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00:35 Good morning, friends, and welcome once again
00:37 to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:39 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:41 in Sacramento, California. 00:43 Very warm welcome to our online members, 00:45 and those of you who are viewing this program 00:47 via television across the country, 00:49 and around the world. 00:51 Also, I'd like to welcome our members 00:53 and our visitors here for Sabbath School today, 00:55 always good to see you. 00:57 And today, we're going to be looking 00:58 at the next lesson in our lesson quarterly 01:01 dealing with the Book of Acts. 01:02 We're actually on lesson number six 01:05 which is entitled the Ministry of Peter. 01:07 Now, for those of you who are joining us online 01:09 or watching this on television, 01:11 if you don't have a copy of this week's lesson, 01:13 just go to the Amazing Fact's website, 01:15 just amazingfacts.com, and you'll be able to download 01:19 a copy of the study, and you can read it together 01:21 with us as we study God's Word. 01:24 We do have a free offer 01:25 that we like to let our viewers know about, 01:27 it is a book entitled "The Armor of God". 01:30 Now there are two ways 01:31 that you can get our free offer today. 01:33 The one is to call, and the number is 866-788-3966, 01:38 and you can ask for offer number 173, 01:42 and we'll be happy to send you the book 01:43 The Armor of God through the mail. 01:45 But if you'd like the book 01:46 sooner than waiting for the mail to get there, 01:49 you can also text the following code to the number. 01:53 First of all, the code is "SH101", 01:56 and you can text that code to the number 40544, 02:00 you'll then get the link, 02:02 and you'll be able to download the book in digital format, 02:04 and you can read it right away. 02:06 So we hope you'll take advantage of that, 02:08 this is a great book entitled "The Armor of God", 02:10 and that is our free offer for our program today. 02:14 But before we get to our lesson, 02:15 we like to begin by lifting our voices in song. 02:18 I'd like to invite the song leaders 02:19 to come lead us in our music this morning. 02:22 We are excited to sing 02:24 one of our favorites with you today, 02:26 and I know that it is one of yours 02:28 because I think this is one of the highly requested songs 02:33 from around the world, 02:35 "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." 02:37 You'll find that number 334 in your hymnals. 02:42 So if you have those, join with us, 02:44 we will do all three stanzas, 334. 05:00 Thank you so much for joining with us 05:02 and at this time Pastor Ross 05:04 is going to have our opening prayer. 05:07 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You once again 05:09 for the opportunity to gather together, 05:11 and to open up Your Word, 05:12 and study this important lesson, 05:14 dealing with the Book of Acts, 05:15 and in particular the Ministry of Peter. 05:17 We pray that Your Holy Spirit will come and guide 05:19 our hearts, our minds, for we ask this in Jesus' name. 05:22 Amen. 05:24 Our lesson this morning is gonna be brought to us 05:26 by our family life pastor here at Granite Bay, 05:28 Pastor Shawn Brummund. 05:30 Shawn, we're just delighted that you are able 05:31 to teach for us this morning, may God bless. 05:35 Well, good morning to all. 05:38 It's good to see everyone here as we come together to worship. 05:41 As we have sung our songs of praise, 05:44 it is a privilege to be able to stand 05:46 in front of you here today. 05:49 Every time I stand before you, it's always a privilege 05:51 to be able to open the Word of God 05:52 and to be able to guide us through 05:54 some of these important truths 05:55 that God wants us to be able to know. 05:58 But today I have to say that I am extra privileged, 06:01 and I am extra grateful to be able to stand before you 06:05 because as many of you know, especially those who are local, 06:08 as many that have been online watching this program 06:11 or have been following on Facebook page 06:14 for Granite Bay Church as well as my personal Facebook page 06:18 that I have faced some very real challenges. 06:22 And before we get into our topic here today, 06:24 I want to just confirm something that is important 06:27 for all church members to be able to understand, 06:30 and that is that pastors 06:32 are subject to the same temptations 06:35 and to the same trials as everybody else is. 06:39 And the reason I say this is because over the years 06:41 as a pastor I've discovered that 06:43 there is a number of members that have concluded 06:46 that the pastor's family is exempt somehow, 06:49 and they just don't face quite the same trials 06:51 and temptations as we do, 06:52 that we are kind of in a special place somehow. 06:56 No, we're all in the same special place under the grace 06:58 and salvation of Christ, 07:00 but we all face the same trials. 07:04 As Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, 07:06 for tomorrow has enough things to worry about itself. 07:10 Sufficient is today or the worries that we have, 07:13 or the troubles that we have for today." 07:17 And so that speaks to all believers including pastors. 07:20 So I'm just very grateful that the Lord has restored me 07:23 and has brought me through various serious neck 07:25 health challenge and extensive operation. 07:29 Now I'm back and I'm able to serve you 07:30 and be able to look at this very important subject 07:33 that we're looking at today. 07:34 God is good and I'm thankful that He has restored me 07:38 that I might be able to serve once again, 07:42 but that's enough about the Ministry of Pastor Shawn. 07:44 We want to look at the ministry of something, 07:46 somebody much more important, 07:48 an instrumental apostle by the name of Peter. 07:52 And Peter is no small a person. 07:55 He is no small individual in the plan of God 07:58 in the very first years of the Christian church. 08:01 In fact as we look at the Book of Acts 08:03 and some of us have been following faithfully 08:05 through this quarterly so far, 08:07 we have been reading chapter 1 through 12 08:11 which this particular week's lessons 08:13 brings us up to the end of, 08:15 and perhaps some of us have already ran ahead 08:17 and read the whole thing, they got so excited. 08:19 Acts is just one of those books 08:20 where once you start to get into it, 08:22 it's very hard to put it back down again, 08:24 and you just want to see how it all ends. 08:27 And so it's just a very powerful book. 08:30 As we go through the whole Book of Acts, 08:32 there are two individuals 08:33 that stand out above all the other apostles. 08:36 There are two individuals that are named 08:37 more often by far than the other two apostles 08:41 and that is Peter, 08:43 where we're going to be studying 08:44 in more extensively today, as well as Paul. 08:48 I hear a number of you saying as well. 08:50 And so Peter and Paul are the two key individuals 08:55 that the Book of Acts 08:56 focuses on more than any of the other apostles. 08:59 Now, the Apostle John comes to a close third 09:02 I guess we can say, 09:03 but nevertheless Peter and Paul 09:04 seem to have the biggest part, 09:06 at least the most prominent part of God's plan 09:09 in the early church. 09:12 With that being said, I want to ask you a question 09:13 to stimulate your minds here a little bit this morning. 09:16 What does the Bible say is the key difference 09:18 between the ministry of the Apostle Paul 09:21 and the ministry of the Apostle Peter? 09:25 What is the key difference between those two individuals 09:28 and the ministry that God had called them to? 09:32 All right, I hear somebody saying Jews and Gentiles. 09:35 All right, you're on track and I think I know 09:37 what Dianne is trying to tell us here this morning, 09:39 and that is that God had called Paul 09:42 to be an apostle to the Gentiles. 09:46 Now what is a Gentile? 09:49 Well, you know, some of us we know what a Gentile is. 09:51 You know, some of us that are here this morning, 09:53 or that are watching online, 09:55 or on the various television networks, 09:56 they've never heard of the word Gentile 09:59 unless you've been exposed to church 10:01 and to the Christian faith. 10:02 And the reason is, we don't use that language, 10:04 or that word outside of the Bible, 10:06 or talk about the Bible in our modern vernacular today. 10:10 So I know that by personal experience 10:11 because I was raised secular, I wasn't raised in the faith, 10:15 and so it wasn't till 20 or that summer I turned 21 10:18 that I gave my heart to the Lord 10:19 and started to discover a real experience with Christ 10:23 and with the Lord. 10:24 And so I started going to church 10:26 and I heard during Bible studies talk about Gentiles, 10:29 and I'm scratching my head saying, 10:30 "What in the world's a Gentile?" 10:32 Well, a Gentile is a non-Jewish person 10:34 and so we have two populations of the Bible, 10:37 in particular Acts speaks about 10:39 and that is that there is the Jewish population 10:43 and then any other nationality 10:46 or race, et cetera, religion, et cetera, 10:48 would be under the umbrella of Gentile. 10:51 And so yes, you're right, Paul was called by God 10:55 to focus his ministry on evangelizing and ministering 10:58 most specifically to the Gentiles. 11:00 And then to Peter, God had called him 11:03 to be an apostle to Jews, the other population 11:07 that was the most concentrated in his own country, 11:10 the country of Israel. 11:12 In Galatians 2:7-8, I'd like to read 11:15 for you a statement that Paul himself had actually written, 11:18 understanding this distinction 11:19 and calling that God had given these two, 11:22 it says, "But on the contrary when he saw that the gospel 11:26 for the uncircumcised had been committed to me..." 11:29 Now again, the uncircumcised would be those 11:31 who are non-Jewish, 11:33 "As the gospel for the circumcised..." 11:36 That is for the Jews, was to Peter, "For He..." 11:39 That is God, "Who worked effectively 11:41 and Peter for the Apostleship to the circumcised 11:44 also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles." 11:49 And so I think it is important for us to understand 11:51 that God had called them 11:52 for a very specific priority or focus. 11:55 Now for those of you who have studied 11:56 last week's memory verse 11:58 has found in Acts 9:15, it's a bit of a review for us 12:03 as we look at the statement made there by Paul as well. 12:07 Actually, it's not by Paul, it's made by the Lord 12:09 to a Christian by the name of Ananias. 12:12 And Ananias was the Christian in the city of Damascus 12:15 that was commissioned by God to go over, 12:17 find the Apostle Paul, soon to be Apostle Paul, 12:21 he wasn't the apostle yet, 12:23 but Paul was in a very serious situation 12:25 because he was struck blind by God 12:27 on the road to that city. 12:29 And so God had commissioned Ananias 12:31 after two or three days of fasting 12:33 and prayer that Paul was going through 12:35 to go over and to lay hands on Paul, 12:38 and pray over him, and pray that Paul would 12:40 not only receive his physical sight back, 12:43 but that he would receive his spiritual sight, 12:46 that he would receive the Holy Spirit, 12:48 and learn and experience 12:50 what it is to be born again of the spirit, 12:52 something that Paul had yet understood nor experienced. 12:56 And so we have this commission 12:57 recorded in that particular verse, 12:59 Acts 9:15 where it says, 13:04 "Go for he is a chosen vessel of mind to bear My name 13:08 before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel." 13:15 And so here we have the first priority which is again, 13:17 the Gentiles, and some Gentile kings, 13:20 and some kings that were either Jewish or at least half Jewish 13:22 that he also was brought before in the future. 13:25 But it also says that he was called to minister to the... 13:30 Well, to the children of Israel, 13:32 and that would be the Jews. 13:35 And so I think it's also important for us 13:36 to be able to understand that when you read the statement 13:39 as well as look at their ministry, 13:40 we discover that even though Paul was called to prioritize 13:44 his ministry to evangelize and minister to Gentiles. 13:48 He also was found ministering and evangelizing Jews as well. 13:53 And the same goes with Peter, 13:54 and so Peter spent most of his ministering time 13:58 ministering to Jews, 13:59 but he also spent some real time ministering to Gentiles, 14:02 and we're going to be looking at that 14:04 in this week's lesson study 14:06 in the chapters of 9, 10, 11, and 12. 14:11 All right, so we look at one of the key differences 14:14 between the ministries of these two individuals. 14:16 Now, what about Peter and Paul? 14:19 And the next question I have is 14:21 what did they hold in common in regards to their ministry? 14:25 What did Peter and Paul hold in common 14:28 in regards to their ministry? 14:30 And I'll give you one more hint. 14:33 It's something that God 14:34 had called them in their ministry 14:35 that was unique from the calling to ministry 14:38 of the other apostles that are recorded in the gospels. 14:43 Okay, so what is unique in the ministering 14:44 and calling of Peter and Paul that is unique 14:49 and different from that of the other apostles, 14:51 but what the two hold in common? 14:54 Now the first one, you know, 14:55 how I started with the easy question first. 14:58 Okay, all right. 15:00 Anybody want to venture a guess? 15:02 Okay, I'm going to go ahead and share with you. 15:07 The thing that they held in common 15:08 was that God had, 15:10 when He had called them into the ministry 15:13 and into the position of apostleship, 15:15 He had revealed to both of them some of the very real details 15:19 that they would suffer from the world 15:22 before they came to pass. 15:25 And so at the beginning of their ministry, 15:27 God and through Christ had revealed to both of them 15:30 some of the details of the suffering 15:32 that they would face in the future. 15:33 Let's look at a couple of statements 15:35 to be able to verify that here today. 15:39 Okay, Acts 9:16, now we just looked at the Acts 9:15, 15:42 the very next verse Paul goes on and says, 15:45 or the Bible says. 15:46 I keep saying Paul but it's not, is it? 15:48 It's God that is speaking here. 15:50 It says, "For I will show him how many things 15:54 he must suffer for My name's sake." 15:56 And so as Paul's continued to speak to the Christian Ananias, 16:00 he reveals indeed 16:02 that at the beginning part 16:03 of Paul's experience with Christ, 16:06 and Paul later on in his epistles 16:07 or in his letters that are recorded 16:09 in the New Testament, 16:10 Paul talks about how God had taken him aside 16:13 into Arabia for a couple of years, 16:16 and then he talks about how God had revealed 16:18 multiple supernatural prophetic visions of truth, 16:22 the messages that God had given to the Apostle Paul. 16:25 Well, when we put that together with the statement 16:28 that is made here that God had planned 16:30 to reveal to Paul the sufferings that he would suffer 16:33 for His sake before it came to pass, 16:36 we can very reasonably assume then that 16:38 during those visions and during that personal time 16:41 that Paul had with Christ that Christ had revealed 16:45 many of the different things 16:46 that He would suffer in the future for His sake. 16:50 Well, did the same thing happen with Peter? 16:52 Now I got your minds rolling, okay. 16:55 Did the same thing happen with Peter? 16:56 Did Christ revealed to Peter some of the things 16:59 in details that he would suffer? 17:01 Well, some of us might be thinking 17:02 of the very last chapter of the Gospel of John, 17:04 and if you are, 17:05 that's what I was thinking of as well. 17:07 In John 21, we find a very unique scene there 17:11 that only the Apostle John was inspired to record 17:15 of all the four gospels. 17:16 And we find there that Christ has already resurrected, 17:18 He had met His disciples 17:20 on the shore of the Sea of Galilee 17:22 one early morning after they had been fishing all night. 17:26 And after breakfast we find that Jesus now 17:29 pulls Peter aside 17:30 and he has a private talk and walk with the apostle. 17:34 And as He is walking with him, 17:36 He begins to share with him the sufferings 17:39 that he would have. 17:41 John 21 17:44 and we're going to look at verses 18-19 17:48 here this morning. 17:50 Verses 18-19, it says, "Most assuredly I say to you 17:54 when you were younger you girded yourself 17:56 and walked where you wished, 17:58 but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, 18:01 and another will gird you, and carry you 18:05 where you do not wish." 18:07 This He spoke signifying by with death 18:10 he would glorify God. 18:12 So it sounds a little cryptic in one way, 18:15 but Peter understood very clearly 18:17 because he had seen many times people that were executed 18:21 in the same way that his Lord Jesus 18:22 was executed just a few days or weeks before that. 18:26 And, of course, when you're crucified, 18:29 your arms or your hands are stretched out 18:34 against your will, aren't they? 18:36 And so here Jesus is revealing to Peter 18:40 the manner in which he would eventually die 18:42 for the gospel sake. 18:44 Now as it turns out, Jesus knew exactly 18:47 what He was talking about, didn't He? 18:48 Because traditional history tells us that indeed 18:51 when Peter was in the city of Rome 18:53 and he was ministering there, 18:55 we find that the Roman officials had finally taken him 18:58 and they said, "Enough's enough." 19:01 And so they decided 19:02 that they were going to crucify Him. 19:06 Now the interesting thing about the historical 19:08 or traditional historical story of Peter's crucifixion 19:12 is that when they came to crucify him, 19:14 he made a request 19:15 to the Roman soldiers and officials, 19:17 and he said, "Listen, you know, 19:20 My Lord Jesus was crucified on a cross 19:23 just outside the walls of Jerusalem, 19:25 and I believe 19:26 that He is the Lord of heaven and earth, 19:28 and I don't believe that I deserve to have 19:31 the same honor as Him in being crucified in the same manner. 19:35 Would it be possible for me to be crucified upside down?" 19:40 And apparently that's exactly what happened. 19:43 And so they had agreed to his request 19:47 and traditional history tells us 19:51 that Peter was crucified upside down. 19:56 And so one of the lessons that we learned from this 19:58 is kind of similar to my introduction 20:00 as I shared about my own personal experience is the fact 20:02 that when God calls us into the ministry, 20:06 when God calls us into a more highly 20:11 responsible position of influence in the church, 20:15 it's not the same as being called to a more higher 20:19 position of influence and responsibility 20:21 in the world. 20:22 When we look at the sports arena, 20:25 or we look at the industry, 20:27 or we look at the business arena, 20:28 or we look at the political arena, 20:31 when you find yourself in a higher position 20:34 of influence and responsibility in politics, 20:37 you know, typically that comes 20:39 with a lot of perks. 20:41 It comes with a lot of extra luxuries, 20:43 especially in the business if you're in high position 20:45 and CEO in a company, 20:49 you have a lot of responsibility, yes, 20:51 but you also have a very generous salary. 20:55 You have all kinds of different perks 20:58 and you're living in a nice house. 21:00 There's all kinds of luxuries that come with that, 21:01 but not in the kingdom of God on earth, 21:04 not in this world. 21:05 When you're called to a higher position 21:07 of influence and responsibility, 21:10 typically that comes with a lot of sacrifice, 21:14 and Peter and Paul 21:16 are prime examples of that, aren't they? 21:20 And so again, being in Christ, 21:24 does that mean that life is going to always be easy? 21:28 But the good news is that Jesus is always our strength. 21:31 He is our rock. He is our refugee, amen? 21:33 And so He is the one that gives us the strength, 21:36 and gives us the courage, and gives us the persistence, 21:39 and gives us the patience, 21:40 and all these other attributes that we need 21:42 to be able to make our way through 21:44 some of these different trials, 21:45 and sufferings, and temptations. 21:47 And so that's the good news 21:49 that we want to be able to focus on 21:51 as we look at this here today as well. 21:56 And so again, last week we looked 21:57 at the conversion calling of Paul, 21:59 this week we're going to look at some key chapters 22:01 that are focusing in on the ministry 22:03 of the Apostle Peter, 22:05 and we're going to start in 9:32, 9:32, 22:09 and we have a volunteer here today, 22:11 my lovely wife has agreed to read that first scripture, 22:14 and then a couple of verses shortly after that as well. 22:17 Go ahead please. 22:20 "Now it came to pass, 22:22 as Peter went through all parts of the country 22:25 that he also came down 22:27 to the saints who dwelt in Lydda." 22:30 Okay, thank you. 22:32 And so, unlike some of the other apostles 22:33 that find themselves stationed and kind of running things 22:36 from the headquarters of the church 22:38 which was established in the city of Jerusalem, 22:41 a very natural establishment being the holy city, 22:46 the capital of Israel, 22:47 and what the Jews understood 22:49 to be the capital of the entire earthly kingdom of God 22:52 established under Christ, 22:53 for surely God has not called anybody 22:55 but Jews into the kingdom, right? 22:58 Well, some of you are looking and saying, "Really? 23:00 Well, I'm not a Jew and I'm here." 23:02 Well, you know, this is something 23:03 that God had to work on 23:05 in regards both to Peter as well as to the church, 23:07 and we're going to look at some of those important details, 23:09 and how Peter was an, 23:11 instrumental player in the plan, 23:14 and the workings that God knew 23:16 He needed to do to be able to open up the minds 23:18 and the hearts to the Jewish Christians 23:20 to understand that the gospel 23:22 is for all peoples, all nations, 23:25 and people from all walks of life. 23:27 And so He is the international God of all the world, 23:33 and that the gospel is to go not only to Jerusalem, 23:35 and to Judea, and Samaria, 23:37 but as He had told His disciples to the ends of... 23:40 To the ends of the earth. 23:41 And so it's very important for them to be able 23:43 to come to understand that. 23:46 So Peter doesn't find himself only 23:49 working out of the office of the churches, synagogues, 23:52 the temple and so on in Jerusalem, 23:54 but we find that he is also an itinerant apostle. 23:58 And so God had inspired him to go 24:00 and to visit the various churches, 24:01 and groups of believers, as well as to help evangelize 24:04 to the different various Jewish populations 24:07 in the cities and towns of Israel. 24:10 Now in this case as we come to chapter 9, 24:12 we find that Peter was inspired to make his way 24:14 towards or close to the Mediterranean Sea. 24:18 And so he just kind of southeast 24:20 of what we call the modern city of Tel Aviv 24:22 in modern Israel today, and that little town 24:25 as we just read was called Lydda or Lydda. 24:31 And today, by the way, 24:32 if you go to Israel it's called Lod, 24:34 so it still exists, 24:35 but, the evolution of these names of these ancient cities 24:38 have changed just a little bit. 24:41 And so we don't know what stops Paul and Peter 24:43 had before that, we don't know the reason 24:45 why Peter had chosen and was led to go to Lydda, 24:48 but when we read the following verses 24:50 after verse 32, we discover very quickly that God knew 24:55 why he had sent Peter there and led providentially 24:58 his tour to be able to arrive there 25:00 because there was a paralytic that was waiting for him. 25:04 And this particular man had been a paralytic 25:06 for the last eight years, 25:09 and really just left to exist as best as he can 25:14 on a bed or on a mat. 25:16 And we find that Peter was led to actually perform a miracle 25:19 that was very similar to that of the Lord Jesus, Himself. 25:23 And so, Denise is going to go ahead 25:25 and read verses 34 and 35, 25:27 and finish up that commentary for us. 25:31 "And Peter said to him, 25:33 'Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. 25:37 Arise and make your bed.' 25:39 Then he arose immediately. 25:41 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon 25:45 saw him and turned to the Lord." 25:49 Okay, does that sound familiar? 25:51 As Jesus had talked to the paralytic 25:52 that was lowered down through the roof 25:54 in Capernaum some years before 25:57 as Peter had witnessed Jesus telling him, 25:59 you know, "Son, get up and walk... 26:02 Arise and walk and take your bed." 26:05 And here we find that the Apostle Peter 26:08 is doing the exact same thing. 26:09 And so God is working in a very powerful way through Peter. 26:12 Now as always, Peter is... 26:14 And through all the miracles that Jesus worked, 26:17 and that God then proceeded to work through the apostles 26:20 was not to be able to entertain the people, 26:22 it was not be able to wile them to sell tickets. 26:25 There was no magician show. 26:26 This was for a very specific purpose. 26:28 And that purpose was to be able to win people 26:32 for the kingdom of Christ. 26:33 And we find that confirmed for us in verse 35. 26:36 It says at the end of verse 35, 26:38 "And many who saw him turned to the Lord." 26:43 And so many that either witnessed the miracle 26:46 or had heard about the miracle in Lydda 26:48 began to consider the gospel in a way 26:50 that they wouldn't have considered it before. 26:52 And by the way, this particular theme and statement 26:55 that we find in verse 35 26:57 is prevalent and repeated in different ways 26:59 all the way through the Book of Acts. 27:01 Why? 27:02 Because the Book of Acts, 27:03 and the theme of the Book of Acts 27:05 is to be able to focus on 27:06 and give us a very strong and inspiring model 27:10 on how to fulfill the commission 27:12 that Christ has given to us. 27:14 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, 27:18 baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, 27:19 and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them all things 27:22 which I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always. 27:24 Teaching them to observe all things 27:25 that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, 27:27 even to the end of the age." 27:28 And so Jesus had given them a very large commission, 27:30 and has given us a very large commission. 27:33 And Acts is the first plane out of that. 27:35 And so over and over, it talks about 27:36 how the Word of the Lord grew daily 27:40 where disciples and people being added unto the church 27:43 and were being baptized. 27:45 And so we find that theme 27:46 all the way through this powerful book. 27:49 Very important truth for us 27:50 to be able to pick up as we continue on. 27:54 Well, as we continue on through this particular chapter, 27:56 towards the end of chapter 9, we find that Peter... 27:59 I don't know what his next plan was, 28:01 I don't know what his itinerary had said 28:03 as far as his next stop on his tour after Lydda, 28:07 but we do find that God already had planned out his itinerary, 28:12 and decided that the next stop that Peter 28:14 was going to experience was right on the sea 28:16 in a little town named Joppa. 28:19 Now Joppa is a very fascinating little town 28:22 that existed back in Peter's time, 28:24 and I've brought a look couple of photos with me here today. 28:27 And so I'm going to ask our AV people if they can go ahead 28:30 and put that first photo up. 28:32 I had the privilege of actually walking and exploring 28:35 for a couple hours through the town of Joppa. 28:40 Now today they don't call it Joppa, 28:42 But just like Lydda has evolved 28:43 into the name Lod in modern Israel, 28:46 ancient Joppa is still existed in the same place 28:52 but now they call it Jaffa. 28:55 Don't ask me why, but that's just the evolution of the name. 28:58 And so you can see on the slide there 28:59 that it says to old Jaffa. 29:02 So there's more modern small part of Jaffa. 29:05 And by the way, this is just a stone throw 29:07 just south of the city of Tel Aviv. 29:10 And so you don't have to go very far. 29:13 And you'll find the city of Tel Aviv 29:16 in modern Israel today. 29:18 By the way, the individual that was up on that picture 29:20 was the one that stayed with me after we went to a clergy tour 29:23 for about nine days, I believe it was. 29:26 Both Pastor Del Border and myself had decided to stay 29:30 and take about five extra vacation days, 29:32 and to just explore old Jerusalem, 29:34 and they go over to Tel Aviv, and Joppa, 29:36 and Jaffa as they call it today, 29:38 and explore through there as well. 29:42 And Pastor Del Border and he is also 29:43 one of the board of directors for Amazing Facts, Canada. 29:46 And so he was actually just visiting here 29:48 in Granite Bay Church, this last fall, 29:51 and it was good to have him visit. 29:54 And so if you can go to the next photo 29:56 where we just kind of explored, and again, this is old Jaffa. 29:59 Now, I can tell you pretty well for certain that the building 30:02 and the housing structure at Jaffa today 30:05 is not the same building structure 30:07 that existed during Peter's time. 30:09 A lot happens over 2,000 years, 30:10 especially in a place like Israel 30:13 where there is just countless wars 30:15 between Muslims and Jews over the centuries and such. 30:18 And many cities were flattened and rebuilt many times. 30:21 But old Jaffa here has been built 30:25 several hundred years ago, 30:26 and so we have something much closer 30:28 to what Peter would have experienced. 30:30 And then as we go to the next photo, 30:32 we'll find that you come... 30:33 After you go up that staircase and kind of explore through it, 30:36 you'll find a little door there, and it really looks like 30:40 somebody went to the local dollar store 30:43 and bought some cheap paint and a cheap, 30:45 you know, paint brush, and just kind of, 30:48 you know, graffitied on their house of Simon the Tanner. 30:53 And then it says Der Gerber, 30:55 and I hope I'm pronouncing that right. 30:56 My wife is German, and her parents are German, 30:59 and I looked it up in 31:01 and Der Gerber is German for the tanner. 31:03 Now if you look close enough, 31:04 it says actually house of Simon the Tanners. 31:07 Now don't ask me why they put, "The Tanners." 31:08 I guess whoever was putting it 31:10 didn't really know their Bible all that well. 31:13 So the chances of that actually being 31:15 the house of Simon the Tanner 31:17 where Peter actually lodged is pretty close to zero. 31:22 But it's fun to have some traditional sites, 31:24 and at least, you know, kind of get a feel of 31:26 what it was like during Peter's time. 31:29 Now the last photo that we're going to bring up 31:30 on the screen here is one that helps us the most. 31:33 And this would be the viewpoint that Peter would have had 31:37 when he received the vision 31:38 that we'll be looking at in chapter 10. 31:41 And so there it is. 31:43 You know, as Peter was up on the roof top, 31:46 flat roofs were very common back then, 31:47 even as many of the roofs here in old Jaffa had flat roofs. 31:51 And they would use that like a patio or a deck. 31:54 And so Paul was up there at noon, 31:56 and he had this beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. 31:59 And I can see, Peter, as he stayed there for some time, 32:04 you know, maybe joining the fishermen 32:06 early morning for a couple of hours, 32:08 and getting back to his old trade 32:10 in throwing his net out into the water, and such but, 32:14 that was the view that he would have had at noon 32:16 when you see the vision. 32:17 But before we see the vision, 32:19 before he even got there while he was in Lydda, 32:21 there was a woman by the name of Tabitha. 32:24 And Tabitha is Aramaic for the Greek name which is Dorcas. 32:29 And Dorcas is the name 32:30 that more Christians are familiar with, 32:31 but the Bible records both in this chapter. 32:34 And so Aramaic is Tabitha, Greek is Dorcas, 32:38 English is Giselle. 32:43 Did anybody say, Giselle? 32:45 Okay, English is Giselle. 32:46 And so her name was Giselle, 32:48 if we were to translate it into English today. 32:51 And so Tabitha, Dorcas, Giselle was a woman 32:54 that was an outstanding Christian. 32:56 She had given her life to charitable deeds, 32:58 and she spent a lot of time with the loom, 33:01 and making by hand different garments or clothes 33:05 for the widows that were in need in her city. 33:08 Well, she got a fever and died quite quickly, 33:10 and while they were preparing her body and such, 33:12 some of the local Christians found out 33:14 that Peter, the great Apostle Peter 33:16 was just down the road of the city of Lydda 33:18 or the town of Lydda. 33:19 And so they sent a contingency of a couple of men 33:22 to go down and implore him to ask him to please come 33:26 as quickly as you can and address the situation. 33:30 And so Peter did exactly that. 33:31 He packed up and he walked down 33:33 the couple of hours or three hours 33:34 or whatever it was to the sea side 33:37 of town of Jaffa or Joppa, and he went into the room, 33:41 and the widows were weeping, he sent them all out 33:43 as Jesus did with Jarrius' daughter, 33:46 some years before, 33:47 and then he knelt down beside her 33:49 and prayed for her healing. 33:51 And the Lord had decided to bring her back to life. 33:55 And so, he gave his hand 33:57 and brought her back to her feet again, 33:59 and presented her alive to the believers there. 34:02 Do you think that had an impact on the city 34:04 or the town of Joppa? 34:06 Sure it did. 34:07 You think the word out went out fairly fast? 34:09 Sure it did, just like it did during the miracles of Jesus. 34:13 And so we have another volunteer here 34:15 that's going to read the concluding verses on that. 34:20 And that is verses 40 to 43. 34:24 Sorry, no, we don't have a volunteer for that. 34:26 I'm going to go ahead and read those verses for you. 34:29 In verse 40, it says, "But Peter put them all out, 34:31 and knelt down and prayed. 34:33 And turning to the body he said, 'Tabitha, arise.' 34:36 And she opened her eyes, 34:37 and when she saw Peter she sat up. 34:39 And then he gave her his hand and lifted her up, 34:41 and when he had called the saints and widows, 34:44 he presented her alive. 34:45 And it came to be known throughout all of Joppa, 34:47 and many believed on the Lord. 34:49 And so it was that he stayed many days in Joppa 34:52 with Simon, a tanner." 34:54 And so again, many people believed on the Lord, 34:58 that repeating theme 34:59 all the way through the Book of Acts. 35:02 Well, Peter here is spending 35:04 some extended time now in Joppa. 35:06 He doesn't just do the miracle and says, "You know what? 35:08 I've got to go. 35:09 I've got another itinerary appointment on my tour. 35:12 I've got to go. 35:13 " No, he stays by for an extended stay. 35:16 Why do you suppose he did that? 35:20 Was that because he wanted to just hang out 35:22 with the fishermen there, 35:23 and kind of get back into his old trade for a while? 35:25 Well, again, maybe in the morning 35:26 for an hour or two he did do that. 35:28 I can see him doing that. 35:29 But what did he spend most of his time in Joppa doing? 35:32 He would be baptizing, wouldn't he? 35:34 He would be establishing and instructing 35:35 these new believers that were coming 35:37 because of the influence of the miracle 35:39 that had just taken place in that particular city. 35:42 And so God had a work for him to do 35:44 as he was helping 35:45 these different Jewish residents 35:48 to be able to come to the Lord and be established 35:50 in this new found faith that he had. 35:54 And so that's the end of chapter 9 35:57 in this particular study. 36:00 But Peter was soon to find out 36:01 that God had already planned his next trip. 36:03 Again, we don't know 36:05 what Peter had planned before that, 36:06 but God had already planned it, and Peter didn't know 36:09 what was coming down the pipe, but God did. 36:11 And this is one of my favorite chapters 36:12 because we find the amazing providential timing of God 36:16 as He orchestrates the events of chapter 10. 36:20 Now chapter 10, it includes not only the city of Joppa 36:23 but also another city 36:24 further up the same Mediterranean shoreline. 36:27 A city by the name of Caesarea. 36:30 And Caesarea had an individual there 36:33 by the name of Cornelius. 36:35 And Cornelius was an uncircumcised Gentile. 36:39 He was a centurion. 36:41 And he was in charge of a very large 36:44 and important Italian group of soldiers and so on 36:49 within the Roman military. 36:51 And he was also a devote man 36:53 that had already opened his heart to God. 36:54 In fact, he was on record of fearing God, 36:57 respecting God, worshipping Him, 37:00 and praying to God on a regular basis. 37:02 He was also living out the fruits of his faith 37:05 by helping and giving charitable alms 37:09 and charitable donations to those who are in need. 37:12 And so as one goes 37:14 through the first verses of chapter 10, 37:19 we find here that Cornelius 37:21 then has a very interesting experience 37:24 because an angel of the Lord appears before him 37:27 one afternoon at 3 o'clock while he's in prayer. 37:30 Have you noticed so often in the Bible, 37:32 God's people, when an angel appears, 37:34 not all the time but quite often, 37:36 they're in prayer? 37:37 They're already in the presence of God. 37:39 And lo and behold, this angel appears before him. 37:42 And the angel says, 37:43 you know, "The Lord has noticed your faith, 37:46 your good deeds, your alms, 37:47 your charitable works, and such. 37:49 And there's an individual that I have, 37:52 a very important apostle by the name of Peter 37:54 that is just about 25 miles south of where you live, 37:58 40 kilometers south of where you live. 38:00 And I want you to send for him 38:02 because he has a very important message of truth 38:05 for you and for your household. 38:07 And he's going to explain to you 38:08 how you and your household 38:10 are going to be saved or can be saved." 38:14 And so Cornelius being a man of God already, 38:18 and obedient to the Lord, obeys him immediately. 38:21 He calls in two household servants, 38:23 he calls in a soldier, 38:24 probably to protect both the group on the way down 38:26 as well as Peter on the way back, 38:28 and says, "Can you please go first thing in the morning 38:31 and retrieve this individual by the name of Peter." 38:36 God has given me a vision. He explains the vision. 38:39 Well, as they're making their way 38:41 the next morning on that long journey, 38:43 25 miles is no small walk. 38:46 And maybe they went by horseback, 38:47 but most of the time in those days 38:49 they went by foot. 38:51 And so that would take the better time 38:54 about half a day. 38:55 And so while they were starting off 38:57 early in the morning 38:58 to be able to retrieve this individual 39:00 by the name of Peter, 39:02 Peter comes to noon hour, 39:04 and he's hungry as many of us are 39:06 because it's lunchtime, 39:08 and so naturally Peter is hungry. 39:10 While he's kind of waiting for the dinner bell to go off 39:14 and for the call for lunch to happen 39:15 but he decides, you know what, I'm going to spend the time 39:18 while I'm waiting up on the rooftop 39:20 looking at the beautiful sea, 39:22 and I'm going to spend some time 39:23 praying and talking to God. 39:25 And while he's up there praying before his Lord, 39:27 God gives him the supernatural visual vision, 39:31 and prophetic vision, 39:33 and this sheep comes down out of heaven. 39:36 And this giant heavenly size sheep 39:39 is bound at the four corners, kind of like a bundle, 39:42 so that it can hold its package inside. 39:45 And as many have read the chapter, 39:46 we find there that God then. 39:48 The Bible describes that in the sheep, 39:50 Peter sees all kinds of creatures. 39:51 He sees animals, he sees birds, 39:54 he sees insects of different kinds, 39:57 and the unique thing that all of them had in common, 39:59 was that they were all biblically unclean animals. 40:02 In other words, these were animals 40:04 that God had revealed 40:05 from the very beginning of mankind's history 40:08 and, of course, through Moses and through the Israelites 40:11 that there's just some animals 40:12 that God had never intended to be food. 40:16 And so when Peter has seen this, 40:19 you can kind of imagine him as a Jew 40:21 that understood this and avoided these animals 40:23 as food all this time 40:25 was kind of cringing a little bit 40:26 as he saw all these different creatures. 40:28 And then of all things, God gives the command. 40:30 He says, "Peter, rise, kill, and eat." 40:34 And Peter, kind of, you know, he revolts, 40:37 and he says... 40:41 "Lord, I have never eaten anything unclean or common. 40:44 Don't you remember the very directions 40:46 that You gave to us through Moses? 40:48 And how even Noah understood this 40:50 hundreds of years before Moses and the Law of Moses 40:53 that God had never intended these animals to be food. 40:56 And so Peter doesn't obey. 41:00 And so three times it says that God again... 41:03 Three times in total God rose up and He said, 41:06 "Peter, rise, kill and eat." 41:08 And three times Peter refuses to kill 41:11 and eat these particular animals. 41:15 Now, as you come to that at that particular vision, 41:17 we asked the question, the important question is, 41:20 "Did Peter understand the obvious interpretation 41:23 and meaning of that particular vision?" 41:26 No, he didn't. 41:28 Now, one of the mistakes that I believe that many of us 41:30 as Christians have made and myself being one of them 41:33 for many years in my first years of experience 41:36 as a Christian is that we read the vision, 41:39 but we don't read the rest of the chapter. 41:42 And we do something different than Peter does. 41:44 We assume that the obvious meaning 41:47 is that God is declaring now 41:49 that that which He has forbidden for us to eat 41:51 that was never designed to be food 41:53 is something now that He says, 41:54 "Hey, rise, pull out the barbecue, 41:56 and let's have some pork chops." 41:59 Is that really the message, 42:00 the obvious message that God was giving to us here? 42:05 Well, some of you, 42:06 who may be watching on this program here today, 42:09 may be asking yourself and say, 42:10 "Well, that's the obvious message 42:11 I've always understood." 42:13 Well, again I was there. 42:15 But one thing that happened was that a Christian came along 42:17 in the future and pointed out 42:18 that we need to read the rest of the story 42:22 and allow the Bible to interpret it for us. 42:24 Now let's go to verse 17. 42:26 Because verse 17, 42:27 we find Peter's initial reaction to the vision. 42:31 In verse 17, it says, 42:32 "Now while Peter wondered within himself 42:33 what this vision which he had seen meant, 42:39 behold, the men who had been sent 42:41 from Cornelius had made inquiry to Simon's house, 42:43 and stood before the gate." 42:45 And so here we have Peter 42:46 and he's scratching his head, isn't he? 42:48 And he's saying, 42:49 "What in the world did that mean?" 42:51 The meaning wasn't obvious to Peter at all, was it? 42:53 He didn't come, jump to any conclusion, 42:55 so we shouldn't either. 42:57 And so here we find that God's timing is perfect. 43:01 At the very time that Peter ended his vision, 43:03 lo and behold, the contingency from Caesarea arrives 43:06 and is calling for Peter. 43:07 And so he interrupts Peter's deep thoughts, 43:10 and he says there's... 43:12 And he's told that there's three men 43:13 that are waiting for him down in the front of the house. 43:16 And so immediately the Spirit speaks to Peter and says, 43:19 "That, I've sent them." 43:20 Make sure you follow them, don't doubt anything, 43:22 just do what they say, 43:23 and believe everything that they tell you. 43:25 And so they told him the vision 43:26 and the angelic visit for Cornelius, 43:28 "Can you please come with us?" 43:29 And so the next morning Peter and six other men believers 43:33 had joined Peter as they made their way back up to Caesarea. 43:36 Well, when they get to Caesarea, 43:38 Peter is finding himself in a packed house. 43:41 And the house is packed 43:42 not only with Cornelius and his family, 43:43 but he's invited every colleague and friend 43:46 that he can possibly convince 43:47 to come and hear the words of this great man of God 43:49 by the name of a Peter. 43:51 He's got a special message for us. 43:53 And so Peter's in this room, and it's really crowded. 43:56 Now even in an uncrowded house of uncircumcised Gentiles, 44:01 a Jew like Peter felt very, very uncomfortable. 44:05 Well, as it turns out, 44:07 Peter confesses why in verse 28. 44:10 Well, not only does he confess why, 44:12 but he also gives us the interpretation 44:15 of the actual vision. 44:17 And so we have a volunteer. 44:19 Rachel is going to be reading for us 44:21 the punch line of verse 28 please? 44:23 "Then he said to them, 44:25 'You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man 44:29 to keep company with or go to one of another nation. 44:34 But God has shown me 44:36 that I should not call any man common or unclean.'" 44:40 Okay, thank you. 44:41 So Peter is very uncomfortable because it's saying, 44:43 it goes against all Jewish laws and traditions 44:46 that I'm even in this house with you 44:47 because you're uncircumcised Gentiles. 44:50 And then he says but in the meantime 44:51 between the time that I received the vision 44:54 in the town of Joppa 44:55 and my arrival here in Caesarea, 44:58 God's Spirit has made it clear to me 45:00 what the meaning of the vision is. 45:02 Does it have anything to do with barbeques? 45:05 No, not at all. 45:07 In case, it has everything to do with people. 45:11 And that's where we need to stay. 45:12 If we want to be Bible Christians 45:14 in interpreting this vision, 45:15 we need to stay with what the Bible says. 45:17 Amen? 45:18 And I want to encourage you as well, this is new to you, 45:21 watching this program. 45:22 And so here we find that Peter says the interpretation 45:25 is that I should call no man common or unclean. 45:28 Jews commonly called the Gentile a dog. 45:31 And that wasn't a flattering term that they use, 45:35 they call them a dog because a dog is an unclean kind of... 45:37 And they weren't friendly pets like we have today. 45:40 Dogs were kind of mangy, kind of, scavengers 45:42 that, you know, ran the streets 45:43 of the cities of Jerusalem to feed, 45:45 you know, feed on the garbage and the refuge 45:47 and such of the alleys and streets. 45:49 And so a dog wasn't even looked upon 45:52 as a friendly kind of family pet. 45:53 It was a very derogatory term 45:56 to call a Gentile a dog. 46:00 Well, let's go to verse 44, 46:01 and we'll look at the conclusion of the matter. 46:03 Verses 44 to 46. 46:06 And Wayne is kind enough to be able to read 46:07 that for us in the same chapter. 46:10 "While Peter was still speaking these words, 46:12 the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 46:16 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, 46:19 as many came with Peter, 46:21 because the gift of the Holy Spirit 46:22 had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46:25 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God." 46:30 Okay, so Peter is still in the middle of his preaching 46:32 and all of a sudden what happens? 46:33 The same thing that happened during Pentecost. 46:35 We have this down pouring of the Holy Spirit 46:38 like Peter and the apostles experienced 46:39 just a few months before. 46:41 And now we find that these uncircumcised dogs, 46:46 these Gentiles, are receiving the same gift. 46:49 How could it be that a Gentile could be born again? 46:54 As Jesus had taught Nicodemus in the night. 46:56 How could it be that these Gentiles, 46:58 who are still uncircumcised, 47:00 could be saved and receive the Holy Spirit? 47:03 Well, this is something that God was bringing Peter 47:05 and the church to be able to come to grips with 47:08 a very needed truth. 47:10 Now it's true that almost for certain, 47:12 Cornelius and everybody in the house 47:14 spoke the same language, 47:15 Latin or Aramaic or Greek or whatever it was, 47:18 they all communicated with each other on a daily basis. 47:21 So they didn't need the spirit of tongues 47:23 or the gift of tongues in the same way that Pentecost needed 47:25 when the audience was an international audience 47:27 of different languages. 47:29 But the reason almost for certain 47:32 that Peter saw them get the same gift 47:34 was that Peter's mind was tied immediately back to what? 47:38 Back to Pentecost and to his own experience. 47:41 And so when he saw them 47:42 speaking in different languages, 47:44 different international languages 47:46 that they had never known before, 47:48 why he immediately tied it in, 47:50 and God tied it in his heart and said, "Okay, that's it. 47:52 It's synched up. 47:53 I'm trying to get across to you 47:55 that you need to be able to expand the gospels 47:57 to the uncircumcised Gentiles as well." 48:01 And that's the message 48:02 that we find in this very important chapter. 48:04 And it sets the stage for chapter 11. 48:06 Peter arrives back in Jerusalem, 48:08 but the word of his preaching, his eating, 48:10 and he's baptizing 48:11 many of these uncircumcised Gentiles 48:13 has already beaten him to Jerusalem. 48:15 Word travels fast back then even without internet, 48:18 and texting, and cell phones, and e-mail, 48:21 and all the things that we have. 48:22 It's amazing how quickly it got to Jerusalem 48:25 even before Peter did. 48:26 And so when Peter arrives in Jerusalem, 48:28 he's in hot water, isn't he? 48:30 And the first thing that the elders 48:31 and the apostles do is they approach him 48:33 and they confront him on and says, 48:34 "Is the rumors that we heard true? 48:37 Tell us it's not true." 48:39 You didn't go into the house of a Gentile, 48:41 uncircumcised Gentile, and eat with them, did you? 48:44 And then preached and baptized them? 48:47 And so Peter is immediately forced 48:48 into a speech of defense. 48:51 And that's what he does. 48:52 He recalls the story of Cornelius, 48:54 his experience with the vision, 48:56 and then his experience with the household of Cornelius. 49:00 We come to the conclusion of that matter 49:02 in verses 17 and 18 in the same chapter, 49:06 chapter 11, I should say. 49:08 And so Dianna is kind enough 49:09 to be able to read those two verses for us. 49:12 Acts 11:17-18. 49:15 "If therefore God gave them the same gift 49:18 as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, 49:21 who was I that I could withstand God?' 49:25 When they heard these things they became silent, 49:28 and they glorified God, saying, 49:30 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles 49:33 repentance to life.'" 49:35 Okay, thank you. 49:37 And so Peter says 49:38 how could I resist the working of God? 49:39 It was obvious that God was involved in all this, 49:43 and so how could I fight against it? 49:45 And then we have that kind of dramatic silence 49:48 that took place after he explained. 49:50 And it's explained and it's recorded in verse 18. 49:52 "When they heard these things, they became silent." 49:56 And so there's the silent tense pause. 49:59 How are these church leaders 50:01 going to handle this very hot potato 50:04 that God had just thrown into their laps, 50:06 into their hands? 50:07 And then we find that God's Spirit was there, 50:10 they were sincere Christians and leaders of the church, 50:12 and they said that God is also 50:13 the gratitude of the Gentile's repentance to life. 50:17 Now we would think, okay, that matter's solved. 50:19 Let's move on. 50:20 Let's continue to expand the Bible, I mean, the church, 50:22 and we'll baptize and evangelize 50:24 as many uncircumcised Gentiles as we possibly can find. 50:28 Is that what happened? 50:30 No, in fact, the Bible tells us 50:32 as we read the rest of the Book of Acts 50:34 as well as Christian history, 50:35 there would be many years yet to come 50:37 before the church would officially put it 50:40 into the church manual. 50:43 And so it was quite some time, 50:44 and we're going to spend a whole week looking 50:47 at a very important chapter. 50:49 There's just a few chapters ahead. 50:50 Acts 15, 50:51 where the Jerusalem Council came together, 50:54 today we would call that the GC session 50:56 or the general conference session. 50:58 And as they came together 50:59 for this general conference session, 51:00 the apostles, the leaders, the elders, the delegates, 51:03 they came together and they discussed it, 51:05 and it said in a very hot dispute still, 51:07 this very hot topic. 51:09 And when it was all said and done, 51:10 they came to a conclusion. 51:12 And then it made it into the church manual. 51:14 And so it took some time 51:16 before that actually took place. 51:18 But nevertheless, we find that God is patient, 51:20 He's working upon His people, 51:22 He's expanding the gospel not only through Peter. 51:25 And by the way, I don't think it's arbitrary 51:26 that he picked Peter. 51:28 He could have picked Paul 51:29 to give the vision too, couldn't He? 51:30 But He didn't have to convince Paul. 51:32 Paul was already out there doing it anyway with Barnabas. 51:35 But he had to convince 51:36 the most instrumental apostle of the Jews 51:39 which was Peter, wasn't it? 51:40 Why? 51:41 Because Peter was the one that was the most influential 51:45 with the Jewish populations. 51:46 So if God could sell Peter on it 51:48 when He could sell the whole church a lot easier. 51:51 And that's exactly what happened 51:52 when we get to Acts 15. 51:54 We discover indeed 51:55 that Peter stands up and he recalls 51:58 and brings back to the memory of its delegates, 52:02 the very experience that he had, 52:04 pointing them to the example into the way 52:07 that God had worked to be able to bring 52:10 the gospel to the uncircumcised Gentiles. 52:12 And no, they don't have to be circumcised. 52:14 No, they don't have to observe 52:16 the ceremony of Moses. 52:17 They don't have to become a convert to Judaism 52:20 before they can enter into the salvation of Christ. 52:23 They have an avenue 52:25 that is available straight through Christ. 52:27 And what a powerful truth for us today. Amen? 52:31 And so it's good to be able to study these things. 52:33 It's always exciting to be able to study the ministry of Peter. 52:37 For those who are watching, 52:38 we want to remind you that we have a free offer. 52:40 And if you're interested 52:41 in continuing to grow in the knowledge of God, 52:43 this is a book written by Doug Batchelor, 52:45 The Armor of God. 52:47 And you just call into 866-788-3966 52:52 and you can receive that. 52:53 Just ask for free offer number 173. 52:56 We also have a digital download that's available. 52:59 And you can text that on your phone 53:01 to code, "SH101". 53:03 And text the code, I should say, "SH101" 53:07 and then you want to text it to the number 40544, 53:12 that's 40544. 53:15 It's always good to be able to study with you. 53:17 I love you. God bless you. And we'll see you next week. 53:21 Did you know that Noah was present 53:23 at the birth of Abraham? 53:24 Okay, maybe he wasn't in the room, 53:27 but he was alive and probably telling stories 53:30 about his floating zoo. 53:31 From the creation of the world 53:33 to the last day events of Revelation, 53:35 biblehistory.com is a free resource 53:38 where you can explore 53:39 major Bible events and characters. 53:42 Enhance your knowledge of the Bible 53:44 and draw closer to God's Word. 53:46 Go deeper, 53:47 visit the Amazing Bible Timeline 53:49 at biblehistory.com. 53:53 Let's face it, it's not always easy 53:55 to understand everything you read in the Bible. 53:58 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 54:01 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 54:04 To get biblical straightforward answers, 54:06 call into Bible Answers Live, 54:08 a live nationwide call-in radio program 54:11 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 54:13 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 54:16 For times and stations in your area 54:18 or to listen to answers online, 54:20 visit bal.amazingfacts.org. 54:36 Friends, are you afraid of heights? 54:37 If so, you might want to look away right now. 54:40 One of the most famous attractions 54:42 in the San Francisco Bay area 54:44 is the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. 54:46 While this world famous bridge was named 54:49 as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. 54:51 Few people know the story of the brave men 54:53 who were involved in its construction 54:55 and also known as the Half Way to Hell Club. 54:59 Designed by a group of visionary engineers 55:01 at 4,200 feet from end to end, 55:04 the Golden Gate Bridge was at one time 55:06 the longest suspension bridge in the world. 55:09 During its construction from 1933 to 1937, 55:13 the Golden Gate Bridge 55:14 had one of the best safety construction records 55:16 of any project during that time. 55:18 Keep in mind, they would factor in 55:20 and calculate that one man would die 55:23 for every million dollars that was spent. 55:25 So with a budget of $35 million, 55:27 they knew that loss of life would be unacceptable. 55:30 This is why the chief engineer Joseph B Strauss 55:33 was absolutely adamant about 55:34 using the most rigorous safety precautions 55:37 that it ever been used in bridge building. 55:39 He had a local manufacturer of safety equipment, 55:42 designed special headgear 55:44 that he insisted be worn on every job. 55:46 This became the prototype for the modern hard hat 55:49 worn for the first time ever, 55:50 but the safety precautions went even farther. 55:53 Strauss provided a special hand and face cream 55:56 to protect their skin from the cold biting wind 55:58 and glare free goggles to protect their eyes. 56:01 In addition, they also ate a special diet 56:04 to help ward off dizziness 56:06 when they were working at those epic heights. 56:08 But the most conspicuous safety precaution 56:10 was a gigantic net that was suspended 56:13 from end to end under the entire construction area 56:16 of the Golden Gate Bridge. 56:18 In fact, during construction, 56:20 this net saved the lives of 19 men 56:23 who later became known as the Half Way to Hell Club. 56:27 Now you need to keep in mind, 56:28 these were some of the most 56:29 dangerous construction conditions you can imagine. 56:32 The wind was constantly blowing. 56:35 They were walking around on iron 56:37 that sometimes had ice from the freezing fog. 56:40 In places, they were over 700 feet 56:42 above the icy waters. 56:45 Yet, the men coming from all walks of life 56:47 were willing to take these risks 56:49 because it was during The Great Depression 56:51 and they would get paid up to $11 a day 56:54 which was a fortune back then. 56:56 One of the other benefits of the net 56:59 was they discovered that the men 57:00 were much more courageous 57:01 even though they were walking high 57:03 on those slippery surfaces 57:05 because they knew there was a mechanism 57:06 to protect them if they should fall, 57:09 this gave them the confidence and the courage 57:10 to press on and get the bridge built in record time. 57:13 You know, friends, 57:14 as Christians we have a great work to do. 57:17 The Bible tells us that we get to participate with Jesus 57:20 in building a bridge that connects heaven and earth, 57:23 and there are dangers along the way. 57:25 The devil would like to paralyze us with fear 57:28 that we might fall or make a mistake, 57:30 but we know that Jesus has provided 57:32 a safety net for us 57:33 and we don't have to be afraid. 57:35 We can press on with confidence 57:36 because the promise is in the Book of Jude 24, 57:39 he is able to keep us from falling. 57:42 But sometimes we make mistakes, 57:44 still don't be discouraged, friends, 57:45 if you read in 1 John 2:1, 57:48 the Bible says, "If we fall, if we sin, 57:51 we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ. 57:54 So let's press on together 57:55 and build that bridge with Christ. |
Revised 2018-08-01