The Gospel Goes Beyond Biases

ME: Intro

In Acts 1:8, Jesus Christ commissioned the church to be His witnesses in Jerusalem,

Judea and Samaria,

And to the ends of the earth.

Thus far in Acts, the church has been His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

Last week was a major game changer where God converted Saul,

Who would later be known as the missionary to the Gentiles.

In our passage this morning,

A Gentile named Cornelius is converted,

Which was essentially to the ends of the earth.

Making out passage this morning one of the most significant narratives in Acts,

Because it is a major step forward in the progress of God’s plan,

Beginning the fulfillment of Acts 1:8.

God loves the nations,

Meaning the gospel is for everyone.

God’s saving grace extends to every person who cries out to God in Jesus’ Name,

Regardless of what people group they are from.

Yet, this basic truth has proven to be difficult for Christians to apply because of deeply embedded biases that lurk in our hearts.

Sadly, church history is stained with heartbreaking stories of Christians expressing biases toward certain people groups.

This propensity for biases is a symptom of humanity’s fallen sinful nature.

There are countless reasons for biases:

Age, appearance, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, job, and many other reasons.

It does not take long to scroll a social media feed to find countless examples of these biases,

Spewing hateful words against certain groups.

So, we must come to understand our own evil manifestations of our biases,

Then repent of it,

And keep repenting,

Because this tendency to discriminate based on biases is so deeply ingrained that most of us are unaware of it.

Acts highlights the many obstacles that seek to stand in the way of the gospel going to the ends of the earth.

Our passage this morning reveals that even our own deceitfully wicked hearts can be one of those obstacles.

But because the gospel goes beyond biases,

We must overcome our biases to go and make disciples.

For example, what is your disposition when you see a person covered in tattoos and piercings walk into church?

Or when a same-sex couple moves in next door to you?

Or your server at a restaurant is clearly taking treatments to transition from a female to a male?

How do you speak or act to that family member whose political view is different from yours?

What about when you are sitting next to a Muslim in a waiting room?

Are you unaffected by the elitist, exclusivist, and biased treatments that pervade our society?

Because our passage this morning teaches that no biases should keep Christians from offering the gospel freely and lovingly to everyone.

This passage is a large section,

But it is one long, continuous narrative that affects the rest of the NT.

Because this narrative makes it clear that the Gospel Goes Beyond Biases.

Slide

Our outline for this lengthy lesson is:

The Miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas (Acts 9:32-43)

The Messages for Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48)

The Movement from Jews to Gentiles. (Acts 11:1-18)

Because the gospel goes beyond biases, we must overcome our biases to go and make disciples of all people.

WE: The Miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas (9:32-43)

Last week, Pastor Ryan taught on one of the most dramatic passages in Acts,

Where Saul was converted.

Ch. 10 is an equally dramatic passage,

With Peter receiving a vision this time.

Sandwiched between these two dramatic passages are the miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas in 9:32-43.

Slide

Vs. 32 transitions back from Paul to Peter.

He was traveling from place to place visiting believers.

It is safe to assume he would be doing some discipleship training during these visits.

Which is an important thing to keep in mind.

When we talk about our mission as a church.

It can be tempting to focus so much on going, evangelizing, and doing mission work that we do not continue to grow disciples in Christlikeness.

Therefore, Grow and Go are equally vital components to our mission.

That is the example set for us by the early church.

They are going, evangelizing, and planting churches.

But they do not put off growing disciples.

No, they both go and make disciples and they grow disciples in Christ-likeness.

So, while Peter is doing this,

It says his travels eventually lead him to Lydda,

A small village about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem,

Possibly one of the places Philip proclaimed the good news at when he was on his way to Caesarea at the end of ch. 8.

In Lydda, Peter met a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for 8 years.

Slide

Similar to Jesus in Luke 5:24, Peter simply commands Aeneas to get up and make his bed.

And the results are immediate.

Peter is the instrument for healing here,

But he credits all miracles to Jesus Christ.

Therefore, vs. 35 says, people in Lydda and Sharon turned in faith to Jesus.

Slide

Vs. 36 transitions the narrative to another miracle in Joppa.

Joppa was a seaport about 30-40 miles northwest of Jerusalem,

Another 10 or so miles past Lydda.

It is the port town from which Jonah sailed out of in the OT,

Likely tying the biases addressed in Jonah’s account to the biases addressed in the next chapter.

But Joppa was one of the oldest inhabited towns in the world.

Occupied as early as 7500 BC by Noah’s son, Japheth after the flood.

Historically, Joppa has been a hot bed of Jewish and Gentile conflict.

Around 168 BC, inhabitants of Joppa were predominately Gentile.

During this time, the Jewish leader, Judas Maccabeus began having military success for the Jewish people.

So, the Gentiles in Joppa drowned 200 Jews.

Judas led a retaliation by setting fire to Joppa’s harbor and all the ships in the harbor.

But it wasn’t until 24 years later, Judas’ son, Simon,

Successfully led a Jewish assault to take control of Joppa from the Gentiles,

Pushing them out of the city and building walls around the city.

But all this conflict amounted to nothing in the end.

Because by 47 BC, Caesar conquered Joppa and gifted it to Herod the Great.

However, Herod was unimpressed,

So, he built the port city of Caesarea for trading and sea travel,

Leading to the decline of Joppa.

Nonetheless, the historical conflict between Jews and Gentiles in Joppa also serves for the Jewish biases against Gentiles addressed in the next chapter.

But before God addresses this bias.

We are introduced to a Christian named Tabitha,

Or Dorcas in Greek.

Like the healing of Aeneas,

This calls to mind the miraculous raisings Jesus performed:

The officials daughter in Mark 5:41, the son of a widow in Luke 7:14,

And most well-known of all,

The raising of Lazarus in John 11:43-44.

Dorcas is described as being full of good works and charity.

Then, vs. 37 suddenly says she died.

Slide

And we see how great care was shown for her remains.

They prepared her body by washing her.

This also allowed them to wait up to three days before burying her.

So, she was laid in a room upstairs for viewing before her burial.

Slide

In vs. 38, two disciples seek out Peter.

They must have had some sort of belief that Peter could raise her,

Because they urge him to come quickly.

Time was of the essence.

Slide

So, Peter got up and went with them.

When they arrived,

The two men led Peter upstairs,

Where the widows approached him,

Showing him the robes and clothes Dorcas had made them.

Widows would have struggled in that day because they likely had no personal means of income,

Leaving them dependent on family and friends.

The clothing she made them serve as a memorial of her good works and charity.

Evidence of her care for people.

Slide

But Peter’s actions are direct and to the point.

It says he sent them all out of the room,

Kneels down, prays, then turned toward the body commanding Tabitha to get up.

Then, he extended his hand and helped her to stand up presenting her alive.

Slide

News of this miracle spreads like wildfire,

The result, vs. 42 says, is many believed in the Lord.

The miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas serve as a narrative bridge to the major turning point in Acts.

Ch. 10 is the dawning of life in the new covenant.

And vs. 43 suggests this in a subtle way.

After the miracle of Dorcas,

It says Peter stays in Joppa for some time with a man named Simon.

Comma, a tanner.

The inclusion of his profession is important.

Because tanning was an unclean profession for Jews.

Lev. 5:2 explains how unclean it is to come into contact with a dead animal.

And the entire tanning profession works with dead animals.

Yet, Peter, a Jew, was willing to stay with this tanner,

Because the gospel had already begun breaking down his biases.

But more importantly, it sets the stage for an experience Peter is about to have that changes the course of the church forever.

GOD: Messages for Peter and Cornelius (10:1-48)

Slide

The scene changes once again where we will see the first of two Messages for Peter and Cornelius in ch. 10.

This first message takes place in Caeserea.

A seaport 65 miles northwest of Jerusalem,

About another 30-40 miles past Joppa.

This is where the gospel will incredibly reach to the Gentiles.

This is so incredible because according to the OT,

Israel was special to God in ways that the Gentiles were not.

However, Gentiles who had faith in God could be a proselyte to officially get incorporated into Israel’s community.

That meant circumcision and observing food regulations.

In vs. 1 we are introduced to Cornelius, a Roman Centurion,

Who led 100 men,

Who is described in vs. 2 as a devout man who feared God.

He respected the Jewish beliefs and customs.

But he was not circumcised.

So, he was not a full-fledged Jewish proselyte.

He was close to Judaism but not a Jew.

He prayed, gave alms, and likely attended synagogue.

He was a God-fearer but did not convert to Judaism.

Slide

Vs. 3 says that at about 3 in the afternoon, Cornelius distinctly saw a vision.

This was a trance-like event where he saw and understood a communication from an angel of the Lord.

This was more than a dream, it was a vivid presence appearing before him.

He was fully awake,

Seeing something supernatural that is not visible to the naked eye.

God is enabling Cornelius to see this.

Slide

Naturally, Cornelius is terrified.

He reacts in fear and bewilderment.

Which is understandable because angels are awe-inspiring creatures.

It is common for people to react to them in fear.

But the angel tells Cornelius that his prayers and charity have risen to heaven as a memorial before God.

The term memorial is connected to OT sacrificial system.

Lev. 2:2 says part of the grain offering burns as a memorial portion on the altar,

And is described as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

This indicates when God accepts a sacrifice.

So, Cornelius’ prayers and alms are like a grain offering to God.

This teaches us that God is not really concerned about grain or the sacrifice itself,

Rather, he is concerned about the heart of the one bringing the sacrifice.

A person could bring sacrifices all day long,

But if their heart was not faithfully worshipping God,

Then the sacrifices would mean nothing.

Slide

As David said during his confession in Psalm 51:17,

Psalm 51:17 ESV

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

This is huge because this means Cornelius,

A Gentile, Roman military commander in Caesarea,

Is closer to God than the Jewish leaders in the temple who kept tradition and killed the Messiah.

It is so fitting that the true nature of acceptable sacrifice to God is tied to the abolishment of dietary laws and the inclusion of Gentiles in the same chapter.

And yet, as acceptable as Cornelius’ sacrifice of prayers and alms is,

He cannot be saved without Jesus.

Therefore, God sends his angel with a message to send men to Joppa to call for Simon Peter.

Slide

When the angel had gone in vs. 7,

Cornelius obeyed in vs. 8 by calling two of his household servants and a devout soldier to send them to Joppa.

Slide

As the servants of Cornelius were traveling,

The scene shifts back to Peter in vs. 9.

He is still at the house of Simon the tanner.

And at the sixth hour, meaning noon,

Peter went up to the rooftop for his midday prayer.

Interesting note,

Both Peter and Cornelius receive a message from God while they were praying.

Slide

Vs. 10 says Peter received his message after falling into a trance.

This is not saying he was merely spacing out,

His consciousness was taken from external things like the hunger he was feeling.

Slide

Vs. 11 says how during his trance,

Peter sees an object that looked like a large sheet being lowered down by its four corners.

It was filled with all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds.

Meaning, the sheet was filled with clean AND unclean animals.

Slide

Then, in vs. 13, Peter is commanded to kill and eat the animals from the sheet.

Both the clean AND unclean animals.

But Peter refuses,

He says, he has never eating anything unclean.

He has adhered to Jewish dietary laws his entire life,

And he was not willing to violate it now.

Internally, Peter is working against a lifelong understanding of what it means to be faithful,

That predates his life by centuries,

And a present command from God that is telling him to kill and eat common animals.

Slide

It is an understatement to say,

Peter is a man in conflict.

So, the voice speaks to Peter again in vs. 15, saying,

“What God has made clean, do not call common(, or unclean).”

God was essentially prohibiting Peter from judging what is clean and unclean.

Instead, He uses a vivid illustration pointing Peter back to when Jesus overruled the laws of ritual cleanness in Mark 7:15-19.

Jesus taught that it was not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out.

Because whatever goes into a person goes into the stomach, not the heart.

Thus, Jesus declared all foods clean.

So, through Jesus, what once was ritually unacceptable is now clean.

Slide

Vs. 16 says that God had to repeat this vision to Peter three times to impress this truth into Peter’s mind and heart.

The repetition affirms that this shocking message is both true and significant.

Then suddenly, the object was taken up to heaven.

Now remember, Peter had learned firsthand from Jesus,

He was filled with the Holy Spirit,

He has powerfully preached the gospel several times,

And performed miraculous healings.

Yet, even he continues to grow in Christlikeness in ways that challenge him to his core.

Being a Jew demanded strict obedience to dietary laws.

It seems that despite everything he had been through with Jesus,

He still had not realized that he would have to look at everything in a new light.

Even things he has held dear since he was a child.

Because now, the same God who established those laws in the first place,

Is telling him to eat everything and anything.

The reason for this reversal is because God has radically changed the way He connects with people through Jesus.

God had a purpose for the old dietary laws,

But that purpose is now over.

It had been fulfilled in Christ.

It is not as if God suddenly changed His mind.

His unified plan was for His people to eat only certain foods, offer sacrifices, and be circumcised.

But that part of the plan has reached its end,

To clear the way for one people of God to be unified together for fellowship with one another through Jesus.

Peter’s initial reaction shows how difficult our biases make it to accept this unity.

Slide

While Peter is still perplexed by the vision,

Unsure of what he had seen and what it all means.

God begins to make it clear in vs. 17-18 that the vision was not ultimately about food.

Rather, the food was just the beginning of God’s message to Peter.

Because at that exact moment, the men sent by Cornelius were standing at the gate asking for Peter.

Slide

Vs. 19 says Peter is still on the roof deeply trying to understand what just happened,

And at that moment,

The Spirit completes the message by telling Peter that three men are looking for him and he has to leave with them.

Slide

So, Peter goes to the men in vs. 21, and tells them,

“Here I am, the one you’re looking for.

What is the reason you’re here?”

The men respond by retelling Cornelius’s message from the angel for the second time in this chapter.

Slide

Then, instead of making the trip back the same day,

Peter invites the men to be his guests for the night in vs. 23.

Peter is already beginning to have the message uproot his biases.

Then the next day, they all got up and set out together,

With some of the other Christians from Joppa going as well.

Which proves to be an important inclusion.

Cornelius prepared for Peter’s arrival in vs. 24,

By calling all his relatives and close friends together to share the experience with him.

Because of his message, he knew God was moving personally and powerfully in his life.

And he wanted to share this with those closest to him.

This crowd would end up multiplying the impact of the radical message of hope Peter was about to share with Cornelius.

Slide

Up to this point,

Peter has stayed at the home of a tanner,

He travelled multiple days with a group of Gentiles,

And now he continues his “unclean” ways by entering the home of the Gentile, Cornelius in vs. 25.

Nonetheless, after Peter entered, Cornelius fell down at his feet to worship him.

He respected Peter as an apostle and was in awe to be in his presence.

But just because an apostle is worthy of respect,

Does not mean he was worthy of worship, no person is.

Therefore, Peter forbids Cornelius from bowing down to worship him.

Because he was just a man like Cornelius.

He knew that all glory belonged to God,

Not to himself.

But make no mistake,

Cornelius is not doing this as if he thinks Peter is God.

No, he does this out of reverence for Peter.

But Peter’s response shows there is a very thin line between reverence and idolatry.

It is good to have respect and appreciation for people you admire.

But you cannot cross that very thin line into idolatry.

Because, as Peter says, they are a human being, just like you.

So, do not worship anyone but Jesus.

Slide

In vs. 28, Peter begins speaking to the crowd by reminding them that it was forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with,

Or even visit a foreigner like Cornelius.

However, Peter has begun to understand the message he had received.

So, let us pause here for just a moment.

Because it is so difficult for us to truly grasp the weight of what happens next.

It is not an overstatement to say that nothing will ever be the same after this point in history.

Because biases, and the boundaries created by them, get torn down.

Fiercest enemies become family,

And the way to God that was made possible by a promise to Abraham,

Reaches the nations here in Caesarea.

Yes, there continue to be fits and obstacles that attempt to get in the way.

But there is no doubt that the trajectory of the rest of the NT is set by this moment.

That is why Peter began by reminding the Gentiles of what they already knew,

That he is breaking the OT law by even being in Cornelius’ house.

But the message he received showed him how Jesus fulfilled and abolished that ceremonial law.

So, Peter is saying,

“Even though you all know what it means for me to even be here,

God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.”

Peter’s message was not ultimately about food,

He doesn’t even mention the food here.

He understands that it was about people.

And God declared the purification laws and rituals that kept Jews from associating with Gentiles as an obsolete thing of the past.

Even the food laws in the OT were never really about the food itself,

But about faithfulness to God.

They were an expression of holy living,

Of being devoted to God in every way,

Down to even their diet.

So, God’s laws were always meant to be about God and neighbor,

But this idea had been lost by the people of God.

Through Jesus, the Spirit, and the message he received,

Peter started to understand this massive change.

And he was sharing this message with the Gentiles.

Slide

Next, Cornelius recounts the message he received for the third time in this chapter.

This repetition makes two things abundantly clear.

First, the messages for Peter and Cornelius come from supernatural sources,

Making it unmistakable that the gospel going beyond biases is part of the sovereign plan of God.

Second, all three instances mention God’s acceptance of Cornelius’ alms and prayers.

This is not promoting a works-based salvation.

Rather, it demonstrates the kind of heart God desires,

Even when this type of heart comes from a Gentile.

Slide

So, now, there is no doubt Peter was in the right place.

Because it is crystal clear that God accepts Gentiles into the church.

If God calls a person clean,

It does not matter if they are a Jew or a Gentile,

They are clean.

Cornelius transitions into the next section in vs. 33,

Which demonstrates how far God’s acceptance of the Gentiles reaches.

Cornelius expresses a childlike confidence and trust in God’s presence with Peter,

Saying all the people have gathered in the presence of God,

To hear Peter teach them the Word of God.

They were confident that God prepared them to hear the gospel.

Slide

In vs. 34, Peter expands his interpretation of the message God showed him in a short sermon.

He begins by saying, he truly understands that God shows no partiality.

Peter knew his OT.

He is quoting Deut. 10:17.

And it is like Peter is saying,

I always knew that God had said He shows no partiality,

But now I truly get it!

I understand it in my own heart that God does not play favorites!

He offers the hope of the gospel to all people!

This is not teaching universalism,

That God saves all people no matter what.

No, this is teaching that all people share the need of salvation through Christ.

No one is saved because of where they were born.

And no one is restricted from salvation through Christ because of their ethnicity.

All people are offered salvation through Jesus Christ.

That is what vs. 35 is saying.

Every nation is not necessarily talking about lines on a map.

It is talking about people groups.

A person’s racial pedigree does not matter,

What counts is living in fear of God.

This is what marks His people.

Not what food they eat or what ethnicity they are.

The gospel goes beyond biases.

Cornelius was not restricted from salvation through Christ,

But he was not saved by his prayers and alms,

He needed a messenger to bring him the gospel.

Because God welcomes all people on the basis of Christ.

Forgiveness of sins comes only through faith in Jesus.

Slide

Peter includes the major components of the gospel in his sermon.

First, in vs. 36, is peace through Jesus Christ,

This peace is reconciliation with God,

Made possible through the blood of Christ.

Jesus proves He is Lord of all by breaking down the dividing walls built by our biases.

Jesus is Lord of the Jews,

And Lord of the Gentiles.

He is Lord of all,

And as Lord, He makes the gospel available for all.

This is an example of contextualizing the gospel message.

Peter uses Jesus’ universal lordship as a message for the Gentiles.

It is noticeably different from the approach he took when speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem.

Slide

Peter had already summarized the messages for Cornelius and himself,

He has made it clear that the gospel is available to all people,

Then, in vs. 37, he begins a biographical summary of the life and ministry of Jesus.

He begins by showing how Jesus was widely known.

This Roman Centurion and his friends in Caesarea know about these events.

Slide

However, just because they know the historical events,

It was still necessary for Peter, as a witness of Jesus Christ,

To come and fill in the gaps,

And most importantly, invite them to trust in Jesus Christ.

So, even though they know the historical events of Jesus,

He recounts the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in vs. 39-41.

Slide

Then Peter gets to a climax in vs. 42.

Where he emphasizes when Jesus told His disciples that He is the One appointed by God to judge all of humankind,

The living and the dead.

Again, Peter is contextualizing.

Earlier, Peter held the Jews responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion,

Which drove them to repentance through the gospel.

However, he cannot hold the Gentiles responsible in the exact same way,

They weren’t even there!

They didn’t crucify Him!

Therefore, Peter emphasizes that Jesus judges the living and the dead,

He judges all people because we are all guilty,

Because He was crucified for all our sin.

Then, immediately after that,

Peter holds out the hope of the gospel in vs. 43.

All who believe in Christ receive forgiveness of sins through His Name.

The offer of forgiveness is empty without the reality of guilt.

Like the Gentiles, you are not personally guilty of crucifying Christ.

Yet, because of your sins,

Even one itty bitty little one,

You are guilty before God and need to repent.

God shows no partiality,

Therefore the entire world is guilty.

But God so loves the world,

So, He gave Jesus, His Son, as the way of repentance and forgiveness,

For whoever believes in Him.

The entire gospel picture includes judgment and forgiveness through Christ.

As Peter says, the testimony of all the prophets support this.

Slide

Vs. 44 is when we finally get to that radical turning point we have been talking about.

This is like Pentecost for the Gentiles.

Peter was still preaching the gospel message,

When the Holy Spirit fell on those who were hearing.

It says they were speaking in tongues and praising God.

And this amazed the Jews,

Who are described as the believers from among the circumcised.

It is hard to imagine how shocked they must feel.

This group of believers thought it was still necessary to be circumcised to be included in the people of God.

They did not have the benefit of seeing the message Peter saw firsthand.

So, it was difficult for them as devout Jews to understand that God did not show favoritism.

His Holy Spirit was not just for the Jews,

It was not just for the circumcised,

It was for the Jews and Gentiles,

For the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

They are holding tightly to this internal belief they hold as truth,

While also seeing the Holy Spirit enter into uncircumcised Gentiles in dramatic fashion.

Sure, they heard Peter say that God shows no partiality,

But now God is proving it before their eyes beyond a shadow of a doubt.

They cannot deny the Spirit’s presence on the Gentiles.

Because this was just like what happened to the Jewish believers at Pentecost.

And don’t get distracted by a debate about tongues here,

That you miss that Gentiles were praising God!

Beginning the fulfillment of God’s promise that all nations will worship God.

Slide

Peter understands what’s next for these Gentile believers: baptism.

The early church understood that belief and baptism are intrinsically linked.

The decision to baptize is clear.

The Gentiles believe, they have received the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Peter rhetorically asks in vs. 47,

Any circumcised Jews want to withhold these Spirit-filled uncircumcised Gentiles from being baptized, like us?

Of course not!

Slide

So, in vs. 48, Peter commands the Gentile believers to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Because, as he taught earlier, forgiveness of sins is through the name of Jesus.

And baptism identifies you with Jesus.

He is the source of healing, power over evil, and forgiveness.

Jesus is the Savior for all who trust in Him,

Not just Jews.

These now Gentile Christians ask Peter to stay for a few more days.

These Christians were really the first fruit of Christ to the Gentile world.

Cornelius was instrumental in spreading the gospel beyond biases.

Ch. 10 is key in the development of the early church’s mission to the Gentiles.

The Jewish biases kept people like Cornelius separated form membership into the people of God.

But by being saved here and receiving the Holy Spirit,

It shook the foundation of those Jewish biases.

Through Cornelius, God acts in a decisive way to abolish OT ritual laws so that the gospel will go beyond our biases.

The messages for Peter and Cornelius teach us this.

No person that God makes clean can be called unclean.

Cornelius is evidence that all people may receive forgiveness of sins and experience the gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit.

Why?

Because God does not show favoritism.

By the end of this chapter, Cornelius is accepted as a full member into the church of Jesus Christ along with the believing Jews.

The message of salvation was for the Jews first because of the OT history,

But now Gentiles share in salvation.

All people are on an equal basis because God removes barriers created by our biases.

Jesus is Lord of all people.

YOU: Movement from Jews to Gentiles (11:1-18)

Chapter 11 starts the gospel Movement from Jews to Gentiles.

This does not mean Jews are now excluded,

Rather, it means Gentiles are now included.

Slide

Vs. 1 shows how the news that Gentiles had received the Word of God spread quickly.

It likely spread so fast because of how controversial it was.

Because when word got back to the Jews in Judea,

They do not take this radical change so well.

Centuries of bias is basically turned on its head over night.

It would be very sudden for the Jews to hear that Gentiles believe in Jesus, receive the Spirit, and are baptized.

This is a lot for them to process.

Because as the circumcision party,

They believed the Gentiles still needed to be circumcised to be a part of the church.

But what they seem to be having an even more difficult time with,

Is how one of their earliest leaders, who was a Jew,

Seemed to be compromising God’s law.

He was visiting Gentile homes,

Eating meals with them,

And preaching the gospel to these unclean people.

So, vs. 2 says, they criticized him.

They did not agree with what Peter was doing.

In vs. 3, they say,

“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

They figured that eating with a non-Jew was a clear violation of God’s law.

Because the Gentiles were not following their dietary laws.

But remember, it took Peter seeing his message three times for him to understand that God shows no partiality.

So, if a Gentile repents in the name of Jesus, He accepts them.

And if God accepts them,

If you resist them then you are resisting God.

So, these Jews need to learn that just as the distinction between clean and unclean foods no longer exists,

The distinction between clean and unclean people is also obsolete.

Therefore, the mission is to go into all the world,

To every tribe, tongue, and nation,

And make disciples.

Anyone who rejects a believer because of your own biases,

Is no different than the Jewish leaders who rejected Jesus.

Because their rejection of Jesus was a rejection of God.

You cannot be faithful to God and simultaneously refuse to accept what He is doing in the world.

That is the problem this circumcision party is having.

Because of their biases, these Jewish believers have an issue with Gentile believers.

In their eyes, the Gentiles are born unclean and they remain unclean,

Therefore, their food, their houses, and basically everything about them unclean.

Sadly, this remains an ongoing issue for some throughout the NT,

And throughout church history.

Slide

So, here Peter explains the messages for Cornelius and himself to these Jews step by step,

Teaching how God shows no partiality.

Peter shares the narration of his message and its interpretation for a second time.

Slide

He recalled how God told him to get up, kill, and eat.

And how he refused,

Actually telling the Lord, ‘no!’

Slide

But in vs. 12, Peter says that the Spirit told him to go.

So, he went.

Then in vs. 13, he begins retelling Cornelius’ message too.

Adding the detail in vs. 14 that Cornelius was told that Peter would declare a message by which he would be saved.

Him and all his household.

This detail tells us that Cornelius was saved at the time of Peter’s preaching,

Which was the same time the Spirit came onto the Gentiles.

So, even though Cornelius was a God-fearer,

He was not saved by his prayers, his alms, or his works.

He was saved when he believed in Jesus Christ and received the Spirit.

The message from the angel prepared him and directed him,

But it did not save him.

He was saved by Jesus.

As Peter said back in Acts 4:12,

There is salvation by no one else, but the name of Jesus.

Slide

Peter then parallels the Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit to Pentecost in vs. 16-17.

He relates the Gentiles experience to his own tangible experience of receiving the Holy Spirit.

He says just as God gifted the Jews with the Holy Spirit,

He has now gifted the Gentiles in the same way.

By retelling these messages,

It reinforces their historical importance,

But it also lets us in on this private meeting that makes clear the Jew’s biases.

Which must bring all biases to the same conclusion:

If someone has the Spirit, just like you have the Spirit,

Then it is case closed.

They believe in Jesus and have the Spirit, they are saved.

All who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are given the gift of the Holy Spirit,

Regardless of your biases.

In light of Jesus Christ’s lordship,

Who are you to allow your biases to stand in God’s way?

That is what Peter asks here.

You could not stand in God’s way,

Even if you wanted to.

Your biases could not possibly hinder God’s will,

To save some from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Not even the gates of hell,

Could stand in God’s way.

So, why even bother holding onto your biases?

The gospel movement from Jews to Gentiles proves that the gospel goes beyond biases.

WE: Conc.

Slide

Our passage ends with this Jewish audience being left speechless.

They are unable to refute what had happened,

So, they became silent.

This indicates caution,

They were having to process this shocking revelation.

But after sometime,

It says they eventually glorified God for what He had done.

They acknowledged that God is right in granting repentance that leads to life to the Gentiles.

They are convinced.

They may still struggle with this at times,

As Peter himself does,

But they no longer allow their biases to build barriers to keep people from Christ.

Because that is not the gospel.

No the gospel is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

And the gospel goes beyond our biases to unite the church.

That is something we cannot miss from the early church here.

The disunity between Jews and Gentiles was a real issue in the early church.

Yet, the church managed unity despite their biases.

Therefore, in our modern-day context,

We must likewise keep ourselves from allowing our biases to hinder the harmony and unity we are called to as Christians.

Even for deeply cherished biases,

Such as the ones the Jews held toward the Gentiles.

Do not downplay how significant this Jewish bias was.

And yet, Acts repeatedly emphasizes the unity of the church going beyond those biases.

By the end of our passage,

The Jewish believers are rejoicing over what has taken place,

Declaring how God has granted repentance that leads to life for the Gentiles.

Slide

So, let us close with two brief applications.

First, like the Gentiles in our passage this morning,

God has granted us repentance that leads to life.

This repentance is biblical repentance.

It is a sense of sorrow, guilt, shame, or conviction for sin,

Which prompts that inward heart change,

Like Cornelius was described as having.

Then repentance turns away from sin and toward God in trust.

That trust is rooted in Jesus Christ.

Therefore repent.

Second, seek to understand this struggle the early Christians faced over their biases toward Gentiles.

It is tempting to think those early church Jews just didn’t understand.

But not us.

We are so much more enlightened.

We are so far advanced beyond those personal or cultural biases.

We are not affected by things like traditions, habits, culture, or social pressures.

We would never do things like that.

Yet, despite having 2000 years of church history to learn from,

We are not all that different.

We still struggle to understand God’s sovereign plan unfolding right before us.

Often, it is much easier to grasp things in our minds,

Than it is to remove, or even recognize, our deeply held biases.

So, we cannot assume that we are past error or misjudgment.

Like that was just an early church problem.

No, sin is ever present.

Therefore, we must both have patience and understanding toward all the unsaved.

If a person does not know Christ and we are trying to teach the gospel to them,

We cannot rub their noses in their sin because of our biases against them.

But we also cannot be complacent with their sins.

So, if we go deeper into the narrative of our passage this morning and see ourselves in it.

We can allow the Spirit to take this text down to every dark, shadowy corner of our hearts.

Because the problem for some of these early believers was accepting the gospel apart from the strings attached by their biases.

This problem proves just as difficult for us today,

As it did for them.

We are called to go and make disciples.

And because the gospel goes beyond biases,

We must overcome our biases to go and make disciples of all people.

Pray.