Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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I'm Pastor Mark Howard and I'm
here with my co-host, my brother
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Jim. We're studying in the book
of Acts. And wow! The book of
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Acts has so many powerful acts
in it, doesn't it? Yes it does.
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It doesn't slow down yet. We are
going to be in chapter 10 today.
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In fact, I want to recap a
little bit of chapter 9 right
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after we pause for a word
of prayer and ask God to bless
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our time in study.
Father in heaven, we thank you
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for the privilege we have of
studying your word and coming to
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know you and Jesus Christ whom
you have sent. We pray the Holy
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Spirit would guide our
study right now and we ask it in
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Jesus' name. Amen. In
our last episode we read
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about the conversion of Saul or
Paul in the New Testament church
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and that was the bulk of our
discussion, but right toward the
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of chapter 9 the Bible went
on to tell us some of the things
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that were happening in the
ministry of Peter. It gives a
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brief report of the healing of
a man named Aeneas which seems
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to be kind of a segue into the
healing of a worker in the early
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church named Tabitha or Dorcas,
one is Greek and one is Aramaic.
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Both names actually mean a
gazelle and it's likely that it
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referred to Tabitha's energy
in helping the early church.
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But she got sick and passed away
and they had prepared her for
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burial but they heard that Peter
was in the area and they sent
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for him. So Peter came to
Joppa where Tabitha lived and he
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actually, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, raised her from the
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dead. This is the first event
that we've seen like this in the
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New Testament church since the
ascension of Jesus. So again, we
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have a powerful miracle and the
Bible tells us in Acts chapter 9
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verse 42, It became known
throughout all Joppa, and I'm
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sure, Jim, that it spread beyond
Joppa and the message went out
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again that Jesus is alive and
well in his church in the person
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of his saints. Now we carry
on into chapter 10. In fact, the
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last verse of chapter 9 tells
us that Peter remained in Joppa
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with Simon a tanner and this
leads us into chapter 10 verse 1
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And the Bible tells us, There
was a certain man in Caesarea
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called Cornelius, a centurion
of what was called the Italian
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regiment, a devout man and
one who feared God with all his
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household and obviously as he
was of the Italian regiment he
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was a gentile man, but he feared
God with all his household and
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gave alms generously to the
people and prayed to God always.
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Verse 3 says, About the ninth
hour of the day he saw clearly
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in vision an angel of God coming
in and saying to him, Cornelius.
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And when he observed him he was
afraid. You know, it just grabs
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my attention here, Jim, that
when we were in our last chapter
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God came to Ananias and he said
Ananias and then Ananias said
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here I am Lord. And here he says
Cornelius and he waits for a
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response. Much like we saw with
Peter when he healed the lame
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man and he said, Look at me. God
wants to make sure he has our
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full attention here. Cornelius,
he says, in verse 4. When he
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observed him he was afraid and
said what is it Lord. So he said
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to him your prayers and
alms have come up for a memorial
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before God. Now send men to
Joppa and send for Simon whose
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sir name is Peter. He is lodging
with Simon a tanner whose house
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is by the sea. He will tell you
what you must do. And when the
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angel who spoke to him had
departed, Cornelius called two
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of his household servants and a
devout soldier from among those
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who waited on him continually.
So when he had explained all
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these things to them, he sent
them to Joppa. So there's our
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introduction of quite an
interesting account that you're
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going to pick up on
here. Yes. Now comes a very
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interesting vision that God gave
as a gift to Peter and it picks
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up in verse 9. So it says the
next day as they went on their
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journey and drew near the city,
Peter went up on the housetop
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to pray about the sixth hour.
And so Peter goes up about the
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sixth hour and he's diligent
to spend time in prayer and make
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sure he maintains his connection
with God. But in verse 10 it
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says then he became very hungry
and wanted to eat but while they
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made ready he fell into a trance
So you can only imagine, here he
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is, it's suppertime, he's
starting to get hungry, he falls
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into a trance. You know if I
drift off if I'm really hungry
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I might dream of banana splits
or a burrito, who knows what.
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But anyway this is sort of what
ends up happening because in
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verse 11 it says, He saw heaven
opened... he fell into a trance,
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and saw heaven opened and an
object like a great sheet bound
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at the four corners descending
to him and let down to the
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earth. In it were all kinds of
four-footed animals of the earth
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wild beasts, creeping things and
birds of the air. And a voice
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came to him, Rise Peter, kill
and eat. But Peter said, Not so
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Lord, for I have never eaten
anything common or unclean.
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And a voice spoke to him again
the second time. What God has
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cleansed you must not call
common. This was done three
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times and the object was taken
up into heaven again. Now for
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our viewers we need to just
give a little explanation here
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that when the Bible is referring
to in this particular trance, in
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this vision that Peter had,
these wild beasts and creeping
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things and being common, we have
to recognize that in the Bible
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there were certain
meats, certain foods that were
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considered clean and certain
ones were unclean. There was
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both ceremonial cleanness
and uncleanness. We saw in the
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gospels where the Pharisees felt
like they needed to wash their
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hands so that any food that may
have been touched by gentiles
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they could remove that
ceremonial uncleanness so that
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they wouldn't be defiled in that
way, but there was a genuine
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clean and unclean distinction
between meats that started all
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the way back in the times of...
well from the very beginning
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but we see it in the days of
Noah when as the animals walked
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onto the ark they walked
in pairs, in twos, but also in
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sevens. The ones that were clean
went in sevens because after the
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flood there would be need to
eat the flesh of animals as well
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as offer sacrifices of these
animals. And so we have this
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distinction between and unclean
and that continued in the book
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of Leviticus. We see in
Leviticus chapter 11 that God
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made this distinction between
clean and unclean beasts, those
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that could be eaten and those
that were not permitted to be.
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So Peter sees all these coming
down on this sheet and this
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voice saying, Rise Peter, kill
and eat, and he's saying I don't
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understand. I've never eaten
anything like that of course
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Lord, I wouldn't be disobedient.
They were considered an
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abomination, right. As you keep
reading it just makes me think
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of those who
read this passage...
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Well this passage is often cited
as a reason or as an evidence
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that those dietary restrictions
no longer apply in New Testament
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times. People say well Acts
chapter 10, that's what Peter's
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vision showed. So
they say look, after the
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death of Jesus apparently there
was no more distinction between
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clean and unclean and this
vision revealed that. They're
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just certain that the meaning
of this particular vision is
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that now we should be permitted
to eat animals regardless of
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whether they're clean or
unclean according to the Bible.
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But notice verse 17. Verse
17 says but now while Peter
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wondered within himself what
this vision which he had seen
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meant, behold the men who
had been sent from Cornelius had
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made inquiry for Simon's
house and stood before the gate.
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So Peter is trying to figure
out what did this mean. So while
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there may be some who say well
it's clear, it says it right
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there; now all of these beasts
are clean and we can eat them,
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apparently it wasn't so clear to
Peter. They saw this literally,
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those who use this to justify
the idea that there's no more
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distinction, but Peter clearly
knew from the very beginning
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that this was not to be taken
literally and he was trying to
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figure out what the symbolism
of the prophecy really meant.
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Furthermore, just one more point
on that; some claim that there's
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certain statements of Jesus
that make it clear that there's
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no more distinction between
clean and unclean foods but
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Peter put that out of
possibility as well when he
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says, Lord I have never eaten
anything common or unclean.
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If Jesus had made a statement
making no distinction then
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there's no reason for Peter here
long after... That's exactly
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right. Apparently Peter didn't
hear from the Lord that all of
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these things were okay to
now eat regardless of their
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distinction
between clean and unclean.
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That's right. So Peter never
does take anything from the
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sheet. It goes up and he's
scratching his head about what
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it means and the Bible goes on
to tell us that these men come
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from Cornelius and as they're
coming into the front gate the
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Lord actually speaks to
Peter and he tells them, they're
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coming in and you need to go
out and meet these men and doubt
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nothing and go with them. So
Peter goes and meets the men and
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follows them to the house
of Cornelius. Now we're jumping
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ahead to verse 24 and it
says, And the following day they
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entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius
was waiting for them and had
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called together his relatives
and close friends. As Peter was
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coming in Cornelius met him
and fell down at his feet and
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worshipped him, but Peter lifted
him up saying, stand up, I
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myself am also a man and as he
talked with him he went in and
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found many who had come
together. Then he said to them
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You know how unlawful it is for
Jewish men to keep company with
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or to go to one of another
nation, but God has shown me
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that I should not call any man
common or unclean. Here's where
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Peter gets the understanding
this is what the vision meant.
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That which is now clean which
God has cleansed is not the
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animals but God is showing that
there is no distinction here
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between Jew and Gentile. Jim,
this is interesting in light of
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the fact that in one of our
previous episodes the stoning
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of Stephen, we briefly touched
on the fact that there is a
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a prophecy in the Old Testament
scriptures in the book of Daniel
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chapter 9 where God gave
his nation of Israel one last
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probationary period and
that probationary period for the
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nation came to a close
with Stephen's address. And it's
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interesting that since that
time, and I should interject
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here, that that doesn't mean
that God won't save Jews, the
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point is that as a nation
as being a favored nation that
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probation closed. They were no
longer the vessel of truth, the
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ones especially chosen to carry
that. Now Jews and gentiles with
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faith in Christ are
all part of the same body.
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And we don't have to assume that
because immediately we start to
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see a shift. First of all, right
after that we see Phillip going
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and baptizing the Ethiopian
eunuch who was a gentile. We see
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Saul's conversion and I want to
refer to Acts chapter 22 where
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Saul recounts his conversion
there and it's interesting how
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he says in verse 20 of Acts
22, And when the blood of your
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martyr Stephen was shed, I also
was standing by consenting to
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his death and guarding
the clothes of those who were
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killing him. Then he said to me,
that is the Lord, Depart for I
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will send you far from here
to the gentiles. And now we come
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to Acts chapter 10 and we see
Peter who the Lord in a special
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revelation comes to him and
to Cornelius and puts them in
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connection and again we see the
gospel going to the gentiles.
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So very clearly we're seeing a
shift in the early church where
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the gospel is being opened more
fully to the gentile nations.
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So here in the beginning of this
chapter we have Cornelius, a
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gentile, that God is speaking to
him and he is one who believes
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in God but he doesn't have all
the truth that the Jewish nation
00:13:18.72\00:13:22.26
has been entrusted with. So God
wants to bring him in connection
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with Peter. But he knows that
Peter is not going to be very
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likely to do that, as Peter
himself said, in his address
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later in verse 28, You know how
unlawful it is for a Jewish man
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to keep company with or go
to one of another nation. So God
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knows that in order for
Cornelius to gain the benefit of
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the church and Peter's preaching
and teaching, he's going to have
00:13:44.42\00:13:48.40
to help him bring down the
barriers that exist for him to
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share his message with the
gentiles. And so it is that he
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gives this vision and Peter's
trying to figure out what it
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means and while he's trying to
figure out what it means, here
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comes the representatives from
Cornelius and God says go with
00:14:03.89\00:14:07.86
them doubting nothing and as
he's going I'm certain that he
00:14:07.89\00:14:11.93
begins to understand that vision
was to teach me that now there
00:14:11.97\00:14:15.97
is no unclean, there is no
common person, in terms of one
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being more favored than another
but rather all are equal and the
00:14:19.89\00:14:25.47
gospel now needs to go to
Cornelius and to all gentiles.
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We see the succession, like you
said, in chapter 8, chapter 9
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and chapter 10. Powerful. Well
we're going to keep diving into
00:14:32.32\00:14:35.70
this message that Peter
then shared with Cornelius, but
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before we do we need to go
to our break. So come back very
00:14:39.01\00:14:43.41
soon and we'll get started
again in the book of Acts.
00:14:43.44\00:14:45.58