Submitting to What God is Doing

Sunday, October 29th, 2023

Introductory information

Perhaps the biggest turning point in human history has just occurred

The God of the universe is no longer “exclusive” to a certain people group

Peter witnessed first-hand the full inclusion of non-Jewish people into the family of God

This is a huge change for the Jewish worldview

The idea that a Gentile could have the Spirit of God within them without becoming Jewish, was earth-shattering

Peter and the men with him believed it because they saw it with their own eyes

But for those who haven’t yet seen it, it is still very hard to believe...

READ

Question to consider as we read:

How do you know when you’re standing in God’s way?

Acts 11:1–18 CSB

1 The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 Peter began to explain to them step by step, 5 “I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a trance, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me. 6 When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 “ ‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing impure or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call impure.’ 10 “Now this happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house. 13 He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 14 He will speak a message to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. 16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If, then, God gave them the same gift that he also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?” 18 When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”

EXAMINE

What are some key points in this passage?

#1 | The stricter Jews couldn’t accept Gentiles as equals in the church

They seemed to accept that the Gentiles had been saved

Acts 11:1 The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

But they still saw the Gentiles as outsiders - perhaps second-class Christians

Acts 11:2–3 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Eating together was a clear sign of close relationship and acceptance

#2 | Peter advocates for fully accepting the Gentile Christians as brothers

Peter outlines God’s revelation and action

Peter’s Vision

Acts 11:8–9 “ ‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing impure or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call impure.’”

God was clearly revealing something new to Peter and all Jews by extension

The Confirmation of the Holy Spirit

Acts 11:12 “The Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all...”

The Jews trusted Peter to hear from God

And God had told Peter not to doubt what he was about to see

The Angel Sent to Cornelius

Acts 11:13–14 He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 14 He will speak a message to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’”

God was clearing coordinating ever step of what had happened

The Evidence of the Holy Spirit in the Gentiles

Acts 11:15–16 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. 16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”

This was the final and strongest evidence for full Gentile inclusion in the church

Anyone truly unclean could never be filled with God’s Spirit

By filling them with His Spirit, God had provided irrefutable testimony that there was no longer any distinction between Gentile and Jew in the church

#3 | The critics submit to what God is doing

To Peter, there was no choice - resisting God wasn’t a smart plan

Acts 11:17 “If, then, God gave them the same gift that he also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?”

God is the one who calls and redeems

If we resist what He is doing in people because of our bias, we are resisting God Himself - which is a foolish thing to do

They were not too stubborn to see what God was obviously doing

Acts 11:18 When they heard this they became silent...

They saw that God’s acceptance of all people was a greater revelation of His greatness (1)

Acts 11:18 ...they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”

God’s love and mercy for all people reveal how good and perfect He is

Ephesians 1:5–6 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

It is through understanding God’s love that we understand His greatness

Ephesians 3:14–19 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

APPLY

Focused, Open-Ended Questions

What stands out to you in this passage?

What did you notice about the way Peter recounted the story of Acts 10?

How can you see yourself in the Jews’ that confronted Peter?

What does the story teach you?

Where we want to land...

[Refer back to the NOTE TO TEACHER and the goal of this lesson]

REFLECT

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord for...

fresh revelation of where He is working in the people around us

greater revelation of His love

Devotional Question

Peter seems to take it for granted that resisting God is pointless. Do you? In what ways have you been trying to resist what God is doing?

FOOTNOTES

The accounts in Acts 10–11 about Cornelius make it a key text in the development of the early church’s mission to the Gentiles. The Old Testament describes the Israelites as special to God in a way that Gentiles were not (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6, 14:2, 26:18). According to Old Testament law, Gentiles who responded in faith to the God of Israel had to become Jewish proselytes in order to be incorporated into Israel’s community. This involved circumcision and the observance of food regulations. Many early Jewish Christians assumed that Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes in order to be part of the Church (Scott, “The Cornelius Incident,” 477). Because Caesarea was the base for Roman military administration, loyal Jews in Jerusalem considered Caesarea a pagan city (Kee, Good News, 50–51). The conversion of a Roman centurion—a captain in charge of about 100 men—surprised Peter (Acts 10:20, 28–29, 47; 11:17), the Jewish Christians that accompanied him (Acts 10:45), and the Jerusalem church (Acts 11:2–3). God was now acting in the same way toward uncircumcised Gentiles that He previously had acted toward circumcised Jews (Acts 11:17–18, compare Acts 2:1–4). Acts 10:1–11:18 addresses the Gentile mission from the authority of God Himself in three ways: 1) a vision to Peter concerning clean and unclean food (Acts 10:9–16; 11:4–10) 2) a vision to Cornelius commanding him to send for Peter (Acts 10:3–8, 30–32; 11:13–14) 3) the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44–46; 11:15–17) David L. Woodall, “Cornelius,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).