Through the Bible

OK, chapter 9, we come back to Saul. Saul was the main reason the church began to be dispersed. They were growing in Jerusalem and yet Jesus had told the disciples before he ascended in chapter 1 that the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father was coming and they would be witnesses of him in all Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the outermost parts of the earth. But after the church was born and was growing and was healthy and continued to grow, they still stayed there in Jerusalem. Nobody seemed to know when it was time to go.

And so as God does a lot of times with directing us, He used persecution. And through Saul, through the stoning of Stephen and then Saul got real, he was a part of that, consented to that, they cast their garments at Saul's feet. Then he got real zealous against this church, against the church. And so we pick that back up in chapter 9. Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,

went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, and I think it's that in every translation, this way or the way, it's a particular way. I am the way and the truth and the life, Jesus said. And so the gospel is presented as the only way. People say, well, you know, you're so narrow-minded because, you know, you say that you're the only way.

No, we don't say it. Jesus said, I am the way. And so this was an offense to every other religion, but here it's an offense to Saul in particular. And so he asks for letters giving him permission, authority to give to the synagogues at Damascus because he knew that disciples had fled from Jerusalem north into Syria, into the areas, into the regions of what's modern-day Syria, up to the areas of Damascus.

So that he would search that far and if he found any belonging to this group, to this new sect, this way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now this is where Saul's name is changed. Chapter 9 is where Saul becomes Paul. And Saul's name, the name Saul means one who keeps on asking. I thought that was interesting. One who continues to ask. And he's going to be changed to Paul, which means little.

So even though he ends up being the author of two-thirds of the New Testament, his name means small. So he's trying, he's trying to be big in the sense of putting, he's trying to stomp out the church. He's trying to stamp it out before it gets too big. And in his efforts to do that, he becomes a part of it. And that happens a lot. That's happened a lot down through history to those who want to put an end to the church.

Those of you who've heard of Josh McDowell, that was his goal when he began. He wanted to show that Christianity was a sham, that it was a crutch,

that that means that there's contradictions. He set out to prove that that was the case and ended up finding out that, no, all that does is complement the other one. So we'll talk about all that as we get to it more and more. Anyhow, so Saul sets out thinking he's doing God a favor by trying to crush this new movement. In verse 3, as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus

and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And here's one of those places in King James. If you're reading King James right after that, he says, it is hard to kick against the goads. OK, that's not in New American Standard. I think if you're reading NIV, there's a footnote there.

It may be in parentheses and it may drop you down to the bottom of your page and it says, this is found in, it'll say not found in earlier manuscripts, that particular phrase.

There are different texts that have been found that have been used down through the centuries. The Textus Receptus is the received text. It was the text that was used to translate the Bible into King James English. It was used to translate the earlier translations of Scripture that we have. When the Reformation happened and they started translating the Bible into German

and then into English and all, they used the Textus Receptus. Well, since then, they found some other manuscripts, the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, these different texts that they found, and they found the Dead Sea Scrolls, which had some of the earliest texts of fragments of the Old Testament primarily. But these texts, they dated older than the Textus Receptus. So even though the original, the earliest translation we have into English is the King James, the newer translations were taken from texts that were actually dated to be older than the text that was used to translate the King James.

So you'll have, you'll read in your Bible, not found in earlier MSS. That just means not found in the earlier manuscripts. So like a new American Standard here, they leave that out. They don't footnote it or anything, they just leave it clear out. Hold your finger here and just go to chapter 26 real quick. You'll say, well, see, that's just showing a contradiction because King James had it.

That means it was added by a scribe later on because the earlier texts don't have it. Well, chapter 26 is Saul's recounting his defense before Agrippa. He's recounting his conversion. Down in verse 14 he says, When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to kick against the goads.

So it's there, and probably a scribe did enter it back here when he was copying because it made sense, because that's what Saul heard. But it wasn't in the original, in the manuscript that was used to translate the King James. And so the translators of the New American Standard and some of the other newer translations either footnoted it or left it out altogether. It's all textual. It has to do with textual criticism.

It doesn't take away or add to the text, as you see. It's just one of those things that you're aware of in Scripture. It is hard. It was hard for him. I mean, you know, why are you persecuting me? It is hard to kick against the goads. Now, we'll talk about it here. We'll talk about it again when we get to chapter 26. What are goads? Well, goads can be two things, usually an ox pulling a cart or pulling a plow.

In those days, the driver of the plow or the cart had a long pointy stick or they would tie onto the back end, the rear end of the ox. They'd tie it onto the harness and then let it hang down behind him, hang way down low, a board with points on it, pointy, thorny pieces of sharp objects. And so as they would want the ox to go, as they would urge it along, the natural tendency of the ox is to kick, you know, leave me alone, don't push me. And so the farmer would either have his little stick, his little pointy stick down there towards the hoof, so that when he did that, he knew the ox was...

and he'd usually use the same hoof, evidently, from what I read, from what I understand. So he'd be holding it down, if it's this hoof, or he'd be holding it down here if it's this hoof. And so the thing would kick, and he'd kick into that sharp pointy thing into the soft part of the hoof. And he'd... Whoa! It'd make him go quicker, really, in the long run.

And the more he'd do that, the more he'd realize, I'm just going to get that little pointy thing stuck in my foot. So he'd quit kicking and start moving. It was to keep the ox disciplined to go the direction and the speed that the guy wanted him to go. And so when Jesus is saying this, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to kick. That's what he's indicating.

Saul understood it as an agricultural term. You're directing me. And so he says, Who are you, Lord? And here's something else, again, he said. It's implied. And what do you want me to do? That's in King James, I think. It's not in this one. And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.

And the men who traveled with him stood speechless. And this is something else we'll get into when we get to chapter 26. Hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Now we get to chapter 26 and it says, They didn't hear anything, but they saw the light. So we'll talk about that when we get there. 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. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. And so he's in a time of fasting, and I'm sure a time of prayer. He was a Pharisee. He was devout. He would have been praying. He would have been seeking the Lord. And there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision,

Ananias. And he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, 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. So it tells us he was praying. As a matter of fact, the word I have in my notes here, the word that's used there for praying, means he's really praying. He's praying with great desire, with passion,

and earnest. And he says, 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. One of the neat things about studying the Bible this way, and going through the book of Acts especially, is seeing how God does what he does. I mean, he's already prepared Saul for this guy. He even told him the guy's name, Ananias.

Saul's blind, can't see anything. But there's a guy going to come in. He didn't just say, Something's going to happen and you're going to see again. He specifically tells Saul in the vision, There's a man named Ananias. And he's going to come. He's going to lay hands on you, and you are going to regain your sight. There's some other cool things in just these two chapters we'll go through tonight

in that way, that really demonstrates God working in ways that are just the Lord. They're just God. And he kind of has fun doing it, I think. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many, verse 13, 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. Now, what's pretty ludicrous about that?

He's thinking he's telling God something that God doesn't know. And yet, how often do we do that? Or at least think it, you know? When God's prodding us to do something or go somewhere, and we, in our minds, we're anticipating the fallout or the negative or the attacks that are going to happen as a result of that, because in our minds all we know is that. And so, whether we say out loud,

Lord, yeah, but, you know, reminding God of these things, but if I go... And a lot of times it has to do with confrontations, whenever we have to confront somebody in a situation, or we have to go and make an apology for something. In your mind you just kind of think... And we're anticipating things that we have no idea what's going to happen, but all we're thinking is they're going to happen because that's all we can see, that's all we know.

And so Ananias, you know, is saying that for his own protection, because he's scared, if I go there, it's a trap, and he's going to arrest me and drag me back there, that's what he's thinking. I've got to go and actually touch the guy. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine. Now have that circle, because I want you to say after that.

He's a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. Now, you know, if you've studied Scripture, and you've been here much, and we've gone through all this stuff, how Saul's heart was for Israel, was for his fellow Jews. And yet he felt like a complete failure, because every time he'd go to a different town, he'd go to the synagogues first, and he'd be there for a day or two, and then they'd kick him out. And so then he'd go and start meeting at somebody's house who responded while he was at the synagogue and ended up going to the Gentiles.

But his heart was still for the Jews. But here God's promise is, he's going to be to bear my name, and he's my chosen instrument to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and all the sons of Israel. Now, I really believe personally that the book of Hebrews is Saul's letter to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. And I think since we don't know who wrote the book of Hebrews, and everybody speculates, is it Paul?

Paul or somebody else? I think it was God's way of allowing Paul one last opportunity to systematically and theologically argue the case for Christ being the Messiah to his fellow Christians. But then he says, verse 16, For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. Okay, now I'm sure Ananias told him that. And if not, God's going to tell him that personally.

He's going to actually show him what he's going to have to suffer for his name's sake. Now, I don't know where we get off, thinking that by coming to Christ as believers, we get to skate home free. Because I'm coming to faith in Christ, now I have the power and the authority to claim and name and keep myself from sickness. And if anything's happening bad in my life, it's got to be saved.

Instead of understanding that to follow Jesus, as Paul told Timothy, you will suffer persecution. And as we see over and over and over, it's designed by God to bring us, to conform us into the image of His Son. Everything that He's doing, He allows for a purpose. There's nothing that happens to us. Absolutely nothing that God, as our Father, does not allow to happen to us.

Instead of in basketball, it's dribble and pass, dribble and pass, dribble and pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. Keep the ball moving. In football, the basics are run. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. Just do the basics. Don't go for the flea flickers. Just do the basics, the things you know for sure. Same with us. When we get into different situations,

rather than thinking, you know, boy, what am I going to do now? Just do the basics. Have your devotions. Stay in consistent prayer with the Lord. Have a time of fasting. Stay in the Word. Stay in fellowship. The basics, the basic things. But I don't know what I'm going to do. Well, if you do that, God always reveals, He always takes us the next step. Just like with Philip,

you know, go down to Gaza. Why? Don't ask why. Just go. Just do the next step. And the same thing is going to happen here as we watch Saul.

I'm going to show him how much he must suffer for my sake. So Ananias departed. And I don't know, you know, I'd like to think that Ananias was upright and righteous and thinking, okay, God, I'm going to be obedient to you because I love you. But in my heart, I can't help but thinking he'd be just like me. And the biggest part of the things that God told him in verses 15 and 16

is verse 16. He's going to suffer. Alright. There's some retribution here after all. That's good. So Ananias departed, and he entered the house, and after laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized. And he took food, and he was strengthened. Something I want you to notice here is, so far in the last chapter, we had guys who were baptized, but they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. And so John and some disciples were sent up from Jerusalem, they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

There's then a real tendency to think, okay, what we need to do in our church is have an invitation when people come down front, we lay hands on them and pray that they receive the Holy Spirit. Okay, now in chapter 9, he prays for them, and, well, and get them baptized. And get them baptized. Get them baptized and then receive the Holy Spirit. Because that's what they did,

and these guys were already baptized in chapter 8. And then they came and laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So we need to get them, you know, bring them in, bring them down to the front, people who respond to the invitation of the gospel, and then get them baptized. And then they'll receive the Holy Spirit. And then in chapter 9, he receives the Holy Spirit,

and then he's baptized. So it's just backwards of the way that it worked in chapter 8. And that's the way God is. Because we like to reduce things to a formula. How is God going to work? Well, this is how God's going to work in this situation. No, it isn't. Not necessarily. We have no clue. That's why we walk by faith and not by sight. If we walk by sight, we'd say,

this is how God's going to work. This is how you're going to do it. And you're going to have to, you know, respond to the invitation, and then we'll have you immediately baptized. Then we'll lay hands on you, and the Holy Spirit will come. Because that's the way it happened in chapter 8. Well, not necessarily. Because in chapter 9, they laid hands on him, he received the Holy Spirit,

and then he was baptized. In chapter 10, he's just preaching, and then he received the Holy Spirit. And then he's baptized. So, three chapters, the Holy Spirit's received in three different ways. One's after baptism, one's before baptism, and one's just in the middle of preaching. So, God's going to do what God's going to do, and we need to let Him do what He's going to do,

and just trust Him to do it. Anyhow, that's just an aside. Now, for several days, Saul was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately, there's a transformation in his life, because immediately, he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. Immediately. No downtime. He's saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and immediately begins to tell people about Jesus.

One of the evidences of, I think, a new life of a believer, is we want to tell people about it. We want to let people know what happened. And encourage that. And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, Is not this He who was in Jerusalem, 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?

So again, walking by sight, this is, we know this guy. This is the guy that was doing all these things. Really? What about the transforming work of the Holy Spirit? Oh yeah, well, you know. Guys can play. We're just not too sure about this guy. Caution's okay. They're cautious right now. He destroyed those who called on this name, the name of Jesus, and who had come here for the purpose

of bringing them bound before the chief priests. But Saul kept increasing in strength, and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Messiah, is Moshiach, is the Christ. Now remember, Saul is schooled. He was schooled by Gamaliel. You go through his pedigree in Philippians and all, and he was schooled by Gamaliel. And Gamaliel was the more conservative of the priests.

Saul was a Pharisee, so he had more theology than most of the Pharisees. He was obviously a teacher of the law. I don't know if you remember it or not, but back in chapter 7, when Stephen was debating with these guys from the freedmen, back in chapter 7, verse 9, some of them from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia. And we talked about at that time that's where Tarsus was.

That's where Saul would have been from. So Saul was probably some of those guys back in chapter 7, verse 9, who were debating with Stephen. And Saul prided himself on it because he was that schooled of a theologian. And yet Stephen was waxing his train. Because he had the relationship that Saul didn't have with the Lord. And Saul knew that. And Saul saw that when Stephen was stoned,

as he stood there holding the coats of those that were stoning him. Now he's in that same place, and so he is confounding them. Back in chapter 9, he's confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving because he had such an authority, such a hold on the Scriptures, proving that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And when many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together.

And in New American Standard, it says to do away with him. I think in New International, it says to kill him. I mean, they weren't going to just send him away. They wanted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. And 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 led him down through an opening in the wall,

lowering him in a large basket. Now go back. I just read through that quickly because I wanted to read through it quickly. But something should catch your eye in verse 25. But his disciples, his disciples, not the disciples, not the disciples there in Damascus, but his disciples, ones that obviously had come to Christ while Saul was preaching, while he was proclaiming and teaching.

And they were following him. They were listening to his teaching. They were his disciples. They believed him. They believed what he said, that his conversion was genuine. And they were following his teaching. They're the ones that took him by night and led him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples,

the disciples. But they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas, good old son of consolation, took hold of him and brought him to the apostles. I think it says basically that in all of the translations, grabbed him or brought him along or something. But in New American Standard, it says took hold of him. That implies the actual physical

taking him and taking him willingly. So Barnabas did more than just express a belief that Saul had actually been transformed. He actually physically got involved in bringing Saul along. He took him and brought him physically, took hold of him and became a part of his life in helping him into the area where the apostles were. And described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road

and how he 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 he was talking and arguing with, what does it say in your translation? The Hellenistic Jews. Who were they? Remember? Chapter 7 again. Chapter 6. There was a complaint that arose

among the Hellenistic Jews because their widows were not receiving the fair portion of the daily allotment. And so Stephen and the other six were chosen out from among them who they themselves were Hellenistic Jews. And they ministered to those widows. Okay? And Stephen would have been the ones with those Hellenistic Jews who probably debated Paul, Saul, back in chapter 7.

And so these guys were there when all this came down. When Saul debated with Stephen. When Saul stood there and gave assent to their stoning of Stephen holding the coats in their hand. And now he's back and he's preaching this Jesus whom Stephen was stoned for with Saul's approval. They didn't care what he was saying. All they could see was what had happened in the past.

And that kept them from amazing fellowship that they could have had with this newly converted brother who was going to go on to be God's instrument to write two-thirds of the New Testament. As hard as it is and as much as you've been burned by things in the past, by people in the past, by brothers and sisters in Christ in the past. May God bring you, bring us to the point where we can surrender that bitterness, where we can surrender that animosity, where we can surrender the memories of that hurt to the Lord so that God can minister to us because more often than not, He will later on minister to us through some of those very people in the future. I'm not saying those who were maybe physically brutal, I'm not saying that.

I'm saying all of us as Christians at some time in our Christian walk have been offended by something somebody else has said or done. And we carry that offense. I don't go there anymore because so-and-so was there and this is what they did to me. You know, this is what they said to me or whatever. I had a lady come up to me in Walmart the other day. Used to go here.

They used to go here. Hadn't seen them for a long time. And she said, Hi, Pastor Mark. And I said, Hey, how are you? You know, it's good to see you. Where are you guys now? And she told me where they were fellowshipping. And she started crying and she said, I need to ask your forgiveness. And I said, Why? And she said, Oh, I got offended by something you said one day.

She told me what I said. You know, it was during a study and I had used a generalization in an illustration. And she said, And I took it personally. I thought you were talking about me. And she said, I was really hurt by that. And she's crying. She's standing here in Walmart crying. And she said, God spoke to me through other studies and stuff that I listened to

that I was just thin skinned. And I needed to be forgiving. So I need to ask your forgiveness. And I said, Yeah, that's fine. You know, that's great. I didn't even know. So I apologize. I said, I didn't mean anything by that. You know, it wasn't directed at anybody in particular. It was just, I said it to cause us to think, to be thought provoking. Why are we doing what we're doing in church?

And so it's just, you know, here I defended somebody and I didn't even know it. And they had been holding this against me for all this time until they could finally come and apologize. And how, you know, how maybe we've done that. Maybe we're still there. Maybe there's somebody in your mind's eye right now that has said or done something in the church in the name of the Lord

or whatever, you know, that's offended you. Give them over to the Lord right now and let that go so that it doesn't prevent you from receiving something that God wants to give you as far as understanding, as far as opportunity that you will miss if you don't. I really believe these Hellenistic Jews were attempting to put him to death because they weren't listening to what he was saying. If they were listening to what he was saying, if they were honestly, openly listening to what he was saying like they were doing back in chapter 7, they would believe.

But because it's Saul, they're not going to hear anything that he says. But when the brethren learned of it, verse 30, they brought him down to Caesarea and they sent him away to Tarsus. And so the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace being built up. Saul's gone. Ding dong, the witch is dead. You know, Saul's gone. And going on in the fear of the Lord

and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the church continued to increase. Okay, now we go to Peter. Now as Peter was traveling during this time, all this time that this is going on, Peter's traveling through all those regions, the ones that were Galilee, Samaria, Judea. And he came down also to the saints, the believers, who lived at Lydda. Lydda is about 12 miles from Joppa,

from the city of Joppa. And there he found a man named Aeneas, whose name means praise, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. Now these saints at Lydda were probably, you know, it wouldn't be wrong to assume, remember back when Philip hooked up with the caravan going to Gaza and hooked up with the chariot and then there was the eunuch, the Ethiopian eunuch. He ends up leading him to Christ.

And then the eunuch sees water and says, what forbids me from being baptized? And so Philip baptizes him. And as soon as the guy comes up out of the water, Philip was gone because God had taken him. And he finds himself at Azotus, the city of Azotus, which was along the coast, one of the Philistine cities, remember? And he worked his way back up the coast, back up to Caesarea.

So Philip's back in Caesarea and he would have had to have passed through Lydda and Joppa on his way to Caesarea. And so it's very probable that as he did that, he just was teaching and establishing the churches as he was going, establishing these churches along the areas, the coastlines of Israel, along the Mediterranean on his way up. So when Peter comes to the saints in that region, there's probably the saints, the church, the believers that were established by Philip. And he finds this guy who'd been bedridden for eight years for he was paralyzed.

And Peter says to him, Annius, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed. And immediately he got up. And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. And now in Joppa, now here's again is the strategy of all of this. God brings Peter in and does the miracle through him, the healing of Annius and word gets around. And so finally 12 miles up the road,

quickly, the word travels up to Joppa. There was a disciple named Tabitha which translated in the Greek is called Dorcas or Gazelle. Her name was a gazelle. That's a cool name. Remember they named the kids after what they saw in them. Annius, his name's praise. He was evidently a praise to the family or they praised God for him or whatever. And Dorcas or Tabitha being Gazelle,

you know, she was swift. She obviously with all of the deeds and the kindnesses and charity which she continually did, she probably moved quickly at it. I don't know how you picture her. But I don't necessarily picture her as a... How do I say it? I don't want to offend anybody. As an old lady. Because she, you know, in a minute they're going to show Peter all the quilts and stuff

that she'd made for them. I don't see her as that. I see her as a younger lady abounding with deeds of kindness. And she just... She moved. I mean she was constantly doing these things, abounding. The word abounding means she didn't just do these kind... It's like she's just one after another after another. She's just constantly doing these things for all of these people.

And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died. And when they washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him to implore him, do not delay in coming to us. Now again, something you easily read over in verse 38 is they sent two men. What would have happened

if they'd sent two women? In the Jewish culture, how did the Jewish mindset view a woman? Jewish culture. A possession. Didn't have any equality with men. She was a possession. If she was childless, barren, she was a curse. So her main duties were to take care of the husband and anything that he desired and have children, bear children. That was her function in life.

She was a possession. Now, I'm not saying that's why they sent the two men. It's very probable that because Dorcas was such an active, abounding, outgoing, doing kind deeds for everybody. It wasn't limited to the women. It was to everybody. But they're Jewish Christians with a Jewish mindset. And they're still thinking if we send two women, he could blow them off

because there's no authority there. There's no power behind the request. So they send two men. It's a testimony to Dorcas, I think. It's a testimony to who she was and the lives that she had affected by her kindness. And so Peter arose and went with them. And when he arrived, they brought him into the upper room and all of the widows stood beside him weeping and showing all the tunics

and the garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. But Peter sent them all out and he knelt down and he prayed. And I always wonder, you know, when Peter and John saw the man as they were on their way to pray at the temple, Peter just fixed his eyes on him and he knew immediately God wanted to heal him. I think when we read something like this, I think it's Peter, I mean, it's just not, he just doesn't have the healing gun.

You know, okay, boom, arise. I think he's seeking the Lord. I think it's God, you know. Father, is this one you want to heal? And just appealing, appealing to the Father. He prays, he stops and he prays. And I think that's another reason why he sent them all out of the room. Because he's seeking what the Lord wants to do in this and he's seeking just him and the Lord.

And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. Now,

remember when Jesus raised Jairus' daughter. Who did he take with him? Who went with him into the upper room where Jairus' daughter lay? Peter and James and John. And they watched Jesus as he stood over that lifeless body. And he said, literally, Talitha Kumi, little girl, arise.

Okay, now you have Peter in a similar situation. And if it had been Peter before the Holy Spirit, Peter would have just stood there and said, Talitha Kumi. You know, that's the way I've seen it. That's the formula, that's the way it's done. I've seen the picture, you know, I've seen the example. That's the way we do it. But he prays because he's asking God,

is this what you want? Is this what you want me to do? You've obviously sent me here, you had me brought. Is this what you want? And so he says, Talitha Kumi, darkest, arise. And she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter, she sat up and he gave her his hand and he raised her up and calling the saints and the widows, he presented her alive. And it became known all over Joppa

and many believed in the Lord. And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon. Okay, well, but we know what's coming.

If you've read the book, you know what's coming from Cornelius in Caesarea, which is just on up the road from Joppa. But you've watched God move Peter to Lydda. And then from Lydda, because of the action that he did, and that was awesome, moved him to Joppa. And the healing of the raising of Dorcas, of Tabitha is awesome. But what's even greater is what God's doing

with all of this. You know, again, we see things linearly. All we see things as one at a time, at a time. God always, always works multifaceted. He's doing, when you're facing some trial in your life, it's not, and we see it this way, it's, oh, poor me, why do I have to go through this? Tunnel vision, line of sight, name the problem that's standing right in front of you.

And God says, because as I bring you through this, all of these people over here are affected by that. They're all, you don't even know who's watching you. You don't even know who's seeing, who's gonna be a part of this. And they're gonna be affected by my moving you through this particular situation, just as they are with Peter here. Now, God's wanting to bring Peter to Cornelius,

but he's bringing him along this path, and he's getting Cornelius' heart ready to bring Peter to him as he's moving him through all of these different phases. So Peter's staying in Joppa for a few days. Cool, because that's where God wants him, so that Cornelius can summon him in a minute. Staying with a tanner named Simon. What was Peter's name? Simon. Oh, God's got so many funny things that he does.

Now, there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God, Yahweh, with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to Yahweh continually. Every occurrence that we read of in the New Testament of a centurion is a positive one. We always see the centurions in a good light. Jesus commented that of all the people in Israel, he hadn't seen as great a faith as in the centurion, this one centurion.

And I believe part of it is because of their discipline. They were disciplined, they were disciplined to trust those in authority over them, just like that one when he said, you know, sent a messenger to Jesus saying, come, would you come? You can turn that heat up if you're getting a little chilly back there. I think it's down, they probably turned it down when they cleaned.

Okay, okay, just don't turn it up too far. Now, there was another centurion, okay, just don't turn it up too far.

And Jesus is coming to heal the centurion's servant and while he's still some distance away, the centurion sent another servant and said, I'm not even worthy to have you come into my house, but all you have to do is say the word because I have my servants and I say to one, go, and he goes, I say to another, come, and he comes. So all you have to do is say the word and that's gonna be taken care of. And that's when Jesus said, I have not seen so great a faith in all of Israel. Let it be done as he's requested.

He understood authority and they understand authority. So, plus he's a lover of Yahweh, he's devout. It means he's very committed in his faith. He fears God and his relationship with God, his love of God affected all those around him so that all of his household was a part of that as well. And that means everybody in his household, not just his family, that means his servants as well.

And we'll see that in a couple of verses. And plus he gave, he helped the Jews and he prayed to Yahweh continually. So about the ninth hour, about three o'clock in the afternoon, which, when did the Jews normally pray?

9 a.m., 3 p.m. So he had regular prayers at the same time that they were praying at the temple and at the synagogues. He prayed, he committed himself to pray at that same time as they prayed. The ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come and said to him, Cornelius, now chapter 10, we see the visions. God's speaking in visions here to Cornelius and to Peter.

He's praying, God speaks to Cornelius in a vision and fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, Cornelius 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. Okay, interesting work of God here in Caesarea. Who did I just say a little while ago was in Caesarea

doing a work of the Lord? Philip went from Azotus where he found himself, he found himself at Azotus and he worked his way on up to Caesarea, Philip's in Caesarea. Wouldn't it have been easier for God just to move Philip over to talk to Cornelius? Yeah, but what was Philip?

A Hellenistic Jew.

So what if Philip reports back and says, Gentiles are getting saved. Yeah, well, he's just a Hellenistic Jew. He's not really one of us. He's not one of us original native-borns. I mean, he was born outside of Israel. God's gonna use Peter, you know? Peter, the Pope. No, not, he's gonna use Peter. So send some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon who is also called Peter.

And he is staying with a tanner named Simon whose house is by the sea. When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier, who's a believer in Judaism, he's like the centurion, the centurion, a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants. So he's sending two servants and a soldier who have the same faith that he has. And that's important because he's not just dispatching a soldier and some servants on a mission to go get this guy.

They understand, he could share with them that I saw an angel. You know, okay, imagine the centurion, commander of a hundred men, a hundred crack Roman troops telling a non-believer centurion, another non-believer, not a centurion, but a non-believing Roman soldier. I had a vision. I saw an angel. And an angel said, send two chappah and get this guy Peter who's at Simon the tanner's house

and bring him here. And that soldier would go, Caesar, we got a whack job on our hands over here. You know, we need to change this guy out. He needs some R and R. But he used guys in his own household who were devout as he was, who loved the Lord. He understood what he was talking about. And after he had explained everything to them, verse eight, so he told them why he was sending them

and they didn't think he was nuts, he sent them to Joppa. On the next day, they were on their way and approaching the city. And Peter was up on the housetop about the sixth hour, about noon to pray, noonish. And so he's hungry. He became hungry. It was lunch, it was time to eat. And he was desiring to eat. But while they were making preparations for lunch, he went upstairs and sat on a roof.

He fell into a trance and he sees the vision. He sees the sky open and an object like a great sheet. Literally in the Greek, it's like a sail. So it's huge, like a sail. It's not just a sheet like your bedsheet. I mean, we're talking a sail, a mammoth thing. The corners would have been up like this. It's not, I don't know how you had it pictured. I don't know if you had,

for a long time I used to think it was like this, a sheet that was kind of like this. And it's open, you know, as he's lowering it. Peter's going, wow, look at all that. No, it's like this and the corners are all up like it's being held up. And it's brought down in front of him and the corners then would fall down, the sides would fall down. Here's all these animals.

Here's all these things in it, lowered by the four corners to the ground. And there were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, get up, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, by no means. What's the next word? Lord. Now that's an oxymoron. No and Lord do not go in the same sentence. If he is your Lord, it's always yes.

Where? How far? You know, just yes, Lord. So he says, no, Lord. And he's defending himself, trying again, like Aeneas was earlier, to tell God something he didn't know. I have never eaten anything unholy or unclean. And again, a voice came to him a second time. What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. Now, when did God cleanse it? When was it cleansed?

I mean, these were unclean animals. When God gave Moses a list back in the Old Testament in the Pentateuch, he gave them a list of things they weren't to eat. They weren't to eat things that didn't split the hoof. They weren't to eat certain bugs or fish, certain things of the sea that had shells. They weren't to eat like shrimp and all that stuff. They weren't to eat pork.

So when did God cleanse it? When was it cleansed?

At the cross, absolutely. Behold, I make all things new. New relationship. Weren't these animals still unclean? Well, I mean, you probably ate the pig. If you didn't cook it long enough, you'd get trichinosis. If you ate the shellfish and you didn't devein them right, you'd get poisoning. But God's gonna take care of that. He's emphasizing the fact that he has made all things new,

pointing to these animals and saying that. Now this happened three times, verse 16. And immediately the object was taken up into the sky. Cornelius had more faith than Peter. It only took Cornelius once. You know, the angel said one time, go summon Peter. And Cornelius said, yes, sir. There's the centurion. Disciplined, responds to authority. Here's Peter and all the rest of us.

No, Lord. No, Lord. No, Lord. Three times. And then the sheet's taken up into heaven. Now Peter was perplexed in mind. He hadn't changed his mind yet. He said no three times. The sheet's taken up into heaven. And he's still sitting there going over the whole thing, going over the vision. And what I'm thinking he's saying, again, here's just, you know, it's just conjecture.

Because I know what I'd be thinking. I wonder what God was doing. There's some kind of a test. I wonder if I passed the test or not. You know, I really tried to stand on the fact that I wasn't gonna eat anything unclean. It's for his benefit because he's going over what the vision which he had seen might be. And behold, verse 17, the men who had been sent by Cornelius,

having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate. Now I want you to see what they do because I'm afraid it's easy for us to read over and not really understand what's being said. Verse 18, and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. Now where were these servants and the soldier? Where does it say they were?

At the gate, not the door, at the gate. And they were calling out and were asking. Now there are verb tenses that are there that we see, but they're more prominent in the Greek. They were calling out and continually calling out. And they're standing at the gate. They're not knocking, they're calling out. And they're continuing to call out. And they're asking and they're continuing to ask

if Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. So get the picture. Three guys going, hey, is there a Simon Peter here? Is there a guy named Peter who's also called Simon? Several times. My opinion, probably three times. Because Peter said, no, Lord. No, Lord. No, Lord. So probably three times. Hey, is there some guy named Peter here? Also called Simon.

And 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. And Peter went down to the men and said, behold, I am the one you're looking for. He heard them. Nobody else had gone to the gate. Nobody else had come to the door.

The tanner's out for some reason. So Peter had heard them and he came down and he says, I'm the one you're looking for. What's the reason for which you've come? And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and a 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.

And so Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. Okay, there's the beginning of the evidence that Peter understood some of what the vision was that God was showing him. It was not kosher for a Jew to have a Gentile come into his house. It was not kosher for a Jew to have anything to do relationally with a Gentile. Remember, when Jesus was taken to Pilate,

the Jews stood outside in the courtyard. They wouldn't go in, because they would be defiled if they went into Pilate's area because he was a Gentile. So here Peter is understanding, trying to understand, I think I'm getting at God, you know? I think I'm, come in. And he gave them lodging. And on the next day he got up and he went away with them and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Witnesses, I'm taking witnesses with me. And on the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them. And he had called together his relatives and his close friends. He believed that Peter would come. He trusted God. And he believed that God was going to do exactly what he said he was going to do. Why do we have so much problem with that all the time?

I will never leave you nor forsake you. There is nothing, nothing is too difficult for me, God said. I was reading in the Psalms today. And I just, I can't encourage you enough. If you're not having devotions to do the Psalm devotion where you, today's the third. And then so read Psalm three and then every 30th Psalm, Psalm 33, Psalm 63, Psalm 93, and on through the Psalms.

You get five sections of the Psalms. They're all five have different motions, emotions in them that the Psalmists, they depict different situations that the Psalmists go through. Every area of life that we go through. And it'll touch, it'll touch your heart. And I was reading in Psalm three,

verse three, you O Lord are a shield about me, my glory and the one who lifts my head. I read that, we even sing that. You're my glory, you're the lifter of my head. So why do I let anything bother me? Because I don't believe it, because I forget it. And I need to be reminded of it. That's why we have to stay in the Word. That's why we have to stay in fellowship

because God reminds us of the things that He said. And then we have the choice to either believe Him or not. You God are a shield about me. Nothing is too difficult for you. I can trust you in the midst of this crisis that I'm going through. You're the lifter of my head. I will trust you and walk by faith, not by sight. And that's what Cornelius did. He believed Peter was coming.

He was ready. And he's got the whole gang there waiting for him to come, believing indeed that he is going to come.

And so verse 25, when Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter raised him up and said, no, just kiss my ring. I'm the Pope. No, he didn't. He's not the Pope. He raises him up and he says, stand up, I too am just the Pope. A man. Woo. Boy, that blows a lot of theology today. There's a statue, reportedly, I haven't been to the Basilica,

but evidently there's a statue of Peter at the Basilica. And the toes of the statue have been completely worn off by people coming up and touching the toes or kissing the toes of the statue of Peter. Believing that there's some power there that might emanate into them and bring healing or whatever. Verse 27,

He finally got the vision. He finally understood it. God has made everything clean through Christ.

Wow. That's a preacher's dream. They want to hear. They're there because they want to be there and they want to hear what you have to say. Charles Spurgeon was once asked, What makes a great preacher? And without hesitation he responded, A great congregation. So, they're ready.

The thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism, which John proclaimed. And so he's affirming that they, as proselytes to Judaism, have obviously heard what happened from the time of the baptism of John the Baptist. Verse 38,

For God was with him. We are witnesses of all the things that he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. And God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible. That's an interesting phrase. Some of your translations say that he was seen. He was able to be seen. Jesus moved, of course, you know,

in his glorified body from dimension to dimension. Moved in and out through locked doors and all into different rooms. And he became visible, but 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, now Peter gets this, of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. That's a powerful verse. You should mark it. You should know where it's at. It affirms what happened with the two that were walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus

before they knew who he was. And they were asking if he hadn't heard what had been going on. And that they were, you know, that Jesus had been taken and crucified and all that. And Jesus, remember, it said he started from the prophets, from Moses and the prophets, and he opened unto them all of the scriptures dealing with the Messiah. Peter, then these two guys,

when they realized it was Jesus, they go back to Jerusalem from Emmaus and tell all the disciples what had happened. And I'm sure they said, and Jesus was telling us, starting in Moses, and he was going through and then talked about everything, about the prophets and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Hosea and Joel and Amos and Obadiah and on through and how he's showing that Jesus indeed was the Messiah. And the disciples caught that because Peter makes that statement here. Of him, verse 43, all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.

So Peter's just presented the gospel. God sent his son to die on a cross for our sins and he raised him from the dead and we've seen that. We bear witness to that. And that invitation is given to anyone who will believe. So right there is the gospel in those few short verses. The invitation is given to them and they didn't even have to raise their hands and sing

just as I am 48 times. They just automatically believed in their hearts. They were so primed and ready because they were devout. They loved God anyhow. Now they're hearing a message about the completeness of everything that they already knew and believed that the Messiah had come. They believed it. While Peter was yet speaking, these words of the Holy Spirit

fell upon all those who were listening to the message. And 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. That's why Peter was there. Peter was going to go back to Jerusalem in the next chapter and affirm the fact that the Gentiles are saved now. And there would have been some

who would have said not the holy church because it was all Jewish. The first church was totally Jewish. There would have been some who would have said not the goyim, not the dogs, not the Gentiles too. I mean first the Samaritans and now the Gentiles. But they had understood the love of God and Peter could have affirmed. I saw the vision and God showed me that he's not a respecter of persons.

And then while I'm preaching and sharing the gospel with them, they received the Holy Spirit. They were all amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit, verse 45, had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Verse 46, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. The same way that the disciples did in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.

Same way. And then Peter answered, surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? So chapter 8, the guys were already baptized but they hadn't yet heard of the Holy Spirit. So some of the disciples come up and lay hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. Chapter 9, Saul has hands laid on him,

he receives the Holy Spirit and then he's baptized. Chapter 10, these guys are just hearing a message and they receive the Holy Spirit and then they're baptized. So God's moving and he's moving in different ways to bring all those who will receive him, receive him in the name of Jesus, bring them into the family of God, into the church. And so he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

And so he had done the same thing he was doing, just teaching the gospel, just sharing the gospel with these believers while God's continuing to work in a multi-faceted way as the church is growing and spreading. Well, Father, we thank you for your word and its encouragement, Lord. May we glean from it several things, Lord, that we too, your word tells us several places that you have gifted us not only to reign with Jesus but to suffer also with him. It's been granted unto us.

We bear about in this body the body of death so that the life might be seen in us. We die daily. We go through these times of persecution that the light of life, the gospel can be seen as we trust you in the midst of these difficult situations, these difficult times. Lord, may you continue to keep that strong in our hearts, especially in these difficult days here in our society here in the United States.

We know it's just preparation for the final time and that Jesus is coming soon. So may we have the boldness to proclaim. May we have the boldness to go about as Saul did, just telling everybody we know about Jesus and not worry about what they think of us. Father, strengthen us for that end, I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.