1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,560 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,680 Gentiles also had received the word of God. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,600 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,000 believers criticized him and said, You went into the House of 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,760 uncircumcised men and ate with them. 6 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,000 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story. 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,960 I was in the city of Jopa praying and in a trance. 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,760 I saw a vision. I saw something like a large 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,520 sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners and it came 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,640 down to where I was. I looked into it and saw 4 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,880 footed animals on the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:49,520 Then I heard a voice telling me Get up Peter, kill and eat. 13 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,240 I replied. Surely not Lord, nothing impure 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,320 or unclean has ever entered my mouth. 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,560 The voice spoke from heaven a second time. 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,160 Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,640 This has happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,760 heaven again. Right then, three men who had 19 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:15,200 been sent to me from Caesar stopped at the house where I was 20 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,560 staying. The spirit told me to have no 21 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,160 hesitation about going with them. 22 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,200 These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the 23 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,760 man's house. He told us how he had seen an 24 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,720 Angel appeared in his house and say, sent to Jopa for Simon, 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,720 who's called Peter. He'll bring you a message 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,040 through which you and all your household will be safe. 27 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,000 As I begin to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as He had 28 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,640 come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord 29 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,040 had said. John baptized with water, but 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,040 you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 31 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,840 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in 32 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,280 the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,280 God's way? When they heard this, they had 34 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,919 no further objections and praised God, saying so. 35 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,600 Then even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to 36 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,520 life. So we're looking at Acts 11-1 to 37 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,240 18, which, for those of you who were here last week, you'll find 38 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,320 very, very familiar. But I just want to start with an 39 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,360 introduction. So we live on planet Earth. 40 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,240 Yeah. And planet Earth is spinning 41 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,720 through space, and the moon is spinning around the Earth. 42 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,320 And the planets, Mars, Venus, Mercury, they're spinning around 43 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,840 the Earth as well, aren't they? Yeah. 44 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:43,920 And the sun, that's spinning around the Earth as well. 45 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,640 And the Earth that's at the centre of the solar system. 46 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,040 That's right, isn't it? And all the other solar systems 47 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,280 and galaxies are spinning around the Earth and the Earth is in 48 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,880 the middle and the Earth is at the centre of the universe. 49 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,240 That's correct, isn't it? No, no, Hopefully you know that. 50 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,120 But 1000 years ago that probably would have been that, that that 51 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,560 was kind of accepted scientific thinking about the solar system, 52 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,440 that the Earth was at the centre of it and that the sun and 53 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,040 planets orbited around the Earth. 54 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,920 It's sort of like a geocentric kind of model. 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,720 And so an accepted way of thinking about something. 56 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,640 We call that a a paradigm and that was the accepted way of 57 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,640 thinking about the solar system and the Earth 1000 odd years 58 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:29,240 ago. But sometimes the accepted way 59 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,880 of thinking about something, it can be wrong and slow. 60 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,480 Actually through the work of scientifically like Copernicus, 61 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,960 Galileo, Kepler, it was shown by I think the late 1600s and then 62 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,240 generally accepted after that, actually the Earth wasn't at the 63 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,080 centre of the universe. The Earth wasn't even at the 64 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,680 centre of its own solar system. The sun was. 65 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,440 So the scientific model, the way of thinking about things, it 66 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,480 shifted. We call that a paradigm shift. 67 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,040 The way of thinking shifted and moved to something that was 68 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:05,640 actually true and correct. And this is important because 69 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,520 actually, if the sun is at the centre of the solar system on 70 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,480 the Earth, that changes a lot of things about how you think 71 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,640 about. Now this is at the limits of our 72 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,440 knowledge, gravity and stuff and travelling in space and, and all 73 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,800 that sort of stuff. But your fundamental assumptions 74 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,079 shift, don't they? And they open up new ways of 75 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:22,760 understanding things. And we can think of loads of 76 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,240 examples of paradigm shifts in human history. 77 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,160 You know, for instance, the infectious diseases aren't 78 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,680 spread by bad air, but by germs, by microbes, by viruses, 79 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,440 bacteria. That kind of those shifts in 80 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,280 understanding really, really change things. 81 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:41,640 Why am I going on about paradigm shifts? 82 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:43,960 Why am I going about changes in thinking? 83 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:53,200 Because actually what we heard about in Acts 10, does that come 84 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,080 up right? Yeah. 85 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,480 OK. What we heard about in Acts 10 86 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,000 last week and is repeated in Acts 11 this week, it's a 87 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,560 paradigm shift. It's the Jewish Christians of 88 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:07,360 the of the day undergoing a change in their thinking and 89 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,840 recognizing that the way they were thinking was wrong. 90 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,040 And it's summarized in verse 18. When they heard this, they had 91 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,680 no further objections and praise God saying so then even to 92 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,440 Gentiles, Gentiles being someone who's not a Jew, so everyone 93 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,520 else, God has granted repentance that leads to life. 94 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,520 So this change of thinking is that anyone, not just someone 95 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,280 born Jewish, can be saved and can become a Christian. 96 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,760 And so one of the things I want to make sure that we do this 97 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,120 morning is that for us as Christians here today, we really 98 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,960 understand the implications of what Luke has recorded in Acts 99 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,280 10 and 11. I do want to make one thing 100 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:57,720 clear before we go any further, though, which is that God's way 101 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,640 of thinking does not change. His paradigms don't shift. 102 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,080 So even when we were 1000 years ago thinking that the earth was 103 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:07,960 at the center of the solar system, God knew that wasn't the 104 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,760 case. He's a creator. 105 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,160 He knew the sun was at the center of the solar system. 106 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,680 Of course he did. And God's always known that 107 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,960 infectious diseases have been spread by bacteria and viruses 108 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,080 and so on. So it's also true that God has 109 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,840 always intended that all peoples know forgiveness and salvation 110 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,080 through Jesus. It's always known that it's 111 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,000 always been true, and it's there in the Bible as well. 112 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,240 We promised Abraham as have put up there and all peoples on 113 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,280 earth will be blessed through you. 114 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:38,040 Jesus is the descendant of Abraham. 115 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,320 So Acts 1011 is really just everyone else catching up with 116 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,080 what God has already known and has been saying but wasn't fully 117 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,720 understood. So just that's just by way of 118 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,280 introduction. And I've got three main points I 119 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,120 want to go through today, but I just want to make sure we all 120 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:57,600 understand what's going on in the passage. 121 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,600 Probably if you're here last week, you've got a really good 122 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,360 understanding, but I just want to split it up into three trunks 123 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:04,560 and we'll go, we'll go through it. 124 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,720 So the accusations. So this, we see this in verses 125 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:18,600 one to three. So the events of of Acts 10 can 126 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:20,120 be summarized in very simple terms. 127 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:25,160 Cornelius, a Roman centurion, not a Jew and his household, 128 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,920 they become Christians. That's that's what happens, 129 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,240 isn't it? And news of this got out to the 130 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,800 believers in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, Judea, and 131 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,880 these believers would all be Jewish Christians, bought up as 132 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:43,000 Jewish, but then trusting in Jesus and becoming Christians. 133 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,800 Camillius and his family of Gentiles and historic household, 134 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,360 not Jewish. So when Peter comes back to 135 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,640 Jerusalem, the believers there don't greet him with kind of 136 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:55,960 praise and joy. Well done. 137 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,440 Great. And they agree with an 138 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,960 accusation. Basically what it boils down to 139 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,640 is what were you doing going into that Gentiles house? 140 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:11,120 He's unclean. He doesn't follow our laws while 141 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,400 he is eating with him makes you unclean. 142 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,400 Peter, you know what's going on there. 143 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,920 Why are you spending time with these unclean Gentiles? 144 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,560 And so their way of thinking that the paradigm they operated 145 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:29,200 under even now, even though they're now Christians, is that 146 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,240 there's, there's still a separation, there's still a, a 147 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,200 difference, a barrier between those who follow the Jewish law 148 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,640 and those who don't, don't ring God's family and those who are 149 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:38,720 not. That's their accusation. 150 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,440 They're asking for Peter to account for his actions, 151 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,840 essentially. And so in, in the main body of, 152 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,960 of the bit we've just read in verses 4 to 15, Peter basically 153 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,800 explains what happened. It's a little recap of chapter 154 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,080 10 that we heard last week. And, and there's two key points 155 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,120 I just want to emphasize from this just to jog our memories. 156 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,360 So the first is, if you remember, Peter had a vision and 157 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,720 it was a sheet with animals on it, all sorts of animals, wild 158 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,640 animals, all sorts. And some of those animals will 159 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,120 be animals that would be unclean, animals that Peter 160 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:11,880 should or any Jew should not eat. 161 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,480 But in the vision, God says to Peter, get up and eat. 162 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,360 And Peter protesting, no, I'm not going to eat anything that's 163 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:20,760 unclean. I'm not going to eat anything 164 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:21,960 that's unpure. That's never happened. 165 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,200 That won't happen. But look at God's response in 166 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,320 verse 9. Do not call anything impure that 167 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,520 God has made clean. We're going to keep coming back 168 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,080 to that verse. This isn't just about food. 169 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,240 God declares what is clean or unclean. 170 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,920 God declares what is impure or pure. 171 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,280 God declares what is holy or unholy. 172 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,040 Not just declares God makes clean what is unclean, makes 173 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,600 pure what is impure, makes holy what is unholy. 174 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:58,440 And so after the vision is finished and there's a knock, 175 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,720 there is then a knock on the door and Peter's asked to go to 176 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,200 a Gentiles house. And he goes, because this 177 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,640 vision, which happened three times to get the message across, 178 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,320 he's now on some level understanding that this vision 179 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,240 was not just about eating, but about something much bigger. 180 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,120 Which brings us to the kind of second point, which is that 181 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,840 Cornelius and his household become Christians, the unclean 182 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,400 Gentiles, if you like, remember Gentiles, someone who's just not 183 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:33,880 a Jew become clean Peter and verse 1415 he tells them about 184 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,200 Jesus. You can read the longer version 185 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,600 of that in Acts 10. That's his message. 186 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,640 We know we know that's what his message, simple message and even 187 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,040 before he finished speaking, the Holy Spirit came on those there 188 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,880 on Cornelius in this household, just like in almost exactly the 189 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,480 same way it came on the 1st believers at the time of 190 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,880 Pentecost. It's very similar. 191 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:01,040 And so there's no doubt for Peter and the other those are 192 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,320 the Jews that are with him that God has saved this household. 193 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,680 He's given them the Spirit. So they're Christians just like 194 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:10,840 people turn this fellow travelers off. 195 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,840 It's not in doubt. So he explains this to his, the 196 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:16,800 people who are sort of accusing him, saying what you're doing. 197 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,640 Oh, sorry. And then in the last couple of 198 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,800 verses, we see understanding and resolution. 199 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:32,160 So Peter then wants to summarise what this means to the is, is 200 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,640 Jewish Christian hearers. And we see that in verse 16 and 201 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,240 17. He says seeing Cornelius in his 202 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,040 household, filled with the Spirit, he says that's exactly 203 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,800 what Jesus promised to his disciples, to his followers, to 204 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,240 those who believe in him. And so given that God is acting 205 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,440 in this way, sovereignly, graciously acting to save 206 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,200 Cornelius and these people, what am I supposed to do? 207 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,800 Say no, God, you've got this wrong standing God's way. 208 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:01,560 I said, no, you're not supposed to save these people. 209 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,760 Of course not. It's like a Pebble trying to 210 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:08,040 prevent a tsunami. Peter makes clear this is God 211 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,720 acting to save, and he saved those people in exactly the same 212 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,280 way as he saved the people who are now questioning what went, 213 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,760 what went on. And so the outcome is a good 214 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,320 one. The accusers, as we see that in 215 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,120 verse 18, are satisfied, more than satisfied. 216 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,200 They turn to praise God and say so. 217 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,880 Then even to Gentiles, God has granted repentance. 218 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:33,800 Turning back to God that leads to life, meaning really simply, 219 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,160 God can save anyone. You'd have to be Jewish or 220 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,480 follow special laws to know that you need salvation. 221 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,960 Turn from your sin, put your faith in Jesus and be saved. 222 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:48,320 And so we see that this this way, this change in this way of 223 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,320 thinking, this paradigm shift for these early Christian 224 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,000 believers is well underway. And this shift of thinking, this 225 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,400 true understanding of God's purposes, is what will be 226 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,160 driving us forward through the rest of the book of Acts as we 227 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,680 see the good news of Jesus being spread out far and wide with 228 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,160 everyone, no matter their religious background, because 229 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:13,000 God can make anyone clean. So what are the implications of 230 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,600 this? What is God trying to show us? 231 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,160 From this passage, I want to suggest three things. 232 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,960 You are clean. We are clean. 233 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,920 Anyone can be clean. So you are clean. 234 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:39,360 And a Christian is clean. A Christian is pure, is holy and 235 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,720 is blameless. If you're a Christian here 236 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,520 today, believe it or not, I am describing you and you may not 237 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,240 feel that that like that, but it is true. 238 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,040 Verse 9 is true for us. Do not call anything impure that 239 00:13:55,040 --> 00:14:01,560 God has made clean. So I mean, this is fundamental 240 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,760 to our Christian faith. But we've got to understand from 241 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:06,640 this passage that as a Christian, no matter your 242 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,120 background, your faith journey, your current struggles or sins, 243 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:11,640 you are clean and right before God. 244 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,560 But we get this wrong. I'm going to try and explain 245 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:22,400 this by way of a picture. So this is Montague Chewbacca 246 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,240 McKinnon, also known as Monty, my dog. 247 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,600 He is filthy in this picture. He has rolled in mud, frankly, 248 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:34,080 has rolled in fox poo. He loves it. 249 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,080 He stinks. He is unclean and filthy. 250 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,200 Now if I was to try and let Monty clean himself it would not 251 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,080 go well and that's for two reasons. 1, he quite likes the 252 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:51,080 smell of fox poo I think. And secondly, when we give him 253 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,400 Sophie's, Porsche just can't hold it and he just can't scrub 254 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,040 himself, you know, he just, he just can't clean himself. 255 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,400 He just was not going to be able to clean himself at all. 256 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,960 To get clean he needs someone else to clean him. 257 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,800 Usually that's me or Jenny, and sometimes we even take him to 258 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:08,880 the groomers and he gets all fluffed up and he even smells 259 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,680 nice. So once he's cleaned properly, 260 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:13,880 we've had a really good go because it takes a lot of work. 261 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,240 He ends up like this, nice and fluffy and clean. 262 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:29,880 So just as Monty can't clean himself, we can't clean 263 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,640 ourselves of our guilt, our sin, our shame, or make ourselves 264 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,280 right with God. God has to do that. 265 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,520 God does do that. God does make us clean. 266 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,160 But the problem is we sometimes keep trying to make ourselves 267 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,440 clean even though we are already are. 268 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,640 And we rob ourselves of the joy of the gospel. 269 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:51,760 We rob ourselves with the joy of the gospel. 270 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:58,280 We've got to remember what our true identity is, who we are. 271 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,400 We are in Christ, we are clean, as it says in two Corinthians 5I 272 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,280 put there. Therefore, if anyone is in 273 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,880 Christ, here's a new creation. The old has gone, the new has 274 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,120 come. So if you're Christian, if 275 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,680 you've put your trust in Jesus, you are clean and to paraphrase 276 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,080 some song lyrics, you're accepted, you're forgiven, 277 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,440 you're a child of God. You are chosen, not forsaken. 278 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,880 God is for you, not against you. God says you are clean and you 279 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:32,320 are. So if you're a Christian here 280 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,040 today, please don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to 281 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,000 do this thing or stop that thing to be clean, to be acceptable to 282 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,440 Jesus. Don't think by your own efforts 283 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,800 you can remove that stain of sin that you still see in your life. 284 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,760 Come to Jesus in repentance, turning to Him, and in faith. 285 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,760 Remember who you are. Christ is in you. 286 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,960 He's given you His Spirit, just as He gave it to Peter, to 287 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,480 Cornelius, and to all Christians. 288 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,840 I think being a Christian is miserable if we fall back or get 289 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,079 into habits of doing things. To make yourself clean, to make 290 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,520 yourself right with God. Have you fallen into that trap? 291 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,800 Have you forgotten the joy of the gospel that God has made you 292 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,200 clean, forgiven your sins and declared you right with Him, 293 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:20,520 adopted you into His family? Rejoice in His boundless grace. 294 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,440 It's made you clean. Don't call yourself impure, what 295 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:30,560 God has made clean and yes, you know, good deeds, turning away 296 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:31,800 from sin. All these things should be a 297 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,080 result of who we are. They're driven by our identity 298 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,920 in Christ, not by us trying to make ourselves clean. 299 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:45,320 We are clean. So the question that Acts 11 300 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,880 starts to raise and we'll see again in Acts, In fact, it's 301 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:49,760 addressed multiple times in Paul's letters to the early 302 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,880 churches. This are all Christians equal? 303 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,000 Is there a 2 tier system of salvation? 304 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,040 Are Jewish Christians or certain Christians more special than 305 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,760 other Christians? Well, verse 17 makes this clear. 306 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,400 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us, who believed in 307 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,320 the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in 308 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,200 God's way? Peter and his fellow early 309 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,640 Christians now recognize that God is saving anyone, bringing 310 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,200 them into the church family. So what does this mean for us? 311 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,640 Well, if I'm clean, that means a Christian sitting next to me is 312 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,880 clean. If I am pure, that Christian 313 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,520 sitting on the other side of the room is pure too. 314 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,600 If I'm right with God, that Christian has way different to 315 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,880 me is also right with God at church. 316 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,240 Finally, we're all clean before God because God's made us clean. 317 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:47,080 There's no gradations of that. I'm not more clean than you. 318 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,880 You're not more clean than me. You're not more right with God. 319 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,360 I'm not more right with God. We are all holy and all in 320 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:57,760 Christ as put it up in Colossians there Paul's letter 321 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:01,960 to Colossians in verse verse 11 from chapter 3 here there is no 322 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,320 Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, 323 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,440 Scythian, slave or free. But Christ is all and is in all. 324 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,000 Now, I don't think we have any Greeks with us today if we do 325 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,360 Calimera, but we do have people who are born in different 326 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:18,520 countries from around the world. We have people of different 327 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,640 ages, different ethnicities, different neurodiversities, 328 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:22,960 different. We can say all sorts of 329 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,320 differences. And these differences are real, 330 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,680 they are important and they make us who who we are. 331 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,520 And God does rejoice in our identities, our differences, our 332 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,120 gifts and experiences. But the point of God making us 333 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,800 clean is that these differences are not 'cause division between 334 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,200 us. Have you ever maybe looked down 335 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,600 on a Christian because they're different to you in some way? 336 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:51,440 Or have you sort of unhelpfully worshipped another Christian, 337 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,040 put them on a pedestal because they're different to you, or 338 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,200 compared yourself to another Christian? 339 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:00,520 Do you associate with certain types of people? 340 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,800 Are Christians but not others? And if you have, you're not 341 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,720 alone. And so to overcome these biases 342 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,080 and prejudices, we need to get back to the gospel. 343 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,320 Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. 344 00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:16,920 God's made you clean, whoever you are. 345 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,280 So we're equal and united in Christ. 346 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,240 We've all been given the same gift of the Holy Spirit. 347 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:26,680 He lives in all of us who are Christians. 348 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,400 There's no difference in that regard. 349 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,280 Praise God for our differences, but praise him also that we are 350 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,360 all in Christ. So let's joyfully treat each 351 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:39,400 other well, value each other highly, work with each other, 352 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,560 care for each other, encourage one another, pray for one 353 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,200 another, bear each other's burdens because we are all in 354 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:53,210 Christ. Final point, anyone can be 355 00:20:53,210 --> 00:20:56,930 clean. So if God makes you clean, 356 00:20:58,130 --> 00:21:02,850 anyone can be clean. So Cornelius wasn't Jewish, he 357 00:21:02,850 --> 00:21:05,890 was God fearing, but he didn't know Jesus. 358 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,400 Peter told him about Jesus. He trusted in Jesus, he received 359 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,840 God's spirit and he became a Christian. 360 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,800 Peter, he was born a Jew, humble origins, he was a fisherman. 361 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,880 He spent three years with Jesus, but he denied him at the time of 362 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,000 Jesus death. But it was Peter who God chose 363 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,040 to make this initial public breakthrough, sharing the good 364 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,880 news of Jesus out to all people. He's a Christian. 365 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,320 Saul who became caught. Paul, born a Jew, schooled in 366 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,200 all the minute legalities of the Jewish law, was someone who 367 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,280 hated Christians, actively persecuted them, and pursued 368 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,120 their arrests and deaths. We saw a few weeks ago, didn't 369 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:50,880 we? He too was made clean by God and 370 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,920 became a Christian. So God made these three 371 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,040 individuals clean so he can make anyone clean. 372 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:03,080 No one's too unclean, no one's too sinful, no one's too bad, 373 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,680 too evil, too different to be beyond God's saving grace. 374 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,000 Anyone can trust in Jesus, repent and have new life and be 375 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,080 declared clean. So if you're not a Christian 376 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:17,120 here today, we can be, We absolutely can be Jesus who was 377 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:21,440 crucified and died on the cross that three days later rose to 378 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,120 life and is now the judge of the living and the dead. 379 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,760 If you believe in Him, you can receive forgiveness of sins 380 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,920 through His name. Those words are just what Peter 381 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,600 preached 2000 years ago to Cornelius. 382 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,280 I'm just repeating them. Turn to God, trust in Him, 383 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,200 receive his Spirit, be declared clean by God. 384 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,640 And for those of us who are Christians, well, let's remember 385 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,680 this good news message we have is for everyone. 386 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,160 It's not just for people like us. 387 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,760 It's not just for people we like, it's for everyone. 388 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,880 Let's be generous in getting the message out to all kinds of 389 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:01,800 people in all kinds of different situations. 390 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,320 Let's not be afraid of sharing it with the most unlikely person 391 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,520 because that might be the very person that God's been working 392 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,320 on through his Spirit. And let's not fall into the 393 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,320 mistake of thinking, thinking that people need to have achieve 394 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,080 a certain level of behavior or goodness or understanding before 395 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,440 they hear the gospel. They don't because they can't 396 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,160 make themselves clean. They don't need buffing up. 397 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,520 They just need to hear the message, the good news of Jesus, 398 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:28,240 and that's what's going to make them clean. 399 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,680 That's what saves them, and that's what's going to result in 400 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,600 real change. So let's not be shy about 401 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,640 sharing this amazing news that we have with anyone and 402 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:45,800 everyone. So just to finish, do not call 403 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,200 anything impure that God has made clean. 404 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,680 God says you're clean. So stop trying to clean yourself 405 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,600 up and remember your identity in Jesus Christ. 406 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,000 God says do not call anything impure that God has made clean. 407 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,520 Your brothers and sisters in Christ in this church have also 408 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,320 been declared clean and have the same spirit in them as you. 409 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:10,600 So let's care for each other well. 410 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,600 Let's not let our differences cause division between us. 411 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,160 Do not call anything impure that God has made clean good news of 412 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:20,720 Jesus. It is for everyone. 413 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:25,560 It can make anyone clean, so let's make sure sure we share it 414 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,080 with everyone we can.