Thoughts From Acts 10 - Part 3

 The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”  Acts 10:23-33

       What's the deal with clean and unclean? In this passage we see both clean and unclean foods and clean and unclean people and both of these need to be addressed in order that the gospel can go out to all mankind.

          First of all, why unclean food? There are several reasons but first in a book called None of these Diseases, the author quotes the verse in Exodus where God tells the Jews that if they obey His law they will have none of those diseases that the Egyptians have. So, health wise, unclean food generally was unhealthy food from pork with trichinosis to roadkill carrying bacteria to bottom feeding fish eating refuse, to blood with viruses, God was protecting them from diseases. Secondly, and this refers to clean and unclean people also, God wanted to use something that would inherently separate the Jews from other nations and keep them a pure race so that millennia later after they have been dispersed, He could bring them back in 1948 and they would still be a people group distinct and not absorbed into the rest of civilization. I mean, how can you go out on a date when you eat different food? Lastly, just like menses, mildew, death, discharges, etc., God is reminding them that we are in an unclean world because of sin causing death and dying. Having unclean food in your mind on a daily basis reminded them of sin and their need for a sacrifice to make things clean. Things were not how they were meant to be in this world and they were in need of a "cleanser".

         Second, why unclean people? Besides the need for a way to keep Jews distinct so that God could bring them back in the last days showing He's not done with them, the second reason is that darkness and light cannot coexist. I am made acutely aware of this even this morning as I had breakfast with the residents - they have a completely different worldview than me. You can see it happening with youth group kids going to college. Unless they have a very strong family of believers that are their core, they will start being and thinking like the godless peer group around them who live for gratifying the flesh. This is why Paul urges the Corinthians not to be unequally "yoked" and to come out from among them and be separate. Soon, God knew that if allowed to associate with the "unclean", they would forget Him and go after other gods. Lastly it reminds us that everyone is not all right. We are not all by birth and common humanity children of God. The world is divided into clean (forgiven righteous justified sanctified followers of Christ) and unclean (basically everyone else). It's our job to make as many clean as possible, not us but the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

         Getting back to the passage, Cornelius, who by looking at him with human eyes appeared clean, wasn't. The uncleanliness of his "gentileness" pointed to a deeper need which far surpassed his ceremonial uncleanness. He had an unclean inside which needed to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law by cleaning "the inside of the cup versus the Pharisees being more concerned with the outside. From this point on, the ceremonial uncleanness of food and people was superseded by the uncleanness of the heart that we as believers should be focused on.

         So, mix all you want for one reason only - not to become like them but to offer the internal cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Thoughts From Acts 10 - Part 2

 

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.  Acts 10:9-23

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) Mark 7:18,19

     I love the parentheses in the Mark verse. Although Mark wrote Mark (that's pretty obvious although Timothy didn't write Timothy) it's generally believed that he got most of his material from Peter. To me, the parenthetical statement is kind of saying, "Here's what Jesus taught but we didn't figure out what He meant until later. Actually, it took the sheet coming down from Heaven in a vision episode to waken me to what He was teaching us back then."

    Isn't that the way it is with the Bible? We read something we don't understand so we file it away and come back to it later while we focus on the things that we do understand. Many years later after we grow in Christ and life experiences, we come across it again and we say, "Now I get what He's saying." William Craig talks about the virgin birth being a stumbling block to his salvation until he got to know God and realized that's "child play" (pun) for Him. Tim Keller struggled with the fairness of primogeniture or eldest son birthright until he saw how God was always messing with it - Jacob, Isaac, David, Judah, Ephraim, etc. There are answers for difficult questions. The problem is when we say I don't understand this one thing so I'm going to throw out Christianity. No! Don't do that! The answers are there just wait until the time comes when He'll explain it to you.

     We are training brand new interns now. When you ask them how they're doing, a common response is "I feel like I'm drinking water from a fire hose." That's not how God quenches our thirst. He reveals thing to us as we can take them. No wonder Paul talks about the "milk" of the word. Babies aren't ready for meat yet. Someday, for sure, but little by little. Peter took some time to digest the meat so don't expect that you will understand everything about the Bible. It's sips at a time.

Thoughts From Acts 10 - Part 1

 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.  Acts 10:1-8

         Like the Ethiopian Eunuch, like the worshippers in Jerusalem at Pentecost, like the disciples in Acts 19 who had only heard of the baptism of John, Cornelius was an Old Testament saint. He believed in Yahweh, followed the law, confessed his sins but yet wasn't a New Testament saint. He did not know of the death and resurrection and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. Where would he have gone if he died not knowing of Jesus? Well, we will never find out because God was making sure that didn't happen in supernatural ways. He sent Phillip to run alongside a chariot then whisked him away to another place. He sent Simon to Joppa and sent an angel in a vision to tell Cornelius where he needed to go to find him.

       We are no longer in those transition times. People can go to church, give to the poor, raise good families, be good citizens but that doesn't amount to anything - they still need Jesus and we need to tell them. As good as Cornelius was, he still needed Jesus. We tend to go to the dregs of society because they aren't good people - we know they need Jesus in the bars and in the prisons. However, do we tend to shy away from the "good" people thinking they already have it all together so they aren't in need of Romans 3:23? Cornelius stands as a testimony that no matter how "good" we might be or are trying to be, good deeds don't get us to Heaven, only faith in Jesus does.

        If someone comes to your mind, maybe you are in "Joppa" for the express purpose of reaching that person for Christ. Your acquaintance with them is maybe the only doorway to eternal life that they will ever get. Tell them about Jesus and let the Holy Spirit do the work. You don't have to and can't save them but God can. Your best ability is availability. Like Cornelius, follow the Lord's leading.

Thoughts From Acts 9 - Part 4

 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

          Joppa or Jaffa is a port city on the Mediterranean Sea with great tourist appeal. The beaches are less busy, there are nice cafes, open air markets, great seafood restaurants and many sites to visit for tourists. That's what I would do if I went to Joppa. That's not what Peter did. Peter went to raise Dorcas, a.k.a. Tabatha from the dead and strengthen the church there. Initially we had read that during the times of persecution, led by Saul, believers fled Jerusalem, but the apostles stayed there. Now, as the persecution died down, the apostles, namely Peter, began to go to other cities. First, he went to Lydda and Sharon to build the church there using the miracle power granted to him raising up Aeneas, a well-known paralytic. By doing that, everyone who saw it turned to the Lord. Next, he went to Joppa because a follower of Christ named Tabitha was sick and died. Presumably people came and got him either to raise her from the dead, heal her illness to which she succumbed by the time he got there, or maybe eulogize her and preach the funeral. He did raise her from the dead, not him but the power of God given to him to exercise. Many people believed because of this.

     Don't you wish you had this power? No wonder Simon the sorcerer wanted to buy it. Just think of all the effective witnessing I could do if I could raise people out of their wheelchairs. I would think that I'd immediately go viral with my face on every social media account. It would unfortunately be about me and not Jesus. People would come from everywhere not to find Jesus but to see a show or be healed. These healings validated the gospel but now, with Christianity being the biggest religion in the world, the gospel has been validated. We don't need these side shows anymore. We don't need healthy bodies we need healthy souls.

     The other reason that I would never get this power is that I'd go to Joppa to be a tourist, not to evangelize. I would go with a camera, credit card, 7-day visa, suitcase, and a ticket home, not a Bible and microphone. God forgive us for being tourists on this planet rather than ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.

Thoughts From Acts 9 - Part 3

 

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Acts 9:20-30

           Everywhere the converted Saul/Paul went, the Jewish leaders tried to kill him. Charlie Kirk was killed for his beliefs but his killer will probably get the death penalty. The Humana CEO was killed but the assassin will receive the penalty for murder. What's crazy about this time is that you could kill people that you disagreed with and get away with it. We can't do this today. What changed?

        Tom Holland writes in his book Dominion that the Christian revolution led by the death and teachings of Christ and spread worldwide by His followers replaced the classical Greek and Roman teachings which Paul lived under. These Ancient Historical views saw the strength, power and status of individuals defined what could be done to the outcasts with no regard to any inherent worth of the individual. Christianity reverses that thinking. The cross made the victim and sufferer the central focus of moral concern. The teachings that all people were made in the image of God and equally valued by God gave everyone intrinsic worth. In other words, centuries later, thanks to Paul's and the disciples' teachings for which they were martyred, no one can get away with this behavior anymore.

       And what made them so mad that they wanted to kill him? First of all, he won all the arguments. Have you ever seen a debate or argument where one person gives an irrefutable argument. Usually, the loser doesn't concede but resort to a character attack or an F-you. This is what Paul was experiencing; they couldn't refute his wisdom, so they tried attacking him physically. Secondly, he would have been a traitor - a person immersed in a group who realized the fallacies of the group and sought to destroy it using inside knowledge. We see this with gays who come out of that life and become heterosexuals and speak against the homosexual lifestyle. Gays would attack this person saying once gay always gay and you probably weren't gay in the first place. Paul attacked the pride of the Pharisees from the place of an ex-Pharisee and they hated it.

        The central teaching of Paul was proving that Jesus is God. He didn't focus on politics, human rights, societal evils, but only preaching Jesus. Maybe a good question for us to ask people is "Who do you think Jesus is?" and follow up with "Can I tell you what the Bible says?" Could you tell them what the Bible says? Paul could because that was his priority in life. Is it yours? Learn the answer to that question and memorize the verses.

Thoughts From Acts 9 - Part 2

  In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Acts 9:10-19

        I love Ananias' response to Jesus, "Yes, Lord". I think in context it should actually be "Yes, Lord?" My wife's first answer to everything is "No". Then she thinks about it for a while and gets to "maybe it's possible." Finally, she might get around to "OK". Her personality looks first at all the reasons something won't work and one by one has to dismantle each obstacle to them working. I'm just the opposite. I see something as working and go for it and deal with the obstacles along the way. I will admit that sometimes my way will be questioning in the middle, "Was this really worth it?"

        I've heard it said, "It's impossible to say, "No, Lord." Why?, because that is an oxymoron. Lord means master or boss. If someone is your master, you have to do what they say. That's what master means. Therefore, the only proper response is "Yes, Lord." If you say, "No, Lord", you are in effect saying Jesus is not your Lord. Romans 10 says that if you confess Jesus as Lord you are saved. Many other passages affirm that if Jesus isn't your Lord, you aren't saved. Sometimes, however, like Ananias we put a question mark on the end of "Yes, Lord". It's like "OK Lord but why or are You sure about this?"

       Getting back to my wife, when the Lord calls her it's always "Yes, Lord". This weekend she is speaking to a number of moms of teens to a bunch of women she doesn't know, in an unfamiliar venue, on a topic they gave her that she feels ill-equipped to handle. Why? Because the leader called and asked if she would speak and she felt like it was from God, so she said, "Yes, Lord". God has given her the verses and the words to speak and she has witnessed the Holy Spirit opening the word to her and her faith has increased that much more because she said "Yes, Lord -but with a question mark. "Why me"? "What will I say?" "These women don't even know me, why should they care what I say?" "But Lord, this is out of my comfort zone!" Ananias had the same question mark. "But Lord, why me and even more, why him?" "This is very dangerous, are you sure?" "What if this is a trap?" Nevertheless, "Yes, Lord".

        What are you saying "no" to? You realize, if He's truly your Lord that you can't say "no", right? It's Ok to question but make sure you question on your way. Moses was questioning God about going back to Egypt, but his questions weren't while going, they were to avoid going and eventually God got angry and basically said, "You're going!" Don't make that mistake - when God calls you the only proper response is, "Yes, Lord."

Thoughts From Acts 9 - Part 1

 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 9:1-9

        What are the greatest events in the History of the World? Viewing things through the Kingdom of Heaven mindset we would have to say the incarnation of Jesus where God invaded this planet as a human to save us. Secondly, Jesus death on the cross where He made a way for all mankind's sin to be forgiven and a relationship restored with our Maker. Third, the resurrection where death was defeated and God made a way to live forever with Him. And fourth, the sending of the Holy Spirit so we can be made spiritually alive with God living inside us. There are more to come but after those four not many events are much more significant than what happens here in Acts 9, the conversion of Saul. The gospel was spread completely throughout the known world because of his faithfulness. When we get to Heaven, Paul's family tree of believers is going to resemble Noah's family tree of humans. And where would we be without Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon and possibly Hebrews?

      I am big into free will where a person is headed one way and repents of their sin being convicted by the Holy Spirit, and turns and chooses to follow Christ. Here is an instance where God invades and does the turning. God sees who He wants and knocks him off his donkey and sends him the other way. I still see it as free will though where Father God, not the Godfather, makes him an offer he can't refuse. 

       Why Saul? He was perfectly suited for the task. He had a zealous personality. Like a dog sniffing a scent, Paul's scent would be evangelizing Gentiles, and nothing could stop him. He also was multilingual being highly educated, which would serve him well as he crossed continents with the Gospel. He was a Roman Citizen which got him a "Get out of Jail Free card" in a few instances. He was an Old Testament scholar so once his wrong thinking got turned around as he sat in darkness for three days, he "saw" the scripture through the eyes of Jesus being the prophesied Messiah who would come two times; the first as a suffering savior and the second as a conquering triumphant king. This enabled him to preach while reasoning effectively from the scriptures and write epistles that effectively transitioned new believers from the old covenant to the new covenant.

      You may not be a Saul but God has knocked you at some point off your donkey and headed you in a direction following Jesus for a unique calling that only you can perform. Are you zealously, faithfully performing it? Do you even know what "it" is? Paul said, "We are His workmanship whom God created to perform previously ordained for us, good works." God has given us gifts and abilities to perform these. Are you just sitting around in the dark or are you up and doing them?