The Great Arranger

In the book, The American Story by Dave Barton and Tim Barton,

they tell of how God's providence was on display in the preservation of the pilgrims who came to settle in the New World.

And it's in chapter 5 of the book, and here are just some examples that they give.

They speak of an Indian by the name of Samoset,

who had learned the English language from English explorers and fishermen who he had met.

He told the pilgrims that the Pawtuxet, which was a fierce and warring people,

had been recently wiped out by a strange plague.

And the pilgrims had actually come to the land where they had previously dwelt.

Other tribes nearby, knowing about what had happened with the epidemic that swept through the land,

they didn't go near to the land because they perceived that some spirit had destroyed the people,

and they were scared if they went near that land, they too would be destroyed.

You can see God's providence in this.

And the pilgrims happened to go to that place.

That man by the name of Samoset, he ends up introducing the pilgrims to the chief of the neighboring Wampanoag Indians

and made a peace treaty with them.

One of the neat things that often gets overlooked in certain parts of American history

is that the pilgrims, like the Puritans and like other settlers in the mid-Atlantic,

would buy the land at mutually agreed upon prices with the inhabitants that were there.

There are plenty of examples of that among the mid-Atlantic colonies and among the pilgrims and Puritans.

And then there was Squanto, the sole survivor of that Patuxet tribe on whose land the pilgrims were now living.

He had been taken captive six years earlier, and he was brought to Spain,

and there he ended up learning about the culture of the European life, kind of the old world.

He ends up being set free, and he ends up making his way back to where his tribe was, but was no longer.

And he so happens to be there when the pilgrims would come.

A little bit after, and as Dave and Tim Barton note,

it was as if Squanto had a special assignment to keep the pilgrims alive.

He spoke fluent English.

He would teach them how to thrive in the land.

He would teach them how to do things like hunt and fish and raise crops.

And again, as they note, Squanto was more prepared than any other individual anywhere in the world to help the pilgrims survive.

And of all the places he could have been, he was right there, on the spot with the people who needed him most.

I share that example with you because if you look at that from a providential point of view,

you can't help but notice how many details had to be arranged under the providence of God

for all of that to work out the way that it did.

You have, for example, Samoset.

You have the fact that he could speak English.

You have the fact that he's going to connect the pilgrims with a chief from a neighboring tribe,

and there's going to be a peace treaty.

You have the fact that that warring tribe had died via a mysterious plague.

Then you have Squanto.

Squanto.

Who happens to be uniquely prepared to help the pilgrims learn how to live in a new land.

They had already lost many people when they first got there.

They probably would have lost many more if they didn't have somebody like Squanto.

And all of these details are taken into account.

Squanto had been taken captive six years earlier, but then he comes back just before the pilgrims get there.

He learned the culture of Europe.

He knew the culture of the New World, and he happened to be right there where the pilgrims needed him to be.

It's one of the humanly innumerable examples.

It's one of the humanly innumerable examples of how God choreographs events according to the purposes of his will.

And ultimately, we know as Christians in Romans 8.28, for the good of his people.

I share that with you because in the text before us today, we are going to be reminded that God is the great arranger.

To use a theological term, we're going to see the doctrine of God's providence on display.

The doctrine of God's providence simply teaches this.

That God ultimately, sovereignly, sinlessly.

He superintends and governs the whole course of history according to the purposes of his will, Ephesians 1.11,

and for the good of his people, Romans 8.28.

And one of the many great examples in the scriptures of God divinely choreographing events,

bringing people to a certain place at a certain time,

even as he's bringing other people to meet them there at the right appointed time,

is found right here in Acts chapter 10.

This is a beautiful example, as some have noted, of divine choreography.

God is the ultimate arranger, the divine orchestrator.

And you have a great example of that right here in Acts chapter 10.

And you'll be reminded how pertinent that is to all of our lives as we make our way through the message today.

In last week's message, which was entitled, How Good is Good Enough?

We were introduced to a man by the name of Cornelius.

And we were reminded, if there was anyone who could have gotten into heaven by works,

you might say Cornelius would be such a one.

Why do I say that?

In Acts chapter 10, verse 2,

there's a glowing description that's found of him in the scriptures.

He's described as a devout man, as one who feared God with all his household,

who gave alms, that's charitable gifts, generously to those who were in need,

and he prayed to God always.

And then we even find, in Acts chapter 10, verse 4,

that his prayers and his alms had risen up as a memorial before God.

The angel had told him that.

But that's not all the angel told him.

The angel also told him,

as we see in Acts chapter 11, verses 13 and 14,

send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter,

who will tell you words by which you and your household will be saved.

So that means, despite all the good things that he was doing,

and God commends him, if you will, for the things that he was doing,

by giving us the kind of characteristic description that we find of him in the scriptures,

he still needed to be saved.

God was,

He was orchestrating events so that this man would hear the words of the gospel

and not trust in his own works, but trust in the work of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps today, God has orchestrated your steps so that you might be here.

And despite having maybe an impressive resume of some kind,

even as Cornelius did, you're going to be told the good news of the gospel,

even as Cornelius would be, that a good resume cannot make oneself able to access heaven.

It can only come through the gospel,

the words of the gospel and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, God was at work.

He was instructing Cornelius through the angel to send men to Joppa to call for Peter.

And now we will see that God was at work in Peter's life,

preparing him, the Jewish apostle, for a visit from three Gentile men,

which would be a prelude to Peter's visit to the house of Cornelius,

where he would bring him the gospel.

We begin in Acts chapter 10,

verse 9, where we read,

So this is the next day, the day after the angel was sent to Cornelius and spoke to Cornelius.

This is after Cornelius' men have been sent out.

And in fact, and you have to love this,

as this event is happening right now,

as Peter is going up to the housetop to pray,

at the same time, the men that were sent from Cornelius,

they are arriving towards the city.

They are about to arrive in Joppa.

But look at the details of God's providence.

They're not still at Cornelius' place,

because they had to be right at Peter's home,

or where Peter was staying at Simon the Tanner's home,

when this vision that Peter is going to receive is done.

They're not there already because Peter hasn't been prepared by God.

As Peter is going up and he's going to have this vision given to him by God,

at that same time,

at that same time, the men are approaching the city of Joppa.

God is arranging all of the details to work out perfectly.

So there Peter is, he goes up on the housetop to pray.

Now you might find that strange,

living in the 21st century in North America.

Don't think of slanted roofs, right?

Peter was not going up on a slanted roof to pray.

I don't want to encourage anybody to do that.

That's not a good place for you to have your quiet time.

He was going up on a flat roof in the first century,

and in that part of the world, it would be common to have flat roofs

that would be accessed by a staircase on the outside.

So there he is, he's going up there to pray, which would make sense.

It would be a place where he could pray alone and by himself.

And think of how beautiful the site might have been.

We know that Simon the Tanner, that's whose house he was staying at,

we heard in Acts chapter 10 verse 6, his house was where?

By the sea.

So you imagine Peter going up to the rooftop.

Maybe he's got a good view of the Mediterranean Sea.

It's quiet.

The ocean breeze.

It's a beautiful place for him to spend time alone with God in prayer.

Now, I want to just encourage you in light of that.

You can talk to God at any time.

In fact, the people of God are instructed in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 17

to pray without ceasing.

We are to be in constant communion with God in prayer.

But perhaps this text is a reminder to us to be intentional about making sure

that when we pray, at least at some moments, we are setting aside time

to go to a quiet place and spend undistracted time with God.

Like a mom or dad, for instance, would rightly love spending time with their children.

But it's not a good idea to have quiet time in the midst of like Legos being on the floor

and a Bible Man episode going on in the background.

That's not where you want to be having your quiet time.

You want to be intentional to say,

I got to, at some point, set aside some quiet time with God.

Now, you can pray at any time.

You could talk to him as you're walking to the car.

You could talk to him in your car and so on.

You could do that.

You could be on the bus.

You could be in the midst of wherever you are.

You could talk to God.

But I just want to encourage you to follow not only Peter's example,

but the Lord Jesus Christ's example.

We're told in Luke chapter 5, verse 16,

that Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

We're told in Mark chapter 1, verse 35,

that Jesus was praying in a solitary place.

And here we see Peter doing that kind of thing.

And I don't want you to take for granted that intentionality

that we ought to have as Christians.

To make sure that we're setting aside some time

to be in an undistracted place to talk to God

and to hear from him in his word.

Another quick note.

I'll just make mention of this briefly.

Some of you might know, if you read through the Old Testament,

that a lot of times in the Old Testament,

you'll see that the rooftops in Israel were sometimes used for evil.

You could look at Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 5,

and you'd say, what kind of evil could people do on rooftops?

They did a lot of evil on rooftops.

They would worship the host of heaven.

So they'd look at the stars and the sun and the moon,

and they would worship them.

Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 5.

There's examples in 2 Kings 23, verse 12,

of how people built altars on flat roofs

so as to worship these things.

And I just say that to say this.

Roofs, flat roofs, are amoral.

They're not intrinsically good, and they're not intrinsically bad.

But they could have been used for good,

and they could be used for evil.

It's like a lot of things today.

Computers aren't intrinsically good or evil,

but they can be used for a lot of evil,

and they could be used for a lot of good.

Text messages aren't intrinsically good or intrinsically evil.

But they can be used for good, and they can be used for evil.

It's just a reminder to us, I think,

to do the best job that we can to steward those things that are amoral

and say, how can I use this for good,

even though others may use it for evil?

He goes up to the rooftop to pray about the sixth hour.

That's noontime.

So probably in his mindset as a Jewish person,

he was probably trying to follow the example of David.

Say in Psalm 55, verse 17, where David said,

Evening and morning.

And at noon I will pray and cry aloud,

and he shall hear my voice.

Daniel, in Daniel chapter 6, verse 10,

we are told he prayed three times a day.

So quick reminder.

Don't overlook these quick reminders,

because if you add them up, they could really help you

kind of orchestrate your schedule in such a way

to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.

Be intentional, I would encourage you,

to set aside some time with God.

See, if you don't know when you're going to spend time with God,

there's a good possibility that you won't end up spending time with Him.

But if you know, I know I'm going to spend time with God when I wake up.

That's what I want to do.

First thing in the morning when I wake up,

I want to spend time with God.

Before I go to bed, I want to spend time with God.

Or whenever it is.

So Peter, it's noontime.

And he's like, I want to spend time with God.

Probably like David, it was probably part of his discipline.

So all I'm encouraging you to do, not in a legalistic way,

but in a kind of prudent way, is to say,

think about what times you are going to spend with God.

And then by God's grace, seek to commit to those times.

Not in some legalistic way, but as God says,

there's a way in which you just want to be intentional

about making sure you don't miss time with the God of the universe.

Well, Peter went to pray and something happened to him

that we could probably relate to.

At least in the first part of verse 10.

Then he became hungry.

Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat.

But while they made ready, he fell into a trance.

So there Peter is.

He's either about to start praying or maybe he just started to pray.

And what happens to him?

He becomes very hungry and wanted to eat.

That's to be expected.

It's 12 noon.

Food is being fixed up for him downstairs.

It's lunchtime.

It's normal for Peter to be hungry.

And I just think, at least it reminds me of how many times,

if you seek to go to God in prayer,

one distraction or another will so often arise.

It could arise from within, like thoughts that come into your mind.

It could arise from like your hunger pangs that emerge.

Interesting.

The word that's used here in the New Testament Greek,

gynomai, speaks of these coming into existence.

It's as though he didn't have them and he's seeking to go into prayer

or he's just starting to pray and all of a sudden

those hunger pangs begin to emerge.

But we could be distracted by so many things.

So if you end up seeking to go to God in prayer,

you're trying to apply some of what I just told you

and you're like, but I just get so distracted.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I go to pray and the next thing I'm doing

is I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat.

I go to pray and the next thing I'm thinking about is,

you know, whatever it might be that comes to your mind.

I just want to remind you, you're not alone.

Even a spirit-filled apostle like Peter knows what it's like

to go up to pray and all of a sudden to feel really hungry.

But this is God's providence at work.

Even that detail wasn't outside of God's providence.

God was going to use Peter's hunger

to be the basis and the backdrop for the revelation

that God was about to give him.

This is not by, you know, coincidence without divine appointment

to find it.

As amazing as that is,

we're going to see more about that in a moment.

And don't you love this?

That he gets hungry, he's going up to pray

and the food isn't ready yet.

Look at the text in verse 10.

But while they made ready,

so the food wasn't ready yet.

It wasn't like he was like, you know what,

I'm kind of hungry, I'll have a quick prayer,

I'll go downstairs.

The food wasn't ready, so he's got to stay there.

And in light of him staying there,

now he's going to get this vision from God.

He's a great arranger at work.

And he falls into a trance,

and that word might take some of you by surprise.

A trance? What is that?

What does that actually mean here?

Simply put, it's the Greek word ekstasis.

What it essentially means is that

it's a word that connotes a person feeling

outside of himself.

It's probably akin to what the apostle Paul

spoke of in 2 Corinthians chapter 12

when he said that he had an experience

whether in the body or out of the body,

I do not know.

Just a sense of feeling beside himself.

So Peter is in this moment,

and all of a sudden in that state,

he is going to be given a vision by God.

Now let's see what the vision was.

We look at verses 11 and 12.

And he saw heaven opened,

and an object like a great sheet

bound at the four corners,

descending to him,

and let down to the earth.

In it were all kinds of four-footed animals

of the earth, wild beasts,

creeping things,

and birds of the air.

All right, so you look at the beginning

Peter sees heaven opened.

Now for us reading that,

and for Peter experiencing that,

that connotes that he's about to be given

a revelation by God.

Heaven opened.

And so now what follows is going to be

a revelation from God,

and what does Peter see?

Interestingly enough,

he sees something like a great sheet

bound at the four corners,

descending to him,

and let down to earth.

So it looks like a sheet,

and the Greek word for this is skuos.

It's an object.

It could refer to a container of some kind.

But what Peter is seeing,

the best way he describes it,

it's something like a sheet bound at the four corners.

Maybe that's representing for what's about to,

you know, come in the interpretation of this.

The four corners of the earth, maybe.

We don't know. That's a hypothesis.

Why a sheet? I don't know why a sheet.

My best guess, and all of this is a guess,

is that as he's on the rooftop perhaps,

he's looking out and he's seeing ships and sails,

and God kind of takes the imagery

of the sails, and he uses that,

and all of a sudden Peter is going to see

this great sheet that looks like a big sail

kind of pulled at four corners,

and it's descending from heaven down to earth.

So we don't know exactly,

but we do know what he saw.

He sees a whole bunch of animals

in this sheet.

And you might think,

alright, that's pleasant.

Must have been nice to see a whole bunch of animals.

Kind of interesting to see a whole bunch of animals

in the sheet.

But for Peter especially,

he doesn't know the significance

in the kinds of animals he was seeing.

He was seeing all different kinds.

But to a Jewish person who was reared

under the Mosaic law,

he's seeing these animals in two categories.

He's seeing them as either clean according

to the Mosaic law,

or unclean according to the Mosaic law.

He's seeing them as either animals

that he could eat as a Jewish person,

or animals that he couldn't eat

as a Jewish person.

So he's not just seeing like a kind of Noah's Ark

on the sheet and saying like, wow,

he's seeing them through the lens

of a Jewish person reared in the Mosaic law

that's saying, ah, unclean and clean animals.

Interestingly, the language here

is actually reminiscent to that

which is used in Genesis 6.20

to speak of the kinds of animals

that were on Noah's Ark.

And remember, there weren't only clean animals

on Noah's Ark, there were unclean animals.

So remember that context now

as you get into verse 13.

Look at verse 13.

And a voice came to him,

saying, rise, Peter, kill and eat.

That would have shocked Peter.

Shocked him.

He knew it was the Lord

who was speaking to him.

He knew that.

You see that in chapter 10, verse 14.

He knows the Lord is the one

that's speaking to him.

And he's probably thinking in this moment

that this is a test.

That he's been reared as a Jewish person

and to him, a Christian who's following Jesus

and a, you know, a Jewish person

is one and the same in his mind at this point.

He hasn't made a distinction

that he's not under the Mosaic law

and doesn't have to keep the dietary

and ceremonial laws yet, at least to some degree.

So he says, not so, Lord.

Probably thinks it was a test.

And now look at Peter's response

in verse 14.

But Peter said, not so, Lord.

I have never eaten anything

common or unclean.

So Peter is protesting.

I'm not going to do it.

And we give Peter the benefit of the doubt.

He's probably thinking it was a test.

He's saying, I've never eaten anything common or unclean.

So you might enjoy like

a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.

Peter's never had that at this point.

Peter never had lobster.

Never had pork chops.

Never had shrimp cocktail.

Am I making you hungry? I don't mean to be,

but now you can know how Peter felt.

Because he's looking at these animals,

but they're not making him hungry

because he's like, I've never eaten any of that.

And reared in the Mosaic Law,

we don't touch those kind of things.

So to Peter, this is disturbing.

He doesn't feel like he's missing out on all those delicacies.

He feels like he's been dutiful throughout his life

to avoid those things.

And in that, I want you to see something.

I'm going to point out a few things here

that I want us to grab before we kind of walk through

the remaining part of the narrative.

The first thing is, I want to remind you,

this is so important in light of where we're going.

Because you're going to see God do such a work in Peter,

and I'm going to encourage you through the work he does

through Peter.

And I want you to see what Peter was.

So entrenched.

He was so entrenched in it.

He thinks being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ

and a faithful disciple

means also being given

to follow the Jewish dietary laws.

They both go together.

Second, I do want you to note this.

Because you might say, well, what was up with all those dietary laws?

Like, why did they even exist?

It was part of the way in which God

was teaching his people, Israel,

and preserving his people

from getting so amalgamated

with the Gentiles, even though in disobedience

they kept amalgamating themselves with the Gentiles.

In Leviticus chapter 20,

verses 24 through 26,

we're told,

but I have said to you, so this is part of the Mosaic law,

you shall inherit their land

and I will give it to you to possess

a land flowing with milk and honey.

I am the Lord your God who has

separated you from the peoples.

You shall therefore

distinguish between clean animals

and unclean animals,

between unclean birds and clean

and you shall not make yourselves abominable

by beast or by bird

or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground,

which I have separated from you

as unclean. And you shall be

holy to me, for I

the Lord am holy and have separated

you from the peoples that you

should be mine.

I quote that to you for this purpose.

There's so much more I could say as to the

reasons for the dietary laws

in the Old Testament, but at least part

of the reason was, God was setting

up parameters where Israel

might be preserved so as

to be that unique nation

through whom he would be the Messiah.

That there would be

clear evidence that through

the nation of Israel, as he prophesied,

through the seed of Abraham, would

come the Messiah.

So the food laws were a way to kind of

guard the people from becoming

too amalgamated into

Gentile culture. That's part

of what's going on here. Third,

Peter had missed

at this point what Jesus had

actually taught during his earthly ministry.

During Jesus' earthly ministry, he declared

all foods to be clean.

In Mark chapter 7, verse

18 and 19, Jesus said,

Then are you also without understanding?

Do you not see

that whatever goes into a person

from outside cannot defile him,

since it enters not his heart,

but his stomach, and is expelled?

Thus he declared all

foods clean.

In other words, God used those dietary

laws for a season in history.

To bring the Messiah.

He was preserving the Jewish people from

being overly amalgamated to the Gentiles.

And through the Jewish people, he's going to bring

the Messiah. But then the food laws, like

scaffolding on a building. When the

building was built, the scaffolding of the food laws

was needed no longer.

It's a good reminder. You're not

holier or less holy by what you eat.

Right? If somebody goes

and they have, you know, a bacon, egg, and cheeseburger,

you might not be

healthier for it, but you're not holier for it.

It's a good reminder

to us. It's not what you eat.

It's not what you don't eat. A lot of

religions of the world are going to put a lot of

stock in what you eat

and what you don't eat. God

used that for a season

in the Jewish people to bring

forth the Messiah. But Jesus has

since declared all foods lawful

to eat.

The fourth thing I want to call your attention to here

is I want you to note the irony in Peter's

response. Not

so, Lord.

Again, it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction. We don't

think that he's being defiant or mean.

A.T. Robertson calls it, based upon

the Greek, a polite refusal with a reason

given. But nonetheless,

there's great irony in that statement, isn't it?

For him to say,

not so, and then

add the direct address,

Lord.

John Phillips, he tells a story

of a young believer who was facing

the choice of obeying the call of God

to the mission field or continuing

in a rewarding and comfortable

business position. And so he consulted

a veteran missionary.

Now this young believer

makes the case that he felt it was

overwhelmingly clear to him, by

whatever reasons, God wanted him

to go to the mission field. So he explains

this to the veteran missionary, and the

missionary told him

to open his Bible, or the missionary opened

his Bible, and he pointed to

this very passage, Acts chapter 10

verse 14. And he

pointed out the words of Peter,

not so, Lord. And

then the wise, older missionary

had said,

it's either not

so, or it is

Lord. The two words

put together are a contradiction in terms.

It goes on, and he

continued, he said, take

my Bible and take this pencil,

sit down here and pray about it.

Then cross out one of the expressions.

Cross out the words

not so, and leave the word Lord, or

cross out the word Lord, and

leave the words not so.

You cannot have it both ways.

I just think

it's a good reminder to us of the irony of Peter's

statement. That if you know God

has called you to do something via the text

of scripture and so on,

you don't say not so if the Lord

is telling you to do it.

But watch how patient God is. This is the fifth

thing I want to call your attention to. God

is amazingly patient with Peter.

Peter's got a track record,

a little bit of a track record, of saying no

to God. Remember

that Jesus had said he was going to the cross,

and Peter said, far be it from

you, Lord, this shall not happen to you.

Matthew chapter 16 verse 22.

Remember when Jesus said that

he was going to wash Peter's feet? And how

did Peter react? In John chapter 13

verse 8, Peter said, you shall never

wash my feet. So

God is putting his patience

on display here. God

doesn't say to Peter at this moment, not so?

Who do you think you are?

Do you know who you're

talking to? I've put up with you

long enough, Peter. We are done. That's

not what he does at all. You're going to see he's

going to instruct Peter. You're going to see that

he's going to go through this a few times with Peter.

It's just putting God's

beautiful patience on display.

And Peter had known

Jesus declared all foods clean.

But nonetheless,

God is putting his patience on display. I just

want to remind you,

I think, and I understand why people

will say this, but

sometimes people will say, for example,

you know, God just seems so

harsh in the Old Testament.

And then part of me is like,

I wonder if you actually

really just read through

the Old Testament. Because

if you read through the Old Testament, you'd actually

marvel at God's patience.

You say, well, what about the flood? Look at the flood.

Yes, look at the flood.

For 120 years,

even though the thoughts of

man's heart was only evil

continually. And then God raises

up Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and God

makes a way for people to escape.

Nobody wants to take the way of escape. They

continue being evil for a hundred

and twenty years, and

then God brings the flood. His patience

was on display. I told you in one

of the earlier messages in Jude, it was either

the first message or the second message of the murmuring

Israelites. And how time after

time after time, I think I gave you ten examples

of times in which they murmured

and they groaned against God and they

wanted to kill Moses and they wanted to kill Aaron

and God was so patient with them.

It was only after so many times

that he said, you're not entering the promised

land, except Joshua

and Caleb. And I encourage

you, think. Think.

How patient has God been

with you in your life

before knowing Christ?

How patient

has God been with you in

your life since you've known Christ?

How patient

has God been with you this week?

Right? That's how you want to think.

Marvel at this beautiful attribute of God's

patience. He's not capricious.

He doesn't fly off the handle. The scripture tells

us he is slow to anger

and abounding in loving kindness. That's

who he is. So never believe the lie that God is

not patient. God is long

suffering. He will suffer

long. He will be patient for a long time

with people who raise their fist against him.

And maybe you've even been such a one. Maybe

you come in here today and you're like, you know what? I haven't bowed

the knee to Jesus. I haven't surrendered

to him. I haven't believed the gospel. And

yet here you are. And he's declaring

to you the great love that he demonstrated

in sending his son. What greater

love could there be? Why would you

spurn such great love? I've been so patient

with you. I've, as it were, extended

my hands to you. And I've shown you my son

extending his hands on the cross

for sinners like you. See the great love

of God. Repent and believe the gospel

and be saved.

He's so great and he's so

patient. And here he is patiently

dealing with Peter. Let's see his patience

on display in the text. Verses 15

and 16. And a voice

spoke to him again the second time.

What God has cleansed

you must not call calm

in. Quick note here.

God is providing a rationale.

Peter is going to find. I'm going to say this again

in a moment. Peter is going to find this is not

simply about unclean

and clean foods. This

transcends foods. This isn't

simply about animals on a sheet.

This isn't simply about a diet.

This goes beyond that. He's going to see

that in a little while. Verse 16.

This was done three

times.

Interesting, isn't it? How things had to

sometimes be done with Peter three

times.

Peter denied the Lord three times.

Peter would then affirm his love for

Jesus three times. Jesus would

confirm and appoint

and commission Peter three

times. And here this exchange.

It's funny to imagine, right?

This exchange is happening three times.

Not so. Not so. Want to try

me again, Lord? Nope. Not so. I'm not

doing it.

And then the object was taken up into heaven

again. Now again, Peter

would come to know that this transcended food.

Well, how do you know that, George? Well, we know

that because we look at Acts chapter 10, verse

28. Later on,

he is going to say these words.

He's going to say, you know

how unlawful it is

for a Jewish man to keep company with

or to go with one

of another nation.

But God has shown me

that I should not call any man

common or unclean.

Ah, that's

what it's about. See,

Peter is looking at that and he's just

thinking dietary restrictions at the moment.

But as this plays

out, he's going to know this isn't about that.

God is going to use him to go

reach out to Gentiles that the

Jewish people of his day, by and large, would say,

we're dirty. We stay away from

those people. We don't go near

those people. They are unclean

as a whole bunch.

Gentiles, by the way, non-Jews.

Peter would

come to find, no, no, no. You don't treat them

like that. You're actually going to be

an ambassador of the gospel to them.

But he doesn't know that yet. Look at verse 17.

Now, while Peter wondered

within himself what this vision which

he had seen meant,

behold, it's as though the Lord wants to

call your attention to this, right? Again,

look at the beautiful arrangement of God.

Peter's on the rooftop. What is he doing?

Wondering. What does this vision

mean? And now

God is telling you in verse 17,

behold, he's calling your attention to this,

the men who had been sent

from Cornelius had made

inquiry for Simon's house

and they stood before the gate.

So as he is

wondering, the Greek word there speaks of him

being kind of at a loss. He's wondering

what this is about. Divine providence

is beautifully on display. All

of a sudden, the guys are basically about to

ring the doorbell to talk

to Peter. Look at verse 18.

And they called and asked whether

Simon, whose surname was Peter,

was lodging there.

Just like the angel had told

them, you're going to a man whose

house is Simon,

and we know it would be Simon the Tanner, you're going to ask

for not just Simon,

lest the homeowner come to the door, and that's not the guy

you want to speak to, you're going to ask for Simon

whose surname is Peter. They do

that, and now look at verses 19 and 20.

While Peter thought about the

vision, the Spirit said to him,

behold, three men are

seeking you. Arise,

therefore, go down

and go with them, doubting

nothing, for I have

sent them.

You're getting a little glimpse here of what God's

doing at all times

on a worldwide scale

that the finite mind cannot

comprehend. He's just

working in such a way.

He's working in Peter, preparing him for this

visitation. He's working in the men

so as to bring them right to this

house at this moment, and now

the Holy Spirit, as Peter's thinking,

what does this vision mean? What was this about?

The Holy Spirit speaks to him and says,

behold, three men are seeking you.

And he gives them instruction.

Arise, therefore, go down with them, doubt

nothing. Why would he say doubt nothing?

Because he knows that

Peter has been reared his whole

life in Jewish customs and

Jewish traditions and the Mosaic law.

He has a certain way of thinking. He would

be doubtful. Doubtful about what?

About interacting or inviting

in unclean Gentiles.

But now the puzzle

pieces are probably starting to come together.

Wait a minute. It wasn't just about

unclean animals. And God kept telling me,

don't call unclean what I have

cleansed. Don't call common what I have

cleansed. I shouldn't treat

the Gentiles like that.

I think the puzzle

pieces are coming together.

Theological reminder, by the way,

the Holy Spirit is a person.

Not some impersonal force.

You see that in light of the fact

that he's speaking here to Peter.

He's speaking.

I just want to remind you of what

Jesus had said. We see it in the Gospels.

When speaking with some opponents, he made a statement

that's helpful for us to be reminded of real quick.

I'll tell you. He said to them, have you

not read what was spoken to you by God?

Yes, this is a unique moment in history

here where Peter has the Holy Spirit

speaking to him in this kind of way.

And yes, he is an apostle. And yes, this is a big deal

in the course of church history. But I just want to remind

you that you can hear God's voice any time

you open up the Word of God.

And as has been said many times, and I like it,

I think it's a good saying, if you want

to hear the Word of God aloud,

you want to hear it audibly,

then you read it out loud. And then you'll hear

God's Word audibly. It's a good

reminder. Well, Peter, verse

21, he went down to the men

who had been sent to him from Cornelius

and said, yes, I am

he whom you seek.

For what reason have you come?

That's the question.

Now here comes the answer.

And they said, Cornelius

the centurion, a just

man who fears God and has a good

reputation among all the nation of the Jews,

was divinely instructed by

a holy angel to summon you

to his house and to

hear words from you.

Now it's probably

coming together. Ah,

God has shown me to use

language from Acts 10.28 that I should

not call any man common or unclean.

God's calling me to go

to the house of a Gentile, which

you're going to see Peter say a little bit later on. Like, that's something

that Jews did not do in those days. Walk

into a Gentile house, but the

Holy Spirit told him to basically

endow nothing. You go with

them because you're going to bring

the very words that they need to hear. Good reminder,

Cornelius' resume

just got added to right here.

You have people that know him speaking highly

of him. They call him a just man.

That word in the Greek speaks of him being

a righteous man. Not justified

by faith, but a man who was marked by doing

righteous deeds. They even say

here that he had a good reputation among all the Jews,

but still that wasn't enough to save him.

You can have a good reputation, you can do a lot

of quote unquote good things, but you still

need at the end of the day to hear the words that

Cornelius needed to hear.

The Gospel.

And what would Peter do? Look at verse 23.

Then he invited them in

and lodged them.

And on the next day Peter

went away with them, and some of the brethren

from Joppa accompanied him.

You see this?

You have to feel this.

This is where the message ends for today,

but I want you to feel it before we leave the

message. Peter invited

them in and lodged

them. That is not

something you would expect a Jewish person to do

to Gentiles who had just come to

the house. But yet Peter

all of a sudden here has a change

of thinking.

You know that old adage,

you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Some of you might remember

the show Mythbusters, like years ago.

There was a Mythbusters

episode where they sought to see if that

was actually true. And they took

these two Alaskan dogs

who were untrained for seven years

and they basically wanted to see over

the course of a week, I believe, if they could teach them

new tricks. And they came to find they could

teach them new tricks. Because they didn't really know

any tricks. So they taught them to heal, taught

them to sit, taught them to like extend the paw,

taught them to do quite a few things. So it ended

that myth. I want to end that myth right

now for any of you who have that in your mind

to say, you know what, I've been a certain way

for so long I cannot change.

Peter

was, I don't know how old he was here, maybe he's

40, maybe 45, I don't know

how old he was at this point, but he

his whole life had been reared

in Jewish customs and traditions.

And in a moment, by the power of the Word

of God, his thinking changed.

He didn't have to be bound by the customs.

He didn't have to be bound by traditions. And I

just want to remind you, I'm going to start here. If you

know the Lord Jesus Christ, maybe you say,

well, I just have a certain way of behaving. I have a

certain way of thinking. I have a certain way of acting.

And that's how I've always been. That's how I was

raised. That's the way I've been. That's the way

I think. That's the way I'm always going to be.

Why? Are you impervious

to the Holy Spirit's power?

Are you the rock that the Holy

Spirit can't move?

No. God can change

you. Don't believe for a second, hey, just

because I've been this way means I'm always going to be this way.

That is wrong kind of thinking.

Peter here is a great reminder

to you that God is so

gracious. God worked a substantial

change in Peter's thinking.

And he could change your thinking. He could change

your behavior, even as he changed

Peter's behavior, even as he changed Peter's

thinking. And now

to kind of expand that a little bit more broadly,

I'll tell you about one of the saddest instances

that I've had. Many of you have heard me tell this story

before, but I thought about it in light of the text.

I remember visiting someone from our church

in the hospital. And while I was visiting

a person from our church who was in the hospital,

I had, I think, some interactions

with the person that they were in the room with.

It kind of just works that way when you're visiting somebody

and they're staying with somebody else. And it was

an older man. And the older man had

gotten a visit from the doctors while I

was there visiting someone from our church.

And the older man was told, I guess they had tried

a procedure or certain treatment on him,

and they told him, while I was there,

there is nothing left that we

could do for you. And they ended up

telling this man that he would leave.

They basically told him to get his, you know,

things in order and that they were going to have to

discharge him and there's really nothing more

they could do. I think it was an implied

next step for you is basically hospice

and there's nothing left that can be done.

So, as they leave, at some

point after that, I end up talking with

this man. And of course,

in light of the prognosis and in light of what he heard,

I end up telling him about the gospel

and the good news of forgiveness of sins

that even though this life is like a vapor

and at the end of the day it's a vapor for us all,

there is forgiveness and eternal

life through Jesus Christ.

This man looks at me and he says,

I am, I don't remember whether

he said 70 or 80 years old,

he said something along these lines,

I haven't trusted in Jesus Christ

for 70 or 80 years.

What makes you think I'm going

to start trusting him now?

See, it's just the wrong way of thinking.

It's the wrong presupposition. I've been

this way my whole life. What makes

you think I'm going to change?

My hope for any of us changing is the grace

of God. Just because you've been

a certain way doesn't mean you have

to be that way.

If the thinking is going to change,

it starts with this humble working of God's

grace inside of all of us.

Henry Ironside, he told

this story. I was reading about it in one

of the commentaries I was reading and I remember when I first

read it, I put it right there. Sometimes I'll write

in my books that I'm reading, I put love

it because I love this story and I'm going to share it with you

as we close. He told the story of his

dad who was dying and

this passage went through his dad's mind.

His dad was a Christian and as he's dying

this passage went through his mind and he kept

repeating, a great sheet

and wild beasts

and, and,

and. And he couldn't

get the words. So he would

start over and he would try to speak

and he would end up stopping at the same

place. And, and,

and then somebody who was

there, a friend, bent over and

whispered, John, it says

creeping things. And then

Ironside's father says, oh yes,

that is how I got in.

Just a poor, good

for nothing creeping thing,

but I got in.

See in his mind, that text is going

through his mind and he's like, that's like who I am.

I'm like a poor, good

for nothing creeping thing. I'm

not somebody whose resume has earned me

heaven. I'm somebody whose uncleanness

has disqualified

me from heaven. But yet the good

news of the gospel is that God sent his son

the perfectly clean one.

The only one who was perfectly

clean, who never did any sin.

He went to the cross to bear

the punishment, if you will, for all of our

uncleanness, for all of our sins.

And where does the grace of the gospel begin

in a person? It begins with somebody saying

I realize I don't deserve

to get in. I'm like an insignificant

sinful creeping thing, though

I know I'm made in the image of God, yet

by my sins I have disqualified

myself. I am inherently

guilty through connection to Adam and

Eve, and my behavior as a sinner

has disqualified me.

And then in that place of humility, you say

I see the need I have for

a savior.

If Cornelius couldn't get in by good

works, you and I aren't getting

in by good works. If his

alms and prayers could reach heaven, but it wasn't

enough to get him into heaven, it's

a good reminder for all of us, the only way

we're getting into heaven is by the one who

came down from heaven,

went to a cross, and died

for our sins, the Lord Jesus

Christ. God

is amazing. Last

thing I'll say, Christians, by way of encouragement

as you look at this passage, please

remember that God is the great

arranger, that he is

the one who's actually orchestrating

not only all things throughout the world, he

is doing that, he's sovereignly superintending

all things, animals that get fed, young

ravens cry and he feeds them, the rising

and fall of nations, he's over that,

stormy winds fulfill his word, he's over

all of those things, but for you as a believer

you must remember

he's actually arranging

and causing all things to

work together for the good of those who love him

and are called according to his purpose.

He's arranged for every one of you to

be here today.

He's arranged for you to hear afresh

these amazing truths and the gospel

that is inseparable to these amazing truths.

I pray you might glory

in such realities and ultimately glory

in him. Let's pray.

Father, thank

you. Thank you for the good

news of what you did in sending your son

to the cross to die

for our sins and to rise

triumphantly from the grave.

Thank you, Lord, that we

have more in common with those unclean

things than we could even imagine.

And we thank you, Lord, that

you have by your grace, not by

our works, not by our supposed goodness,

but by your great love

in the cross, you have

made us clean

positionally through the Lord

Jesus Christ. Father,

I pray that as we marvel at

the way you arrange things, as

is seen in this text, help us to

not take

divine providence as a substitute

for leaning on your word. We know

your word is a lamp unto our feet and a

light unto our path, but help us to

marvel and praise you for all of the ways

in which you have worked in our lives

and to know that sometimes, even when we don't

understand why certain things happen,

we could trust the one who is ultimately

in charge of our lives and directing

our steps in the gospel

and in Jesus Christ. So,

Father, my prayer would be simple.

That your people would glory in you

and trust in you afresh. That

Heavenly Father, all of us, would marvel at

the gospel through which we have been

made clean by those who, by

your grace, have believed they have been made clean.

I pray that everyone in this room would be in such a place.

And Father, I thank you that you

could still change ways of thinking.

Even as you set Peter

free from certain ways of thinking

and the traditions and customs that he had known.

Father, as you search us, if there

are ways of thinking or things that we are

bound to that we ought not to be bound to,

may you help us by your power

and by your word to be relieved

and released of those things

so that we might think and act

in a way that befits what you have

called us to be as Christians.

We love you and we pray these things

in Jesus' name. Amen.