46. Acts 10 | Embraced- Peter Preaches Grace for All People

Breaking Barriers: Peter, Cornelius, and the Gospel to the Gentiles

In this episode, we explore the transformative event in Acts 10, where Peter's encounter with Cornelius radically shifts the course of the early Christian church. Hosts Adam and Alice dive into the themes of barrier-breaking and the universality of the gospel, as God shows no favoritism between Jews and Gentiles. They reflect on historical and theological aspects of this passage, discussing how Peter's vision and subsequent actions open the door for Gentile inclusion into the Christian faith. The episode also touches on personal reflections and applications of the story, encouraging listeners to evaluate their own perceptions and reach out to all people. Alongside biblical narrative analysis, Alice and Adam share light-hearted banter to engage listeners in both entertaining and meaningful ways.

00:00 The Radical Inclusion of Gentiles
00:20 Casual Conversations and Culinary Preferences
02:07 Peter's Vision and the Divine Message
05:34 The Significance of Cornelius and Caesarea
06:39 The Connection Between Joppa and Jonah
07:45 Peter's Vision: A New Understanding
15:11 The Arrival of Cornelius' Men
15:31 Peter's Vision and Divine Encounter
17:25 The Courage to Break Cultural Barriers
18:13 The Significance of Time and Divine Appointments
19:12 Cornelius' Faith and Divine Orchestration
20:59 The Role of Image Bearers in God's Plan
26:27 Breaking Down Barriers: Jews and Gentiles United
30:37 The Holy Spirit's Unifying Power
35:40 Reflecting on Personal Prejudices and Growth
38:27 Engaging with the Community
39:13 Closing Reflections and Prayer

Music used in intro: "Hard Answers" by JK Productions

Transcript

Adam: 0:00

Have you ever thought about how radical it was for the early church to welcome Gentiles? In Acts 10, Peter's encounter with Cornelius doesn't just change one person, it changes the entire trajectory of the Christian mission. Today, we're diving into this powerful story and exploring how God breaks down barriers to spread the gospel to everyone.

Alison: 0:20

Hey Adam, how's it going today?

Adam: 0:22

It's great, Alice, and I'm having a good week. I'm having a pretty low key week, which I'm enjoying at the moment. Good! Yeah, how about you?

Alison: 0:29

It would be better if I was at the beach.

Adam: 0:32

It would be better at the Oh, here we go again with that dreaded place.

Alison: 0:36

I just said that because I knew When you said low key weak, that's my definition of the best kind of low key weak. We talked about that

Adam: 0:43

last week. Yes, for 20 minutes, yes.

Alison: 0:44

I know. I like the beach. You don't like the beach. But there was something I mentioned that I didn't really We didn't really completely share with the listeners. Not only do you not like the beach, you don't like to eat anything that comes out of the ocean.

Adam: 0:57

Listen, I am a huge fan of beef and steak and chicken. I will not even eat any of those if they've touched water. That's how against seafood. I am. It's not risking it. If it even close to tasting fishy at all, I'm done.

Alison: 1:10

Okay, so it's not like a flavor thing for you, it's just, or it is the fishy flavor, or you're afraid? Look, it's a little

Adam: 1:15

bit of both, okay? When you're gonna use something that you put in your mouth as a descriptive term for something that smells really bad, I don't want to eat it. If you tell me it smells fishy, I'm not gonna go smell the fishiness. And if it smells fishy, I don't want to eat it. It smells bad, why would I? That's every aspect of our biological senses. tells us you shouldn't eat those things. If it smells bad, don't eat them. It tastes so good though. No, it doesn't. It tastes fishy.

Alison: 1:40

So you, are you still on this? Last time we had a church fellowship with you, you only ate meat. You're just doing all meat. I am doing all

Adam: 1:48

meat. And for all those people who think I'm absolutely insane, it is a, it's called the carnivore diet. And I have to be 100 percent honest with you. It is the easiest diet I've ever been because I am very much a meat eater, okay? So I eat only meat all the time. No seafood. Zero. Not happening.

Alison: 2:06

Okay. Today in our Bible story, we're going to be looking at Acts 10 and God's actually going to tell us we should eat all kinds of meat. So I hate to break it to you, but

Adam: 2:17

Look, if this is where I have to draw that sinful line, then I guess maybe that's what I have to do.

Alison: 2:23

Instead of making you read that passage that describes all meat, why don't you start us off with bring this up to speed. What happened at the end of Acts chapter nine?

Adam: 2:31

Yeah. We've been moving through this journey of Acts. We watched, in the last episode, the conversion of Saul. And he leaves us off just looking to see what's next, honestly. What's, where we're going with this thematic look throughout the book of Acts. Again, we're not covering every single verse and every single chapter, but Ultimately, we are we're hitting specific themes, and we're watching as you wonderfully pointed out, that whole Acts 1 8 Jerusalem, Judea, to all of Samaria, we're watching it unfold. We're watching barriers being broken down, we're watching Jesus radically change people's lives and some of those who were so adamantly against it we're we will suddenly become incredible church planners and gospel preachers throughout the book of the Act, book of Acts.

Alison: 3:14

Yeah. Yeah. And Paul was one of those., who we spent a lot of time with last week in Acts chapter nine. But before that we spent time with Peter . And today we're gonna go back to Peter in Acts chapter 10. And so the end of Acts chapter nine. Actually sets the scene per Acts chapter 10. Peter is spending some time in Lydda and Joppa, and he's raising a lot of people back to life. Dorkus.

Adam: 3:35

What a crazy statement to make. Oh yeah, he's yeah, Peter, yeah, he's just, he's, resurrecting people.

Alison: 3:40

Yes.

Adam: 3:41

There you go.

Alison: 3:41

And one of them's name is Dorkus. What a great name. Which I thought that you would like, yeah, I figured you would like that name. Yes. So he was doing a lot of miraculous signs, and at the very last verse and so we're in Joppa, and while he's in Joppa, I'm going to go ahead and read the first 16 verses of Acts chapter 10 to tell you what happens. There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. About three in the afternoon, he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, Cornelius, staring at him in awe. He said, what is it Lord? The angel told him your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also called Peter. He is lodging with Simon a tanner whose house is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his soldiers, servants and a devout soldier. Excuse me, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him. After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven open and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down from heaven. being lowered by its four corners to the earth. And it were all the four footed animals and reptiles of the earth and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. No, Lord, Peter said, for I have never eaten anything impure or ritually unclean. And again, a second time, the voice said to him, what God has made clean, do not call impure. This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven. Did you notice that I pronounced that city Caesarea? Yes. I just decided, I know everybody calls it Caesarea, right? Yeah. But I was listening to a commentator this week, and he said, I don't know if he's right, but I like it. He said it's pronounced Caesarea because it's the seat of the government of the Roman government in Judea Yeah, I was named after Caesar. So I was like,

Adam: 5:53

What's funny about that everyone pronouncing that I was listening to an Italian Youtuber who speaks English and he calls him Kaiser Really? In Italian, it's caesarea. Okay. Is that

Alison: 6:03

weird? What, yeah, so we can just

Adam: 6:05

call it I go with Caesarea Maritime, so there's actually two Caesareas. One is in Philippi, one is in Maritime. I have been to both, by the way.

Alison: 6:13

You've been to both? Of course. Are you bragging?

Adam: 6:15

I'm a little bit bragging, yeah. I'd love to go back. I'd love to go back.

Alison: 6:19

When you go back, I'm going to be on the travel list. Those traveling with you. Caesarea or Caesarea. Caesarea. However you want to say it. It was the seat of the Roman government in Judea, and if you remember like during the story of the resurrection and the crucifixion the governor traveled to Jerusalem because he often did during feast times, but he was stationed in Caesarea. Yes. Where was, I thought this was really interesting, I thought you'd really like this, where Peter was staying was in Joppa. We've heard of Joppa before in the Bible, right?

Adam: 6:47

Yep.

Alison: 6:48

Or else have we heard of Joppa?

Adam: 6:49

Some guy named Jonah.

Alison: 6:50

Huh.

Adam: 6:50

Yeah.

Alison: 6:51

Yeah, so do you think that connect, that's a connection?

Adam: 6:54

Oh, I don't know. I've never actually thought about it. You haven't thought, you

Alison: 6:57

mean I haven't

Adam: 6:57

thought of

Alison: 6:58

a connection that you haven't thought of?

Adam: 6:59

No, I haven't. Oh, that happens all the time, whatever. No. No, I have not.

Alison: 7:04

I was thinking last week how you talked about how God was redeeming a lot of his plan through New Testament Bible people. And Jonah missed the mark when he went to meet Joppa. He should

Adam: 7:15

have been to a Gentile land.

Alison: 7:17

Yeah, he should, he was called from Joppa to go to Nineveh and reach the Gentiles. And he absolutely refused. God eventually forced him, spit him up onto the Gentile land. But he didn't go willingly.

Adam: 7:30

I have one extra layer to that. Okay, good. Any idea what Jonah's dad's name was?

Alison: 7:36

Was it Peter? Simon? I don't know. Simon? Simon.

Adam: 7:40

Okay. Yeah, Simon was his dad's name. Okay. So Simon Bar Jonah. Interesting.

Alison: 7:45

Yeah. So there's kind of two settings going on in this story. We have Caesarea, where Cornelius is. And do you want to tell us a little bit about Cornelius who he would have been?

Adam: 7:55

Yeah he was a Roman centurion. This guy's going to be described as a god fearer. He's someone, that's pretty well respected in Israel as far as that goes, because he represents really the empire of the day. He's going to be the ones who are keeping law. He's ones who will want to keep the peace. This is going to be important. Some more historical facts, because there's going to be some an action that takes place in Caesarea or, Caesarea Maritima or Maritime. It's Caesar by the seat. In the future. So right, actually, probably when this is being written, this has already taken place, but there's going to be a big Jewish uprising because the Romans will come in and they're going to desecrate a temple that's, that is, or a synagogue that's in in this specific town. And this will begin the whole Act that leads to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. It is a really cool story, but we won't get into that right now. But, it is an important place. This is a, in fact, they built this massive harbor. Unlike many, unlike anything anybody's ever seen. They built, they used this beautiful concrete and it's this massive shipping place. It's going to be a place of multiple cultures coming in and out, going back to Rome and back and forth. So a Roman centurion is going to be a big deal, but it says that he is described as this God fearer, he respects the God of Israel, but he is not fully converted to Judaism. Now, we don't know why. Maybe it's because of the laws or maybe it's because of his his public image there, but ultimately he's he is a Gentile, a massive Gentile, but a slightly different one because he seems to respect this God who the Jews would claim is the one and only.

Alison: 9:33

Yeah. So he by saying he's still a Gentile saying, yeah, he's You mean that he's not a proselyte, he's not a Jewish proselyte, so he doesn't follow the rules of circumcision or the dietary laws. Correct. Which means that Jews wouldn't have been permitted to fellowship.

Adam: 9:47

Yes.

Alison: 9:48

With Cornelius or any other gentile like him. They only fellowshiped with proselytes.

Adam: 9:54

Yeah, so much so that they could not ever even enter the house of these individuals because it would make them, as a Jew unclean or impure.

Alison: 10:02

And I don't, we don't know a lot about the Jews. specifically about the Italian Regiment, but one commentator named Richard Lenski that I read, he had done research and states that the Italian Regiment, there were 32 of them around different provinces of the Roman Empire at the time, and they were actually well esteemed, but made up of Italian volunteers. And so that's interesting if you think about that, because this would have been someone who volunteered to represent Rome, which, who oppressed. So it wasn't just that he was a picture of Roman culture or Roman power, but a picture of really Roman, Jewish oppression

Adam: 10:42

in

Alison: 10:42

a lot of ways. And we have these two scenes going on where Cornelius, who you described is there in Caesarea, and Peter is in Joppa having this picture of this sheep coming down. And let's talk a little bit about about that sheep. Why did Peter say, No Lord, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna eat anything. Why was he so opposed?

Adam: 11:03

In Leviticus 11 these were all animals. The way that I've heard it described, these are all crossover animals. In other words When he describes things like amphibians these are animals that exist on in two different domains carnivorous birds means that they are in the domain of the skies, but yet come down and eat the things off the land, so there's multiple reasons they believe that these are impure, but you can't not, you cannot partake in these, you're not allowed to partake in these animals because they will also make you incredibly unclean.

Alison: 11:33

Yeah. And so it wasn't just that Peter didn't like them or even these weren't even manmade rules, right? These were rules that God had given his people about the dietary laws. And so sometimes I think Peter gets a bad rap. Like we read things about Peter and we're like, Oh, he made the wrong choice because we know the end of the story. But let's put ourselves in Peter's shoes at this point. And I think any faithful Jew who had grown up Jew, and he believed in Jesus at this point, but he still had a Jewish background, a Jewish upbringing, and any faithful Jew should have reacted like he reacted. And but God's gonna teach him something.

Adam: 12:12

Yeah, I wanted to point something out that just came to me while we were talking. If you look at the geography of Caesarea Maritime, It is a coastland, like I said, a coastland city, and several weeks ago, I have a Bible study that we do on Sunday nights, and then and on Tuesdays, we have an open discussion. It's often referring to that. One of the questions that was brought up was this prophecy in Isaiah chapter 42, when it's talking about He's gonna put the Spirit on His chosen servant, and this is a prophetic messianic portion that's looking towards the towards Jesus, But it says in verse 4, chapter 42, verse 4, it says, he will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for the law. And so it sent us down this whole rabbit hole of coastlands and islands, and these are like the representative lands of all the Gentiles, ultimately. These are the ones who, if you're an Israelite, you have really no need particularly to live on the coast, live in the sea, you're called in a into the inner lands, ultimately. And so They become those this simple place setting for those farthest reaches of the Earth, ultimately. Okay. And here's Caesarea Maritime, and we're watching this scene unfold with unclean animals in this vision, and a hungry Peter, which I also thought was funny. Yeah. He's hungry. He wants to eat. They're cooking, literally, below him. I'm sure the wafting of the Yeah. Of whatever they're making below is coming up to him, and then he goes into a trance. What a crazy story. But now he's gonna get he's gonna be called to go to this coast land. And do something. And it's just a strange. Strange passage.

Alison: 13:43

Yeah.

Adam: 13:43

Very.

Alison: 13:43

So I think that he was there about noon, right? On top of that roof, Tom. So that's hollywood. But now I'm wondering, I've been to a lot of foreign countries on missions, but I haven't been to Israel. And most of the foreign countries that I've been to, lunch is actually their main meal and they need a lighter meal for supper. Is that true?

Adam: 14:00

I could not tell you. I ate the You ate every meal. I know sometimes they

Alison: 14:04

do accommodate to Americans when we travel to these countries.

Adam: 14:07

Yeah. I never thought about that.

Alison: 14:08

So it may be that it was, like his main meal of the day, I'm not sure. But yeah, so he was hungry and and God used that hunger to give him a vision on eating, but it wasn't just about eating, was it?

Adam: 14:20

No, it was not. In fact you'll have to Keep the phrase in verse 15. The voice came to him a second time and said, What God has made clean, do not call common. Strange phrase but we're gonna come back to that here shortly.

Alison: 14:33

And he was gracious to repeat that message three times, right? It seems to be a signal in Peter's life. When something happens three times, it's a major event for him, right? Yeah. And I do think that the Lord was using that to just confirm because. Like I said, we have the whole story. We can see the whole picture at one time, but Peter was, as he was living this out it was radically different from anything that he knew. And the Lord's confirmation was gracious to him in that way. So do you want to read we're reading big chunks today, but I feel like it's a narrative, that we got to keep the whole picture in mind. And so do you mind reading verses 17 through 33? Absolutely.

Adam: 15:11

Absolutely. Now, while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate, and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise, go down, and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them. And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one who you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming? And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by the holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. So he invited them to be his guests. The next day he arose and he went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day, he entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But, Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up, I too am a man. And he said, He, as he talked with him, he went in, and he found many persons gathered, and he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation. But God has shown me what I should call any person common or unclean. That I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I asked then why you sent me, and Cornelius said, Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour. And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms shall be remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa, and ask Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea. I sent for you at once and have been kind enough to come. Now therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear that you have been, all that you have been commanded by the Lord.

Alison: 17:24

Okay. Thanks. Peter, I've, I, you talk a lot about, and I mentioned this last week, about ten seconds of courage, that it takes ten seconds of courage to obey God, to do something brave. And I don't see ten seconds of courage, like, all over the book of Acts. Yeah. Peter's first, I think, 10 seconds of courage was when he invited the men at his door inside because those men at his door would also have been Gentiles. And when Gentiles and Jews, if they needed to have a conversation, it was done in the streets. It was never done inside their homes. And so right here in the very first verses of the chapter God's already, or in this passage, God's already beginning to change Peter's heart and just say, He invited these men inside. And I thought that was really pointed.

Adam: 18:11

Yeah. I think it's interesting. I have a thought that I don't have an answer to, but I've come to realize throughout my years of studying the scripture that if it's overly detailed and it's strange and it doesn't add anything to the story that it's important. So I guess I'm, I guess I'm challenging y'all, the listener and you. It tells us several times about the 6th hour and the 9th hour and the 6th, now your Bible went ahead and did the translation to noon noon or 3 but only a few times in scripture does it actually talk about the 6th hour and 9th hour. And one of them just so happens to be at the crucifixion experience. And I don't know that there's a connection here, but it's just, it's so prevalent, tells us twice in this one passage. So two of the ten times we talk about the sixth and the ninth hour in all of scripture are right here. And it just so happens to to, to correlate to the crucifixion. So I just wonder,

Alison: 19:05

I don't know if there's something about I think it points to the fact that Jesus died for all.

Adam: 19:08

Yes.

Alison: 19:09

Yeah,

Adam: 19:09

I think you're right. I do think you're right. Yeah, absolutely.

Alison: 19:12

And, Cornelius he actually had some faith too. So Peter invites these men in. And that's his first 10 seconds of faith, right? And then he decides to go with them. Yeah. And so there's some more courage. And he brings along, I think Acts 11 tells us it's actually six people. I don't get numbers, the men that go along with him in this chapter, but in the next it mentions six. And so I think he knew something big was happening, I think. And he was, I think he wanted to You know, witnesses, not just to, I don't know that he completely knew what he was walking into. I think he trusted the Lord, but I think he trusted the Lord for something big to be happening and he wanted other people to witness it and be able to testify to it. And Cornelius, I think besides the fact that the Bible tells us that he was God fearing he, he showed faith in. That his house was full waiting on Peter and there's no text messaging at this time Like the soldiers didn't like text and be like, hey Cornelius. We're on our way back. Yeah today if it's Lance He's gonna say ETA 1300.

Adam: 20:13

Yeah, right

Alison: 20:14

Military time established that the urge Anyway, they, he, Cornelius probably would have known about the time that they would have returned, because he would have known it was 30 miles from where he was to Joppa, and so it would be about a day and a half, two day journey, maybe, depending on how you ask. And so he was probably expecting the time frame, but he didn't know for sure that Peter was going to come back, apart from trusting the Lord. And so I think that's really interesting that he had a house full of people. And, twice now we already see an angel visits Peter and talks to Peter and sets the stage for him going with the men, and then an angel talks to Cornelius and directs him to go sin for Peter. Why didn't the angel just talk to Cornelius about the gospel?

Adam: 21:04

Okay, so there, I think there's multiple reasons for this. One of which is buried in the fact that the initial response to Cornelius once Peter shows up as he bows himself to the ground and starts to, it says very specifically to worship him, worship Peter, which is a strange passage for us to hear, but this isn't the only time in scripture that we read these kind of things, so one of the other times is in Daniel. When he when he I don't remember which instance, if it's the dream or if it's the vegetable only diet, disgusting, the absolute opposite of what I'm going through right now. He is worshipped by King Nebuchadnezzar. And it doesn't say that it was wrong. And the only way you can understand what's going on is if you look at Genesis chapter 1. This is a rabbit hole, but I promise I'll come back around to it. Genesis chapter 1 says that we were made in his image. And in the past, I think we've even talked about this. This is that word selim in Hebrew. And the word selim literally is, means idol. This is the reason why in Exodus 20 we're forbidden to have idols that represent anything, any carved images or anything like that. Because we are already the idol of God, and the idol of God was a physical representation of this deity. So people are to look at us and want to worship God, knowing that we are not the God. We are the physical manifestation or representation of that God. And so what Peter does here is he comes in as that idol bearing ruler of this world. And it's strange culturally because a centurion would never bow to a Jew. Ever. That's not how that Roman culture works. But what we're seeing is he's bowing before an image bearer. And I have one more little extra thing here that you wouldn't get if you're just reading here. When the people got to Joppa to talk to Peter, it says very specifically their location. This is those situations where it's overly detailed for no reason. We didn't need to know where they were standing when Peter came to talk to them. Do you remember where it said that they were? You mentioned it. You said streets, but it was at the gates. Okay. So they're at the gates. Okay So who cares about whether they're at the gates or not? It doesn't really make a difference until you understand that the hebrew scripture has done a great job of thematically Helping us to begin to picture a theme a pattern of at the gates And the very first time you see a gate mentioned is after eden. They are outside of the garden They're still in eden Cain is told to to rule over sin because this beast, sin is this beast and it's crouching at the door or at the gate. From this point forward, what you'll start to see is a pattern emerges where there will be gates or doors or the entrance of places and there'll be this divine protection on one side and just disgustingness on the other side and you can think of maybe Sodom and Gomorrah with Lot and the men on the outside. Like, all these kind of stories. So if you ever see in the Hebrew scriptures that it was at the door of something or at the gate of something, this is all that same language. So what we're seeing here is that the Gentiles could not enter into the gate, but the image bearer of God, remember this is modeled first in Adam, it's as if the Adam himself stepped out of the garden, went and sought the gate. Those who are east of Eden, Cain really, and in that model the Gentiles, and he is going to be, he's going to be the one who will ultimately bring those Gentiles in a in this beautiful echo to the Old Testament to back to the Lord, back to the presence of God for him to fully buy into this whole Christian thing, but not only that, he's bringing everyone, he wants everyone to come, he wants his whole family to come at this point. And it's all those echoes of Abraham, what if I could find one righteous, ten righteous, or a hundred righteous, eighty, seventy, sixty righteous, and here it's now we're watching the righteousness grow in between all the Gentiles. And so, it's very minimal, okay, so I don't want to say it's in your face, but if you start to look at it, just like the ninth hour and the twelfth hour, there's all these little hints of all these little themes that we are well aware of at the gates, not the doors. And here, now, Peter, this man of God, is walking into into this Gentile impure home and he's through what Jesus is doing, he is bringing everybody into purity, into, back into a restored relationship with God.

Alison: 25:16

Yeah as an image bearer God has chosen to use image bearers to spread the gospel not angels. And here's the different one of the differences, I think, between angels and image bearers. And why God chose image bearers to spread Jesus is because image bearers have a testimony. Image bearers have a, I was once lost and now I'm found. Angels don't have that. Image bearers, like Peter, have a, guys, I denied Jesus three times and he forgave me. And we don't have, his story, those details of his story recorded in Acts chapter 10. I imagine it's possible that he had a few more, we can read what he told Cornelius, and The people there in 60 seconds. I think it's possible that he might've had some additional words to say. We see in other places in scripture where it's and with many other words, Peter preached, like handsome man of words. And I think that God uses us instead of angels because he expects us to tell our story and to tell her testimony. And that's something that angels don't have. They're divine messengers. They have messages from God, but they don't have a testimony, like his image bearers didn't.

Adam: 26:23

Interesting. Interesting.

Alison: 26:24

And and so we're going to see that that Oh, I'm sorry.

Adam: 26:27

The correlation was made between the clean and do not call common. So that when it says in verse 15, what God has made clean, do not call common. Yeah. Now this was referred to in those in, in those impure animals. But now. He makes the exact same statement in verse 28, but he's referring to an individual. So there's like a big theological statement being made here that suddenly the impure Gentile is in the exact same fashion no longer impure to to the Jews. Just like the impure animals used to be.

Alison: 27:00

And I think that and we're going to see, and we're going to see it really play out even more in the next passage, exactly what you're saying, that God was God put those dietary laws in place for a time so that the Jews so the Jewish people could be distinct from the pagan nations, right? He wanted them to, To look distinct from those around them so that it would be understood that their message was distinct. And they were the ones through whom God was revealing himself to the pagan nation. So it was very important for them to be distinct but God distinguishes his people on this side of the cross in a different way. He distinguishes not through dietary laws or circumcision or those kinds of things because Jesus fulfilled those ceremonial in dietary laws I think that on this side of the sheet, or excuse me, on this side of the cross, on this side of the cross, I like that Jesus, us living like Jesus is what distinguishes us, us loving and living like Jesus is what now distinguishes us. And Jews distinction was never to elevate them as a people group. It was always to set them apart. to a watching world so that they would be drawn to the one true God. And so now we're distinct by living like Jesus. And we can do that on the side of the cross because we have his perfect example as recorded in the gospels. And we have the Holy Spirit who, because of his work on the cross, abides within believers, enabling us to do that. So we don't have to follow those dietary laws. Jesus fulfilled that. That's not the way that he calls us to be distinct. And we know that Paul goes on to even tell us that, specifically in Colossians 2 16 through 17. It says, Therefore don't let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink, or in the matter of a festival, or a new moon, or a sabbath day. For these are a shadow of what was to come. The substance is Christ.

Adam: 28:52

I don't really like that. Paul is really on board with this whole Gentile and Jew. Family ship, however you want to say that, that's what Ephesians is all about, that it's all that we are no longer segmented and separated, but we all build up ourselves as the complete and whole temple of God, ultimately united and family as one.

Alison: 29:11

Which is really amazing when you think about where he came from. He describes himself as being a Jew of Jews, right? Yeah, a persecutor of Jews, all of the things that we've talked about,

Adam: 29:20

right?

Alison: 29:21

And so God changes our hearts and makes us a new creation and we're gonna see that he does that for Cornelius, which is going to be a surprise to Peter and a lot of the people watching. So I'm just gonna read the remainder of the chapter. Peter began to speak. Now, truly, I understand that God does not show favoritism, but in every nation, the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. He sent that message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. And how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil. Because God was with him. We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him through his name, and everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues, And declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded, Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And then they asked him to stay for a few more days. So that's a pretty prominent Bible verse, the very first verse of the section I read, that God does not show favoritism.

Adam: 31:18

Yeah, he really breaks down all of those human, man made divisions and segments. He transcends all that.

Alison: 31:25

Yeah. And and I think that, A lot. I've heard this passage when sometimes when people talk about this passage, they describe it as the first Gentile believer. I don't struggle with that description, to be honest with you. I don't think this was the first Gentile believer. In fact, we see it in the Old Testament. Rahab was, became a believer. I think you mentioned her last week. And then we see even in the Gospels, we see a centurion, not this centurion, I don't think, but a different centurion, who's yeah, that his faith that Jesus did a miracle because of his faith for his family. And I think that the difference in this and those other experiences is that I would imagine that in order for those Gentile believers to be accepted into the family of faith, they would have Become Jewish in the way of circumcision and dietary laws.

Adam: 32:15

I think the distinction between them is in Exodus 19 Israel fails a test at Mount at the foothills of Mount Sinai and fails to become a Nation of priests into and amongst all of the nations, right? They were they failed to become reach the potential that God had for them at that point So instead they become a nation with priests What we see in these other instances is we see God's movement in the Old Testament specifically himself. But here what we're watching is we're watching God's j Jewish chosen people who are choosing to listen and trust the word of the Lord and go into all the nations that, that Israel was originally called to be priest to and be priests on behalf. I think this baptism and this salvific experience here really has to do as much with Peter reaching that full potential that God has in store for him, rather than God himself, like you had mentioned, sending an angel, God himself being that source of drawing and Yeah,

Alison: 33:22

and I would imagine that you see that they believed and they were immediately baptized. And so I think that probably in the past if people who wanted to become proselytes before they were baptized, they probably had to be circumcised if they were males and ascribed to the dietary laws. and things like that. So they give Peter and the disciples, God gives Peter and the disciples a sign of their salvation of the Roman centurion and his family salvation. And it's that they see the Holy Spirit be manifested on the group of people. And, sometimes I've heard this passage used as proof maybe that you have to speak in tongues to receive the Holy Spirit, that's, that accompanies it. And I don't think that's true. I think that the reason that they spoke in tongues when the Holy Spirit was when they were converted and the Holy Spirit came to live in them is as a clear sign to those Jews because it mimicked exactly what happened to Peter and those with him at Pentecost. And so I think that it became undeniable at that moment in history that God does not show favoritism. His salvation is for the Jew and for the Gentile because they couldn't deny the conversion experience and receiving the Holy Spirit because it happened in the same way to these Gentiles as it did to the Jews. And so I think that was the reason That their experiences mimicked each other, but I don't think it's prescriptive to say that's how it has to look for all believers of all times.

Adam: 34:58

Yeah, and I think there's a theological statement because Acts is really toying with the Babel story where the people are segmented and separated. They're no longer one. They're scattered in throughout all the nations. And God is bringing them all back by sending his people out and by speaking in tongues. This is one of those versions where tongues is languages. Ultimately, and what's happening now is we're watching them speak in languages that they didn't even know just like in Acts 2 when it talks about them being able to all hear their own language, even though they were speaking in multiple languages. God is breaking down even those barriers that were set up, and He's inverting the Babel Babel theme. So He's bringing us all back into one family, having one thing in common, and that is that is the Lord Jesus.

Alison: 35:40

This is a few, you mentioned in the opening that this change of the trajectory of the Christian movement and it affects us today, even though the story may seem far removed we are Gentiles, right? And this was The opening of the gospel to the world to the ends of the earth, which we're a part of. And I think that's really important, but, I really thought a lot this week about how this story applies to my life. I'm really thankful for this redemptive point in history that the Lord. graciously showed the apostles in the early church that his death and resurrection was sufficient for all and that he desired all mankind, Jew or Gentile, to come to him. But I also thought about the fact that Peter was, prejudices. He was taught ultimately something about the character of God, something that has always been true about the character of God and will always be true about the character of God. And that's that he doesn't show favoritism. He desires that all men be saved. And I thought a lot this week about what was on my sheet. If I were to fall into a trance like Peter would there be a group of people, would there be someone from my past? Would there be People of a particular sin persuasion, would there be people from a particular political group who I didn't love like Jesus? Because ultimately that's what God is calling Peter to do, to go to Cornelius and to, like you said, be an image bearer in God, which is to love like Jesus. And are there groups on my sheet who I have failed to love like Jesus?

Adam: 37:14

I think that's a, that's an important distinction to be made because we all have our Corneliuses. Our sheet, our people on the sheet, and I think when you can become more aware of it, it's it's something that can help us move forward in maturity and act more appropriately image bearers and I do want to encourage those who do struggle with that because this is clearly going to be something that Peter himself if I remember correctly Peter has a clash with Paul later because he's struggling with this very thing, with this distinction that's still being made between Jews and Gentiles. And Paul has a little bit of a, some harsh words to say about that situation. And it's human to, to draw those lines but those aren't lines that God sees. No. And so we have to become aware of those lines and realize when, when we are letting those biases stop us from even continuing to spread the gospel. Yeah,

Alison: 38:05

because I'm not saying that Christians should accept all sin. But what I was challenged by this week was the truth that there is no kind or category of sinner whom God doesn't call us to love like Jesus.

Adam: 38:18

That's great. That really is great. I think we've covered everything here. I'm hoping that you're enjoying this walkthrough acts with us. I want to remind you that I tested out. I don't know if you saw this, but We have that new fan mail situation that is on our podcast. So if you're listening to our podcasts, if you look at the top line of our description, it says that you can text us directly. So they're calling this feature fan mail. So we want to interact with you. Yeah. You don't even have to go to our Facebook page at this point. Do it and like it and share it, but you don't have to you can actually interact with us. So if you like what we're saying, if you have questions about things that we're talking about or have just. Great insight that you want to share with us. We want to hear from you. So make sure you type that or click on that little text us button and it'll pop up a little text message form and you can just just type in whatever you want and we'd love to interact with you that way. But other than that, Allison, I think that's a wrap here. Do you want to close in breath?

Alison: 39:13

Sure. Dear Jesus, thank you for being so good, so loving, so kind, so gracious. Lord, those are things you have always been. Today in your word, you taught us that you do not show favoritism. You never have, you never will. You desire that all people would be saved, Lord. And so today, as we read the story of Peter and how you called him to Cornelius you called him to go and share the good news of Jesus because it is for all people. God, I pray that. We would just be mindful, dear Jesus, of who you may be calling us to go and to tell. Dear Jesus, you have called us not to observe dietary laws or any ceremonial laws, Lord, but you have called us to live like you. And you gave us the perfect example of your moral law and the way that you lived. And you gave us the Holy Spirit as a gift to help us live in ways that please you. And so God, I pray that we would consider This week, who it is that you might call us to and Lord if that group might be on some kind of sheet in our mind, Lord, some way that we might be prejudiced against or resistant against or thinking in some ways that you just can't save because they're Too sinful word. That's just not true. And Lord, I just thank you that you saw no Gentiles too sinful to receive the good news and be saved by your all sufficient grace because I'm a member of that group. And I thank you for that. And I thank you for this point, redemptive history and all who have come to know you as a result of your work on the cross in Jesus name. Amen.

Adam: 40:46

Amen.