The Gentiles become believers

Good morning. We're going to be stepping our way through Acts of the Apostles 1034 through 48 here, one step at a time. You have on the top of your handout on the first page, this map, which is particularly to show two places. And one of those is Joppa, where Peter has been spending some time, many days, as Dr. Luke put it.

And Peter, along with the three that Cornelius had sent, as well as six Jews who had become believers in Christ, traveling with him, all head to Caesarea. So here is an artist's depiction of what Caesarea would have looked like at the time. Peter and those traveling with him, six Jews who were believers in Christ, as well as the three sent by Cornelius, all coming into the south end, the near end of Caesarea here. And entering there and going to the house, we don't know quite where that is, of Cornelius in this. And this is all a fairly new city had been created within comparatively recent times by this time.

So Acts 10, 1 through 20 describes how Cornelius had been told by an angel to send for Peter down in Joppa. at the house of Simon the Tanner. And so he sends a devout soldier who's under his command, along with two household servants. They arrive and show up at the house of Simon the Tanner, where Peter has been staying for some many days, likely a number of weeks. in time. And so Peter, having been clued in that these men are coming to send for him, invites these three Gentiles to stay there at the house of Simon the Tanner.

And so they traveled together, Peter, the six Jews who had become believers in Christ, and these three Gentiles who are messengers, all traveled together along the east shore of the Mediterranean there on the coast of Israel, going by very likely this Roman aqueduct that supplied water to Caesarea. And so going by that, going by this Roman amphitheater that was shown there in the picture at the south end, and so approaching Caesarea. And then once there, he goes into the house of Cornelius. and meets with him, and so Cornelius and Peter have an exchange, and then at that point, Peter then begins to speak, and that introduces us to the passage where we are now.

So here's Acts 10, 34 and 35. And so this is, it says first, opening his mouth, Peter. Now that may kind of set you on edge, but we'll talk about that in a minute here. Opening his mouth, Peter said, right? I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcomed to Him." So let's take a look at that.

Just to give us some kind of a context here, Acts 10 from the very beginning on into chapter 11, verse 18. This all takes place around 40 to 41 AD, so there's the time context. Opening his mouth, interesting, that's a term that Philip had used just previously in chapter 8. This opening his mouth is something also Christ was said to have done back at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

That was in Matthew 5.2. So it's not a frequently recorded term, but something that we've seen before. He says, I most certainly understand now. And it will be literally upon the basis of truth is what that would literally come across as. So you imagine what is happening to Peter. He's having this realization, as we said it, this aha moment where suddenly, oh, now I get it. Right. And so that's the kind of moment he's describing there to the house of Cornelius.

And he says that God is not one to show partiality. God is not biased. Now you can imagine, this is quite a realization for a guy who was brought up as a Jew. Now as far as the Jews are concerned, are they somebody special? Oh yeah. We're descended from Abraham and we are guaranteed as descendants of Abraham to enter the kingdom. I mean, there's no chance it's not going to be different. For him to say, God is not biased, is just completely a shocking revelation, right?

In every nation, of course this nation thing, that's a big word in the Jewish mind, the nation, definite article, the nation is Israel, and the nations, that's all the rest of the nations. But he says in every ethnos, is the Greek word there, In every ethnicity, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him." Now, so this means he's accepted to approach him for salvation, but not yet saved. As we look at this, we can kind of get the idea, well, is he saying these people are saved? Well, not really. We'll see just in a minute here.

So, one of the things, when Peter has opened his mouth in the past, that's always, in the Gospels particularly, we find that that's been a problem. Peter opens his mouth and you go, uh oh. It's foot and mouth time. And so this is an extraordinary thing. Peter, after numerous times opening his mouth and you'd wish that he'd think first and then, you know, say something, does something different.

Peter had, since the events described in Acts chapter two, been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. That took place on the day of Pentecost. He suddenly had here very fitting words as opposed to words that he'd wish he hadn't said. When he opened his mouth, wise words instead came forth.

So one of the questions we might have here with Peter's very nice introduction here is Peter saying that Cornelius and those with him are already saved. So his words sound favorable, and one might even think that possibly Peter thinks these people are saved. But we need to look at it, especially in terms of the rest of the context, What is Peter actually saying? So what Peter is starting to say here, the Jews do not have exclusive access to salvation, right? It is not simply the Jews alone.

Seeking the true God will indeed be rewarded by God. This is a key principle in scripture. those seeking God will be rewarded by God. That's a message we quote from Hebrews 11 6. We're going to see it again in the book of Acts as the Apostle Paul begins talking to the philosophers in Athens. Seeking God is what God intends and that's what Peter is essentially commending here.

I can think of a couple of instances. Years ago there was a fellow that I worked with in the time just after Nancy and I got engaged. I worked up at my folks ranch and I met up with and worked with a fellow who had just come to know the Lord and he was writing a letter to his girlfriend saying I really can't keep having you as my girlfriend because I'm a believer now.

Well she got the letter. And she called up, you know, long distance and said, stay right there. I'll be there as quick as I can. And she wasn't kidding. She got on the next plane out of Atlanta where she was and flew to San Francisco, rented a car and drove way out in the boonies to where we lived and met with us.

She got there that afternoon and we stayed up until two o'clock that morning telling her about the Lord. And afterwards, we discovered I have been trying to find out how do I know the Lord for all my life. I've been asking people and nobody could tell me. People would smile and chuckle and basically ignore me. So I finally found out here's how I know the Lord.

So it is seeking God that will be rewarded by God. That's what he's really talking about here. Not that you guys were already saved. They weren't. Here's Acts 10 36 and 37. So Peter says the word which he sent to the sons of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ and then in there he is Lord of all.

You yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed. So let's step our way through this and see what Peter's saying here. So the word which is sent to the sons of Israel, this was Jesus' proclamation to the people of Israel when Jesus came. And of course, Peter was witness to Jesus' public ministry there.

And he was preaching peace. It was actually literally good newsing, good newsing, peace. And then through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all, that is, Lord of both Jews and Gentiles, both groups. And it's through Christ and through him alone. You yourselves know, and that is these God-fearing Gentiles living in Israel would have heard about this. And so what he's doing is just kind of recounting by summary what Christ had done in his ministry in Israel.

The other thing is this word know is perfect tense, and that's not designed to make you perfectly tense, but designed to tell us that you yourselves already know. You know this already. And then the thing which took place, this is the spoken word. This is what was said.

And then throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism of which John proclaimed. And so basically what happens is Peter is summarizing the things that were described in much more detail in the four Gospels when Christ carried out his earthly ministry. That's what he's giving a quick and sweeping summary about here. And this baptism with John proclaimed, that's John the Baptist. So John the Baptist begins his ministry and then Jesus begins his ministry shortly thereafter. And so he's kind of giving a quick outline to that.

In Acts 10.38 it says this, You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him? with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." So, one of the things he points out is Jesus of Nazareth, and him specifically.

One of the things to point out is Jesus, as we pronounce it, it would have been Yeshua in the original language, very common name. Very common name. Caiaphas' son, by the way, had the same name as Jesus, right? So a very common name. And so he's saying specifically, Jesus of this village of Nazareth, that one.

And it says how God the Father, this is God the Father here when making reference, how God the Father anointed him, that is, made him the Messiah. And one of the things we would point out here is being anointed is not the same as baptism. That's a frequent confusion, right? So he anointed him, made him the Messiah, and him being the Son, Christ the Son, with the Holy Spirit and with power, that is power from the Holy Spirit, right? and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

What he's doing here is paraphrasing Isaiah 61 verse 1 and the first part of verse 2. We'll go see in just a minute here why he would quote just that. He's saying Jesus did all the things that the Messiah would be expected to do in his first coming. That's what he's spelling out here. It says, for God was with him. Now what does it mean for God to be with him?

We get an insight from that from Jesus meeting with Nicodemus. This is John chapter 3, particularly in verse 2. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. Nicodemus being a Pharisee on the Jewish ruling council. And Nicodemus starts off with, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. God is with him, then, indicating not just there's some sort of general favor, but God is with him, meaning that he is particularly empowered to carry out these things, these things that are unique to the Messiah's ministry.

Here's Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, and this is particularly going to focus on the first part of verse 2. And this takes us back to Luke chapter 4, 14 through 30, where Jesus comes into the synagogue in Nazareth. Here he is in his hometown, and he has the opportunity to read the scriptures to the people in his hometown. And what does he read? Jesus takes the scroll of Isaiah 61 1 and 2 and he says the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted and this is summarizing again what Jesus ministry was about he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to prisoners and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord he stopped right there because the rest of it talks about Christ's second coming.

And then he said, these things, what he had read so far, had been fulfilled in your hearing. These things are true today. Christ had come carrying out this earthly ministry in his first coming. And so Peter is essentially restating and summarizing these verses.

And one of the things we see in Acts 10.38, the very beginning part there, We see Jesus, the Son of God, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit in one verse or very close together as we do in a number of passages. It's one of the things that the Scripture makes clear.

The Scripture never once uses the word Trinity as we teach it, but the Bible clearly teaches it. That same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together occurs eight times. I'd hold up my fingers, but I'd drop this thing, right? So it occurs eight times in just the book of Ephesians with six chapters, where there's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit all together. So this is one of those passages, and Peter is speaking it.

The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are all here in Acts 10.38. Jesus is identified here by his humanity, Jesus of Nazareth, right? Scripture tells us also about His deity and His humanity together. These understandings from Scripture about who the Father is, who the Son is, and who the Holy Spirit is are exceedingly important as we're going to see and explore in the verses here today.

So one of the points that Peter's trying to make is that Jesus. Peter's beginning to make the point about specifically who Jesus was and now is, and even what he will be. And that's recorded initially in the four Gospels, which have to do with Jesus' earthly ministry in great part. The reason that Peter is making this point even though he's giving it by summary, and all the things that Christ did, those are critical to Peter's presenting the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, does it happen that people present another Jesus?

Yes, it certainly does, right? It certainly does, and that's a serious mistake. I can recall a time I had a Spanish class. I've forgotten most of what I had in the class, but it was a great class. Anyway, I remember talking to two ladies in the class, and we got talking about Jesus Christ, and they said, well, Jesus was a great teacher of love and peace, and that's what we want to think about him.

Problem is that's not the true Jesus. That's not all of who he was and even who he said he was and what he came to do You know when he says I come to bring a sword that must mean something different than he just came to bring love and peace, right? So understanding who is the true Jesus is the point that Peter's making here. It's important for everyone to make as they understand the gospel and it is important for everyone to make even as we continue to grow as believers. Who is Jesus really?

Not what would we like him to be. So people in this instance can miss salvation if they believe in the wrong Jesus. It's a problem. It's a problem. I hate to tell you, but there are about 30,000 different denominations within Christianity. That's a lot. And a great many of them do not present the true Jesus. They're not all true. And so that distinction is important. Peter is making sure, no, it's this one. It is this Jesus, this specific one.

He's going to continue on here, Acts 10.39, and we are witnesses of all the things he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross.

So the we are witnesses, that's something that Christ told them that they would be, Acts 1.8, and you should be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, right?

But also earlier on, Peter's used these exact same words, Acts 3.15 and 5.32. So Peter understood what the assignment that Christ had given them. You are to be my witnesses. And he's saying, we are indeed witnesses. We have seen Christ.

And he gives the context here, everything he did both in the land of the Jews and Jerusalem. So this is the land of the Jews and the capital city of that land. By the way, if Christ came, and let's say he came to Denver this year, right? Christ came to Denver this year, right? And that was the first time he came. Would that mean something different than what was happening here? And yes it would, right?

Because he went to the Jews. He went to the Jews who were in Israel. He didn't even go to the Jews who were in other places. And by the way, two-thirds of the Jews, roughly, lived outside of Israel at the time that Christ came. He didn't go to them and he didn't send the disciples to them, not initially. They put him to death by hanging on a cross, and that was through the action of the Sanhedrin and by the hand of the Romans. And so Peter is recounting Christ's death on the cross there. They put them on a cross.

That was a specific event at a specific date. The disciples, some of them were closer, like John, and some were farther away, but they actually saw it. It was a real event that really took place in time and in space. So here is Peter. He claims to be a witness. Christ had previously ministered and sent his disciples to the people of Israel in the land of Israel. Example, when we quote here Matthew chapter 10. He sends his disciples out two by two. And did he say, just go around and start preaching the gospel?

No. He sends them out and he says, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Only. Don't even go on a road that leads to the Gentiles. Why? It's because he himself, chapter 15, He said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His message is specifically for Israel. That's why he doesn't come to Denver in 2017, right? In spite of the number of Jewish people here, right?

So, but in Acts 1.8, he told them that they would be witnesses worldwide, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

A very different sending and a very different ministry. The apostles and those among them were witnesses not only of the life of Christ and ministry to Israel, but they were witnesses of his death, of his crucifixion there just outside of Jerusalem, of his burial just outside of Jerusalem and right nearby where he was crucified, and his resurrection from that same place just outside the city of Jerusalem. They were witnesses of each stage in this. And so when Peter says we're witnesses, it's not just we happen to glance here and there at this and that. But they're specifically witnesses of these things.

Acts 10 40 and 41, God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. So this is God the Father raised him up and then on this the third day and this we know from studies that very high high degree of certainty this is Sunday April 5th 33 AD granted that he the risen Christ become visible right Now, did he just become generally visible? Just start walking around Jerusalem, show up in the temple, and show up in front of the Sanhedrin, and walk around while they're having, you know, all the... Because after all, right in the middle of this, they were having, just right after Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there were thousands of people around Jerusalem.

He could have showed up with all those people and had lots and lots and lots of witnesses. Would that have been a good thing? You might think. Not to all the people, and by the way, the people implies to Israel, not to all of Israel, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God.

So this wasn't an accidental witness. Oh, I just happened to glance, you know, he went by and I saw he had this yellow robe on. He went by and I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I just happened to be there. There wasn't that. Instead, these witnesses were chosen beforehand by God. And I would say even the timing. You can imagine kind of God's humor in this thing. Here's Jesus. He shows up there.

Ten disciples, less one. All of them but Thomas. Thomas isn't there. He does not believe the other ten. Nah! Until I see and touch, nah, I'm not believing it. You guys are crazy. I don't believe you. How long does the Lord wait to reveal Himself to Thomas? Do you say, well, we're going to fix this. It'll only be a day or two. No, He waits over a week. He lets a week go by and then shows Himself to Thomas.

These witnesses were chosen beforehand by God over a period of 40 days. Then the Lord appears to selected witnesses. And then specifically, this is to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Now notice he uses us. So it's Peter and other apostles, and there may well have been others, but specifically the apostles were appointed to be witnesses. So this roughly 40 day period of time from his resurrection to the time of his ascension, then would have been the time when Peter and the Apostles and others were the ones he appeared to.

And Peter's testifying to these things. So these were not just random witnesses. These were not just witnesses who just happened by. These were not accidental witnesses, but witnesses selected by God. So here they are, selected by God at times and places and circumstances, appointed by God. And Peter claimed to be one of them. He says, us. I'm among them.

Here's Acts 1042, and he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify that he is the one who's been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Now notice, what's interesting is this word for ordered is not a word that Peter uses very often, pretty uncommonly as a matter of fact, but he is with a centurion. So ordered is a fitting word, right? So he ordered authoritatively. He ordered us, using a term that the centurion Cornelius would understand, to preach to the people, that implies to Israel, was Peter's understanding, and solemnly to testify, that is to tell the truth, right?

And then the one, and so this is the one who has been appointed by God, Jesus, that one, specifically Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. And so this term, the one, we find that early in the Gospel of John in 133 and then later on 636. We're not done seeing that term of Christ being the one.

Acts 22.9, the Apostle Paul himself will be using that term. He is the one. There isn't any other. There isn't any alternate.

Has been appointed by God as the judge of the living and the dead. One of the things that is brought out here by Peter, the Apostle Paul as he speaks to the philosophers at Athens, will talk about that appointed time to be judged. Appointed time and Christ himself is the judge. He is the one who is going to be judging. This is appointed by God the Father as the judge of the living and the dead. King James has the quick and the dead, and I don't know, I don't think quick means fast. But anyway, the living and the dead. Here's Acts 17 verse 30 at the end to 31. This is from the mouth of Paul.

So here's God the Father is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent and that is to change of mind so as to end in belief, because He, the Father, has fixed a day in which He, the Father, will judge the world in righteousness through a man. So is the Father judging? Yes, through Christ, the man Christ, whom He, the Father, has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him, Christ, from the dead. Christ is the ultimate judge. Isn't it amazing to think of how Others stood in judgment of Jesus, and in the end, He will stand in judgment of them. By the way, is that voluntary? I think I'll pick Jesus for my judge. That's not the way it works, is it? Right? The appointment isn't because we voted Him. It isn't because, hey, I think I'll check that box. Right?

The appointment is done by God the Father. here's acts 1043 of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins so of him that is of Christ of this Jesus of Nazareth the one who has been appointed by the father to be the judge all the prophets bear witness and of course we could look at a prime example that being Isaiah 53 1 through 12 which speaks of Christ's death burial and resurrection And so Isaiah 53 is amazingly clear through his name. Now one of the things that we bring out here is that the name in the Bible is not simply what sound do you go by, right? It's not here is the sound that you're accustomed to hearing about this fellow, right?

Now one of the things that I notice as I kind of recall over time, over time I've been called various things. Some of them I won't repeat. But anyway, I've been called various things. But that's not what do people say. This is not a name, what sound do you associate with that person.

But rather, this is His name meaning who He was and is and what He has done. That's what the name represents. Everyone who believes in Him, and this everyone who believes in Him is the same message as John 3.16. Whosoever believes in Him has everlasting life, does not perish.

We're going to see in a few chapters, the jailer in Philippi is going to ask the question, what must I do to be saved? All he has is a sword drawn, right? He's ready to do himself in. What must I do to be saved? And Paul gives them the quick answer, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Believe in Him, who He is and what He's done.

And then receiving forgiveness of sins. The one who believes receives forgiveness of sins. Without that belief, forgiveness of sins does not happen. It's the one who believes who receives forgiveness of sins. And that's critical. Scripture is very clear on that all the way from the end of the Gospels, as we quote here Luke 24, 47, several times in the Book of Acts and on into Ephesians and Colossians. He who believes in Him, and that's truly Him, not a substitute Jesus, who He is and what He has done in truth, receives forgiveness of sins. In an amazing parallel, here's 1 Corinthians 15, 3 through 11, where it comes across this way.

For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Which is essentially what Peter just said, right? And that he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, also known as Simon, right?

Then to the twelve, After that, he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now. Some have fallen asleep. I'm sure a lot of them have slept, but what he means by fallen asleep, of course, some have died and gone home to be with the Lord. Then he appeared to James, his half-brother, who didn't believe in him and wanted him dead. Can you imagine showing up to your half-brother who wants you dead, and his half-brother's rejoicing? Yeah, he's dead! Yeah! And then Jesus shows up to him, having resurrected. Oh. Right? So this is quite a realization for James. Then to all the apostles, and last of all is to one untimely born. He appeared to me, that is, Paul.

Also, for I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain. But I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether it was I or they, so we preached, and so you believed, and were saved."

Here's Acts 10.44. While Peter was still speaking these words, The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who are listening to the message.

Now, so what this is telling us, God interrupted what Peter was saying. Was that rude? Not exactly, right? Why would God interrupt what Peter was saying? Why wouldn't he wait until Peter was done? Because Peter, it sounds like Peter might have said more. Why would God interrupt it? We're going to see here in just a minute. The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who are listening to the message.

Peter retold this exact same account in Acts 11.15 and 15.8. So he tells it again. This is a very big moment in Peter's mind and in his understanding here. the Holy Spirit fell on all those who are listening to the message and that was the Gentiles of the household that is the household of Cornelius so that that includes Cornelius and his wife and children and everybody was there and in those days the household also included the slaves So it would include all those relatives, and this goes on to extended family that he had invited there, and then it says earlier in the chapter, the close friends of Cornelius were also gathered there. So all those listening to this message, they were all there gathered listening to Peter's words.

Acts 10.45 says, and all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed. Would you be? Yeah, likely so. Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

This was not what we were expecting. By the way, has God ever done something that you didn't expect? Yeah, I think that's part of the, God does various things and we don't expect it. And this is, they weren't expecting this either. This just was not in their thinking.

So all the circumcised believers who came there, so one of the things How many? We learn from Acts 11-12 when Peter recounts this. We'll get there. Six Jews who had become believers in Christ had traveled with Peter. So with Peter, that's now seven Jews who are all gathered together. Sounds like the perfect number, right? They were amazed. You might sometimes translate it as astonished or just wondered. They're just kind of, wow, this is over the top.

And it says, and the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles. This is what was said in advance would happen, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And multiple times it talks about the Holy Spirit coming upon them. And Peter is going to recount this in chapter 11 and again in chapter 15. And so this Holy Spirit being poured out on the Gentiles also, that is, in addition to the Jews. They had seen it with the Jews on the day of Pentecost, not quite a decade earlier, and now here they're seeing it again with the Gentiles, the Gentiles also, and it just was not in their mindset at all.

Here's Acts 10, 46 and 47. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. And then Peter answered, Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we did. Can he? So they were hearing them speaking. That refers to the six Jews who had believed in Christ. So these were Jewish believers in Christ.

Tongues and one of the things we point out sometimes people will think well tongues. That's something special This word is translated languages and and actually from the context where we look at it. These are these are not some special Languages that didn't exist anywhere else. These are not heavenly languages These are human languages known throughout the world. Okay, and so these begin demonstrating that as well and they begin speaking in languages, known human languages. They begin exalting God.

One of the things we saw in the day of Pentecost, Acts 2.11 talks about those who were speaking in languages told of the mighty deeds of God. So this is very, very similar in its outcome. So that's one thing to look at is oftentimes we might think, oh, gee, if it's tongues, what's this or that? It's known human languages. And now we have two in a row where what they talk about is exalting God and the mighty deeds of God. And so we see a very clear pattern.

We're going to look more at what that pattern is, too. And then he talks about being baptized. This is the physical baptism, typically immersion. And they received the Holy Spirit just as we did on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter two. So let's think about this. Some roughly seven, eight years have gone by since the day of Pentecost.

Notice that Peter doesn't say they received the Holy Spirit and spoken tongues as we have been doing, but as we did back at the beginning. And we're going to see that again in chapter 11. Peter points to back at the beginning, tongues was not necessarily, and it's certainly not revealed here, as an ongoing phenomenon. And we're going to see more about that in just a minute. It's very important to understand that tongues isn't just something they just kept doing and doing and doing. It happened at specific times and events, and we're going to look shortly at what exactly is that pattern.

Here's Acts 1048, and he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days. So Peter, and here's this word ordered again, again using it in the sense of, okay, I'm in the household of a Roman centurion, so that word ordered fits. To be baptized and baptism, although you can find instances where the word is used in some other context, Its natural and usual sense is to be immersed in water in the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, we've got an issue here. We've got an issue. Are you ready for this? Matthew 28, 19 and 20. You probably have at least some of it in your head. Baptizing Him in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What's happening here? Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.

We won't have time to go into it today, but this is intended to give you some thought. In every single instance in the book of Acts, from the beginning all the way to the end, whenever there is baptism, it is always, no exceptions, in the name of Jesus Christ. What's going on there? Anyway, we won't answer that today, but that's something for us to take a look at, because we're going to run into it again and again.

Baptism in Acts is always in the name of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28, 19, and 20, it's the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Is that a problem? Or is there something we need to understand? Anyway, we'll take a look at that. So they asked him to stay on for a few days. So here's Peter staying. and eating with the Gentiles along with six fellow Jews who were believers. Seven Jews who were believers in Christ now eating and staying with the Gentiles for days.

Oh, we've come to love bacon, right? Wow, what is this stuff? This is really good, right? It's what? Can you imagine their shock? Tasting things they had never tasted before, eating things that they were told this is absolutely abhorrent. This tastes terrible! Or at least I'd sure like to think that it was. Can you imagine? That must have been quite an experience.

Now, a few things to point out. One of the things I said previously, a couple of weeks ago, between Acts chapter 8, chapter 9, and chapter 10, we have reference to the three sons of Noah. What? It doesn't mention anything about Noah or the Ark or anything. Well, here's the deal.

Noah had three sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And the Genesis chapters about, you know, 5 through 11 give us the history of those three sons and those who followed after them in lineage. But what's very interesting is we have Shem, Ham, and Japheth represented in chapters 8 9 and 10.

The Jews, descendants of Shem, were brought into the church first. That's what we saw starting in Acts chapter 2. Next, we saw previously the Ethiopian eunuch was from the line of Ham, which went into Africa. And Cornelius was of the line of Japheth, which went into Europe. So you had by this time, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, you had the three sons of Noah now have become believers in Christ all from different directions. So there's kind of a bigger picture so you can get a shot of that.

Now we're going to talk about the best kept secret on tongues in the whole book of Acts. And we're only going to cover this one more time. So this is key. Tongues in the book of Acts follows a very very specific pattern and there are no exceptions and is entirely consistent. And here's what it is. Starts off with this. Tongues only occurred three times in the whole book of Acts, which stretches out over about three decades of time. Three times. That's it.

It was always in an evangelistic context. They had Pentecost. How many were saved? About 3,000. So it was always in an evangelistic context. Here, The Gentiles first became believers. We're going to see in chapter 19 one more account, and it's going to be another group. But it's always in an evangelistic context. There are always Jews present, and there's always at least one apostle. Always. No exceptions. Always.

Let's go to the other part of that. It happened once among the Jews in the Jewish land, that's Acts chapter 2. Once among the Jews in the Jewish land, Acts chapter 2. It happened once among the Gentiles in the Jewish land, and we just read about that in Acts chapter 10. It happened once among the Jews in the Gentile land, that's Acts chapter 19, and we'll get there.

That's the pattern. That's it. So rather than tongues and tongues and tongues, and everybody speaks in tongues, and we just keep doing tongues and tongues and more tongues, we see it only happens three times, and always with Jews present, always with at least one apostle present, and this pattern. Once among the Jews in the Jewish land, once among the Gentiles in the Jewish land, and once among the Jews in the Gentile land. That's it. It's that simple. Acts is transitional, and so that's why it only happened once with each of these circumstances.

All right. So now, Peter got it right here. Nothing should be taken away or added from the gospel that must be believed in order to be saved, nor should anything be added to or taken away from belief. Peter understood no law or legal requirement would enhance either his salvation, nor the Jews with him, nor the Gentiles he was with for a few days. No legal requirement will help.

I'll stay at your place, and we'll go ahead and eat your food and all that, but no bacon. We're not doing bacon here. Right? Is that what he did? No. There wasn't one law that he could put on himself or them that was going to help the situation. The law was only going to get in the way, as a matter of fact.

And what you find is most of Christendom, notice I use the term Christendom, not Christianity, most of Christendom subscribes to some element of law. It contaminates the gospel. It contaminates the gospel. Was Peter going to learn more about law and grace? He most certainly was. He was going to have a great number of aha moments about law and grace.

But one of the things that he began to get here is, I can't put myself under law, I can't put these fellow Jews, the six of them who are with me, under law, and I can't put any of these Gentiles under law and add to the gospel or do anything to improve it. I need not mess with it. The gospel doesn't need help from me or anybody else.

So what we want to do is caution you against bad math. Now it turns out, years ago, I tried going back to the high school that I graduated from. Twelve years after I graduated, I went back. And that wasn't a real good idea, it turns out. But one of the things I did is teach math. And bad math is a problem. And it's the bad math that adds to or takes away from the gospel.

If we have belief and something else. Oh, I've got to believe, but then I've got to do da-da-da-da-da-da-da, right? In order to stay saved or be saved, right? I can't replace belief with something else. I can't say, well, belief means this. Belief means I got to do X, Y, and Z, right? I can't add to or take away from what Christ has done when He died on the cross, was buried, and rose again.

And I also can't take away or add to who He is. That's a serious mistake. These are errors that are spiritually dangerous, spiritually dangerous errors. Let's look at how marvelous, how amazing and how gracious Ephesians 2, 4 through 10 is. And this is not in your handout, but follow through with me.

But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works. You can't do anything to make your salvation better or assured. not as a result of work, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them." Where did the good works come from? He did it at the beginning, right? It's his doing, it's his accomplishment. Salvation is by grace alone. Period.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you as we look at this example. Here's Peter presenting the gospel as we see this radical transformation with this one-time exceptional exhibit of the Holy Spirit coming upon these Gentile believers. We just are thankful for your graces made clear and the gospel is presented clearly. And there is nothing that we can do to enhance it, improve upon it, or even to prove our own worthiness for it. It is by grace alone. We thank you for that. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.