While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. Let's bow together. Father, as we open your word, the words of the Apostle Peter are once again going to be spoken in this place. And we have come to listen to this message. And so we pray and ask in the name of Christ that the Holy Spirit would fall upon us, that our hearts may be cleansed, that our ears may be opened, that our eyes may be enlightened, that our lives would be invigorated by the power of the Holy Spirit of the risen Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. In our morning series, we are exploring the book of Acts thematically rather than doing a strict exposition, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Our first theme that we have taken up is the foundational reality upon which Acts is based, the epistles of the apostles are based, the history of the church, our eschatological hope and eternity beyond that. It is the reality that defines reality. And that is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the consistent message proclaimed in the Book of Acts, that being the fulfillment of all that has been previously revealed by God, recorded for us in the Old Testament. The work of creation terminates in its purpose upon resurrection life and glory. The fall is rectified by the provisions of God's grace that bring us into new life in Christ. the covenants made with Abraham. Our covenant is a promise concerning life. The God who brings into existence that which does not exist is the God of Abraham, the God who raises the dead. That is the God who then in faithfulness comes to the tribes of Israel and gives the Old Testament in which we are further instructed concerning the significance and meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that, of course, is the constant focus of the ministry of the prophets in the Old Testament. The entire Bible is a message calling death-deserving, death-bound sinners to life. Not, say, call them life, not a life of this age, but an eschatological life, a life of resurrection life, that life that we are given in Christ where we are made to be like God and made to live with God. Now, our survey has brought us to the end of Acts chapter 5. If you want to open your Bibles and tune back in to where we have been. And at this point, at the end of Acts chapter 5, I need to make a strategic decision. as to how to continue tracing this motif of Jesus' resurrection in the book of Acts. Were we to proceed as we have been, basically chapter by chapter, and were I to go now on in chapter 6 and move forward from that point, we would certainly be able to discern the activity of the risen Christ in the person and power of the Holy Spirit. We would hear professions of faith in the risen Christ. We would see demonstrations of the power of the risen Christ by those believers and servants of Christ comprising the early church. And those testimonies that are found in this portion of Acts are certainly not irrelevant. They are to be read and understood and acknowledged. It's why Luke presents them to us. But I've decided to keep my focus on the Apostle Peter. and then after Peter to put our attentions on the ministry of the apostle Paul. If you look at Acts from a high-level vantage point, that's how this book divides. The first part focusing on the ministry of Peter and the second on the ministry of Paul. And we're to remember that great commission that was given to the apostles by the resurrected Christ in Luke 24, 44 to 48, that passage where the risen Christ commissions these eyewitnesses who do be his apostles and witnesses. so that the apostolic witness indeed carries a greater weight and authority as that which is constructing this foundational strata of the new covenant church. This community of the new covenant built upon that rejected stone in the cross and the crucifixion of Christ that has now been appointed to be the cornerstone on which the foundation of the apostles and prophets is laid, and we as living stones constructing the present New Testament, new covenant temple of God." And so we're focusing in on these apostles. Now, Luke also will highlight for us the testimony of James, who was an apostle, Stephen, and Philip, deacons, evangelists, and others. But they play supportive roles, if you will, to the primary announcement of the resurrection of Christ by apostolic witness and in Acts we have primarily the ministry of Peter and Paul. And so I'm going to continue to give our attentions to Peter as we trace out this motif of the resurrection of Christ as it's proclaimed in the book of Acts. We also want to be sensitive to another structural arrangement of Acts that is presented to us in Acts 1, verse 8, and that is that they are to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the world. And as we'll see this morning, we begin to make that transition with Peter out of the regions of the city of Jerusalem. That's where we have been thus far. within the precincts of Jerusalem in the mid-30s A.D. Now in chapter 6, the apostles are going to direct the church to minister to itself by the recognition and appointment of these men who serve as deacons. Then Luke will move us on to a specific one of these men, Stephen. whose witness was particularly powerful and confrontational in many ways, such that we are told that this is none other than the first martyr of the church. And it's a significant event. In fact, Luke gives over 60 verses in Acts 7 to Stephen and his martyrdom. It's something, of course, we hope we'll look at at a later point. The resurrected Christ now directing providence uses persecution that has arisen against the church in Jerusalem to advance his battalions, if you will, on the field of battle and move them now out from Jerusalem and begin heading them toward the remotest parts of the earth. We read of this persecution in Acts chapter 8 and verse 1. Saul was in hearty agreement in putting him, that is, Stephen, to death. And on that day, a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And of course, that reminds us of 1.8. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, uttermost parts of the world. So the movement here is documented outside, moving out of the city of Jerusalem. We're introduced in Acts 7, and here we're reminded at the beginning of 8 of Paul, the persecutor of the church. And we'll see after his conversion, he becomes Paul the apostle. And that, of course, is recorded for us in Acts 9, where the risen Christ, the resurrected Christ, confronts, converts, and commissions. this man Saul into the gospel ministry of being an apostle. And immediately he begins to preach Jesus as the son of God, even as the Messiah, the Christ. And he does so in Jerusalem. And that arouses opposition. So the brethren there sent him back to where he was originally from, Tarsus. We read of that at the end of Acts chapter nine. The beginning of verse 29, as he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews that saw he was speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord, you see in verse 28 in Jerusalem, they were attempting to put him to death. Now they had done that previously to Stephen. So this is becoming something of a habit. But when the brethren learned of it, They brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. So here you see the geographic expansion, locating the church universal, that is to say, individual local churches then are seen in each of these areas that are mentioned there in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. So we're moving north and west of the city of Jerusalem and its persecution that spread Christians into these areas in Judea, Samaria, Galilee. We're still at this juncture in the mid to later 30s, if you will, of the timeline. It's going to be somewhat challenging to piece together the timeline of Paul's life at this point. But when Peter comes back into view, we find that he's now traveling along the coast of the Mediterranean on this northeastern part of Israel. He's seen there in verse 32 and following of Acts 9 in Lydda and in Joppa, which is just south of Caesarea. In Lydda, Peter is used by the risen Christ to heal Aeneas, who had been paralyzed for eight years. And then in Joppa, the risen Christ uses him to raise Tabitha, known as Dorcas, from the dead. And so Peter then is then situated there in the home of Simon. When we come to Acts chapter 10, we see Peter here bringing the gospel to Gentiles in the home of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Verses one through eight in chapter 10, we're introduced to Cornelius who is a God-fearer. He's a Gentile, but he has faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel, but he's not a proselyte. The difference between a God-fearer and a proselyte would be the extent to which they have accommodated themselves to the ceremonial law. The primary entrance point into that ceremonial law would be the right of circumcision. So Cornelius is a God-fearer, but not a proselyte in that sense. He is, however, very much involved in the local synagogue, financially generous to the people of the Lord, and himself a very pious man, because it's while he is praying that he receives a vision of an angel who tells him to send some of his men to the home of Simon to go get Peter, the apostle. Now in verse nine, to verse 16, we find Peter also exercising piety, for he too is in prayer. And then he receives that vision of that great sheet containing unclean animals that descends from heaven, and a voice from heaven commands him, get up, Peter, kill. and eat, and Peter refuses to do so. This is an obstacle for Peter to transgress the ceremonial dietary laws and to eat unclean food. Three times this vision is given to him. And in verse 17, he's baffled by what this could mean. In his perplexity, those men sent from Cornelius arrive. And upon their arrival, the Holy Spirit then tells Peter, go to them, welcome them. And he does. He brings them into his home there with Simon. They stay overnight. And the following day, they make their way to the home of Cornelius. Notice in verse 33 of Acts 10, the welcome that Peter receives once he comes to Cornelius' home. Cornelius says, so I sent for you immediately, and you've been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you've been commanded by the Lord. So he arrives, he's welcomed, The two of them exchange their respective experiences of having been commanded by angels to receive one another. And Cornelius says, tell us everything that the Lord has given you to say. Now it's evident as we look through Peter's sermon and his ministry to Cornelius and his household and friends that there is a part of what he says that they've already, with which they're already familiar. They know about Jesus according to verse 37 and verse 8. They know about his earthly ministry, but evidently Jesus' death and resurrection along with the interpretation of his death and resurrection was something yet unknown, something for which they needed apostolic revelatory truth to be communicated to them. And when Peter gives them that apostolic witness, the Holy Spirit comes upon the hearers in a manner reminiscent of what happened in chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. So let's read, first of all, Peter preaches the resurrection of Jesus to Cornelius as we enter the text at verse 34, reading to verse 48. Opening his mouth, Peter said, I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality. But in every nation, the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcomed to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. You yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all the things he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is to us, who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Let's look at this portion of scripture, verse 34 to verse 36. It now comes to Peter's understanding what that vision of the sheets and the unclean food mean. Now I get it. God is not partial. God is not partial. There is no partiality. These distinctions of ceremonial cleanliness, clean and unclean diet laws and such, these things are giving way to the life and vitality and saving grace of the risen Christ. In verse 35, we're introduced to these God-fearers, those who do what is right, to seek God among the Old Covenant people of God. It's interesting that in the book of Acts, Luke presents the God-fearers as very receptive to the gospel. In chapter 16, Lydia is a God-fearer. We're going to see God-fearers in the synagogues in Thessalonica in chapter 17, verse 4, responding to the gospel. Likewise also in Corinth in chapter 18 and verse 7. The God-fearers have a very positive profile in the book of Acts. In verse 36, We're reminded of the revelation that God gave to Old Covenant Israel and we're told that revelation of the Old Testament, look at this, concerns peace through Jesus Christ. He is now Lord of all. That, of course, is an allusion to the risen Jesus Christ. We are getting ourselves comfortable with biblical terms defined biblically, so that when Peter now says he is Lord of all, we already understand what he means by that by having examined his sermon in Acts chapter two, that this is the one who's been raised to the right hand of God the Father, and he is now Lord and Christ. He is the risen Lord of all. The message now of this lordship is to be proclaimed among all people. He is Lord of all. Now this is a tectonic shift to Peter. Believers in the Jerusalem church were converted Jews. They had to learn the lesson that Peter and of course Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 5.16. From now on, We recognize no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer. From now on, that's that pivot, but now that's that point in which redemptive history has moved now into the era of new covenant grace, where the gospel is to go to men and women, boys and girls from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and we no longer define are fellow men in terms of the points of reference by which they distinguish themselves in this present age. They are all sinners. Language, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational achievement. They're all sinners. We don't regard them according to the flesh. We see them in relation to the risen Christ. We say them in relation to the gospel that calls sinners to repentance. And Peter and these men who have come with him out of old covenant Judaism need to learn this lesson. Stop regarding men according to the flesh. They needed to learn that lesson. We need to learn that lesson. We hear as Americans this idea of for all, equality for all, and we recognize that as an ethical principle of jurisprudence of justice, but Peter is not instructing us concerning American citizenship. He is being taught by God in this incidence in the home of Cornelius that redemptive history has now moved into a new epoch of grace, the new covenant epoch of salvation through Christ Jesus. And the gospel that had been entrusted to old covenant Israel, which Peter recognizes was a proclamation concerning Christ as Lord of all. That's how you interpret your Old Testament. as that which focuses on the revelation of Christ. And that gospel entrusted in those types and figures and shadows to that ethnic people, that gospel now is being extended to all of the nations, not in types and figures and shadows, but in substance. through the ministry of the Spirit, who communicates the life and the blessing of the risen Jesus Christ, having been crucified for us, for the atonement of our sin. resurrected for our justification. This is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 16. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And this is what Peter is recognizing here when he realizes, but now, we've entered into an entirely new period of redemptive history. He reminds them in verse 36 to the beginning of verse 39, that he is a witness. He will testify to what they already have heard concerning Jesus. Evidently, living that in that north western corner of the nation of Israel, the geographic nation of Israel, they've heard about John the Baptist. And they've heard about the ministry that Jesus performed by the power of the Spirit as he traveled all through that region doing good, manifesting that God was with him. But in verse 39, notice, in verse 39, the second part of the verse, they also put him to death by hanging him on the cross. I think it's, that also there is significant. I think it implies, let me tell you more of the story. There's also something more to the story. There's also something that you need to know and to understand. You need to know more of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. These are God-fearers. They have studied to learn the God of the Old Covenant. And there are also contemporaries in the region of the early church. And they've heard about the ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus. but there's something that they yet need to hear and come to greater understanding. They need to understand the significance of Jesus' death and his resurrection. It's interesting when Peter was preaching and testifying to the people of Jerusalem, and then again to the Sanhedrin, we saw him very boldly indict the Jewish authorities of the injustice of the murder of Jesus Christ. It's interesting that although he's speaking to a Roman centurion, he doesn't bring that note of indictment into this testimony with this Roman soldier. I think that is due to the fact that those who have received the Word of God have got a greater responsibility for their response to the Word of God. and that the nation of Israel, having received the testimony of the prophets and the blessing of the oracles of God and all the provisions and blessings of their worship and the history of God's dealings with him, when Peter was speaking in that vicinity of Jerusalem to those authority structures, he had more of a warrant to indict them and call them to repentance in that particular way, whereas here he's speaking to a group who are further out and who did not have that immediate culpability of participation in the death of Jesus Christ. So in Acts we see that the gospel focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And of course we understand that the resurrection is central and indeed the apex of a complex of these events that occur in the second, or rather the first coming of Jesus Christ. So you don't have the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ apart from our understanding that this is the one who was crucified. This is one who died because resurrection assumes the resurrection of a dead person. And so Jesus is brought to our attention as having died this death upon the cross, that they also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. And of course, the cross of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is central to the proclamation of the gospel. But I submit to you, at this point in your reading of Acts, in chapter 10, Luke expects that you've read chapter 8, that you've read Philip's dealings with the Ethiopian eunuch, when the Ethiopian eunuch is reading from Isaiah 53. And he asks, what does this mean? Well, here is the suffering servant of the Lord. Here is Old Testament definition of Jesus' death on the cross. And so when Paul comes to Corinth and says, I'm determined to know nothing among you except Christ crucified, that doesn't mean that he's not going to talk about the resurrection. And on the other hand, when he says that we are eyewitnesses to the resurrection, that doesn't mean they're not going to talk about Jesus' death on the cross. It is a complex events that are all organically joined together to the revelation of God's grace in Christ to us that we might know him in his perfect incarnate life, the son of God incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, his sacrificial death, his triumphant resurrection, his ascension and exaltation to the throne of God and his imminent return as judge of the earth. All of this is part of this gospel to which Peter is a witness. Notice what he says, verse 40. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible not to all the people but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. So here Peter is making it very clear that he is among those who were at that supper on that first day when Jesus came. And you remember he came into the upper room and he asked them, after he demonstrated his resurrection body, pronounced peace upon them, said, do you have anything to eat? And they gave him fish. And of course he ate it. He ate with them again on the beach, you remember, in Galilee. This is not, a spirit. This is an embodied resurrection which is now exalted into a dynamic of life that is of the age to come. Resurrection life, the first born from the dead, the first fruits of the harvest. And Peter says, I was there, I saw all that. And not only that, but I was one of those specifically commissioned to be a witness. That's a very meaningful term. It's a heavy term with great significance because it is one who has been chosen by God and qualified in God's providence to be an eyewitness of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To be one who is Christ's commissioned apostle. Us. This is not just somebody's opinion. This is apostolic testimony by the inspiration of the Spirit, a testimony and witness that we now have in our Bibles. This is the voice of authority from the risen Christ, apostolic witness, that has given to us four Gospels, 23 other New Testament documents, all of which record, interpret, and apply the truth of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Verse 39. They put him to death. Verse 40, God raised him up. The resurrected Jesus has commissioned these chosen witnesses to do what? To preach and solemnly testify. Verse 42, and he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. I hope, as you turn back to Luke 1, or the first volume of Luke, at the end of the gospel, having already alluded to it, it does us no harm to keep these words of Christ in Luke 24, verse 44 and following in our minds, to understand what is it that these apostles are doing in the book of Acts. Well, they're doing exactly what they've been told to do. Jesus says to them, the resurrected Christ in Luke 24, 44, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem, you are witnesses of these things." What is Peter doing in the living room of this Roman centurion? He's doing exactly what he's been told to do. He's doing exactly what he's been told to do. He is preaching. He is solemnly testifying. He is doing all this in the name of the risen Christ. And he does this with a focus of bringing his hearers into the blessing of the forgiveness of their sins. That's his focus. He's doing exactly what he's been told to do. And he interprets for us then in Acts 10 the meaning and the significance of Jesus' resurrection. What does it mean? How am I to understand it? It is an resurrection into the life of the age to come in which Jesus is exalted and enthroned as Lord of all. And for the first time in the book of Acts, we're told something about this enthroned, resurrected Lord of all. We're told he is the judge of the living and the dead. This is a new element. in the narrative of the apostolic witness. He is the judge of the living and the dead. You see, God overturned the judgment of the demonically deceived men moved by fallen powers and principalities. He overturned that unjust judgment when he raised Jesus from the dead. They put him to death. But God raised him from the dead, not only raising him from the dead in order to overturn the injustice of his death, but raising him so as to make him Lord of all, exalting him to the throne, giving him all authority in heaven and on earth. giving to him that name which is above every name named in this age and in the age to come. He is above all earthly powers. Just as Jesus told Caiaphas when they pronounced the death sentence on him the morning of his crucifixion and he told them, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power. And that, of course, has been fulfilled in the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus Christ, judge of the living and the dead. You see, the gospel is proclaimed with forensic legal vocabulary. Jesus' death is a sacrifice for sin. Sin is the breaking of the commands of God. Jesus' death is the propitiating of the wrath of God, bearing punishment as the substitutionary sacrificial curse bearer on behalf of his people. His death is not simply a Shakespearean tragedy. It is an act that transpires in the courtroom of God that concerns the legal issues of the people of God, their justification, their inheritance and blessing legally, righteously granted to them on the basis of what their representative had as accomplished for them in his death. Likewise also, His resurrection is a vindication of His righteous life. Death has no claim on Him. He never sinned. It is a vindication of the completion of His messianic mission. He has accomplished what He was sent to do. It is finished. And as a consequence, he in all righteousness fully expected, anticipated, and knew indeed, that by virtue of his sinless life and perfect sacrificial death, he would indeed rise again and would be elevated to the place promised to the Messiah. that he would be the Davidic king seated upon the throne of God ruling the kingdom of God in its present state as that redemptive kingdom of gospel grace going all over the world until the consummation and revelation of that kingdom in its full glory in the resurrection and transformation of the entire created offer, the entire cosmos rather. This one who sits upon the throne carries all authority in heaven and on earth. And this has to do with issues of the court, issues of judgment. He is the Lord of all. He is king of kings. He is the high priest of the new covenant. All those offices have legal significance in the kingdom of God. operative in the courtroom of God there in the heavenly temple of God into which Jesus has gone ahead of us. So, the gospel is not so much an offer that you would see if you're walking through the marketplace of ideas or the shopping mall of religions. And well, here's one that is offered. No, the gospel is a summons. The gospel is a summons. The gospel is a summons. It is an edict. that it comes from the king. It is to be heralded. That's one of the descriptions of a preacher. A herald comes in to a village or town and he reads the edict of the king and he makes the announcements of the king's will relative to his subjects. He's not there for a discussion per se, he's not there to take a poll. He's not there to communicate his own personal feelings or sense of things. He's there to pronounce the message of the king. And the gospel is a pronouncement of what the king has accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection. And it is a summons to those who hear the gospel to turn from their allegiance to any other authority. and submit themselves to the reigning King who is Lord of all. It comes with this note of authority. It comes with concerns of judgment. It comes with matters related to courtroom issues, guilt and innocence, justification and condemnation, sentencing to death or to life. He is the judge of the living and the dead. And as the resurrected judge, he alone, therefore, is able to pronounce forgiveness of sins. For that, too, is something that transpires in the courtroom of God. Only a royal, kingly priest and judge can forgive sins, which Jesus does. For whom? It's in our text. Everyone who believes in Him, everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins. They'll be given the results of the judgment that fell upon Jesus and is exercised by Jesus. Forgiveness of sins on the basis of Jesus' death and Jesus' resurrection. So in verse 44, in the announcement of forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name as a witness, Peter has an agenda here, doesn't he? It was given to him by the risen Christ. And while he's still speaking these words, The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. Now, the Holy Spirit is given in conjunction with the proclamation of the gospel. Again, we haven't looked at it, but previously in Samaria, men and women there believed Philip's proclamation of the gospel and preaching. They were then baptized and visited by the apostles from the church in Jerusalem. who laid hands on them and prayed for them. And in the course of that apostolic validation, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as he does here in this house of Cornelius. Now, Peter has made no reference to the Holy Spirit thus far in what Luke has recorded for us. Unlike what he did in Acts chapter two, where the coming of the Holy Spirit is the occasion for the preaching, he has to explain the noise, he has to explain the phenomenon of the tongues, he has to give a rational biblical explanation for the presence of the Spirit. Why is this happening? Because Jesus has risen and is exalted and is seated at the right hand of God most high. And he has poured forth that which you both hear and see. The explanation of the Holy Spirit is the risen Christ. Well, Peter here is preaching the risen Christ, and the Holy Spirit says, that's my cue. That's when I come, in the foolishness of the preaching, in the power of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. And so he comes on those who are doing what? They're listening. It seems so weak, doesn't it? I mean, you live in a hurricane of words. I mean, you know, this is Dorothy looking out the window, and the tornado's going all around her, and, you know, the witch is riding by. I mean, you are in a hurricane of words. And you're eternal souls. rest upon your listening to yet more words. From the mouth of a converted sinner in a very unimpressive, innocuous, humanly speaking, very irrelevant place. But I hope you're encouraged to think that the God of heaven will come to a listening ear. How foolish, how weak, how unimpressive, how wonderful. How like the God who has spoken all things into existence. who has sent his message through generations of prophetic speech, who has incarnated his word in a man, Jesus, who has poured forth his spirit of power upon speakers who are to give this life-giving message, a message that still goes forth in the foolishness of preaching preached through this, the epoch and period of gospel grace. testifying, solemnly testifying, preaching, heralding, calling, and the Holy Spirit comes. Verse 45, all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, surely no one can refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? It sounds like Peter is like, he's enjoying this, right? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And they asked him, stay on for a few days. The Gentile believers here receive the Holy Spirit and the Jewish believers who are present are given a sign by this. And it's the sign that these Gentiles are part of the kingdom of God. They are the recipients of the Spirit and they begin praising God. There's content to their tongue speaking. They're speaking languages as what we saw in Acts chapter 2. Evidently these from Jerusalem understood those languages although Luke doesn't say they spoke in other tongues as he does in Acts 2 but we are to understand the continuity of what Luke is telling us. We'll see this happen once again when Paul goes to Ephesus in chapter 19 and verse 6. The Holy Spirit confirms who are the including members of Jesus' international, multi-ethnic, New Covenant, New Adam people. As the gospel breaks through barriers, barriers there in Jerusalem, barriers there in Samaritans, barriers here with God-fearers, barriers then in Ephesus with flat-out idolatrous pagan worshipers, Gentiles. And it's a confirmation signal that says to all, this is a new kind of people. This is a new kind of life. This is a deposit, an anticipation. This is a down payment of resurrection vitality that will incorporate our entire physical material beings as well as this created order now fallen in Adam but glorified in Christ Jesus. And this is being done by the one who was said to be the baptizer of the Holy Spirit, the giver of the gift of the Spirit. I think we're right to assume that it was probably the Jewish believers that were with Peter who were told, let's have a baptism party and let's give to these what believers are told to be given, and that is this new covenant ordinance in which they specifically are identified with Jesus' death and with Jesus' resurrection. Let's bring them through this ordinance in which there is demonstrated union with the death, the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. I think here we begin to see a nascent beginnings of a local body. that the Peter and the Jewish brethren are then urged to stay on for some days, that demonstrates the reality of fellowship. pursuing apostolic teaching, breaking of bread, the fellowship, the prayers. They want fellowship. This is their family now. This is common life. And so they stay on. They stay on for a period of time. And Luke tells us the circumcised believers were amazed. No doubt the Gentile believers were amazed too. But imagine Peter. Sitting and eating with these people, and we're not told what he was eating, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the menu and wasn't a big sheet. And Peter is looking at things and saying, this is really new. This is brand new. I had never hung out with these people. And here we are alive together in Christ. And so they stay together for this period of time. Both of them, both groups being taught a lesson in Christ. Gentiles and Jews are one new man. One new man alive together in Christ Jesus. That brings us secondly to turn to Acts chapter 15. Oh my. Acts chapter 15. I've got too much pressure on me. My watch is, I haven't cooperated with my watch. If I want to do some justice to the work that I've prepared for the rest of this message, it would require more time than it should. Let me tell you succinctly. About 15 years later, maybe around 49 AD, after Paul's initial journey to regions of South Turkey, Lower Galatia, because this issue of Gentiles and Jews is a percolating concern in the life of the early church. And there were some Jewish believers from Jerusalem, evidently, who went to the church in Antioch, Syria, that had sent Paul and Barnabas out. And they began to agitate the believers in that congregation, telling them that they had to become Jewish proselytes. They had to take to themselves the right of circumcision, which would be their entrance into the embrace of the entire ceremonial law. And Paul has to argue, no, to become a member in Christ of a new covenant, new man community, you do not have to become a Jewish proselyte as though we're going to retain the structures and the religion of the old covenant and just add Jesus on top of it. If you're doing that, he'll make the argument in Galatians, that's a false gospel. You don't add Jesus to anything. Jesus is sufficient in and of himself, for he is the fulfillment of all that was pointed to in the old covenant. You're welcome to look at the notes where Peter says in Acts 15 that God cleansed the hearts of these Gentiles even as he cleansed our hearts. And I make the case that although the language explicit of circumcision, that's the discussion. What is circumcision? How do we have, how do we understand it? Peter doesn't use the word vocabulary circumcision, but he talks about what transpires in the circumcision of the heart. And he goes back to Deuteronomy, he alludes to Deuteronomy 30 verse six, that God will circumcise your hearts. And then I also make reference to Ezekiel 36, where the prophet tells us that in the day of new covenant blessing, that the spirit will come and he will cleanse the heart and remove idolatry and sin from the heart. And so I submit that what Peter is arguing to this Jerusalem council, as it said, is that, look, brethren, these folk have been circumcised. circumcised with the circumcision of Christ in Colossians 2.11. They've been cleansed, their hearts have been circumcised by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. But let me press to my application, because there's a new element that we've received this morning, and that is the fact that in Acts chapter 10 and verse 42, we have this note that is sounded, that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge. of the living and the dead. This is the first time this note has sounded concerning our understanding of the role of Jesus by the apostles. It's not the first time that we've been taught this in our New Testaments, but it's a note that is sounded here, identifying the resurrected Christ as the judge of mankind, everybody. Everybody who's alive on the planet right now. Everybody who has ever lived on the planet. Everybody that will ever be born and yet to live on the planet. There is no person who is not going to stand before the risen Christ and meet him as their judge. This is who he is, as the enthroned Lord and Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 17, we're going to see the Apostle Paul arrive in the Greek city of Athens. And he's going to be given opportunity to address the Athenian council in the Areopagus. And he's being called in the Areopagus because, verse 18, he's been in the agora, he's been in the marketplace, preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And this has piqued the interest of these philosophical politician leaders of Athens. They take him, bring him into this council. And we're gonna look at this, Paul's speech here in some detail, God willing. And having been preaching the resurrection, he's driving his message to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So that you notice in chapter 17, verse 32, or rather verse 31, he has fixed a day where he would judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. He is going to judge all men, having made proof of the legal prerogative to judge all men because of the resurrection. When they heard of the resurrection, they began to sneer. Some believed, most didn't. Brethren, I think this is one of the things that the evil one wants to blind men to and yet make them aware of in such a way that they respond to it foolishly. There's something that we sense when we're told of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There's something amazingly wonderful, intimidating, when we realize that there is one who has conquered death. You have got to have an awful lot of power and authority to conquer death. And with the authority, of course, comes the wherewithal to rule, the wherewithal to legislate, the wherewithal to obligate. And one who has that authority is none other than a judge. And if I'm under the judgment and the condemnation of death, for I realize it's not right, it's wrong, there's something wrong with me. And here's one who has conquered death. And if I'm going to stand before him, he's going to have an opinion about me under the sentence of death. And he's going to judge me. And that's part of what the risen Christ is. He is the judge of mankind. And all of us, inescapably, must know him in this official capacity. He is my judge. But I'm not standing before him right now in final judgment. I'm being told about this in advance of the day that has been appointed for him to judge mankind. Why am I being told this? What is God doing with this message? He's communicating to me a message of reconciliation, a message of peace prior to that day. He's giving me the opportunity to lay down my weapons of rebellion, to lay down my weapons of unbelief, my dishonoring of Him and my disobedience. He's allowing me time to repent. And He's giving me the choice, if you will, I can be judged now in union with Jesus, or I will be judged then in union with my sin. I can be judged now according to the revelation of God's grace in Christ, or I will be judged then according to the revelation of the righteous standards of God's law in the day of judgment. The risen Jesus tells us in John chapter five, verse 21 to 29, that there's coming a day when everyone who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and they will come forth unto a resurrection of judgment, the righteous and the wicked, that the Father has given all judgment to the Son, and our relation to the Son will be the determinant of issue on that day. Does he know me? Lord, Lord, I did it. Who are you? Have you trusted me? Have you received this gospel of grace and salvation so that you now, through the gospel, meet the judgment of death in the death of Christ? And through the gospel are granted the vindication of life through the resurrection of Christ. So that Jesus is your judge, but he is your savior who has taken your judgment upon himself. So that in Christ, he judges us in himself. His death is my judgment for my sin. His resurrection is my vindication in life. Jesus judges us in Jesus. That's such a core message of the good news of gospel. Every man, every boy, every girl faces the inevitable day of judgment. And the good news now, be judged in Christ. Be judged in Christ. be judged in Christ, judged in his death, judged in his resurrection, that on the day of judgment you may receive your righteous inheritance. May God give us grace to consider these things as Peter, of all people, is taken to preach the gospel to the God-fearing Gentiles. Amen.