Remember the Titans? Maybe you've seen it before.
Hopefully you have. If you haven't, the challenge
for you this afternoon is to go home and watch
it. In 2000, this movie came out telling the
story of three Virginia high schools being forced
to integrate. Most famously in this true story,
the integration of a football team. And so you
had these black football players and these white
football players all thrown onto one team. And
you now had coaches that didn't want to work
together because you had black coaches that didn't
want to work with the white coaches. And you
had black players that didn't want to play for
the white coaches and white players that didn't
want to play for the black coaches. And this
issue that not only was a part of the football
team dynamic early on, just this fighting, but
it was in the community. The community hated
this. The community, they didn't like it. They
didn't want to see this. happen. And these two
main characters, Gary Bertier and Julius Campbell,
they were the most notable in their despise for
each other. Early on in the movie, you see them
fighting and they get put in a room together
and they fight over, you know, a poster that
Julius wanted to put on the wall that kind of
offended Gary. And he's like, I don't want to
see that. And you have this issue until eventually,
as you see in the clip, these enemies. become
brothers these guys that society had told for
a century that they should not like each other
they now see themselves as family these people
that society had told each other that they should
hate each other they see themselves as family
And I thought this story was relevant to today's
message because what we see in Acts chapter 10
is a very similar case of a group of people breaking
down barriers that society had created. And remember
the Titans, you see this division of black people
and white people. But in Acts chapter 10, it's
a division of Jews and Gentiles. In either case,
it's wrong and it's not in God's design for humanity.
We can look all the way back to Genesis chapter
12. When God first called Abraham, he says to
Abraham, in you, all the families of the earth
shall be blessed. Okay, I need to say this reminder
for my members here. One day we're gonna get
this on autopilot, but if it's underlined, I
need you to read it along with me because that's
how I know you're awake. Also, there's something
to be said about saying it out loud, okay? So
we're gonna read that again. If it's underlined,
I'd love for you to read along with me. In you,
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
All the families, not one nation, not one type
of person, all of them. So when we get to Acts
chapter 10 and God starts tearing down the wall
between Jew and Gentile, he's not changing his
mind. This isn't something new that God decided
to do. He's keeping a promise that he had made
thousands of years before. And so what we're
going to see today is how God remedies this division
in Acts 10. But first, I want to give you some
context. So at this point in the story of the
early church, our good friend Peter, he's hiding
out in a place called Joppa. He's living with
a man named Simon, who's a tanner. He works with
dead animals. He works with these dead animal
skins, trying to make leather out of them. And
I want you to know, and we'll talk about it later,
that Joppa is relevant. That place that Peter
is in is very relevant to this story. And you
don't know why, but I'll tell you later. Also
of note is we meet someone named Cornelius. Cornelius
is a Roman centurion, which means he's a Gentile.
But he's not some awful person like you might
assume when you hear Roman centurion or when
you hear Gentile. Cornelius is described as a
God -fearer. He's described as someone who's
devout to God, someone who is not just a Jew,
but he devotes his life to being righteous in
the sight of God. He gives, he prays, he makes
sacrifices. So he is described as a God -fearer.
Well, Cornelius has a vision, and as we see in
chapter 10, an angel appears to him, and he says
this to him in verses 4 through 6. Your prayers
and your alms have ascended as a memorial before
God, and now send men to Joppa and bring one
Simon who is called Peter. He's lodging with
one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.
So Cornelius, being a devout, God -fearing man,
he listens and he sends three men to go to Joppa
to go find Peter. And as they travel to Peter,
Peter himself has a vision. And Peter goes up
to the roof of this house that he's staying in.
He's going up there to pray. And I can only imagine
why he would want to get out of the house and
go up on the rooftop to pray. Probably because
the house smelled terrible because, you know,
dead animal skins, right? So Peter goes up on
the rooftop to pray. But while he's up there,
he gets hungry. And his hunger puts him into
a sleep. And he falls into this trance. And here's
what Scripture tells us he saw in verses 11 through
15. He fell into a trance, and he saw the heavens
open, and something like a great sheet descending,
being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles
and birds of the air. And there came a voice
to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter
said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten
anything that is common or unclean. And the voice
came to him again a second time, What God has
made clean do not call common. And then in verse
16, it tells us that he saw this happen. three
times. Now, I want you to notice what's happening
here, and to help you with that, I want to go
back and touch on the significance of where this
is happening to Peter. Peter's staying with Simon
the Tanner. Now, like we said, dead animal skins.
If you know Jewish history, you know the Jewish
tradition, then you will know that a Jewish person
was made unclean by coming in contact with dead
animals. Not only was the Jewish person made
unclean, but anybody living in their house became
unclean. And for a Jewish person, there was nothing
worse than being unclean because if you're unclean,
you mess up your chance of being with community.
You also mess up your chance of being in community
with God. And so for Peter to be living with
Simon the Tanner, he is putting himself in a
place where he is now unclean. And that may not
seem significant to you, but for me, what it
shows is Peter, a proud... Jew, for him to live
with Simon the Tanner means that he is starting
to grow up a little bit in his spiritual life.
Because Peter is starting to get over the old
law and starting to realize that Jesus has changed
everything. But it seems that Peter hasn't fully
arrived yet because as he's having this vision,
he's not quite sure if he, well actually he is
sure that he cannot partake of some of these
animals. He says, God, I can't eat those things
because You made it unclean. Back in the law
of Moses, it was unclean for me to touch or eat
those animals. And God says, hey, if I said it's
clean, you can eat it. If I say it's clean, if
I say it's okay, if I say it's good, you can
go there. You're not bound to what was. And so
Peter, the Christian that he is, is growing up.
He's starting to really learn the Jesus way,
the way that has separated itself, that has really
come a long way from that old law. As Paul says
later in one of his letters, he says, the old
law was given to us as a guardian. It was given
to us as a temporary caretaker to make sure we
stayed in right standing with God. But now that
Jesus has come, now that the good news has come,
we're not bound to that anymore. And so here...
Peter's in this unclean home when he receives
this vision, and he remembers that he's getting
this vision, or as he's getting this vision,
as Gentile men are on their way to see him. And
what the message of this dream is, is God has
made it clean. And so hold on to that. As Peter
is seeing all these animals, he's looking at
it. He's doubting. He's not quite sure. But he's
getting this message. He's getting this message
that we need to apply, not just to food, that
we need to apply not just to traditions, not
just to places, but we need to apply this to
people. God has made these things clean. We can
apply this to people. We can apply this to all
these things that used to make Jews distinguishable,
that used to make Jews one of a kind. All of
these things, we apply it, and we see that God
sends this message to Peter that things are very
different now. And then in verses 17 through
18, Cornelius' men show up, and they're looking
for Peter. And I want you to see what happens
in verse 19. And this is probably... My favorite
part of this story, and as I explain it a little
bit more, some of that context about Joppa, I
think it'll become maybe your favorite part as
well. Verse 19, while Peter was pondering the
vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three
men are looking for you. Rise and go down and
accompany them without hesitation, for I have
sent them. And Peter does exactly what he's told.
He goes, he talks to these guys, they tell him
why they're there, and then he goes with them.
He goes with them to Cornelius. He's going to
this man that for a while he would have seen
as unclean. He would have seen this man as undeserving
or unworthy of, one, his presence, but also of
God. And so Peter goes and he brings other disciples
along with him. And now I want you to remember,
I told you Joppa was relevant. Well, here's why.
Do you remember that old story about a guy named
Jonah? And how God told Jonah to go to the people
of Nineveh and tell them and preach to them really.
And so Jonah is given this call from God and
he's told to go somewhere, go to a people that
are not Jews, but they are Gentiles, a people
that are unclean, a people that are not worthy.
God tells Jonah to go there. But does Jonah go
there right away? No. What does Jonah do? He
gets on a boat and he goes the other way. Well,
do you know where Jonah got on that boat? Anybody
want to take a guess? Joppa. Jonah gets on the
boat in Joppa. See, right here in the book of
Acts, centuries later, Peter has the same decision
to make as Jonah did. Obey God, go to the Gentiles,
and preach to them. But see, Jonah resisted.
Jonah ran from his calling. Jonah was led by
his fear, and so he didn't do what God called
him to do. But Peter, on the other hand, as we
see in verse 19, Peter is led by the Spirit.
And so the Spirit leads Peter to go where he's
called, and ultimately Peter's obedience is what
brings the good news to the Gentiles. Now, the
reason I told you it's one of my favorite parts
of the story is because Jonah didn't have the
Spirit leading him. Jonah was led by his own
feelings. He was led by his own doubts and desires,
his own fears. But Peter is now led by this thing
that Jesus sent us as a gift to help us along
our way, the Spirit, capital S, Holy Spirit.
And so Peter is easily available. And he's easily
ready to obey. The Holy Spirit makes a world
of difference in our lives, does it not? And
that's important context because we have to know
that there is only one way that barriers can
be broken down. It's not by my good knowledge.
It's not by your wisdom. It's not by your courageousness.
It is only by the Holy Spirit. that we can do
the unthinkable. And I think we're a church trending
in that direction. I can say that because a year
ago today, well, this week, my family and I moved
here to this 98 % white county to be the minister
at a 99 % white church. And guess what? We're
doing okay. And I think we're having a really
good time. Yeah. And so I think we're trending
in the right direction of being that Jesus church,
the barrier breaking church. And you welcomed
us. You've taken care of us. You've made us family.
And that's not normal. Sadly, it's not natural.
By every measure the world uses, this shouldn't
be a thing. Because we're too different. And
in the world, we go where we're the same, right?
We work with people that are like us. We hang
out with people that are like us. We spend time
with people that are like us. And the world tells
us if we're too different, we got to divide,
right? I mean, that's what the world has been
doing. And we've seen it a lot in the last 10
or so years, this division over these things
that truly should not divide us, but they do.
They create barriers. But in this church, We
are trending in this direction, and I hope we
will keep going in this direction until we are
completely perfect in it. But the Holy Spirit
is among these people leading us to a unity that
I believe makes God happy. Just like Julius and
Gary in Remember the Titans, we look at this
difference that society and Satan say should
divide us, yet we call each other brother and
sister. Yet we look at each other and we see
a family resemblance because of the work of the
Holy Spirit. And as much as I want to just sit
here and applaud us, I also have to be very honest
and say that we're not perfect. And we still
have the barriers. We still have these things
that are dividing us both individually and communally.
We know that there are other dividing lines.
And I want you to sit there and ask yourself
for just a moment, what is your barrier? What
is the thing that's kept you from going to a
certain person or a certain people group and
reaching them with the gospel? These lines that
are even more pressing for our context, like
socioeconomic status or political divides or
cultural divides, gender divides, generational
divides. What is the thing for you? I know what
the thing is for me. It's the cultural. Like
I would have a very hard time connecting with
people up north. Because I'm just like, I'm just
a good old Southern boy. And I know what I like.
And I know what I know. I know my culture. And
it's hard for me. I also know, like somebody
was telling me the other day that they like that
I use football references in my sermons. But
I know there's a lot of people that don't. They
don't connect with that. Which is why I try to
like find other ways to connect. But that's a
divide that I have to be mindful of. And so for
you. And for us as a church, we need to ask ourselves,
what are the things that are still dividing us?
Socioeconomic is one that I sit on because sometimes
you see the guy sitting on the side of the road,
and we don't have a really big homeless problem
here in Union County, but where we just moved
from in Montgomery, there's a lot of homeless
people. And it's very easy for me to just keep
driving. It's very easy for me to just... Make
sure they don't, you know, if we make eye contact,
now I got to engage with them. But if I never
make eye contact, they're not there, right? And
that's something that I don't think Christ loves.
I don't think it represents the Jesus church.
And so that's a barrier that I need to knock
down. But I'm not strong or smart enough. I need
the Spirit. We've got Gentiles all around us
that we aren't reaching. people that are not
like us, that we are not reaching. And to put
it plainly, some of us are being a little more
like Jonah than we are like Peter. And so this
morning I'm begging you and I'm begging myself
to be like Peter because when you are like Peter,
when you are led by the Holy Spirit, good things
happen. I want you to watch what happens in verses
34 through 35. Peter goes to Cornelius and Cornelius
has all these people gathered. Cornelius is ready.
He is ready for Peter to come and say whatever
it is that God sent him there to say. He's ready
to hear what God has in store for them. And Peter,
in his obedience to the Spirit, starts preaching.
And this is what happens. Peter opens his mouth
and says, In layman's term, Peter says, I get
it now. I understand. Thousands of years after
the promise to Abraham, Peter, a Jew who had
been raised a certain way, who had been raised
with certain traditions, with certain cultures,
with certain rules, these do's and don'ts of
our religion, Peter looks at these people and
he says, I understand now that God does not care
who you are, where you're from, what you've done.
If you love God, if you fear God and you do what
is right in the eyes of God, you too. can be
saved. That God really does mean, as he said
in Genesis 12, all families on the earth. He
says, I understand that God doesn't care. The
gospel is available to you. And if you're in
this room and you've never taken that step of
obeying the gospel and becoming a child of God
and giving your life to Christ, if you've never
accepted that free gift of salvation, I want
you to know whatever it is that's holding you
back, the gospel is available to you. I don't
care how far you feel you have fallen. I don't
care how messed up you think your life is. The
good news that Christ came to save all people
on this earth and bring them into his family,
that news is available to you. Then he goes on
to actually preach the gospel of Jesus Christ
because he says the gospel is available to you,
but you need to know what that is. And so he
tells them about this Jesus coming to the earth
to die, to rise again for the salvation of all
who would give their lives to him. And then in
verses 44 through 48, this is incredible. And
I hope you love this as much as I do. While Peter
was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit
fell on all who heard the word. And the believers
from among the circumcised who had come with
Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy
Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for
they were hearing them speaking in tongues and
extolling God. Then Peter declared, Can anyone
withhold water for baptizing these people who
have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ. See, Peter preaches this great
sermon a lot shorter than the sermon I'm preaching,
but that's not important. Peter preaches this
great sermon to them. And as he's preaching,
the Holy Spirit comes down on them. And the Gentiles,
they were then too given this amazing gift that
Christ had promised. And the Jews there, they're
amazed as if they hadn't truly understood that
this gift would be available for all people.
And now some of you, you may notice something
here. You may notice. That in this story, the
Holy Spirit comes to these people before they're
baptized. And you may think, that doesn't make
a lot of sense. Well, I think in this story,
this is my best understanding of it. That this
is God trying to make a point. Not make a point
to Cornelius, but to make a point to those Jewish
believers standing there with Peter. God himself
puts a stamp of approval on these people, on
these Gentiles, so that no one could argue whether
they belonged or not. And that's exactly Peter's
argument in verse 47 when he says, can anyone
withhold water from these people who've received
the Holy Spirit just as we have? It's like God
said, hey, there's no way around this. I'm making
this happen. In other words, God already accepted
them. So who are we to refuse them? And I want
you again to think about those divides. Those
things that are keeping you from reaching certain
people or certain people groups, certain communities,
certain countries. Those barriers that are standing
in the way when God says, I don't want the barrier
there. I just want you to bring the gospel to
them. I've accepted them. I've offered this gift
freely to them. You just need to go do your part.
And then, like every story in the New Testament
of someone coming to Christ, they are baptized.
They're brought into the family of God. These
Jewish Christian men now have brothers and sisters
who just a few years ago, they would have cursed
the ground they walked on. They have family now
that they would have never imagined they would
even walk in the same rooms as. And that's because
the Jesus way is taking effect. The Jesus way
tears down those dividing walls. It brings all
kinds of people, all kinds of people groups together
to form the Jesus church. It does something radical
that transforms the world around it. That is
what the church does. It looks at society's messed
up systems and it says, there's a better way.
It looks at society's messed up dividers and
says, we don't want those. In our Father's house,
everyone is welcome. And it's not because we
are so compassionate. It's not because we're
so considerate and so wise. It is only because
when the Jesus way is in play, the division,
the oppression cannot stay. When the Spirit is
working, when the Spirit is among us, there is
no partiality because that's not the way of God.
And so I want you to think about Peter and Cornelius
as we tie it all together. These two men. These
two different backgrounds, these two different
visions, but now they're united under one God
with one Lord and one baptism. They've been brought
into one family. You see, that's what the Jesus
Church looks like. It looks like a church that's
not divided over all these trivial earthly matters,
but rather united in the one thing that does
matter, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so this morning, I'm going to ask you a hard
question, and I hope you think about it honestly.
Who's the Gentile in your life? Who's the person
that you've decided is just too different? Who
you've decided is too far gone? Who's the person
you've decided is not the type of person that
you care to bother reaching? You know, the person
that you've said, oh, somebody else can reach
them. That's somebody else's demographic to reach.
Who's the Gentile in your life? And I don't want
you to just figure out who the Gentile is, but
I want you to do something about it. I hear all
the time, that was such a great sermon, that
was such a great sermon, and some of it is just
y 'all trying to inflate my ego or make me feel
good. But when you say that, I want to say to
you, okay, well, do something about it. If it
was so good, if it was so convicting, go do something
about it. On Monday, what does your life look
like after this 30 -minute sermon on Sunday?
On Tuesday, what does your life look like? What
does my life look like? Has it changed? Or did
I just waste 30 minutes of my life listening
to somebody talk? So find your Gentile, who that
person is, and then go reach them. We've got
to stop hearing sermons and think, oh, that was
so good, and then doing nothing. We need to respond
to whatever conviction is in our heart, whatever
stirring the Holy Spirit is doing, and then go
be obedient. Call that person. Have a meal with
them. Just talk to them. Do something to reach
that person. Get on the boat and go to Nineveh.
Follow these people and go to the Gentiles. Do
something with this word. If you've been allowing
the world to divide you. if you've been allowing
the world to get in between you and those who
God wants you to reach, if you've been allowing
divisions to stand between you and those that
God wants to be a part of his family, or if you
felt like you just need to accept the call to
join God's one family. Whatever it is that you
need to do, however you need to respond this
morning, and I know there's somebody that needs
to respond because we have all, and I'm saying
all, We have all been divided. We have all been
resistant to the call of God. We have all tiptoed
around the things that need to be said, the things
that need to be done. And there are those in
this room, I know they're here, who need to accept
the gospel and be brought into the family of
God through baptism. I know there are those among
us who need prayer, that are hurting, that are
carrying heavy burdens. In the Jesus Church,
we pray. In the Jesus Church, we do. And so today
I'm asking you, if you respond by coming forward
in the invitation song or if you respond by Monday,
Tuesday, the rest of the week going and reaching
somebody, my plea is that you answer the invitation
and do what God is calling you to do. No dividers,
no separations, no barriers in the way. Just
go.