Hey friends, welcome back here to the semi seminary
and another episode of our Series that we're
calling the Bible for grown -ups in this series.
We're Looking at the acts of the Apostles. This
is part five. It's entitled better not call Saul
where the writer Luke Introduces us to this character
Saul who will later be known as the Apostle Paul
and we're also introduced to some very very fine
literary work by Luke as he kind of walks through
these next chapters showing us what's happening
in Saul's life and at the same time showing us
what's happening in the lives of the other apostles
and evangelists. I hope you'll enjoy it and I
will see you on the other side. can see how far
along I can get. So tonight we're going to be
looking at chapters 8 through 12 of Acts. Where
we left off the last time we got together was
Stephen had run into some bad news with some
Hellenistic Jews and we want to recall briefly
that there are two major groupings ethnically
Although it's very diverse diverse as Christianity
is today within Judaism in the first century
those that were Hebraic Jews those that were
ethnically and geographically located within
Judea within Israel that we would think of as
Israel anyway and Spoke Aramaic or Hebrew then
with the influence of the Hellenized or the Greek
world which comes along with the conquest of
Alexander the Great we see the spread of Greek
culture and So right here at the beginning of
our discussion tonight. We're going to see this
We're going to recall rather That there are these
two thoughts of belief In this instance, they
are ethnically and culturally separated, but
they're also going to share a lot of commonalities
with the way that we might group the Pharisees
or the Sadducees. The Pharisees might be those
that we would consider the Hebraic Jews. The
Sadducees would be those that we might consider
the Hellenistic Jews. And that distinction is
a little bit too broad of a brush, but for the
purposes of our discussion tonight. you might
think of it that way. So as I talk about these
Hellenized Jews that will end up being Hellenized,
some of them being Hellenized Christians, those
are people that would tend to think more like
the Sadducees would think religiously, namely
that there is no resurrection. The Sadducees
are going to be the major grouping of Jewish
thought. that believe that there's no afterlife.
Afterlife. And so, one of the main objections
amongst the Sadducees, or the Hellenized Jews,
to Jesus Christ would be, he can't come back
from the dead because there's no coming back
from the dead for anybody. This is kind of the
major thing. And really, they also held very
strongly to... control of the temple, the sanctity
of the temple, the Sadducees were in large part
the ones that were in charge of the temple itself.
And so the expression of the law through the
Torah and the relationship between God and earth
through the actual temple building, big deal
to the Sadducees. So when guys like Stephen come
along and they say Jesus Christ has raised himself
from the dead, And because of the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit, now that building is no longer
the temple. But because the Holy Spirit resides
in you, you're now the temple. That made the
Sadducees folks really upset. So upset that when
we ended our session last time, we saw the Sadducees
taking him to the Sanhedrin, the Hellenized Jews,
to be eventually put to death in evil stone.
And we were introduced to this character at the
very end of our study, a young man by the name
of Saul, who not only was in support of Stephen's
execution, but actually watched the men's cloaks
while they did the stoning. And that's the character
that we'll later learn to be Paul. But we were
just, just introduced to Saul. And so we're going
to open up tonight in Acts chapter eight, verse
one. and we're just gonna pick up right where
we left off at that moment of Stephen's death.
And Saul approved of their killing him. On that
day, a great persecution broke out against the
church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles
were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
And just real quickly, remember that that's one
of the things that Jesus promised to his followers
that they were to spread the word to... Jerusalem
then to Judea Samaria and the rest of the ends
of the earth right and so as What we're seeing
here. Yes is certainly persecution of Christians,
but we also might think of it as perhaps the
impetus that was needed because really up until
this point of Stephen, yes there had been tension
amongst the Jewish people within Jerusalem and
there certainly was tension amongst these early
Christians, they're not called Christians at
the time, but these early followers of the ways
of Jesus, of this Nazarene insurrection as some
of them call it. And the Jewish leaders there's
tension to be sure but for the most part the
churches experience Fairly good success and growth
here in the early days following Pentecost Perhaps
so much so that they might have found themselves
a little too comfortable and might have just
stayed in Jerusalem rather doing rather than
doing what the Spirit had called them to do and
that is to take the word outside of Jerusalem
to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
So perhaps a little persecution was just the
prod that these fellows needed, and sure enough
they are scattered to Judea and Samaria. Godly
men buried Stephen mourning for him deeply, but
Saul began to destroy the church. Going from
house to house, he dragged off both men and women
and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered
preached the word wherever they went. Philip
It's going to be a guy who in our chapters today
we're going to get to see a lot of his action.
One of the things I think that's kind of neat
about this section of the story here as Luke
the writer has done is he will zoom in on a story
that will involve guys like Peter or John or
Philip and it'll zip out and he'll take you to
another part of the story where we're learning
something about what Saul is doing and then we'll
kind of pull out. will push back in on these
and so Luke is kind of telling these two or three
different stories that are all kind of occurring
at the same time and he does it by zipping in
and taking a very close focus and then pulling
out of that story because you can imagine in
the birth of the early church there could have
been hundreds and hundreds of stories Luke could
have chosen to tell. He had that option to tell.
But he's chosen these, and I think specifically,
to kind of zoom in because at this point, we're
really seeing a story of the growth of the church,
but there's more than just one perspective. There's
the perspectives of the apostles and the evangelists
and the disciples. Then there's also the story
of the persecution of the church in response
to that growth. So I think that's what Luke is
doing here, kind of shifting the scenes for us.
We open up a story here kind of looking at a
story that's going to involve Philip, Peter,
and John. Now, those who have been scattered
preached the word wherever they went. Philip
went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed
the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip
and saw the signs he performed, they all paid
close attention to what he had said. For with
shrieks, impure spirits came out of many and
many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
So it was great joy in the city. Now for some
time the man named Simon practiced sorcery in
the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.
He boasted that he was someone great and all
the people both high and low gave their attention
and exclaimed this man is rightly called the
great power of God. They followed him because
he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery
but when they believed Philip as he proclaimed
the good news of the kingdom of God in the name
of Jesus Christ they were baptized both men and
women. Simon himself believed and was baptized
and he followed Philip everywhere astonished
by the great signs and miracles that he saw when
the apostles in Jerusalem had heard that Samaria
had accepted the word of God They sit Peter and
John to Samaria to check this out When they arrived
they prayed for the new believers that they might
receive the Holy Spirit Because the Holy Spirit
had not yet come on any of them those that had
believed in Jesus Christ and been baptized and
that might cause our ears to go Excuse me. Why
because that's not how some of us see how this
whole thing works So the Holy Spirit had not
yet come on any of them. They had simply been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
Peter and John placed their hands on them and
then they received the Holy Spirit. All right,
so let's pause here because I think that this
is a part of the story that leads to a lot of
conjecture and misunderstanding exactly what
is going on here because ultimately it seems
like there's got to be a problem with what most
of us believe. because we suspect that our baptism
is of the same natures of Jesus Christ whereby
we read in the very first chapter in Mark in
the first chapter in 9th verse you can stay right
where you're at just to recall Mark's a gospel
account begins with the baptism of Jesus the
ninth verse that very first chapter says at that
time Jesus came from Nazareth and Galilee and
was baptized by John in the Jordan Just as Jesus
was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven
being torn open and the Spirit descending on
him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven,
you are my son, whom I'm with you, I am well
pleased. Now we're baptized and we receive the
Holy Spirit, right? Just like Jesus, right? That
doesn't seem to be what's happening here. In
fact, it's not until Peter and John lay their
hands on them. That they receive the spirit So
is it baptism plus Peter and John equals receiving
the Holy Spirit? I hope not because Peter and
John aren't around for us to lay their hands
on us If this was the case, right? Then we would
have a serious problem But the truth of this
story one of the truths I think the story tells
us it reminds us that anytime We try to reduce
the action of the Holy Spirit to a formula I
do this plus this equals this Holy Spirit kind
of formula where we miss out on the mystery and
power of the Holy Spirit We have to recall the
mystery of the Spirit because anytime we try
to reduce the Holy Spirit to an actioned formula,
we let the mystery slip through our hands like
grains of truth. In fact, Jesus says in the gospel
account, according to John, the third chapter
and eighth verse, the wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear it sound, but you can't tell
where it comes from or where it's going. So it
is with everyone born in the spirit. So let's
set that over to the sides kind of put that on
the back burner here We're gonna answer that
question, but let's continue on with the story
a little bit further When Simon that's this sorcerer
Simon when Simon saw that the spirit was given
at the laying of the Apostles hands He offered
them money and said give me also this ability
so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive
the Holy Spirit Peter answered him as you would
expect that he would by saying, may your money
perish with you, because you thought you could
buy the gift of God with money. Give no part
or share in this ministry because your heart
is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness
and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may
forgive you for having such a thought in your
heart, for I see you're full of bitterness and
captive to sin. Then Simon answered, pray to
the Lord for me so that nothing you have said
may come. may happen to me. Now let's look at
a little bit closer at verse 18 because I think
if we look a little bit closer at that verse
it might begin to give us a clue as to this missing
spirit and these Samaritan Christians we're talking
about. People often misunderstand this verse
in the Bible because they think that what Simon
is asking for in verse 18 through just a casual
glance is that he's trying to buy the spirit.
without changing his heart or his mind. And of
course, hopefully, our reaction would be the
same as Peter's. As Christians, we know that
God's no use for our money. He wants our hearts.
And that's how we receive the Spirit. That's
actually not what Simon's asking for in verse
18. Simon wants the power to bestow the Spirit.
Simon's not asking for the Spirit. He's asking
for the power to bestow the Spirit. Simon's not
trying to buy the Spirit with money instead of
his heart. He's trying to buy the power of the
Holy Spirit. Now, are we given the power of the
Holy Spirit for our purposes? Moreover, is there
anything that we're given? Anything at all that
we're given in our lives that is for our glory?
Our existence is to bring about the glory of
God. So perhaps these Samaritan Christians received
the Spirit when they did, not only to teach Simon,
this sorcerer, but in the very retelling of this
story tonight, to teach us this fundamental concept
about our very lives, about everything that we
receive from God. If there is nothing we receive,
the very next breath in our bodies is not given
to us for our glory, but for the glory of God.
So after they had further proclaimed the word
of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter
and John returned back to Jerusalem from Samaria
and preaching along the way. Now an angel of
the Lord said to Philip, it's one of my favorite
stories in the whole Bible. Now an angel of the
Lord said to Philip, go south to the road, the
desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.
So he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian
eunuch, an important official in charge of all
of the treasury of Candace. What's your Bible
say? Anybody say Candace? Candace? Okay, Candace
is also, it's where we get that name, Candace,
that female name. It means the queen of Ethiopians.
This man, this eunuch, who was very, very powerful
within the Ethiopian kingdom. Super, super powerful
guy, okay, had gone to Jerusalem to worship.
And on his way home was sitting in his chariot
and he was reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
The spirit told Philip, go to the chariot and
stay near it. And Philip ran up to the chariot
and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
And Philip asks him, do you understand what you're
reading? And the eunuch says, how can I? unless
someone explains it to me. So he invited Philip
to come up and sit with him. And this is the
passage of scripture that the eunuch was reading.
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and
as a lamb before the shearer in silent, so he
did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he
was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his
descendants for his life was taken from the earth.
That is the quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah,
the 53rd chapter, verses seven and eight. The
eunuch asked Philip, tell me please, who's the
prophet talking about? Himself or someone else?
It was very interesting to me given where we
are just in the chronology of the story of the
church here in Acts. Isn't this the very story?
Isn't this the very story of the hour in the
city of Jerusalem given the death of Jesus and
the birth of this group of his followers who
claim that he's returned to life? I mean, is
it this right now the question that's on the
minds of everyone in Jerusalem? Who is the Messiah?
Who's the prophet talking about? These early
believers say, Isaiah is talking about Christ.
Those that would not believe in Jesus as the
Messiah would say, no, Isaiah is talking about
himself here. Could both be true? Absolutely.
Do I believe this to be a prophecy of the coming
of Jesus Christ the Messiah? I and a bunch of
other people would agree that that is the case.
It's very interesting right here down in Gaza
in the desert on the road with the Ethiopian
eunuch. The very question that's at the heartbeat
of the city of Jerusalem in that moment is the
question that's on his lips. And Philip began
with that very passage of scripture and told
him the good news about Jesus. And as they traveled
along the road, they came to some water, and
the eunuch said, Look, here is water. What can
stand in the way of me being baptized? And he
gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip
and the eunuch went down into the water, and
Philip baptized him. When they came up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took
Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again,
but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however,
appeared at Azatus and traveled, that's also
the modern city of Ashdod. It's about 22 miles
away from Gaza. And traveled about preaching
the gospel in all the towns until he reached
Caesarea. Okay, so we're seeing the expansion
of the gospel outside of Jerusalem proper. We've
seen it expand out of Judea. Right? And into
Sumeria, now we're even seeing it expanded to
someone from Ethiopia. Ethiopia in the upper
Nile, you have to, you may or may not know this,
but Egypt, upper and lower Nile isn't the way
we might think of it, like the uppers on the
top and the lowers at the bottom, it's actually
the opposite. So lower Egypt is the northern
part of Egypt, upper Egypt is the southern part
of Egypt, and Ethiopia is south of that. And
that kingdom, that area, to many of the people
that would have been contemporary to this time
would have thought of that as the ends of the
world, as you can imagine. So we're seeing the
promise of Christ and His story being fulfilled
just as He said here within the first eight verses
of the Acts of the Apostles. Now I want to talk
just a little bit about the eunuch. And then
we're going to zip out of the Phillips story
and we're going to zip into a Paul story or a
Saul story at this point. Now, what's the religion
of the eunuch? This is pretty crazy. Well, he's
probably not a Jew because he's a eunuch and
he couldn't have been a eunuch and been castrated.
been a Jew because they had to be whole people.
He certainly wasn't a Christian yet so he's believed
to be something that's something that's called
a prosthetolite which we somebody who fears God
recognizes like God like Yahweh as God but is
not a full convert does it hold to the dietary
laws, obviously the physical requirements of
the laws, but still would would think of themselves
as someone who feared God, which meant that they
could go to Jerusalem and worship in the outer
courts of the temple, but go in no further. So
here we have somebody, we have a convert who's
not a Gentile, okay, that's important to point
out here, he's not a Gentile because that part
of the story will become important in a little
bit. But we're seeing conversion of somebody
that's not a Gentile, certainly, not a Jew, certainly,
but somewhere, somewhere in between. So we're
beginning to see Christianity spread even ever
so slowly outside of Judaism. Okay, so chapter
nine. Now we zip Philip out, we're going to go
and look and see what's going on with. Saul right
now. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out
murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.
He went to those high priests in Jerusalem and
he asked for letters of introduction so that
he may go hunt Christians in Damascus. High priests
in Jerusalem would not have had power over the
priests in Damascus, but it would have been more
of a letter, not a letter, a writ like he's got
a warrant, but more like a letter of introduction
saying, hey, this is one of our guys, he's up
there doing something for us, recognize his authority,
but with a please. It's not an order. It's more
of an act of introduction. So he gets this letter
from the high priests in Jerusalem and goes and
heads towards Damascus so that he was to find
anyone who followed the way. That's what they
call Christianity at this very early moment.
The following Christianity becomes the way. Whether
men or women, he might take them as prisoners
and bring them back to Jerusalem. Now on his
way to Damascus on his journey suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him He fell to the
ground and he heard a voice say to him Saul Saul.
Why do you persecute me? Who are you Lord now
Lord here doesn't mean Jesus Christ as Lord.
It means sir Okay, so Who are you sir? It's basically
what Saul is saying So let's pause here. So I
want to note a few things So if Paul was heading
to Damascus to look for Christians, that would
meant that at least Christianity we now know
has spread to Damascus. That's about 135 miles
away in a fairly pedestrian society. Of course,
there are chariots and horses and camels that
were beasts of burden that were ridden, but still
drastically, overwhelmingly a pedestrian society.
That means 135 miles would be about 60 hours
of walking. Just to kind of give you an idea
of the distance now that we're talking about
Christianity spreading outside of Jerusalem and
even Nazareth proper, get the Galilee. I am Jesus,
Jesus says, whom you are persecuting. Now get
up. and go into the city and you'll be told what
to do." The men who were traveling with Saul
stood there speechless because they heard the
sound but they didn't see anybody. Saul got up
from the ground but when he opened his eyes he
could see nothing. So they led him by the hand
into Damascus and for three days he was blind
and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus
there was a disciple by the name of Ananias.
The Lord called to him in a vision, Ananias.
And just like Samuel answers as a young boy back
in the temple in 1 Samuel, when the Lord calls
to him, he says the exact same thing. Yes, Lord.
The Lord told him, go to the house of Judas,
not the Judas, but Judas on straight street.
This is the main east and west thoroughfare through
the city of Jerusalem. And ask for a man from
Tarsus. named Saul that's his hometown for he's
praying in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come and place his hands on him and restore his
sight. Lord Ananias answered I've heard many
reports about this man and all the harm he's
done to your holy people in Jerusalem and he's
come here with the authority from the chief priest
remember in Jerusalem to arrest all who call
your name so not only has Christianity spread
all the way to Damascus But the persecution by
Saul, the stories of what Saul's doing to wreck
the church has also made it that far. Now I want
you to turn with me just for a second to Acts
26. Acts 26. Paul, you might know there's a good
amount of tension between Paul and Peter. Peter
being the rock upon Jesus says he'll build his
church and Paul kind of comes along and ends
up writing a third of the New Testament there's
a rivalry between these two guys and one of the
arguments that Peter would say if he was petty
and Human like me, but he's not but if he was
he would say something like look Paul's only
got that one story about him seeing Jesus in
Damascus And he tells that story every time you're
turning around I was actually with Jesus. I would
suspect Peter would say if he was like me, but
he wasn't. And sure enough, he's got a point,
because every time Paul turns around, Paul's
retelling the story. And here we see Paul telling
the story in Acts 26 verse 12. And the reason
why I want to point something out here is because
he says something in this retelling of the story
that Luke doesn't include in his version in chapter
9. So beginning with verse 12 Paul says one of
these journeys I was going to Damascus with the
authority and commission of the chief priests
verse 13 about noon King Agrippa as I was on
the road I saw a light from heaven brighter than
the Sun blazing around me and my companions and
we fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying
to me in Aramaic or Hebrew if you have a footnote
there Saul Saul why do you persecute me and then
here's the extra sentence It is hard for you
to kick against the goats. And then I ask, who
are you Lord? And you can flip back there into
Acts 9 if you want. I'll explain. Kicking against
the goats. Anybody have any idea what an ox goat
is? It is a long pointed stick that a farmer
would use to prod the oxen as they plow the field.
and the oxen if it knows what's good for it will
take direction from the ox goad and go the way
that they're being prodded because if they decide
to kick against the ox goad they get stuck with
the stick and it's interesting that Paul includes
this part this additional words of Jesus because
I think it tells us something perhaps significant
in the mind of Saul even as he's persecuting
Christians because if indeed Jesus says this
to him what Jesus is basically saying is you
know in your heart that I'm the truth why are
you fighting it why are you fighting this Saul
you're a smart guy you know that I'm telling
the truth let go of your pride Let go of your
position. Let go of whatever value you put on
all of the things you are and you've accomplished.
Remember, every time Paul turns around, he's
saying, I was of the tribe of Benjamin. I was
a Pharisee and I held all the dietary laws. He'd
really love to list off all of these things that
he was and that he had accomplished until he
met Christ and he realized all of that is garbage.
Christ is the only thing that matters and I think
it's in this moment perhaps he for the first
time comes to that realization But the Lord said
to back to 9 verse 15 But the Lord said to Ananias
go this man is my chosen instrument to proclaim
my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to
the people of Israel I will show him how much
he must suffer for my name sure enough he will.
Then Ananias went to the house in Internet placing
his hands on Saul. He said brother Saul the Lord
Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you
were coming here sent me so you may see again
and be filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately
something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and
he could see again. He got up and was baptized
and after taking some food he regained his strength.
Remember he hadn't eaten. for that time period,
right? And I think that this is a part of the
conversion process. The realization that my physical
body must go be put on hold while my spiritual
body is hungry. His spiritual body is fed. Then
he's able to eat and regain his strength. Seems
to be a lot of that. That's a fairly common message
throughout the scripture. So I want to give you
absolute authority that if you feel like you
would just feel spiritually better by eating
that chocolate cake, go ahead and do it. Regain
your strength. Saul spent several days with the
disciples in Damascus at once he began to preach
in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God
and all of those who heard him were astonished
and asked, is it he the man? who raised havoc
in Jerusalem among those who call on this name
and has it he come to take the prisoners back
to the chief priest yet Saul grew even more powerful
and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving
that Jesus is the Messiah. Now we go down to
verse 23 which says after many days have gone
by and I just want everybody to take a shot.
How many days do you think many days gone by
here is? It's two years. Two years worth of many
days. He spends in Arabia. Now that's not modern
day Saudi Arabia. That's going to be an area
that's south and east of the Levant or Palestine.
So he's basically getting out of Palestine where
there's serious heat for what's going on with
who he is. Because there was a conspiracy among
the Jews to kill him. But Saul had learned of
his plan. Day and night they kept close watch
on the city gates in order to kill him. But his
followers took him by night and lowered him into
a basket through an opening in the walls. He
was able to come in in the cover of darkness
back into the city and preach and teach to believers.
Now, when he came to Jerusalem, so this is some
time later. Anybody want to take an idea how
long it was some time later when he came to Jerusalem?
Three years. So in these two paragraphs spans
five years of time. So three years later he tries
to join up with the disciples but as you can
imagine even five years later they were all afraid
of him. Not believing that he really was a disciple
but Barnabas took him and brought him to the
apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey
had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken
to him. and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly
in the name of Jesus. So Saul did stay with them
and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking
boldly in the name of the Lord. And he talked
and debated with, what does your Bible say? Who
does he debate with? Greek -speaking Jews, Hellenistic
Jews, yeah? Is that about the same thing? Greek
-speaking or Hellenistic Jews, but they tried
to kill him, so. Here we have Saul back in Jerusalem.
This is the first time he's been back in Jerusalem
since his conversion. And being Saul, he begins
preaching and teaching and who's he arguing with?
Hellenistic Jews. Now when we last saw Saul in
Jerusalem, what was happening? Stoning of Stephen.
Who was mad at Stephen? the Hellenistic Jews
were mad at Stephen. Why? Right? Because Stephen
was saying that Jesus had risen from the dead
and that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means
you're the temple now not the building anymore.
Two things that Hellenistic Jews really don't
like. And here I find it just beautifully poetic
that here we find Saul the last time he is in
Jerusalem he has voted to have Stephen stoned
for fighting with the Hellenistic Jews. It even
holds onto the people's coats while they stone
Stephen. And then when he comes back to Jerusalem,
not only has he converted, he's taken the place
of Stephen and is making the same arguments about
Jesus. And I think that's just incredibly fascinating.
Verse 30 says, when the believers learned of
this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent
him off to Tarsus, again, that's his hometown.
And then the church, throughout Judea, Galilee
and Samaria, enjoyed a time of peace and was
strengthened, okay? It increased in number. So
we get to verse 10, as Peter, oh, not yet, Peter's
gonna tie us into the next story, we're gonna
have a Peter story. As Peter traveled about the
country, he went to visit the Lord's people who
lived in Lido. It's about a 10 hour walk from
Jerusalem, verse 10, okay? Chapter 10, right?
That concludes with Peter doing various healings,
right? Story about Peter doing some healing.
We're gonna skip through that because we wanna
get all the way to 12 tonight. So that's Peter
doing his job. Paul, zip out on Paul, zoom in
on Peter. Peter's doing his job, healing, preaching,
and teaching the good news. But this is the turning
point. This is where we actually see something
ginormous take place in verse 10. Because now
we're going to have to really come to grips with
the fact that the kingdom of God is not just
for God's chosen people, but it is for all the
peoples of the world. And it's going to be a
guy that's going to be by the name of Cornelius
that's going to set this whole thing in motion.
At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius.
Now he was a centurion in what was known as the
Italian regiment. So he's a Roman soldier. But
he and all of his family were devout and God
fearing. So he is clearly, clearly not of Jewish
origin or religion, but he recognizes God. He
is devout. So this is going to be somebody that's
going to be now a Gentile. of the Greek -speaking
world that is not a Jew that is working their
way towards God. He gave generously to those
in need. He prayed to God regularly. And one
day, at about three in the afternoon, he had
a vision. And he distinctly saw an angel of God
who came to him and said, Cornelius. Cornelius
stared at him in fear, as we all would. What
is it, Lord? The angel answered, your prayers
and gifts to the poor have come up. as a memorial
offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to
bring back a man named Simon who's called Peter.
He's staying with Simon the tanner whose house
is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him
had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants
to the devout soldier who were his attendants
and he told them everything that had happened
and about Joppa. About noon the following day
as they were on their journey approaching the
city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became
hungry and wanted something to eat. And while
the meal was being prepared, he, Peter, fell
into a trance. And in this trance, he saw heaven
open in something like a large sheet being let
down to earth by its four corners. And it contained
all kinds of four -footed animals, as well as
reptiles and birds. Your Bible might say birds
of the air and beasts of the field. Then a voice
told him get up Peter kill and eat time Okay
Peter is a devout Jew and he is going to hold
strictly to the the dietary laws that are found
within the vertical law Which makes food based
on the type of animal or the type of hoof that
the animal house either clean or unclean and
not only would he not eat the unclean animals,
anybody who ate the unclean animals were also
unclean to Peter. But Peter's had a vision from
God who's telling him something very, very important.
I give food, I give, we need food to survive.
I give life to the world, God is saying to Peter.
And he's saying, I give all kinds of life to
the world. And Peter continues on, he says, I'm
not going to kill these animals and eat them
because I've never eaten anything impure or unclean.
Right? The voice said do not call anything impure
that God has made clean and this happened three
times. And immediately the sheet was taken back
to heaven. And obviously the context of the growth
of the church out of Jewish ethnicity and religious
belief to the wider world, we probably could
see the fairly apparent meaning of this vision.
That God has a purpose and a relationship with
all of His creation. Not just the clean ones,
not just the unclean ones, but all. There's no
more clean or unclean unless I say, it's not
your job to decide who gets to have a relationship
with God and who doesn't. I'll take care of that,
God says to Peter. When Peter was wondering about
the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius
found out where Simon's house was and stopped
at the gate and they called out, asked if Simon,
who was known as Peter, was staying there. When
Peter was still thinking about the vision, the
spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking
for you, so go get them and go downstairs. Do
not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent
them. Also another commonality with these stories
that we see within acts that regard visions where
the kind of the same vision comes to both groups
I believe is a way of confirmation Right you're
gonna have a vision from God that's gonna tell
you this And also about this good then the vision
is gonna come to this person too. So when you
both meet Right vision from God. Yeah, I know
I got the same thing But that's odd. I think's
happen here So Peter went down and said to the
men, I'm the one you're looking for. Why have
you come? And the men replied, we have come from
Cornelius the Centurion. He is a righteous and
God -fearing man. He's respected by all the Jewish
people. And an angel told him to ask you to come
to his house so that he could hear what you have
to say. Peter then invited the men into his house,
into the house to be his guests. So the next
day Peter started out with them and some of the
believers from Joppa went along with him. And
the following day, it's about a day's walk, he
arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting
them and had called together his relatives and
close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius
met him and fell at his feet in reverence, but
Peter made him get up. Peter said, I'm only a
man myself. And while talking with him, Peter
went inside and found a large gathering of people.
He said to them, you are well aware that it is
against our law for a Jew to associate or to
visit a Gentile. And not only a Gentile, but
I've shown up to a house full of you people,
probably using the term you people. But God has
shown me that I should not call anyone impure
or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without
raising objection. May I ask why you've sent
me? Cornelius answered three days ago, I was
in my house praying at this hour, at three in
the afternoon, and suddenly, A man in shining
clothes stood beside me and said, Cornelius,
God has heard your prayer and remembered your
gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa, for Simon has
called Peter. He's the guest, the home of Simon
the tanner who lives by the sea. So I immediately
sent for you, and it was good of you to come.
Now, we are all here in the presence of God to
listen to everything the Lord has commanded you
to tell us. Peter begins to speak, and I realize
how true it is that God does not show favoritism.
but accepts from every nation the one who fears
him and does what's right. You know the message
God sent to the people of Israel, announcing
the good news of peace through Jesus Christ who
is the Lord of all. You know what has happened
throughout the province of Judea, beginning in
Galilee after the baptism that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Spirit and power, and how he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power
of the devil because God was with him. We are
witnesses of everything He did in the country
of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And they killed
Him by hanging Him on a cross. But God raised
Him from the dead on the third day and caused
Him to be seen. He was not seen by all people,
but by witnesses whom God had already chosen,
by us who ate and drank with Him after He had
rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach
to the people and to testify that he is the one
whom God has appointed as judge of the living
and the dead. All the prophets testify about
him that everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins through his name. If you
have to wonder, I wonder what these apostles
and these evangelists must have said to these
people to convince them to become Christians.
That's it. That is theology, not 101, that's
theology one. That's the beginning of Christian
thought right there. Peter is explaining everything
that is important to belief in Christ in that
moment, at that very beginning. Anything that
we have added to or taken away thousands of years
later from this message is our fault. Because
that's the story and that's really all that should
be needed. While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard
the message. The circumcised believers who had
come with Peter were astonished that the gift
of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on
Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues
and praising God. Then Peter said, surely no
one could stand in the way of their being baptized
with water. They've received the Holy Spirit
just as we have. So he ordered that they be baptized
in the name of Jesus and they asked Peter to
stay with them for a few days and that is the
first conversion of Gentiles into the Christian
Church and the Apostles and the believers Throughout
Judea heard that the Gentiles had received the
Word of God so But Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers criticized him He comes
back to the church in Jerusalem and they go,
have you lost your mind? Not only did you leave
and go visit one of them, you went into a house
of them? And then you baptized them? These uncircumcised
men? And you ate with them? And Peter says, you
guys are not going to believe this, but I've
had a vision. And I saw with its four corners
coming down, and I saw four footed animals on
the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, birds. And
he recounts the entire story. And he recounts
the fact that God had instructed him, the voice
from heaven had instructed him, don't call anything
impure that God has made clean. And it happened
three times and it was pulled up to heaven again.
Right then three men who had been sent from Caesarea
stopped to the house. and he retells the entire
story, but this is so, so important because this
is not just a retelling of his adventures, but
this is Peter's confirmation to the church that
the church is to accept Jews and Gentiles alike.
So we get kind of down to the last part of 11
there, beginning with 22, right? So here this
great story of Peter and Cornelius. And we're
actually fortunate enough to kind of have the
same story told to us two times in a row. And
then Peter zips back out of focus and Paul back
into focus. News of this reached the church in
Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
When he arrived, he saw the grace of God, what
the grace of God had done. He was glad and encouraged
them to remain true to the Lord with all their
hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit
and faith and a great number of people were brought
to the Lord. Then Barnabas, remember where we
left Saul? Then Barnabas went to Tarsus, his
hometown, to look for him. When he found him,
he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year,
Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught
them in great numbers. And the disciples were
called Christians first at Antioch. And that
is the very first time the word Christian is
ever used to describe the followers of Jesus
Christ. During the time this time some prophets
come down from Jerusalem to Antioch One of them
was named Agabus and he stood up through the
spirit predicted that there'd be a severe famine
that would spread over the entire Roman world
and sure enough Remember Luke is writing this
after the fact probably in 66 67 AD And so when
he says does your Bible have in parentheses this
happened during the reign of Claudius? Yeah This
happened during the reign of Claudius and his
reign as Roman Emperor was from AD 41 to 54.
So Luke is kind of saying, hey, by the way, there's
a prophecy in here amongst these early believers
that sure enough came true. So we're gonna end
with 12th. I'm gonna tell you this story about
this weird guy named King Herod. And then we're
going to put it into this and then our next time
we're gonna actually see the missionary journeys
begin. the trips out to places to found churches.
It was about this time that King Herod Agrippa
I, this is Herod the Great's grandson. Okay,
so there's King Herod, then there's King Herod
Antipas, then there's King Herod Agrippa I. He
had arrested some people that belonged to the
church and he wanted to persecute them. He had
James the brother of John put to death the sword.
And when he saw that this had the approval among
the Jews, he got Peter arrested too. And this
happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
That's that week before the actual Passover.
We call it Passover week, but it's not. That
final culminating meal is Passover. The week
before it is the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
So this is during Easter time for us Christians
again. Peter's arrested, he gets put in prison,
and he's guarded by four squads of four soldiers,
16 soldiers guarding Peter. And he was gonna
bring him out for public trial, but he was gonna
wait until after the Passover feast. So he was
in prison, and the people, the believers, were
all praying to God for Peter. And the night before
he was gonna bring him out to trial, Peter was
sleeping between two of the soldiers. bound with
chains and sentries stood guard at the entrance
and suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and
a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on
the side and woke him up and said, quick, get
up. And the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then
the angel said to him, put your clothes and sandals
on. Peter did this. Wrap your clothes around
you and follow me. That's angels very bossy.
Then the angel told Peter followed him out of
the prison. He had no idea what the angel was.
He didn't really think it was really happening
because he thought it was a vision. And then
they passed through the first and second guards
and then they came to the iron gate leading to
the city and it opened up by itself and went
through it. And when they walked the length of
one street certain suddenly the angel was gone.
And Peter then came to himself and, oh, now I
know without a doubt the Lord has sent his angel
and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from
everything the Jewish people were hoping would
happen. When this had dawned on him, he went
to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also
called Mark." John, Mark, the writer of the gospel
account of Mark, his mother's house, perhaps
where they were all hiding out on the day of
Pentecost. I happen to believe not only were
they hiding out on the day of Pentecost, but
it is actually in her upper room in which they
had the Last Supper. Just happens to be my personal
belief. But he knows where to go because that's
where all the Christians, that is ground central,
that is the campaign headquarters for Christianity
right here at John Mark's house. My favorite
story, just because of the visual image of it,
they were gathered there praying and Peter knocked
on the outer entrance. There's an outside door
and then a courtyard and then an inner door in
most houses in the Middle East. So he's knocking
on this outside door and a servant named Rhoda
came to answer the door but she recognized this
Peter and she was so overjoyed she ran back and
didn't even bother to open the door and exclaimed
it's Peter at the door. Now you would imagine
they would have all thought Rhoda you've lost
your mind right because he's in prison or he's
dead and if he's dead it's his angel so he's
dead but Peter kept on knocking. When they opened
the door they saw him and they were astonished.
Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet.
Again, it's so beautiful if you can see him kind
of like quiet. And describe to them how the Lord
brought him out of prison. Tell James a little
bit late for James, right? James is gone. And
the other brothers and sisters about this and
he left for another place. In the next morning
there was no small commotion among the soldiers
about what had become of Peter. had a thorough
search made, and when they didn't find the people,
they executed the soldiers, which was the custom
at that time. But love the story of Rhoda here
because Peter is able to escape a company of
16 soldiers. He's able to be unchained. He walks
through two gates to get out of the prison, and
then the gate to the city opens up by itself,
but he can't get into John Mark's house because
Rhoda won't open the door. Kind of a funny story
there. I can't help but think that that's not
intended to be funny. So next week we're going
to watch as Paul will begin what is known as
the missionary journeys as he leaves and takes
extended trips to plant churches outside of outside
of the the immediate area. Any questions? Well,
they didn't change. You have it. I hope that
episode was as enjoyable for you to listen to
as it was for me to prepare for in the coming
parts. We're going to be looking at how this
early movement of Christianity not only becomes
a global, multicultural, multi -ethnic movement,
but also one that begins to destabilize political
entities without any actual force. It's going
to be a fantastic transition in the early life
of the church. I hope you'll come back and see
us for part six. Hey, before I go, I just want
to take a second to say thank you for listening.
And if you like what we're doing here at the
semi seminary, and if you could take just a moment
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blessing