The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Barrier Breaking Church

Remember the Titans? Maybe you've seen it before.

Hopefully you have. If you haven't, the challenge

for you this afternoon is to go home and watch

it. In 2000, this movie came out telling the

story of three Virginia high schools being forced

to integrate. Most famously in this true story,

the integration of a football team. And so you

had these black football players and these white

football players all thrown onto one team. And

you now had coaches that didn't want to work

together because you had black coaches that didn't

want to work with the white coaches. And you

had black players that didn't want to play for

the white coaches and white players that didn't

want to play for the black coaches. And this

issue that not only was a part of the football

team dynamic early on, just this fighting, but

it was in the community. The community hated

this. The community, they didn't like it. They

didn't want to see this. happen. And these two

main characters, Gary Bertier and Julius Campbell,

they were the most notable in their despise for

each other. Early on in the movie, you see them

fighting and they get put in a room together

and they fight over, you know, a poster that

Julius wanted to put on the wall that kind of

offended Gary. And he's like, I don't want to

see that. And you have this issue until eventually,

as you see in the clip, these enemies. become

brothers these guys that society had told for

a century that they should not like each other

they now see themselves as family these people

that society had told each other that they should

hate each other they see themselves as family

And I thought this story was relevant to today's

message because what we see in Acts chapter 10

Acts 10 · chapter mention

is a very similar case of a group of people breaking

down barriers that society had created. And remember

the Titans, you see this division of black people

and white people. But in Acts chapter 10, it's

Acts 10 · chapter mention

a division of Jews and Gentiles. In either case,

it's wrong and it's not in God's design for humanity.

We can look all the way back to Genesis chapter

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

12. When God first called Abraham, he says to

Abraham, in you, all the families of the earth

shall be blessed. Okay, I need to say this reminder

for my members here. One day we're gonna get

this on autopilot, but if it's underlined, I

need you to read it along with me because that's

how I know you're awake. Also, there's something

to be said about saying it out loud, okay? So

we're gonna read that again. If it's underlined,

I'd love for you to read along with me. In you,

all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

All the families, not one nation, not one type

of person, all of them. So when we get to Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 and God starts tearing down the wall

between Jew and Gentile, he's not changing his

mind. This isn't something new that God decided

to do. He's keeping a promise that he had made

thousands of years before. And so what we're

going to see today is how God remedies this division

in Acts 10. But first, I want to give you some

context. So at this point in the story of the

early church, our good friend Peter, he's hiding

out in a place called Joppa. He's living with

a man named Simon, who's a tanner. He works with

dead animals. He works with these dead animal

skins, trying to make leather out of them. And

I want you to know, and we'll talk about it later,

that Joppa is relevant. That place that Peter

is in is very relevant to this story. And you

don't know why, but I'll tell you later. Also

of note is we meet someone named Cornelius. Cornelius

is a Roman centurion, which means he's a Gentile.

But he's not some awful person like you might

assume when you hear Roman centurion or when

you hear Gentile. Cornelius is described as a

God -fearer. He's described as someone who's

devout to God, someone who is not just a Jew,

but he devotes his life to being righteous in

the sight of God. He gives, he prays, he makes

sacrifices. So he is described as a God -fearer.

Well, Cornelius has a vision, and as we see in

chapter 10, an angel appears to him, and he says

this to him in verses 4 through 6. 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.

So Cornelius, being a devout, God -fearing man,

he listens and he sends three men to go to Joppa

to go find Peter. And as they travel to Peter,

Peter himself has a vision. And Peter goes up

to the roof of this house that he's staying in.

He's going up there to pray. And I can only imagine

why he would want to get out of the house and

go up on the rooftop to pray. Probably because

the house smelled terrible because, you know,

dead animal skins, right? So Peter goes up on

the rooftop to pray. But while he's up there,

he gets hungry. And his hunger puts him into

a sleep. And he falls into this trance. And here's

what Scripture tells us he saw in verses 11 through

15. He fell into a trance, and he saw the heavens

open, 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. And then in verse

16, it tells us that he saw this happen. three

times. Now, I want you to notice what's happening

here, and to help you with that, I want to go

back and touch on the significance of where this

is happening to Peter. Peter's staying with Simon

the Tanner. Now, like we said, dead animal skins.

If you know Jewish history, you know the Jewish

tradition, then you will know that a Jewish person

was made unclean by coming in contact with dead

animals. Not only was the Jewish person made

unclean, but anybody living in their house became

unclean. And for a Jewish person, there was nothing

worse than being unclean because if you're unclean,

you mess up your chance of being with community.

You also mess up your chance of being in community

with God. And so for Peter to be living with

Simon the Tanner, he is putting himself in a

place where he is now unclean. And that may not

seem significant to you, but for me, what it

shows is Peter, a proud... Jew, for him to live

with Simon the Tanner means that he is starting

to grow up a little bit in his spiritual life.

Because Peter is starting to get over the old

law and starting to realize that Jesus has changed

everything. But it seems that Peter hasn't fully

arrived yet because as he's having this vision,

he's not quite sure if he, well actually he is

sure that he cannot partake of some of these

animals. He says, God, I can't eat those things

because You made it unclean. Back in the law

of Moses, it was unclean for me to touch or eat

those animals. And God says, hey, if I said it's

clean, you can eat it. If I say it's clean, if

I say it's okay, if I say it's good, you can

go there. You're not bound to what was. And so

Peter, the Christian that he is, is growing up.

He's starting to really learn the Jesus way,

the way that has separated itself, that has really

come a long way from that old law. As Paul says

later in one of his letters, he says, the old

law was given to us as a guardian. It was given

to us as a temporary caretaker to make sure we

stayed in right standing with God. But now that

Jesus has come, now that the good news has come,

we're not bound to that anymore. And so here...

Peter's in this unclean home when he receives

this vision, and he remembers that he's getting

this vision, or as he's getting this vision,

as Gentile men are on their way to see him. And

what the message of this dream is, is God has

made it clean. And so hold on to that. As Peter

is seeing all these animals, he's looking at

it. He's doubting. He's not quite sure. But he's

getting this message. He's getting this message

that we need to apply, not just to food, that

we need to apply not just to traditions, not

just to places, but we need to apply this to

people. God has made these things clean. We can

apply this to people. We can apply this to all

these things that used to make Jews distinguishable,

that used to make Jews one of a kind. All of

these things, we apply it, and we see that God

sends this message to Peter that things are very

different now. And then in verses 17 through

18, Cornelius' men show up, and they're looking

for Peter. And I want you to see what happens

in verse 19. And this is probably... My favorite

part of this story, and as I explain it a little

bit more, some of that context about Joppa, I

think it'll become maybe your favorite part as

well. Verse 19, 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 does exactly what he's told.

He goes, he talks to these guys, they tell him

why they're there, and then he goes with them.

He goes with them to Cornelius. He's going to

this man that for a while he would have seen

as unclean. He would have seen this man as undeserving

or unworthy of, one, his presence, but also of

God. And so Peter goes and he brings other disciples

along with him. And now I want you to remember,

I told you Joppa was relevant. Well, here's why.

Do you remember that old story about a guy named

Jonah? And how God told Jonah to go to the people

of Nineveh and tell them and preach to them really.

And so Jonah is given this call from God and

he's told to go somewhere, go to a people that

are not Jews, but they are Gentiles, a people

that are unclean, a people that are not worthy.

God tells Jonah to go there. But does Jonah go

there right away? No. What does Jonah do? He

gets on a boat and he goes the other way. Well,

do you know where Jonah got on that boat? Anybody

want to take a guess? Joppa. Jonah gets on the

boat in Joppa. See, right here in the book of

Acts, centuries later, Peter has the same decision

to make as Jonah did. Obey God, go to the Gentiles,

and preach to them. But see, Jonah resisted.

Jonah ran from his calling. Jonah was led by

his fear, and so he didn't do what God called

him to do. But Peter, on the other hand, as we

see in verse 19, Peter is led by the Spirit.

And so the Spirit leads Peter to go where he's

called, and ultimately Peter's obedience is what

brings the good news to the Gentiles. Now, the

reason I told you it's one of my favorite parts

of the story is because Jonah didn't have the

Spirit leading him. Jonah was led by his own

feelings. He was led by his own doubts and desires,

his own fears. But Peter is now led by this thing

that Jesus sent us as a gift to help us along

our way, the Spirit, capital S, Holy Spirit.

And so Peter is easily available. And he's easily

ready to obey. The Holy Spirit makes a world

of difference in our lives, does it not? And

that's important context because we have to know

that there is only one way that barriers can

be broken down. It's not by my good knowledge.

It's not by your wisdom. It's not by your courageousness.

It is only by the Holy Spirit. that we can do

the unthinkable. And I think we're a church trending

in that direction. I can say that because a year

ago today, well, this week, my family and I moved

here to this 98 % white county to be the minister

at a 99 % white church. And guess what? We're

doing okay. And I think we're having a really

good time. Yeah. And so I think we're trending

in the right direction of being that Jesus church,

the barrier breaking church. And you welcomed

us. You've taken care of us. You've made us family.

And that's not normal. Sadly, it's not natural.

By every measure the world uses, this shouldn't

be a thing. Because we're too different. And

in the world, we go where we're the same, right?

We work with people that are like us. We hang

out with people that are like us. We spend time

with people that are like us. And the world tells

us if we're too different, we got to divide,

right? I mean, that's what the world has been

doing. And we've seen it a lot in the last 10

or so years, this division over these things

that truly should not divide us, but they do.

They create barriers. But in this church, We

are trending in this direction, and I hope we

will keep going in this direction until we are

completely perfect in it. But the Holy Spirit

is among these people leading us to a unity that

I believe makes God happy. Just like Julius and

Gary in Remember the Titans, we look at this

difference that society and Satan say should

divide us, yet we call each other brother and

sister. Yet we look at each other and we see

a family resemblance because of the work of the

Holy Spirit. And as much as I want to just sit

here and applaud us, I also have to be very honest

and say that we're not perfect. And we still

have the barriers. We still have these things

that are dividing us both individually and communally.

We know that there are other dividing lines.

And I want you to sit there and ask yourself

for just a moment, what is your barrier? What

is the thing that's kept you from going to a

certain person or a certain people group and

reaching them with the gospel? These lines that

are even more pressing for our context, like

socioeconomic status or political divides or

cultural divides, gender divides, generational

divides. What is the thing for you? I know what

the thing is for me. It's the cultural. Like

I would have a very hard time connecting with

people up north. Because I'm just like, I'm just

a good old Southern boy. And I know what I like.

And I know what I know. I know my culture. And

it's hard for me. I also know, like somebody

was telling me the other day that they like that

I use football references in my sermons. But

I know there's a lot of people that don't. They

don't connect with that. Which is why I try to

like find other ways to connect. But that's a

divide that I have to be mindful of. And so for

you. And for us as a church, we need to ask ourselves,

what are the things that are still dividing us?

Socioeconomic is one that I sit on because sometimes

you see the guy sitting on the side of the road,

and we don't have a really big homeless problem

here in Union County, but where we just moved

from in Montgomery, there's a lot of homeless

people. And it's very easy for me to just keep

driving. It's very easy for me to just... Make

sure they don't, you know, if we make eye contact,

now I got to engage with them. But if I never

make eye contact, they're not there, right? And

that's something that I don't think Christ loves.

I don't think it represents the Jesus church.

And so that's a barrier that I need to knock

down. But I'm not strong or smart enough. I need

the Spirit. We've got Gentiles all around us

that we aren't reaching. people that are not

like us, that we are not reaching. And to put

it plainly, some of us are being a little more

like Jonah than we are like Peter. And so this

morning I'm begging you and I'm begging myself

to be like Peter because when you are like Peter,

when you are led by the Holy Spirit, good things

happen. I want you to watch what happens in verses

34 through 35. Peter goes to Cornelius and Cornelius

has all these people gathered. Cornelius is ready.

He is ready for Peter to come and say whatever

it is that God sent him there to say. He's ready

to hear what God has in store for them. And Peter,

in his obedience to the Spirit, starts preaching.

And this is what happens. Peter opens his mouth

and says, In layman's term, Peter says, I get

it now. I understand. Thousands of years after

the promise to Abraham, Peter, a Jew who had

been raised a certain way, who had been raised

with certain traditions, with certain cultures,

with certain rules, these do's and don'ts of

our religion, Peter looks at these people and

he says, I understand now that God does not care

who you are, where you're from, what you've done.

If you love God, if you fear God and you do what

is right in the eyes of God, you too. can be

saved. That God really does mean, as he said

in Genesis 12, all families on the earth. He

says, I understand that God doesn't care. The

gospel is available to you. And if you're in

this room and you've never taken that step of

obeying the gospel and becoming a child of God

and giving your life to Christ, if you've never

accepted that free gift of salvation, I want

you to know whatever it is that's holding you

back, the gospel is available to you. I don't

care how far you feel you have fallen. I don't

care how messed up you think your life is. The

good news that Christ came to save all people

on this earth and bring them into his family,

that news is available to you. Then he goes on

to actually preach the gospel of Jesus Christ

because he says the gospel is available to you,

but you need to know what that is. And so he

tells them about this Jesus coming to the earth

to die, to rise again for the salvation of all

who would give their lives to him. And then in

verses 44 through 48, this is incredible. And

I hope you love this as much as I do. While Peter

was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit

fell on all who heard the word. And the believers

from among the circumcised who had come with

Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy

Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for

they were hearing them speaking in tongues and

extolling God. 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. See, Peter preaches this great

sermon a lot shorter than the sermon I'm preaching,

but that's not important. Peter preaches this

great sermon to them. And as he's preaching,

the Holy Spirit comes down on them. And the Gentiles,

they were then too given this amazing gift that

Christ had promised. And the Jews there, they're

amazed as if they hadn't truly understood that

this gift would be available for all people.

And now some of you, you may notice something

here. You may notice. That in this story, the

Holy Spirit comes to these people before they're

baptized. And you may think, that doesn't make

a lot of sense. Well, I think in this story,

this is my best understanding of it. That this

is God trying to make a point. Not make a point

to Cornelius, but to make a point to those Jewish

believers standing there with Peter. God himself

puts a stamp of approval on these people, on

these Gentiles, so that no one could argue whether

they belonged or not. And that's exactly Peter's

argument in verse 47 when he says, can anyone

withhold water from these people who've received

the Holy Spirit just as we have? It's like God

said, hey, there's no way around this. I'm making

this happen. In other words, God already accepted

them. So who are we to refuse them? And I want

you again to think about those divides. Those

things that are keeping you from reaching certain

people or certain people groups, certain communities,

certain countries. Those barriers that are standing

in the way when God says, I don't want the barrier

there. I just want you to bring the gospel to

them. I've accepted them. I've offered this gift

freely to them. You just need to go do your part.

And then, like every story in the New Testament

of someone coming to Christ, they are baptized.

They're brought into the family of God. These

Jewish Christian men now have brothers and sisters

who just a few years ago, they would have cursed

the ground they walked on. They have family now

that they would have never imagined they would

even walk in the same rooms as. And that's because

the Jesus way is taking effect. The Jesus way

tears down those dividing walls. It brings all

kinds of people, all kinds of people groups together

to form the Jesus church. It does something radical

that transforms the world around it. That is

what the church does. It looks at society's messed

up systems and it says, there's a better way.

It looks at society's messed up dividers and

says, we don't want those. In our Father's house,

everyone is welcome. And it's not because we

are so compassionate. It's not because we're

so considerate and so wise. It is only because

when the Jesus way is in play, the division,

the oppression cannot stay. When the Spirit is

working, when the Spirit is among us, there is

no partiality because that's not the way of God.

And so I want you to think about Peter and Cornelius

as we tie it all together. These two men. These

two different backgrounds, these two different

visions, but now they're united under one God

with one Lord and one baptism. They've been brought

into one family. You see, that's what the Jesus

Church looks like. It looks like a church that's

not divided over all these trivial earthly matters,

but rather united in the one thing that does

matter, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so this morning, I'm going to ask you a hard

question, and I hope you think about it honestly.

Who's the Gentile in your life? Who's the person

that you've decided is just too different? Who

you've decided is too far gone? Who's the person

you've decided is not the type of person that

you care to bother reaching? You know, the person

that you've said, oh, somebody else can reach

them. That's somebody else's demographic to reach.

Who's the Gentile in your life? And I don't want

you to just figure out who the Gentile is, but

I want you to do something about it. I hear all

the time, that was such a great sermon, that

was such a great sermon, and some of it is just

y 'all trying to inflate my ego or make me feel

good. But when you say that, I want to say to

you, okay, well, do something about it. If it

was so good, if it was so convicting, go do something

about it. On Monday, what does your life look

like after this 30 -minute sermon on Sunday?

On Tuesday, what does your life look like? What

does my life look like? Has it changed? Or did

I just waste 30 minutes of my life listening

to somebody talk? So find your Gentile, who that

person is, and then go reach them. We've got

to stop hearing sermons and think, oh, that was

so good, and then doing nothing. We need to respond

to whatever conviction is in our heart, whatever

stirring the Holy Spirit is doing, and then go

be obedient. Call that person. Have a meal with

them. Just talk to them. Do something to reach

that person. Get on the boat and go to Nineveh.

Follow these people and go to the Gentiles. Do

something with this word. If you've been allowing

the world to divide you. if you've been allowing

the world to get in between you and those who

God wants you to reach, if you've been allowing

divisions to stand between you and those that

God wants to be a part of his family, or if you

felt like you just need to accept the call to

join God's one family. Whatever it is that you

need to do, however you need to respond this

morning, and I know there's somebody that needs

to respond because we have all, and I'm saying

all, We have all been divided. We have all been

resistant to the call of God. We have all tiptoed

around the things that need to be said, the things

that need to be done. And there are those in

this room, I know they're here, who need to accept

the gospel and be brought into the family of

God through baptism. I know there are those among

us who need prayer, that are hurting, that are

carrying heavy burdens. In the Jesus Church,

we pray. In the Jesus Church, we do. And so today

I'm asking you, if you respond by coming forward

in the invitation song or if you respond by Monday,

Tuesday, the rest of the week going and reaching

somebody, my plea is that you answer the invitation

and do what God is calling you to do. No dividers,

no separations, no barriers in the way. Just

go.