The Gospel Is For The Unclean: And We re All Unclean September 21, 2014 Acts 10:1 11:18 Matt Rawlings

1 The Gospel Is For The Unclean: And We re All Unclean September 21, 2014 Acts 10:1 11:18 Matt Rawlings Gene Brown once shared a little story about two apples. He said, Two apples up in a tree were looking down on the world. The first apple said, Look at all those people fighting, robbing, rioting -- no one seems willing to get along with his fellow man. Someday we apples will be the only ones left. Then we'll rule the world. Replied the second apple, "Which of us -- the reds or the greens?" It is a little humorous, but it highlights a very true reality that everyone is tempted to differentiate or discriminate between others of different colors or backgrounds or ethnicity. A less humorous story about Mahatma Gandhi drives the point home even more. In his autobiography, The Story of my Experiments with Truth Mahatma Gandhi told of an account that happened during his formative days in England. He wrote that he had read the Christian Gospels and he had even seriously considered converting to Christianity. He saw that the teachings of Jesus could be a solution to the caste system that was such a source of division for the people of India. He even considered himself a follower of the Sermon on the Mount. One Sunday then, he decided to visit a local church so that he could talk to the minister about what it meant to be a Christian. But when he entered the church building, there was an usher that informed him that the place was not for people of his kind. It was for whites only. He should go and worship with people of his own caste and his own kind. Well, Gandhi left the church that day and never came back. He wrote, "If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu." The actions of that usher had nothing to do with what Jesus came to do. You see, Jesus came so that all the nations of the earth might be saved through Him. The good news about Jesus is not a Jewish thing. It isn t good news for Americans only. It isn t good news for people only of one skin color, or one language, or one culture or one ethnicity. And the passage in Acts that we are looking at for today is meant to inform us and it is meant to affect us and the way that we look at other people and how we live and accept other people. This morning, I believe that God would have us all walk away with one main idea from the passage. Main idea: Since Jesus is Lord of all, we should take the gospel to all, because all find acceptance in Him. There are five truths that this passage reveals to us. Five implications of the fact that Jesus is Lord of All. 1. God comes to the unclean and seeks them out for Himself (v 1-8) We can see this truth from verses 1-8 of chapter 10. Right at the beginning, God makes it clear that He goes to the unclean and seeks them out for Himself, when the passage opens with the account of the Roman Centurion Cornelius. Verse 1 tells us, At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort. God was drawing Peter and the disciples out of the familiar areas of Jerusalem and the surrounding environs to areas of Israel that were increasingly more Gentile in their culture and 1

2 population. Herod the Great had built the city of Caesarea and named it in honor of Caesar Augustus. By the time of the early church, it was both the civil and military capital of the Roman province of Judea and the population of the city was mostly those the Jews would have called Gentiles non-jews, the unclean or common in relation to God from their perspective. Caesarea was the official residence of the Roman procurators and governors, including Pontius Pilate and Felix. It was also the headquarters of the 10th Roman Legion and Cornelius was over a portion of an Italian regiment garrisoned there. This was not a culturally Jewish city but was a predominantly Roman city and it was strategic in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ from Israel into the rest of the empire Somehow, Cornelius had been influenced by Judaism and he was a devout God-fearer. Not only that, he led his whole household in the fear of God. The term for God-fearer was used for those Gentiles who recognized the One true God and tried to live morally, even though they weren t prepared to convert to Judaism and follow all of the laws. They knew the truth of the Old Testament but weren t prepared to give everything up to become a Jew, even though they recognized there was something admirable about the way they lived and tried to follow their way of life. So even though Cornelius wasn t a Jew or a Christian, he obviously was seeking to live rightly in God s eyes to some degree, and Luke writes that he gave generously to the poor and he prayed continually to God. But just because he was respectful of religion and did so many good things that the Jews all respected him, it didn t save him. He still needed to repent and believe. He still needed forgiveness. And through his seeking, God heard the prayers of this Gentile and was merciful to Cornelius. So, verse 3 tells us that an angel appeared to him and he was terrified: About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius. And he stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, 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 is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside. " Cornelius is devoutly praying at the same time of the daily temple sacrifice in Jerusalem. And God came to him in a vision. God sought him out because he wanted to make Cornelius clean and bring him to Himself. Luke makes sure we know Cornelius wasn t hallucinating or imagining anything he clearly saw an angel and this tough warrior and commander of 100 elite soldiers stares at the angel in terror and says what is it Lord? And the angel tells him that God has heard his prayers and his prayers are like a memorial sacrifice to God and now, God was answering his prayers. We don t know but maybe Cornelius prayed to God and asked that God would show him the way. Maybe Cornelius was aware that he wasn t good enough, that no matter what he did, he couldn t be free from guilt and his sins. After all, as a God-fearer, he would have known that the only way to God was on His own terms. He would have been aware of sin and the law but he wasn t ready to give everything up. Maybe he prayed all of the time that God would save him and free him from the temptations that he would have faced. Whatever he prayed, God heard his prayers and God sent an angel to him. The angel didn t tell him the good news but he did tell him what to do to hear how he could 2

3 be saved. Cornelius immediately responded to God s calling and obeyed the angel. Then he called two of his personal attendants and a trusted soldier and told them everything. Then he sent them on their mission down to Joppa. God was making it clear that He comes to the unclean and seeks them out for Himself and then, in verses 9-20, the second truth that is revealed to the reader, the second implication of the fact that Jesus is Lord of All, is that 2. God is the One who calls people clean (9-20) Verse 9 tells us: The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. At the same time they were on their way, God was orchestrating things perfectly, so that Peter would go with them and not have too much time to second guess himself. I love the very human details in this story. Verse 10 tells us that Peter was hungry and he wanted something to eat but it wasn t ready yet. So, while they were preparing the meal, he went up on the roof to pray and he falls into a trance where he isn t asleep but he sees a vision clearly and he is focused on the vision and oblivious to everything else around him. Then, verses 11 and 12 tell us that he sees something like a great linen sheet, being let down from above by God and descending to the earth. And inside of this sheet, Peter sees all kinds of animals, and all kinds of reptiles and creeping things and all kinds of birds. It includes a mixture of things both clean and unclean. And not only would a good Jew not eat unclean things, they would never mix unclean with clean. In fact, if even dishes were ever used for unclean things, they were considered defiled and could not be used for clean things. Now, this is significant, because in the Jewish Old Testament, it was clear that they were not allowed to eat certain kinds of animals, like the rest of the nations around them did, or they would become unclean. They weren t permitted to eat animals like pigs or badgers or groundhogs, or any reptiles of any kind, nor snakes or other creeping things, nor any birds of prey. Peter wasn t the only one to think of certain kinds of foods being unclean or seen as lower class. My wife grew up in a home in rural Virginia with very little means financially. Even though she was classically educated at an excellent school academically, they didn t have much and so they ate whatever they were given. And at times, for my wife, this meant eating things like rabbit or squirrel or groundhog or road-kill deer. It was meat and they were grateful for it. But some people can t relate to this and automatically think that if you eat groundhog, you must not be very smart. You must be backwoods and low class. And this is a subtle discrimination but it is very real. And Peter, as a Jew was raised to discriminate against the Gentiles, so that they could remain clean. So, when this giant linen is lowered, it is repulsive to Peter. This kind of a linen sheet or tablecloth that is let down, has every kind of animal in it animals that would have been defiling to Peter and anyone else who was a Jew. And this wasn t just tradition, these dietary commands were given by God in the Old Testament as a way to remain separate and clean set apart from the nations. So, it must have been shocking when a voice told him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." This voice from heaven was asking him to do something that was offensive and against the Jewish laws. 3

4 There are at least three times in the Old Testament that someone is asked to do something offensive: when Abraham is asked to sacrifice Isaac, when Hosea is told to marry a harlot and Isaiah is told to go around virtually naked for three years. In every case, as in this one with Peter, the person is asked and expected to begin to do what is presented to them. Now, notice in verse 14, that Peter recognizes that the Lord is speaking to him in this vision and yet, Peter still says "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." Maybe Peter thought it was a test at first, and so he thinks he is obeying God. But it soon becomes pretty clear, that God was commanding him to set aside the law and everything that he knew about what it meant to be set apart and clean or holy before God. So, this voice makes it clear that this is no test and the voice corrects Peter maybe with a slightly different tone of voice now and says in verse 15: And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." Peter may have doubted that this could be a command from God at first but God makes it crystal clear He is the one who makes things acceptable. He is the One who sets the standard. God is the one who makes things acceptable and clean. God has the right to declare things clean, to make unclean things clean. And what God has made acceptable, Peter is not to call common or unclean. Don t go on rejecting what he views as unclean or common. For a Jew, to accept Gentile food would be to accept Gentiles. To accept unclean food was as if you were accepting the ways the Gentiles ate and so the Gentiles themselves. Maybe the first time this happened, we can give Peter the benefit of the doubt, but this happens three times in a row. After the first time, Peter should have said, Ok God, I get it, I need to change. I ll obey, I ll get up and kill and eat and I will accept what you say. But Peter does this three times, like he had denied Christ three times and Christ had restored him by asking him three times if he loved him Now, verse 16 tells us that, This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. God is making sure that it is clear that He is speaking by saying it three times and then taking the vision back up to heaven. The vision comes down from heaven and is taken back up to heaven. This is God speaking. Luke writes that Peter was very confused about what this vision meant. Did it really mean that all of the dietary laws were now done away with? And did it mean even more, because God didn t say that food is clean if God says it is. He said, what God has made clean or acceptable, he was not to call common or defiled? Then, to make sure Peter makes the right association, God times things perfectly and tells Peter, by the way, there are three men looking for you, go downstairs and go with them without second guessing things. The word here for without hesitation carries the meaning of without discrimination without taking issue or without making distinctions based on the kind of people they are. God wants Peter to know that He is the only One who has the right to calls things clean and then, we see the third truth, the third implication of the fact that Jesus is Lord of All. 3. God calls disciples of Jesus to go to those who are considered unclean (21-33) Peter obeys the Spirit and goes down and says, I m the one you are looking for why are you here looking for me? So they explain that their boss, the Roman Centurion Cornelius, who is a good and moral man, with a good reputation this man was directed by an angel from God to 4

5 send for Peter to come and that he needed to hear what Peter had to say. Peter s head must have been swirling. But he clearly got the correlation between his dream and these men, because Peter does something unheard of for a Jew and what would have been potentially very offensive to his host Simon. Peter invites these Gentile men men he would have considered unclean before into Simon s house as his own personal guests. These men had already traveled far and they couldn t make the return trip the same day without eating and resting. But instead of sending them away to find food and shelter elsewhere and then join them later, Peter welcomes them in. He changed everything he knew about how to live and about whether it was necessary to follow the law to be acceptable and he obeyed God and took these men as acceptable into the house where he was staying. Peter now knows that God is calling him to go to those he previously considered unclean. This was obviously a major change and so six brothers from Joppa go with Peter to see what in the world is going to happen they want to see what God is up to. So, they all make the trip up the coast to Caesarea, about a 12-hour walk north and when they get there, they find that Cornelius had made plans for their arrival and he had gotten all of his relatives and friends together and they were waiting eagerly for Peter s arrival. Cornelius, obviously believing that Peter was a messenger sent from God, falls down at Peter s feet to worship him. But Peter says, Get up, I am a man like you and then they talk together and when Peter goes into Cornelius house, he finds that there are a lot of people there. They all lived in Israel and whether or not they were Romans, they all would have known that it was not lawful for a Jew to even associate with someone from another nation, much less visit with them in their home. This was not an obscure cultural observance it would have been obvious to anyone in that day. The Jews would have made sure they knew that the Jews and people from other countries couldn t associate. The segregation was clear, it was obvious and it was a social taboo to break the rules of segregation. So, in this highly segregated context, Peter says something truly remarkable something that would have shocked all of the people there who knew the Jewish customs. He says God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. Hundreds of years earlier, God had specifically instructed Moses about how the people of Israel were to live and be completely separate from all the other nations around them. They were to be different in their dress and how they lived and what they ate and how they bathed. They weren t to intermarry and they weren t to defile themselves by associating with anyone who wasn t one of God s people. And yet in one moment, God made it clear to Peter all along that what makes a person truly acceptable and what makes a person clean is not what they do or what they eat. God is the One who calls people clean and makes people acceptable. And it was God s intention all along that people see that they couldn t ever really be fully acceptable by obeying the law. Because they could never be perfect, they could never keep the law perfectly, they were bound to fail and they too would become unclean and need to be made clean. But the law didn t bring a permanent cleansing they were meant to long for the permanent cleansing of God so that they could always be acceptable in His sight. And now, Peter puts all the pieces together and knows that no one is unacceptable or common anymore God is 5

6 available to anyone who comes to Him, so Peter has come to them like God called him to do and he isn t discriminating anymore. Then he asks Cornelius why did you send for me? So, Cornelius tells Peter why he sent for him and relates exactly what happened. He tells Peter that he sent for him just like the angel had told him to and that they are all gathered there in the presence of God to hear all that Peter has been commanded by the Lord. He knows that Peter must have been given a message from God for them and he tells Peter that they are ready to hear what God commands them to do through Peter. And then, in verses 34-48 Peter preaches and when he does, we see the fourth truth that God wants the reader to get. 4. God doesn t show partiality. Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins in His name. (34-48) Verse 34 tells us: So Peter opened his mouth and said: Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Peter says, effectively, now I know, I understand now, that God really doesn t show any partiality between types of people or people from different nations and backgrounds. Peter now knows that anyone who fears God and seeks to do what is right is acceptable or able to come to God. Jews and Gentile alike are equally accountable to God for their sins there is no partiality with God. What does this mean though does this mean that anyone is acceptable to God in the sense that as long as a person fears God and does what is right, they will be accepted and saved? Some people have used this Scripture to argue that. But I believe the context makes it very clear. This doesn t mean that everyone is accepted as righteous in the sight of God but it does mean that from every nation anyone who comes to God will not be turned away. It doesn t mean that everyone is universally accepted by God in the sense of made right and worthy before God it means that God will accept any who come to Him humbly. God accepts Cornelius desire to know more about God and so He sends Peter to share the good news about Jesus with him. Why do I say this? How can we be sure? Well, Peter explains what Cornelius had heard himself in verse 14. Cornelius wasn t saved by praying to God and giving alms, he needed to hear the message of the gospel. You see, when Peter came to him, he was accepted by God as someone who could be saved but the angel told him that he needed what Peter was going to tell him. In verse 14 of chapter 11, the angel said that Peter, will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.' And the message that Peter declared was the good news about Jesus Christ. You see, it was by receiving the message of the gospel that Cornelius and his household was saved it was not by any pious living or God-fearing. So, in verses 36-43, Peter tells them the message by which they will be saved. He tells them that only through believing in Jesus can anyone receive the forgiveness of sins. And this is the message by which anyone who believes and places their faith in Jesus Christ is saved. Peter begins by reminding them of the truth that they knew already. They knew what had happened all over the Roman state of Judea. Peter told them that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power to do good, to heal and deliver all who were oppressed by the devil. Then he tells them that although Jesus 6

7 was crucified to death; shamefully hung on a tree so to speak, God raised Him up to live again on the third day. And Peter and a great many others were eyewitnesses to His resurrection and they were assured that He was raised bodily, because they ate and drank with Him. He was no mere ghost or apparition. He really was raised from the dead, proving that His sacrifice was acceptable to God And the message that Peter was commanded to preach was that Jesus is the One who has been appointed by God to be the judge of all people on the earth. He is Judge of both the living and the dead. He is the only One through whom anyone can be accepted and He has full authority over life and death. And Peter says, all of the Old Testament prophets spoke of Him and everyone who believes in Jesus Christ in His life, death, burial and resurrection on their behalf, receives forgiveness of all their sins through His name. The message that Peter preached wasn t just for Cornelius though this is the message of the gospel that is for anyone all of us from any nation. The need of Jews and Gentiles and every person from every tongue and tribe and nation is the same and the answer to the need is the same. We all need to be forgiven from our sins, to be made clean. We all need Jesus to reconcile us to God; to make us acceptable eternally. We all are responsible to our Creator and we all come to our Creator through the atoning sacrifice of His Son. And the message that we all need to hear is that any of us who repents, any who turn away from living for ourselves and turn away from our sins and turn to Him, trusting in the fact that Jesus died for us, so that we might be forgiven by God because of what Jesus did we will be saved by God. We ll be saved from our sins and saved from the just punishment that we all deserve and made right with God forever. While Peter said these things, Cornelius and the people of his household believed in Jesus. They didn t need to say any sinner s prayer they believed in the message that Peter shared they believed and trusted in the truth about Jesus Christ. They were immediately saved. They didn t have to wait until they had cleaned up their acts on their own and changed into the right clothes and got the right haircut or acted the right way. They didn t have to conform outwardly. They didn t have to wait they were immediately made new and they were filled with the very presence of God in the Holy Spirit Everyone who heard that is who listened to and accepted the word, they were all given the gift of the Holy Spirit. God s very presence had come to live in the Gentiles. And God wanted to make sure that it was obvious to Peter and the other Jewish Christians with him, so he gave them the gift of speaking in other languages supernaturally and they were immediately praising God. The effect was immediate. The Jewish disciples who came along with Peter were amazed that God s presence would be poured out on those who they previously would have thought of as unclean. Peter affirms what God has done. He affirms that they are fellow Christians. He affirms that the Gentiles can receive Jesus just like they did. So in verse 48, we read that he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. So, they are baptized and they ask Peter to stay for a while, presumably to teach them about Jesus. And Peter stayed and ate and fellowshipped with them as a demonstration of the fact that God doesn t show partiality. The word was spreading far and wide now that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins in His name. 7

8 And the final truth we see from this passage; the final implication of the fact that Jesus is Lord of all, is found in verses 1-18, where Peter gives an account to the party of the circumcised Jews in Jerusalem and the truth we are meant to get, is that 5. We shouldn t stand in God s way by discriminating against others (1-18) Verses 2-3 tell us: So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. " The circumcision party those who believed that it was still necessary to be circumcised and to keep all the Old Testament laws in order to be saved they weren t happy with Peter. They criticized him for breaking the Jewish laws by associating and eating with those who they viewed as common or unclean unable to come to God unworthy of receiving the gospel. But Peter sets them straight and explains everything. Peter explains about the vision of unclean animals being let down and how he had objected to eating them but God had said that Peter was not to call unclean or common what God had made clean or acceptable. Then he related to them everything in the order that it happened and it was clear that this was not Peter making the call but that God had divinely directed Peter and made it clear what He meant. So, Peter explains that what happened to Cornelius and his household was what Jesus had said would happen they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. And when Peter recounts what happened, he is sure to point out that there were seven of them in total himself and six other witnesses. Far more than the two witnesses that were required by law to establish a thing in fact, a perfect number of witnesses, a number of completion Peter then tells them that like John immersed in water, they were immediately immersed in the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus said that they would be, when they responded to the good news that Peter preached. Then Peter explained things more in verse 17 and said, If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" Peter asked the rhetorical question, Who was I that I could stand in God s way? But he wasn t just saying it for his sake he was saying this for their sake and for our sake now. Who are they to go against what God had made so clear? And who are we to go against what God has made clear that He intends for His good news to be preached to people from every tribe and tongue and nation? Verse 18 tells us that they got the message and that they had the appropriate response too. It says, When they heard these things they fell silent. They fell silent. They stopped giving Peter a hard time. They stopped arguing. They stopped objecting and then I think something more happened. I think they were amazed by the grace of God because it says at the end of verse 18, And they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life. " Repentance that leads to life has been granted to any who believe in Jesus Jew and Gentile alike. There is now no longer any distinction between people of different nations. All receive the salvation and forgiveness of God in the same humble way by repenting and believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. 8

9 No one is ineligible. No one is to be viewed or treated as unclean. There is to be no more segregation. There is to be no more discrimination. Because God doesn t show partiality, we are not to show partiality. Because, God takes all of us who are unclean and makes us clean by placing the punishment for our sins and uncleanness on Jesus and crediting the righteousness of Jesus to us. So that now, He considers all who believe in Jesus as made completely clean and right before Him. According to Paul s letters, and come of the differences he tried to arbitrate, Paul s position was this: if the issue did not touch on the core of the gospel, then let each do what was appropriate for their own conscience. Some would eat only certain foods, others would eat anything. Some would set apart certain days; others would treat all days the same. This approach reflected a respect for the cultural roots that did not seek to make everyone in the church exactly the same when it came to practices that were not of essential importance. Darrell Bock How do you discriminate today? Do you consider other Christians as unclean perhaps because they choose to raise or educate their children differently than you? Do you consider yourself better than someone else because of your diet or your health care choices or because you practice traditional, or holistic or herbal medicine? Having someone over to your house to eat with you at the same table says a lot about your disposition and your attitude towards that person it communicates that you welcome them; you accept them; you want to include them. Conversely, the people you would not have over to share a meal with you and your family are the people whom you do not welcome, whom you do not want to associate with, who you do not want to include. Who do we view as common or unclean? Perhaps those who are dressed shabbily, people who smell or don t look like us? Maybe people who have a different color skin or who speak a different language? Maybe it s immigrants or migrant workers, or illegal immigrants? It is not what enters our mouths that makes us unclean. Just like, it is not the people we view as common who make us unclean. It is not outside marks or rituals or outside appearance that makes one acceptable before God. So, let there be no place for speech that characterizes people into groups and are subtle racial slurs, like those Mexicans, or those whites, or those blacks, or those Arabs, or those immigrants, or those welfare recipients, or whatever group you are sinfully looking down on or discriminating against. We all need the same thing and the answer to the need is the same. None of us are any better than another. God is the One who makes us all clean through Jesus. We all can find acceptance in Him alone. So, let us renew our minds with these truths from God s Word and wash our mouths and actions with the truth so that we no longer engage in any kind of alienating behavior. Let us all be like Jesus to the lepers and the outcast, whomever the untouchable caste is in our eyes. Let s be the Peter for the Cornelius God is calling us to go to. After all, Jesus is Lord of All. And if this is the case, we are called to take the gospel to all, because that is where we all find true and lasting life 2014 Redeeming Grace Church. This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Website. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template. 9