God Has Broken Through

Text: Acts 11:1-18

Focus: Salvation

Function: To help people see that salvations is open to all

Form: Story telling

Intro:

In order for people to prepare, I picked this subject a couple of months ago.

I titled this message GOD HAS BROKEN THROUGH because that is the title of this passage in The Message.

I love this title for this passage. Most translations, rightfully so, give us a heading intended to help us find a specific verse. In 1 Corinthians 13, you’ll read something like: “The importance of Love.” In Revelation, you might read something like: “The letter to the church in Laodecia.”

But Peterson, the translator of the Message uses a unique phrase here. God has broken through!

This isn’t “humanity broke through to God.” But (SHOW) God broke through to us!

He is excited about what it means.

And, it is an interesting story. It is a story full of miracles, visions, mystery, conflict, legalism, judgmentalism and finally, reconciliation.

Here is the story:

• Peter is a fine, upstanding Jew of kosher reputation.
• He has never eaten anything unclean by Jewish dietary standards.
• They are complex. My brother sold a bunch of houses to a resort community for orthodox Jews and he had to design units with 2 separate sinks in order to fulfill their interpretation of the dietary laws.
• Because of Paul’s persecution, Peter has fled to Joppa and is staying a Simon the Tanner’s house.
• Perhaps they weren’t fulfilling the great commission to go to all the world so God permitted persecution so they would spread out.
• While there, he is praying and he sees a vision of a sheet lowering from heaven with all kinds of “unclean” animals to eat.
• The voice tells him to kill and eat.
• He refuses because he is pure according to dietary restrictions.
• Peter is very literal in his theology.
• He loves God and wants to obey.
• (SHOW) But God changes His mind.
• God says to him: The previously unclean things are now made clean.
• God tells him that by faith, everything is clean.Peter doesn’t understand. It is a mystery to him.
• Right away, men from a Roman Centurion arrive at Simon’s house and ask for Peter.
• These people are Gentiles. That means they are not Jewish.
• The Jews also had very strict rules about being in the houses of Gentiles.
• Gentiles were unclean and to go into their house was a sin by to most of the Jews.
• But Peter understands the meaning of the vision, and I believe hope is born in him.
• I believe he understands the meaning of Jesus command to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.
• He understands the promise to Abraham given 3600 years before: (SHOW) “I will bless you so that you can be a blessing to the world.”
• You see, that was problematic because if they weren’t allowed to mingle with Gentiles, then ministering to them is almost impossible.
• The Jews had a law that makes Christian Charity a criminal act.
• And God quickly and completely countermanded it by saying: “These are people, and people are not unclean anymore.”
• (SHOW) Even the foreigner, the stranger, and in this case, the enemy is considered “neighbor” and worthy of the gospel.
• So Peter, in his love and devotion to God’s word, has a hurdle overcome and chooses to go with these men.
• Now Cornelius the Roman Centurion is a beautiful person as well.
• Remember who had Jesus judiciously murdered?
• The Jewish leaders used the Roman law to murder Jesus.
• Why?
• Jesus’ gospel really upset them.
• All of a sudden they couldn’t use their religion to justify the way they held the poor in bondage.
• Jesus preached to them that they are to love their neighbors as their selves and they didn’t want to do it.
• Jesus upset the status quo of the rich and ruling class and they had Him killed for it.
• So this is interesting for the Roman Centurion.
• He associated with the ruling class.
• He was a big reason why they had so much power.
• There was a Roman sword behind these rules.
• But this man doesn’t not see Judaism as a form of civil religion that was used to justify greed.
• This man saw the genuine nature behind the law of God.
• As Jesus said, its intention was to help the people see how to love their neighbor as themselves.
• In Matthew 5:22 (SHOW) Jesus said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the leaders, you cannot have a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
• Jesus’ statement was that one could follow the letter of the law and still be greedy, wicked, judgmental, legalistic and sinful.
• That whole Sermon on the Mount teaches us that we follow God in His intent.
• So, although the Jewish leaders didn’t get it, Cornelius, the Roman Centurion does.
• This is how his righteousness is defined: (SHOW) Acts 10:1-2 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer, Cornelius, a captain of an Italian regiment. He was a godly man, deeply reverent, as was his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man of prayer.
• He was reverent, godly, prayed hard and regularly gave to the poor.
• So, even though the Leaders who stood to lose financially if they followed Jesus refused to see what Jesus was about, this man did.
• 2 days before Peter has this vision, Cornelius sees an angel who calls him to go to Joppa and get Peter.
• Peter walks into the house, remember up until that point, he was sure that this would be a sin.
• Cornelius falls down and starts worshipping Peter.
• Peter refuses the worship and starts telling them about Jesus.
• Peter’s sermon is interesting:
• Peter reminds Cornelius of what has just happened in Israel.
• He reminds him how Jesus was baptized, taught, did miracles and was arrested and crucified.
• He explains how Jesus rose from the dead.
• How they were appointed to preach Jesus.
• How the Holy Spirit comes to believers.
• How Jesus washes away the sins of those who believe in Him.
• And right at that point, the Holy Spirit comes inside Cornelius and his family.
• Let us talk about that:
• I remember during my first ministry, there was this kind old Pentecostal preacher who took me under his wing.
• I asked him one day: “You know, I never know how to end my message.
• I get done, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, but I do not know what to say.”
• He said, “in other words, you just prepared a meal and it is now time to invite them to come and eat it.”
• I said: “something like that; I really don’t know how to give an altar call.”
• He gave me some sound advice about relying on God’s Spirit and being careful not to manipulate anyone, but trusting in a genuine work from God.
• He told me that numbers, and personal responses to my preaching were not as important as people coming closer to God.
• In other words, (SHOW): Bringing people to Jesus is God’s job.
• Not mine.
• So what is the point?
• Cornelius got saved long before an altar call, or any outward confession.
• Somewhere in that story, while he was listening to Peter preach, he decided to believe and God, as soon as he believed in Jesus God sent the Holy Spirit into him.
• And the proof of their acceptance into God’s family was this powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
• Cornelius made it easy for God, he was searching pretty hard and God showed up, broke through the barrier between God and man in a pretty wonderful way.

So, at this point, one would think the story is over. But that is where our text begins.

• Peter comes back home and the legalistic Christians, who still don’t quite understand that salvation is a free gift…
• Who don’t understand that salvation is: “simply believe…”
• Or who think it is believe and you get the free gift of salvation but as soon as it happens, you have to earn it.
• They taught, and we see this later on in Galatians and 2^nd Corinthians that they had to believe and then follow all those legitimate Jewish customs.
• They felt this way because they loved God, but they forgot about grace.
• They don’t understand that the gift of salvation is free, and it is open to anyone.
• That question: “Who is my neighbor?” is answered by God, and the answer is, Everyone.
• It isn’t just people from their town, their family, their nation, but everyone.
• Gloria gave me a Green Card last Sunday.
• The Green card symbolizes that I am a member of the Kingdom of Heaven.
• The story should be over.
• God showed by His power, by a vision to Cornelius, a vision to Peter, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that salvation is open to anyone who believes.
• And you would think it was over, but the rest of the Apostles, and James, Jesus’ brother called Peter on the carpet and accused him of sinning, lowering the standard of faith, compromising with the world, making salvation too easy and cheap, disobeying God’s law and the list goes on.
• Brothers and sisters: Remember this: (SHOW) Satan hates grace.
• And the devil whipped up the religious spirit, the demonic religious spirit inside the rest of the apostles so that they would do something about it.
• This is a big conflict. The Holy Spirit was leading and they were too afraid to follow him.
• It still happens.
• I got into trouble at my last church because this young man, who played softball got saved and called into the ministry.
• He got saved right at the time that he did the wrong thing and divorced his wife while she was going through post-partum depression.
• He felt terrible about it after he realized the wrong that he did, but it was too late, she was remarried.
• So he married a real nice Baptist gal.
• All of this happened before I came to the church.
• I didn’t go through the pain of that divorce and the way it affected the congregation.
• The woman who chaired the committee that secured preachers for when I was gone suggested we ask him to preach.
• So we did.
• And a great thing happened.
• At the end of his message, a couple of the youth came forward and gave their lives to Christ.
• And, the sad thing was, that was the last time anyone came forward in that church.
• Two people on the board were really mad at me for letting him preach, even though it wasn’t my call.
• The woman who asked him to preach was divorced herself and there were bitter words between the people at the board meeting.
• Another woman had a brother in law with a real heart for Jesus and worship.
• Before he was a believer, his wife left him and after he got saved, he met a woman whose husband left her.
• He is a talented musician, so one Sunday, when he was visiting from Florida, they asked him to lead worship.
• But before that could happen, they made him stand beside the pulpit.
• And they made sure that I never asked a divorced person to preach again.
• And that was the last time anyone came forward at that church.
• Was I a lousy preacher?
• Several people were saved in my office
• They left grace for the law and decided that only certain people could become believers.
• They would say, “I know that he is saved, but we don’t have to worship with him.”
• It became a big fight.
• Someone said, “I would rather worship with 10 people who are “sold out to Jesus” than a 100 that are mediocre.
• I said in response, I would rather worship with 100 sinners who know they still need a Savior that with 10 who are so self-righteous.
• I remember that woman, hurt because of the way her brother in law was treated saying: “But if the Holy Spirit called someone to Christ during the message, how could it have been wrong?”
• They wouldn’t listen, but this group did.
• The apostles quickly abandoned their prejudice and learned to love everyone.
• It was a clear case of racism being destroyed.
• More than that, this man was their enemy, and they loved and embraced him.
• They understood that they are residents of a bigger nation: The Kingdom of God.

God broke through.

And it wasn’t just a break-through between the racial divides of Jews and Gentiles, but He broke down the things that keep us from loving one another.

(SHOW) Ephesians 2:14: For Christ himself is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us.

By breaking down the barrier of salvation to Gentiles, He also broke down the barrier of separation.

In light of a greater presence, two great things happened: Salvation is opened up to us, and a huge wall between people of different cultures was torn down.

That greater presence is Jesus.

And it started when Christians loved their enemies.

I think Peterson, the translator of the Message, is being prophetic when he says: “God has broken through.”

There is an obvious spiritual thing here. Sin, when in the presence of God flees away.

And before Jesus, we sinners, couldn’t have direct access to God.

So, when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom.

From top to bottom because God did it.

That veil had separated the people from the presence of God.

Once a year, the High Priest would go into that place and would tie a rope to his ankle and had bells on his robe. If the robe stopped ringing, he was dead and the rope would pull him out.

But now, since Jesus paid the price for our sins, the Holy Spirit left that place and dwells in the hearts of everyone who believes in Him.

And in that passage, one of the first changes that happened was reconciliation, not only with God, but with fellow man.

Last weekend, at the Intercultural celebration in the mountains of Western PA, the director asked all the churches in the area to bring food for Friday night.

So, the majority of leaders in our churches that are integrated got to spend time with people who do not get a chance to mix interracially.

It was a great time of celebration.

(SHOW) God broke down the wall of division between people.

Go broke through the hearts of the legalistic, proud, patriotic and religious folks to bring peace between them and their former enemies.

(SHOW –same slide) God broke through the barrier of sin that keeps us from Him.

He changes us. He first changed Peter and then He changed the apostles and in the process, changed Cornelius’s last name to: Christian.

(show) Have you been changed?