20190324 CCC Sermon Acts 23 A Tale of Two Visions Pt 3

Introduction

We started this larger narrative a couple of weeks ago when we looked at the initial visions that Cornelius and Peter both had. Last week we explored how Peter finally got it and he shared the gospel with the Gentiles in Joppa along with their saving response. Now, we see that the church in Jerusalem knows about what Peter did and the critics have come out of the woodwork to make life difficult for Peter. This is normal. But, the gospel is more powerful than the critics who attempt to tear down those who go to great lengths to share it with anyone who would hear. And in this, we see the last lesson of this event - obedience to the Gospel is strong enough to allow the church and the Christian to take great risks to advance the Kingdom of Christ.

We started this larger narrative a couple of weeks ago when we looked at the initial visions that Cornelius and Peter both had. Last week we explored how Peter finally got it and he shared the gospel with the Gentiles in Joppa along with their saving response. Now, we see that the church in Jerusalem knows about what Peter did and the critics have come out of the woodwork to make life difficult for Peter. This is normal. But, the gospel is more powerful than the critics who attempt to tear down those who go to great lengths to share it with anyone who would hear. And in this, we see the last lesson of this event - obedience to the Gospel is strong enough to allow the church and the Christian to take great risks to advance the Kingdom of Christ.

The Church Accused Peter

As we look at our text today, in verses two and three, we see that when Peter arrived in Jerusalem, the circumcision party began to criticize him. Now, this wasn’t a “Hey Pete, we don’t like the color of your robe” sort of criticism. No, this was a “you are a sinner and you hung out with sinners”. This is like when I spent a semester at a very conservative Bible college and they wouldn’t let you go to the movie theater because people might think you are going to the bad movie and that would hurt your witness. These legalists, who will continually cause problems in the early church, couldn’t comprehend that maybe Peter had a reason for doing this. They just assumed that he was sinning and thus pounced on him when he showed up.

This party that harassed Peter believed that it was wrong to eat with Gentiles because the gentiles were, to a good Jew, unclean. They really weren’t much different than Peter was when God spoke to him in a vision as we looked at a few weeks ago. They still believed that their status before God rested on how well they obeyed the law. That law not only forbade them from eating certain foods, it likewise said they could never eat with those who the law said were unclean. Thus, they knew Peter was sinning. But they were wrong. They forgot that God had opened the door to include Gentiles in the Kingdom of God. Back in , we remember the great command of Christ for the apostles to be witnesses of the Kingdom in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth. This was all part of the plan.

But these people wanted no part of it. In their confrontation with Peter, they exposed their own hearts that rejected those who were not like them. In their hearts, it was a sin to associate with those who were not like them. We know that one of the biggest charges against Jesus was that he hung out with the wrong people. Luke recorded for us in his gospel of just such an account:

Luke 7:34 ESV

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

In other words, “Look at Jesus and who he hangs out with!” Rather than ask Peter what he was doing, many in the church accused him of a willful pattern of sin. As Christians, we should ask before accusing because accusing means we place ourselves in a position of judgement over the person. Should we confront repentant sin in the lives of our fellow believers? YES - but only if our goal is to lead them to repentance rather than accusation. Had the circumcision party asked Peter what was going on and asked for clarification, then they would have avoided the trap of judgement and accusation. If we are going to level charges against someone that they are sinning, living in disobedience to God himself, then we need to make sure that our charge is valid and appropriate.

Peter’s Answer to the Church

Peter’s Answer to the Church

As we look back to the text, we see then in verse four that Peter begins to defend his actions. What I love the most about this is he doesn’t get angry, he doesn’t throw around his status as an apostle nor does he even say “Hey, I was picked by Jesus, you know.” Rather, Peter explains his actions by explaining everything we’ve looked at the last two weeks. Peter says that it wasn’t his authority that prompted him to do this - it was the authority of God Almighty. God wanted the Gentiles to become part of His Kingdom, to hear the good news of Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s answer to the church is the very authority of God himself. He did this on God’s authority!

Peter goes on to describe his encounter with Cornelius and how the Holy Spirit came upon these Gentiles,

As Christians, we need to understand that we have a higher authority than ourselves. This means we are not free to do whatever we think is right in our own eyes. Likewise, we are not at liberty to ignore clear commands of God. While we generally don’t hear from God directly, we do have his Word. And if his Word tells us to do something, then it is not an optional exercise. Just as Peter needed to be reminded that He needed to listen to the voice of God and not call unclean what God has made clean, we need to likewise listen to God - usually through His word - and do what He commands us to do.

Just as AB Simpson, a pastor in New York City, left his uptown church when they told him he couldn’t take the gospel to the poor, immigrant dock workers; just as William Carey, against the wishes of his church took the gospel to India in a time when few were doing so; just as I shared the gospel in countries where it is technically illegal to do so - we must answer to the higher authority that is Christ and His Kingdom rather than man and the Kingdoms of this world. Peter’s answer to the church is the same as our answer to critics inside and outside the church who expect us to live by their rules rather than the rules of God. This is a theme in the book of Acts - will we obey God or will we obey man?

One of the things that I’m constantly grounding myself in is the authority of God. The preaching workshops I go are not about how to be more charismatic or a better presenter. It’s all about rightly handling this book and the message of this book. Because my words lack any true power or authority. Only God’s word’s have authority. When I was out at Newton, I had a lady come to me and say how much she appreciated that I preached the Bible to them. Not what I thought, but the Bible. I told her that I’m not clever enough to make things up on my own week after week after week. I need the Bible just as much as she does - so we’d better study it together and figure out what it says. We need to submit ourselves to the authority of God, just as Peter did in our text today.

We need to see that we must hold others to only the standard of God’s Word and nothing more. Otherwise, will we create a legalistic or judgmental system that puts us in the place of God. That’s what really happens when we either add to or take away from this book as the authority in our lives. I say this book for us because this is now our primary revelation from God given to us as humanity. But even in Peter’s day, the Old Testament screamed about how God had a heart for all nations, not just Israel, and wanted to see them come into His Kingdom. Jonah, in particular, reminds us that God’s heart is for the sinful Gentile as much as it is for the sinful Jew. And as such, God wants to see them both saved. We need to hold people to this standard - not one we have made up ourselves along the way.

The Church’s Acknowledgement

The Church’s Acknowledgement

As we look at our last verse today, verse 18, we see that the response of the church was two-fold. They fell silent and then they rejoiced and glorified God. The church acknowledged that Peter did the right thing in listening to God. They acknowledged that God was at work in the lives of the gentiles as well, granting them repentance. Peter’s answer to their accusation led to this acknowledgement that God was truly at work. And as such, the critics in the church are silenced when we focus on gospel advancing ministry. We don’t need to argue or defend ourselves when we are doing gospel work.

In their silence, the gathered crowd was rebuked. They knew that they, as the critics, were the ones that were wrong. Peter, however imperfect he was, was the one that was in the right. These legalist Christians had no choice but to agree with Peter because in agreeing with Peter, they agreed with God. They acknowledged that the Gentiles did have a place in the Kingdom of God. They acknowledged that the gospel wasn’t just for the Jewish people and those who ascribed to ALL of the Jewish laws and customs. The Gospel is good news precisely because you don’t need to convert to Judaism first and then to Christianity.

So, the only thing left to do was to have the early church worship God almighty for what he had done. Since God had saved Gentiles, bringing them repentance and faith just as he had brought to the Jewish people, they had no choice left but to praise God. The tension that existed between Jew and Gentile now had an answer - that answer was the good news of Jesus Christ. And if that isn’t something worth celebrating and praising God for, I really don’t know what is. Not only does the gospel reconcile man to God through Jesus, but it also reconciles man to man, breaking down the walls of hostility as well.

I mentioned the Pathways training I went to a week ago. In that training, we heard a story about how an Indian pastor preached through Jonah which is the book they use in the first workshop. By the end of his time in Jonah, several influential families in the church came to him and said, “We need to figure out how this truth that God can save anyone applies to us and our caste system.” Just submitting to the authority of God’s Word caused these people to see the sin in their life and how their bigotry affected others from coming to Christ. Both the pastor, and those of us in the class rejoiced that the Word of God has that affect on people and they are turning from sin and turning to a life for Christ - even if in that turning they will find themselves on the wrong side of culture.

So, my friends, if you are a Christian today, how do you react to the news that Jesus can and does save anyone? Do you rejoice? Or, are there some people that you’d just as soon not have in our church? We need to be ok with anyone walking through that door because anyone can come to know Christ. And this should cause us to rejoice and celebrate because God is in the redemption business! He wants to see people turn from their sin and become followers of Christ both today and for all of eternity. The fact that this is open to everyone and anyone should fill our hearts with great joy and cause us to worship Christ.

And if you are here today and you’ve not come to know Christ in a personal way - you need to know that this gospel that save gentiles is available for you today. This gospel can convert those who think they are close to God, those who know they are far from God, those believe they follow all the rules and those who know they don’t follow any of them. Male, female, black, white, straight, queer, democrat, republican - I don’t say these things to shock you. I say them to remind you that if God can grant repentance to these people, then he can grant it to you as well. And if you acknowledge that He is God and you are not, turn from your sins and trust in the finished work of of Jesus - you too can be saved.

Conclusion