New Family
Series: Living in the New World
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 13th September 2020
Passage: Acts 10:1-11:30
00:00:01 --> 00:00:07 Well, good morning everyone, great to be with you. Back in 2005, November 2005, I was in
00:00:07 --> 00:00:14 Alice Springs on the invitation of the Bible Society to speaking at an event to raise awareness
00:00:14 --> 00:00:21 for their ministry to remote areas around the country. In particular, this message was to be
00:00:21 --> 00:00:26 about the importance of all people having the Bible in their own language and therefore encouraging
00:00:26 --> 00:00:32 the work of the Bible Society in Bible translation, especially to remote Aboriginal communities.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:42 I was to speak on a Friday night at an aircraft hangar at Alice Springs Airport because the
00:00:42 --> 00:00:49 Bible Society's aeroplane was behind me at the time. And then I was to preach at a local church
00:00:49 --> 00:00:55 on the Sunday morning. A friend of mine came along for the trip and it was the first time that either
00:00:55 --> 00:01:01 us had been to Alice Springs. So we spent the afternoon, sorry, all the day Saturday exploring
00:01:01 --> 00:01:10 the Outback. On the Saturday evening, I and my friend went into Alice Springs to have dinner
00:01:10 --> 00:01:15 and then we sort of explored a little bit and we're walking back to our hotel and by which
00:01:15 --> 00:01:22 time it was fairly late at night. And we noticed as we were walking along this pathway to a hotel,
00:01:22 --> 00:01:28 was it a fairly sort of dark area. There wasn't much light at all, but there was a little bit of
00:01:28 --> 00:01:35 moonlight. And we noticed off to our left, there was a group of Aboriginals sitting in the riverbank
00:01:35 --> 00:01:41 and there was a bit of arguing going on. They'd obviously had been intoxicated. We could tell that
00:01:41 --> 00:01:47 from where we were. Up ahead of us as we walked along our pathway to the right was a very large group of
00:01:47 --> 00:01:53 Aboriginals. And there was a lot of yelling and arguing coming from that area. We could
00:01:53 --> 00:01:58 completely see everything. It was pretty dark over there. Now it was probably at this point,
00:01:58 --> 00:02:06 it's fair to say, that both of us started to get a little bit nervous. Both of us grew up with a
00:02:06 --> 00:02:13 reasonable amount of prejudice against Aboriginals. It came from the rhetoric of our culture of where we
00:02:13 --> 00:02:21 both grew up and from our own personal experiences at both schools and at work. It would be fair to say
00:02:21 --> 00:02:28 that my friend was probably somewhat more prejudiced, I think, more acute. He grew up in an area, a place
00:02:28 --> 00:02:35 called Walgett, where race relations were quite troubled, had a long history of troubled race relations.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:42 And so at this moment for us, as we walked along, our prejudices rose to the surface.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:49 And I said to him as we walked along quietly, do you see the group over at the riverbank on the left?
00:02:50 --> 00:02:57 And he said, yes, he did. And then this large group from the right over here in the darkness started
00:02:57 --> 00:03:03 to appear and were heading towards the riverbank from our idea. It looks like they're heading to that
00:03:03 --> 00:03:10 group over down on the left. And it became obvious to us as we were walking along that we were going to
00:03:10 --> 00:03:15 be crossing right in the middle of their path, or they were going to cross right in the middle of our path.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:19 Two white guys and 40 or so
00:03:19 --> 00:03:26 Aboriginals. And we were kind of a little nervous at this point, being rather new to town.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:32 We were both silent as we walked along. Our hearts were racing, it would be fair to say.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:39 Our minds were thinking about an escape plan. And we were hoping that they would notice the two
00:03:39 --> 00:03:47 white guys. And our moments, our worst fears in that moment were realised they did in fact see us.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:53 And as this large group of Aboriginals came across to us, as we walked along the path line, as we were
00:03:53 --> 00:04:02 just about to, you know, have to stop to let them go through, the elderly Aboriginal lady, beginning of
00:04:02 --> 00:04:08 the group, put her arms out like that. And she stopped. These whole group of Aboriginals, they just
00:04:08 --> 00:04:14 stopped in their tracks when she put her arms out. And as we, this was put our arms out to allow us to
00:04:14 --> 00:04:19 walk along the pathway. And as we walked along the pathway, she said, good evening, gentlemen.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:30 We turned, wished her well, and walked along quietly for the next 20 metres. And my friend said to me,
00:04:30 --> 00:04:39 how bad do I feel? And all I could say was, yep, me too. You see, God used that moment to expose
00:04:39 --> 00:04:47 something of the sin of a racial prejudice that lurked within my heart. It didn't escape me that
00:04:47 --> 00:04:52 the night before that I was speaking about the necessity of God's word going to all people,
00:04:52 --> 00:04:57 such as remote Aboriginal communities. And yet I had that prejudice revealed in my heart in that moment
00:04:57 --> 00:05:07 towards the very people who were to receive that ministry. Prejudice is something that we all have.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:13 Secular evolutionary theory will tell you that it's in fact a something that is part of our
00:05:13 --> 00:05:19 evolutionary process. Every single human being has prejudice in their heart, and they would declare
00:05:19 --> 00:05:29 it's a good thing in some ways. The Bible calls it sin. Prejudice is an unfavourable opinion or feeling
00:05:29 --> 00:05:36 formed beforehand without knowledge, without thought, or without reason. Unreasonable feelings,
00:05:36 --> 00:05:42 opinions, opinions, attitudes, and especially of a hostile nature regarding an ethnic, racial,
00:05:42 --> 00:05:50 social, or religious group. And it's the intention of the book of Acts, through in the last number of
00:05:50 --> 00:06:00 weeks, to show us one society, one group, in which the divisive poison of cultural prejudice is
00:06:00 --> 00:06:09 neutralized. And that's the church. That's us. So hear the words of Acts 10, just read out to us, verse 34.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 This is the Apostle Peter.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:22 I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts every nation,
00:06:22 --> 00:06:36 the one who fears him and does what is right. It cannot possibly be overstated the mind-blowing
00:06:36 --> 00:06:44 revolution such a statement was for the first century world. The Apostle Peter was a Palestinian Jew.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:52 The leaders of this group had interpreted God's covenant relationship with them through Abraham
00:06:52 --> 00:07:01 in such an exclusive way that any contact with a non-Jew was regarded as sinful.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:12 It was against their law to even assist a Gentile mother in childbirth for doing so was just to bring
00:07:12 --> 00:07:23 another pagan into the world. In the words of one rabbinical proverb of the time, Gentiles were created
00:07:23 --> 00:07:30 by God simply as fuel for the flames of hell. That's Peter's world.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:37 This is the culture that he has been marinating in since birth.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:46 And what's remarkable is he says these words to a Roman soldier.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:53 There was no group of Gentiles more obnoxious to first century Jews.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:59 The Roman army was an oppressive instrument of colonial occupation in Israel.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:05 And so what Peter says here to this soldier is nothing short of a miracle.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:12 What changed Peter's mind and heart? What did that? What changed his mind and heart so much
00:08:12 --> 00:08:19 that he overcome his prejudice and could declare, I now know that God does not show favoritism?
00:08:20 --> 00:08:24 Well, three things I want to see really quickly from this, not so quickly from this text.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:30 If you've got your St. Paul's app in front of you, I've got it there, a bit of an outline for you.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:41 We want to see three things. His experience of other people, number one, the work of God in his own life
00:08:41 --> 00:08:49 and the work of God in the lives of others to collectively shape Peter to become the man that he is,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 a kingdom-focused man, not a culturally driven man.
00:08:53 --> 00:09:01 So first of all, his own personal experience. His travel schedule most likely opened his eyes to God's purposes.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Chapter 9, verse 32, we read,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:09 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord's people who lived in Lydda.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:17 Peter didn't leave Jerusalem with the other disciples at the stoning of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:26 He left Jerusalem as a direct result of the success of Philip's ministry to the Samaritans.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:33 Peter and John traveled to Samaria to find out what was going on
00:09:33 --> 00:09:40 and to ensure it was consistent with everything that had been handed down to them from Jesus himself
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 and what was happening in the church in Jerusalem.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:51 It must have raised a question for him as he ventured into these places and saw the extent of God's work.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 Unlike us, see, we get to read the accounts.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 We've read Philip and what happened there.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:04 Peter would most likely not have known of Philip's later encounter with the Ethiopian
00:10:04 --> 00:10:11 or of Paul's conversion and call to be missionary to the Gentile world.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 He probably knew nothing of those things.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:21 And maybe it was questions like this that caused Peter to extend his leave from Jerusalem
00:10:21 --> 00:10:26 to visit other groups of Christians scattered by the persecution
00:10:26 --> 00:10:31 to see what responses that they were receiving in their new locations.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 And so Luke mentions two places, Lydda and Joppa.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 Lydda and Joppa are towns in Western Palestine.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:45 It is known in the Old Testament as Philistine territory.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 It was decidedly pagan.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:54 And yet the Christian gospel is having a significant impact in this Gentile world.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:03 And so Peter's Jewish straitjacket is slowly being loosened.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:13 In fact, in chapter 9, verse 43, we read that he stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:24 Now, tanning of animal skins was regarded by strict Jews as an unclean occupation
00:11:24 --> 00:11:29 because it involved handing animals that were not kosher.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:52 Simon is a Jewish Christian who has let go of some of his Jewish cultural baggage, having become a Christian.
00:11:52 --> 00:12:02 And God is using his experience in Samaria and now in the coastal plains of Western Palestine
00:12:02 --> 00:12:08 to make Peter aware of some of his Jewish prejudices.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 It was seeing people from other cultures embracing the same faith
00:12:13 --> 00:12:18 that he began to see the foolishness of his discriminating attitudes.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:27 Now, I've got to say for myself, in the 11 years I've been at St. Paul's,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:31 that the more I mix with people different than I am,
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 the more I see the prejudices in my heart.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:43 That is, the deeper I go with others that are different from me,
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 the deeper I understand myself.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:50 Parochialism feeds prejudice.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 As we look to the future together,
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 I am very keen for us as a church to develop strategies
00:12:57 --> 00:13:04 for more intentional cross-cultural discipling of one another.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:10 Now, of course, Peter didn't just deal with his prejudice because he travelled.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:14 That in itself doesn't change the heart at all.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 But let's have a look at his own personal work,
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 God's work in his life,
00:13:19 --> 00:13:24 and he's changed by his revelation that he received from God.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 The real power is God's work in his life.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 Have a look at chapter 10, verses 9 and 13 with me,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 if you've got your Bibles there.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 About noon the following day,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 as they were on their journey and approached the city,
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 Peter went up to the roof to pray.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 He became hungry, wanted something to eat,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 and while the meal was being prepared,
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 he fell into a trance.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 He saw heaven open and something like a large sheep
00:13:50 --> 00:13:54 being let down to earth by its four corners.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:58 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals,
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 as well as reptiles and birds.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 And then a voice told him,
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 get up, Peter, kill and eat.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:11 Now, although this is a revelation from God,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:16 it was cryptic and puzzling for Peter.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 We are told in verse 17,
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 he was left wondering about the meaning of this vision.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 That is, the vision didn't directly speak to him
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 about his racial prejudice.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:32 It was addressing Jewish food regulations.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 Pious Jews believed that by observing these laws,
00:14:37 --> 00:14:42 they witnessed to the world of their special privilege
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 as a chosen people.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 And yet the people Peter mixed with on his travels
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 were bad Jews.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:57 But they were people who were becoming Christians like him.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 Or that they were Christians getting rid of their,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 some of their Jewish practices.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 Where did all this fit?
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 He's up there in the midday sun.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 He's falling into a bit of a,
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 he might have diabetes or something.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 His sugar drops low or something.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 He's got this conflict going on in his mind
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 about his cultural heritage
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 and what he's seeing amongst these believers.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 And he has this vision.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 You could imagine him up there on Simon's house,
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 up on the roof of the midday sun.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 The stench of the animal skins rising to the roof
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 as the prawn cocktails being prepared with the roast pork.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:35 And he's,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 and he's,
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 what is this all about?
00:15:39 --> 00:15:39 And then,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 then,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 he gets in his sleepiness.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 He has this strange dream of animals on a sheet.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 And he hears these words,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:50 get up,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:51 kill,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:51 eat.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 And he says,
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 surely not,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:53 Lord.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 Surely not.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 I have never eaten anything impure,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:02 unclean.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:06 The voice spoke to him a second time.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 Do you not call anything impure that God has made clean?
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 And this happened three times.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15 And immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 This is a,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:23 a transformation moment for Peter right here.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 Three times he denied Jesus.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 Three times Jesus asked him,
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 do you love me?
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Three times he affirmed his love.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 And now three times,
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 do not call anything unclean that I've called clean.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 This is a major transformation,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 moment in the life and the heart of Peter,
00:16:40 --> 00:16:40 the apostle.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 He sees a variety of animals.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 Some approved,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 some forbidden by Jewish laws in Leviticus 11.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:58 In the mix is probably pigs and owls and seagulls and eagles and reptiles and lobsters and insects and prawns and
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 whatever else.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:07 He was disgusted by the sight and the command to eat this unholy smorgasbord.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:14 How could anything unclean for God's people,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 something that's been unclean for thousands of years,
00:17:17 --> 00:17:21 how could it possibly now suddenly be clean?
00:17:21 --> 00:17:25 Twice more,
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 this grotesque sheet is lowered,
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 only compounding Peter's disgust and his misery.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 And at this moment,
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 this exact moment,
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 there appeared to be a coincidence
00:17:40 --> 00:17:45 by which Peter later discovered it was divine synchronization.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:50 As he was pondering the vision,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:56 the trio from the Roman soldier Cornelius turned up looking for him.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 And in verse 20,
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 the Holy Spirit says to Peter,
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 get up,
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 go downstairs,
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 do not hesitate to go with them,
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 for I have sent them.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:11 It's interesting in the original language of the New Testament,
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 the word translated,
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 hesitate there,
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 do not hesitate,
00:18:15 --> 00:18:16 can in fact be translated,
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 do not discriminate,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 do not evaluate.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 Interchangeably,
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 easily.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 Don't discriminate against them,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 Peter,
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 go with them.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:29 You see,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:34 if Peter's vision here was far more than revolutionary food laws,
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 far more revolutionary than food laws,
00:18:36 --> 00:18:42 the four corners of the sheet that was descended to him,
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 correspond to the four points of the compass,
00:18:45 --> 00:18:45 the north,
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 the south,
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 the east and the west,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:54 and the contents of the sheep are the swarming millions of people that populate the earth.
00:18:56 --> 00:19:02 All of humanity bound up together in one loathsome bundle in front of Peter.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:06 And he's standing above them all,
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 surveying them,
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 spitting out revulsion and rejection from his heart.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:20 And what he says when he arrives at Cornelius' house,
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 reveals he understood the vision for the first time.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:31 In Ephesians chapter 2,
00:19:31 --> 00:19:35 we read that God's aim is to create one new people,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:40 to reconcile each other across bloodlines,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 through the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 the Son of God.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 It started,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:47 first of all,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 with the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles,
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 no longer strangers,
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 aliens,
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 prejudices,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 no enmity,
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 one family together,
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 a new family with whom God himself will dwell.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 That is God's purpose,
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 according to Ephesians 2,
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 to make himself a family that he will dwell amongst.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 God ordained the death of his Son,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 Jesus Christ,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:16 to reconcile alien people's groups to each other as one body in Christ.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:20 Christ died to take enmity,
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 the anger,
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 the disgust,
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 the jealousy,
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 the self-pity,
00:20:24 --> 00:20:24 the envy,
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 the fear,
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 the hatred,
00:20:26 --> 00:20:26 the malice,
00:20:27 --> 00:20:27 the indifference,
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 the pride,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:34 away from our hearts that we have towards all other persons,
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 whatever their race,
00:20:35 --> 00:20:38 whatever their status is in Jesus.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:48 God's plan is not just that the gospel will go to all peoples,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:53 but that all peoples would in fact be brought together through the gospel,
00:20:53 --> 00:20:57 as one people in Christ.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 Christ.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 And that's what Peter understood at Cornelius' house.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:14 The third thing that really gripped him was God's work in the lives of other people,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 not just his own life.
00:21:15 --> 00:21:27 There could hardly be a more favorable opportunity to speak about the good news of Jesus than Peter is presented here at Cornelius' house.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 I mean, Cornelius is pious.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:41 He's a conscientious worshiper of God who's been instructed by none less than angels themselves to invite Peter to his house and guarantee that he will come.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 Cornelius even bows to Peter when he comes.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 He's held in such high esteem.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:53 He even gathers his entire household together to hear what Peter would have to say to them.
00:21:56 --> 00:22:03 But there's one thing that's a problem for Peter as he walks up to the door,
00:22:04 --> 00:22:08 and that is Cornelius is a Gentile,
00:22:08 --> 00:22:12 and he does not belong to the covenant people of God.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 And he does that.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:18 You know, like the first things that come out of his mouth as he arrives,
00:22:18 --> 00:22:22 you kind of go, you know, a bit more EQ would have been great here.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 A bit more emotional intelligence.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:25 Verse 28,
00:22:25 --> 00:22:39 But he has learned a lot and has made the connection with his vision.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:45 But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:49 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:55 And then what he does is he launches into a three-point sermon to the gathered Gentiles.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 He stresses the life of Jesus in verses 36 and 38.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:05 The death and resurrection of Jesus for which he is an eyewitness and must proclaim this news to all of humanity.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 39 to 41.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:12 And the coming judgment of Jesus by Jesus and the forgiveness of sins,
00:23:12 --> 00:23:16 which is available only through him in verses 42 to 44.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:21 These Gentile believers are baptized and become members of the church.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:26 In verse 34 and 35, Peter says he knows that God does not show favoritism,
00:23:27 --> 00:23:31 but it says people from every nation who fear him and does what is right.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 Let me be really clear here.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:38 Peter is not saying that morally respectable people go to heaven.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 That's not what he's saying.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:51 If that were true, he wouldn't have told the respectable, pious Cornelius that he needed forgiveness of sin.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:58 Neither is Peter saying that all religions in the end lead to God.
00:23:58 --> 00:24:03 If that was so, he wouldn't have instructed Cornelius in the entire household
00:24:03 --> 00:24:11 about the unique office that Jesus has as judge of all humanity and that he is Lord of all.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 In verses 42 and 43.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:24 There is no nice thought here that pious pagans get to relate to God without Jesus.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 Jesus is the only hope for a reconciled humanity.
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 Not political correctness.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 Not the United Nations.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 Just Jesus Christ.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:48 And Peter now sees the marks of God's grace.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:55 Just readily seen in the Gentiles as it was in the Jewish lives.
00:24:56 --> 00:25:01 Peter has been changed from being a man of his culture to a man of the kingdom.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:10 And the same Holy Spirit is poured out on these Gentile believers as it was on the Jewish believers.
00:25:11 --> 00:25:13 This is a crucial moment in the life of the church.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:20 The pouring of the Holy Spirit here is meant to take our minds and our hearts back to Acts chapter 2.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 It's there that the church was born.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:31 And now this church includes both Jews and Gentiles.
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 One gospel.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 One spirit.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 One faith.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 One body.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:42 The good news of God's grace to us in Jesus Christ is for all people.
00:25:43 --> 00:25:46 And has now come to all people.
00:25:46 --> 00:25:54 Let me just wind up really quickly by just mentioning three things about our new family.
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 By way of application.
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 Firstly, if you're a Christian.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:03 And if you're a Christian here today without a gather with us online wherever you are.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:05 If you do not have Jewish heritage.
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 You want to give thanks for Peter.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:15 You want to give thanks that he responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18 And allowed his prejudice to be overturned.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:23 Rejoice that God has included you in his covenant people.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:26 He was under no obligation to do so.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32 No obligation to extend his promises to you and to me at all.
00:26:32 --> 00:26:38 And yet in his infinite mercy God reached out to us.
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 In the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 And through a variety of people.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 To offer us freely.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 His gospel of grace.
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48 And mercy.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:50 Secondly.
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 There are still 3.23 billion people in this world.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 That are part of unreached people groups.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 Just think about that for a moment.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:06 3.23 billion people in this world.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 Still part of unreached people groups.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 20 centuries.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:18 After Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:22 There are places all over this world.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 Where that gospel has not even touched.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 How on earth is that possible?
00:27:29 --> 00:27:36 20 centuries.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 20 centuries.
00:27:38 --> 00:27:41 And we travel all over the globe.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 And there are still places.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:49 Including 3.23 billion people representing in those places.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 That have no vibrant Christian witness to this day.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Peter's vision.
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 20 centuries.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:58 Peter's vision and his encounter walk with Cornelius.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:03 Isn't just an abstract point about the character of God's church.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:08 It's a call for us to take the gospel to the nations.
00:28:08 --> 00:28:12 We are called to pray for that mission.
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 To give to that mission.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 And even to go on that mission.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:20 Wherever God calls you as his child.
00:28:21 --> 00:28:23 We are called to be on that mission.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:32 Now apart from our own mission here at St. Paul's to other cultures in our neighborhood.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:37 We support the advance of the gospel globally through mission partners.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 Let me just raise one of those partners with you right now.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 The Klintos family working in sub-Sahara Africa.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:48 Strengthening churches.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:53 Raising up and equipping gospel workers for the local church.
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 Phenomenal work that they're doing there.
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 However right now their support fund is so low.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:03 That they're eating into their personal savings.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 In order to pay their bills to continue that work.
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 We and a number of other churches are rope holders for them.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 And we're letting the rope go.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:19 We can't allow that to happen.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:24 Please donate to them via our mission account by the end of this week.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:31 You get the mission account details in our weekly news out there in the connect desk on our website.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:38 Do it by the end of the week so that they no longer need to access their savings to continue that crucial work.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 Thirdly.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 The local church must reflect our eternal home.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:47 And therefore we must overcome our prejudice towards other groups and peoples.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:58 Our sheets easily fill with educational, cultural, social, ethnic, economic rejects.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 And we cry, by no means Lord.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 They are not my type.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:08 Our vision at St. Paul's is to be a transcultural church.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:16 A transcultural church community is a community that reflects, embraces and enjoys the diversity of its mission context.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 But by the power of the gospel.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 It transcends that.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 Transcends its cultural context.
00:30:22 --> 00:30:26 And creates one new community in Christ.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 Where we treasure Jesus together.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:38 This church is not about obliterating cultural distinctions and all its diversity.
00:30:39 --> 00:30:42 Jesus broke down the barriers between people.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 He didn't obliterate the differences.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:51 All of humanity are fallen and sinful beings who have been made in God's image.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:55 And yet redeemed and transformed through Jesus.
00:30:56 --> 00:31:02 And by the work of the Holy Spirit into a new humanity under the lordship of Jesus forever.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 He is our primary point of loyalty.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:17 And that news will be true and will be true for every person irrespective of their cultural heritage.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 Every single person needs to come to Jesus.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:26 And so I want to leave us with a challenge from another preacher.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:32 Alexander White was a pastor and leader in the Free Church of Scotland a bit over 100 years ago.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:39 And he made this comment in a sermon on this passage.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:44 It will change your whole heart and life this very night.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:48 If you would take Peter and Cornelius home with you.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:50 And lay them both to heart.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:55 If you would take a four corner napkin when you go home.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:58 And write the names of the nations and the churches and the denominations.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01 And the congregations and the ministers.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:05 And the public men and the private citizens and the neighbours and the fellow worshippers.
00:32:06 --> 00:32:11 All the people you dislike and despise.
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 And do not.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 And cannot.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 And will not love.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:20 Heap all their names into your unclean napkin.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 And then look up and say,
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 Not so, Lord.
00:32:24 --> 00:32:28 I neither can speak well.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 Nor think well.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 Nor hope well.
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 Of these people.
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 I cannot do it.
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 I will not try.
00:32:38 --> 00:32:43 If you acted out and spoke all the evil things that are in your heart in such a way as that.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 You would get such insight into yourself.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48 That you would never forget it.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52 Prejudice runs deep in the sinful heart.
00:32:52 --> 00:32:55 I discovered it that night in Alice Springs.
00:32:55 --> 00:32:59 My chosen place as a child of God.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 By the grace of God.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:06 Had not produced a humility and a compassion in me for all people.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:11 Ironically, it meant that I was not aligned with God's purposes for all of humanity.
00:33:11 --> 00:33:15 Even though I was there to preach about that very thing.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:19 I needed Jesus to change my heart.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:23 I needed to repent that very night.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 Let's do that now.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 Gracious and merciful Heavenly Father.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:38 The one from whom all humanity derives its image and being.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:44 Please forgive us for not allowing your great love to flow through us to others.
00:33:45 --> 00:33:48 For refusing to love and to win over to your kingdom.
00:33:48 --> 00:33:50 Those we deem to be dangerous.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 Or dirty.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 Or unworthy.
00:33:53 --> 00:33:55 Or those who have hurt us.
00:33:55 --> 00:33:57 Or those we consider beneath us.
00:33:58 --> 00:34:02 Humble us that we might be aware of our sin and unworthiness.
00:34:02 --> 00:34:05 But in Jesus you came to us.
00:34:06 --> 00:34:10 May your grace burst through our walls of pride and prejudice.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:15 May your love conquer our selfishness and the sinful rebellion of others.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:18 So that together in the name of Jesus.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:21 Is exalted by us.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 And through us.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 For your glory we pray.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 Amen.