's doing. Both of them, both of

them needed divine aid to see, hey, this is going to be okay. This is

the right thing to do. The men come from Cornelius's house. Men he sent to

Peter, and they tell him, hey, we're here for a man named Simon. Peter has

come down from the rooftop and he's going to go with these men, and they

go to Cornelius's house. Look at Acts 10 and look at verse 24. Peter finally

gets to Cornelius's household. Acts 10:24 says Cornelius

Acts 10:24

is there gathered with all of his friends and his loved ones.

When Peter walks into the house, Acts 10:25, what does

Acts 10:25

Cornelius do? Fall down at his— falls down at his feet to worship

him. In verse 26, Peter says, stand up, I'm a man just like you're a

man. And then they start having this conversation. Cornelius tells him,

hey, I was told to send for you. I saw a vision yesterday

about this same time, and I was told to send for you. And we're

all gathered here to hear what God has to say to you. And Peter starts

preaching the gospel to him. He starts telling him about Jesus. Acts 10:38,

Acts 10:38

Jesus went about doing good, healing all that were demon-possessed,

for God was with him. And he talks about all the great things Jesus did.

About the time he starts to get to the resurrection, the Holy Spirit

falls on these individuals. Look at Acts 10. I'm going to read 44 down through

48. While Peter was still saying these things,

the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the unbelievers from

among the circumcised who had come with Peter, they were amazed

because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles,

for they were hearing them speak in tongues and extolling God. And then Peter declared,

Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received

the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in

the name of Jesus Christ. And then they asked him to remain for some,

some days. So they have what I'll just call here as a Gentile

Pentecost, their own Gentile Pentecost. The Holy Spirit falls on

them. The Holy Spirit falling on these people in Acts 10 was not to save

them. It was for Peter and the 6 guys that came with him to see

You can do this. You can welcome the Gentiles in. God's with them. How do

you know it? Holy Spirit falls on these individuals and they're able

to speak in tongues. And then Peter commands them, as Ms. Terry mentioned 15 minutes

ago, to be what? To be baptized.

The challenge for these Christians was to welcome in the Gentiles.

All right, who are our Gentiles? Like, how does this scenario parallel ours?

And I'm gonna take one easy one off the table. So let's just take race

off the table. That's obviously one. People can be different from us racially. Let's take

that one off the table. Aside from that though, or in addition to that,

I'll say, what are some scenarios when we're, where we're in a similar situation

to Peter here with people that are different from us

that might be challenging for us to reach out to? So for Peter and

Cornelius, this is different, right? Cornelius sees him, falls down, thinks maybe he's an angel

or some divine spokesman worthy of worship. But Peter tells him,

when you read Acts 10:27-29, You know it's not lawful for

Acts 10:27–29

a Jew to come in and be with somebody like you who's a Gentile.

What circumstances do we have in 2026 that might parallel these?

Okay, great point, great point, Miss Brenda. The way they've been raised religiously,

traditionally. If somebody's different from us in beliefs and doctrine,

they may not know the Bible in the way that we do, or they may

have a different approach or way of interpreting things than we do, and that might

be a challenge. Anybody else? Kim,

for sure they're not believers, but I'm talking more so— I'm— yes, they're not believers,

but I'm talking about people who they're back, they become Christians, they're baptized,

and then we've got to welcome them in. Or yeah, if they come from an

unbelieving background, so that fits this context too. Unbelievers,

people from a different church background. What else? Or who else, I should say?

Worldly. Worldly people. You know anybody rough around the edges?

Yeah, that might be a challenge for people. Not polished.

Right? Doesn't— they don't speak the same. They're different.

Worldliness. They come in, they're baptized. Guess what's still going to

be with them a little bit? Some of that worldliness. And I think some of

that makes it a little bit challenging sometimes. What else?

Cultural backgrounds. Just all sorts of things. Food,

traditions, those sorts of things. What about education? Some people

too much, some people not enough. There's all kinds of financial.

I'm just telling you, we've got the same challenges. How do we

overcome them? Well, let me just go through this quickly.

Start on this side with principles from this passage. First thing, listen to God first.

God told Peter to go, and guess what Peter did? He went. God tells us

to go, don't think about the differences right off, just do what God says.

Number 2, remember everybody is an image bearer.

If you just focus on that one fact, I know people might undermine

that and think, yeah, that's kind of shallow, that's Christianese, but it's the facts.

At the end of the day, everybody's an image bearer of God. And if you

focus on that, it won't matter their race. It won't matter how educated or uneducated

they are. It won't matter if they say ain't and things like that. That stuff

won't bother you. You just will realize, hey, this is an image bearer. This is

somebody that needs the gospel. Kill partiality and call it out. When you

see it, favoritism, or if it's in you, just get rid of it.

On that first column, the last one, refuse to treat them as second-class citizens.

Here's what I mean with that. People that come in from a different background,

when they come in, their knee-jerk reaction might be,

to elevate us. And we always have 2 options when this happens. We can kind

of soak this in. It feels good to be praised and worshiped a little bit,

or we can tell them, hey, get on your feet. You're just like me.

Well, I know you're an expert. You've been here. Your grandma went to this church.

Oh no, we don't do that here. This isn't my grandma's church. Get on your

feet. You're just like me. Refuse to treat them as second-class citizens and don't

let them stay in that mindset even if they would like to,

even if it's comfortable for them to maintain that posture. Peter says, hey,

get up on your feet. I'm a man just like you. Next, get to know

each other. I think it's interesting Peter doesn't come in and just automatically start

preaching. Look at what he does. I'm in Acts chapter 10, and notice in verse

Acts 10 · chapter mention

number 26, Peter lifted him up saying, stand on your feet, I'm a man.

And he talked with him and he went in and found many persons gathering.

And then he tells him, you're a Jew. And then look at verse 30,

Cornelius says, 4 days ago about this hour I was praying. You know what they

do from verse— really verse 23 down through verse 33? They're just

getting to know each other. Hey, what you doing here? Well, God sent me.

And what are you doing here? Well, I had a vision. When you start knowing

people's story, a lot of superficial things fall off. Peter doesn't come

in and just start preaching the gospel. He says, well, let me tell you about

what happened with me. And then Cornelius says, well, let me tell you what happened

with me. And guess what they find out? Both of their stories are what?

You start talking to people, what you're going to find out is both of your

stories similar. You got hurt in your family.

They've got it. You make mistakes. They've made them. You hadn't

done everything right. You just start learning people's stories and these barriers that the world

has just kind of concocted, these false constructs, they just fall down.

Use the gospel as a neutralizer. I think this is important. This isn't pandering.

I think this is important because in Acts 10, it's not just like, hey,

the church, we need some inclusion. We need some national

diversity. Let's bring in the Gentiles. No, you've got to neutralize with the gospel.

You're not just trying to be diverse for diverse sake.

People that become Christians are welcomed into the kingdom. This isn't like

we're trying to diversify our numbers and meet some quota. We want

to teach people that you've got to use the gospel. See, Peter does eventually get

down to preaching and say, okay, Acts 10:34-35, God is no respecter

Acts 10:34–35

of persons, but in every nation, people that do what he says and works righteousness,

they're accepted with him. This is what Denver mentioned a moment ago about Cornelius's behavior.

Eventually, get to the gospel with people and use that as the neutralizer Know the

gospel well. Don't require more than God. What does Peter say

in Acts 10:47-48? They need to be what?

Acts 10:47–48

They need to be baptized. What did he tell the Jews on the day of

Pentecost? Don't require any more than God. And then strengthen

bonds in Christ ASAP. I love the end of Acts 10:48.

Acts 10:48

He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And then

what's the last part say? I think it's funny. At first,

Peter had to be forced to go, and eventually he ends up staying for a

couple days. Why not baptize him and leave? Because when you meet people from different

backgrounds and you come into the kingdom, it's important that ASAP

you start building bonds. Stay longer than you should. Get to know more. Let them

know, hey, this wasn't just business between you and me. It wasn't just, well,

I came, God made me. They build bonds ASAP,

and we'll overcome the challenges of different backgrounds and cultures and all of that when

we do the same thing. All right, Acts chapter 11. And this

Acts 11 · chapter mention

is kind of a replaying of this, the challenge of building bridges

and not walls. And I almost skipped Acts 11 because a lot

of Acts 11 is very similar to Acts 10, but it's a little bit different.

So Peter went and preached in Acts chapter 10 because God told him.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

He pleased God but not God's people. Acts 11 and verse 1,

it says, now the apostles and brothers who were throughout Judea, they heard

that the Gentiles had received the word of God. Guess how the Jews felt about

the Gentiles being welcomed in? They didn't

like it. And so they want to know what's Peter doing going to talk to

Gentile people. Acts 11:2-3, it says, so when Peter went up

Acts 11:2–3

into Jerusalem, the circumcision party, they criticized him saying,

you went to uncircumcised men and you ate with them. And then Peter

has to explain to them what he did. Why would the Jews have a problem

with Peter going to preach to Gentiles? As far as they're concerned, what?

We don't what? We don't do stuff like that.

We don't do stuff like that. And Peter has a unique opportunity. And so

he just preaches to them. He says, hey, this is what happened. This is what

I saw. They got the Holy Spirit just like we did in the beginning.

John the Baptist told us Gentiles are going to be in, and this is

exactly what God wanted. Verse 18 of Acts 11 says, when they heard

this, they fell silent. I don't think you should discount

what Peter did here because Peter could have just gone with the flow. Think of

all the ways Peter could have did this differently. And by the way, Later on

in his life, Peter is going to goof this part up in Galatians 2 and

not go with the Gentiles like he should. But right here, he does a courageous

thing because Peter could have said, nah, I don't know what you're talking about.

I didn't do that. Or he could have said, well, yeah, God made

me do it and God wanted me to, but nah, I don't like those people.

You know, I'm just like y'all. We don't, we don't deal with them. Peter builds

a bridge and not a wall by standing up and saying what he did in

private in public. And we can overcome this challenge too in our lives. And I'll

talk practically about some ways in a minute, but be one way all the time.

Be one way all the time. I think some people, they get in certain groups

and they're like, hey, this is fine, I'm good with this congregation or with these

people. And let somebody else start talking about them and they're just kind of like,

oh yeah, we don't deal with them either. Or friendships or fellowship opportunities,

and it's just like, oh, you went over there with them? Yeah, I did,

but I went out of pity. See, Peter doesn't do that. Peter just says,

hey, I went, this is what happened, and he stays true. Stand on

the Word and not what's popular. Peter has 6 people with him and

him and the whole church in Jerusalem, and he sticks with God.

Denver, go ahead.

Yeah, that's exactly right.

He had witnesses. They draw on common ground together.

He says, hey, what happened to them happened to us, and then refused

to stand in God's way. He says, I couldn't prevent what God was going to

accomplish through them. I had to go with it. All right, here's the last

challenge from Acts chapter 11, and then we'll hit the highlights of 12.

Acts 11 · chapter mention

The challenge of stabilizing the local church. So look at Acts 11:19-30.

Acts 11:19–30

After this all settles down, the church continues to grow. It started

in Acts 8, and it picks up in Acts 11 and verse 19. The gospel

goes to Antioch of Syria. The church there is growing, and they've got to do

something about it. And so they decide to send Barnabas. As the church grows,

The apostles get together, they send Barnabas. The Bible— Luke calls him a man

full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit. Let's send Barnabas and see how

this church is doing and the great work they're doing. He gets Saul of Tarsus

to go with him to this congregation that's in Antioch that basically

becomes the primary church in the New Testament that sends out missionaries

and does the Lord's work. And as a result, Barnabas brings Saul,

the church grows. Look at Acts 11:26. The disciples are first

Acts 11:26

called what? In Antioch. This is

the challenge of stabilizing the local church. And maybe we don't think

about this. Okay, the church in Antioch, they're growing, they're booming. What's challenging about this?

Here are some of the things. There's a man that directed the Florida School

of Preaching right before I went. His name was Jackie Steersman. He called Acts 11:19-30

Acts 11:19–30

the Jerusalem model. And this is a quote he always used about

church work and about evangelism, and I want to share it with you. I think

it's important. He says, you cannot evangelize the world more rapidly than

you can establish and stabilize local congregations.

You can't even— you can try to go out. We're going— we just want to

evangelize. We want to go throughout all the world. We just— Jackie said,

you can't evangelize the world any faster than you

can establish and stabilize local congregations. This is important because sometimes

we undermine local work. Hey, let's just go here. Let's just go there. Let's take

the gospel. But if you don't stabilize local congregations, you haven't done anything. In fact,

you might've created a bigger mess. And so what happens in Antioch is important

because it says, hey, let's settle down and let's make sure the church here is

strong. And I think it's a challenge because you've got to balance talents

and gifts. Barnabas goes and gets who? What if

Barnabas is thinking, hey, Saul's more educated than me. He's better than me. They love

me in Antioch, but when Saul comes— see, Barnabas isn't thinking like

that, but in the local church, it's a challenge because other people can do what

you can do, and sometimes other people can do it better. But Barnabas

didn't care about that. He just wanted to get the work done. Sometimes there's the

glamour of global evangelism. No, the real spiritual

rock stars are the people traveling, going all over, but there's something to be said

for people that stay at home. I know I just got back from out of

town. Don't look at me like that, but I'm telling you, there's something to be

said for people that stay at home and do the local work. This is important

because Paul's going to go throughout the entirety of the Roman Empire,

but what about the people that just stay home and do local stuff?

I got a lot of friends in preaching and nothing— like everybody starts getting into

the, hey, let's just start our own little ministry. We don't really want to do

local work. What if we just start our own little— and all of that can

be good and glorify God, but there's a challenge to say, can you stay

put? Luke says they stayed here for a whole year. And the

glamour of global evangelism sometimes makes that a challenge.

Being called Christians, they're called Christians. This is a name given to

them for the great work that they do. They engage in disaster relief work.

The only way you're going to get tied up in that is if you're local,

if you stay put in a local place and do local work. Agabus talks

about a famine that's coming, and guess who sees to the needs of that?

The local members that are there, not traveling missionaries, the local members that are

there. And then they had to encourage the saved to stay saved. There is something

great about standing in the baptistry, taking somebody's confession and immersing them and seeing them

come out, doing that first embrace. But more of the work

in a person's Christian life is going to be on the other end and helping

them stay saved. And the challenge of stabilizing the local church, because remember,

you can't evangelize the world more rapidly than you can establish and

stabilize local congregations. Support all of the missionaries in the world. If you don't

establish and then stabilize, get elders and deacons and strengthen local

congregations, we'll never do what Jesus wanted us to do. All right.

And then entrusting others to do the work. And this is what Paul does with

Barnabas. All right, so that's Acts 10 and 11. I said we'd get through

12, and we will, because I preached on Acts 12 recently. I purposely didn't intend

to get into it in detail, and you might be thinking, when? It was a

Sunday night. It's on YouTube. And if you weren't here, well, that's what

you get for missing evening worship. No, I'm joking, but it was— it's on YouTube.

But here's some of the challenges the church faced. Losing another leader.

James dies in Acts 12. The church has to keep going. And maybe

you can think about this for another class. Why did God save Peter and not

James? Sometimes it happens that way. People die that we

don't expect, and sometimes other people get to live on. The doubt of deliverance.

So as persecution continues to mount, you start doubting

God's goodness. Peter gets out of prison, and it takes a while before Peter to

realize, oh, God really did send an angel and deliver me. There's the

doubt of answered prayer. They don't believe that Peter's actually at the gate,

even though Rhoda's saying it is him. Persecution starts wearing the church down

a little bit, and as God's rescuing and delivering, they think it's too good to

be true. There's the courage to keep going as Peter goes elsewhere preaching the gospel.

And then they overcome political leaders as Herod dies and he's

eaten by worms. Acts 10, 11, and 12, we welcome in

the Gentiles, we stabilize local churches, but here's the last thing. I know the second

bell rung. What Luke's showing us up to this point is literally

nothing and no one can stop the gospel. Rulers die,

church leaders die, people are thrown in prison. You mix in different people

groups. The Jews have questions about it. And the way Luke ends Acts 12

is, but the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed, because the gospel

will do its work. It's up to us to cooperate with it. All right,

thanks for a good Bible class. Appreciate it.