WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.390 I want to invite you this morning to Acts chapter ten. 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:03.480 That's where we're going to be together. 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:11.380 Acts chapter ten, for a significant passage of the scriptures, especially if you find yourself as a Gentile and 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:13.830 you ask, how do I know whether I'm a Gentile? 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:14.720 It works like this. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.690 If you're not a Jew, you're a Gentile. 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:18.750 That's the way the New Testament categorizes that. 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:25.460 So Acts chapter ten is a significant passage, especially in light of Gentiles. 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:25.840 Okay. 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:27.740 So what does this passage mean for us? 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.600 It works as well for Jewish people. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.560 And understanding what God's desiring to do here. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:33.780 But why is this passage significant for us? 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:40.800 Well, when you start to look at Acts chapter ten, one of the things that should stand out to us immediately is that Paul's writing about a centurion 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:44.050 or excuse me, not Paul, but Luke is writing about a centurion. 00:00:44.860 --> 00:00:51.900 And when you look at the writings of the New Testament, it becomes a marker that's rather unique to Luke's writings versus all the 00:00:51.900 --> 00:00:59.640 other writings of the New Testament, meaning the only other New Testament writer to talk about the conversion of a centurion is Matthew. 00:00:59.720 --> 00:01:01.230 Matthew talks about conversion. 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:04.250 Conversion of Centurions four times in his gospel. 00:01:04.860 --> 00:01:07.000 The only other author to do that is Luke. 00:01:07.820 --> 00:01:13.280 And Luke talks about the conversion of centurions 16 times in the Gospel of Luke, in the book of Acts. 00:01:13.960 --> 00:01:15.640 Now, I think there's a few reasons for that. 00:01:15.660 --> 00:01:19.130 One is Luke is the only Gentile writer of the New Testament. 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:21.460 He's very familiar with the Gentile world. 00:01:21.460 --> 00:01:24.860 And so when a centurion comes to the Lord, this is this is important to him. 00:01:24.860 --> 00:01:28.110 And he also recognizes what a centurion represents. 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:29.450 A centurion in Roman society. 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:34.820 They were a soldier that was given the authority over a hundred other soldiers. 00:01:34.880 --> 00:01:39.110 And so this is a person of a prominent figure in society. 00:01:39.160 --> 00:01:46.200 And more than that, it tells you he's from an Italian cohort, which when you read Acts chapter ten, you discover you're still in the land of 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:46.600 Israel. 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:48.630 You're in the a town called Caesarea. 00:01:48.660 --> 00:01:52.140 There's lots of towns in the first century referred to as Caesarea in honor of Caesar's. 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:56.460 But here in this particular town, it's a coastal town northwest of Jerusalem. 00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:00.030 And so for an Italian cohort, Centurion, to be here. 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:07.200 This means this would have been a special group of forces that was sent to Israel for a particular reason. 00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:08.970 So he's an elite centurion. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:17.100 And so Luke is writing about his conversion for us, and he's recognizing the prominence of this figure 00:02:17.100 --> 00:02:24.300 as if to communicate the gospel is not only taking root in Israel, but it's starting to make an impact all the way to Rome by reaching 00:02:24.300 --> 00:02:27.030 people from Rome who have come to this land. 00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:31.840 And so here's Luke writing about the conversion story of the centurion. 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:34.820 And for us, it works in a similar way as Luke. 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:39.800 He's excited about this being a Gentile, seeing this happen, seeing how the gospel is taking root. 00:02:39.820 --> 00:02:41.060 It's transforming life. 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:42.200 It's exciting. 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:49.680 I mean, for us as a church, that's it's exciting for us, too, when we see people come to know Jesus, the church growing, life transforming energy 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.260 among God's community. 00:02:51.260 --> 00:02:52.000 There's hope. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.620 There's promise, there's future. 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:55.200 We love that, right? 00:02:55.320 --> 00:02:58.380 I mean, we as people, we want to belong to something that makes a difference. 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:03.480 We want to belong to something that has life and Luke participating in the gospel. 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:06.130 He's seeing this take place and it's the same for us. 00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:09.620 And so Luke is sharing the story of the conversion of a centurion. 00:03:10.480 --> 00:03:15.060 He's also talking about a man who this centurion man named Cornelius. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:22.740 And Cornelius, we discover in this passage, is a Gentile, which is very significant for us to recognize, 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:27.100 because the Jews in the first century as the gospel takes root. 00:03:27.220 --> 00:03:28.120 Acts chapter two. 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:35.140 We see the coming of the Holy Spirit, lives changed, and then they begin to ask the question, well, how far does this 00:03:35.140 --> 00:03:36.120 call really go? 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:38.060 Who does God want us to reach? 00:03:38.160 --> 00:03:43.100 I mean, he tells us in Acts chapter one verse eight, Go to Jerusalem, Judea, to the uttermost parts of the earth. 00:03:43.420 --> 00:03:46.400 But in going there, we just trying to reach the Jewish people among them. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:47.790 What is God's desire? 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:52.270 And through Cornelius, we discover God's heart is for all people. 00:03:52.660 --> 00:03:56.340 Now, Cornelius is not the first Gentile convert. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:59.960 We saw this in The Ethiopian eunuch just a chapter ago. 00:04:00.700 --> 00:04:08.340 But in the in the Ethiopian eunuch conversion, one of the things that makes him a little unique is that we discovered he traveled all the way to Jerusalem 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:13.180 to join the Jews in their worship in the city of Jerusalem at the temple. 00:04:14.440 --> 00:04:21.029 But now here we are learning about a Gentile who's in a Gentile city, even though it's in Israel. 00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:21.899 He's here. 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:25.160 He is in this Gentile city practicing his faith. 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:30.690 But the Lord reaches out to him and he comes to know Christ. 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:37.780 And in so doing, he becomes the representation of a Gentile conversion that really impacted the rest of the known world 00:04:37.780 --> 00:04:38.720 throughout history. 00:04:39.520 --> 00:04:45.650 I mean, he's part of the reason why, if we ask the question, how did you come to know Jesus here in the 21st century in Utah? 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:54.360 And the answer is, well, it started in Acts, and especially with this, the life of this individual known as Cornelius. 00:04:55.160 --> 00:05:01.560 In fact this particular passage is so important that it repeats it multiple times throughout the course of the story. 00:05:01.580 --> 00:05:08.640 Meaning when Cornelius, if you read The Conversion of Cornelius, he has this vision from the Lord who tells him, go find this guy 00:05:08.640 --> 00:05:09.400 named Peter. 00:05:09.400 --> 00:05:10.930 Send some people to get this guy named Peter. 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:13.310 He has an important message from the Lord to tell you. 00:05:13.840 --> 00:05:17.760 And when Cornelius shares this story, Luke records it for us. 00:05:18.020 --> 00:05:22.940 This story four times of how Cornelius encountered this vision from the Lord. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:30.080 And in so doing, he also records about Peter's vision that Peter was told, hey, there's this guy named Cornelius, and you need to go tell him about 00:05:30.080 --> 00:05:30.590 the gospel. 00:05:30.940 --> 00:05:35.240 And then it talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit multiple times in this passage. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.480 It repeats it over and over again. 00:05:37.760 --> 00:05:38.540 Now get this. 00:05:38.780 --> 00:05:43.320 The reason the Bible repeats it over and over again is because it's important. 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:51.380 And if you ever read, take the time to read for example, the Book of Psalms, you'll note the Book of Psalms is what's referred 00:05:51.380 --> 00:05:52.590 to as Hebrew poetry. 00:05:53.800 --> 00:06:00.620 And here in our day and age, when we hear the word poetry, what we immediately associate that with is, oh, it's going to rhyme, right? 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:01.960 We're like, oh, poetry. 00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:02.610 It's got a rhyme. 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:05.280 You could you could easily turn that into a rap song if you wanted to. 00:06:05.380 --> 00:06:07.970 I think we kind of have these thoughts of what poetry should be. 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.860 Hebrew poetry is not the same. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.660 Hebrew poetry, the way they're written is not so much about rhyming. 00:06:14.900 --> 00:06:15.640 It's about repetition. 00:06:16.260 --> 00:06:17.140 So have you ever read the Psalms? 00:06:17.340 --> 00:06:24.340 You'll see that where the first line in the psalm is often repeated in the second line of the psalm, and the way the reason 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:31.340 it does it either amplifies what was stated in the in the first line, or it becomes the antithesis of what the first 00:06:31.340 --> 00:06:32.080 line was. 00:06:32.440 --> 00:06:40.220 But either way, it's about the thought of repetition, and that repetition is to help you learn and to see the significance of what's being stated here 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:44.210 in Luke's writings as it relates to Cornelius's vision. 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:51.600 Luke is repeating this over and over again, so that we can understand just how important this section of Scripture is in terms 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:56.660 of what God desires to do in this world and in your heart and mind, and throughout the known world. 00:06:57.860 --> 00:07:01.500 And so as he's sharing this vision with us. 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:06.000 I want you to know that this story starts Acts chapter ten, verse one. 00:07:06.260 --> 00:07:09.900 It really culminates in Luke chapter 11, verse 18. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:10.560 They call it a pericope. 00:07:11.020 --> 00:07:14.920 This is one of the larger pericopes in the book of Acts. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.570 We're not going to read all of these verses because we don't have that kind of time today. 00:07:19.260 --> 00:07:23.330 But one of the reasons I know that we can get by with not reading all those verses is because it's repetitious. 00:07:24.400 --> 00:07:26.380 So we're not going to read the same thing over and over. 00:07:26.440 --> 00:07:32.570 But I want you to see the significance of the story, because what we're discovering is how God builds his church. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.500 What kind of work does God want to do among us as his people? 00:07:37.700 --> 00:07:39.400 How does he build his church? 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:42.310 Well, let me give you point number one, and we'll start to look at this passage. 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:50.080 Number one is this God prepares hearts, God prepares hearts. 00:07:50.760 --> 00:07:52.070 And I'm thankful he does. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.460 Because if I'm just being a little transparent in my pre-jesus days. 00:07:58.020 --> 00:08:05.060 If you were to line up a hundred people and say, who do you think would be easiest to convert to Christ, and 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:06.380 who do you think would be the most difficult? 00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:09.900 I will just tell you I would have been at the bottom of the barrel. 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:17.820 If it was just left up to the perception of the eye and the way we might judge externally, people would just pass right by me. 00:08:18.880 --> 00:08:24.720 But the beauty is while we may look on the outside, it's God who perceives the inside. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.160 And God prepares hearts in ways we don't always understand. 00:08:30.260 --> 00:08:37.500 And that's what makes the beauty of the gospel so important for us to share in this world, because we never know how God's working and the life 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:38.480 of Cornelius. 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:45.920 This is what it begins to tell us in the first chapter or first verse of chapter ten, it says, In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.460 centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort. 00:08:50.300 --> 00:08:57.520 A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God. 00:08:57.580 --> 00:09:02.460 About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God. 00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:04.860 Come in and say to him, Cornelius. 00:09:05.020 --> 00:09:08.560 And he stared at him in terror and said, what is it, Lord? 00:09:08.640 --> 00:09:13.820 And he said to him, your prayers and your arms have ascended as a memorial before God. 00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:18.620 And now send me to Joppa and bring one Simon, who is called Peter. 00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:27.180 When Cornelius is having this vision, one thing I want to point out, and I'll dive a little deeper into this, is sometimes you might encounter 00:09:27.180 --> 00:09:32.640 in life people that tell you that you have they have a vision of the Lord and maybe or maybe saw an angel or something like that. 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:37.680 I want you to know the common response in the New Testament when people describe this is that they peed their pants, right? 00:09:37.680 --> 00:09:43.220 So like, even like in verse four, you see this with Cornelius, recognize this guy has seen some stuff in life. 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:44.880 He is a centurion, right? 00:09:44.880 --> 00:09:45.680 He is a warrior. 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:47.480 He's battle tested. 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:49.560 And we look at verse four and he sees an angel. 00:09:49.560 --> 00:09:51.870 It tells you that his he has terror. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.980 Like, if you want to know the thing that causes him to shake in his boots. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:55.780 It's not. 00:09:55.920 --> 00:09:57.480 It's not combat, right. 00:09:57.560 --> 00:09:58.900 It's seeing an angel. 00:09:59.020 --> 00:10:04.360 So if someone says to you in a lackadaisical way, saw an angel, you just be like, no, you didn't. 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:08.140 Like that is the response in Scripture is different than that, right? 00:10:08.140 --> 00:10:15.920 Like you see this and but I want you to note that when Cornelius is being talked about here, he's 00:10:15.920 --> 00:10:18.760 described as a as a religious man. 00:10:20.060 --> 00:10:27.180 But he helps us to begin to recognize people can be moral, they can be religious, they can be 00:10:27.180 --> 00:10:30.140 devout, and they can still be lost. 00:10:32.800 --> 00:10:34.720 We all need Jesus. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.770 We all need salvation in Christ. 00:10:40.300 --> 00:10:42.680 No matter how religious you might think you are. 00:10:42.680 --> 00:10:44.600 At the end of the day, that is not your hope. 00:10:45.800 --> 00:10:47.280 Christ alone is our hope. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:50.480 And this becomes important for all of us, right? 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:57.700 Because if it was just about simply being good, God could have looked at this and this passage would be like, and he's alright, even though he doesn't know me, 00:10:57.700 --> 00:10:58.260 even though he knows. 00:10:58.420 --> 00:11:01.300 Except he's not accepting me as Lord and Savior. 00:11:01.380 --> 00:11:03.420 He's alright because, well, he's religious, he's good. 00:11:03.420 --> 00:11:04.100 Just be good. 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:05.070 Just be the best you can. 00:11:05.280 --> 00:11:12.440 This becomes critical for us as a church to understand how unique your message is and how important it is to be unapologetic about the gospel that 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:14.530 you declare in salvation in Christ alone. 00:11:14.640 --> 00:11:18.280 Even Jesus in John 14 six says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:11:18.520 --> 00:11:20.340 No one comes to the father but by me. 00:11:21.900 --> 00:11:26.370 This becomes critical for us to consider in our own faith journey. 00:11:26.520 --> 00:11:33.960 Where am I in light of the Lord and how God steps into Cornelius's life and recognizing, here's a here's a man who's he's 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:41.000 going through religious rituals and practices in a way that he's trying to honor God, but he still doesn't know 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:41.620 the Lord. 00:11:42.660 --> 00:11:45.820 And so God's intervening, intervening in his life. 00:11:46.640 --> 00:11:49.880 And there's a there's a way in which C.S. 00:11:49.880 --> 00:11:54.340 Lewis used to describe this, the our pursuit of God as human beings. 00:11:54.540 --> 00:11:54.800 He would. 00:11:54.880 --> 00:11:55.900 He would often say it like this. 00:11:55.900 --> 00:11:57.740 He did it in his writings and sometimes in his lectures. 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.580 He would say, it's like the mouse chasing after the cat. 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:06.460 Our pursuit of God as people is like the mouse chasing after the cat. 00:12:06.760 --> 00:12:07.940 Which sounds absurd, right? 00:12:07.940 --> 00:12:08.980 We would ask the question, why? 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:11.700 Why on God's green earth would a mouse chase after a cat? 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:15.960 That makes no sense unless you're talking like cartoons, like Mighty Mouse or something. 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:16.200 There's. 00:12:16.280 --> 00:12:18.840 There's no reason that a mouse should ever chase after a cat. 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:19.660 Why would that happen? 00:12:19.760 --> 00:12:20.460 And that's C.S. 00:12:20.460 --> 00:12:21.400 Lewis's point. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:27.580 It's like a mouse might want to know where the cat is so he can feel safe as he's trying to be away from the cat. 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:33.240 But in no way would a mouse ever want to chase after a cat, because to do so would be the end of your life. 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:39.060 And he compares the journey of our faith, really apart from Christ in that way. 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:47.040 He's saying when we seek after God, what we're often seeking isn't necessarily God, but 00:12:47.040 --> 00:12:53.680 rather an idol that we want to structure for our own pleasure, in which we call God. 00:12:53.780 --> 00:12:55.440 Theologians over the last century. 00:12:55.460 --> 00:12:58.820 The 20th century had described the God of America this way. 00:12:58.880 --> 00:13:04.760 They said, it's sometimes it could be found in Christianity, sometimes it can be found in other religions. 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:13.120 But the true God of the 20th century was honestly moral therapeutic deism, moral therapeutic 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.530 deism, which we kind of want to do good things. 00:13:15.800 --> 00:13:20.880 So we look to do nice things and but we also want to feel good about ourselves. 00:13:21.040 --> 00:13:24.600 So we pursue this God that makes us feel good. 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:26.360 And he's not really active in my life. 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:27.180 That's the term deism. 00:13:27.180 --> 00:13:28.060 He's distant. 00:13:28.060 --> 00:13:28.500 Right. 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:33.260 So moral therapeutic deism, like I'm spiritual, I do good things in this world. 00:13:33.260 --> 00:13:38.600 So I'm okay and I have this God that I look to, but it's really a God I've fashioned for myself. 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:42.520 It's not the one true God, but it's the God that I make, the God that I want. 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:48.000 And let me just say it like this I realize up to this point I've you're not disagreeing with me at all. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.140 You're just you're just 100% on board. 00:13:50.160 --> 00:13:52.760 So I want to say this next point, not against you. 00:13:52.760 --> 00:13:54.520 I know I'm going to say this with you, right? 00:13:56.540 --> 00:14:00.860 No one in this room has their theology 100% correct. 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:02.790 I'll go so far as to say this. 00:14:03.400 --> 00:14:09.680 No one who has ever come to Alpine Bible Church has ever had their theology 100% correct. 00:14:10.760 --> 00:14:18.180 There's always some component of our life, or maybe a larger component of our life, that is in rebellion to who God is, 00:14:18.660 --> 00:14:21.580 that has an erroneous understanding to who God is. 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:29.040 Get this if your God agrees with everything that you think what you're following 00:14:29.040 --> 00:14:36.240 is not God, what you're following is something that you've concocted to call it God, 00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:39.120 but is not actually God. 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:42.260 And we all have the tendency to do this. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.360 And here's how I know, because we receive our news the same way. 00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:46.910 Like even today. 00:14:47.020 --> 00:14:49.180 Like we don't really want news as human beings. 00:14:49.180 --> 00:14:52.620 We just want to find someone that shares the opinions that I that I have. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:59.030 And then we just want to call that news or we like, we like to be affirmed in what it is that we think and what we want to hold to. 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:00.480 God does not operate that way. 00:15:01.520 --> 00:15:01.600 Right. 00:15:01.640 --> 00:15:08.920 The call of the Christian walk is not find a God that you want to shape in order to please yourself in this moralistic therapeutic deism. 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:15.780 But rather the call of Christianity is to understand all of us in a way are rebellious against the Lord. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:23.040 And so Jesus says, whoever wishes to follow after me must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me. 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:25.960 Matthew chapter 16, verse 24. 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:31.360 It really is saying to us, when we approach the Lord, we all need to do this humbly because we all need the Lord. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:36.070 None of us are perfected, and so we may try good things. 00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:42.760 We may have this, these religious rituals, but what we truly need is Jesus. 00:15:43.520 --> 00:15:51.160 And you're not going to know him, and you're not going to walk with him until you're willing to surrender your life completely to him, because 00:15:51.160 --> 00:15:54.740 there's some component of your life that is not aligned with him. 00:15:55.340 --> 00:16:01.120 And it's not until you're surrendered to him that you find life in him and you're able to walk with him. 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:09.120 And so Cornelius becomes that example for all of us, that God prepares hearts, and it speaks to the integrity of 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:14.980 who Cornelius is, because in humility, he follows what God tells him to. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.190 There was a theologian last century known as Martyn Lloyd-Jones. 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:24.580 And he would say it like this when he would go around and ask people if they knew the Lord, sometimes he'd ask the question, how do you know you're going to heaven? 00:16:25.380 --> 00:16:26.470 How do you know you're saved? 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:28.720 Do you have a relationship with the Lord? 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:37.160 And in asking that question, he would say, based on how they immediately responded, I knew if they were resting in Christ or not. 00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:40.600 And maybe I could ask the same question to you. 00:16:40.640 --> 00:16:44.780 What if someone came to you and said are you are you saved? 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.420 Do you know you're going to heaven one day? 00:16:47.900 --> 00:16:49.420 Do you have a relationship with the Lord? 00:16:49.420 --> 00:16:51.010 How would you respond? 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:57.160 Martin Luther Jones would say it like this if they immediately started their response like this. 00:16:57.300 --> 00:16:58.000 Well, I. 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:03.760 If they immediately jumped to I, I knew instantly that they weren't resting in Christ. 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:11.480 He would remark that there was the possibility they didn't really know the gospel, and I would even say the same for us. 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:13.190 If someone asks you, how do you know you're going to heaven? 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:20.380 And your response is, well, I there is a possibility you may not know the gospel that sets you free, because the answer for 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:27.700 the life of the believer shouldn't begin with, well, I, I did this, I, I showed up to church, I performed these certain works. 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:31.200 It's not about I, but rather it's about he. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:34.820 He pursued me in my sin. 00:17:36.100 --> 00:17:40.000 He gave up his throne in heaven to become flesh, to give his life for me. 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:42.200 He died in my place. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.120 He's the one that rescues my soul. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.410 It's not about I, but it's about him. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.180 God is the one that prepares hearts. 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:56.740 This brings us to this place of humility. 00:17:57.080 --> 00:17:57.100 But. 00:17:57.380 --> 00:17:58.200 But let me give you a point. 00:17:58.280 --> 00:18:02.350 Number two, God is also the one that breaks barriers to expand ministry. 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.140 He breaks barriers to expand ministry. 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:12.200 And in terms of Peter being involved in the story, it says the next day in verse nine, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.800 up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:15.160 So. 00:18:15.320 --> 00:18:18.470 So these individuals have been sent out by Cornelius to go get Peter. 00:18:18.780 --> 00:18:24.060 Peter goes up on this house on the top of this roof to pray, and he became hungry and wanted something to eat. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:27.100 This I'm already connected to Peter because this is usually me. 00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:27.580 After church. 00:18:27.620 --> 00:18:28.520 It's time to eat. 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:32.730 I did not know that there was ever this thing called conflict and eating until I got married. 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:34.830 Like when I was a young person. 00:18:35.040 --> 00:18:39.940 I just remember I felt like eating for me was much like Neanderthal me seafood, me eat food. 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:42.120 If there was a calorie, I would take it. 00:18:42.120 --> 00:18:43.020 Just give it to me. 00:18:43.020 --> 00:18:43.580 It didn't matter. 00:18:43.820 --> 00:18:44.330 It didn't matter. 00:18:44.620 --> 00:18:45.400 However, I could get it. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:46.520 It just felt like never ending. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:50.320 And then when I got married, I realized there was a lot more decision than what's closest. 00:18:50.340 --> 00:18:51.350 Let's hurry up and get there. 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:51.740 Right. 00:18:51.780 --> 00:18:52.660 You gotta ask your emotion. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.610 You gotta figure out what like, for me, it's just whatever. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:57.010 Baloney sandwich, I don't care. 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:57.740 Let's eat it. 00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:58.100 Right. 00:18:58.200 --> 00:18:58.980 But here's Peter. 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:03.670 He's in this conflict of eating, and it says he became hungry and wanted something to eat. 00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:11.150 But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and 11 verse 11, and saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet descending, 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.520 being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:18.580 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:20.460 And there came a voice to him. 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:22.560 Rise, Peter, kill and eat. 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:28.640 But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. 00:19:29.320 --> 00:19:29.920 Verse 15. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:35.310 And the voice came to him again second time, and said, What God has made clean do not call common. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:40.560 Verse 16, this happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 00:19:41.620 --> 00:19:43.900 So here it is three times this takes place. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:51.160 So this is helping us begin to understand just how much Peter is wrestling with what God is saying to him, and the true message 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:55.620 behind really the dietary restrictions of the Jewish people. 00:19:56.280 --> 00:20:02.360 If you want to read about what the Jews were permitted to eat and not eat Leviticus chapter 11 all the way to Leviticus 20. 00:20:02.360 --> 00:20:09.380 It describes the rituals and purifications and what they're able to ceremonially participate in, and eating and not 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:14.130 eating and so much so that and risk of being defiled. 00:20:14.340 --> 00:20:21.400 The Jews would avoid Gentile homes, because Gentiles often participated in things that would defile Jewish people 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:23.870 and prohibit them from being able to participate in their worship. 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:32.430 And so because they didn't want to risk becoming unclean or common, they wouldn't they wouldn't go into gentile homes for that reason. 00:20:33.540 --> 00:20:35.190 But here's what God's doing in this story. 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:40.760 He's helping us begin to recognize what exactly the gospel is doing in the Old Testament. 00:20:40.760 --> 00:20:47.900 God set up certain laws and regulations for the Jewish people that made them distinct from all the other nations around 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:53.300 them as a way of putting the spotlight on them to say, this is where deliverance is going to come from. 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:55.630 The Messiah will come from here. 00:20:55.740 --> 00:21:03.120 And so throughout the Old Testament, you see the pronunciation of how a deliverer would come through the Jewish people for all people groups. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:04.970 So they had these certain practices. 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:10.400 And there's a lot of different reasons we could look at as to why the Jews had distinctions in their worship practices. 00:21:11.120 --> 00:21:17.060 But one is to point out the uniqueness of who they were for the sake of the Messiah who was to come. 00:21:18.020 --> 00:21:25.420 But when they get to the New Testament, what we find all of a sudden is now what God has called common or unclean, has now been invited 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:28.900 to participate because of who Christ is and what he's done for us. 00:21:29.820 --> 00:21:35.380 He's brought forgiveness for all of humanity so that we could know God and walk with him. 00:21:35.600 --> 00:21:41.480 And so now Peter is being asked to participate, and he understands the risk that's going to run with his own people. 00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:48.130 If he was to do this because in his Jewish community, he would be perceived a certain way, even though the gospel is now transformed. 00:21:49.300 --> 00:21:56.760 In fact, if you look in verse 28, when Peter finally shows up, it says it like this when Peter gets to Cornelius's house, Peter 00:21:56.760 --> 00:22:03.920 said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with, or to visit anyone of any 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:05.140 other nation. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:10.270 But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:16.980 What Peter is helping us do is to think through the Old Testament. 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:21.930 And what does that mean for us today in light of what Jesus has accomplished? 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.780 Because when you read the Old Testament, you define you find that there's certain ways that Israel was to worship certain holidays. 00:22:27.820 --> 00:22:30.500 They were to celebrate certain laws that were to observe. 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:38.400 And when I wake up each day, I don't say to myself, man, 613 commandments in the Old Testament, how am I going to obey all those 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:38.920 things? 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:39.140 Right. 00:22:39.140 --> 00:22:40.640 I can't even remember that many things. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:46.840 I can barely remember seven digits in a phone number, let alone 613 commandments like that seems like a lot. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:54.430 And then when you look at Israel, Israel wrote laws in front of loaves laws and fear that they might break those 613 commandments. 00:22:55.080 --> 00:22:58.970 So they understood what those commandments were, and they were like so we don't get close to those. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:01.220 Let's write some laws in addition to those laws. 00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:03.380 So it'll keep us away from those laws. 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:08.970 So if we break a law, it'll be these laws and not the 613 laws, because we don't want to break those laws. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.020 Those are God's laws. 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:16.500 And can I tell you, when you read the Old Testament, there's not a place you go to where it just lists. 00:23:16.520 --> 00:23:17.440 Okay, here it comes, guys. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:18.920 613 commandments. 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:26.820 What you discover is, as the first five books of the New Testament unfold, God gives Israel some laws, and Israel, sometimes for 00:23:26.820 --> 00:23:28.340 a minute, will obey those laws. 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:36.230 And then they break those laws, and then God gives them some more laws, and then they break those laws, and then God gives them some more laws. 00:23:36.280 --> 00:23:39.920 And that pattern continues to 613 commandments. 00:23:40.620 --> 00:23:42.920 And the point is not that there's 613 commandments. 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:45.860 The point is this no matter how many laws you write. 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:48.540 You can't truly legislate the heart. 00:23:49.660 --> 00:23:52.520 There's something deeper that needs cured and healed. 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:55.580 And really, that's the whole point of law. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.070 That's really the thought of religion. 00:23:58.080 --> 00:23:59.320 It doesn't liberate you. 00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:03.000 It only identifies for you where you fall short. 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:11.060 The law in the old Covenant, the reason we don't obey it today certainly reflects the holiness of God. 00:24:11.120 --> 00:24:18.460 But the reason we don't wake up and say 613 laws, let's do this, is because of what Jesus has done for us, meaning 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:20.120 the Old Testament. 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:26.320 Another way of saying testament is covenant and the New Testament another way of saying New Testament is a new covenant. 00:24:27.380 --> 00:24:29.900 We today get to walk in the New Covenant. 00:24:31.120 --> 00:24:35.780 And so the old covenant for us was a shadow of everything Jesus would fulfill for us. 00:24:35.780 --> 00:24:41.240 In fact, in Hebrews chapter ten it says, the law was but a shadow of the good things to come. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:43.900 Colossians chapter two, verse 16. 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:50.870 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in question of food or drink, or with regard to a festival or new moon or Sabbath. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.100 These are a shadow of things to come. 00:24:53.100 --> 00:24:55.910 But look at this the substance belongs to Christ. 00:24:57.260 --> 00:25:02.720 So these Old Testament laws certainly held Israel in this unique place, this distinct place. 00:25:03.760 --> 00:25:06.020 But Jesus has come and given us the new covenant. 00:25:07.060 --> 00:25:11.660 And the reason he was able to do that is because he eradicated or fulfilled for us the Old covenant. 00:25:12.620 --> 00:25:16.430 In fact, when you think in terms of a covenant, there were two ways to get rid of a covenant. 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:18.740 One was you had to fulfill it. 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:20.840 The other one was you had to die in it. 00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:24.420 Jesus did both of those things for you and for me. 00:25:25.280 --> 00:25:30.160 In Matthew chapter five, verse 17, he says, I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:38.470 Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old covenant demands, so that you and I could walk in the freedom of the New Covenant. 00:25:39.560 --> 00:25:47.640 We walk now in the spirit, and the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:54.830 The gospel is breaking down barriers in Peter's life so that he can see the beauty of what Christ desires to do in this world. 00:25:55.800 --> 00:25:57.180 And it's the same for us. 00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:59.960 I love that about the uniqueness of the gospel. 00:26:00.620 --> 00:26:07.760 And sometimes I can get in the routine of just living my life, and all of us can run in these patterns of we just do certain things each 00:26:07.760 --> 00:26:08.380 day. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.630 But then we start to contemplate and meditate. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.910 But what is the gospel call me to in this world? 00:26:14.040 --> 00:26:21.120 And it challenges us because we begin to see a God who left his perfect throne to pursue us with his life, that we 00:26:21.120 --> 00:26:23.840 could find freedom in him and now belonging to him. 00:26:23.840 --> 00:26:27.280 I have the opportunity to be able to share that with the world around me. 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:33.880 And so for Peter, it's knocking down these barriers and communicating the beauty of who Christ is. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:41.120 And it's the same for us that as our lives are saturated in the richness of Christ, it calls us to more in this world 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:46.080 and what we live for because we belong to something that is eternal and something that's greater. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.500 And in so doing, let me give you point number three. 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:52.120 It unites his people. 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:57.420 It unites his people. 00:26:58.260 --> 00:26:59.500 Verse 34. 00:27:01.260 --> 00:27:08.280 So Peter opened his mouth and said, truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in 00:27:08.280 --> 00:27:14.920 every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:23.380 Now this is incredible to see the heart of God unfolding for this world. 00:27:24.520 --> 00:27:25.440 And this is what Peter is saying. 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:32.600 He's gone to Cornelius house, he's shared the gospel, and he's seeing transformation take place before 00:27:32.600 --> 00:27:33.260 his eyes. 00:27:33.820 --> 00:27:40.940 And now, experientially, he understands what the Bible is communicating, that when God promised that he would be for every tribe, tongue, and language, 00:27:41.620 --> 00:27:47.760 he now experientially understands what this means, that there's no division, right? 00:27:47.760 --> 00:27:50.120 It doesn't mean that cultures aren't important. 00:27:50.120 --> 00:27:52.240 The distinctions and cultures can remain. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:56.030 But there's something greater that ties God's people, and it's Christ. 00:27:56.980 --> 00:28:01.940 Our identity is much deeper in the purpose for which we are created in him. 00:28:02.260 --> 00:28:07.760 And Peter is seeing this take place in this passage, and he's just blown away by it. 00:28:08.600 --> 00:28:15.660 And it's one of the things that, to be honest, when I, when I moved to Utah, loved, loved living in Utah, have always loved living in 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:15.920 Utah. 00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:18.210 I think Utah is a fantastic place to live. 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:22.760 And when I first got here, Lehi was about 25,000 people. 00:28:22.760 --> 00:28:25.690 It's 2005, I moved here, Lehi is about 25,000 people. 00:28:26.100 --> 00:28:30.460 It was kind of a strange place, still a little different, but it was really different then. 00:28:30.460 --> 00:28:37.240 And one of the reasons I knew that is like even living in Utah County, if people ask me where I was from and they would say Lehi, they would make fun of me. 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:38.620 They would make fun of that. 00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:42.220 They considered Lehi the backwards town of our community, of this county. 00:28:42.300 --> 00:28:43.390 I'm like, are you kidding me? 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:44.220 Right? 00:28:44.260 --> 00:28:50.260 But one of the reasons, like, early on when I moved here, it was easy to recognize, man, the number of horses to people. 00:28:50.260 --> 00:28:52.460 There were like three times more horses than people. 00:28:52.580 --> 00:28:55.330 This was this was an interesting town. 00:28:55.520 --> 00:29:02.960 And like, it was common sometimes just going down the street and you just had to watch out because you never knew what you were going to step in, because so many horses 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:06.380 would be on the roads like that was that was that was Lehigh. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:12.220 Also, one of the things that was awkward for me is it is it was the widest place I have ever lived. 00:29:12.260 --> 00:29:15.860 Like it is like, man, why does this place ever? 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:21.380 But one of the things I have really appreciated over the years is how culturally different it's becoming. 00:29:22.280 --> 00:29:28.780 I love that, and the reason I love that is because it's gospel opportunity to see the beauty of Christ. 00:29:28.780 --> 00:29:36.460 And I realize when more people from more cultures come to know Jesus, the more opportunity the places where those people are from get 00:29:36.460 --> 00:29:37.760 to know about Jesus. 00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:46.260 God's heart is for people everywhere to see that transformation and to recognize that it transcends culture, 00:29:46.280 --> 00:29:49.170 because what we have in Christ is far deeper. 00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:56.020 This is what defines who I am at my core, and then everything else aligns up with that. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.160 Jesus dictates and navigates who we are in him. 00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:03.360 And so it unites. 00:30:03.600 --> 00:30:05.080 Unites his people. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:09.340 And number four pours out His spirit. 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:16.960 God pours out his spirit while Peter was still saying these things. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:21.800 Verse 44, The Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 00:30:22.600 --> 00:30:29.760 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter was amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, 00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:33.060 for they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. 00:30:33.080 --> 00:30:39.140 Then Peter declared, can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? 00:30:39.420 --> 00:30:41.760 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus. 00:30:42.260 --> 00:30:44.700 Then they asked him to remain for some days. 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:50.280 This passage is critical, I think, for a few reasons. 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:51.680 One let me say this. 00:30:54.200 --> 00:31:00.890 If anyone has ever told you this is just a theological teaching here, if anyone's ever told you in order to receive the Holy Spirit, you have to be baptized. 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:02.020 Let me just tell you. 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:03.120 You should tell them. 00:31:03.120 --> 00:31:05.720 Read Acts ten, verse 47, right. 00:31:05.860 --> 00:31:12.830 Because this is this is teaching that in receiving the gospel and receiving Jesus, the Spirit of God instantly dwells his people. 00:31:13.540 --> 00:31:17.520 And then baptism for us becomes a demonstration of the salvation we already have in Jesus. 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:19.320 We don't get baptized to be saved. 00:31:19.860 --> 00:31:22.200 We as Christians get baptized because we've been saved. 00:31:22.900 --> 00:31:25.220 We're not worthy to be baptized because of what we've done. 00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:27.680 We're worthy to be baptized because of what Christ has done. 00:31:27.780 --> 00:31:31.260 Sometimes I'll hear people say that you've got to be baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:31.960 That's not true. 00:31:32.060 --> 00:31:32.770 Here's a verse. 00:31:32.840 --> 00:31:33.100 Okay. 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:37.580 By the way, if you've not been baptized, you should be baptized. 00:31:37.580 --> 00:31:38.540 It's a good step for believers. 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:42.660 It's a it's what we're called to as believers to declare to the world that we follow Jesus. 00:31:43.320 --> 00:31:49.320 The other thing I want you to recognize is the importance of this phrase that's highlighted here, that the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 00:31:50.540 --> 00:31:55.300 You've already introduced to this thought in Acts chapter two, specifically verse 17. 00:31:56.500 --> 00:32:03.560 The pouring out of the Holy Spirit is important to understand, and it's kind of interesting in the body of Christ today, if you ask people, what does it look like when the Holy Spirit is poured 00:32:03.560 --> 00:32:04.300 out on people? 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:09.080 And depending on maybe your background, if you've grown up in a Christian church, you might answer that different. 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:13.540 For example, if you grew up in a Presbyterian type church and you answered, what does it look like for the Holy Spirit? 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:21.180 Whatever your answer is going to be a little more boring than than if you grew up more in like a Pentecostal, charismatic background, like you grew up in that background. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.440 That background has got some emotion to it. 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:25.360 The background a little dry, right? 00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:30.880 So but I want you to know, in either of those instances you're familiarity and worshiping the Lord. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:32.000 That's not really what I care about. 00:32:32.060 --> 00:32:38.740 What I care about in this moment is understanding what it means to experience the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, right? 00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:45.740 And in Acts chapter two, this took place in Acts chapter two when Peter preaches the first message and they receive the 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:48.540 gospel, it tells us the Holy Spirit is poured out on people. 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:53.580 The Jewish people have received the gospel and the Holy Spirit is poured out on them. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:57.570 Now in Acts chapter ten, the same thing is happening, but now it's being poured out on the Gentiles. 00:32:58.740 --> 00:33:01.260 So here we're seeing one church among Jews and Gentiles. 00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:01.680 Why? 00:33:01.760 --> 00:33:04.560 Why is Luke referring to it as the pouring out of the spirit? 00:33:04.580 --> 00:33:09.460 Well, this phrase is a fulfillment of what God said to us in the Old Testament. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:16.180 You see it in a couple of places in the Old Testament, but in Joel chapter two, specifically Peter. 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:21.700 Peter quotes this passage in the sermon he preaches in Acts chapter two. 00:33:22.860 --> 00:33:29.910 And now Luke is borrowing that phrase again in Acts chapter ten, and it says, it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:33.200 Your sons, your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:34.460 Your young men shall see visions. 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:38.420 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my spirit. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.580 Some people look at this verse and think, oh, here's what God wants dreams and visions. 00:33:43.580 --> 00:33:45.880 The focus of this verse is dreams and visions. 00:33:46.060 --> 00:33:48.390 When God's Spirit's there, it's all about dreams and visions. 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:50.890 And I will tell you that is not the point of this verse. 00:33:51.840 --> 00:33:56.760 In fact, in the book of Jude chapter eight, the only verse really in the New Testament talks about dreams. 00:33:56.760 --> 00:34:00.540 It actually warns you against people who try to represent God through their dreams. 00:34:01.080 --> 00:34:07.340 Colossians chapter two talks about warning you about people who just try to represent God from visions, right? 00:34:07.340 --> 00:34:12.100 So it's not about dreams and visions, but here's what he's saying in the Old Testament. 00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:15.920 If you wanted to connect to God the way you did it, you had to go to a prophet or a priest. 00:34:16.659 --> 00:34:18.880 They were God's oracles, God's mouthpiece. 00:34:19.560 --> 00:34:23.320 Sometimes God would give the prophets visions and dreams to declare to the people. 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:32.600 But God is saying, there's coming a day when you don't have to be dependent on the prophet and priest, but rather God's 00:34:32.600 --> 00:34:34.300 Spirit will indwell all of his people. 00:34:35.620 --> 00:34:37.460 It doesn't matter if you're a man or woman. 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:39.520 It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:41.860 It doesn't matter if you're male or female. 00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:48.070 God wants to pour out His Spirit on all people so that all people have a relationship with him. 00:34:49.120 --> 00:34:53.300 What it's speaking to is the uniqueness and intimacy of a walk with God. 00:34:54.580 --> 00:34:58.820 God comes near to you, and by pouring out, it's saying he's not holding back. 00:34:59.600 --> 00:35:01.020 He's not making exceptions. 00:35:01.040 --> 00:35:02.640 God doesn't care about your pedigree. 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.160 He cares about your heart before him. 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:09.220 God's desire is for you to know him. 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:12.320 And so therefore he pours out his spirit. 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.360 I need to close with this for us. 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:22.360 When you think about the beauty of this gift, because God wants to do a miraculous work not only in our hearts, but 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:25.580 through our lives, there's a picture I think about often. 00:35:25.740 --> 00:35:28.960 This picture was taken in 1993 by a man named Kevin Carter. 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:34.720 He won some awards from this picture, but he took this picture in Sudan when Sudan was at the peak of a war. 00:35:34.720 --> 00:35:36.970 And I felt like Sudan's been in a perpetual war for decades. 00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:40.670 But it was at the peak of its war and many people were dying. 00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:47.860 And as he was on the way to the airport, he saw this young child trying to walk to a food camp in order to survive. 00:35:48.240 --> 00:35:49.590 Just a couple of kilometers away. 00:35:50.080 --> 00:35:57.200 And he saw this vulture laying behind this child, realizing the child was near death, and he got out of his car, he took 00:35:57.200 --> 00:35:59.990 this picture and he shooed the vulture away and continued on to the airport. 00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:03.630 Now this particular picture is called the vulture and the little girl. 00:36:04.020 --> 00:36:08.080 They come to find out after this picture was dubbed that this actually is a little boy. 00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:10.870 And so, he made it safely to the camp. 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:21.020 But one of the reasons I think about this picture often is one, it reminds me of just how depraved humanity is, that we could do this to one another, but 00:36:21.020 --> 00:36:25.040 also it helps me reflect on the resources God has given me to do things in this world. 00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:27.820 Like I'm accountable for the things God's given me. 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:33.640 And sometimes in our culture, if we're not careful, we get caught up in the race of I need another new car. 00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:34.840 I need a bigger, better house. 00:36:34.940 --> 00:36:36.450 I have to have the brand new phone. 00:36:37.600 --> 00:36:42.880 And do you really think about all the things that God's given you in this world? 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:45.900 Is that really what's most important? 00:36:48.020 --> 00:36:55.460 Now, a lot of people, especially in this last decade, have been complaining incredibly about our country trying to rip us apart as people and putting 00:36:55.460 --> 00:36:57.530 one side against another constantly. 00:36:58.700 --> 00:37:02.130 Getting our focus off of really what the real enemy is in our lives. 00:37:02.160 --> 00:37:08.720 I just I look at, I look at moments like this, and I just realize how depraved human beings are. 00:37:08.720 --> 00:37:15.840 The like, if you're a person that finds yourself often complaining about your country, can you do me a favor at some point in your life, just let me 00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:17.080 take you to another country. 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:25.480 Let me take you to some of the places in this world that we serve as a church, try to minister the gospel, and hopefully you walk back 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:27.280 with a far more appreciation. 00:37:28.180 --> 00:37:36.100 Even though we're living in a country that likes to be so divided, just to be thankful for what we have, and 00:37:36.100 --> 00:37:41.020 in some ways recognize that it's becoming a curse to our own souls and destroying us. 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:49.140 But at the same time, in looking at this physical depravity early, recognize that there's a spiritual depravity here with why we would even do this to each other. 00:37:50.120 --> 00:37:57.440 And honestly, my own depravity before the Lord, how much I need God in my own life, like God sees my soul 00:37:57.440 --> 00:37:58.160 this way. 00:37:59.780 --> 00:38:01.580 This is what makes Jesus so important. 00:38:02.460 --> 00:38:09.540 But God's desire is to pour out His Spirit, not hold back that the richness of Christ would be 00:38:09.540 --> 00:38:16.840 made known in you and for me, if we would just surrender ourselves to him and walk in the joy 00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:23.420 of his presence, recognizing what God wants to do in His church and through His church is beautiful.