026 The First Gentile Church (part 1)
Acts 11:1-18
September 9, 2012

Tonight we begin to study what really ought to be
A very important date in our history.

• We know about 1492 and Columbus exploring the new land.
• We are all familiar with July 4th and the Declaration of Independence.
• We certainly all “Remember the Alamo”

Big events for sure in our life.

We all remember big Christian events as well.
• We continually remember the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
• We are familiar with Pentecost and the birth of the church.

But an often overlooked event, yet one that is very important to you and I is the beginning of the first ever Gentile church.

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Jesus laid out a strategy for reaching the world with the gospel.

It would all start in Jerusalem.
The disciples were to remain in the city until they were clothed with power from on high.

And Jerusalem was in fact the first reached city.

After Peter preached in Jerusalem:
Acts 2:41 “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”

But Jesus saw Jerusalem as the beginning point, not the ending point, and from there the gospel would go to Judea.

Acts 5:16 “Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.”

And again Jesus had bigger plans for His church.
We are all familiar with the persecution that broke out
On the heels of the stoning of Stephen.

The result was that Samaria would receive the gospel.
Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.”

And so the only place left was for the gospel to branch out to was:
“the remotest part of the earth.”
That branching out actually began in Acts chapter 10
With the conversion of Cornelius and his household.

Acts 10:44-45 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.”

Christ is literally building His church exactly as He said He would.
Christ is building His church.

And tonight we see the very first Gentile church.
“Antioch”

And this is a wonderful church,
• Not only because it was the first,
• But also because this is the church that was first pastored by Paul,
• And which literally became the sending ground for Paul’s missionary journeys.

Acts 13:1-3 “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”

That means that we trace the existence of our church back to this one.
The Jerusalem church went on mission accidentally.
This church went on mission intentionally.

They set out to reach the world.
The church at Antioch started it all.

But as we see the birth of this new church,
We are again reminded that God was doing it.
For if anything the Jerusalem church was opposed to it.

Their beginning is marked with
Prejudice, Skepticism, and even Stubbornness,
But because this church was the will of God it was formed.

So tonight let’s examine the beginning of this first Gentile church.
(We probably won’t make it all the way through, but we’ll at least get started tonight)

7 things we see here in this chapter.
#1 THE INITIAL REACTION
Acts 11:1-3

Well in a strange way it’s actually a little encouraging to read those words,
For we learn that the early church in Jerusalem was human just as we are.

What took place in Acts 10 was in reality a marvelous thing.

Jesus had taught us in John 10:
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”

Jesus had also taught in Luke 15:
Luke 15:7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Acts 10 therefore was a prophetic fulfillment
As well as a cause of great heavenly joy.
The early church should have rejoiced as well, but they didn’t.

In fact here we read that as soon as Peter returned to Jerusalem,
The believers from the entire area came to Jerusalem to find him
And Scripture says they “took issue with him.”

In short, they called him on the carpet.

On this last little mission trip Peter went on,
In their eyes, he clearly crossed the line.

And it is apparent that someone traveling with Peter had posted a picture of Peter and Cornelius on facebook and when the other Jews saw it they wondered just what Peter was thinking.

So when Peter gets home,
It is time to have a little meeting to set him straight.

And their main complaint?
(3) “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

They had two issues.
• You went to them.
• You ate with them.

First of all, what were you even thinking
Approaching those people with the gospel?

• Those aren’t Jews, those aren’t descendants of Abraham.
• At least Samaritans (despised as they were) were sons of Jacob,
• You actually entered their home and ate with them.

What were you thinking!

And I hope you see here a familiar attitude,
And one we have seen many times before.

Jonah 1:1-3 “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.”

Why did Jonah not want to go?
Jonah 3:10-4:3 “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

Jonah didn’t want to go because he didn’t want the Ninevites saved.
The Assyrians had done horrifically cruel things to his people,
And Jonah wanted justice, not redemption.
(Raavi Zaccarias likened it to a Jew going on mission to Germany after the Holocaust)

That is a similar sentiment here.
• These were Gentiles.
• This particular Gentile was a Roman.

The Jews didn’t particularly want them saved.

But Jonah isn’t the only place we have seen this attitude.
We continually saw a similar attitude from the Pharisees.

Luke 13:14 “But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Luke 6:7-11 “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”

So concerned about the Sabbath that they couldn’t even see
the glorious works of compassion and power that Jesus displayed.

And yet that is the same mindset we find here in the early church.

Could they really look at what Peter did, see all those who had been saved, and take issue over something as ridiculous as Peter eating in their house?
Apparently they could.

The early church here displayed all the prejudice and spiritual arrogance that we came to hate in the organized religion of old.
Did the early church really consider themselves worthy of the Holy Spirit, while the Gentiles were not?

Apparently they did.
That is why they took issue with Peter.

The Initial Reaction
#2 THE INFORMATIVE RE-TELLING
Acts 11:4-14

It is very interesting that Luke records this story again in its entirety.
That indicates how important it was to Luke
That we all understand the hand of God in this event.

So Peter begins to explain to this self-righteous group what happened.

And Peter reveals that God dealt with him in three ways.
1) GOD DEALT WITH PETER’S THEOLOGY (5-10)

And of course you remember the story.
Peter was praying on the roof and fell into a trance
And saw the image of the sheet filled with all sorts of unclean animals.

(7) “I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’”

And you will remember that Peter took issue with that command.

(8) “But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’”

In short Peter says, “Hey guys, I was with you on this one.”

But God corrected my theology.
(9) “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’”

And this is something we have to understand in our own lives.

WHAT DETERMINES RIGHT AND WRONG FOR US?
God does.

Our definition of what is right and what is wrong
Is only based on God’s definition, not our own personal preferences.

• Things like abortion…
• Things like homosexuality…
• Things like drunkenness…
• Things like adultery…

The only reason they are wrong is because God says they are wrong.
We base our convictions on God’s commands.

And that includes the flip side.
If God says it is ok, then it is ok,
Regardless of rather or not we think it is.

(Take alcohol) – in other countries, not even a stumbling block.
God says it is ok.
So despite your preferences, it is ok.

And this is one of those issues Peter was up against.
Jesus had already declared all foods clean.
Eating with these Gentiles was not forbidden.

Peter was not breaking God’s commands,
Peter was breaking his religious traditions.

But God corrected his theology.
“Peter, if I say it is ok, then it is ok.”

So Peter got his theology corrected.
2) GOD DEALT WITH PETER’S HESITANCY (11-12)

We already recognized in that God had to give that vision 3 times.
(It always happened with Peter in 3’s)

But I also like God’s command here.
After the men showed up from Cornelius,
One would think that obviously you would go with them.

But God knew the prejudice of Peter’s heart
And knew that he would need a little extra prodding.

So (12) “The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings.”

I like that.
The Spirit not only told me to go, but to go “without misgivings”

Don’t fret it
Don’t question it
Don’t struggle with it
“It’s of Me, it’s fine, go”

God knew Peter would be hesitant, but He dealt with it anyway.
3) GOD DEALT WITH PETER’S CONFUSION (13-14)

You will remember from our study of Acts 10
That Peter didn’t really know what was up.

But God straightened all that out.
When Peter got there he understood that
God was working on the other end, and it all started to make sense.

And so as these men came to take issue with Peter,
Peter is very honest and says,
“Look, 3 months ago I would have been with you.”

This was really not what I wanted.
• But God corrected my theology.
• God corrected my hesitancy.
• And God corrected my confusion.

And that was an important testimony for Peter to share.

The Initial Reaction, The Informative Re-telling
#3 THE IMPORTANT RECOLLECTION
Acts 11:14-16

And this is still part of Peter’s recounting testimony,
But it gives a very important distinction that we need to observe.

“And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. AND I REMEMBERED THE WORD OF THE LORD, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”

Now the reason I separate this out from the rest of the testimony is
Because I want you to recognize where Peter’s authority came from here.

Peter doesn’t say, “So it seemed right to me…”
Peter says, “Jesus said…”

Peter again takes the situation
And puts it squarely on the back of Jesus.

What he witnessed was directly in line with Scripture.
What he observed was perfectly compatible with the words of Jesus.

Acts 1:4-5 “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

These were among the final words of Jesus on this earth.
Jesus told them that all true believers
Would in fact be “baptized with the Holy Spirit”

And don’t go all mystical on me here.
Neither Jesus nor Peter were referring to
Some sort of secondary filling of the Spirit apart from salvation.
Even at Pentecost Peter said:
Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter understood correctly that the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Would occur simultaneously with a person’s salvation.

And that is Peter’s point to the group here.
I remembered that Jesus said His people would be
Baptized with the Holy Spirit, and low and behold these people were.

• I went to them.
• I ate with them.
• I spoke to them.
• But I didn’t give them the Holy Spirit.

I baptized them with water, but not with the Spirit.

The Lord did that.
And I remembered that He said He would.

Peter took this incident and linked it to the word of Jesus;
VERY IMPORTANT.

The Initial Reaction, The Informative Retelling, The Important Recollection
#4 THE INTELLIGENT RESPONSE
Acts 11:17-18

And what a smart response this was.
“Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
What a brilliant statement!

We all remember Gamaliel giving the same advice to the Sanhedrin
When Peter and John were on trial.

Acts 5:38-39 “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”
Peter in essence says the same thing.

It was clear to me that God was doing something here beyond my control,
And there is no way that I was going to stand in His way.

He corrected me
He sent me
And He saved them
WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?
(Tell God no and try to stop Him?)

(18) “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

And at once every Gentile would lift their voice and say,
“If God be for us, who can be against us!”

And what a glorious truth this is.
• I hope you understand that magnitude of what occurred here in chapter 10.
• I hope you understand the magnitude of what was just realized here.

Israel is the chosen people of God.
Abraham was the recipient of the promises.

But here we find that God willed
To include the Gentiles in that promise.

Romans 9:22-26 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.'” “AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

God took that wild olive shoot and sovereignly chose
To graft it in to His olive tree.

Not because we were worthy…
Not because we were favorable…
God did it because He wanted to.

He did it in spite of Jewish prejudice…
He did it in spite of Gentile ignorance…
God did it because He could and that is what He wanted to do.

And the implication for us is huge!
Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

• Take all of your accomplishments…
• Take your fancy pedigree…
• Take your favorable past…
Throw it all out the window,
Because NONE of that is the reason you are a child of God.

It is all only because of Jesus.
He makes us heirs of the promise.

Ephesians 2:11-19 “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called ” Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,”

Christ did it, He did it all.
Thanks to Him Gentiles are fellow heirs of grace.
Thanks to Him we all have an inheritance.

God did it in spite of the prejudice of the Jews.
God grabbed Peter and forced him to talk to Cornelius,
And then saved them without Peter even giving an invitation.

It was all God.

And we have much more to see about the start of this church, but let me just leave you with an important thought of application even for us.

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES A MAN ACCEPTABLE TO GOD?
Only faith in Christ.

Remember what Peter learned at Cornelius’ house?
Acts 10:34-35 “Opening his mouth, Peter said: “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 welcome to Him.”

Paul taught us:
Romans 2:9-10 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Romans 3:28-30 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.”

And of course we know that whether Jewish or not,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

These Jews were willing to ostracize Peter
Simply because it didn’t fit with their prejudices,
And were also willing to push away those Christ was drawing near.

We have to be mindful of potential prejudices in our own lives.
We certainly don’t want to be those who would push away
Someone Christ is drawing near.

Because the reality is
A man doesn’t have to become Jewish before he can be a Christian,
And a man doesn’t have to be Baptist before he can be a Christian.
A man doesn’t even have to be a Republican before he can be a Christian (although we can’t imagine him not wanting to be)

But you get the idea, what matters is that men trust Christ,
Not conform to you.

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

We want people to look like Jesus, not like us.

And really if we had time we could talk about Romans 14
And judging our brothers because they eat or don’t eat certain types of meat,
Or because they honor one day above another.

We could even get into personal appearances
Or racism or clothing or music styles.

Make sure you keep the main thing the main thing
And that is that men repent of their sin
And place their faith in Jesus Christ.

And we’ll pick the rest of this text up next time.

Acts 11:17 “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

And Yet Another Divine Appointment
Acts 10:1-48
August 5, 2012

One of the truths that I truly never get tired of
Is the fact that God is sovereign over His church.

Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

And no book in the Bible reinforces that truth like the book of Acts.

From the time of His ascension we have seen Jesus continually intervene to Start, Protect, Guide, Instruct, Build, and Spread His church.

And nothing in this is more encouraging to study than
The numerous divine appointments recorded in this book.

We have already seen two.

The first was with Philip and the Eunuch.
(Remember that story?)

The second was with Ananias and Saul.
(Remember that story?)

And we have been reminded of a precious truth
That is so quickly forgotten in the church today and that is that
God and not the evangelist is the Savior.

Contrary to popular belief we cannot be EDUCATED enough, PERSUASIVE enough, COMPASSIONATE enough,
Or even PERSEVERANT enough to cause men to be saved.

If men are to be saved it only occurs through the power of the Spirit
To convict, draw, enlighten, and produce faith.

God is the Savior.

Now, as we learned last week, that DOES NOT MEAN that
We just sit back and do nothing until God brings a lost person to knock on our door who asks us to tell them about Jesus.

• We’ve already been told to go (Matthew 28)
• We’ve already been told were to go (ends of the earth)
• We’ve already been told what to do as we go (preach)

So we are by no means using the fact of God’s sovereignty
As an excuse to be lazy in regard to missions.

A professing Christian who has no interest in missions
Is a walking contradiction.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”

We are not about to sit back and do nothing.
• We are committed to support missionaries.
• We are committed to send missionaries.
• We are committed to pray for missionaries.
• We are committed to go and witness.
• We are committed to pray for the lost.

Those things are necessary.

But, as you do those things let me remind you not to walk in pride,
And there is no need to walk in anxiety.

You can’t walk in pride because if salvation occurs,
You can know God did it, not you.

And there is no need to walk in anxiety because if salvation doesn’t occur,
You know it is not your fault, you weren’t going to save them anyway.

That is what the truths of God’s sovereignty does for us.

It frees us up to obey without fear of failure
Or without temptation to manipulate in order to produce a response.

We can simply obey the call of God
And leave the results up to Him for He is the Savior.

That being said I want to show you this reality one more time tonight.
And this is really my favorite of all three.

It is so evident that God is doing this apart from any human effort
That this story really just drives home the point in our minds.

There are three main points to this text.
#1 THE CONFRONTATIONS
Acts 10:1-16

What we see here are two confrontations, and it is really amazing.

Let’s look at the first, it is the man Cornelius.

Scripture says he was “a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort”

And so you understand both his commitment to Rome
And his authority in the Roman government.
We also learn that he was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household,”

“God-fearer” was actually the highest title that a Gentile could receive.
This was Cornelius, having stopped short of full conversion by circumcision.

And we also find that he “gave many alms to the Jewish people” indicating his concern and true heart compassion.

But without a doubt the most impressive characteristic
Is that he “prayed to God continually.”

Paul actually commands Christians:
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing;”

That does not indicate a continual bowing of the head
But rather a heart always seeking and listening for the direction of God.

That was Cornelius.
• He hadn’t become Jewish, but he was a man after God.
• He wanted to know God’s will for his life.

And you will notice that God confronts this man.
(3-6) “About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. “Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

Cornelius had been praying, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate
That he had been asking for a preacher or anything like that.

God simply interrupted Cornelius’ life and told him that He wanted him to send for Peter, God even told Cornelius where he could find him.

And according to verse 7 Cornelius obeyed.
So obviously God is intervening in Cornelius’ life.

But that is only one of the confrontations.

The next day God is at it again.
(9-16) “On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”

And so there again, God is obviously at work on Peter’s end.

• Peter is hungry
• While he is waiting he falls into a trance and God gives him a vision.
• This one is strange, God wants him to eat unclean food.
• Peter objects because that is gross to him.

Now Peter should have already known it was ok.
Mark 7:17-22 “When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.”

So Peter was certainly aware at least in a knowledge sense
That eating this food was ok.

The problem was not legality, but rather personal preference.
It wasn’t that Peter couldn’t eat it, it was that he didn’t want to.

God had cleansed it, but Peter still in his own heart considered it unclean.
And God said, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

Now to show the difficulty Peter had breaking this routine,
God had to go through this three times with him.

And you will notice in verse 17
That even then Peter “was greatly perplexed”.

But the point to be gleaned here is that
God is actively at work engaging both of these men.
]
• Both were indeed men who sought God.
• Both were indeed men who prayed and listened to God.
• Both were even men who obeyed God.

But, neither was really looking for this.
It’s not like Cornelius had been searching for a preacher,
Not like Peter had been searching for a Gentile.
God is doing this apart from any personal desire they had on their own.

And that is clearly seen in the next point.

First we saw The Confrontations
#2 THE CONFUSION
Acts 10:17-33

Here is how we know this did not originate with either of these men.

You will notice that they both had a bit of confusion
As to exactly what was going on.

And here is where the story starts getting interesting.
(17-18) “Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.”

So Peter gets a vision, has no clue why,
And coincidentally, these men show up looking for him.

Now the men are at the gate, but Peter is still on the housetop
And doesn’t know these men are there.

So (19-20) “While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. “But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

Simon the tanner didn’t even have to climb the ladder
To tell Peter he had guests.

The Holy Spirit told Peter, and told him to go with these men.

Now this is interesting, Peter doesn’t know who they are;
He doesn’t even know they are Gentiles.

But the Holy Spirit sends Peter before he has a chance to meet them
And question whether or not to accompany them.
You go.
Don’t hesitate.
I sent them.

Now here comes the first indication of confusion.

(21) “Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

So it’s clear that Peter is getting the message,
But notice there is something he still doesn’t know.
Why are you here?

Now the men partly answer the question, but not entirely.
(22-23) “They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.” So he invited them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.”

So he knows they are here because Cornelius sent for him,
But he still doesn’t know what the real issue is.

In other words, he doesn’t know what Cornelius wants to know.
But Peter is obedient and goes along.

(24-26) “On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” As he talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled.

So Peter shows up and Cornelius is confused.
He begins to worship and Peter puts an end to that instantly.

(Incidentally the worship of saints ought to be clearly seen as wrong)

And then we get yet another indicator that this is not Peter’s plan or idea.

(28-29) “And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. “That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

Peter clearly says that it is not my idea to be here.
• It is unlawful for me to be here.
• It is uncomfortable for me to be here.
• Indeed I wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t told me to be here.

So now, let’s get down to the point.
“I ask what reason you have sent for me.”

Peter just wants to know what the question is.

But notice, he isn’t the only one who is a little confused.
(30-33) “Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ‘Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ “So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Now I hope you notice what has just happened.

• Both of these men were individually and separately confronted by God.
• One to send for the other, and the other to go against his own judgment.
But neither knows why.

Peter says, “What did you want to know?”
Cornelius answers, “Whatever God wants you to tell me.”

Is that not remarkable?
“I don’t know what I want to know, it wasn’t my idea to send for you.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell you, it wasn’t my idea to come.”

I mean this sounds like some third party trick where one guy
Tells two different people something in order to get them together,
And both thought it was the other guy.
(Parent Trap)

Neither one of them would have planned this.
Neither one of them was looking for this.

Now later in Acts 11 as Peter recounts the story to those who are angry at him for going, he does say that Cornelius wanted to know words of salvation:

Acts 11:13-14 “And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’”

But even that doesn’t indicate something Cornelius could ask.
He didn’t have a question.

He just knew that Peter had something to tell him, he had no idea what.

• So we have a man sending, but doesn’t know why.
• We have a man going, but doesn’t know why.
And yet here they are.
Peter and Cornelius standing face to face
Trying to figure out exactly what to do next.

So we have The Confrontation, and we have The Confusion
#3 THE CONVERSION
Acts 10:34-48

Now here we have our two men just sort of standing here,
Not really know what to do next.

But Peter does know God is teaching him about his personal prejudice.
(34-35) “Opening his mouth, Peter said: “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 welcome to Him.”

There is one of those personal testimonies of
“What God is showing me on this mission trip”.

Peter knows that he has some work to do on his racial attitude.
God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, but at the heart.

And if a man fears God and seeks righteousness
Then God isn’t concerned about his race.

And while Peter knew that intellectually,
He had yet to really let that truth sink into his heart.

See the unclean food was a picture of Cornelius and other Gentiles.

The Lord had already given the command, and so the truth was clear,
It’s just that Peter had no interest in putting it to use.

It was like the unclean meat.
Maybe I’m allowed to eat it, I just don’t want to.

Maybe Gentiles can be acceptable to God,
I just don’t care if they are or not.

And yet God is breaking down that prejudice in Peter.
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

And so Peter learns his lesson.

And then Peter continues.
Now, we will notice that Peter does give the facts about Jesus,
But as he does let me make sure
You notice something about the facts he gives.
Unlike Pentecost…
Unlike the temple sermon…

Peter’s sermon here is not deep, nor is it persuasive,
Nor is it argumentative.

That is to say Peter isn’t trying very hard at all to teach anything profound,
Or to convince anyone, or even to solicit a response.

In fact he doesn’t even ask them to do anything.
It really carries more of the feel here of one
Who is just gonna share a little and then be on his way.

MY POINT: it doesn’t give the appearance that
Peter is trying very hard to convert these Gentiles.

Look at his message.
(36-43) “”The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (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. “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. “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. “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 arose from the dead. “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Now what Peter says is accurate and true and the gospel,
But it is not deep or argumentative or persuasive.

Here is in a nutshell what he says.
• Jesus worked miracles
• Jesus was crucified
• Jesus was raised
• Jesus is God’s judge
• Jesus is the One the prophets spoke of
• Jesus can forgive sin

Now that is great stuff and wonderful truth, but it is not persuasive.
You don’t find Peter here trying to argue Cornelius either way.
Peter is merely stating the facts in a very non-confrontational way.

Now look at what happens as soon as Peter mentions forgiveness.

(44-46) “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.”

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Cornelius and the Gentiles with him believed in Christ and were saved,
And we know that because they received the Holy Spirit.

And do you want proof that neither Peter nor the rest of the Jews
Had any expectation of this?

They were “amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured on the Gentiles also.”

They knew to go, but had no idea that this was why.
They didn’t even think this was possible.

But it happened, and Peter responds:
(47-48) “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

Peter knew it was a touchy subject,
But he also knew he was right in ordering their baptism.

This by the way closes the question
About baptism being a pre-requisite for salvation.

It also doesn’t indicate salvation and then receiving the Holy Spirit later since chapter 11 clearly indicates Cornelius was saved here.

But Peter ordered their baptism thus indicating entrance into the church
And then he stayed on a few days.

And we understand why Peter went, it was to unify the church.
We understand they spoke in tongues to prove they had the Holy Spirit.

But the main thing I want you to see is who wanted their salvation and why they were saved.

WHERE THESE GENTILES SAVED BECAUSE THEY WERE SUCH GREAT SEEKERS?

No.
Scripture is clear about Gentiles.

Matthew 6:31-32 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

The only reason Cornelius was even a God-fearing man
Was because God had revealed enough of Himself to make him that way.

WHERE THESE GENTILES SAVED BECAUSE PETER WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT THEM?

No.
Acts 10:28 “And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.”

Peter wasn’t interested in the least.
These people were defiled and unclean meat.

WHY WERE THE SAVED?
God wanted it.

John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”

Who told Cornelius about Peter?
God did.
Who sent Peter to Cornelius’ house?
God did.

And there again you get the point.
It was God who was saving Gentiles.
It was God who was at work all along.

And that is tremendous news for us.
Evangelism isn’t about our ability, it is about our availability.

God is saving, and He desires to use you, if you’ll let Him.

Why didn’t the angel just tell Cornelius the gospel in his vision instead of having him send for Peter?
Because God wanted to use Peter.

And there it is.
• God doesn’t want you to save people.
• God doesn’t want you to convince people.

God wants to use you to save people.
Be obedient, let Him work and you might be blown away!

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Peter’s Missionary Journey
Acts 9:32-43
July 29, 2012

Well tonight as we dive back into or study of the book of Acts
We come across a couple of accounts that are spectacular,
But at the same time somewhat easy to overlook.

We get to see a portion of Peter’s missionary journey.

Often times when we think of missionaries in Scripture
• We think of the first missionary; Philip.
• We think of the greatest missionary; Paul
• We think of Paul’s companions; Barnabas, Silas, Timothy

But most of the time when you think of missionaries
You don’t really think about Peter.

Peter was devoted to Jerusalem and there wasn’t a thing wrong with that,
But even though his primary calling was Jerusalem,
That didn’t exempt him from missions either.

And so tonight we’ll look at Peter on mission.

His missionary journey actually began back in chapter 8.

The persecution had begun and the church was scattered
And Philip found himself in Samaria with a large number of followers.

Acts 8:14-17 “Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”

And so you remember how his mission trip began.
It wasn’t purely evangelistic in purpose, it was more for
The encouragement of Samarian believers and the unifying of the church.

But Peter was sent and he responded by going and fulfilling his mission.

Following that account we read:
Acts 8:25 “So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”

So Peter’s short mission trip was initially intended
Just to travel north to Samaria, recognize the believers there
And then travel back to his home ministry in Jerusalem.
And obviously as he traveled back south he was taking opportunity
To preach to the other Samaritan villages on the way home.

(Incidentally that is when Philip was told to leave and find the Eunuch
And then was raptured away to Azotus and traveled on to Caesarea.)

But Peter is making the most of his travel back home.
And so this is what we would call a “Short-term Mission Trip”

It wasn’t a trip like Paul’s who was branching out
Seeking to preach Christ where He had never been named.

This was a trip with the initial intent of encouraging other believers,
But also taking every opportunity to reach the lost along the way.

I think we can identify with that type of mission.
That is really the only kind I have ever done.

Paul and Philip would have been more like the career missionary
Who travel far off and are gone for long periods of time, planting churches,
Pastoring them, helping them and then moving on to plant others.

Peter wasn’t a long-term missionary.
He was a short-term guy.

He had a home church…
He had a home ministry…
But that didn’t exempt him from participation in a short-term trip
To encourage believers and reach the lost.

So we find Peter’s Missionary Journey extremely interesting.

Aside from that we also know that God has been working
In the area while Peter is on this trip.

In case you don’t remember this region also had a tyrant
Who was determined to stomp out the church.

That tyrant was a man named Saul, but God had dealt with Saul.

While Peter was heading south to Jerusalem,
Saul was headed north to Damascus
(Probably why Peter was traveling down the western side of Israel
Instead of a straight shot)

But now Saul was changed and we read last week:

Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”
And that means that the missionary effort just became much easier.
• The church was now at peace.
• The church was now encouraged and revitalized.
• The church was now back in full swing.

And so certainly Peter is able to minister now
With even less anxiety than before.

We call this “A Divine Opportunity”

The previous two weeks we have seen two “Divine Appointments”
And we learned that God is at work in ways we aren’t even aware,
And to a degree we simply must wait on Him to work
And for Him to show us where to join Him.

And so there is a very sovereign side of missions in which
We simply wait on God to show us where He is at work.

However, don’t take that to the extreme.
There are some who do,
And literally spend their entire life waiting for God to show them.

The problem is that this is only an excuse.
They wait for God to show them
While they keep their head buried in the sand.

“God just hasn’t sent me anywhere yet”
“I’m just haven’t been called to go anywhere”

May I remind you of a very important missionary passage in Scripture?
Isaiah 6:1-8 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

We are all familiar with the end of that passage,
But please recognize the events leading up to it.

Isaiah starts out in despair and somewhat self-centered.
• Uzziah had died and all Isaiah could see was an empty throne.
• Uzziah had been king for 52 years and for the most part a good king.

But once he died, the nation was stirred.
Isaiah actually entered the temple in despair,
And it was there that he saw God.

When he did, he also saw his sin and saw that he was a man of unclean lips and the people were also people of unclean lips.

This of course indicates a people of impure hearts since “out of the overflow the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Then Isaiah repented and his sin was atoned for.

And then comes a very important statement.
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Notice: “Then I heard”
Not, “Then God said…”

It paints the picture that God had been speaking all along,
Isaiah had simply never heard Him,
Partly due to the impurity of his heart, partly due to the apathy of his life.

But once Isaiah made himself available and repented of his sin,
He finally heard that God had been calling all along
And he answered “Here am I. Send me!”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
• It means that just because you’ve never heard God calling you to go on mission, it doesn’t mean He hasn’t.

• It means that just because you’ve never seen your divine appointment, it doesn’t mean there hasn’t been one.

• It may be that you’ve been too distracted to notice or too deaf to hear.
I certainly can see times when that has been a problem in my life.

While God is sovereign and we wait and watch for Him at work,
That does not mean that we simply live our lives in complacency
And refuse to move until it is obviously clear.

No, a Christian is in tune to God’s leading and His Spirit,
BUT A CHRISTIAN IS ALSO EAGER.

Let me give you another example that we will get too in Acts later.
Acts 16:6-10 “They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

Was Paul yielding to the Spirit waiting for his divine appointment?
Yes.

But was he just sitting back doing nothing until it arrived?
No.

Listen to Paul in this letter:
Romans 15:22-25 “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain — for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while — but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.”

Paul was dependent upon the leading of the Spirit and the power of God,
But he wasn’t sitting back doing nothing until it happened.

Paul was at work, seeking where God was at work.
He was going, looking for opportunities.

See, while we are convinced that God must be at work,
We also understand that God has also issued commands
That tell us to already be going.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 10:7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘ The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Christians who merely sit back waiting for a divine opportunity
Generally never recognize them.

But Christians who are obedient to go, while remaining submissive to the Spirit’s leading are those who spot God at work.

So we are dependant, we just aren’t complacent.

Sometimes we have divine appointments
Where God blows us away with what He is doing.

Sometimes we have divine opportunities, like here,
Where the door is open, the opportunity is there,
And we simply go knowing the command to go has been given,
Trusting that we will find God at work while we are on the journey.

That is where Peter is.

He is going because the doorway of opportunity is open,
God will have to show him the rest as he goes.

And so Peter is on his short-term trip.

Now we won’t see the completion of the trip tonight, in chapter 10
Peter is actually going to get a bizarre command as God sends him back north to Caesarea to visit a Gentile named Cornelius.

But Peter is on his way home he comes to the city of Lydda, a city about 25 miles North West of Jerusalem and so Peter isn’t far from home.

And as we look at this short-term trip there are two main things I think we can learn from Peter about how to participate in a mission like this.

In our text tonight Peter hits two different cities.
#1 LYDDA: THE INENTIONAL MISSION
Acts 9:32-35

Now as we look at the mission that took place in this city let me break it down a little further and show you some of the aspects of Peter’s trip.

This will certainly help those who are about to travel to Sanyati,
But it also helps us all as we view participation in missions
Both here at home and future short-term trips.

1) PETER’S ACTIVITY (32a)

(32a) “Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions…”

And this is what we were talking about earlier.
Peter isn’t sitting back in his closet
Waiting for a vision to specifically tell him where to go.

If a specific leading from the Lord arises Peter will certainly obey,
But in the meantime he will obey the commands to go
That he has already been given.

Peter is active.
• He “was traveling”
• He is looking
• He is going.

And until God tells him otherwise
There are several cities in this region that he plans to take the gospel to.

That is what we do when we plan a short-term trip.
Because the command to go has already been issued,
We plan to go to a certain city and preach the gospel.
And we go.
Might God change our plans? Sure.
But until He does we plan to go.

Peter’s Activity
2) PETER’S APPROACH (32b-33)

(32b-33) “he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.”

You will also notice Peter being very specific
And dedicated in his plan of ministry.

He came specifically “to the saints who lived at Lydda.”

This is not the church, these are not believers.
Presently in the book of Acts Christians are specifically called “disciples”.

“the saints” are Jews.

Peter’s plan was to go to a city and approach the Jews,
Probably in the synagogue to tell them that the Messiah has come.
(Just like he had been doing in Jerusalem)

But we also know that even in Jerusalem
Peter didn’t just approach Jews and start preaching.

Peter, because he was an apostle gifted with miraculous powers
Also used a catalyst to get his ministry started.

• At Pentecost he preached after the Spirit fell and all spoke in tongues.
• Later he preached after healing cripple at the temple.

So Peter knows how his ministry goes.
And his active plan is simple.
Approach the Jews and demonstrate the power of the resurrected Christ.

And that is precisely what he does.
“he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.”

So you can see that Peter is very intentional.
This is mission just like he has planned.

No different than a plan to go to Sanyati, work on a roof and teach in the church.
It is a plan.
Peter’s Activity, Peter’s Approach
3) PETER’S ACKNOWLEDGMENT (34-35)

And I really like the way Peter said this.

“Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you;”
• Peter wasn’t trying to promote himself.
• Peter wasn’t trying to grow his ministry.
• Peter was trying to introduce Jesus in a way that the people in the crowd would not forget.

This was Peter’s way of getting the focus on Jesus
So that he could preach the gospel.

And you will notice that it worked.
“all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.”

“all” is a strong word, but it is the word none the less.
This determined intentional mission trip paid huge dividends.
These two towns were saved.

And that is Peter’s intentional mission and Lydda.

And as I said this is important.
We know God creates divine appointments that we were unaware of,
But that doesn’t mean we should just sit back and do nothing.
The command to “go” has already been given,
And so we should definitely get busy.

Lydda: The Intentional Mission
#2 JOPPA: THE FLEXIBLE MISSION
Acts 9:36-43

And this is again why we love God.
He just has the ability to blow our minds.

We know that Peter had a mission plan and he was fulfilling it
And God was doing great things through it.
But God was also doing something that Peter didn’t know about.

And here is what God was doing.
(36-37) “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.”

Completely unbeknown to Peter, a devout believer in Joppa had died.

This woman named “Tabitha” in the Hebrew and “Dorcas” in the Greek.
(Like Saul and Paul)

Both mean “gazelle” by the way.

This woman who was a model woman, “abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did”

This woman “fell sick and died”

Peter knew nothing about this.
• This was like the Eunuch reading his bible apart from Philip knowing it.
• This was like Saul praying apart from Ananias knowing it.

Peter knew nothing about what was happening in Joppa.
But, the people in Joppa knew about what was happening in Lydda.

(38) “Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

Now, we call this a change of plans.

WHY?
Acts 8:25 said Peter was making his way back to Jerusalem.
He is now 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
But Joppa is 10 miles northwest of Lydda.

In other words, Joppa is the wrong direction.
If Peter had plans of being back in Jerusalem at a certain time,
This church was interfering.

But let’s learn some more truths about Peter’s short-term mission.
We already saw that He was Active, we saw His Approach,
And we saw His Acknowledgment.

1) PETER’S AVAILABILITY (39)

We read, “So Peter arose and went with them.”

It really doesn’t sound like much to read that statement
Until we realize that it was opposite of what Peter had planned.

How well do you like it when someone asks you to do something that completely turns your plans upside down?

It was a big deal.
Peter was available for whatever God wanted to do.

“When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.”

It almost sounds like Peter interrupted a W.M.U. meeting.
These women are grieving the loss of “Dorcas”

But isn’t it amazing how available Peter was to them.
They asked, and he came.

2) PETER’S APPEAL (40-42)

And again we love the fact that Peter was not in this for show.
He was not trying to get any glory at all.

Peter sent them out and then he prayed.
He asked Jesus raise this woman.

See this is not part of Peter’s plan, he’s just flexible,
And so he is not presuming upon what Jesus wants to do.
Maybe Jesus wants to raise her, maybe not, Peter is praying.
He is flexible, he is seeking God’s will.

And apparently the Lord made it clear that he intended to raise this woman so after praying Peter said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.”

Christ raised her through Peter.

(41-42) “And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”

There we see the same results as in Lydda.
One was an intentional mission, one was a flexible mission
BUT GOD USED BOTH.

And then we see one more interesting thing about Peter.
3) PETER’S ADAPTABILITY (43)

It is interesting that “Peter stayed many days in Joppa”,
It is clear that he is sensing God at work.

What is even more interesting is that he stayed
“with a tanner named Simon.”

Strange because being a tanner was not considered a classy profession.
They were always working on dead animals
And therefore occupationally unclean.
It was not a respected business,
But Peter is letting go of his prejudices.

• He has previously associated with Samarians.
• He is now staying with a tanner.
• Up next? – Peter is about to get sent to a Gentile.

See how God is working not only through Peter, but also in Peter.
This is the beauty of a short-term mission.

• We make a plan to serve God as He has commanded, trusting Him
to honor the gospel and save souls.

• We also remain flexible to follow God’s leading even when it is not
necessarily what we had planned so that we may follow God
and see Him save souls.

• And at the same time, through the entire trip we recognize that
God is not only using this trip to reach the lost, but He is also
using this trip work in our lives.

Sure God used Peter to encourage Samaritans
And eventually save Gentiles.

But God would also use this trip
To break down walls of prejudice in Peter
So that the he would become a powerful advocate
To unify the church in Jerusalem.

It is amazing how God works in and through His people.
And we see all of this in Peter’s Missionary Journey.

My encouragement to you is to follow Peter’s example.
• Be Active in obeying the Great Commission.
• Approach your missionary plans with eagerness.
• Acknowledge the power of Christ to glorify Him.
• Be Available if God desires to change your plans.
• Appeal to Jesus for what His will is in all situations.
• Adapt when God seeks to use what you see to change your life as well.

That is a short-term mission trip.

Matthew 10:7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘ The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Another Divine Appointment
Acts 9:1-31
July 22, 2012

A couple of weeks ago we saw what we called “A Divine Appointment”
We witnessed the salvation of the Ethiopian Eunuch

And the main thing we learned was that
Philip did not save the Eunuch, God did.

• Philip didn’t convict his sin…
• Philip didn’t cause him to seek God…
• Philip didn’t make him read Isaiah 53…
• Philip didn’t push him to be baptized…
God did that.

In fact, Philip didn’t even know about the Eunuch, or where he was.
If it hadn’t been for God telling Philip to take the desert road and join the chariot, Philip wouldn’t even have known what was going on.

And the point that we made that you and I must understand is that
Salvation is the work of God, not the work of man.

There is a severe corruption that wormed its way into the church
Thanks to the Bible-notching evangelist.

(Those men who manipulate, and guilt, and coerce people
to walk an aisle and “make a decision”)

• One obvious problem is that many people were ushered into the church who were never actually saved, they only agreed to come forward and go to heaven.
(we have seen the fall-out of a carnal Amercian church)

• The other problem (more often undetected) is that it changed evangelism.

People began to equate evangelism with what those guys were doing.

Evangelism became the art of
• Theological argument…
• Emotional persuasion…
• Eloquent speech…
• Passionate manipulation…

And the average believer said, “I can’t do that”
And they were right.

Furthermore the massive RESULTS fostered by those types of preachers
Only succeeded in making the average believer feel INEFFECTIVE.
And before long evangelism began to fade
Out of fear of inability and ineffectiveness.

AND THIS IS SO TRAGIC

You may not realize this, but evangelism
Is one of the most natural effects of genuine salvation that occurs.
When people truly get saved…
When the Holy Spirit moves into a life…
Natural changes just occur.

• They hunger for the word
• They love prayer
• And they naturally share what has occurred in their life

(You will see this in the salvation that takes place in our text here)

And that is why the fading of evangelism is so disheartening.
By their phony manipulation and grandiose displays
These huckster preachers have actually suffocated
One of the most natural effects of genuine conversion.

And that is why we loved that story of Philip and the Eunuch.
We learned that salvation is not up to us.

God is busy drawing the elect to Himself.
We don’t know who they are, but He does.

And all He asks of us is that we be willing to follow His leading
To share the truth with those He is working on.
It is called “A Divine Appointment”

Well if you enjoyed the story of Philip and the Eunuch, then you are in for a treat, because tonight we get “Another Divine Appointment”

We get another instance in which God saves a sinner
And includes a believer in the process.

It is easy evangelism.
Ananias is about to hang the biggest evangelistic skin on his wall ever,
And as you will see, it really doesn’t require that much effort.

So tonight let me remind you of what I told you a couple of weeks ago.

Evangelism is not the art of you being so convincing that sinners End up believing what you say and following your commands.
Evangelism is when we are available to God,
To be used to share the truth of Jesus
With a heart that He has brought to conviction.
And with that, let’s look at this next divine appointment
There are 5 things I want you to see as this story has more information than the story of Philip and the Eunuch.

#1 THE DIVINE CONFRONTATION
Acts 9:1-9

This is part of the story that we didn’t get to see in regard to the Eunuch.
By the time we were shown the story, the Eunuch was already humbled, already brought to conviction, and was already ready for someone to share the truth.
We weren’t told what caused him to seek.

But in this story we are told.

And you remember Saul don’t you?
He was that extremely ambitious man who had determined to leave his mark on the world, by stomping what he saw as a false religion.

He was going to be a hero of Jewish history (or so he thought)
But on this day he was about to be confronted.

And let me break this one down a little more to make sure we see things properly.
1) SAUL’S FLESH (1-2)

It is important you understand what Saul’s intentions and desires were.

It is safe to say that Saul had absolutely no intention of joining the church
• There is no hint of confusion from him.
• There is no hint of conviction from him.
• There is no hint of guilt.
• There is no hint of sympathy.

Saul has no intention whatsoever of cutting the church any slack.

He is “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”

And he has “asked for letters from [the hight priest] to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

We are clear on what Saul wanted.

To put it another way, Saul was not looking to be saved.
Agreed?

2) SAUL’S FLASH (3-6)

So Saul is now on the way to Damascus and “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice”
Saul didn’t cause this, Saul didn’t want this.
Someone else initiated this incident.

The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

This is a definite confrontation, but it isn’t of Saul’s making.
Someone else is confronting Saul.

(5) “And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

By the way, Saul knew who He was, that’s why he called Him, “Lord”.
Furthermore Saul had heard all about Him.

But the answer none the less.
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting”

And take a moment and glory in the beauty of that statement.
Jesus is here affirming that He is the head and the church is His body.

He didn’t say, “I am Jesus and you are persecuting My people”
He said you are persecuting me.

An assault on the bride is an assault on the Groom as well.

But none the less you see that God is intervening in Saul’s life.

And without any other explanation Jesus says, (6) “but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
• Notice there is not invitation…
• It really isn’t even optional…

I’m Jesus, you have been messing with Me, now it is time for you to listen.

Saul’s Flesh, Saul’s Flash
3) SAUL’S FRAILTY (7-9)

Now we see the result of Saul’s encounter with the Lord.
Just a moment ago he was full of power and arrogance,
Marching with his army.

Now look at him.
(8) “Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.”

So much for the power and might of Saul.
Jesus just put Saul in his place.

And now Saul is at a place where he is willing to listen.
(9) “And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

My dad used to deal with horses like Saul on occasion.
They were unruly and distracted.

“That horse needs to have his attention got.”
(That indicated a few moments in the loading shoot)

I think it’s safe to say that Saul just had his attention got.
He is now fasting.

Not fasting to make God hear,
But fasting because suddenly food isn’t important.

And what we see here is that God intervened and confronted Saul.

And this is about a great a testimony to
The sovereignty of God over salvation as there is.

• Saul didn’t come looking for Jesus, Jesus came looking for Saul.
• Saul was dead in sin, but Jesus made him hear.

And this is salvation.
Titus 3:3-5 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”
Listen to what Jesus said.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”

John 17:9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;”

John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”
James 1:18 “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

I think you see what I mean.
• People are not saved because they went looking for God, or because they did anything to find it.
• People aren’t even saved because you or I did such a good job of evangelizing them.

People are saved when God saves them.
People are saved when God moves in their heart, convicts their sin,
Reveals His truth and brings them to Himself.

Saul has had that type of confrontation.

The Divine Confrontation
#2 THE DELIBERATE COMMISSION
Acts 9:10-16

This is where we actually started the story with Philip and the Eunuch.
Philip was given that peculiar command
To go down the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

Well, the command we see here is not only peculiar, but also terrifying.
We see God calling Ananias and he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

That is the equivalent of Isaiah 6:8
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

That is what Ananias just said.
To a degree that is what we all said when we signed up to follow Christ.
That is certainly what we said when we signed up for Africa.

“Here I am, Lord.”
(Reporting for duty)

But Ananias was in no way ready for his personal marching orders.
(11-12) “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

When we talked about God sending Philip, we said it was because
God knew something that Philip did not.

And that is also true here.
God knew where He was at work, Ananias didn’t, until God revealed it.

But what a shock to find out that the person God was working on
Was none other than Satan’s highest ranking general.

God wanted to send Ananias to Saul,
For God knew Saul was broken and Saul was praying.

• We’re reminded that successful evangelists aren’t those with
better intuition.
• Successful evangelists aren’t those who can best read the sinner.

Successful evangelists are those who listen to God
And obey to go where He says even when it goes against intuition.

Now Philip instantly obeyed, but Ananias is more like me.
(13-14) “But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

I think we can all understand his hesitation.
• In Ananias’ mind this was certain death.
• This was suicide.
• God was asking him to go and die.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO SEE
• Ananias was not eager, but God wanted to use him.
• Ananias was not confident, but God wanted to use him.
• Ananias was not optimistic, but God wanted to use him.

God didn’t want him to go and argue the faith…
God didn’t want him to go and refute Saul…
God only wanted him to go lay his hands on Saul and pray.

CAN YOU DO THAT?
Saul’s salvation was not dependent upon the abilities of Ananias,
But God did desire to use Ananias to bring about Saul’s salvation.

But Ananias is skeptical.
(15-16) “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

What a statement!

Why did Ananias have to go?
Because “he is…chosen”

It reads like Saul didn’t have any say in the matter.
He was chosen.
And Ananias didn’t even have to preach hard, notice what God said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

You just go and pray, and don’t be afraid he is one of Mine.

God was not asking Ananias to do anything but go and pray.
Evangelism isn’t that hard!

The Divine Confrontation, The Deliberate Commission
#3 THE DRASTIC CONVERSION
Acts 9:17-19

Can we just saw “WOW!”?
• Ananias went, Ananias prayed,
• Saul’s sight was restored, and he was baptized,
• With the spiritual desire behind him, Saul ate.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Wouldn’t you expect Saul to be little tougher convert than that?

This was Satan’s greatest general,
Now submitting to Jesus even in baptism.

Can you see, that only God could have done that?
There wasn’t enough “slick sauce” in the world
To help Ananias pull that one off.

But God saved Saul.
1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

Notice in Paul’s testimony he never did mention Ananias.
God did it all.

John MacArthur wrote:
“Church history is replete with accounts such as these, which highlight the marvelous power of the gospel to transform sinners. But no transformation is as remarkable, or has had such far-reaching implications for history, as the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. So significant an event was his conversion that Scripture records it no less than three times (cf. Acts 22:1-16; 26:4-18).
It is fitting that such a unique individual would have a unique conversion. Saul was by birth a Jew, by citizenship a Roman, by education a Greek, and purely by the grace of God a Christian. He was a missionary, theologian, evangelist, pastor, organizer, leader, thinker, fighter for the truth, and lover of souls. Never has a more godly man lived, except our Lord Himself.” (MacArthur Acts Commentary – pg. 264)
And so we get a very drastic conversion.
And this, by the way, is where the story of the Eunuch stopped,
But again we get more of the story regarding Saul.

The Divine Confrontation, The Deliberate Commission, The Drastic Conversion
#4 THE DEFINITE CHANGE
Acts 9:20-22

We weren’t allowed to see this with the Eunuch,
But we certainly get to see it with Saul.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Did you spot the change?
• Saul went from persecutor to preacher.
• He went from denying to defending.

I love verse 20, “and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

This man was different.
And everyone noticed.
(21) “All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

This guy is different.

And we all say “Amen”
We are those who believe that a person walking in spiritual light Should look a little different than one walking in spiritual darkness.

You could certainly tell with Saul.
(22) “Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”

We call that a changed man.
NOW WHO MADE THAT CHANGE?
God did.

It wasn’t Ananias who told Saul he had to go preach.
God did that.

And then there is one more thing we need to see.
#5 THE DEEP COMMITMENT
Acts 9:23-31

Even Simon could get baptized and hang around with Philip for a few days, but how will we know for certain if Saul is for real?

The answer, see what happens when his faith is tested.

(23-25) “When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.”

So it was all well and good with Saul right after being saved,
But now we see his metal get tested a little.

There is a plot to kill him and he has to flee for his life, in a basket no less.
Saul entered Damascus with an army and went out in a basket.

The question is how will he respond?

Well, first let’s squeeze him a little more.
(26) “When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.”

So you get saved in Damascus and have to escape a death plot,
You flee to the believers in Jerusalem,
But they won’t have anything to do with you.
Looks like a perfect opportunity to turn away from the faith.

BUT WE GET ANOTHER DIVINE APPOINTMENT
(Ananias was in Damascus, Barnabas was a God-send here)

(27-28) “But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.”

And so Saul stayed the course and God provided.
He had been threatened with death, but he didn’t stop preaching.

But the testing still isn’t over.
(29-30) “And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.”

And so Saul began his Christian walk with blindness, brotherly skepticism and two death threats, but it didn’t wreck his faith.
SAUL’S FAITH IS REAL
He endured hatred by the Jews and hesitation by the church.

Now the point is clearly made.
WHO DID THIS?
• It wasn’t the chief priest, he encouraged Saul’s rage.
• It wasn’t Ananias, he didn’t want to go.
• It wasn’t the church at Jerusalem, they wouldn’t believe him.

WHO DID THIS?
God did.
God is sovereign over salvation.

Now, what did Ananias do?
• He obeyed God and went to Saul.
• He prayed with him and for him and was allowed to witness one of the greatest
salvations the church has ever had.

And again let me get you to lower your anxiety level
In regard to evangelism.
It’s not about ability to manipulate and convince.

It’s about you and I being obedient to the leading of God
For only He knows who He is working on.

Now let me show you one more thing.
(31) “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”

Now that verse is really significant.

See we read back in chapter 8 these words:
Acts 8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

And on that day things looked extremely bleak.
But by the time we get to the end of chapter 9
We find out that God was in control all along.

Saul never threatened the church,
God merely let Saul loose for a time to send the church into missions,
But once God accomplished His purpose, even Saul was saved.

Can you step back for a moment and see
Just how sovereign God really is over the church?
• God started it.
• God grew it.
• God spread it.
• God protected it.

And now here in verse 31 we are right back to where we were
Before the persecution ever started,
Only now the church isn’t contained in Jerusalem,
It is in “all Judea and Galilee and Samaria”

Can I read to you again the statement of Jesus?
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Don’t get caught up in the importance of your own abilities,
And certainly don’t limit your obedience
Because you think you lack ability.

God is doing it.
The blessing is that He chooses to use us.

Now we may not all get tabbed to preach the sermon at Pentecost,
But can you go to a home and pray for a blind man?

Can you join a chariot and take Isaiah 53 and tell a person about Jesus?

And that is what God used to grow His church.
You don’t have to be a tent evangelist with every gimmick in the book,
Just trust God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit
And see what God can do.

For here we have another divine appointment.

A Divine Appointment
Acts 8:25-40
July 8, 2012

Over the course of the last couple of weeks
We have seen a monumental shift take place in the church at Jerusalem.

Thanks to the attacks of Saul, the church has been scattered,
And it triggered the first ever missionary effort of the church.

• So now, the church is moving.
• Now the church is on mission.
• The church is going global and is spreading.

And so now we are really get a good look at evangelism and how it works.

And this is an important thing for us to learn.
I especially want those going to Africa to pay attention to this, but certainly all of us need to understand it as we are all commissioned to be missionaries.

Tonight I’m going to give you what I think is
The most encouraging fact about evangelism,
And one that makes it easier than any other.

If I were to take an honest survey of why people don’t share their faith,
I’m sure we would get a fairly wide variety of answers.

But I don’t think the top reason is hard to discern.
It is a fear of failure.

• What if I don’t know the gospel well enough?
• What if I can’t argue down their false beliefs?
• What if I can’t answer their questions?
• What if I don’t know what to say?

And really the overarching fear is:
“What if when I’m done they still don’t believe?”

It feels like failure.

Would you agree that is a major concern and even roadblock?

Well, if I could eliminate that fear would you find evangelism easier?
If I could just take that issue and make it a non-issue,
Would you find yourself more encouraged?

Well, here it goes.
The one thing you need to know about conquering your fear of failure.

SALVATION IS THE WORK OF GOD,
NOT THE WORK OF MAN

You can’t say anything smooth enough to save someone,
And those whom God is saving you’ll have a difficult time stopping.

Now I don’t want to paint evangelism as a mindless job, it isn’t.
Certainly we want to know the gospel.

But the gospel isn’t difficult.
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of 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, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

My guess is everyone in here already knew that.
“Christ died for our sins”
“He was buried”
“He was raised on the third day”

And if you’ll remember that is all that is required
For a person to believe to be saved.

Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Everyone in here can go and share
• That Christ died for our sins,
• That He was buried,
• That He rose from the dead
• That in order to be saved men must believe that and confess Him as Lord.

So, it is important that you have an understanding of the gospel,
But it’s not as though the gospel is too complex to grasp.

But I want you to know that God is the Savior, not you.
And let me tell you why that is important.

The American church has been plagued by Bible notching preachers.
• I’ve seen them at revival services…
• I’ve seen them at youth camps…

Those who push and push and push in order to get decisions,
So they can go on to the next location and boast their numbers.

One fall-out of course was that we had a lot of people come forward
And make decisions who weren’t really saved at all.

They said they were saved,
But it was nearly impossible to tell what they were saved from.

Their lives remained just as carnal and their convictions just as flat
After salvation as they were before,
Only now they seemed to have a sense of false security.

And we’ve all seen it done.
Because it’s effective at getting results.

Just not spiritual results.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

But results were results and so preachers kept on manufacturing them.

But there was another fall-out to these tragic methods
And that was that it changed the way we view evangelism.

Thanks to these people and their slick speech and explosive success,
It actually influenced many into thinking that
This was how you were supposed to do evangelism.

• That to witness you had to be extremely knowledgeable…
• That to witness you had to know how emotionally move a person…
• That to witness you had to be able to argue down false belief…
• That to witness you had to be able to close the deal…
• Etc. Etc. Etc.

The problem is it made evangelism look impossible for those of us who
• Are unskilled in speech,
• Not good at debate,
• Lacking in memory,
• And just not by nature all that persuasive.

And the average layman in church looked at what the evangelist was doing to secure decisions and said, “I can’t do that.”

And he’s right.

No wonder people became too afraid to witness or share their faith,
They weren’t slick enough or quick witted enough.

And so you know what happened.
Instead of actually witnessing to people (because I can’t do it very well)
The church started doing something else.
They started staging big events with the best speakers
And quit evangelizing and instead started inviting people to church.

“I can’t tell you the gospel in a way that will get a response,
but come hear my preacher, he can do it.”

My guess is you’ve all felt that way at some point or another
When feeling the conviction to share your faith.
• You’ve felt too ignorant…
• You’ve felt too boring…
• You’ve felt too weak…

But what do we do about passages like 1 Corinthians 2?
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

It seems awfully strange that if things like charisma and great knowledge and persuasive skills are so important that Paul had any success at all.

Paul knew what I told you earlier.
SALVATION IS THE WORK OF GOD, NOT MAN

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

And listen, when you finally grasp that into your heart,
You will find evangelism isn’t nearly so intimidating.

And so tonight I want to show you what I have called
“A Divine Appointment”

I want to show you what evangelism looks like when God is at work.

I want us to work through this account of the Ethiopian Eunich
And see how people are really saved.

Three things
#1 A STRANGE COMMAND
Acts 8:25-26

We are aware of what has recently transpired.
• The church was scattered by Saul
• Philip went preaching in Samaria
• People were getting saved
• Peter and John came down and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit

That alone would stoke the fires of missions and evangelism.
(25) “So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”

And of course that makes sense.
God is saving Samaritans, so tell all you can.

Then comes the strange part of the story.
(26) “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)”

They had a perfectly little nice and neat mission trip going on here
And then God comes up with the strangest command.

He tells Philip to take the south road from Jerusalem to Gaza.
(The Strange Part?)

“(This is a desert road.)”

Furthermore there were two roads from Jerusalem to Gaza
And this is the one that was seldom ever used.

• How many people do you suppose live on this “desert road”?
• What sort of evangelistic opportunities do you expect to get here?

This doesn’t make any sense.
Any evangelist who has had any success at all winning people for Christ
Will tell you that you have to go where people are, not where they aren’t.

You need the crowds.
Many times we are taught that it’s first necessary to manufacture a crowd.
• Get talented singers…
• Get funny drama…
• Get muscle bound guys to rip phone books in half…
• We even see Christian magicians (red flag)…

If you want to reach a lot of people, then you need a lot of people.

That is what these guys already had.
They “were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans”

That made sense.
But this command did not.

That is a strange command.
#2 A SOVEREIGN HAND
Acts 8:27-35

Here we find that God knew something Philip did not
• God knew there was a man on that road.
• It was just one man, not a village, but God knew he was there.

But thankfully Philip obeyed.
(27) “So he got up and went”

And we know he came across this “Ethiopian eunuch”

Now let’s break this down a bit further and see some things about this eunuch.
1) APPARENT CONVICTION (27-28)

Now of course we recognize that at least in the world’s eyes,
This is an important man.

He was “a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure;”

So in the world’s eyes he was an important person.
This really makes no difference to God,
He was equally concerned about the lepers and outcasts.
But this man was a “somebody”

But we also notice:
“he had come to Jerusalem to worship”

That is interesting.
It is especially interesting that he went to Jerusalem
Even though he would not have been allowed access to the temple.

Deuteronomy 23:1 “No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.”

And he would not have been able to become a full proselyte to Judaism.
At best he would have been rendered a “God-fearer” similar to Cornelius.

This would have allowed him to attend synagogue and read the Scriptures,
But that was as far as he could go.

But he went none the less.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

(28) “and he was returning and sitting in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah.”

So this man wasn’t just on some token journey
To have his hand stamped in Jerusalem.

This man wanted to find God.
He traveled to Jerusalem, but it is clear his soul is still not satisfied,
For on the way home he has stopped and is reading trying learn more.

There is an apparent conviction taking place in this man’s heart.
And this only comes from God, for man is dead otherwise.

2) DEFINITE CURIOSITY (29-31)

Now this is where it really starts to get unbelievable.

Philip finds the man and “the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

We understand this from our witnessing experiences.
We have all had those times when we felt impressed to go and share truth with another individual, even when we really didn’t know why.

(30) “Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet…”

Now put yourself in Philip’s shoes.
Obviously you know you need to witness to this person, would you be relieved to find them already reading the Scripture when you go there?

Sure made the conversation easy to start.
“Do you understand what you are reading?”

We fret and fret about how to start a conversation, God made it easy for Philip.

And notice this answer.
(31) “And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
“he invited Philip”

• Philip had his own mission plan to preach to the Samaritans,
• But God told him to travel a seldom used desert road
• Where he found a convicted man already reading the Scriptures
• Who wanted him to come and explain them.

That is amazing.
It gets even better.

3) UNBELIEVABLE CHOICE (32-34)

Ok, so it’s strange enough that this man is already here reading the Scriptures, but did you catch what he is reading?

He’s reading Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:7-8 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?”

Are you joking me?
Of course they didn’t have the New Testament yet,
But the equivalent would by you finding someone reading John 3:16

This is just unbelievable.

And then notice the eunuch’s question.
(34) “The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

“Is Isaiah talking about himself, or is he talking about someone else?”

Talk about having it fall into your lap!
It just doesn’t get any more obvious than this.

4) EASY COMEBACK (35)

I really like how Luke wrote this.
“Then Philip opened his mouth…”

That’s really about all he had to do.
Everything else had pretty much been covered.

But it goes on to say, “and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.”

• Can we just give a little credit here to the obvious sovereign hand of God?
• Can we all recognize that God was at work long before Philip ever entered the equation?

A Strange Command, A Sovereign Hand
#3 A SAVED MAN
Acts 8:36-40

Don’t you just love the excitement of the eunuch here?

“As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

You would think on a desert road he would have been excited about water because he was thirsty, but no, he was excited so he could be baptized.

“What prevents me from being baptized?”
• This is a humble man
• This is a repentant man
• This is a man just wanting to do what God requires of him.

And Philip answers (having been burned already by Simon)
(37) “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

Philip just wanted to make sure this man was a true and genuine believer.

“And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

(38) “And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”

That is what we call a genuine salvation.
• This man sought God
• This man called on God
• This man added obedience to his belief

Now you could say, “So did Simon”
But notice the eunuch was happy with nothing but Jesus, Simon wasn’t.

(39) “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”

And then we get the conclusion.
(40) “But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.”

And now God snatches Philip away
And puts him back on the missionary circuit.
We call this a divine appointment.

Now let me ask you something.
WHAT DID PHILIP DO HERE?

You could say “nothing” and that would be close to true,
But that isn’t exactly true.

• Philip obeyed to take the desert road.
• Philip obeyed to go up and join the chariot.
• Philip preached Jesus to this man.
• Philip challenged his claim of faith.
• Philip baptized him.

Philip did plenty, and these are the things God is asking of you and me.
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are all required to do what Philip did.

But let me ask you this, what did Philip not do?
• Philip didn’t make the eunuch seek…
• Philip didn’t draw him in to Jerusalem…
• Philip didn’t convict the eunuch’s sin…
• Philip didn’t coerce the eunuch to stop and read the Scripture…
• Philip didn’t convince the eunuch to listen to the explanation…
• Philip didn’t make the eunuch believe…
• Philip didn’t talk him into being baptized…

God did all those things.
AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND.

We CAN get decisions, especially if we are good at speaking and slick with our approach, and do a good job setting the mood, etc…

In fact Philip had done that before; remember?
Acts 8:13 “Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.”

Now I certainly am not blaming Philip there,
But you do see the difference.

Simon responded to Philip
The Ethiopian responded to God

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
• With Simon Philip did it all – wowed him, convinced him, called him,
baptized him…
• With the Eunuch, God did it all, Philip only baptized.

Now let me read to you again:
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Matthew 15:12-13 “Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.”

Do you see what we are talking about?

Evangelism is not the art of you being so knowledgeable and convincing that sinners cannot defeat you in a debate
And end up succumbing to your demands.
Evangelism is when we are available to God,
To be used to share the truth of Jesus
With a heart that He has brought to conviction.

Now if I told you that I wanted you to go to Africa
• And wow them with your powers of healing
• And captivate them with your tremendous knowledge
• And convince them to be saved,
YOU’D BE TERRIFIED.

But what if I told you that
• God has people in Africa that He has already been working on;
• People that He has already brought to conviction…
• People that want someone to help them understand the truth…
That’s not so terrifying is it?

NOW DOES IT ALWAYS HAPPEN LIKE THIS?
No.

Sometimes we are Philip and we get to close the deal, and that is thrilling.

• Sometimes we are the teacher that taught that eunuch in the synagogue back in Jerusalem and first introduced him to Isaiah 53.

• Sometimes we are the believer filled with hope back in Ethiopia that first caused the eunuch to feel the need to go to Jerusalem to find God to begin with.

But the point is NEITHER PHILIP,
NOR THE SYNAGOGUE TEACHER,
NOR THE HOPE-FILLED BELIEVER IN ETHIOPIA SAVED THIS MAN.

GOD SAVED THIS MAN.
HE MERELY USED PEOPLE WHERE HE NEEDED THEM
TO BRING THIS MAN TO SAVING FAITH.

• You don’t have to walk in fear regarding evangelism.
• You don’t have to be afraid you can’t close the deal.
• You don’t have to be afraid you won’t know what to say.

You aren’t doing it anyway.
All God asks is that you be willing to do what He says and fill your part.

• If He asks you to live a certain way, do it, you don’t know who is watching.
• If He asks you to teach a lesson, do it, you don’t know who is listening.
• If He asks you to take a desert road, do it, you might be blown away.

John 4:35-38 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

Maybe you labor, maybe you reap.
But don’t worry about success or failure, you are neither.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Paul didn’t want to be responsible for their salvation.
Paul simply wanted to be faithful to do his part
To allow the Spirit of God to accomplish His purposes.

So follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, He is working on men.
And when he tells you to approach that co-worker that you just know doesn’t want to hear it, then trust Him and see what He is doing.

You might be shocked.

Can I give you a few examples from my experiences?
• Sedrick Thompson – Terrell Texas at a gas station.
• Unknown kid on Seminary campus
• Group of women in Neshuro

And I can’t even begin to list the number of people
Who have found me to ask me about salvation.

But I can also tell you about people who I have argued with until I was blue in the face and accomplished nothing, realizing that I can’t argue anyone into the kingdom of heaven.

That is why Jesus said:
Matthew 10:14-15 “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”

It’s not about success, it’s about faithfulness.
God is the Savior, not you.
You simply do what He asks you to do,
For He alone knows where He is at work.