Latest / Scripture Central / Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Jul 17 - Jul 23) Acts 10–15

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Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Jul 17 - Jul 23) Acts 10–15 · Scripture Central

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Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to Come
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Follow Me Insights with Taylor and Tyler presented by Scripture
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Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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videos, so if you want to see the visuals, we invite you to
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find us on YouTube. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
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I'm Taylor. And I'm Tyler.
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This is Scripture Central's Come, follow Me insights this
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week Acts chapter 10 through 15. This is a very critical.
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Turning point in our story of this early Christian movement,
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it's actually in this set of chapters where we get that label
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Christian first placed on the followers of Christ by
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unbelievers up in Antioch. So there's a lot that's going to
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happen if you've ever been in a situation where major change has
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been implemented where an organization or the church or a
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family has. Changed direction and and moved
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off on a new course. You're going to find principles
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here that that apply to those kinds of situations because,
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well, everything's going to shift here, beginning in Chapter
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10 with Cornelius. Yeah, so you are probably
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familiar with the story that this is where we see how the
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Church begins to embrace Gentiles, and it's a momentous
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change. For the Jewish people to see non
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Jewish people participating fully in their religious life.
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So let's set the the stage initially because this will,
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this will help us throughout the rest of the second-half of the
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New Testament. You have various groups of
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people. So you have the Jews, you have
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this group of people that anybody who's not a Jew is
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called a Gentile. And there were people that had
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actually become Jews from being gentiles.
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And we call this group of people proselytes in the in the 1st
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century. So a proselyte is somebody who
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has embraced fully everything from the Judaic tradition.
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They worship Jehovah. They read the Hebrew Old Test,
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the Hebrew Bible. We call it the Old Testament.
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They've embraced the 613 laws of the Law of Moses, including the
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law of circumcision, which becomes a huge deal for the rest
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of our study of the New Testament.
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There's another group of Gentiles who observes from afar.
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They they. Will read Hebrew scriptures.
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They'll listen in at the windows and doors of the synagogue on
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the Sabbath day. And some of them even donate to
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help build synagogues, even though they themselves are not
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Jewish. That's right.
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And this group is called the God Fearers, or they that fear God.
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So they they haven't fully embraced the the Jewish
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practices, all 613 laws. I think they love what they see.
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They're just not fully engaged. Well, within Judaism you get
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this little band beginning with Jesus and his followers, and it
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grows and it continues to grow. And you saw that astronomical
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growth in chapter two and three and four of acts where we added
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3000 to the 120 and then 5000. And then they keep adding daily.
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So you get this group that they don't see themselves as
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separate, they see themselves still as a as a group of Jews.
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And it's in these chapters where the leadership of the the Jewish
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people kind of push them out of Judaism and they become these
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Christians. So we're going to write them
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over here. You get this group called the
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Christians. Now keep in mind for the first
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what, 8-9 ten years we don't know for sure, but for many
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years all of the converts to Christianity have come from the
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rinks of the Jews. So this group we would call them
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converts well. Within the group of Christians,
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there's this, this group called the Judaizers, or the name
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you're going to see come up over and over in these chapters and
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subsequent chapters is they of the Circumcision.
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It's Jewish Christians who insist that any Gentile who
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wants to become a Christian has to 1st become a proselyte.
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They have to. Live the full laws of Moses
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before they can then be baptized into Christianity and become
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converts. Well, we're going to see a whole
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group of people come into the Christian faith in these
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chapters who never became Jews 1st, and it's going to create
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all kinds of struggles and internal.
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Bickering and contention in this early Christian Church between
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the hardline Jewish Christians and the newly baptized Gentile
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Christians all sitting together in the same Sunday school
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meeting, if you will. They all love God.
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They all want to serve him. And by tradition for centuries,
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the way that you would mark yourself as a Jewish man, that
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you were part of the faith. Was through circumcision.
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And you can see that these individuals, they're very
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motivated to help people demonstrate that they truly are
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faithful to God. And so you have tradition
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bumping up against new realities, these Gentiles.
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And we'll see as we get to Acts 15 that church leaders spent
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time discussing this and enacted what I would say is inspired
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policy to say that the Gentiles are not required to become
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Jewish first in order to become followers of Jesus Christ.
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So let's pick it up now in chapter 10, verse one with our
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famous centurion Cornelius He. He becomes our first official
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Gentile convert to Christianity. There was a certain man in
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Caesaria called Cornelius, the centurion of the band called the
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Italian Band. So Caesaria is Caesaria
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Maritima. Today it's up on the the western
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coast of. Israel on the Mediterranean Sea
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and it's it's the capital city basically for Roman leadership
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in the region. Yeah, it was the capital city
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for 600 years, the time of Herod to 600 AD And so it is the power
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base of this guy is very, a very powerful military figure coming
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from the epicenter of the military and political power in
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Israel. So this makes this conversion
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all the more significant. Now looking at this, this simple
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diagram, notice what comes out when you read verse 2A.
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Devout man and one that feared God with all his house which
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gave much alms to the people and prayed to God all way.
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So he isn't a proselyte, he hasn't become a Jew, but he is a
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God fearer and he's worshipping the Lord and he's giving alms.
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He's he's doing amazing things. And in verse three it says, He
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saw in a vision evidently or the Greek word, there is clearly or
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distinctly about the 9th hour of the day, so that we this is not
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a night vision or an early evening.
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This is this is the ninth hour of the day.
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Midafternoon about 3:00 PM he saw an Angel of God coming into
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him, and saying unto him Cornelius, And when he looked on
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him he was afraid. And he said, What is it, Lord?
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Me said unto him, Thy prayers and thy norms are come up for a
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memorial before God. Now let's pause here for a
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second and notice what the Lord is doing.
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Remember Elder Holland's suggested title for this overall
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book of the Acts, 22 lessons previous to this one, when he
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suggested that we call this book the Acts of the Resurrected
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Christ, working through the lives and ministries of His
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ordained apostles through the Holy Ghost.
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Here we get. On the mound of ascension, if we
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rewind the clock 78910 years, however long it's been Jesus's
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final command, his final injunction to the Apostles, the
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11 was go ye into all the world preach this gospel to every
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creature Well, for seven, 8-9 years it seems that they've
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stayed in a comfort zone. Teaching the gospel only to the
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Jews. And then they ventured out into
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Samaria, preaching the gospel in chapter 8 to the Samaritans,
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scattered Israelites. But we haven't done anything
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with the Gentiles. Keep in mind there has been a
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1500 year long tradition of not having table fellowship with
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Gentiles. Not having close relationships
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with Gentiles. You you keep some distance
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because they're. They're considered unclean and
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dirty to you if you're a practicing Jew, so you can see
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why maybe the apostles were reticent to take the gospel to
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the Gentiles, and So what is the Lord doing?
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He's going to the Gentiles directly through an angelic
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ministration to Cornelius, this God fearer who is such a good
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person, but he's not getting the gospel directly from the
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apostles. I love the fact that this
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Gentile receives an angelic visit, and of course we're going
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to see the Angel also speaks to Peter.
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But it just says something that you don't have to be a convert.
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You don't have to be already in God's Kingdom to get access to
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God's revelatory power. God can act how he wants, when
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he wants, with who he with whom he wants, and I find this very
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compelling. Now most of us are members of
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the church and we have access to Holy Ghost, but.
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I find this compelling that God does not restrain his His
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revelation from other children in his Kingdom in his on on
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earth. So now the invitation or command
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to Cornelius is send men to Joppa.
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So we've got to go down the coastline to Joppa modern day
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Tel Aviv in that area. About 30-40 miles.
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Be a good days solid, steady pace walk for these three men.
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Send men to Joppa and call for one Simon whose surname is
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Peter, and he's going to be residing in the House of Simon,
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a Tanner by the seaside, and he'll tell thee what thou
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oughtest to do. Very easy to find a tanner's
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house in antiquity, because it would have smelled pretty pretty
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pungent. The the chemicals they would use
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to to tan these these Leathers. And Peter is staying there, so.
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He sent three of his servants down and verse 9 on the Morrow
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as they went on their journey and drew nigh onto the city.
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Peter went up onto the housetop to pray about the 6th hour.
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So it's about noon midday and we find out in the next verse he's
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very hungry and he wanted to eat and then he fell into a trance.
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He's up on the the rooftop which is a very common occurrence and
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especially in the the heat of the day midday.
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You go up to the rooftop flat roofs with canopies and and
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hangings for those breezes, especially from the the sea, to
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waft over you and keep you cool. So here's Peter in that setting,
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when the vision opens that's going to change the whole course
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of this early church. He saw the heavens open and a
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certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet
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knit or bound at the four corners.
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And let down to the earth. So picture this, this table
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cloth if you will, or or a prayer shawl, or a sheet.
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And it comes down, and as it lands on the earth it opens up.
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And inside what does Peter see? All manner of four footed beasts
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of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things and fowls of
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the air. And there came a voice to Peter
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saying Rise, Peter, kill and eat.
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Now this seems like a really simple concept to us from our
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Latter Day St. perspective. In these days, it's like, yeah,
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there you go, you're hungry, go eat.
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But keep in mind, for 1500 years there's been this tradition,
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this Word of Wisdom if you will, this kosher dietary prohibition
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against eating unclean animals. And now you have this sheet
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filled with all manner of meat. And Peter saying no, no, I I
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can't do that. I I've never.
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Yeah, he says in verse 14. That's so Lord, for I have never
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eaten anything that is common or unclean.
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Now, by the way, could have God just showed up and said, Peter
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the the church is about to start growing.
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We're going to move into Gentile lands.
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This issue is going to pop up around circumcision.
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And let me just tell you what's going to happen.
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You're going to meet, let the Gentiles come in, you'll have
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table fellowship. You don't have to have them
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circumcised. The guy could have just given a
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bullet point. Instead, God creates this
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instructional experience. Instead of just commanding,
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which he sometimes does, he allows Peter to have this
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learning experience. That makes it a far more
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compelling story that invites people into this revelation.
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And not just that, but he repeats this instructive object
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lesson 3 * 3 times, which you see through other prophetic
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ministrations. Across time as well, there's
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something powerful about that repetition.
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So here's Peter and he's saying, no, I'm not going to eat this.
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In the Lord's response was what God hath cleansed that call.
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Not thou common. Don't call this unclean, Peter,
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because the Lord has cleansed these animals now and then.
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Verse 16 tells you it was done three times.
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And then the vessel was received up into heaven again.
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So here's Peter thinking, what in the world did I just
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experience? What is going on?
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What? What's the message?
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What should I do? So in verse 19 it says, While
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Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold,
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three men, seek thee, arise, therefore get thee down, and go
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with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.
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Now you get the 1st. Connecting points between what
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he's just experienced three times with three men coming to
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the door who are considered unclean.
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And it's this message is that which I have cleansed.
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Don't call it common anymore. I love this part of the stories.
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Peter goes down, he went to the men, and he says, behold, I am
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he whom ye seek. What is the cause whereof
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wherefore ye are come. And so now they tell the story
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of Cornelius this. This God fearer who was warned
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of God sent them down. And look what Peter does in
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verse 23. He does what to the Judaizers
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would be considered unconscionable.
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You you don't do this. What are you thinking?
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Peter, what does he say? Then called he them in and he
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lodged them. He's now he's now giving them a
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place, these three Gentiles to sleep.
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In Simon Latanner's house with them, and on the Morrow Peter
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went away with them, and searching brethren from Joppa,
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accompanied them or accompanied him.
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Sorry. And they head up to Caesarena.
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Now let's tie this back into the Old Testament very briefly.
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Remember Jonah? Jonah was called on a mission.
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And what did he do? He ran away.
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In fact, Jonah left from Joppa the same seaport that Peter's at
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and. Jonah leaves in the opposite
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direction of Mineva. Peter, on the other hand,
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embraces these messengers, these Gentiles, and goes on the
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mission that God has sent him on.
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I love that connection, the contrasts that scriptures can
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teach us, and I don't think that would have been lost on Luke,
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perhaps as he was telling a story.
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Now stop and think about this for a minute.
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As Taylor had mentioned, the Lord could have done this much
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more directly, much more. Powerfully and succinctly.
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But he's using. He sends the Angel first to
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Cornelius, then the vision three times to Peter, Opening the
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door, softening the heart, changing the perspective to say,
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oh, maybe it is time. So we're we're shifting things
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through the process of the Lord doing this work rather than just
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cutting the chase, coming to Peter, saying, hey, I need you
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to go to Caesaria and baptize a guy by the name of Cornelius.
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He could have made it very simple, but watch the power as
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this story unfolds on the Morrow, because it's a one day
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journey for them. From Joppa up to Caesaria.
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He went in and there's Cornelius waiting for them, and he'd
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called together his kinsman and his near friends.
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I can. I can almost sense the feeling,
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the spirit of anticipation, this.
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I love the Lord. And I want to know how to serve
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him better, feeling that is just exuding from Cornelius.
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And he's called all of his relatives, his kinsmen and his
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near friends, and they're sitting there gathered at his
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home, waiting for Peter to arrive.
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That's faith. He sent his men down the day or
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two days ago, knowing it's a day's journey down and it's
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faith that they're going to bring Peter with them on their
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return. And there they are.
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And it says. And as Peter was coming in,
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Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped.
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That's just stunning, because Cornelius is a Roman, right?
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They're in power. The Jews are kind of like the
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backwater of the Roman Empire. And you got this fisherman from
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the Galilee. And by the way, the Galilee was
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kind of the backwater of of Judea, of of the area of Israel.
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And you have this powerful man who commands military men in the
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most powerful city in Israel, Cesaria.
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And he is showing worth to Peter.
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It's really quite incredible deep humility this man has that
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he has not allowed his station in life that he's been born into
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as a Roman and has worked into in his role as a military, as a
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as a military centurion. To cloud his ability to be in a
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state of humility. It's impressive.
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Now Peter in verse 26 took him up saying stand up.
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I myself also am a man. I like that.
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We'll see that kind of sentiment later on in the Book of
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Revelation as well with John the Beloved with an Angel, where he
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files down to worship an Angel and he'll get the same response.
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So he speaks with him and he found that there were many
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gathered together. And look at verse 28, he said
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unto them, You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man
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that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation.
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But God has showed me that I should not call any man common
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or unclean. So.
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So Peter's making it very clear. Look, there's been a 1500 year
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tradition that we don't lodge with you, we don't eat with you,
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we don't accompany with you. But God has changed this.
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He's he's changed this, this practice to the point where now
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I'm here. I came to you without gain
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saying as soon as I was sent for.
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And I asked therefore for what intent you have sent for me.
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What do you want? I love that.
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Starting in verse 30 through 33, Cornelius now retells his part
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of the story. So now Peter is able to connect
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the dots between his vision and what he's been feeling.
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Feeling along the way and he sees, oh, this is, this is the
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work of the Lord. Verse 34.
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Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth.
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I perceived that God is no respecter of persons.
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It's it's this critical junction, this, this trigger
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point where God's chief apostle on the earth recognizes oh the
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time has now come for the Abrahamic promise.
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To actually begin to be fulfilled to all nations,
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kindreds, tongues and people, not just the Jewish people or
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the scattered Israelites, it's very significant.
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And after he gives some more detail and background of what
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the Lord Jesus Christ had done with him and the other apostles,
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you jump down to verse 44 and it says well Peter yet spake these
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words. The Holy Ghost fell on all them
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which heard the word. What is the word?
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He just bore testimony of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from
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the from the dead among a group of Greco Roman pagans who the
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Greeks don't believe in resurrection, they hear the word
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from the chief apostle bearing testimony of Jesus Christ.
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The Holy Ghost fell upon them. So in verse 45 we know that
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Peter had with him a group of these Judaizers.
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And it describes them in verse 45.
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And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished
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as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles
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also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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And so it they're shocked to see the Spirit of God working with
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these Gentiles. And verse 47 says, can any man
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forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have
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received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
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And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the
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Lord, then prayed they him to Terry certain days so we get
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Cornelius and his household, our first Gentile converts to
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Christianity. What's fascinating here is that
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they appear to 1st receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
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Now usually you get baptized and then you receive the gift of the
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Holy Ghost. This seems to be a bit inverted
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and these Judaizers. To understand how the Spirit
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works and they recognize God's God actually has done the
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baptism for them. We feel the Spirit here, this is
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really tremendous and invites in our lives.
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Are we open to receiving revelation and to be receiving
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direction from God's appointed leaders that at times things
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need to change, that's what revelation is for.
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Or also to confirm what we know to be true about Jesus Christ.
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And so when we are getting so excited about ongoing
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revelation, that means sometimes there's going to be updates to
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the way we have thought about things or done things, and it
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always gets us closer to God. That's the purpose of
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revelation. One thing that I find beautiful
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from this story here in chapter 10 is actually connected to the
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4th temple recommend question. Now in that 4th question it's
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actually broken into three parts, but the first part says.
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Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of
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Latterday Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and is the
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only person on earth who is authorized to exercise all
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Priested keys? What we see in chapter 10 is the
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Lord was going to make this major shift not from some random
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missionary out there in the field, but through the person to
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whom he had given the keys of the Kingdom.
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This, this power, this authority.
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And so it's a beautiful principle for us moving forward
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in time to recognize that the Lord is able to govern His work,
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but he's going to do it through the appointed means.
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Elder Dale G Rendlund gave a beautiful talk in October 2022
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General conference about various runways of revelation and how
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the Prophet and the First Presidency in the Queen of the
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12 have. Charge over major policy or
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practice changes for the church. If the Lord's going to change
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it, it's going to come through them, not from the grassroots.
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Yeah, you're not going to expect it to show up in your elders
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quorum. Yeah, so now we jump into
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Chapter 11 and and we come back to Jerusalem with this exciting
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news, this amazing story that we have our first Gentile God, Fear
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converts. Who are now baptized and have
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received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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And everyone's going to be happy about.
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It and they're they're going to be excited.
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Right. There won't be any problem at
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all. 1500 years of tradition. We can just turn on a dime,
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right? And it says in verse two, when
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Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the
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circumcision or Judaizers contended with him saying that
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went us into men uncircumcised and did eats did eat with them.
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Peter, what were you thinking? And they're pretty upset about
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this. So he spends all of this chapter
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rehearsing to them what had happened.
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He's telling his story, and I love how he describes in verse
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17. For as much then as God gave
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them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord
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Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God?
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Amen. He's saying to them.
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You're accusing me of doing something wrong?
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Well, guess what? I did not do this for myself.
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It was the Lord who did this, and I wasn't going to withstand
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him. We want to point out something
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here. 2 chapters back-to-back essentially replicate the same
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story. The scriptures tend to be very
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focused on giving new information, new perspectives
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and not repeating itself again and again.
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So we have to pause. If this story is repeated twice,
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one chapter after another, there must be something going on.
27:37
And this is a massively significant change that's going
27:41
on in the church's upgrade of revelation.
27:44
The fact that Luke keeps both versions here he wants.
27:48
He could have just said, oh, and Peter's rehearsed everything,
27:51
and then Luke could have just not rehearsed it all for us.
27:55
But Peter or Luke is trying to help us recognize.
27:59
That sometimes there are really significant changes and they are
28:03
worth repeating and pondering. And this is one of those.
28:06
Now again, here we are, 2000 years after the fact.
28:09
This is not a big deal for us because we live with the outcome
28:12
of this decision. But we do have to understand for
28:15
these these people who were faithful, they wanted to do
28:19
God's will, but they assumed that tradition alone gave them
28:24
all full and complete insight into what God's will was.
28:28
And therefore they didn't seem to be immediately open to the
28:31
New Revelation. Can I just say we thank thee, oh
28:36
God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days so that
28:40
when he sees fit to change things, there is an appointed
28:44
channel. We don't have to wonder.
28:46
We don't have to look to the experts of the world or take
28:49
polls or vote on things. We can look to the Lord.
28:54
And follow the appointed means whereby he has promised He will
28:58
guide his church. What a blessing it is to have
29:01
modern day prophets, seers and revelators to testify the Lord
29:07
and to give us His will. Now you jump down to verse 19
29:09
and it says Now they which were scattered abroad upon the
29:13
persecution that arose about Steven, traveled as far as
29:17
Fennis and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the Word to none but
29:20
unto the Jews only. So here's.
29:24
Here's Luke. And by the way, keep in mind
29:27
Luke was not a Jew. Luke was a Gentile.
29:30
He's a convert to Christianity. We don't, I don't know if he was
29:34
a proselyte first, but we know he's not a Jew.
29:37
He he came into Christianity out of out of this rank of the the
29:43
Gentiles. And he's saying this group that
29:46
was scattered because Stephen got stoned.
29:48
So now they're preaching the gospel.
29:50
They only preached it to the Jews as well.
29:52
They're not spreading it. Far and wide.
29:55
And they're starting to have some success.
29:58
Verse 21, The hand of the Lord was with them.
30:00
A great number believed and turned under the Lord.
30:03
So then people at the church down in Jerusalem got word of
30:06
this. And so they sent Barnabas one of
30:08
the leaders that he should go as far as Antioch.
30:11
So you've got Joppa. Let's do it like this.
30:16
So you have the Sea of Galley and the Dead Sea.
30:19
Here. Here's Jerusalem.
30:21
You have Joppa, which is out by the seacoast, then N you have
30:25
Caesaria and further up you have Antioch of Syria.
30:31
It's in the country of Syria today, so just north of Lebanon,
30:35
if you look at a map. So Barnabas goes up to Antioch
30:38
and he starts preaching, and he does have great success there,
30:41
says verse 24. He was a good man and full of
30:44
the Holy Ghost, and a faith and much people was added unto the
30:47
Lord. Then departed Barnabas.
30:51
To Tarsus for to seek Saul. So he leaves Antioch, and he
30:57
goes up into southern Turkey, where Saul or Paul is.
31:03
And he's like, you got to come with me.
31:05
Now remember, Barnabas was one of the men who was at Damascus
31:10
when he saw Saul making this transition to Paul.
31:15
He put in a good word for him back in Jerusalem before.
31:19
Saul left into Arabia for three years to kind of let things cool
31:24
down a bit. And then he's been up to Tarsus
31:26
for about 6 years according to the to the pistol to the
31:30
Galatians. So Barnabas goes and gets him
31:33
and he says you got to come, I need your help.
31:35
You're a really good speaker. And I've got a whole bunch of
31:38
Jewish converts and others that we need to teach and I know you
31:42
can help them. So this begins, this, this
31:47
incredible connection. Between Barnabas and Paul.
31:51
One of the great missionary companionships of the early
31:55
church. Absolutely so verse 26 says.
31:59
When he had found him, he brought him on to Antioch.
32:01
And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves
32:04
with the church and taught much people and the disciples were
32:07
called Christians first in Antioch.
32:10
So for the first time ever we get the label of Christian.
32:15
Right there in Antioch. It seems to be a political
32:17
designation from the people in Antioch, and it's actually, it's
32:22
a pretty spot on name, even if it was given as initially as a
32:28
negative derogatory thing from the people who didn't want to be
32:31
Christians. And we see that the group
32:34
decides we're going to take this on.
32:36
We've really, the way that we are on is the way of Christ.
32:40
So yes, we are Christians, we are followers of the Messiah.
32:43
Which is beautiful because as Taylor's pointing out here,
32:46
previous to this label they were just called The Saints or the
32:49
Way this is a it's a nice, nice label for them.
32:55
And by the way, you will find that that title Christians in
33:02
the Book of Mormon, in the Book of Alma, even with stories like
33:07
Captain Moroni. These people coming forward,
33:11
joining the cause of the Christians, which is interesting
33:14
because all of those stories are happening sixty 7080 years
33:18
before Christ is even born. They're already being called
33:22
Christians in in some of those BC time periods in the Book of
33:27
Mormon, and it's beautiful to see what they knew about Christ
33:30
long before he was born. So chapter 12 begins with James,
33:35
the brother of John, son of Zebedee.
33:39
Being killed by Herod, by the sword.
33:45
And he saw that, well, that made me popular among the Jews.
33:49
So let's go and arrest Peter. So we arrest Peter as well.
33:53
And he put him in prison with four quaternions of soldiers,
34:00
and he's intending after Easter to bring him forth to the
34:03
people. Now that word Easter is a much
34:05
later. Label for what would have been
34:10
Passover that the Jewish festival of the year, Easter
34:14
isn't a thing until much later. We can imagine for Peter, like
34:19
this is game over. You are stuck in the King's
34:22
prison or the leader of the Jews.
34:25
With all these soldiers, there's no way out.
34:27
Herod's already killed James, so what's the chance of getting
34:30
out? And so the story is preserved in
34:32
part to just show that God has a plan, and sure, he doesn't.
34:37
Always physically save everybody.
34:39
He's got a purpose for what he does.
34:41
But he needs Peter to be around for a little longer and he's
34:43
going to enact this really incredible miracle of getting
34:46
Peter out of jail. And that's going to reinforce
34:50
the faith of the people who are these early converts.
34:53
Which, by the way, if you're one of those early followers of
34:57
Christ and you, you're keeping track of what's going on, and
35:00
James just got killed and now Peter's in prison and he's next.
35:06
You'd be gathering together with some pretty intense prayer and
35:08
fasting. Well, that's exactly what these
35:10
people are doing. And that night the Angel comes
35:12
down, smites the the chain, you know, knocks Peter on the side,
35:17
raises him up, and he gets up and the chains fell off.
35:21
He comes out of the prison and he goes out and he thought it
35:25
was a dream. He he thought he was imagining
35:28
this in the middle of the night. And then when the Angel gets him
35:30
outside the prison and leaves, he realizes.
35:33
It's real. I'm free.
35:35
So he he goes to the house where these Saints have assembled, the
35:41
House of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark.
35:44
So John Mark. Tradition holds that John Mark
35:47
becomes Peter's personal secretary.
35:50
So when John's or sorry when Mark is writing his gospel, he's
35:54
probably getting a lot of his information from Peter.
35:57
Well, here we are at his house. I love this story.
36:00
It's just so authentic. To how humans are in a moment of
36:04
like stress or surprise or astonishment.
36:07
So Peter knocks at the door of the gate, Casey's out of prison,
36:11
and a damsel came to Harkin named Rhoda.
36:14
And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate.
36:17
Here's the guy who just got out of jail and is probably like
36:21
under threat of the guard coming to get him back.
36:23
And so she runs into the house. Peter's here.
36:26
They're like, wait, what? And of course he's still
36:28
knocking. And they're all inside saying,
36:31
Rhoda, be quiet, stop interrupting our prayer.
36:34
We've got a really important thing.
36:35
We're praying for for Peter to be released, so stop
36:37
interrupting us. And she's like, he's out here.
36:40
But finally, verse 16. But Peter continued knocking,
36:43
and when they'd opened the door and saw him, they were
36:46
astonished. I I just love the story.
36:48
Just just the humanity of you're so excited about having him
36:53
released and yet you leave him locked out.
36:56
Isn't that fascinating that sometimes?
36:59
You actually get what you pray for sometimes.
37:02
You're praying for these big things and it happens and we
37:04
don't often recognize it or even believe it.
37:08
Is this really happening? Well, in this case, yes it is.
37:11
It did happen, and it's a beautiful story.
37:14
And then at the end of this chapter, you get Herod, who is
37:19
being acclaimed as a God and the Lord smites him and verse 23
37:25
through an Angel because he gave not God, the glory.
37:28
And he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost.
37:33
Now we shift gears into a significant turning point again.
37:40
In this New Testament unfolding story of this early Christian
37:46
fold, we get our first official missionary journey.
37:53
It begins in verse 24 here, But the word of God grew and
37:55
multiplied, and Barnabas and Sol returned from Jerusalem when
37:59
they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them
38:01
John, whose surname was Mark under certain Christian
38:05
traditions. John Mark is a nephew to
38:09
Barnabas. It's not scriptural, but it's a
38:12
it's a longstanding tradition that Barnabas loves his nephew
38:16
John Mark. So we're in Antioch in verse one
38:20
of chapter 13 and. Says in verse two they as they
38:25
minister to the Lord and fasted the Holy Ghost, said separate
38:29
me. Perhaps the English words we
38:32
would use more traditionally today would be set apart for me,
38:39
Barnabas and Saul for the work we're into.
38:42
I have called them once again. I hope you don't get tired of a
38:46
saying this. I don't get tired of repeating
38:49
it. Put the focus always back on the
38:53
Lord Jesus Christ. This is not about Paul and
38:57
Barnabas going on a mission. This is about Paul and Barnabas
39:02
responding to a call that has been given to them by the Lord
39:06
Jesus Christ. If we can keep our focus fixed
39:09
always on him is somehow keeps keeps things moving in the right
39:14
direction so we don't get sidetracked into our own self
39:18
gratification or pride or. Or caught up with good causes,
39:24
but not the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ?
39:27
Yeah, Paul is with us right now. I don't think he would say, Boy,
39:31
I really wish people spent a lot more time focusing on me.
39:35
I think he would say I really hope people would understand
39:40
what motivated me to give my life away to the Lord and that
39:44
they look at what I did and what I wrote and who was all about.
39:49
And what a beautiful pattern for us to follow today, to to be in
39:53
this covenantal relationship with the Lord that says I'll go
39:56
where you want me to go. I'll say what you want me to
39:59
say, I'll be what you want me to be.
40:02
Doesn't mean I'm going to be perfect at it.
40:04
But I know of His grace and His mercy that if I'll just make
40:08
myself available to him, he will use me as an instrument to do
40:12
His work according to His timing and His will.
40:15
And it's a it's a freeing. Perspective that we can learn
40:20
from these scripture characters back here in these chapters.
40:23
So we have a lot of geographical places mentioned here, and you
40:26
might find it helpful to open up either digitally or your print
40:30
copy, the map of Paul's first missionary journey.
40:34
It kind of shows you the route he went, because a lot of these
40:37
names here may not mean a lot to you, but if you look at a map,
40:40
it'll help you to see the itinerary they went on as they
40:44
went out preaching in the Greco Roman world.
40:48
So if we can recreate A portion of that map, you have Antioch,
40:53
which is where this missionary journey begins.
40:57
Keep in mind Tarsus, where Paul is from, us up here.
40:59
And then you've got Cyprus, this island here, and they're going
41:03
to begin by getting on a ship and come over here.
41:06
So like Taylor said, if you if you don't see a map, then all
41:10
you see is a bunch of words and names on a page and it it
41:13
doesn't make as much sense. So they go to Cyprus.
41:18
And to this place in verse five that says they were at Salamis
41:21
this side of the island of Cyprus.
41:27
So let's let's watch a pattern unfold because it it's going to
41:32
play out again and again and again with Paul and Barnas.
41:35
This is, this is their mode of operation.
41:38
This is what they do when they arrive at a new place.
41:41
Verse five, they preach the word of God in the synagogues of the
41:46
Jews. And they also had John to their
41:49
minister. So we have John Mark with us.
41:51
So it's a a threesome missionary companionship.
41:54
And we always go first to the Jews, first to the synagogues,
41:59
and we preach the gospel to them.
42:01
And when they had gone through the aisle unto Pefos, they found
42:05
a certain sorcerer. So now we've gone to the other
42:08
part of the island, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was
42:11
bar Jesus. Which was the deputy of the
42:14
country, which was sorry, with the deputy of the country.
42:18
Sergios Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and
42:23
sullen, desired to hear the word of God.
42:25
But this sorcerer, his name is Elimus now.
42:28
Fascinating. The name Elimus in the Greek.
42:31
If you read this verse in the Greek, it's the name Elimus
42:34
means the sorcerer. He he's a Magi.
42:38
He's he's a magician. And we mentioned before that
42:42
typically magicians would try to acquire power to deploy for
42:48
their own personal purposes. We contrast that with the power
42:53
of God, which is granted and gifted to people in order to
42:58
bless other people's lives and to enhance their lives.
43:02
So that's what I'd say is kind of the key distinction between
43:04
the power of God and the scriptures and magic.
43:07
One is self focused. And one is about focusing on
43:11
others. Which is a fascinating question
43:14
for each of us to ask ourself. Am I doing things in order for
43:18
me to get gain, or am I doing things to help others get gain
43:23
and to to to receive more of of the light and goodness and love
43:28
from heaven? So here's Elimus the sorcerer,
43:32
the sorcer, the sorcerer, if you read in the Greek, basically.
43:35
And he's talking to Sergius Paulus, and he's trying to
43:39
dissuade him. He's trying to convince him not
43:42
to believe in what these apostle or what these missionaries are
43:47
teaching. Verse 9 says then Saul, who also
43:50
is called Paul. So for the first time in our
43:53
story, we make the shift where he stops using his Jewish name,
43:58
and now he's using his Roman citizen name, Paul Paulus.
44:03
It's going to be much more effective in his missionary
44:05
journeys in the Greco Roman world to be using his his Roman
44:11
Latin name. And when he speaks in verse 10,
44:14
it makes me think in the Book of Mormon, of Amulek responding to
44:18
Zias Room, who also is trying to use money to dissuade people
44:22
from listening to the testimony, even trying to convince Amulek
44:25
to give up. His testimony, the truth for for
44:27
money. It's so interesting, Paul says.
44:29
Oh, full of all subtlety and all mischief.
44:32
Thou child of the devil, the enemy of all righteousness, Will
44:36
thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
44:39
Boy, that is some seriously difficult language.
44:42
I hope I would never hear that against me from anybody.
44:46
And well, it worked because verse 12, the the man was was
44:51
struck blind. And then in verse 12, says the
44:54
deputy, when he saw what was done, believed being astonished
44:58
at the doctrine of the Lord. So he sees this miracle.
45:01
He believes the doctrine Sergios Paulus, which it's a fascinating
45:07
connection because what's going to happen is they're going to
45:10
leave Crete and go north to to the southern coastline of
45:17
Turkey. And keep in mind, in antiquity
45:20
the majority of the population lives.
45:23
Within, I don't know, 20-30 miles of the coastline.
45:28
But what our missionaries are going to do is now go on 100
45:31
mile journey up a fairly steep climb up into the Mountain State
45:37
to a place called Antioch of Passidia.
45:42
You'll notice it's the same name.
45:44
Antioch. Antioch.
45:45
This one's Antioch of Syria. This one's Antioch of Passidia.
45:49
It's 100 mile hike. Through mountainous terrain,
45:52
it's not pleasant. And you could just be preaching
45:54
right along here. You wouldn't have to work at
45:57
this. The fascinating connection is if
46:01
you go to antiochopacidia today. So I've driven I I've ridden in
46:06
a car on this journey up because you you notice it says in verse
46:12
13 they loose from Pefos and came to Perga in in Pamphilia.
46:18
And John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.
46:21
Yes, he's not in the hiking. So here you are at Perga on this
46:26
southern coast of Turkey, and you can picture this debate
46:29
possibly, or an argument of what are you talking about?
46:33
We're not going to go up there. The reason that there's a
46:36
potential good reason why they needed to go to Antioch.
46:40
If you go to Antioch today, the city is in ruins and it's it's
46:43
kind of fascinating. You can see the basilica.
46:46
And the city laid out, and there's actually a house in kind
46:51
of the rich part of the ruins, and they found an inscription.
46:57
Sergios Palos. So it's almost as if the guy
47:02
we've been talking about down here, the leader of this city,
47:07
is from here. And it's as if he probably sent
47:10
them with letters of recommendation or please go
47:13
teach my family. They need to hear this.
47:16
So Paul seems to be locked in on we are going to go to Antioch
47:20
and preach the gospel there. And John Mark says no way.
47:26
And he abandons the mission and returns to Jerusalem, which is
47:30
going to come up in our next lesson next week.
47:33
So hold that thought. We'll readdress that next week.
47:38
It's a small rift between Paul and Barnabas.
47:41
One more little thought. Sometimes people get a little
47:43
confused. The scriptures sometimes use the
47:45
phrase. Asia to talk about certain
47:47
geography. If you think about where the
47:49
current modern country of Turkey is today, that is what we would
47:54
call Asia in the Bible. Now Asia today is considered
47:59
much farther E places like China and Thailand.
48:02
But in the Bible when they would say Asia they had in mind what
48:05
is now the area of the country of Turkey.
48:10
So now you jump into this story in verse 14.
48:14
Oh. What pattern might we look for
48:16
when Paul and these mission and and his companion Barnabas
48:19
arrived in Antioca Pisidia in verse 14, They went into the
48:25
synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
48:28
And after the reading of the Law and the prophets, the rulers of
48:31
the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brother.
48:33
And if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say
48:36
on this is the part of the of the service on their Sabbath day
48:40
when the congregation gets to participate.
48:43
So Paul stands up. Men of Israel, and ye that fear
48:47
God. To the non Jews.
48:49
Non Jews who? Are coming to the synagogue but
48:51
haven't yet fully been proselytized to become Jews.
48:54
The ye that fear God give audience.
48:56
Basically listen up and then he preaches all about the Lord
49:03
Jesus Christ. And he contextualizes it in the
49:07
ancient Hebrew story that we find in the Old Testament.
49:11
So most of the story would make sense to this, these listeners,
49:15
until Jesus. That would be like this new plot
49:18
twist. Like, wait, you're adding to the
49:21
story that we already know from the Old Testament?
49:23
Who is this new person you're talking about?
49:25
And that's what Paul's trying to do, is help them to see that
49:28
Jesus is the fulfillment of a long series of divine acts that
49:32
God started all the back to creation.
49:35
Abraham, Moses, King David, and the prophets of the Old
49:38
Testament. He wants the Jewish people to
49:40
hear. At that point, Jesus is part of
49:44
the story. That has been your story and you
49:47
can now adopt him as your own. I love this.
49:49
In verse 38 he says, Be it known unto you, therefore, men and
49:53
brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the
49:57
forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is not
50:00
going to come from the law of Moses.
50:02
It's not going to come from Moses himself, nor from Abraham,
50:04
nor from King David. Nor from Joseph in Egypt.
50:07
It's going to come from this man, Jesus Christ, and by him
50:12
all the believer justified from all things from which he could
50:15
not be justified by the law of Moses.
50:18
Well, this is getting their attention.
50:21
Verse 42 says when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the
50:24
Gentiles be sought, that these words might be preached to them
50:27
the next Sabbath. So the Jews might have left, but
50:32
the Gentiles have been lifting listening in, and they're
50:34
saying. Paul, could you come and preach
50:37
to us next Sabbath? We want to hear more about this.
50:40
Something happened for us and so verse 43 says Now when the
50:43
congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious
50:47
proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas.
50:51
So these are born Jews and Gentiles who have become
50:54
proselytes into the Jewish faith.
50:56
They now follow Peter or sorry Paul and Barnabas.
51:00
And verse 44 says the next Sabbath day came almost the
51:02
whole city together to hear the word of God.
51:05
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled
51:08
with envy and spake the against those things which were spoken
51:11
by Paul, contradicting and blasphemy.
51:14
So Paul and Barnabas wax bold and they're telling the people
51:18
you decide, but ultimately, verse 50 says.
51:22
But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and
51:25
the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul
51:28
and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts, and they
51:32
shook off the dust. Of their feet against them, and
51:36
came unto Iconium. So we leave Antioch at Passidia,
51:41
and we come E to a city called Iconium.
51:45
What I love about this is even though there was rejection in
51:49
that city and the city and Antioch we get in verse 48, but
51:53
there were a number of people, particularly Gentiles believe.
51:56
And so Luke is trying to paint this picture of how the Church
52:00
is growing not just among the Jews, but it also is expanding
52:03
rapidly among the Gentiles, just as Jesus had foretold.
52:07
What a beautiful lesson for us in the latter days, right?
52:10
That just because you have success doesn't mean that it's
52:14
all success or all failure. They they go to that city,
52:18
Antiocopa city. They have great success among a
52:20
certain group, but overall they're persecuted and pushed
52:25
out. But it doesn't erase the fact
52:28
that we left a lot of people who are now growing in the gospel.
52:32
And we come to Iconium in chapter 14, verse one, and we go
52:36
together unto the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a
52:41
great multitude, both of the Jews and also of the Greeks,
52:43
believed So the Jews being the group that we're used to
52:47
teaching. And of the Greeks these would be
52:50
the Gentiles, the pagans. That now are believing.
52:55
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their
52:59
minds evil affected against the brethren.
53:01
So they leave. Under threat of being stoned.
53:04
That's right. And we go to chapter 14, verse
53:07
six. It says they were aware of it,
53:10
this, this plot to assault them. So they left.
53:14
They fled unto Lystra and Derby, cities of Liconia and unto the
53:19
region that Lieth roundabout. So we come a little bit South
53:22
and then a little bit further east, and here we get an amazing
53:25
miracle. There's had a certain amount of
53:27
Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his
53:30
mother's room who never had walked.
53:33
So we've seen this story with Peter, and now we're trying to
53:37
show that Paul has access to the same power, to the same
53:41
miracles. This is connecting us
53:43
absolutely, Luke. Who is a physician?
53:46
A doctor he loves focusing on healing miracles.
53:49
It's kind of what he he specializes in as a physician,
53:53
trying to bring comfort to those who are suffering or who are
53:57
afflicted in any manner. So here's Paul with this man who
54:01
has never walked a day of his life.
54:03
The same heard Paul speak, who steadfastly be holding him,
54:06
perceiving that he had faith to be healed.
54:08
Paul's looking at him, and he senses something.
54:12
It is a gift of the Spirit. The the faith to be healed that
54:16
this man has. So Paul says in verse 10 with a
54:19
loud voice, stand upright on thy feet, and he leaped and walked.
54:25
You're seeing Luke use very similar phrases here as he did
54:28
back in Acts chapter three with Peter and John at the temple.
54:33
There's a a serious difference between these two stories,
54:36
however. Peter.
54:39
With the lame man at the temple said in the name of Jesus Christ
54:43
of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Paul did not invoke the name of
54:49
the Lord, he just told the man to stand up and walk.
54:51
Yeah, but that wouldn't create any confusion, right?
54:54
People know exactly this is from the power of Jesus.
54:56
Right, they missed it because at that moment, the whole group in
55:00
verse 11 says When the people saw what Paul had done.
55:03
Notice when they saw what Paul had done.
55:08
Back to chapter 3. The man went into the temple,
55:11
leaping and walking and praising God, not Peter.
55:16
Here they're looking at what Paul had done.
55:18
They lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Likonia,
55:21
the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
55:24
Which is true. And that was Jesus.
55:28
But they missed. That because Paul apparently
55:31
just missed a key phrase. So they're calling Barnabas
55:35
Jupiter, and they're calling Paul mercurious, or Mercury,
55:39
because he was the chief speaker.
55:41
So the the messenger of the gods is Mercury, and Barnabas is
55:46
probably big, strong, quiet, silent, powerful type.
55:51
And they're like, he must be Jupiter the chief God.
55:53
And Paul's doing all the talking, so he's Mercury.
55:56
Yeah, and the word Jupiter comes from the word Zeus.
56:00
Potter. Potter just means father.
56:03
So Jupiter just literally means Father Zeus.
56:05
So they think Father Zeus has showed up and it's like actually
56:08
no God the Father sent his son. That's what we're trying to
56:13
teach. And so it's important when we
56:15
are teaching that we don't miss the opportunity to declare the
56:20
name of Jesus, which apparently Paul misses opportunity.
56:24
He's not going to miss that opportunity in the future
56:26
because of this, it seems, So he and Barnabas run in.
56:30
Tearing their clothes, ripping their clothes, ran in among the
56:34
people crying out, saying, sirs, why do you these things?
56:37
We're also men of like passions with you, and preach unto you
56:39
that you should turn from these vanities and unto the living God
56:43
which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are
56:46
there in And he says, look in the past God winked at this,
56:51
this idol worship of yours. But it's time to change.
56:56
Well, watch what happens. Verse 18.
56:59
And with these sayings scarce restrained, they the people that
57:02
they had not done sacrifice unto them.
57:05
So here we are, We just got through that problem, and verse
57:09
19 opens. And there came to there certain
57:11
Jews from Antioch and Iconium, the cities we were at before,
57:19
And they persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul drew him
57:23
out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
57:25
So in one verse we're going to sacrifice.
57:29
To you on your. Behalf on your behalf as a God,
57:32
and then actually, no, we're just going to kill you as a man.
57:35
Are you noticing a pattern here, brothers and sisters?
57:38
When people are convinced of something, it's just a matter of
57:43
time before they can become unconvinced of it and be
57:46
convinced of the total opposite, which is what's happening here.
57:49
It's kind of the difference between a covenantal approach to
57:55
how you see the Lord. And a consumer approach to how
58:01
you see the gospel and your your belonging in the church.
58:06
It's it's easy to to become dissuaded at the customer
58:11
service desk if it's like if you're saying well my membership
58:14
in the church and my connection in this covenant isn't giving me
58:17
what I want out of it. And and so I demand a refund or
58:20
I I'm going to take action against you versus this
58:23
covenantal approach to your discipleship which says.
58:28
Dear Lord, here I am. Send me.
58:31
I'll do whatever you want me to do.
58:33
I'll be whatever you want me to be.
58:35
And I'm not going to demand anything from me.
58:37
I'll make requests, but I won't make demands.
58:39
And these people are using this customer service mentality.
58:43
This concept was shared at a BYU forum in February of 2023 by the
58:49
President of Yeshiva University, the Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman.
58:54
And I love this, I love this approach.
58:56
That here are these people who can so quickly shift their
59:01
loyalty. I think the Lord expects us when
59:05
we enter into covenant with him, that we're not going to treat
59:09
this as a flavor of the day, or in this case, the flavor of
59:12
perhaps the hour. And then so quickly shift, but
59:16
rather commit to him for the long haul that we'll we'll do
59:22
anything that he asks us to do now.
59:24
This next set of verses is fascinating because it says how
59:28
be it is. The disciples stood round about
59:30
him. He rose up, so they stand round
59:34
him and he stood up. Makes you wonder if they laid on
59:38
the hands and and pronounced the priesthood blessing.
59:42
And he came into the city and the next day he departed with
59:46
Barnabas to Derby. And when they had preached the
59:50
gospel to that city and atop many, they returned again to
59:53
Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch.
59:56
So he's preaching again in all these places where they've been
59:59
rejected. But if you notice, he was just
1:00:03
stoned. The people thought to death.
1:00:06
He's now risen up again and he's preaching.
1:00:09
Can you picture the sermon that next morning, that next day?
1:00:13
Reminds me of the tarring and feathering experience that
1:00:16
Joseph Smith had at the John Johnson farm.
1:00:19
All night long, they're trying to pull that tar off of the
1:00:22
skin, and the next morning, what did he do?
1:00:24
Preaches A sermon and what's the topic?
1:00:28
This is this is. Forgiveness.
1:00:30
It was, and look at what Paul's topic is verse 22.
1:00:35
He's confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to
1:00:38
continue in the faith that we must through.
1:00:43
Much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God.
1:00:47
That is a covenantal relationship with the Lord.
1:00:52
That is not a customer service relationship.
1:00:55
Paul is saying you are going to face tribulation and here he is
1:01:00
probably with bruises and and blood and scrapes and scratches
1:01:05
all over him and he's preaching that message to these people.
1:01:10
That makes the message a little more profound in my mind, a
1:01:13
little more authenticity when he says it's through much
1:01:16
tribulation that you enter into the Kingdom of God.
1:01:18
Which, by the way, if you haven't suffered in some way,
1:01:22
you probably are not alive. You probably never came down to
1:01:26
earth. We all suffer.
1:01:28
And through that, just like Jesus suffered, we have an
1:01:32
opportunity to testify of gospel principles in God's salvation
1:01:38
sometimes. When we preach that kind of
1:01:41
testimony in the context of our suffering, it ends up being more
1:01:45
powerful than if we simply declare all of God's goodness
1:01:48
when all we've had is pomp and circumstance.
1:01:52
So they retrace all of their steps, come back on a ship to
1:01:57
Antioch, end that missionary journey, and we come S to
1:02:03
Jerusalem in chapter 15 for what could be labeled.
1:02:07
The second general conference of the Church, the first being the
1:02:10
feast of the Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Spirit of Lord
1:02:13
back in Acts chapter 2. And here you get this conflict
1:02:19
within the Church. These are members of the Church
1:02:22
that are having this struggle, this this debate, or in some
1:02:25
cases this contention. It says certain man which came
1:02:29
down from Judea. Taught the brethren and said,
1:02:32
except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot
1:02:36
be saved to have Judaizers now trying to bully if you will.
1:02:41
The Gentile converts into saying you're not really going to be
1:02:44
saved just cuz you're a baptized because you haven't kept the law
1:02:48
of circumcision. Which, by the way, that's
1:02:51
nonscriptural. It sounds very compelling.
1:02:54
And if you didn't do your homework, you might say, well,
1:02:56
these other members of the church are speaking with what
1:02:58
seems to be authority. It must be true, and you could
1:03:01
set up an entire tradition around a doctrine that seems to
1:03:04
make sense, that isn't founded on reality.
1:03:07
And it's significant that we be careful that we always make sure
1:03:11
we are grounded in true doctrine and not just in hearsay or
1:03:15
somebody's strong opinion, even if it's well meaning.
1:03:20
So here we are in Antioch. We finished that mission.
1:03:23
These Judaizers have come down. It says down, even though it's
1:03:27
way north, because if you're leaving Jerusalem, you're always
1:03:29
going down. They're having this debate, and
1:03:33
Paul and Barnabas aren't taking this line down.
1:03:36
First two says when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small
1:03:38
dissension and disputation with them, they determined the Paul
1:03:42
and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to
1:03:44
Jerusalem under the apostles and elders about this question.
1:03:48
So they're saying we're not going to be able to work this
1:03:50
out. Let's go talk to Peter and the
1:03:52
other apostles about this. So they leave, they come into
1:03:56
Jerusalem and we now have this meeting.
1:04:00
Starting in verse six it says in the Apostles and elders came
1:04:03
together for to consider of this matter.
1:04:06
And when there had been much disputing, so now the debate has
1:04:11
has taken center stage in Jerusalem.
1:04:14
Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know
1:04:18
how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the
1:04:20
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and
1:04:24
believe. And then he Peter, the chief
1:04:27
apostle, implores this group of of leaders of the Church.
1:04:32
He says, God, which N the hearts, bear them witness,
1:04:35
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.
1:04:37
And he put and put no difference between us and them, purifying
1:04:43
their hearts by faith. And then his question now
1:04:47
therefore, why tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the
1:04:50
disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to
1:04:54
bear? Why are you going to yoke them
1:04:57
with the 613 laws plus some of the oral tradition of the chief
1:05:02
priest of the people that they've added to it?
1:05:05
Why are you going to do that to them when the Savior has
1:05:08
fulfilled the law of Moses? And so everyone kept their
1:05:13
silence, and then Paul and Barnabas stood up in verse 12,
1:05:16
and they declare all the miracles and wonders that they
1:05:19
saw among the Gentiles, and then James.
1:05:23
The half brother of Jesus stands up in verse 13.
1:05:25
James is the leader of the Judaizers in Jerusalem.
1:05:29
He seems to kind of be in charge of that movement down in the
1:05:34
capital city of Jerusalem. And he stands up and he makes
1:05:38
this proposal that he says okay. Well, if you're going to say
1:05:42
they don't have to keep all of the 613 laws, including the law
1:05:45
of circumcision, let's at least. Give them four or five things.
1:05:49
Let's make a compromise. And so we see that compromise in
1:05:54
verse 20. He says let's write unto them
1:05:58
that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from
1:06:00
fornication and from things strangled and from blood.
1:06:04
Pretty straightforward list. And that very much fits in the
1:06:08
ancient Pagan world view where they were doing a lot of animal
1:06:12
sacrifice to fake gods. And they're saying this is a big
1:06:16
no no. One of the first things in the
1:06:18
Law of Moses is. God shall have no other gods
1:06:21
before you, right? And worshipping other gods
1:06:24
through meat offerings was a big problem.
1:06:28
So I think James is trying to say, listen, if you're going to
1:06:31
be following God, you don't need to be consuming meat and
1:06:34
participating in the fall religious practices of these
1:06:37
pagans who are worshipping fake gods.
1:06:40
So that is the compromise that everybody agreed to.
1:06:45
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What might have happened if
1:06:48
everybody had said once Peter the chief Apostle had given his
1:06:52
proposal, which is don't bind them down with anything, if it
1:06:56
would have possibly led to a little more friendship and
1:07:01
collegiality among the Jewish Christians and the Gentile
1:07:05
Christians in the Diaspora, in the the regions, all roundabout,
1:07:11
but we'll never know, because that is the message that was now
1:07:15
carried out. To the whole world.
1:07:17
And next week we'll begin with the very ending verses of
1:07:21
chapter 15 as we start the 2nd and then ultimately the third
1:07:26
missionary journey of Paul out into that Greco Roman world.
1:07:31
So to finish today's episode, we've covered a lot of fun
1:07:36
stories, a lot of fun teachings and and different groups of
1:07:40
people. But at the end of the day, if
1:07:43
Peter were standing here. Or if Cornelius were here, or
1:07:46
Pete Paul, or Barnabas, or John Mark, or any of these characters
1:07:51
from the story. I think they all might agree
1:07:55
that if you keep your focus firmly fixed on the Savior Jesus
1:08:00
Christ, and turn your life over to him in a covenantal way.
1:08:04
Not in a consumer mentality, not expecting him to do things for
1:08:08
you, but asking him what you can do for him next.
1:08:12
He'll guide your steps. I love this quote that President
1:08:15
Dieter F Uchdorf shared in General Conference a few years
1:08:18
ago, quoting it. It's often attributed to this
1:08:21
Saint Francis of Assisi when he says, quote, preach the gospel
1:08:26
at all times and if necessary, use words.
1:08:32
May the Lord bless us in our own individual circles of influence
1:08:35
to be able to do exactly that. And be on the Lord's errand is
1:08:39
our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
1:08:42
Know that you're loved. And sread light and goodness.