Participants: Steven Mirkovich
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000781
|
01:00 The Book of Acts provides many varying story,
01:06 intriguing story, stories that we can read 01:10 time and time again and rarely get bored off. 01:14 Well, almost rarely get bored off. 01:17 Sometimes we've seen these things 01:19 so much so that we, you know, 01:22 the punch lines ruined for us 01:24 and so we've grown to read this awesome story book. 01:29 That's really what the Book of Acts is, 01:30 it's a storybook. 01:33 So many stories in particular 01:35 stories of the start of the Christian church. 01:40 This was a tumultuous time, 01:41 the start of the Christian church. 01:44 Listen, this was not the age of communication, 01:48 this was the age of a very slow communication. 01:51 And things happen slowly and word got out slowly 01:54 and people change their ways slowly. 01:58 Things were just a lot slower than what we're used to today. 02:02 And this story is going to, 02:05 is going to pick up on a situation 02:07 where a group of individuals, the early Christian church 02:11 and the Jews that made up this early Christian church 02:15 had to learn something and they had to take 02:19 the opportunity to change. 02:21 And sometimes as blatant as this change visor 02:24 as clear as it was going to be--it took some time, 02:28 it took some time. 02:31 We are going to the Book of Act, 02:33 and we're going to the 10th chapter. 02:37 Now if you've ever spent any amount of time 02:39 as an active participant in evangelism, 02:44 specifically Seventh-day Adventist evangelism 02:47 when you are preaching the Three Angels' Message 02:49 and you're preaching the distinctive truths 02:52 of Scripture, those things that have been long forgotten 02:57 in popular Christianity. 02:59 But the Bible speaks so clearly about. 03:02 If you spent any amount of time, 03:05 really even just a little bit amount of time 03:08 in frontline evangelism. 03:10 When you're right up there sharing the Gospel message 03:14 with those all around you, if you spend any time 03:17 as a Bible worker, as somebody 03:21 that gives Bible studies on a regular basis. 03:24 And you make your way through the scriptures, 03:27 you start with the word of God, you show them Daniel 2 03:30 and on and on and you've made your way 03:32 through much of prophecy. 03:34 And you're now coming into the part of the Bible studies 03:37 or the series of meetings, 03:39 when you'll be discussing lifestyle issues. 03:45 Beyond the shadow of a doubt, if you spent any amount 03:48 of time doing evangelism 03:52 and you've got into the lifestyle issues, 03:54 particularly to the region of health. 03:58 And you've shared with those that you've been studying 04:01 with those who have been coming, 04:03 those you have been striving with week in and week out, 04:07 you've been developing a relationship with them. 04:10 And you get to the, to the distinctive truths 04:12 that we hold in terms of health as a church. 04:18 People don't like to be told 04:22 what should or should not be on their dinner table. 04:27 It's just one of those taboo areas people like to eat 04:30 what they're gonna eat and that's enough. 04:34 And so when we, when we tell them 04:35 that the scripture say, hey, wait a minute. 04:39 The scriptures actually have prescriptive details regarding, 04:43 what we're supposed to put inside our bodies? 04:45 What we are to eat? 04:47 Now the Bible is not silent on much--I guess it is. 04:51 But are those really important things? 04:53 Those things that comprise who and what we are, our very being. 04:57 The Bible doesn't remain silent on those things 04:59 and it's not silent on diet. 05:02 And so we often take the opportunity to share 05:04 this with people because it's done a lot for us. 05:07 It's cleaned up who we are and how our body feels, 05:10 and we shared the health message. 05:11 We share the truth of what the Bible says 05:14 regarding eating and regarding the temples. 05:17 Our body is temples of the Holy Spirit. 05:21 This is an important truth. 05:25 Very important one, because a lot of times 05:27 people are putting so much into themselves 05:29 that there's no real clarity in their thinking. 05:36 They spent so much time feeding themselves 05:40 with all sorts of stuff that-- It becomes rather difficult 05:44 at times to really communicate with them. 05:46 They are kind of clouded over. 05:48 And so our health message actually provides 05:51 an opportunity for people to get things out of their diet 05:53 that shouldn't be there to begin with. 05:55 And it really clears things up. It helps them think. 05:59 It helps them really come together on this message. 06:04 But a lot of the people that we share these messages 06:07 with have already been students of scripture. 06:10 They just haven't been open to all the light that scripture 06:14 has to share on these issues specifically the health region. 06:17 There's many other things that people are interested. 06:19 They are interested in prophecy. 06:20 They want to know, who the King of the North is. 06:22 They want to know who the beast in Revelation 13 is. 06:24 They want to know what 666 is. 06:26 And they studied these things 06:27 and they've got ideas about these things. 06:29 They wanted to know about salvation 06:30 and about some of the-- But there's some things 06:32 in the Bible that people are not too concerned about. 06:35 And very rarely does somebody come 06:37 to the Bible studying it as a textbook 06:40 on health or on diet. 06:44 But those that do hear this sort of a message 06:46 or go through a Bible study on this topic. 06:49 And hear things like, I can't eat pork anymore, 06:53 are you kidding me? 06:55 Have you read your Bible? 06:56 And almost as quickly as they say those words, 06:59 they bust out their Bible and they come 07:02 to the Book of Acts Chapter 10. 07:05 And so if you've done any frontline evangelism, 07:09 you've dealt with Acts Chapter 10. 07:13 Now we're gonna go through 07:14 and we're going to look at this and we're going to look at, 07:17 just what's going on in Acts 10 and Acts 11. 07:21 See if there is validity 07:23 to this position that so many Christians take, 07:26 that God has in fact made all unclean meat clean. 07:32 That's what they say, this scripture supports. 07:35 So what we're hoping to see today is whether or not, 07:38 in fact this scripture does support that. 07:43 But before we launch off into that study, 07:46 I'd like to just mention something 07:49 that as a young preacher pastoring just 10 months, 07:52 I remember very distinctly my homiletics teacher 07:56 and other books I've read on homiletics, 07:58 "The Craft of Preaching," "The Art of Preaching." 08:02 You'll find that one of the things they share with us 08:06 is that a meandering sermon. 08:08 The one that's tangential, that people can't follow. 08:11 That at the end of the sermon 08:12 they can't say the sermon was about this. 08:16 Then it's probably not the best of sermons. 08:19 You probably had a lot of ideas 08:21 that you wanted to share and pick the passage on idea 08:25 that kind of was fair to it and went about 08:29 and just shared all these ideas. 08:30 Now I have rejected that. 08:33 I do not like to preach these meandering tangential sermons. 08:36 And so I'm going to resist that as much as I wanted 08:39 to in this passage of scripture. 08:41 Acts 10 and Acts 11, dealing with Peter's vision 08:46 of the clean and unclean. 08:47 But what I hope you will allow me to do, 08:51 as we go through this message and finally bring it to a close, 08:55 is you'll let me do a little bit 08:58 of--if you will spiritual application. 09:04 You'll let me take the kernel of truth 09:06 we find here and it's draped in this. 09:09 I don't think that this is totally resting 09:13 the scriptures out of place, but it's certainly looking 09:16 for a tertiary or third or fourth application. 09:19 But I think perhaps one of the most primary 09:21 and fundamental applications. 09:23 But before we can do that, before I'm allowed to do that, 09:26 we're going to go through and see just 09:28 what is this whole event in Peter's life 09:31 and in the life of the early Christian church, 09:33 this vision that Peter has in Acts 10 and Acts 11. 09:40 A scripture out of context 09:43 is a pretext, you've heard that. 09:47 You know, I don't want to use the cliche example you know, 09:51 the guy flips to his Bible and Judas hung 09:53 himself--and he goes through and he says, 09:56 go and do that likewise and do it quickly. 09:58 You know, we all know 09:59 what it's like to just take one scripture out of place 10:01 or take something out of, out of context 10:04 and make a whole theology out of it. 10:06 People do that all the time. 10:08 People like doing that. 10:10 We call it proof texting. 10:13 Now we want to avoid that at all costs. 10:16 And so an important task in us truly understanding 10:19 this passage of scripture is to understand 10:22 the context behind everything. 10:24 And think back with me to the early Christian church. 10:27 At this time the idea of the Gospel going out 10:31 to the Gentiles was kind of still a foreign idea. 10:35 They had their own shut door so to speak. 10:37 They thought Jews and Jews alone were the only ones qualified, 10:40 besides it was the Messiah of the Jews. 10:43 And so the early Christian church to this point 10:46 was kind of fighting what was going to happen? 10:51 But God is setting the stature. 10:53 The gospel needs to go out. 10:55 If you have your Bibles just turn 10:56 very quickly backwards to Acts Chapter 1. 10:59 And the first eight or so verses is Christ still on earth 11:04 and He's with His disciples, He's about to ascend back 11:08 into heaven, but He leaves them with the Gospel Commission. 11:11 Now we find the Gospel Commission 11:13 in many locations in the scriptures 11:15 in the Gospel accounts. 11:17 But we find here Luke's version at the beginning of Acts. 11:22 And as we enter into the Book of Acts, 11:24 we find this very interesting command from God. 11:29 Let's pick it up in verse 7. 11:31 Acts 1:7 says, "And he said to them, 11:34 It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, 11:37 which the Father has put in his own authority. 11:39 But you shall receive power, 11:43 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." 11:45 And then here is the key, here's what we're getting at. 11:47 "And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem 11:51 and in all Judea and all Samaria and to the ends of the earth." 11:56 Now if you were to--if I were to have a map right here, 11:59 if you were to have a map and you were to plow this, 12:01 perhaps you could turn to the back of your Bible 12:03 again to one of those nifty maps and find Jerusalem. 12:08 And then look for a larger title, 12:10 Samaria versus Judea, and you can see 12:11 what kind of encompasses Judea. 12:14 And then look for Samaria and you can see 12:15 that it's kind of a little further out 12:17 and then of course the ends the earth. 12:18 What we find that these are concentric circles. 12:21 Starts very close in Jerusalem, those most prepared, 12:24 those most-- they were clearest on 12:27 who Christ was and what He was. 12:29 Christ spent a lot of time in Jerusalem. 12:31 The crucifixion had taken place just outside of Jerusalem. 12:35 And so God says, "Well of course 12:37 this is your prime field to begin. 12:39 This is where I planted seed, go and harvest." 12:42 So we find Jerusalem here 12:43 as the central circle there, the first circle. 12:46 But we find that it expands in these concentric circles. 12:49 And finally things were to the go out 12:50 to the ends of the earth. 12:52 It was hard enough for them 12:53 to take the gospel to the Samaritans. 12:55 And it wasn't so easy for them, 12:58 but now to the ends of the world to Gentiles. 13:02 So this is the context that we find that as we study 13:05 the early chapters of Acts, we find this progression 13:08 from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria 13:12 and eventually now we--just before our passage at hand, 13:16 Paul has been converted in Acts Chapter 9, 13:18 Saul has been converted to Paul. 13:20 The gospel is about to go out to the Gentiles, 13:22 but God needs to prepare the soil a little bit. 13:25 He needs to change the minds of the leaders. 13:27 Remember we started off by saying that change 13:29 at this day and age was slow, it wasn't so easy. 13:35 Especially something that had been so ingrained in your mind. 13:40 So then with that kind of a background 13:41 that the gospel message is expanding 13:44 in these concentric circles, 13:46 as things are developing outward, 13:49 this is where we pick up the story then. 13:52 This is where things come together. 13:53 We need to recognize that Acts 10 13:56 is not a standalone chapter, it fits in the chronology. 13:59 Luke is presenting the gospel being presented 14:02 to the world, to the then known world. 14:06 As much as it could be reached, Paul was reaching. 14:09 And this is kind of the key event 14:13 that sort of sets the stage as to this gospel 14:16 then now being able to go to the Gentiles. 14:22 So picking it up then in Acts 10, 14:24 beginning in verse 1. 14:27 Since, "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, 14:30 a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment." 14:37 Now I don't know about you, 14:39 but I've studied a little bit of Hebrew not a whole lot. 14:44 And I can tell you one thing, 14:47 Cornelius it's not really a Jewish name. 14:51 No in fact it's quite a Gentile name, an Italian name. 14:57 I know who Cornelius is by the way, 14:58 not a very common name, but I actually know him, 15:00 good friends of ours in Canada. 15:04 Cornelius is an interesting name, 15:05 but this man is no Jew that's for sure. 15:10 He would be what--would normally be classified as a Gentile. 15:14 Cornelius was a Gentile. 15:16 Now let's understand that this is the beginning of Chapter 10. 15:20 Cornelius is here and what do we find out 15:23 about Cornelius, let's read. 15:25 Acts Chapter 10, picking it up then in verse 2. 15:28 We've just been introduced to Cornelius. 15:30 And the Bible calls him, 15:31 "A devout man and one who feared God with all his household, 15:35 who gave alms generously to all the people, 15:38 and prayed to God always." 15:40 This was a man of God. 15:43 But this is not something that the early Christians or Jews 15:46 or any of those people in the early Palestine 15:48 the way movement would've taken easily to. 15:52 In fact these people were common or unclean to them. 15:59 But this man, the Bible says was a devout man, 16:02 a God fearing man. 16:04 Picking it up then again in verse 3, 16:06 "About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision 16:09 an angel of God coming and saying to him, "Cornelius!" 16:13 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, 16:16 "What is it, Lord?" 16:17 So he said to him, "Your prayers 16:19 and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 16:22 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon 16:24 whose surname is Peter. 16:26 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, 16:29 whose house is by the sea. 16:31 He will tell you what you must do. 16:33 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, 16:35 Cornelius called two of his household servants 16:37 and a devout soldier from among those 16:39 who waited on him continually. 16:41 So when he had explained all these things to them, 16:43 he sent them to Joppa." 16:45 So this is our context then, Cornelius and the story 16:49 of the angel visiting Cornelius is what, 16:51 is at the heart of this situation 16:55 that's about to take place. 16:57 Now who is Peter? 16:58 Peter is about to enter into the story. 17:01 Peter was the leader of the early Christian church. 17:04 His influence went a long way in terms 17:08 of what was allowed to happen 17:09 and what wasn't allowed to happen. 17:11 He was one of the great apostles. 17:14 But who was being sent to His house? 17:19 Cornelius' servants, these people are Gentiles. 17:24 They are not Jews and they are about to go to Peter. 17:31 Now God knew that this was not 17:32 gonna be an easy thing for Peter. 17:34 You see, we know quite a bit about Peter 17:36 from scriptures elsewhere. 17:38 We know that he was a pretty stubborn guy, 17:40 he made some mistakes. 17:42 And the Lord had to work with Peter a little bit. 17:45 He needed to find some way 17:46 to really kind of ease him into things at times. 17:50 And we're gonna find that this story is no different. 17:54 We're gonna find that in fact God is taking 17:58 every precaution necessary to be sure that this situation, 18:04 that this gospel going out into the world 18:06 was actually going to be effective. 18:08 And he needed to change the mind of the leader, 18:10 before he could change the mind of anybody else. 18:13 So Cornelius has sent these men. 18:15 Now an interesting note is that we already see hints 18:21 that Peter and the apostles and the early Christian church 18:25 they were beginning to, they were beginning 18:27 to soften a little bit on these other 18:30 folks and these other ideas 18:33 of unclean and common in regards to people. 18:37 They were beginning to see that perhaps 18:39 this field of people is, you know, 18:41 is not so bad and Jesus said some things 18:44 that were kind of resonating, 18:45 but they weren't so clear about it. 18:46 God was clarifying things and we know that because 18:48 where is Peter lodging? 18:51 It says that he is with Simon the Tanner. 18:53 Now I had to look up Tanner, 18:54 I don't come from-- I'm a city slicker. 18:59 I don't know much about hunting, 19:00 I don't know much about carcasses and skins 19:02 and all of that kind of stuff. 19:04 I don't know much about that. 19:06 But when I found out what a Tanner was, 19:08 I was like, uh, interesting. 19:11 Because part of the unclean and clean and common 19:16 regulations in the Old Testament was that, 19:18 hey listen, somebody that deals with these animals, 19:20 perhaps unclean animals make skins and deals with the dead, 19:23 those people are common or unclean. 19:24 So we already know that Peter is beginning to soften 19:28 on these regulations a little bit 19:30 in terms of people, in terms of people. 19:32 Okay, this is people centered. 19:36 So he's staying with the Tanner. 19:38 Staying with somebody that he normally, 19:39 probably wouldn't have stayed with, 19:41 but we don't really know exactly 19:42 what went through Peter's mind or exactly 19:44 how far along he'd come, but God knew 19:46 that he needed something a little bit more 19:48 to just get him over the hump. 19:49 So we pick up the story then in verse 9. 19:54 Peter's vision, and the next day, 19:57 see the narrative continues. 20:00 The next day, so what was the previous day? 20:02 Well, Cornelius' vision in sending out 20:03 of his servants to get Peter. 20:07 Okay. Cornelius needed to be brought into the fold. 20:11 And God was making this happen through Cornelius and Peter. 20:14 "So the next day, as they went on their journey, 20:16 and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop 20:19 to pray about the sixth hour. 20:22 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat." 20:27 I'm going to pick this up in the second half 20:29 of our message today. 20:31 I need you to take that phrase. 20:34 "He became very hungry and wanted to eat." 20:38 And place that on a shelf somewhere in your memory, 20:40 in that random access memory that RAM. 20:43 You know, that stuff that's fast, 20:44 because I'm need you to be calling fast later. 20:46 I don't need you to store it somewhere 20:47 far away where you're gonna forget. 20:49 Please just keep that, keep that in mind 20:51 this idea that Peter was very hungry. 20:55 Peter is very hungry and he wanted to eat. 21:01 But while they made ready, he fell into a trance." 21:06 He's about to have a vision. 21:08 Verse 11 begins this vision, 21:10 "And I saw heaven opened 21:12 and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, 21:17 descending to him and let down to the earth." 21:21 Very important for us to recognize this language here. 21:23 This is not one-off language. 21:25 We have other examples of this in the scriptures. 21:29 The four winds of heaven, the four corners of the earth. 21:32 We find it a lot in a Apocalyptic Prophecy. 21:34 We find it a little law in discussing other nations, 21:38 other people, other languages, 21:39 it means compass directions. 21:42 It means the whole landscape, everybody. 21:46 The whole world, it's universal, it's global inscape. 21:50 So the way Luke records this, 21:53 and the actual vision that Peter has, 21:55 this is very particular language. 21:58 Not just any sheet, not a circular sheet, 22:00 not a triangular sheet. 22:02 No, this is a four cornered sheet. 22:05 And it's descending to where? To earth. 22:08 So the four corners, the four compass 22:09 all the different people. 22:11 We've seen this before, but it doesn't stop there, 22:14 the similarities with other situations 22:15 in scripture, don't stop there. 22:17 Look what he sees. 22:20 "In it were all kinds of four-footed animals 22:23 of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, 22:26 and birds of the air." 22:29 Now again, these are for the most part, 22:34 common and unclean animals, 22:37 that are being described here. 22:41 But have we Bible students seen this somewhere before? 22:46 If you're a Bible student and you really like prophecy 22:49 and you've studied the Book of Daniel, 22:51 you've have no doubt come across Daniel Chapter 7. 22:54 And there we see these beasts in a vision 22:58 very similar almost in terms of what was being seen 23:01 of these animals, all sorts of animals, 23:04 wild beasts, creeping things, birds of the air. 23:07 In fact in Daniel Chapter 7, if you were to turn there 23:09 and to look, you would see a lion with wings, 23:13 eagle's wings, an unclean animal. 23:16 And if you were to continue, you'd see a bear, 23:18 again an unclean animal with ribs in his mouth. 23:21 And then you'd see a leopard with four heads 23:23 again an unclean animal with wings 23:26 on it's back again, unclean animal. 23:28 So this is not uncommon, but here's the thing. 23:31 What did those animals stand for? 23:34 Wow, when we look at it they stood for nations, 23:36 kingdoms, tribes, they were Gentile people. 23:40 So we have a biblical precedent then that in visions, 23:43 and these opportunities, it's common for animals 23:47 to represent nations, we still do this to this day. 23:50 In this dear country, the national animal is an eagle. 23:54 And eagle represents the Nation of America. 23:56 In Canada where I'm from, it represents a beaver. 24:02 A beaver is our national animal, where we like beavers. 24:07 And what's the national animal for France? 24:10 It's a rooster. 24:12 A rooster is the national animal for France. 24:14 And so on and so forth, we still do this. 24:16 Animals representing people and this was common. 24:19 Peter would've thought back and remember 24:21 he was a student of the Old Testament scriptures, 24:23 that's all they had. 24:24 And he would have remembered, yeah, yeah, 24:25 these unclean animals, they sometimes stand 24:28 for other people, but he wasn't so sure here. 24:30 This is all kind of still not coming together, 24:32 but God knew what He had in mind. 24:34 God knew what He was teaching with the scripture. 24:36 And so He says to him, verse 13, 24:39 "And a voice came to him, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'" 24:45 'Rise, Peter, kill and eat. 24:50 The sermon today is entitled, "Rise, kill, eat." 24:55 "Rise, kill, eat." 25:01 But Peter said, not so Lord. 25:05 We find that a lot in scriptures, don't we? 25:06 People just kind of like, wait a minute God, 25:08 they always have to question God. 25:10 I hope and pray that in my ministry, 25:12 I'm not one of those questioners. 25:15 Lord be with me. 25:17 "Rise, Peter, kill and eat. 25:19 But Peter said no, "Not so, Lord! 25:20 For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." 25:23 When the Lord tells you to do something do it. 25:25 But Peter here again kind of, fighting the urge. 25:30 Verse 15, "And a voice spoke to him 25:32 again the second time, "What God has cleansed 25:35 you must not call common. 25:36 This was done three times and the object 25:38 was taken up into heaven again." 25:41 Funny, just a quick tidbit of information. 25:43 It seems like with Peter, 25:44 things always had to happen in threes, in triplicates. 25:48 Always things happening in threes, 25:49 that's 'cause he's stubborn. 25:51 God had to make it really clear to him, 25:53 so he took three opportunities, 25:55 three times, go, clean that up--Finally Peter is like, 25:57 okay, I get the point, God. 25:59 So God picks up and it's gone, back up into heaven again. 26:04 Now some in our Bible studies, 26:07 Christians who want to turn to this and see, see 26:10 God has cleansed everything. 26:11 He even told Peter to "Rise, Kill and eat." 26:14 The problem here is though that it's leaving out 26:17 the first 8 verses dealing with Cornelius 26:19 and it's leaving out the rest of the story. 26:22 Let's see what Peter himself understood this vision to me. 26:27 Certainly we can allow the scriptures 26:29 to interpret themselves, not to mention 26:32 just let the story interpret itself. 26:34 So let's see then what exactly is happening here. 26:38 Verse 17, "Now while Peter wondered 26:40 within himself what this vision which he had seen meant." 26:44 It's very important here to recognize, 26:46 that it wasn't super clear to Peter to begin with. 26:49 So how was it clear to you and I to begin with? 26:50 No, it's not. I mean, if it wasn't and obviously 26:54 it wasn't just what it seem to be on the surface. 26:56 I mean, Peter was no dummy, he was leading a church. 27:00 And yet he says, he was pondering, 27:02 he wasn't certain what it meant. 27:03 Well, if God had meant it to be just that literal vision-- 27:08 which I would have been clear to Peter, 27:09 he wouldn't have been wondering, what's this all about? 27:13 So that's our first clue. 27:15 That our brethren, they want to turn 27:17 to this and say, see it's all clean, 27:18 have missed something. 27:21 Peter himself wasn't sure of what was going on. 27:26 "So while Peter wondered within himself 27:28 what this vision which he had seen meant, behold." 27:32 The Bible is like saying, 27:34 behold I'm about to explain to you what this all meant. 27:37 Behold, while he's pondering, he's sitting there 27:42 thinking, what's this all about? 27:44 And then the Bible says, behold, 27:45 these men come to the door. 27:47 It's like the Bible saying, here is the explanation. 27:50 Peter's about to have it and you're about to read it. 27:54 "Behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius 27:57 had made inquiry for Simon's house, 28:00 and stood before the gate. 28:02 And they called and asked whether Simon, 28:04 whose surname was Peter was lodging there. 28:07 Well, Peter thought about the vision 28:09 the Spirit said to him, behold three men are seeking you." 28:14 The Spirit of God is still pleading with Peter. 28:17 Peter wasn't so sure what God had been getting out 28:19 with this whole vision, wasn't so certain. 28:21 So the spirit was still there right beside 28:23 and sort of holding his hand, 28:24 walking him through this period of transition. 28:28 Hoping that it doesn't happen too slow, 28:29 'cause the gospels got to go out, 28:31 cannot become stagnated. 28:32 So the spirits, they're kind of walking him 28:34 through, just given him the vision. 28:36 Now the people arrive at the door again, 28:37 who are these people? 28:39 They are Cornelius' servants. 28:41 They are Gentiles. 28:43 Normally a Jew, even a Christian Jew at this time, 28:46 wouldn't have just accepted them into his house. 28:49 Remember how many times 28:50 Jesus was scorned for eating with sinners and publicans. 28:55 Fine, that mentality was hard to break. 28:59 Listen when you're raised from a little kid 29:02 and all the way through, you know, 29:04 you're raised one certain way and one certain ideas 29:06 just pounded through your head, 29:08 pounded through your head, pounded-- 29:09 You know, like it's hard to disappear, 29:11 it's hard to disabuse your minds of that. 29:14 And the early Christians they were Jews. 29:17 They were Jewish Hebrew people. 29:19 And this was something 29:21 that was absolutely ingrained in their very beings. 29:26 It's hard for them to step outside of that tradition. 29:30 And so the spirit here is almost if you will, 29:33 holding Peters hand through this situation. 29:38 Verse 19, "While Peter thought about the vision, 29:41 the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you. 29:44 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, 29:47 doubting nothing." 29:50 Listen to the words here. 29:52 The Spirit knew that the vision was not gonna be enough. 29:55 He is reaffirming where Peter's conclusions 29:58 were probably already coming to regarding 30:00 what this vision meant. 30:02 So don't doubt anything, Peter, the vision was true. 30:04 What I'm telling you to do is true, 30:06 just go, meet these people, its true. 30:11 Doubt nothing the Spirit said, for I have sent them. 30:17 "Then Peter went down to the men 30:18 who had been sent to him from Cornelius, 30:20 and said, "Yes, I am he whom you seek. 30:22 For what reason have you come? 30:23 And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, 30:25 a just man, one who fears God." 30:27 Notice the language, the emphasis placed 30:30 here by the scriptures. 30:32 But this was a God man. 30:33 This is also to butter up the situation. 30:35 So this is not just any Gentile, but it is a God fearing Gentile. 30:38 So, you know, it's helping Peter along in the situation. 30:43 "One who fears God and has a good reputation 30:46 among all the nation of the Jews, 30:48 was divinely instructed by a holy angel 30:51 to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you. 30:54 Then he invited them in." 30:57 This is beginning to sink into Peter. 31:00 "He invited them in and lodged them." 31:02 He housed them, Gentiles. 31:06 "On the next day Peter went away with them, 31:08 and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him." 31:10 Not only that he housed them, greet them, 31:12 lodged them, but then he traveled with them. 31:16 There was beginning to be a paradigm shift 31:18 in Peters thinking regarding this people. 31:20 But let's see whether or not Peter himself 31:23 recognizes that was what the vision was about. 31:25 Let's continue to read. 31:27 The Bible is gonna leave no rock unturned, 31:28 we are gonna be clear as day on this. 31:31 "And the following day they entered Caesarea. 31:33 Now Cornelius was waiting for them." 31:36 See how Cornelius picks right backup. 31:38 We cannot extricate, we cannot remove, 31:41 divide--just take this passage out of context. 31:46 We need to take it in the context 31:47 of the Cornelius story. 31:49 This is the story really about Cornelius 31:50 and how the Jews and the Christians 31:53 that were comprising this way, these Jesus followers, 31:57 were going to put aside tradition 31:59 and actually take into consideration 32:03 this whole situation that these 32:06 concentric circles were expanding. 32:09 So Cornelius, we pickup Cornelius again, 32:11 they travel back to Cornelius. 32:13 Verse 25, "As Peter was coming in, 32:15 Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet 32:17 and worshiped him. 32:19 But Peter lifted him up, saying, 32:20 "Stand up, I myself I am also a man." 32:24 Notice the quality there. 32:27 Things are beginning to change. 32:29 And Peter is thinking and as he talked with him, 32:33 he went in and found many who had come together. 32:35 You see Peter would have lots of time to ponder 32:38 this meeting with Cornelius as they traveled up. 32:41 He knew what was going to happen. 32:43 Verse 27, "As he talked with him, 32:45 he went in and found many who had come together." 32:47 Then he said to them, verse 28, 32:49 there's three distinct sections in chapter 10 and 11. 32:54 Three distinct verses, sections of verse 32:56 that unashamedly give a clear description 33:00 of what this passage is saying. 33:02 Verse 28 is one of those verses, 33:04 from Peters very own lips, 33:06 we find what was this vision about. 33:09 I mean, Peter knew why we're gonna reinterpret it. 33:12 What does Peter say? 33:15 "Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful 33:19 it is for a Jewish man." 33:21 He's pointing to himself. 33:22 "To keep company with or go to one another of another nation. 33:28 But God has shown me." 33:30 Now what is that language of? 33:33 That's a vision. 33:34 That's a visionary language, God had shown me. 33:36 What did Peter see earlier in the chapter? 33:38 He saw a vision. 33:40 So there's no doubt about it that what Peter 33:42 is referring to is the vision. 33:44 He says, "God has shown me 33:47 that I should not call any man common or unclean." 33:53 He doesn't say any animal. 33:55 He doesn't say that squeaky little pig. 33:58 No, he didn't say that, he wasn't interpreted. 34:01 He knew the larger scope of the Book of the Acts. 34:04 He knew the larger scope of what was happening in the world. 34:07 It is all starting to come together. 34:09 Christ's words at His ascension 34:11 was starting to ring true into Judea, Samaria, 34:15 all the ends of the world. 34:16 This was all starting to come together for Peter. 34:20 He had time to ponder, this vision was coming through. 34:25 And he says, the vision was about 34:27 not calling any man common or unclean. 34:33 And he picks it up, it says, verse 29, 34:35 "Therefore I came without objection 34:37 as soon as I was sent for. 34:38 I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me? 34:41 So Cornelius said, "Four days ago 34:42 I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour 34:44 I prayed in my house, and behold, 34:46 a man stood before me in bright clothing, 34:47 and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, 34:48 and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. 34:51 Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, 34:53 whose surname is Peter. 34:54 He is lodging in the house of Simon, 34:56 a tanner, by the sea. 34:58 When he comes, he will speak to you. 34:59 So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. 35:01 Now therefore, we are all present before you, 35:04 to hear all the things commanded to you by God." 35:08 So the circle, this whole story is really coming full circle. 35:14 Not only was he to befriend these people, 35:17 not only was he to travel with them, 35:19 but the main purpose of the vision-- 35:21 the main purpose of everything that was happening here 35:23 so that he could preach the gospel to them. 35:27 God was not removing tradition and all these things 35:29 just to upset their "ecosystem or their niche." 35:33 No, no, he was doing this 35:34 because he needed the gospel preach to them. 35:37 Now Cornelius recognizes this. 35:39 He says, "We are here we gathered, 35:41 preach to us about God." 35:44 The next 14 verses or so, talk about that situation. 35:49 But I said that there were three passages 35:51 that gave us a clear description of what was happening here. 35:54 Pick it up in verse 34 then as the story continues 35:57 and Peter once again gives us a clue 35:59 into his thinking right now. 36:01 This is all coming together and he says in verse 34. 36:04 "Then Peter opened his mouth and said, 36:05 "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality." 36:13 You see the Jews, I hate to say it, 36:15 but they were a little bit prejudice, 36:18 a little bit perhaps even, well, I hate to use the word, 36:22 but just a little bit scared. And so I won't use the word. 36:26 I don't really like the word racist 36:27 'cause I'm not sure that's really what it was, 36:29 but they were definitely prejudiced. 36:31 They did not quite like this whole idea, 36:33 but Peter here says, 36:34 "God is showing me that he shows no partiality." 36:38 That means the Greek, the Gentile, 36:42 and that person from wherever, he's accepted. 36:48 Verse 35 makes it really clear, 36:51 "But in every nation whoever fears Him 36:54 and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36:57 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, 36:59 preaching peace through Jesus Christ-- 37:01 He is Lord of all-- that word you know, 37:03 which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, 37:05 and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, 37:07 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth 37:09 with the Holy Spirit and with power, 37:11 who went about doing good and healing all 37:12 who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 37:16 And we are witnesses of all these things 37:18 which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, 37:23 whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 37:25 Him God raised up on the third day, 37:27 and showed Him openly, not to all the people, 37:29 but to witnesses chosen before by God, 37:31 even to us who ate and drank with Him 37:34 after He arose from the dead. 37:35 And He commanded us to preach to the people, 37:38 and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God 37:41 to be Judge of the living and the dead. 37:43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, 37:45 whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." 37:48 He's preaching to them about the gospel, 37:49 'cause He knows that the gospel is valid for them now, 37:53 He knows. It's become clear to Him. 37:56 The gospel is valid to these people. 38:00 The circle, those concentric circles 38:02 it's about to break loose and just go into the world. 38:06 Paul and Philip and Mark and Barabas and all, 38:09 Barnabas all these guys 38:11 are about to turn the world upside down. 38:14 As far away as Rome, 38:17 the island of Greek, everywhere they're gonna go 38:19 and they are going to make Christians. 38:24 The Holy Spirit then falls on them. 38:29 And we pick up the story then in Chapter 11. 38:31 The Bible thinks this is so important 38:33 that it spends the next 18 verses in Chapter 11, 38:38 after it spends all of Chapter 10 38:40 dealing with the situation. 38:41 You think that the 48 verses were enough. 38:45 Luke says, no, no, let's recount it one more time. 38:47 But who he's recounting it to? 38:50 He's gonna recount it to those that would've doubted him, 38:52 said, Peter, you've lost your mind. 38:55 You're off your rocker. 38:57 What are you doing? 38:59 These people are not godly people, 39:01 these people are unclean. 39:03 So Peter has to repeat the story, 39:05 and almost verbatim we find the next 18 verses 39:07 in Acts Chapter 11. 39:09 Let's read verse 1 and 2 just to see who he is preaching to. 39:13 "Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard 39:16 that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 39:19 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, 39:20 those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, 39:24 "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!" 39:33 But Peter explained it to them 39:35 in order from the beginning saying. 39:38 Now for sure some days have passed. 39:41 Probably the word went out 39:42 and Peter had enough time to develop. 39:44 If he was going to develop a secondary interpretation. 39:47 If he was going to develop, 39:49 a wider application for this vision. 39:52 No doubt he would have the time to develop. 39:54 And he would have preached, not only are they people clean, 39:57 but so as the food. 39:58 But even with this delay, even with this traveling back 40:01 and then having to deal with these people. 40:02 We don't find Peter adding any secondary application or saying. 40:06 Yeah, the vision was originally for that, 40:08 but you know, I've been convinced that, 40:10 it's even the meat, it's even the real food listen, 40:12 food is not the issue here at all in these passages. 40:15 No, none whatsoever. 40:17 So when our dear friends come to us and they say listen, 40:20 now God made it clean, we just need to, 40:22 we need to sit down and slowly read this passage with them. 40:26 Read it right through, show them what Peter understood, 40:30 show them what the Bible itself says about itself. 40:35 And we can disarm the situation. 40:38 I don't want to take the time now to-- 40:40 to read through the same-- and he recounts it identically. 40:45 I mean, the three things creeping things 40:47 four cornered sheet coming down to earth, 40:49 unclean animals all the things on there, 40:52 I just want to read you the third occasion 40:54 where we have a clearest day, 40:57 what this was about, the interpretation once again. 41:02 So he talks about going then after seeing 41:04 the vision to Cornelius and all the rest. 41:06 And then in verse 17 it says, 41:08 "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us. 41:13 When we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, 41:15 who was I, that I could withstand God?" 41:21 Verse 18, "When they heard these things, 41:24 they became silent and they glorified God saying, 41:28 then God has also granted 41:30 to the Gentiles repentance to life." 41:36 There it is, three separate occasions in 2 chapters 41:40 where it becomes clearest day that this vision, 41:42 this whole situation was not about food and drink. 41:46 No, no it's at all what was being dealt with here. 41:49 What was being dealt with was, 41:51 who was a viable candidate for the gospel message, 41:54 for repentance? 41:57 Is that not an important topic? 42:00 Was not this church meant to be a global church? 42:05 Was not this message meant to be taken to the entire world? 42:13 I asked you to place something 42:15 on a shelf somewhere in your mind, 42:17 in the random access memory the RAM, 42:19 you need to retrieve that now. What was it? 42:23 Back in Chapter 10, 42:26 I'm going to segue now into my spiritual application. 42:31 The sermon today is entitled "Rise, Kill and Eat." 42:37 And really I think it's become pretty evident 42:39 in our discussion up to this point 42:42 that this story really is about evangelism. 42:45 I tell my church back home both of them 42:47 that you won't find the sermon in the Book of Acts. 42:51 You won't find a story in the Book of Acts 42:53 that doesn't deal with evangelism. 42:56 It's just impossible. 42:58 That was the very substructure of who they were. 43:03 The very Book of Acts is fuelled by this idea of evangelism, 43:08 by this idea of reaching out and no story in the book 43:13 is left without touching the idea of evangelism, 43:16 the idea of reaching those around us for God. 43:23 And I think that God's instructions 43:28 to Peter that day, some 2,000 years ago 43:33 can be instructions to you and I today. 43:40 We want the gospel message to be preached into all the world. 43:47 We want people to be saved. 43:51 Matthew 24:14 says, 43:53 "And this gospel shall be preached into all the world 43:56 for a witness into all the nations 43:59 and then the end will come." 44:06 Peter needed this vision. 44:09 He needed to know that the world out there, 44:13 it too needed to be saved. 44:15 He was a viable candidate for the gospel. 44:22 I think perhaps today we have forgotten 44:26 these instructions of rising, killing and eating. 44:34 I know a number of people that are fishermen. 44:39 There are avid fishermen I mean like crazies, 44:42 that's all they want to do is fishing. 44:47 I'm gonna use that as an illustration today. 44:52 When you want to go fishing, it takes preparation, 44:58 to get ready to go fishing. 45:00 You can't just go fishing with anything. 45:02 Oh, there used to be a time when, 45:03 you know, people would try and fish with just the string 45:05 and pulled it up and that wasn't very affective, wasn't it? 45:09 No, fishing wasn't-- wasn't so effective that way, 45:12 now they've got all sorts of gear, 45:14 they got waders on and special jackets on, 45:17 special little flies, you know the fly fishermen 45:19 and every kind are little different, 45:20 I mean they open up their coats like-- 45:22 well, you know, it's like, 45:24 they open it up and it's like 45:25 all sorts of just flies here that they've got ready 45:27 and they're more flies on this side, 45:29 they've got everything ready to go 45:30 and they know just the right season, 45:32 at the right time, what kind of fly, 45:34 for what kind of fish, for what kind of river, 45:36 for what kind of an effect they want. 45:38 They've got things ready to go. 45:45 Rise, Church, 45:48 Kill and Eat. 45:52 To me to rise then is to prepare, 45:57 is to make oneself available. 46:02 Listen, this message is just as relevant today. 46:08 We look at the world around us 46:10 and we think we're better ready to discern and to determine 46:15 who is a viable candidate for the kingdom? 46:18 Then go, no, they're not ready for the kingdom. 46:23 No they are not a viable option 46:25 and we don't maybe do this like really consciously 46:28 like we want to be mean 46:30 and write people off right off the bat. 46:31 No, no we don't do this consciously. 46:33 Peter perhaps is doing consciously 46:34 but he didn't realize that this whole-- 46:36 this whole idea was just ingrained into his mind. 46:43 So to me, today, to rise is to make oneself available. 46:47 It's a little bit hard to fish 46:50 when we're just seated somewhere. 46:55 It's a little bit hard to fish in a river 46:57 if you don't have all the right equipment, all the preparation. 47:01 You need to make yourself available. 47:06 It's very important these three words 47:08 "Rise, Kill and Eat." 47:11 They're action words. All of them are action words. 47:16 The lesson was not just 47:18 that these people were gonna be made clean. 47:20 So to speak, viable candidates for the kingdom of God, 47:24 that was not the only purpose. 47:25 God was also motivating Peter for evangelism. 47:29 And He knew, He knew that Peter 47:32 not only had to accept these people as viable candidates, 47:35 but he actually had to get up, 47:38 get his stuff in order 'cause it's gonna be 47:40 a totally different perspective when you're reaching Gentiles 47:44 now with the gospel than Jews. 47:46 Well, listen, but the Jews, 47:47 you just go to the Old Testament. 47:49 You proved that Jesus is the Messiah, 47:50 that's what we saw throughout the Book of Acts. 47:52 Steven did it, Peter did it, 47:54 all these great sermons 47:56 of individuals in the early books, 47:58 just the early chapters 48:01 proving that Jesus was the Messiah, simple. 48:05 But God is saying, listen, 48:06 "You're not going out to a new group of people." 48:10 That's not gonna fly in the same way. 48:13 We find through all Paul's ministry 48:15 that he takes unique approaches. 48:18 Oh, they're all biblical, don't get me wrong here. 48:19 I'm not calling for wholesale that-- 48:22 you know to depart from our ways. 48:24 Listen you know, you cannot reach 48:27 every group of people in exactly the same way. 48:29 Now we have to use biblical means, 48:31 with biblical standards, amen. 48:33 Absolutely, no doubt about it, 48:35 but we need to be ready to adapt. 48:38 You're not gonna reach 48:40 the wealthy North American businessmen 48:41 the same way you're gonna reach 48:43 somebody in the jungles in Africa 48:44 or Brazil or any other place, 48:47 it's totally different worlds. 48:51 God is saying rise Peter, you need to risen up, 48:55 so this church then I call "Rise." 49:00 We need an army full-- 49:03 a church with an army full of people 49:05 that have risen up out of their seats. 49:08 Ready to go forward. 49:12 But listen it's not enough just to be standing. 49:14 It's not just enough to have risen up out of our pews, 49:20 but we need to kill. 49:21 Now, kill is a kind of a negative word, 49:26 but I like to think of it as this. 49:28 You got to kill the old man 49:31 and give them a new life. 49:33 You're not just-- you're not killing 49:34 for the sake of being just a murderer. 49:39 You're killing in order to give new life. 49:43 Now sometimes we think that 49:47 killing is enough to take a grenade. 49:49 You know what a grenade is right? 49:50 It's kind of a project of it-- 49:53 weapon that military people use 49:55 that they can throw up over a bunker 49:56 that they can't see and it kind of got a bit of wide effect 50:00 but they're not really accurate. 50:01 Now, they can kill many different things. 50:04 Sometimes they will hit in the wrong places, 50:05 they'll just wound somebody, sometimes it will just blow 50:07 something up and you have no idea. 50:09 A lot of times, that's all the kind of killing we want to do. 50:13 We think it's enough for maybe once every few years 50:18 to just sort of rally together as a church 50:20 and put on a meeting, maybe that's your church. 50:25 You think all well, we'll just-- 50:26 we'll throw grenade out there every once in a while 50:27 and hope we killed a few people. 50:30 Listen, do the best hunters go hunting with grenades? 50:33 What about the best marksman in the military. 50:36 What about the expert archer, 50:38 does he--arch with-- with like four arrows at once 50:41 and just sort of spray them up into the air, 50:42 shoot them up and hope they land on things and kill. 50:45 A lot of times our killing is like that. 50:47 We take a grenade, we pull the pin 50:49 and we say, oh, that looks like good area 50:51 and we run and we turn around. 50:54 And we hope that maybe we killed something. 50:57 And when we look it was, ah, ah, there we got something for us 51:00 and we bring them in and we're happy and. 51:03 Listen, to be a real killer, 51:07 to be a real marksman, 51:09 you need to be prepared, 51:10 just like that fishing illustration. 51:12 You're not gonna fish with-- for certain kind of fish, 51:15 in a certain kind of river with the lure or the fly 51:19 that was meant for another kind of fish 51:21 in another kind of river on a different kind of day, 51:23 it's not what you're gonna do? 51:25 Not at all. 51:27 So to you and I, in our churches 51:30 as a world church as we go to reach the world. 51:36 We need to be expert marksman, 51:38 we need to have studied the situation. 51:41 We need to know just what kind of events to plan 51:46 that will be the perfect weapon 51:48 in order to stage an appropriate hunt. 51:52 I don't like that illustration, I told you it was negative, 51:54 but remember you're hunting the old person 51:56 to give them new life. 52:04 But here's the thing. 52:08 Sometimes we think that's the end of it. 52:10 Now I have no place 52:12 and forgive me if this is a different opinion 52:14 and you-- some of you may have, 52:16 but I have no place for sport hunting. 52:21 Hunting for just the enjoyment of killing, 52:23 I don't understand that. 52:26 Now I know-- I know many people do that 52:29 and I'm not gonna judge you, but I have no place for it. 52:32 I don't quite understand what kind of pleasure 52:35 can be derived from just killing an animal 52:38 for the sake of killing it. 52:40 Most of the time when we kill, when these animals-- 52:44 with this whole illustration to rise, kill. 52:47 There's an idea connected to rising and killing. 52:51 And that's not only just to rise and kill 52:52 for the sake of killing, but it's to eat. 52:57 So for me to rise is to be prepared, 52:59 to kill is to take dead set aim, 53:03 no more of this just-- 53:04 machine gun to the crowd around us and hope for the best. 53:09 We wound too many people that way 53:11 and we don't even know they're wounded 53:12 and they ran off somewhere and they hide. 53:14 And we've just wounded them with Christianity 53:16 rather than won them to Christianity. 53:19 We need to take dead set aim at the heart. 53:23 We need to have just the right weapon. 53:26 And listen the early Christian church 53:28 was gonna be a revolutionized. 53:32 They had to reach a whole new group of people. 53:37 Now they were things, they were gonna continue to preach. 53:39 We never saw Paul stop preaching. 53:42 They didn't stop preaching Jesus, 53:44 not like they reinvented the wheel here, 53:46 but they knew just how to take dead aim. 53:52 And finally then to eat, 53:54 for me is to enjoy the fruits of one's labor. 53:58 Lot of times I've heard people say 54:00 that evangelism doesn't work. 54:05 Evangelism works, it does what it's supposed to. 54:08 It introduces people to Christ, 54:10 gets them to give their lives over to Christ, 54:14 even be baptized and join the church, 54:18 become living walking disciples of Christ, 54:21 that's what evangelism is about to do, 54:24 is to give them that opportunity, 54:25 to bring them to the point where they can accept 54:27 Christ as Lord and Savior and Master. 54:32 Evangelism works. 54:34 When people say that evangelism doesn't work, 54:36 what they're talking about is the meetings 54:38 where 20, 30, $40,000 are spent, 54:41 20, 30, 40 people are baptized, 54:43 they're brought into the church and you go there a year, 2, 3, 54:46 down the road and there's a handful of people, 54:49 they're gone. Well, listen is it worth it? 54:52 Is it worth doing evangelism. 54:56 I believe that's because two components 54:59 are not enough in the equation. 55:01 It's not enough just to rise, make oneself available. 55:03 And then to kill, those are important. 55:06 But if we don't eat, 55:11 if we don't eat what we've killed, 55:15 if we don't enjoy the fruits of our labors, 55:19 that will be for nots. 55:22 Evangelism works, it brings them people-- 55:24 people want the truth, they want to hear 55:26 but eating keeps them there. 55:29 What do I mean by that? 55:31 I mean it's not just enough to bring them 55:33 and to teach them and to give them all the truth 55:36 and then let them go on their own. 55:40 That's not enough. 55:42 Rising, killing good, 55:44 but we need to take that final step and eat. 55:46 What do I mean by that? 55:48 I mean, really loving these people. 55:50 Have you ever sat down, I'm not a hunter, 55:52 I've never killed anything, 55:53 but I could just imagine if I was a hunter. 55:56 And if I'd killed this prized animal 55:58 that was going to be the sustenance for my family. 56:01 And I sat down to eat the meal 56:05 of the food I have just killed. 56:10 So to you and I when we bring somebody to the truth, 56:13 when we bring them to Jesus 56:14 through that empowering Spirit of God, 56:17 we don't do it on our own, 56:19 please nobody misunderstand me, 56:20 we don't do it on our own, 56:22 but when the God has seem fit to use us 56:24 to bring somebody to Christ. 56:26 When He seem fit to use our church 56:28 to use your small little congregation wherever you are. 56:33 When He sees fit to use you and you've brought somebody in. 56:39 You've brought that soul to the foot of the cross, eat them. 56:44 So that is to say, live with them, be with them, 56:47 befriend them and let them be your people as well. 56:53 Let them be one with you. 56:57 Father God, we want to rise, kill and eat. 57:04 I'm hungry, You're hungry, the church is hungry, 57:09 help us, Lord, to be hunters of souls, 57:14 in Your name we pray, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17