WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.120 Well, today we're going to talk about somebody who may 2 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.519 or may not have been the first gentile convert. 3 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:06.559 I think he was, but we're not gonna argue about 4 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:08.720 it today. I'm Jeff, He's Chris, and we're the Daily 5 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:09.320 Babble guys. 6 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:24.239 Okay, Chris, Yep, we're gonna We're gonna this for this segment, 7 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:24.839 we're gonna read this. 8 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.760 It's one of my favorite segments. By the way. We 9 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.760 did this before and I just enjoyed it, but it 10 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.719 felt like I came unprepared this time. You're going down. Okay, okay, 11 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:33.719 So what is this segment? 12 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:34.759 Dead jokes? 13 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:37.399 Dead jokes? Okay? And the goal is to do what 14 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:40.439 make the other person laugh? Okay, So we're going to 15 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:42.520 dial in and not laugh. We're gonna do our best 16 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:44.479 not to laugh. Yes, okay, do you want to start it? 17 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.000 Do you want me to start? You start? Oh, you 18 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.960 want me to start? Okay. I read that by law 19 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.479 you must turn on your headlights when it's raining in Sweden. 20 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.240 But how am I supposed to know when it's raining 21 00:00:55.240 --> 00:01:02.240 in Sweden? Okay, go ahead. I think that's a funny one. 22 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:05.079 It is funny. You know it's funny. You're trying hard 23 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:05.680 not to laugh. 24 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:10.319 A skeleton walks into a bar and says, hey, bartender, 25 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:12.760 I'll have one beer and a mop. 26 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:20.159 Okay, a root beer. I'm sure it was a root beer. 27 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:23.200 Isn't that what all of our kid listeners? Oh yes, 28 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:29.239 it's definitely okay. How many telemarketers does it take to 29 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.319 change the light bulb? How many? Only one? But he 30 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:33.680 has to do it while you're eating dinner. 31 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:39.480 Wow, you're really enjoying these. 32 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:41.280 That's a funny one. 33 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:47.519 Okay, what do you call a poor Santa Claus? I 34 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.200 don't know, Saint nicol Less. 35 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:58.799 I'm not laughing at that one. Okay. So my dog 36 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.879 ate a whole bag of scrabble tiles yesterday. We had 37 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:03.920 to take them to a vet. We just got a 38 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:07.159 call this morning and the vet said, no word yet. 39 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.439 It was actually good. I think that's a I think 40 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:20.360 that's a good place to end. 41 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:23.319 Is that no good? I think I laughed at everyone 42 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:25.360 except your your root beer joke? 43 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.360 No, no, no, no, the Nicholas yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, 44 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:28.879 yeah that one. 45 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.360 Yeah, that's funny. Okay. So hey, here's the man. 46 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.879 We're going to ask people to go to the Bible 47 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.800 guys dot com and subscribe. So we've asked you to 48 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.240 do a like on Facebook, subscribe on YouTube. This is 49 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.520 a little different the Bible Guys dot com subscribe and 50 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:47.759 uh and again, all all it does is it just 51 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.560 connects you to us, helps our metrics and uh, and 52 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.159 it enables us to you know, just stay connected. 53 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:56.080 Yeah, all the magic stuff behind the scenes that Google does. 54 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.319 The every time you subscribe, or every time you share, 55 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:03.960 or every time you make a comment, Google notices, YouTube notices. 56 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.000 They all notice those things and it helps position the 57 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:10.159 Bible Guy's website and all of our stuff in a 58 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:12.879 stronger way. So if you love what's happening here and 59 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:15.879 if you love this program, then help us in one 60 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:17.639 of the best ways in your dead is just subscribe 61 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:23.199 on Bible Guys dot com. Yeah. Yeah, cool, Well, good son, 62 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:25.599 I've got the giggles. Now I have to be careful 63 00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:27.240 about not laughing too much. 64 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.439 Well, listen, we're going to jump into acts chapter ten. 65 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:37.919 And so this is the first recorded gentile convert, which 66 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.199 means the person who is non Jewish who actually you know, 67 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:43.800 becomes a Christian. It's recorded that he is not only 68 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.960 just a Christian, but a strong Christian. Yeah, and has 69 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:51.039 major influence because he happens to be a Roman army 70 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:54.080 officer and a captain of the Italian regiment. 71 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.000 Yeah, so this is a big deal. So we're going 72 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:59.000 to start in Acts, chapter ten, verse one. We're going 73 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.960 to read the first sixty verses or so, and then 74 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.479 we're going to jump a little ways and finish up 75 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.199 the story. So here's what it says. In cesarea there 76 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.240 lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a 77 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.400 captain of the Italian Regiment. He was a devout, god 78 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.480 fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave 79 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.480 generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. On 80 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.399 one afternoon, about three o'clock, he had a vision in 81 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.560 which he saw an Angel of God coming toward him Cornelius. 82 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.160 The angel said, and Cornelius stared at him in terror. 83 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:31.000 What is it, sir, he asked the angel. The angel replied, 84 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:33.600 your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received 85 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.639 by God as an offering. Now send sa Menda Jappa 86 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:39.199 and some of a man named Simon Peter. He's staying 87 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.360 with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore. As 88 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:44.439 soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of 89 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.360 his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his 90 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.839 personal attendants. He told them what had happened and sent 91 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.079 them off to Joppa. The next day, is Cornelius's messengers 92 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.759 were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat 93 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.439 roof to pray. It was about noon and he was hungry. 94 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:01.439 But while a I was being prepared, he fell into 95 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.240 a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like 96 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:06.600 a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 97 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.720 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles and birds, 98 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:11.920 And then a voice said to him, get up, Peter, 99 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:15.360 kill and eat them. No, Lord, Peter declared, I've never 100 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.920 eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared to impure 101 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.920 and unclean. But the voice spoke again, do not call 102 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.160 something unclean if God has made it clean. The same 103 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.040 vision was repeated three times, and then the sheet was 104 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.480 suddenly pulled up to heaven. So then it kind of 105 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:32.879 goes through a little bit more of that, and then 106 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.279 picks up in verse twenty eight and says Peter told them, 107 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:38.959 you know, it is against our loss for a Jewish 108 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.120 man to enter a gentile home like this or to 109 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.439 associate with you. So those men that Cornelis had sent 110 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.040 finally come up to Peter. And then Peter's like, you know, 111 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.959 Jews aren't allowed to go in Roman homes. But he says, 112 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.279 but God has shown me that I should no longer 113 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.720 think of anyone as impure or unclean. So I came 114 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.000 without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now 115 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.199 tell me why you sent for me, And Cornelius replied, 116 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.439 four days ago. I was praying in my house about 117 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.879 this time, three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man 118 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:07.759 in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me, and 119 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:09.879 he told me, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and 120 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:11.920 your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God. 121 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.160 Now send messengers to Jappa some and a man named Simon. Peter. 122 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.120 He's staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who 123 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.319 lives near the seashore. So I sent for you at once, 124 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:21.480 and it was good of you to come. Now we 125 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.879 are all here waiting before God to hear the message 126 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:28.560 of the Lord that the Lord has given you. So 127 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.360 we're going to pause there because tomorrow we're going to 128 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.160 finish up the story of Cornelius. But on the front end. 129 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:37.879 Let's deal with the issues that Peter was struggling with 130 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.439 and that, you know, and let's deal with who Cornelius is. 131 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.000 Tomorrow we'll talk about the salvation and the Holy Spirit 132 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.240 and all those kinds of things. But here Peter really 133 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:50.759 has to overcome a hurdle. And I think it would 134 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.240 be easy for our listeners to not understand how great 135 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:56.360 of a hurdle this was. Yeah, without a miraculous intervention. 136 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.639 Yeah, So we sort of talked about that just a 137 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.120 little bit yesterday, and we talked about how the fact 138 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.920 that you know, Peter's ability or inability, whatever he chose 139 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.600 to do to get over his issue, has a direct 140 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.000 connection to you and I sitting right here. The fact 141 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.800 that Peter had a lesson to be learned and God 142 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.839 knew it, and so God sends him a vision. Now, 143 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.199 a lot of us, you know, we may not get 144 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:23.439 a vision directly from God. But again, these are pretty 145 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.560 supernatural times in the early days of the church, and 146 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:30.800 Peter was the guy. He was God's, you know, Jesus's 147 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.319 number one messenger moving forward, performing miracles and making a difference. 148 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:40.360 And so God sends him this unbelievable vision that had 149 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:44.800 to untrain his thing that he had believed his whole life, 150 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:49.160 and his whole life, the Jewish custom says, you know, hey, 151 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.800 these animals are unclean. You cannot touch them. And by 152 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:56.000 the way, that's still true today, isn't it. So people 153 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.000 already know that Jewish people, I mean, it's pretty commonly 154 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.839 well known. People think pigs are an unclean animal and 155 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:03.800 they won't eat. 156 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.720 Pork because of this, because of Moses' law, right, So you. 157 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:09.560 Know this this tradition. You know, that's another reason why 158 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.399 we realized the Bible is real. It connects us directly 159 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.759 back two thousand years ago where they were still talking 160 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:19.160 about the same things. And so Peter hears from God. 161 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.560 And by the way, I think that God's statement is 162 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:26.600 actually pretty telling for a lot of Christians who believe 163 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:30.680 certain things, because think about this. If you're a Jewish 164 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:34.000 person and your religious leaders and your church of the 165 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:38.720 Synagogue has told you your entire life, God has declared 166 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:42.000 these things unclean, and all of a sudden, God's sort 167 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.000 of making this announcement, and He's sort of admitting those 168 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.440 things didn't come from me, they came from your religious leaders. 169 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:52.840 Because don't you dare call anything unclean that I have 170 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:55.919 called clean. Now, think about what was in front of Peter. 171 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:01.559 Just normal animals, right, animals, reptiles, words, all sorts of them. 172 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:04.519 And Peter's like, no, those are in clean. God's like, 173 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:06.840 who told you they were in clean? Don't call anything 174 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:11.080 unclean that I have called clean. And so there's so 175 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:13.799 many lessons to be learned there. Here's the first one. 176 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.720 Number one, It's okay to question your religious leaders, right, 177 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.159 so just just stack it up to the Bible. Don't 178 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:25.840 ever believe something that I say, or Jeff says, or 179 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:29.039 a person on television says, or something that you google 180 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.360 and just take it at its word. You have to 181 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.200 question and say, I wonder if this is true. I 182 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:36.960 wonder if it's true. And you have to be able to, 183 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.759 you know, find out whether or not it's true from 184 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.320 either a trusted friend that you believe, researched it, from 185 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:46.519 God's word especially, But don't take it as at face 186 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:49.000 value just because a religious leader says itself. 187 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:54.120 Yeah, So to be clear, he's saying God is using 188 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:59.879 the food to teach Peter a lesson about people. 189 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.679 Yes, yes, so the food. 190 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.960 Had been declared unclean in the Book of Leviticus, and 191 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.360 in the Book of Deuteronomy, God had listed don't eat 192 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:10.759 these reptiles, don't eat these kind of birds, don't eat 193 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:12.840 the heat. There's a whole list of stuff they're not 194 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:16.720 allowed to eat, and so they would view that as unclean. Well, 195 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:18.879 then what had happened was they had built up these 196 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:23.519 rules about, you know, the gentiles. Then all the gentiles 197 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.799 would be unclean as well, and so they wouldn't fellowship 198 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.799 with them, they wouldn't go into their homes, they wouldn't 199 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:30.759 do any of that kind of stuff. Well, God had 200 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:35.399 just said, be careful, don't intermingle in marriage with the 201 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.879 people from other lands or other nations. But the religious 202 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.240 rules had gone from you know, man, we don't touch 203 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.559 these kinds of foods. We don't do these kinds of 204 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.639 behaviors too, we don't even go around these kind of people. 205 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.279 We won't even let them touch us or be near them. 206 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.559 And they had taken a rule for purity, and they 207 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.159 had pushed it all the way into how they were 208 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:57.759 dealing with other human beings. And God says, no, you know, 209 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.759 let me do this. So God is suspended the rules 210 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:04.679 about these foods with Peter that they had been previous rules, 211 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.120 but suspending them now, in my mind, I was just 212 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.200 of the human connection. 213 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.960 Yes, in my mind, I was referring to all the 214 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.960 rules that the Pharisees had made up to not come 215 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:16.279 close to breaking the rules. 216 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:18.200 That's right. They made rules in order to keep the rules, 217 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:19.240 in order to keep the rules. 218 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.679 That's right. That's right. So and so I remember one 219 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.440 of my favorite speakers, Annie Stanley, talked exactly about this, 220 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:28.639 and he talked about guardrails, and he said, if you 221 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.600 think about it, you're driving along, you know, the shoulder 222 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.879 of the road, there's like a there's a yellow line, 223 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.440 then there's the shoulder, he says, and then there's a 224 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.000 guard rail, right that was supposed to keep you from 225 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:41.559 going over the cliff. Right. And he was talking about 226 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.919 how it's okay to have healthy guardrails. But the Pharisees 227 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.600 were the ones who put like three guardrails up, right, 228 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:49.960 And they're the ones that said, you know, there's all 229 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.759 these different rules. And so by the time it had 230 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.240 you know, been passed down from Deuteronomy and gotten too Peter, 231 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:58.720 you know, Peter had been you know, taught was under 232 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:02.960 the culture of rules upon rules upon rules upon rules, 233 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:04.480 is what I was thinking when I send that. 234 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:07.919 And it would be an agonizing experience for a Jewish 235 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:11.759 Man to be considered unclean, because he's lived his whole 236 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:16.000 life clean, right, and so for him to be unclean 237 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.519 would be a devastating social and emotional experience for him 238 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:22.159 that he'd never experienced. 239 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:23.120 Before, which we don't ever think about. 240 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:25.399 Yeah, I don't know that there's any there, there's I 241 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.519 don't think there's hardly an equivalent for us right now, 242 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.480 you know, in our in our culture to deal with 243 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:34.039 on this level. But just understand, this is an agonizing 244 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.399 moment for Peter, and he's trying to honor God, and 245 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:40.919 God goes, you're dishonoring me by not reaching out to 246 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.159 you know, by by by dismissing other people groups, and 247 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:50.039 then God choose to use a guy like Cornelius. Cornelius 248 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:54.000 is unique. He's a he's a Roman. Is he a centurion? 249 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:56.000 Is that that he's a Roman office? It's just this 250 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.399 captain of the guard, well the Greek the Greek word 251 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:02.879 there in the note as the centurion. So so this 252 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:06.159 would have meant that he was in charge of a 253 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.519 hundred soldiers, give or take right, That's what centurion century. 254 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:12.120 That's that's what it would mean, is that he was 255 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:16.519 the head of a hundred soldiers. He probably was getting 256 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.200 ready to you know, these leaders would be on rotation 257 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.480 and maybe he was heading home or at some point 258 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:23.919 he's going to go back to Rome. Probably, So it's 259 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.120 very strategic that we get the gospel. We see the 260 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.840 Gospel going to him. But the Bible says that he 261 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:32.799 was he was the leader of an occupying army. But 262 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.919 the people loved him. This is this is a unique thing. 263 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.240 He was a devout man. He lived a good life, 264 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:43.679 he was generous, he prayed, he feared God, and so 265 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.759 even though he was an occupying leader that the people 266 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:48.440 had a lot of respect for this guy. He was 267 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.080 an upstanding kind of a guy, and the Jewish people would, 268 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:55.679 uh would respect him. I think what's really cool is 269 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.320 he got conquered by Jesus here in just a just 270 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.519 another couple of minutes, but uh, another couple verses. But 271 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.360 he is praying, and the fact that he's a good guy, 272 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:09.879 the fact that he's being generous, the fact that he 273 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.879 prays does not automatically mean he's right with God. It 274 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.480 just means he has an open heart. He's a spiritual seeker, 275 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.919 and so God says, Okay, I'm going to send Peter 276 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.480 to you. You're open to the gospel. Maybe he's one 277 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.919 of the very first significant gentiles that's open to Jesus 278 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:28.480 in this moment, or open to the gospel. And so 279 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:32.159 he sends Peter. But at the same time that Peter 280 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:36.360 has this vision three o'clock in the afternoon, Cornelius is 281 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.679 having a vision at three o'clock in the afternoon saying, 282 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.200 you guys need to meet. That's what this was. That's 283 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:45.360 only Peter didn't know that he was supposed to go 284 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.480 meet Cornelius. Peter just is having the walls torn down 285 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.399 in his life about things that he thinks is unclean, 286 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.480 and God is saying, hey, Cornelie sends some people to 287 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:57.879 go get Peter. And it's at the same time God 288 00:14:57.960 --> 00:14:59.519 is making these two things happen, and neither one of 289 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:01.639 them know that God's doing it. In the other it's 290 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:02.159 pretty cool. 291 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.799 Yeah, it's very cool, and uh, you know, it's it's 292 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:11.039 also interesting how Peter immediately responds to Cornelius, and because 293 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.399 I'm sure it was strange. Another thing that we can't 294 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.799 wrap our minds around is that when somebody liked Peter, 295 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.200 especially he's the guy in the Jewish faith walks in 296 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.320 through the home of Cornelius. The verses that we skipped 297 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:25.720 says that for Cornelius actually fell down to worship Peter. 298 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.799 So so Carnaius doesn't have a lot of education as 299 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:32.440 to how to respond. Right, and then and so Peter, 300 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.080 Peter immediately addresses the fact that this. 301 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.080 Is odd for a Roman to bow down to a Jew. 302 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.200 Oh, my goodness, extraordinary, culture, extraordinary. And then and so 303 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.279 Peter says, stand up, I'm just a man like you. 304 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.919 And then he says, hey, let's address the elephant. 305 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:49.200 Which I say most of the time to you, right, Hey, 306 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:49.919 don't worry about it. 307 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.120 I'm just a man like you, to which I would 308 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.919 say I already know that. 309 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:57.600 But but the. 310 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.039 But but then Peter then and says, hey, let's address 311 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.919 the elephant in the room. Is it is not normal 312 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.039 for me to for any Jewish person to step into 313 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:08.200 a gentile's home. 314 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.120 He was clearly still uncomfortable about it. 315 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.240 Yes, I think that everybody was, which is something again 316 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.639 we can't wrap our minds around. But he's saying, but 317 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:20.320 God has taught me, you know, because just this idea that, 318 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.840 like the Gospel is for everybody. And so again I 319 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:25.639 think that's why it has a direct connection to you 320 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:29.639 and me and our listeners listening, because Peter's ability to 321 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.399 you know, just get over that. So here's another thing 322 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.080 I was thinking as well. I was thinking, like, you know, 323 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.080 God has made something pretty clear to Peter. You know, 324 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:43.480 he did it three times, right, and yet Peter's going 325 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.960 to continue to struggle. He gets challenged by Paul later on, 326 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:49.759 and and it's just really hard for him to you know, 327 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:54.080 just untrain his mind. So what things in our lives 328 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:57.639 has God made clear that we still want to argue about. 329 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.759 There are things in our lives that God has just 330 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.279 made clear. And I remember, for instance, I remember when 331 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:07.240 I was young and I just became a Christian, and 332 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.559 you know, everybody in my town at my age, you know, 333 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.240 being fifteen, sixteen years old, when they went out with 334 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:18.319 a girl, boys wanted one thing, and that was my 335 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.519 goal too. That's what I was trying to do until 336 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:24.519 I realized that God's words said that that's not what 337 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:28.000 you should do. And I remember thinking to myself, I 338 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:31.039 heard it, and here's how I heard it. My girlfriend 339 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.000 broke up with me, and she started dating a kid 340 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.200 from that youth group, and we were pretty new to 341 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:38.000 this youth group. Then we got back together and my 342 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:41.240 question to her was, so did you guys kiss? What 343 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:43.680 did you guys do? And she says, oh, he doesn't 344 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.920 believe in any of that stuff. He believes that all 345 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.480 that stuff's reserved for marriage, and that God's word says 346 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:50.759 you know, X. 347 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.160 Y and Z. 348 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.880 And I remember laughing and going, what a loser haha, 349 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:58.599 And then it hit me, I go, wait, does the 350 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:02.599 Bible say that? And I was angry. And I remember 351 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.640 going to my youth pastor. We were on a bus 352 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:06.920 on the way to Cedar Point, and I remember walking 353 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:08.799 up to the front of the bus and his name 354 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.759 was Jim Wolfke. We called him Wolf and I said, Wolf, 355 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.799 does the Bible say those things are reserved for marriage? 356 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:16.400 And he said yeah. And I was like, I am 357 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.319 so angry. I am so angry. But once I heard it, 358 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:23.680 I couldn't unhear it right right and and then and 359 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:25.799 I believed it. And I found out later that that's 360 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:28.720 what it says, sure, And that's very uncommon thought. By 361 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:30.759 the way, that's a very uncommon thing for people to 362 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:33.920 accept today, and they just they want to customize and. 363 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:36.160 Ignore that, right, Right, So. 364 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.759 What are some of the things and it's a perfect example. 365 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:41.640 What are some things that you know are really clear 366 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:43.640 from God that you want to argue about. 367 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:46.920 Yeah, I think that that's fair. Whatever, our favorite thing 368 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:48.599 is that we don't want God to be messing with 369 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.359 That's what we want to argue with him about. 370 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:50.920 Right. 371 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.079 So he loved his tradition, he loved his rules, and 372 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:58.559 it kind of gave him some comfortability because he's living 373 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.000 inside this box that he's come with and he doesn't 374 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.519 wanted to mess with it. The other part of it 375 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:09.079 is it becomes so ingrained. These biases, these racial biases 376 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:12.880 are so deeply ingrained because of their religious system. Right. 377 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:17.119 And so I think that where we all all humanity 378 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:21.440 naturally moves towards certain biases. And you know, there's a 379 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.319 big conversation right now about racism and things in our culture, 380 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.680 and I think it's important for us to have these conversations. 381 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:28.559 I just think that Christians need to be very careful 382 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:32.440 about getting sucked into the world's words and trying to 383 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:34.799 figure out how to use the world's definitions of things 384 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.400 as opposed to just looking at scripture, God says, hey, listen, everybody, 385 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.920 that the ground is level at the cross. You're all 386 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.160 equal in my eyes, treat each other in equal ways. Right, 387 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:46.960 So he had to overcome his normal biases. As a 388 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:51.400 matter of fact, The Notes and the Life Application Bible 389 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.240 for verses fifteen sixteen says steeped in Jewish tradition and 390 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.400 filled with certain biases, Peter was convinced his views on 391 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.759 gentiles were correct. It took a three part vision from 392 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:04.480 God that change Peter's mind. One of the most basic 393 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:07.119 and practical lessons from this encounter is that when God speaks, 394 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:10.480 we must not challenge what he says. Doubting God is 395 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.640 the rebellion of Eden. When God says something is so, 396 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.599 we must not debate with him. The right response is 397 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:20.160 humble submission to his revealed truth. Are you trying to 398 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.079 argue with God over some point that He's already made 399 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:24.400 clear which goes along with what you were saying? Yeah, 400 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.839 And I think it's when it comes to racial issues 401 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:32.960