"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter 11, Part 1 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Bro, Ernie continues taking us deeper into The Book of ACTS in Chapter 11.  Grab your notebooks, your pen and your Word...let's go!

Peter gets called on the carpet for one simple thing: he ate with Gentiles. That sounds small until you realize it threatened an entire worldview built on separation, tradition, and who gets counted as “clean.” We sit down in Acts 11:1–17 and track how the early church handles its first major backlash after the gospel crosses a cultural line, and why Peter’s only real defense is the one that still matters today: God did it.

We walk carefully through Peter’s retelling of the sheet vision, the voice from heaven, and the Spirit’s clear instruction to go “nothing doubting.” Then we connect the dots to Cornelius, the angelic message, and the moment the Holy Ghost falls on Gentiles “as on us at the beginning.” Along the way, we talk honestly about what the baptism of the Holy Ghost is for, why spiritual power is meant to fuel witness, and why no one can manufacture the real thing by coaching someone to repeat sounds.

To ground it, we pull in John 3:16, Joel’s promise that God pours out His Spirit on all flesh, and even Genesis 12 to show this was always God’s plan for the whole world. We also end with a needed warning from Colossians 2 about getting trapped by tradition and empty philosophy instead of staying anchored to Christ.

If this conversation challenges your assumptions or strengthens your faith, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the study. What’s the hardest part for you about letting God redraw the lines?

Ways to Give at https://m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome And Why Acts Matters

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Hello of the symptoms and filters. I'm hello, sister I am. Thank you so much for joining me on the journey to the next one. So let's open the word and see what Jesus has to say. Hey, welcome to Simple Selfish Unfiltered. I'm your host, Sister Diane, and I'm so glad to have you joining us today as we're around the table again studying the book of Acts. We have moved on to chapter 11. And I want to encourage you, if this is the first time that you've hopped onto this program, to go back. There's a complete series going on here of a simple presentation into the Book of Acts by Brother Ernie Perez. How are you doing, brother? Good, thank you. Good, good to have you today. And we got around the table, mama. Hello. Audia? Hello. And in the back, we've got uh the class back there with Sandy and Tammy and Joyce. And they're back there. We got the the lively crowd. So so much have enjoyed going through this study. What do you think, Brother Ernie, is the importance of people digging into the book of Acts? Well, when you get to the end of the book of Acts, you you'll note that there is no amen because this is not a simple letter. Yeah. This is a history. And it begins with the Gospel of Luke and continues with the book of Acts, and it's the history of the church. And so what we're seeing is how the church was established. And what we should be striving for now is to be the church that we find in the book of Acts. Because that's the church Jesus is coming back for. So that's not Baptist, Pentecost, Episcopalian, whatever label you want to put on it. That's the church that is following the word of God and it is laid out here in the book of Acts. Yeah, I love that. I love that. All right, so here

Acts 10 As The Big Hinge

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we go. We're gonna continue our study into Acts chapter 11. Okay, we have just finished Acts chapter 10, and we noted that it was a huge hinge, as it were, to open the gospel to the rest of the world, beyond Judaism, beyond the Hebrew culture, finally beyond the Samaritans who were mixed Jews, now we're going straight to Gentiles. And this made a big impact because in Jewish law, Jews weren't friends with Gentiles unless those Gentiles were proselytes, that is, they had become Jewish. Any Gentile could become Jewish, but if they weren't interested in becoming Jewish, then they didn't build strong, fast relationships with them. They especially didn't do any intermarriage unless you shared the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and lived by the law of Moses. So there was a definite line of segregation, you could call it. Now, we're going to read what happened after God poured out his spirit so wonderfully in Cornelius' house. And in Acts chapter 11, we're going to read verses one through seventeen.

Peter Challenged For Eating With Gentiles

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The apostles and brethren, which were in Judea, heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God. And when Peter was come to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest into men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning and expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descend as it had been a great sheep, let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even to me, upon which, when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered and saw four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter, slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed that call not thou common. And this was done three times, and all were drawn up into heaven again. And behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was sent from Caesarea unto me, and the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house, and he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said to him, Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. For as much then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? So the testimony of all that happened in Caesarea has made it to the ears of the apostles and the brethren that were in Judea. Gentiles being saved in this instance makes a bigger splash in the circle of disciples than did the Samaritans who were saved and the Ethiopian who was saved in Acts chapter 8. You remember we read about that, covered that the Ethiopian eunuch was more than likely a proselyte or an Ethiopian Jew, a descendant of Solomon, perhaps. But he worshipped at the temple. So he was not truly what we would call a Gentile in the sense that we're going to see here in Acts chapter 10 and Acts chapter 11. So, and besides that, he was returning, he was sitting in his chariot, right, reading Isaiah the prophet, and just a quick turn to Acts chapter 8, verses 27 and 28, regarding the Ethiopian and Philip. And Philip, and he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopian, who had charge of all her treasures, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship. Without being a proselyte Jew or a bloodline Jew, there would be no point in going to Jerusalem to worship. This man, verse 28, says, was returning and sitting in his chariot, read Isaiah the prophet. So this was just not some common Gentile. This man was involved deeply in Judaism. So when the apostle, Peter, happened to return to Jerusalem, there were Jewish disciples there who did not like the fact that he had been fellowshipping in the home of Gentiles. They contended with him. Take note that Luke refers to these disciples as of the circumcision. Now we're going to see that often. Look at verse 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him. We saw that phrase in Acts chapter 10 for the first time. And now we're seeing it in Acts chapter 11 again. And it's going to become a common phrase as you read through the book of Acts from this place forward. Now you will find the same language in Acts 10 and 45, right? Where he took certain with him, verse 10, I'm sorry, chapter 10, verse 45. And they of the circumcision, which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. So you're going to see that again and again. It is always referring to the particular sect of disciples that were Jewish, disciples of Jesus that were Jewish, and in their pursuit of Jesus, most of them were still following the law of Moses. And we're going to see how things begin to shift in the book of Acts. Now, these disciples who are of the circumcision are truly upset that Peter not only went into the home of the Gentiles, but he even ate with them. Alright, verse 2 again, 3 and 2 and 3. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. I think Luke is writing this from research. And he wants us to be sure and understand that there was contention in the beginning over what was happening. Now we're going to go back and reread verses 4 through 17. Then we're going to do our little running commentary on that. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter, slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven. And this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven, and behold, immediately there were three men already come into the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me. And we entered into the man's house, and he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Excuse me. For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God?

The Sheet Vision And Cleanliness

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So in verses four through seventeen, Peter goes on to give a very orderly, very specific account of his experience. The experience in particular his Jewish brothers are referring to. Let's look at this account and compare it to what Luke recorded in Acts chapter 10. All right. So looking at verses 5 and 6, Peter points first to the vision he received while he was on the housetop there in Joppa at the home of his host, Simon the Tatter. Remember, he had gone there because Dorcas needed to be raised from the dead. And he stayed there afterwards, and there was a word of God going on there. But while he's there, Simon the Tanner, staying with him. Luke's trying not to miss any details in the story. This makes us know that he felt a very strong need to give the proper response to those contending with him or arguing with him or accusing him. Why are you eating with Gentiles? Peter goes on and he says, I was praying. I was on the housetop. I was praying. I fell into a trance. And I saw a vision. And I saw a huge sheet. To me, it it makes me feel like the four corners were tied together at the top. And this sheet came down to me and he says, Out of heaven. So in order to defend himself, the first thing he does is start relying on what the Spirit of God did in his life. You fellas acquainted with being filled with the Holy Ghost? Me too. I'm the Apostle Peter. And I was in a trance and I had a vision. Why did he have to be so demonstrative? Because it was going against Jewish law to consort with Gentiles. Because they looked at the Messiah as he was coming to get rid of the Romans and set up the Jewish Empire all over again. He goes on to say, the sheet landed in front of me on the ground, the four corners separated, and the sheet was there open before my eyes. He's describing the vision. And as I examined what I saw, I noticed all these different animals. I get the impression he was wanting them to realize these animals were most definitely unclean because he doesn't talk about them as though they're the type of animals that you use for sacrifice. Some for sacrifice, some not for sacrifice. He doesn't go into any of that detail. So we're going to read now verse 7 through twelve. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter, slay and eat. And I said, Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean at any time has entered my mouth. But the voice answered to me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And this was done three times, and all were drawn up into heaven. And behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was sent from Caesarea unto me. So next thing you know, I heard a voice, and not just any voice. It was a voice from heaven. I had a vision from the Lord. Now I'm hearing a voice from heaven. And the voice from heaven said to me, This wasn't my idea. I'm following heavenly instruction. Pete, pick out something, kill it, and have it for lunch. I hear the conversation, okay? Just forgive me. He said, Y'all know me. I answered with certainty, not so, Lord. So you told the Lord, who told you, I brought you some lunch. No, I'm not gonna eat it. You see what a good Jew I am? Not even the voice from heaven could get me to violate Jewish law. This is how important it is that they understand I don't violate Jewish law. My buddy Mark said to me one day, we were talking about Israel's problems with idolatry. How they went in and out of idolatry so much. And then the ten northern tribes, even worse, then the tribe of Judah, followed suit. And then they came back from Babylon from the captivity. And you know what idol they had? They turned the law of Moses into an idol. And I say that because you know, we have the Midrash and the Mishnah, and then we have all these extra laws that they made. And if you didn't keep all these laws of men, if you didn't live up to what the Pharisees and the Sadducees said you should be, even though you were a child of Abraham, you were an unclean person. And you weren't worthy like they were worthy. Well, this attitude permeated their society. Don't think it didn't impact the early church. They were all Jewish. So he's hammering home. Yes, that's right. I told him, I answered the voice, in all my life, I have never eaten food that was unclean or not kosher. So he may have been a fisherman and not had the highest education, but he's confessing to the Lord, you know, Lord, I've never eaten anything like this in my whole life. This is going to become more and more pronounced as you read through the New Testament. Then the voice replied, Don't you ever call unclean what I say is clean. Now, this vision, this whole scenario played out twice. Three times, I'm sorry, and we have twice the amount of witnesses needed to establish a thing is true. He said, These six brethren, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything is to be established. When he was at Joppa, getting ready to go off with these Gentiles to a Gentile home, he took with him six Jewish brethren of the faith. It just says in Acts chapter 10, he took certain brethren. Here, when he's giving the story of what happened, he said, I took six. There were six brothers to witness all of this. All right, starting at verse 13. And he showed us after they entered into the house of Cornelius, verse 13, and he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning, then remembered I the word of the Lord, that he said, John, and indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? So I get

Cornelius’ Angel And Specific Guidance

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to this Gentile's house. He testifies to me that he's seen an angel. He tells me, An angel came into my house. An angel said, I had my prayers and memorials stacked up in heaven. It was it was wild, it was crazy, it was stunning. And the angel gave him my name. The angel said, You need to send for Simon Peter. And he didn't stop there. The angel told him the city I was staying in and even gave him the street address where I was staying at that time. You know, I want you to learn to expect, if you're following God, and and we should, trying to be the book of Acts, church, we need to anticipate. God can speak to me and give me specific directions. You know, we got this attitude, it's a shame, but the church has developed this attitude that if the pastor didn't say it, if an apostle didn't say it, if a prophet didn't say it, then you know it didn't come from heaven. You have a Bible, you're baptized in the Holy Ghost. The five-fold ministry that's talked about in Ephesians, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, is for the equipping of the saints for their ministry. Saints should be busy ministering to the world. When you come to church, when the saints of God comes to church, it's so that they can be ministered to. And when they leave the church, it's so that they can minister to the world. But somehow we've gotten this idea: ministry takes place in the church house. Ministry takes place at conferences, ministry takes place at camp meetings. But wherever you go, wherever you go, that's where ministry takes place. Right? John said, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son the world. So we got living today, I don't know, we'll say 1,000 apostles, 1,000 prophets, how many thousands of pastors? If they're the only ones ministering, how many billions of people are in the world? It's just not gonna work, it's gonna be insufficient, it's not what God intended. Ye shall be witnesses unto me. That's for the disciples of Jesus. Are we his disciples? Then that's our ministry. So the angel told this Gentile that me, little old Peter, would tell him what he and all his house needed to do to be saved. Remember in Acts chapter 8 or 10, I'm sorry, the angel said to Caesarea, You're gonna send for Simon Peter because he will tell you what you ought to do. Why? Because for all the things he had done that were wonderful and great, and God had received, there was something lacking that he ought to do, that he needed to do, that he had to do, and he didn't know what it was. God is not gonna let you go without what you need for salvation, especially if you're hungry for him. Why do you think God sends people into our lives? So that we will learn he can speak through many, many different voices. So while he's telling them all about Jesus, suddenly it was the day of Pentecost all over again. Just like it happened to us. The Holy Ghost fell on all them, and they all began having what I call apostolic fits and speaking in tongues. Let's go back for a minute to Acts chapter 2 and let's see what happened when they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Pentecost Revisited And Tongues

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Verse 2 says, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. I've only heard of that phenomenon of the rushing mighty wind happening on a few occasions. However, there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with other tongues, other tongues, as the Spirit of God gives utterance. Now, let's get a little bit further into the chapter. Let's see. Verse 12, and they were all amazed. I'm springing on this, I didn't have this in the lesson. Let me see. But Peter standing up among the eleven, they thought they were drunk. 12. And they were all amazed and worned out, saying to one another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. They're drunk, but Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said, You men of Israel and all ye men of Judea, be this known unto you and hearken to my words, these are not drunken as you suppose, the way you think. This is what the prophet Joel poured out. When it was poured out, why did the multitudes of the crowd that was surrounding them when they spilled out in the streets speaking in other tongues, why did they assume they were drunk? How were they behaving that made them appear to people to be drunk? They were speaking in tongues. It seems to me it'd be more than that because just because somebody's speaking to you in Spanish and you only understand English, you don't assume they're drunk. Probably shouting and dancing. They were carrying on in some sort of activities. There was something happening there, and the crowd said, Hey, these guys are drunk. What happened then in Acts chapter 11? If Peter says it fell on us just like it did, or them just like it did us at the beginning. This was no news to him how it happens. The fact that it happened to Gentiles, that was a shock. But it was shock upon shock from the time they knocked on the door at the house of Simon the Tanner until they get here to Cornelius' house, and he is testifying about the goodness of God, and the Holy Ghost falls on them. Now, verse 16. Verse 16 of Acts chapter 11. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Power To Witness Not Just A Gift

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Go back to Acts 1. Jesus' command is more than instructions, it's a prophetic word. Acts chapter 1, we're going to read verses 4 through 8. And being assembled together with them, who's that? Jesus commanded them who? The disciples. How many? I'm not sure. Could have been 11, could have been 11 plus the women. Remember, he sent out 70 by ? Right. And he told the Corinthian church Jesus was seen at one time, the resurrected Christ, above 500 all at once. So I'm not sure how many were here. There were at least the eleven. But wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he you have heard of me. He instructed them, do not leave Jerusalem. Has God given you an instruction? Don't be like Peter and say, not so, Lord, I ain't gonna do it. God instructed him to have this for lunch, and he said, Not me. Why? My tradition is stronger than this moment. How can that be? Now, we continue reading. Wait for the promise of the Father, which saith ye, ye have heard of me. Jesus telling them, For John, truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Peter is expecting that these people are familiar. They haven't read this yet because it hasn't been written. But everything went word of mouth. And he is expecting that these people who are arguing with him that you shouldn't be in the home of Gentiles will remember that these are the instructions that Jesus gave the disciples before he left to go to heaven. Verse 6. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, they asked the Lord, saying, Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he, that is Jesus, said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put into his own power. There's some questions you need not ask. It wasn't intended for you to know. Let me tell you something. Prophecy was not given to make us experts on the future. If prophecy makes us experts on the future, why do we need to walk by faith? Why walk by faith when we have experts to tell us the future? Prophecy is a word of encouragement. Prophecy is a word of knowledge, sometimes letting you know there's a drought coming, this is going to happen. But the purpose of prophecy, according to 1 Corinthians 14, is to build up, to edify, to encourage, to strengthen the church. And the testimony of Jesus Christ, according to the book of Revelation, is the spirit of prophecy. Y'all remember reading that? The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. Now, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. What's the power for? And ye shall be witnesses unto me. When? After you receive power from the anointing and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. It's to give power to our witness. Speaking in tongues is important. It's a great byproduct. It helps us to edify ourselves in the Spirit when we don't know what we should pray for, like we ought to. The Spirit makes intercession for us. When a man speaks in tongues, Paul said he edifies himself, speaking mysteries with God. That's a good thing. It also plainly seems to be the initial evidence of being baptized in the Holy Ghost. But the power is so that when you talk to somebody about Jesus, they can see past our flaws, our weaknesses, our failures, and see the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. That's a miracle. Because we can't save anybody. So then why does Paul say I'm become all things to all men? That by some means I might save some. He wants to be the vehicle that God uses under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus would be revealed again. Now, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. Get this now. Both in Jerusalem, we saw that in Acts chapter 2, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, we saw that in Acts chapter 8, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Acts chapter 10 is the beginning of the uttermost parts of the earth. It's going to the first people who don't have a Jewish heritage. Other than it appears to me, I said this all through Acts 10, Cornelius must have been in the process of trying to become a proselyte because of what he did and how he lived. So Peter says in verse 16, of course, I remembered what Jesus told us from what we read in Acts 1, 4 through 8 about John's water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Reading verse 17. For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? So here's Peter. This is going to be some familiar territory. We'll look at a couple of more scriptures before we end this lesson. But here's Peter saying, So tell me, who am I that I should contradict Jesus and go against what he decided he would do? He poured out the Holy Ghost. Am I supposed to say, oh no, Lord, the free gift of salvation is not for these Gentile dogs after they're already baptized in the Holy Ghost? While I was preaching to them, Acts chapter 10, Peter says, while I was telling them all about Jesus and who Jesus was and who Jesus is and what Jesus does, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And just like it happened to us, it happened to them. And in Acts chapter 10, verse 48, 46, he says, For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. That's how they knew they were baptized with the Holy Ghost. Who knew it? Peter and the six Jewish disciples of Jesus who were with him. This is what they all witnessed that said, Oh, this is the real deal.

Who Gets The Holy Ghost

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So don't let somebody tell you. We believe God to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And with that comes speaking in other tongues. No one can teach you how to do it. Anyone trying to teach you how to do it, get away from them. And me and Mama have heard this before. People say, just say what I say, just say what I say. No, don't just say what I say. A young man that was in our church in Pecos, he came to me one day. He said, Brother Pettis, he said, I was at at this meeting, and people were there worshiping God and speaking in tongues, and they took me to the altar and they said, You need to receive the Holy Spirit. And I said, Yes, yes, I want to. And then they said that say this, say this. And so I said it. He said, and then they told me, Now you're speaking in tongues, you've received the Holy Ghost. I said, Is that right? He said, Yes. Then he looked at me and said, I didn't say anything to them, but if I receive the Holy Ghost, why would they have to tell me? Right. Why wouldn't I know? Exactly. I just said what they said. If I'm speaking in tongues, am I just gonna say what somebody else says? No. Look, people have good hearts. People want to do good things. But you don't know what they would hold you to say. Yeah. Sellabahamda, sell a bahamda means I'm trying to sell my motorcycle. It's not speaking in tongues. It just isn't, right? Right. Yeah, tie my tie, tie my tie, tie my tie means I can't get my tie done. Does it mean I'm speaking in tongues? No. So these people then got the goods. Now, these Gentiles who are unclean, Lord, they're unclean. Are you really pouring out the free gift of salvation on these Gentile dogs? Can you? Can you really do that? Of course he can. Do you think we should be deciding for the crucified Christ, who he can and cannot be saving? Should we be deciding for God who he will and won't give the Holy Ghost to? Listen, I I I have heard, I've heard Christians look at people and say, God's not going to fill you with the Holy Ghost. Why? You still cussing. Oh. And my question is, you still got bitterness in your heart? God fill you with the Holy Ghost anyway? Yeah. And forgive you of your bitterness? Doesn't mean He accepts it. He expects you to grow out of it. Doesn't mean you need to keep cussing. You need to grow out of it. You need to move ahead. But looking at people and saying, well, you ain't gonna receive the Holy, listen. Not your call. I've seen people who were living together in sin come to the altar and receive the Holy Ghost. And me and Mama like, we weren't pastoring that church, okay? Me and Mama like, thank you, Jesus. We had a couple living together for a while, coming to our church. But you know, God gets it right sooner or later. Are we patient? Patient doesn't mean you look at the sinner and say, it's okay. You just keep dropping that acid. You'll see something, you'll have a vision. No. Absolutely not. So let's let's remember, let's look at a couple of scriptures here quickly. Go

God Loves The World From Genesis

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back to the Gospel of St. John. We're gonna close this out talking about these last few scriptures. John chapter 3. And we're gonna look at verse 16. This word is not only factual, it is also prophetic. It's a word that Jesus speaks to Nicodemus. He says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that every Jew who believes in him, I'm sorry, that every Israeli who believed, every Sadducee, every Pharisee, for God so loved the world that every scribe and Levite, no, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus was saying it all throughout his ministry on earth, and it was just going over their heads. Just like him telling them that I'm gonna be crucified, and I'm gonna rise from the dead the third day. Peter saying, hey, hey, hey, ain't no days like that, Jesus. They didn't get it, they didn't hear it. Now we're gonna look at Acts chapter 2. Go back there and look at verse 17. Acts chapter 2, verse 17. Quoting from the prophet Joel. Well, I'll start reading it. The people, remember, they thought they were that the disciples were drunk. Peter said, nope, it ain't even nine o'clock in the morning yet. Bar ain't open. Verse 16, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is it. You were looking for the fulfillment of that prophecy. You didn't know what it was going to be. I'm telling you, this is it. How did he know it? He knew it by revelation of the baptism of the Holy Ghost that he had just received. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit on all the Pharisees and Sadducees. Oh, I will pour out my spirit on all the Levites and the Jews. And I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. It was always going to be this way. Look at Genesis 10. It probably won't be I'm sorry, Genesis 12. That won't be in your notes. But let's look at Genesis 12 because it fits. Genesis 12. I'm just going to start reading it the first verse. We're going to read just a few verses. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. That's the blessing I want, the one that makes me a blessing. Hallelujah. And I will bless them that bless thee. Who are them? Anybody. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Not just your descendants. All families of the earth. From the beginning, everything God was doing was so that whosoever will could be saved. And he needed a vehicle for salvation to come to the world. And so he chose Abraham. And then he chose the tribe of Judah. And then he chose the family of David. And all these markers are on the life of Jesus Christ. So when we examine him, we see his life fulfilling better than 300 prophecies saying when the Messiah comes, he will do these things. How amazing is that? That 300 prophecies, better than 300 prophecies, be fulfilled in one life. But one of the reasons is because I experienced some of these truths before I read them in Scripture.

Personal Testimony And Warning Against Philosophy

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You're getting some extra stuff today. Now I didn't want to tell my friends I saw angels because they were just as stoned in me as they had seen all behind Strawberry Quick and Strawberry Fields, you can see all kind of stuff. But my first visit in a Pentecostal church, a little lady comes to me after service and she says, You're the young man who repented at the park, aren't you? I said, Yes, ma'am. She said, God told me to tell you something. You don't know what that does to a guy who was stoned one day, sober the next. Then knocked on my backside, as it were, speaking in tongues, and didn't know it wasn't and never seen it done. And now this lady's telling me, God told me to tell you something. I said, Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Go ahead. She said, the angels were at the park that night rejoicing over your soul. I said, You mean like having a party? She had my attention. She said, just like that. She opened up the Gospel of Luke and showed me where the angels in heaven rejoice over a single soul that repents. I received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues before I ever truly knew what it was. The word of God came true for me. I had a miracle of restitution happen in my life before I learned that the scripture teaches that sometimes repentance and restitution go together. I didn't know it was in there. I dreamed Romans chapter 6 when I was in Vietnam. The first several verses. And it's what made me know, yes, I'm going to get baptized in Jesus' name. Then years later, I sat in a Bible college class, and the teacher began teaching my dream. So I know the word of God is true. And you can have all kinds of philosophers argue against it. It's like trying to tell me, you know, you you never burned your hand, but I know I have. Just because you don't see the scar doesn't change what I've experienced. Don't let anybody with strange philosophy, Colossians, Colossians chapter 2. And this this will be the end. This will be the end. But turn to Colossians chapter 2. Verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Whatever Christ reveals to you, whatever the Holy Ghost reveals to you as a doctrinal truth, you will find it confirmed in the Word of God. And if it's not confirmed there, then you need to talk to God and say, Please help me find it. Because there are many persuading spirits in the world. Chapter 10, verse Acts, chapter 10, verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Whoever will come to Christ can be saved. They can be coming from a Satanist temple. They can be coming from the LGBT alphabet movement. They can be coming after being a career madam. They can be coming after being a dealer or a pusher or a crooked politician or a self-righteous hypocrite. It doesn't matter. If they will come to Christ, he will in no wise turn them away. That's what we've seen in Acts chapter 10. And that's what Peter is testifying to in Acts chapter 11 as we get to verse 17. Seemed to me the be the place to cut it off. It seemed a good break, so we end the lesson there.

Table Reflections On Repentance

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All right. Good stuff. All good stuff. Anyone have any questions around the table today? Or observation. I do have an observation. I think that another important part of this, other than that the gospel was gonna go to the Gentiles, was for these Jewish Christians to see that God didn't, or Jesus and God did not intend for them to keep this just for the Jewish population. That's good insight. Amen. It was never intended for that. Remember, we read it, we read it in the promise made to Abraham, right? Right. Yeah. But they've always, you know, the Jewish religion was very secular. And even the proselytes had to go through a bunch of things. You had to become a Jew. To become a Jew. Yeah, circumcised do this, and they were doing these things. But to be a Christian, you just had to repent. Everything begins with everything begins with repentance. If we're not going to begin at repentance, water baptism is of no value. If you don't have the faith to repent, you know, that's why Paul told the Corinthian church, I didn't come just to baptize. If you're not gonna have faith and repent and follow Christ, water baptism just getting wet. Right, right, right. That's all. So I I really think that this message was to them to tell them exactly where they were supposed to be going. Did Acts chapter one help you with that, where Jesus said, You shall be witnesses? Yeah. After that, the whole No, they didn't. We're seeing progressive revelation in this book. And that's one of the things that's so exciting to me about the book of Acts. As the church is being founded, you are watching them grow in wisdom and knowledge via revelation. Because all of them weren't going to go sit at the feet of Gamaliel and be schooled in everything that was in the law and the prophets and the law of Moses. Peter, they they said to Peter and John when they were on trial, said, These are unlearned men. We could hear them talk. They're just unlearned, you know, they're fishermen. They're not in our class educationally. They they don't even have proper grammar. And the others turn around and said, Yes, but we can tell they've been with Jesus. Right. The one that was just the carpenter. Yes. The one that was just, you know, who was it that said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Yeah. Yes, it in my head I hear him saying, Can anything good come from the hood? Yes, Jesus of Nazareth came right out of the hood. Nazareth was that kind of talent. That kind of tale. Yeah. Amen. Awesome. Awesome. Good insight. Good insight. All

Closing Blessing And How To Connect

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right. So we're going to go ahead and leave you today on this journey into chapter 11, our first part of that. And so we always end every segment with go show some love. Show some compassion. Give mercy. And go be Jesus today. Hey, STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? And we would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org, scroll to the more tab, and select contact us. Also, if this to you has been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select sew a seed. There are several ways that you can give, whether it's helpful, vinyl, cash app, or if there's an address to send a check or money order. All your gifts are text-deductible, and we thank you so much for sewing your seed with us. I want you to remember this. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you, we'll see you soon.