Acts 11 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00So in the previous chapter,
2. 0:02the first Gentiles have just been
3. 0:05brought in to the covenant of promise.
4. 0:07They are no longer strangers, they are
5. 0:09no longer aliens. They've just been
6. 0:12given the right of passage to become
7. 0:14part of the saved community. And this is
8. 0:17a stupendous change. Peter orders them
9. 0:21to be baptized in the name of the Lord
10. 0:23Jesus when they hear them speaking in
11. 0:25tongues and they know that God has given
12. 0:27them the spirit.
13. 0:29Okay? So we have the exact same pattern
14. 0:31that happened in Acts 2 and in Acts 8,
15. 0:34it's happening again. We have three
16. 0:36witnesses, we have a pattern for what it
17. 0:39looks like when people receive the
18. 0:42gospel.
19. 0:44Chapter 11, verse 1. Now the apostles
20. 0:48and the brethren who were throughout
21. 0:50Judea heard that the Gentiles also had
22. 0:53received the word of God.
23. 0:55And when Peter came to Jerusalem, those
24. 0:58who were circumcised took issue with
25. 1:01him. That means they did not like what
26. 1:05he did.
27. 1:07Took issue, that means they had a
28. 1:09disagreement. They took issue with him
29. 1:11saying, "You went to uncircumcised men
30. 1:16and ate with them."
31. 1:19But Peter begins speaking
32. 1:22and proceeded to explain to them in
33. 1:25orderly sequence
34. 1:28saying,
35. 1:29"I was in the city of Joppa praying. In
36. 1:33a trance, I saw a vision, an object
37. 1:37coming down like a great sheet lowered
38. 1:40by four corners from the sky and it came
39. 1:42right down to me.
40. 1:45And when I had fixed my gaze on it and
41. 1:48was observing it, I saw the four-footed
42. 1:50animals of the earth and the wild beasts
43. 1:52and the crawling creatures and the birds
44. 1:55of the air. I also heard a voice saying
45. 1:57to me, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
46. 2:01But I said, "By no means, Lord, for
47. 2:05nothing unholy or unclean has ever
48. 2:08entered my mouth."
49. 2:10But a voice from heaven answered a
50. 2:13second time,
51. 2:15"What God has cleansed,
52. 2:19no longer consider unholy."
53. 2:23This happened to three times, and
54. 2:26everything was drawn back up into the
55. 2:29sky.
56. 2:30And behold, at that moment, three men
57. 2:34appeared at the house in which we were
58. 2:36staying,
59. 2:37having been sent to me from Caesarea.
60. 2:40The Spirit told me to go with them
61. 2:43without misgivings.
62. 2:45These six brethren also went with me,
63. 2:48and we entered the man's house.
64. 2:52So, I want to draw attention here. This
65. 2:55is the first disagreement in the church.
66. 2:59This is the first time Christians
67. 3:01thought Christians did the wrong thing.
68. 3:04And Peter does not start having an
69. 3:07argument. And he doesn't either just
70. 3:09pull out the Bible and debate scripture.
71. 3:12He proves
72. 3:14that God was supernaturally working.
73. 3:17He proves that through signs, through a
74. 3:20voice from heaven, through a conviction
75. 3:23of the Holy Spirit, he acted. That's
76. 3:26what they needed to hear. Early
77. 3:28Christians did not just need to debate
78. 3:31passages. They wanted to know that this
79. 3:34was the work of the Holy Spirit.
80. 3:37So, he said, "The Spirit told me to go
81. 3:39with these men without misgivings. These
82. 3:41six brethren also went with me, and we
83. 3:44entered the man's house, Cornelius's
84. 3:46house.
85. 3:47And he, Cornelius, reported to us how he
86. 3:50had seen the angel standing in his house
87. 3:53and saying, "Send to Joppa and have
88. 3:56Simon, who is called Peter, brought
89. 3:57here,
90. 3:58and he will speak to you words by which
91. 4:02you will be saved,
92. 4:05you and all your household." So, there
93. 4:08we get a little detail that we didn't
94. 4:09get in the other tellings. The angel
95. 4:12told this God-fearing man, who was
96. 4:15devout and accepted by God, that God was
97. 4:19going to send Peter, and Peter was going
98. 4:21to speak words by which he and his
99. 4:23household would be saved.
100. 4:26Peter is trying to tell those
101. 4:27questioning him, "I didn't do this on my
102. 4:30own. God did this, and it came in
103. 4:32multiple witnesses." So, he tells them
104. 4:35that the sheet in the vision came three
105. 4:37times. He tells them that three people
106. 4:40came from Cornelius. He tells them that
107. 4:43six brethren went with him. So,
108. 4:45everything is, "Guys, we're accountable.
109. 4:48Guys, we didn't act on the first
110. 4:50impulse. God confirmed his word."
111. 4:53And then when we got there, we heard
112. 4:54what God had done in Cornelius's life.
113. 4:57He's trying to show I didn't come up
114. 4:59with this. I'm not an independent
115. 5:01maverick. I'm really being obedient to
116. 5:04something that the Holy Spirit is
117. 5:05guiding. Does that make sense? So, the
118. 5:08multiplicity of witnesses is very
119. 5:10important to Peter. Peter is not a big
120. 5:12shot. He doesn't say, "Go take a hike.
121. 5:15I'm the guy with the keys."
122. 5:18He feels like he owes an explanation,
123. 5:21even to these people who are doubting
124. 5:23the work of God.
125. 5:25He's not an arrogant jerk.
126. 5:28He feels like he needs to be able to
127. 5:30defend and explain that this wasn't his
128. 5:33doing. This was the work of the Holy
129. 5:35Spirit. So, even though he's going to
130. 5:36win the argument, he's showing a lot of
131. 5:39humility by answering their questions so
132. 5:41patiently, laying out in chronological
133. 5:44order exactly what happened.
134. 5:48So, the angel told him that Peter would
135. 5:50speak words by which you and your
136. 5:52household will be saved.
137. 5:54And Peter's talking to the believers
138. 5:56now. And as I began to speak, the Holy
139. 5:59Spirit fell upon them just as he did
140. 6:03upon us at the beginning.
141. 6:06That's so important to Peter.
142. 6:08This is not something strange. The
143. 6:10pattern is repeating.
144. 6:12And I remembered the word of the Lord,
145. 6:15how he used to say, "John baptized with
146. 6:19water, but you will be baptized with the
147. 6:22Holy Spirit." So, he quotes Jesus. Those
148. 6:24words show up in red in your Bible. He
149. 6:27says, "I remembered how Jesus used to
150. 6:30say this." So, he's saying to us that
151. 6:32what happened was not a fluke. It was
152. 6:35the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
153. 6:38This is fulfilling what Jesus said.
154. 6:41It's been called the outpouring of the
155. 6:42Spirit. Now, it's been called the
156. 6:44baptism of the Spirit. It's also been
157. 6:47called the gift of the Holy Spirit. So,
158. 6:49we know that the baptism, the
159. 6:51outpouring, and the gift of the Holy
160. 6:53Spirit is all the same thing. And when
161. 6:55he quotes Jesus, Jesus calls it the
162. 6:58promise. So, the promise is the gift, is
163. 7:02the outpouring, is the baptism
164. 7:05of the Holy Spirit.
165. 7:07Therefore, if God gave to them the same
166. 7:09gift as he gave to us also after
167. 7:12believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who
168. 7:15was I that I could stand in God's way?
169. 7:19So, he says, "I didn't do this cuz I'm a
170. 7:21big shot.
171. 7:22I did this cuz I wasn't big enough to
172. 7:25stand in the way of God."
173. 7:28When they heard this,
174. 7:31they quieted down
175. 7:33and glorified God,
176. 7:35saying, "Well, then,
177. 7:37God has granted to the Gentiles also the
178. 7:40repentance that leads to life.
179. 7:46So, they weren't quiet at first.
180. 7:49They were in an uproar. They were
181. 7:52unhappy.
182. 7:53They took issue with him. But, he wasn't
183. 7:56a big shot. He didn't say, "I'm the big
184. 7:59cheese. Get lost. My way or the
185. 8:01highway." He said,
186. 8:03"Here's what God did, and I didn't want
187. 8:05to stand in God's way." And when they
188. 8:07heard that it was God's doing, they
189. 8:10quieted down and glorified God. The end
190. 8:13of the argument was not a debate.
191. 8:16It was honor for the work of the Holy
192. 8:18Spirit.
193. 8:21So then,
194. 8:22those who were scattered because of the
195. 8:24persecution that occurred in connection
196. 8:26with Stephen,
197. 8:28made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus
198. 8:31and Antioch, speaking the word to no one
199. 8:35except to Jews alone.
200. 8:38But, there were some of them, men of
201. 8:40Cyprus and Cyrene,
202. 8:42who came to Antioch and began speaking
203. 8:45to the Greeks, also, preaching
204. 8:49the Lord Jesus.
205. 8:51So, something starts happening.
206. 8:53And one of the people who starts
207. 8:56preaching to the Greeks
208. 8:58is a guy from Cyrene.
209. 9:00That's like modern-day Libya. Do you
210. 9:03remember
211. 9:04that the man who was forced to carry
212. 9:06Jesus' cross was a guy named Simon from
213. 9:10Cyrene?
214. 9:13And the hand of the Lord was with them,
215. 9:15and a large number who believed turned
216. 9:18to the Lord. The Greeks, a large number
217. 9:20of Greeks turned to the Lord. The news
218. 9:22about them reached the ears of the
219. 9:24church at Jerusalem, and they sent
220. 9:27Barnabas off to Antioch.
221. 9:30Then, when he arrived and witnessed the
222. 9:33grace of God, he rejoiced
223. 9:36and began to encourage them all with
224. 9:39resolute heart to remain true to the
225. 9:42Lord.
226. 9:43So, the apostles are hearing of these
227. 9:45eruptions. Something's happening with
228. 9:48the Greeks. Something's happening in
229. 9:50Antioch. Some people from Cyrene and
230. 9:53Cyprus are spreading the word. And so,
231. 9:56the apostles are like, "We need to get a
232. 9:58minister over there. Send Barnabas."
233. 10:01When Barnabas gets to Antioch
234. 10:04There were four places named Antioch, so
235. 10:06it's a little confusing. But, when he
236. 10:08gets to this Gentile region of Antioch
237. 10:12what does Barnabas encounter?
238. 10:14It says when he arrived, he witnessed
239. 10:19the grace of God.
240. 10:23That word literally means he saw it.
241. 10:27So, this is not something
242. 10:29of mental acceptance. He saw the power
243. 10:34of God at work in a people. He
244. 10:36witnessed. He saw it. The grace of God.
245. 10:40He witnessed the grace of God and he
246. 10:42rejoiced and began encouraging them with
247. 10:45resolute heart to remain true to the
248. 10:47Lord.
249. 10:48For he, Barnabas, was a good man and
250. 10:51full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
251. 10:55And considerable numbers were brought to
252. 10:57the Lord. And he left for Tarsus to look
253. 11:01for Saul.
254. 11:03Remember, Barnabas is the guy who
255. 11:04grabbed hold of Saul and took him and
256. 11:07defended him. So, now he's saying, "I'm
257. 11:09going to Tarsus. I want to find that
258. 11:11Saul guy."
259. 11:12And when he had found him, he brought
260. 11:14him to Antioch.
261. 11:16"Saul, I want you to come help me with
262. 11:18this group that's just received the
263. 11:20spirit over here in Antioch. Could you
264. 11:22come help me minister?"
265. 11:24And for an entire year, they met with
266. 11:29the church and taught considerable
267. 11:31numbers.
268. 11:33And the disciples were first called
269. 11:36Christians in Antioch.
270. 11:40Now, at this time, some prophets came
271. 11:43down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
272. 11:46Notice, there are apostles who are
273. 11:49moving about. There are deacons who are
274. 11:52moving about, Stephen and Philip, and
275. 11:54now there are prophets who are moving
276. 11:56about. These are people who are defined
277. 12:00by their calling. They're not just
278. 12:02ministers who occasionally prophesy.
279. 12:04They're prophets.
280. 12:07Now, at this time, some prophets came
281. 12:10down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
282. 12:12One of them, named Agabus, stood up and
283. 12:16began to indicate by the spirit that
284. 12:20there would certainly be a great famine
285. 12:23over all the world. And this took place
286. 12:27in the reign of Claudius.
287. 12:30And in the proportion that any of the
288. 12:32disciples had means, each of them
289. 12:35determined to send a contribution
290. 12:38for the relief of the brethren living in
291. 12:40Judaea.
292. 12:42And this they did, sending it in charge
293. 12:45of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
294. 12:49So,
295. 12:51we see
296. 12:53that the people that the Jews tried to
297. 12:55keep out,
298. 12:57when they accepted them, they ended up
299. 12:59being a support.
300. 13:01The very people they thought would ruin
301. 13:03everything,
302. 13:04when they realized it was the work of
303. 13:05God,
304. 13:07they were the first people to be called
305. 13:08Christians. And when the
306. 13:11Christians in Judaea were suffering
307. 13:13terribly, where did they get financial
308. 13:15support from? From the Gentiles whom
309. 13:18they thought Peter shouldn't have
310. 13:20received into the church.
311. 13:22So, God knows how to work it all out. He
312. 13:24sees the end from the beginning. And we
313. 13:27see the cooperation.
314. 13:29It's not a one-man show.
315. 13:31It's Barnabas. It's Stephen. It's
316. 13:34Philip. It's Peter.
317. 13:36It's the elders at Jerusalem.
318. 13:39It's everyone everywhere working
319. 13:41together
320. 13:43because it's Jesus.
321. 13:45And his church is being established.