The New Covenant Takes on Old Time Religion - Acts 11

Scripture reading:

The title of this morning’s message is “

Scripture reading:

Acts 10:33–43 ESV

33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Al Mohler - August 30, 2019

Can an Atheist State Regulate Reincarnation? A Collision Between the Worldviews of the Communist Party of China and the Tibetan Buddhism of the Dalai Lama

Next, I turn to a headline this week in The Wall Street Journal. The article is by Walter Russell Mead. It's entitled, “A Visit With the Dalai Lama.” As the subhead tells us, “He vows that Chinese law won't govern the conditions of his reincarnation.” Well, there's plenty to look at here.

Walter Russell Mead writes the Global View column for The Wall Street Journal, and he's one of the most insightful observers of the world seen today. He made a visit to the Dalai Lama, and as he makes clear, that's not easy to pull off. He writes about the fact that given the belief that cows are sacred, cars and all traffic have to avoid cows. He is in India, visiting the Dalai Lama, who is an exile from his home in Tibet, but then, Walter Russell Mead writes, "This high in the mountains, goats, sheep, feral dogs, small children and even the occasional yak all kept our driver alert." He said, "This was not the worst traffic I had seen in India. I remember the bottleneck caused by an elephant going the wrong way on the main road during rush hour in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar."

Now, why would Walter Russell Mead go through such an endurance test to visit with the Dalai Lama? Looked at in terms of world religion, the Dalai Lama is actually the head of a fairly small religious movement, but it has vast influence because he is a modern, you might even say post-modern religious celebrity, even on the Western scene, maybe especially on the Western scene. To so many secular Westerners, especially in Hollywood, in New York, and elsewhere, the Dalai Lama is particularly fascinating because he offers spirituality virtually without theology, or at least Westerners don't believe that he has any theology that's dangerous. It's not going to dictate their sexual lives, so they're all for having a spiritual guru who's for peace and wellness and compassion, leaving off all the part about law.

Many Tibetans believe that the Dalai Lama is "An emanation of the bodhisattva of compassion." In other words, he is the reincarnation of the divine spirit of compassion, as understood within Buddhism. Reincarnation turns out to be especially crucial here. One of the key worldview distinctions between the historic worldview of the West, based upon Christianity, and the East, based upon Eastern religious variance, is the difference in the understanding of time in history. The Western understanding of time is linear, past, present, and future, time moving in a direction like an arrow. The Eastern conception of time is circular. It's like a wheel that turns over, over and over again. History is one giant circle. It's one giant cycle, and of course, that makes all the difference in the world.

If you believe that history is moving in a linear direction, past, present and future, again, moving forward like an arrow, then that order is the way you think about the future. The future has never happened in the past. It's something entirely new. If you believe that history is circular, then it's just an unfolding of what's already basically predetermined. Again, largely a basic distinction between the worldviews of the East and the West, the Western worldview based upon ancient classical civilizations, including Judaism and Christianity. The Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New, presents conclusively and clearly a linear view of history. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the end is the eschaton, brought about by God's sovereign decree. And, of course, Jesus is identified as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Now, just to offer another obvious clarification, if you're genuinely holding to that linear view of history, you don't and you can't believe in reincarnation. Now, that doesn't mean that many people, who in their everyday lives operate in a linear view of history don't tell you that they believe in reincarnation. There are millions of people walking around in America with deeply contradictory worldviews. They say they believe in a linear view of history, birth, and life, and death, past, present, and future, but then they'll tell you apparently with a straight face that they believe in reincarnation, which is absolutely incompatible with the linear understanding of history.

They cannot operate at work without a linear understanding of history. When they plan their lives, they operate with a linear understanding of history, but when it comes to spirituality, they think reincarnation is cool.

But to give him a clear understanding, the Dalai Lama does not believe that reincarnation is cool. He believes that reincarnation is real and inevitable, and he believes himself to be the latest emanation of the bodhisattva of compassion, and there will be another after him. The question is: Who will that be? It will be the reincarnation of the same spirit.

Here's where all of this conflicts with the Communist Party in China. The Communist Party has cracked down on Tibet, a territory it has claimed. It has exiled the Dalai Lama. It represses Buddhism in the area, and it wants control of everything because a Communist Party by his very existence, demands to control everything. It's also, as the Communist Party, officially materialistic and by its doctrine atheistic, so it doesn't believe in reincarnation, but here's the rub: The Chinese Communist Party has to be, by its own declaration, in charge of everything in China, including the reincarnation in which it does not officially believe.

Walter Russell Mead denotes that the Dalai Lama, this Dalai Lama, “has become the most famous Buddhist in 2,500 years." Speaking of the fact that there will be an inevitable transition, Walter Russell Mead writes, "In what may be the world's only example of an atheist state extending its jurisdiction into the spirit world, Beijing has declared that any attempted reincarnation must 'comply with Chinese laws.'"

Then, Mead tells us that against the Chinese repression of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, in an act of defiance and resistance, is refusing to allow his reincarnation to be orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party. Mead tells us that the Dalai Lama intends to be reincarnated outside Chinese rule. What we see here is the very awkward collision between two irreconcilable worldviews, neither of them the Christian biblical worldview. It's a collision between the atheistic, materialistic worldview of the Chinese Communist Party, hungry indeed omnivorous for total power, and the worldview of Tibetan Buddhism, as represented by the Dalai Lama. It's a collision between an atheistic state and the politically powerful claim of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

You might know that you're in something of a worldview emergency if you officially don't believe that something exists, and then pass a law declaring that, though it doesn't exist, you are in charge of it. Worldviews matter. They always matter, and they always show up in the headlines somewhere, and it's easy to see just where they show up here.

Why this story? We live in a culture that says “we don’t believe that silly nonsense you claim to believe.” It’s not real. Miracles don’t happen, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.

And then they want to keep us from teaching what doesn’t exist.

But here’s what’s worse. Living in a culture that keeps telling us from birth, over and over, and teaches our children over and over, that there is no God, there are no miracles, there are no moral boundaries in life, well this eventually starts to creep into the church.

Robert Plummer puts it this way in his book, 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible - “Sometimes the truth value of biblical narrative is dismissed by labeling it as “mythological.” (191)

The history of the nation of Israel

The Dalai Llama

The reincarnation that the Chinese Communists don’t believe in but want to control.

Priestly until the Captivity.

Similar to Christianity in North America today. We don’t believe it but we want to make sure that you can’t do it.

Acts 9 ESV

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. 23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. 36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

Key dates in Biblical History

2000 The nation of Israel is born - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

Bondage

1500 (1446) The Exodus

Judges

1043 Beginning of the Monarchy - Saul David Solomon

1000 David - United Kingdom

1000 David

931 The Kingdom divides - Israel and Judah

722 Northern Kingdom falls

586 Southern Kingdom falls

536 Return to the land

400 End of OT History

400 Silent Years begin

6 AD Jesus is born

Until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Israel was a nation led by priests with a central temple in Jerusalem

After this Israel was ruled by Rabbis and instead of the Hebrew scriptures they

Liberal Judaism August 8, 2019 Al Mohler

But what is revealed in this article is the fact that the Jewish authorities in the main cited and referenced in this article—and they do represent the vast majority of Jewish citizens in the United State—are extremely liberal, not only when it comes to politics, but also to theology.

Their view of Scripture is not the view of say, medieval Judaism, and it is certainly not the view of Evangelical Christianity. This is a very big story, but it's big for reasons that you can count on USA Today not intending. The article goes on citing various Jewish arguments for abortion. Most importantly, the rabbinical assumption that life does not begin until the baby takes its first breath. Later in the article USA Today says, “But what is often left out of the conversation is how Jews who read the Hebrew Bible, referred to in the Christian circles as the Old Testament, argue that their tradition condones abortion if the mother's life is at stake, it even insists on it.”

Well, that's true if you're looking at Reform Judaism. But this raises an issue, and that issue is just how many Christians understand the Jewish movement in the United States. When you're looking at this question, it simply reminds us that the majority of the Jewish people in the United States, if they are religiously affiliated at all, are likely to be affiliated with some branch of Reform Judaism, but Reform Judaism is itself a very liberal movement.

Some studies indicate that less than 50% of the Jewish people in the United States and the majority of those in Reform Judaism say that it is not important that there be a belief in a personal God, and many of them indicate they have no belief in a personal God. That shows up in the article. It's certainly here in the foreground.

As you're looking at Judaism in the United States, about 90% to 95% of the Jewish population is comprised of those described as Ashkenazi Jews. That is they’re a part of the diaspora or the scattering of the Jewish people, and most importantly, they came from central and eastern Europe.

Less than 50% of those identify with a personal belief in God. Instead, Judaism was largely translated into tradition. About five to six million Americans identify as Jewish in some sense amongst those who identify as religiously affiliated, the Orthodox represent about 10%, conservative Judaism about 18%, and Reform Judaism about 35%. Now, if that sounds like, say Christian denominations, well, there's a reason for that. You might call these Jewish denominations, although they're more likely referred to as Jewish movements.

Orthodox is the right. It's the conservative representation, but again, the most recent estimates indicate about 10% of American Judaism identifying in some way with Orthodox Judaism. Reform Judaism is the left wing, as we have seen about 35%, and Reform Judaism is like very liberal Protestantism. No belief in God is even required and the movement is incredibly situated on the political left, one of the most predictable constituencies for liberal movements in the United States and for the Democratic Party.

The Middle Movement is Conservative Judaism, but it's not really conservative in any sense today. That represents 18%. It's also the group that has been shrinking in numbers most quickly, probably because of the simple reality that mediating systems that try to have some kind of halfway position between theism and atheism, they don't work too well. They don't last very long. That's true, whether the group is Protestant historically or Jewish.

It's also important that Christians understand, as we think about our Jewish neighbors, that Judaism today is overwhelmingly described as Rabbinic Judaism. That goes back specifically historically at least to the 14th century to the year 1342, with the final formation of what is known as the Babylonian Talmud. That's a multi-thousand page commentary on the Jewish tradition produced by rabbis. What we need to note—and by the way it goes back in his formative stages at least to the fourth century—what we need to note is that priestly Judaism, which came to an end at least in the sacrificial system with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, it was succeeded by Rabbinical Judaism.

And what's most important to understand here is that in Rabbinical Judaism, the authoritative text that is so often cited is not the Old Testament, it is rather the Talmud.

Jesus in conflict with Old Time Religion and not true biblical salvation by grace through faith

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

This is the word of God, the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, the First Testament

M

Now look at

Matthew 5:18–20 ESV

18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

A righteousness that comes from the word of God and not the rules of men.

A righteousness that comes from the word of God and not the rules of men.

And now look at ; ; ; ; ;

Jesus is not slamming the Bible; he spoke the Bible; he is the living Bible - he is attacking a religion that picks and chooses and looks past sin and attempts to make what God wants convenient instead of all consuming.

And that brings us

The acts of the risen Lord Jesus through his people, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to accomplish the plan of the Great Commission of the Father

- the spread of the New Covenant

, all flesh, - everyone who calls

- their hearts were cut; not outward circumcision but the hard heart made flesh - Jerusalem These were the Jews who were true followers of YHWH, they knew the word of God, they were trapped in tradition, but they knew of Messiah and realized that Jesus was their promised deliverer.

- scattered through Samaria, 8:4-5 - Philip in Samaria.

8:26 - the Ethiopian eunuch - from Ethiopia!

9:31 - the one, united, growing church in Judea and Galilee and Samaria.

Acts 9:31 ESV

31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

-43

10:35 - in every nation; 10:42 - he commanded us; 10:43 - everyone who believes

10:44-48 - the believers from among the circumcised (not the same as 11:2)

But sinful men and a sinister satan will attempt to stop God’s plan.

Acts 11:1-3

Acts 11 ESV

1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And 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 the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 11:1–3 ESV

1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

A