Rightly Dividing the Good Samaritan

[0:00] Well, we are really dealing with the miracles, believe it or not, but we're just taking a brief shortcut because there's some very important content that is meshed in with all of these miracles, and they, of course, are called parables.

[0:14] And we're not going to try to undertake all of the parables because there are over 30 of those, but we do want to key in on just a few of them that are, I think, extra significant and really embedded alongside the miracles.

[0:31] And then we will return to that, and probably at a Sunday in April, probably pretty close to Easter, we'll be wrapping up our consideration of the miracles, and we'll be concluding, of course, with the miracle of miracles, the resurrection of our Lord.

[0:54] So I would appreciate it if you gentlemen would begin thinking in terms of where you would like to go from there. We're talking about roughly the 1st of May.

[1:07] We will need a decision for our next study, and I would rather that the requests come from you than from me because, as you've heard me say before, I would much rather scratch where people itch than for me to try to create itches.

[1:29] So if there are areas that you would like discussed or a particular book that you would like to undertake or something like that, talk about it among yourselves, and let's see what we come up with, and then we'll engage that.

[1:43] So keep that in mind, and be giving it some prayerful thought if you would. Meanwhile, let us go to Gospel According to Luke, chapter 10, and a very familiar passage having to do with the Good Samaritan.

[2:03] Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, and we're going to begin with verse 25, and it is important to note what occasioned this particular parable because it has to do with the actual parable that Jesus is going to be giving.

[2:24] Why? In other words, the point has been made in the past that Jesus never went through the land just spouting off parables to be talking.

[2:35] All of the parables that he gave were germane to something that was happening, a question that came up or a situation that developed, and the parable always was connected to what was happening.

[2:50] And if you keep that in mind, it even helps in understanding the parable. And we read here in the very first few verses, beginning with verse 25, A certain lawyer stood up and tempted him.

[3:05] Now that gives us a clue right there that this lawyer, and by the way, when it uses the term lawyer, it's always speaking in terms of a lawyer in connection with the writings of Moses.

[3:19] It's not talking about the legal ramifications that we think of in connection with law. This is the law. These were the hair splitters regarding the law of Moses. So that's primarily what it had to deal with.

[3:31] And when the text says that he was tempting him, it literally means that this individual was trying to set Jesus up and put him in a position where he could make him look bad.

[3:47] So the man has got a negative, wrongful motive in even asking the question. He's got an agenda. And our Lord was masterful in handling these because he always understood what it was they were really after.

[4:05] And this is remarkable. So we read, And he, He's taking that, Being a lawyer, He's very familiar with it.

[4:41] He's taking that from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 5, And also Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 18. And his answer is correct. He's right on track. No question about it.

[4:53] And Jesus answered and said to him, Thou hast answered right. Do this, And thou shalt live. Revelation 18.5. Or Leviticus, I'm sorry.

[5:05] Leviticus 18.5. Now, that is a curious question and an even more curious answer. Where is this coming from? This is coming from the Mosaic law.

[5:18] Well, now wait a minute. Where is the by grace through faith in this? Where is it?

[5:31] It isn't here. And not only is it not here, It isn't supposed to be here. This is the law.

[5:43] The law came by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, it doesn't mean that there wasn't any grace before, Because we know, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[5:53] So, grace, The grace of God has always been around. It's one of God's attributes. But this is the age and the dispensation of the law, Of Moses.

[6:06] And do you get the impression from this, That this, Do, And thou shalt live? Now, fellas, Let's be serious here. Don't you see a contrast between, Do, And thou shalt live?

[6:22] Isn't that different than, Live! And thou shalt do? Isn't that different? Of course it is. So, the point that we're trying to make, That is, Here in bold relief, Is that there is a progression that has developed.

[6:43] Nobody is saying that the advice that was given here, Was wrong. It was right. But it was right for that time. And remember, We won't go there, But let's just bring this rich young ruler in, Ask the same question.

[7:01] Remember, That's also in Luke's gospel. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus told him, Do this, Do that, Do that. And this guy said, Oh, I've done all of those things from my youth up.

[7:11] I've always done those. And Jesus said, Okay, Then all you need to do is, Sell everything that you have, And give it to the poor, And come and follow me.

[7:22] Well, What is that? That is the same thing as this. That was the modus operandi, Before the cross.

[7:35] The cross changed everything. This is before the cross. And what a difference that makes.

[7:46] Now, If you don't make that distinction, And try to mesh these together, You end up with what is an inevitable contradiction.

[7:58] Well, It says one thing here, It says another thing here. What's going on? Well, You know, The Bible contradicts itself. You can't take that seriously. It says one thing in one place, And another thing in another.

[8:10] Well, Well, It does. It does. Because it is doctrine that is developing, And is on the move. So, When we preach the gospel today, What do we say?

[8:21] We don't say, Well, You love the Lord your God with all your heart. Do this, And do that, And do that, And you shall live. No. Because Jesus died on the cross to make salvation available to us, We say, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, And thou shalt be saved.

[8:38] Don't try to make those two messages the same. They're not the same. And they're not supposed to be the same. Because the cross changed everything.

[8:48] Well, Let's go on. I'm going to say that's the old covenant and the new covenant. I'm sorry? That's the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. Absolutely. And it's radical. It's radical.

[8:58] It's a radical difference. It's a radical difference. All right. Let's continue on. And he, Desiring to justify himself, Said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

[9:13] Now, This is, This is the nitpicking, You know. This is the, The, Oh, These guys were, They were famous for the, Who is my neighbor? And Jesus made answer and said, All right.

[9:25] I'll, I'll tell you. I'll tell you who your neighbor is. Let me, Let me relate a story to you, And we will see who your neighbor is. Certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

[9:40] Now, We made this point before, But I just want to make it again from the standpoint of geography. Jericho is north of Jerusalem.

[9:51] Not south. But the text says he's going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And if you've got your map, A little map that we distributed, If you look at the very last page, Page five, Places of Jesus, Ministry, Then and now, And look at the top, You will see, Well, Let's look at the bottom first.

[10:22] You see Judea, In the green, Judea, Look straight down from the word Judea, And of course you see, Jerusalem.

[10:34] And then if you look a little bit up to the north, And just a little bit to the east, You see, Jericho. So Jericho is clearly north of Jerusalem.

[10:49] But again, The text says a man was going down to Jericho. And that's speaking of the geography of the elevation. Because Jerusalem was elevated on a high mountain.

[11:02] Well, Actually, We wouldn't call it a high. It was high, Relatively speaking, It was high for them. And that's where the temple was located. They're on Mount Moriah.

[11:14] So when you leave Jerusalem to go anywhere, You go down. It doesn't make any difference what direction you're going in. You go down. And that's what he's talking about. He was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

[11:27] And he fell among robbers. Which was not all that unusual. Because there was a lot of brigands. And a lot of robbery. Highway robbery that was taking place.

[11:38] And that's the main reason that so many times these people traveled in caravans. Because it was the only safe way that you could get through. But for whatever reason, In this parable that Jesus gives, This man is by himself.

[11:52] And he's going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he fell among robbers, Which both stripped him, And beat him, And departed, Leaving him half dead.

[12:08] And by chance, A certain priest Was going down that way. Now what do you know about a priest? What do you think this priest was?

[12:20] He was Jewish. Of course. He was a Jew. He was in the Levitical priesthood. And the text makes it quite clear.

[12:31] And I'm certain that Jesus knew very well what he was doing. And he sets this up in the parable. That this was a priest. He was going down that way. And when the priest saw him, He passed by on the other side.

[12:46] One can only ask a question. Why? Why didn't he come to his aid? Why didn't he help him? Well, we don't know. Maybe he was busy.

[12:56] Maybe he was on the way. Maybe he was... Who knows what. But at any rate, This priest was unwilling to come to the aid of this man.

[13:07] And he deliberately went to the other side and walked on by. And in like manner, A Levite also.

[13:20] Oh, who is he? Well, he's from the same clan. He's from the Levitical priesthood. And he simply has a different role. There's priests and there are Levites.

[13:32] And the priests, of course, Officiated with the animals, The sacrifices and all of that. And the offering, the things. And the Levites were more or less the grunt guys. They took care of all of the physical things in the tabernacle.

[13:45] They repaired this and they fixed that. And they kept this up and all the rest of it. So there were two different classes, The priest and the Levites. But they're both from the Levitical tribe. And when he came to the place and saw him, He passed by on the other side.

[13:59] But a certain Samaritan, As he journeyed, Came where he was. And when he saw him, He was moved with compassion.

[14:13] Now the obvious point that is being made here Is that neither of these two religious guys Would give this injured man the time of day.

[14:25] I'm sure they had what they would have considered legitimate reasons. But it was the Samaritan Who had compassion on the man.

[14:37] Who are the Samaritans? Well, In the year 722 BC, The Assyrians came down from the north And they invaded the northern ten tribes.

[14:54] And they defeated them. And they put a, They besieged the city of Samaria. The people were reduced to cannibalism. It was a pretty nasty scene. And eventually it fell.

[15:07] This was the northern kingdom. And eventually The northern kingdom fell. And The Assyrians took over everything And occupied all of the land.

[15:19] And they shipped a bunch of the Jews north Into slavery. And they started occupying the land there. And In time It didn't take much time These invading Syrians Began Cohabiting With the Jewish women Who were left behind What do you call them?

[15:40] War brides. And they started intermarrying And had children. And that produced What was classed as a whole new breed. They were called Samaritans.

[15:52] And the principal city of Samaria Of course was the capital of Samaria. And that meant that they were actually Half-breed Jews.

[16:03] They were not full-fledged Jews Like they were before the attack. Now they have intermarried with these pagans. And they have become Very corrupted in their religion.

[16:13] And actually it was pretty corrupted to start with. They built their own priesthood And their own temple And all the rest of it. And now What they have done Is essentially They have isolated themselves Religiously From the purest Jews Who remained in the south In those two tribes in Jerusalem In the tribes of Judah and Benjamin Where the temple was.

[16:37] And that created a conflict Between The Jews who were the purest In the southern two tribes And the pagans Who had married in with the Samaritans And become the Samaritans In the north.

[16:52] And this is why They had nothing to do with them. They considered them Impure. Dolls. And yeah And they were They were just people Who were just unfit.

[17:04] And they were completely isolated From the Jews Who considered themselves The real McCoy In the south. So He would be This Samaritan Would be the least likely one To offer help Because of the rivalry That existed Between the Jews And the Samaritans And most of it Was Was mutual.

[17:26] They didn't have any use for them. They didn't have any use for them. Kind of like the Hatfields And the McCoys almost. You know That kind of thing. So Here This guy is going down From Jerusalem Which almost Definitely Establishes him as a what?

[17:43] As a Jew. As a Jew. He's in Jerusalem And he's leaving Jerusalem Going to Jericho And of all people Who are going to come To his rescue It's the despised Samaritan.

[17:56] What a mix. Now this is very deliberate And Jesus is setting this up Because he's creating An extreme In demonstrating Who Your neighbor Really is And it isn't Just the person Who lives next door.

[18:13] That's the point That's going to be made. By chance A certain priest Was going down that way Saw him He passed by Levi He passed by Certain Samaritan As he journeyed Came where he was And when he saw him He was moved With compassion There's no indication That he would have said Well this guy's a Jew I'm not going to help him But he's got compassion on him He came to him Bound up his wounds Pouring on them Oil and wine Set him on his own beast Brought him to an inn And took care of him And on the morrow He took out Two pence And gave them To the host The innkeeper And said Take care of him And whatsoever You spend more I When I come back again And I'll be coming back This way again I will repay you Got the picture And then Jesus Turns to him And says Which of these three

[19:15] Do you think Provided neighbor to him That fell among the robbers And I think it was Really interesting to say He didn't say Oh it was the Samaritan No He's not going to say that But he says Well it was he That showed mercy on him Jesus said unto him Go And do thou likewise What is that?

[19:39] That's works Go and do Likewise And if you go back up To the beginning Of the parable We find that The do Is involved there What shall I do To inherit eternal life?

[20:00] And Jesus is saying Here is an example Of something That you can do And when you do Enough do's You've made it And the question becomes How many do's Are required?

[20:16] Nobody knows That's why Apart From The security We have Of being In Christ There is no assurance Of salvation It's impossible Because even the person Who is earnest And sincere about it Who is Doing the best he can Just being a really Nice guy Helping everybody He can Doing the best he can To keep the ten commandments Going to church Every Sunday All the rest of it He never knows If he's done enough How much is enough?

[20:52] Remember that little booklet That was put out What's his name? Andy Stanley Charles Stanley's son Put out that little booklet Called Since Nobody's perfect How good Is good enough?

[21:12] Very penetrating title And it's a question That people ought to be Asking themselves today How good do I have to be To go to heaven? The answer is simple All you have to do Is be as good as Jesus Christ And you got it made And people say Well What?

[21:33] Wait Hey Don't get me wrong I I've never said I'm perfect Well that's what's required Perfection? Well who can provide that?

[21:46] Nobody That's the point All have sinned And come short Of the glory of God That's why Jesus Christ Died on that cross And when you Put your faith And trust in him You are baptized By the Holy Spirit Into the spiritual body Of Christ And you are in union With him And it's got nothing To do with water It is an internal cleansing That provides regeneration And it gives you A status before God That is absolutely perfect That's your position Your practice Is different Because In our practice We grow We grow And develop And mature spiritually But you don't grow In your position That's fixed That's determined By God himself Through Christ But there's plenty of room For growth spiritually And that's what we're

[22:46] Committed to do Even while we're here What Joe? What Jesus also did In this parable Was tell us What love is He told us What love is Because the guy The lawyer answered You know Love Little God With all your heart And all your heart And also love Your neighbor Right And then he went on To explain What love is This is how you love A person This is how you love Someone Action Right You do something To help that person What needs he had You don't just say Oh I love you And then walk away You actually do something For that person Unless you do something It's not love Good point Joe I appreciate you making that Because love has been distorted And ruined by Hollywood And romance novels Love that is real love Is not an emotion If not a feeling It may be accompanied

[23:48] By feelings And by emotions And we're all in favor of that I say thank God For emotions It would be a terribly Terribly boring world If we didn't have emotions And feelings And that's They are an integral part Of our being But love Is an act of the will Not an act of emotions And the best definition I've ever heard Of love Is when you Say the thing And do the thing That is in the best interest Of the object of your love That's love And that's also called A sacrificial love Husbands are to love their wives In the same way That Christ loved the church How did he love the church?

[24:37] He loved the church Sacrificially He gave himself For the church So Fellas Any husband That's not willing To live for And give himself For his wife Isn't worthy Of being a husband And yet That too Is very distorted In our culture And if a man If a husband Loves his wife Like he is supposed to Sacrificially That woman Will go to hell And back For that man Because that's the way She responds To his sacrificial love For her And the more He loves her The more she responds And the submission thing Is no big deal She delights In a submissive spirit And she finds protection And safety And comfort In her husband Roger J. Vernon McGee Said put your wife On a pedestal And make her a queen Well Do likewise Yeah

[25:38] Well if you want To live like a king If you want To live like a king Treat your wife Like a queen That's the way It works Joe You know what This lesson here Brings out a point Where I've Learned The hard way You might say The way You get to love Your wife And treat you good You know She does the dishes You know And that's You kind of always As you work She kind of did Those jobs I'm retired now I don't work But if I go Pick up that Drying cloth And help her Do the dishes You cannot believe How she likes that That pleases her Or if I grab The sweeper And sweep the floor And go around And she does that She's always done that Man Do I get rewarded I mean I found that out Oh yeah It fits in so perfect With this right here It does It does Joe Do something To help her To make life easier And she'll love you

[26:39] Yep I mean You know It just This lesson Just brings that out As to that's when She shows the most Love to me Well She's reciprocating Yeah Absolutely Yeah It's something Like it's unexpected By her But when you do it Wow man He must love me You know I don't know what Absolutely I appreciate that And by the way I know I know You guys Have Many of you Maybe all of you Found the same thing You could have You could have Terrific fellowship At the kitchen sink Just give it a try I mean It's amazing What can develop Out of that You know And it's just It's just the milk Of human kindness Attentiveness And just a little bit Of an effort Of trying to take Some of the workload And responsibility Off of her And she responds In like kind With appreciation So it's a beautiful system

[27:40] Yeah Don Take it away From the wife Husband type situation You do something For somebody And say Well how can I repay you Pass it on Yeah Yeah Yeah Absolutely Pass it on Pass it on Other thoughts Anybody I don't want to Okay Well the only The only point That I want to make And this is a very Important point here Is The real Obvious Distinction That exists Between The message That was communicated Prior to Jesus Dying on that cross As opposed to Now And Let's go to Let's go for just a moment To Acts chapter 13 Acts chapter 13 And it's on the very first Missionary journey Of the apostle Paul And I think it Puts in bold relief Exactly what we've been

[28:40] Talking about They're in the synagogue And their audience Of course This is primarily Jews Although there are Some Gentiles There also And I think the text Makes that clear But I want you to notice This is This is 14 to 15 years After Saul of Tarsus Was converted On the Damascus road And he spent some time There in Damascus Immediately after his conversion And he preached in the synagogues There in Damascus Then he spent some time In Arabia And then He became A hot commodity And his fellow Jews And his fellow Jews His fellow Jews With whom he was Earlier associated As Saul of Tarsus Put out a contract And they were going to kill him And his other Jewish brethren

[29:44] Who had already Come to faith in Christ Recognized That the heat was on And they took Saul And put him on a ship And sent him back to Tarsus To get him out of harm's way And he was back in Tarsus His hometown And then A few years later Things broke out In Antioch of Syria And multitudes of Gentiles Were coming to faith In this Jewish Messiah Jesus And the word got around And Barnabas Who had earlier Befriended Saul Said man God raised up Saul of Tarsus To be the apostle To the Gentiles And look at What's happening here In Antioch I gotta go And find Saul And bring him back And years later then He went to Tarsus And found Saul In Cilicia And brought him back To Antioch in Syria

[30:46] And that's where They had a tremendous ministry And then Chapter 13 opens With the brethren Laid hands on Saul And Barnabas And commissioned them To take this gospel message To the Gentiles And to go To the Jew first And also to the Gentiles And they started out On their first missionary journey And in verse 14 Of chapter 13 We read that They arrive at Pisidian Antioch Not to be confused With Syrian Antioch There's two Antiochs With the same name But they're completely different One's in Syria And one's in Pisidian So now they're in Pisidian Antioch And on the Sabbath day They went into the synagogue And sat down And after the reading The prophets and so on The synagogue officials Sent to them Because they were Strangers in town They knew they were From out of town And they went to them As fellow Jews And said Hey glad to meet you guys Thanks for being here In our service today And where are you from And blah blah blah And if you've got anything You'd like to say

[31:46] To the people We'd be glad to hear from you So we are told That Paul He's Saul of Tarsus And he stands up And he begins preaching And it is remarkable And we just don't have time To develop the whole text But I want you to notice He says in verse 35 Of Acts 13 He's coming near the end Of his message And Paul says Therefore he also says In another psalm Thou wilt not allow Thine holy one To undergo decay For David King David Who by the way When Paul said this Had been dead For a thousand years David after he had served The purpose of God In his own generation Fell asleep And was laid among His fathers And underwent decay But he whom God raised Did not undergo decay Therefore Let it be known To you brethren And he's addressing Fellow Jews That through him That is through Jesus

[32:48] Forgiveness of sins Is proclaimed To you And Through him Everyone who believes Is freed From all things From which you could not Be freed through the law Of Moses Wow You talk about A thunderclap Man This had never Been preached Anywhere before Well it had been Preached Obviously In Antioch From which they came But sent them out And commissioned them But these people Never heard this And I could see These Jews sitting there Looking at each other And saying Did you hear What he said What Did you hear What he said He is actually Saying The law Of Moses And observing it

[33:50] Does not Get the job Done Things from which You could not Be freed Through the law Of Moses And now he's Saying you Can be freed Through this man Who was crucified As the Messiah This place Is in an uproar And as you read On through the rest Of the chapter It's creating All kinds of Interest And confusion And opposition Because You know what It sounds like What is the Principal thing That Paul Is going to be Charged with He teaches Against the law Of Moses And he didn't He never did He brought The Moses law Where it Belonged It is Passé When did it Become passé When Jesus Died on that Cross The veil In the temple Was split

[34:51] From top To bottom What was that All about That was that Thick Heavy Embroidered Curtain That stretched All the way Across the width Of the tabernacle That separated The holy place From the most Holy place And the most Holy place Was where the Ark of the covenant Was kept Where God said He would meet With his people So the way To God Was through The sacrifice Through the high priest Who would go in there On the day of atonement Yom Kippur Once a year Not without blood And sprinkle the blood On the altar And sprinkle the blood On the On the place And Israel The nation Got a reprieve For another year Next year They had to do The same thing again Why?

[35:45] Because The blood Of bulls and goats Could not take away sin All it could do Was cover it Was hide it Was cover it But John said Behold The lamb of God That takes away The sin of the world My oh my You see the transition here See what's happening This is dynamite This is cataclysmic stuff And the thing That breaks my heart Is that So many Christians When they read this They don't know What to make of it But they're afraid To say Well that's That's That's not for us Because It's in the Bible Isn't it all for us?

[36:34] We Yeah It is all For us Guys But it's not all To us And people Are reading Someone else's mail Reading mail Addressed To Moses And the Jews Back then And try to make Sense of it today And No wonder People think Well I just I just can't Understand the Bible It's too deep For me It's because There's a little Thing called Rightly Dividing And when Paul Closed out His letter To the Corinthians Well it went In closing He was talking Chapter 13 or 14 He says Giving Giving none Offense To the Jew Or to the Gentile Or to the Church of God Those are the Three great Classes Of humans In the world Today Everybody Belongs to

[37:34] One of those Three You are either A Jew Or a Gentile Or a Member of the Church of God The body Of Christ Those are the Three categories Everybody Belongs to One of the Three And some Of us Most of us Belong to Two If you're a Christian And you're a Gentile You belong to Both of those But if you're a Jew of course You're a Jew But that's Your designation And the Scriptures Are a They are an Expression Of Doctrine That is Developing That is on The move It's not Static And if it Were static Well People And I Have to Confess Guys I'm speaking As one From experience I was among Them I was I was part Of this I didn't See it Either And my

[38:35] Thinking was Well You have to Take the Whole book You believe The whole Book Well it's Not a Question of Believing The whole Book It's a Question of Right division Of separating Things that Are for One group As opposed To another Group Wait Some of You here This morning Are going To be Eating bacon And sausage Don't you Have any Respect for What the Bible says Don't you Know that That is Forbidden That is Unclean Food How do You justify Eating that Bacon How do You justify That Don't you Want to be Obedient to What the Bible says Well Well I Thought that Had changed You're right It has Changed There's A lot Of things That have Changed Fellas The cross Changed Everything Remember that

[39:35] Vision let Down from Heaven That Peter Saw In Acts Chapter 10 And that Great sheet And inside This was a Vision It wasn't a Real thing It was a Vision But inside That great Sheet Was all Kinds of Animals Clean That is Able to Be eaten And Unclean Unable To be Eaten And this Voice Appeared to Peter Says Peter We're told in The text That he was On the Rooftop Up on The roof Of the House Of this House And he Has this Vision And it Was a Flat surface Where they Often went Up And it Was noon And he Was hungry Lunchtime And God Sends this Vision to Him And inside This sheet Was all Manner of Four footed Bees Clean and Unclean And the Vision said Hungry Peter Right Kill the Neat And of

[40:35] Course he's Speaking in A vision Type thing And Peter Said Not so Lord I've never Eaten anything Unclean Not so And this Thing come Down three Times And finally Finally the Lord says in The vision What I Have Cleansed That Call not Thou Unclean Who cleansed It God cleansed It How did he Cleanse it And the Blood of Jesus Christ His son Cleanseth us From all Sin He's not Talking Those animals That's not The picture He's not Talking about Animals He's talking About people The animals Represent People They represent Jews And Gentiles And Peter No sooner Gets through With his Vision And there's A knock At the door Who's at The door Sees guys From Caesarea And

[41:36] Their boss Is Cornelius He's an army Officer In the Roman Army And he Sent these Guys Because God Answered Cornelius Prayer And says You send Men To Joppa Send him Down the Coast Because Caesarea Was way up North And that was Where the Roman Garrison was You send Men down To Joppa And you Find a guy By the name Of Simon And he's Lodging With a man Named Simon The Tanner He stands Hides And he Places Right on The coast You find Him And you Bring Peter Back And when He gets Here he'll Tell you What you Need to Know And these Guys are Knocking at The door And he Says Is your Name Peter He said Yes And he Said well Our boss Sent us To find You And to Bring you Back And Peter Says What And He knew That was

[42:37] Connected With the Vision And Peter Says Well Okay And there Must have Been three Or four Of them And Peter Says But I'm Not going Alone I'm going To take Three or Four of My own Men Fellow Jews And they're Making this Trip all The way All the Way up The coast Or down The coast To To Joppa Where Simon The Tanner Lives And they Get there And Peter Goes in The house And Cornelius Says Man I'm Really glad To see you Thank you So much For coming And Peter Looks around And he Sees Wall to Wall people Inside this House There's a Little congregation Gathered there And Peter Goes Well You know That it Is Unlawful

[43:38] For a Man who Is A Jew To be In the Presence Of Gentiles Like this Peter Peter Was Really Uncomfortable He was Out of His Element And he Doesn't Know what To make Of this And he Says he Saw this Vision And god Was speaking To him And said What he Planned Not to Call Common And Peter Says Tell me What is It That you Want To know And Cornelius Says Well I Was Praying I Was Praying And guess What do you think Cornelius Was praying For He was Already A god Feared See He was A gentile He wasn't A jew He was A gentile But he Was Sympathetic To the Jews And he Had Even Contributed Money To the Jewish Synagogue And he Was On Good Terms With Them And Long Story

[44:39] Short Cornelius Says Well I Was To send For you And you Are to Tell me What it Is That I Need to Know And Cornelius Had to Have been Praying For Information And Peter's Got the Information And Peter Says Well I Tell You I Declare In Matter Of Fact While We're Close By Peter Makes A Statement That Is Really Significant And It's In Peter Cornelius Met him Verse 25 Cornelius Met him Fell At his Feet And Worshipped Him See That Cornelius Is Worshipping Peter But We Know There's Only One Person Who Is Worthy Of Receiving Worship And That's God Himself And

[45:39] Peter Raised Him Up Saying Stand Up Oh Cornelius Is So Glad That He's There He's Down On His Knees Before This Guy And That's Significant Guys For A Roman Army Officer To Be On His Knees Before A Jew Whose Country He Is Occupied As A Conquering Force And Peter Says Stand Up I Too Am Just A Man And As He Talked With Him He Entered And Found Many People Assemble And He Said To Them You Yourselves Know How Unlawful It Is For A Man Meaning Himself Who Is A Jew To Associate With A Foreigner Or To Visit Him And Yet God Has Shown Me That I Should Not Call Any Man Unholy Or Uncle How Did God Show Him That In That Vision The Vision And Peter Is Struggling With This Trying To Put All Of This Together

[46:39] And Make Sense Of It Because Fellas This Is Completely Turned The Page And Peter Is Awstruck He Doesn't Know What's Going On He's So Confused That's Why That She Had To Be Let Down Three Times For Peter To Get The Message And Then He Says I Came Without Even Raising Any Objection When I Was Sent For And So I Asked For What Reason You Have Sent Me Cornelius Said Four Days Ago To This Hour I Was Praying In My House During The Ninth Hour And Behold A Man Stood Before Me In Shining Garments And He Said Cornelius Your Prayer Has Been Heard And Your Alms Have Been Remembered Before God Send Therefore To Joppa And Invite Simon Who Has Called Peter To Come To You He Is Staying At The House Of Simon The Tanner By The Sea And I Sent To You Immediately And You Have Been Kind Enough To Come Now Then We Are All Here Present Before God To Hear All That You Have Been Commanded By The Lord I can See All

[47:39] These People Sitting Around There Lining The Room And They're All Nodding Their Heads Yeah Yeah Boy This Is Really Something We Don't Know What He's Going To Say But Whatever He's Got To Say Is Really Important And We're All Here Waiting On Pins And Needles And They're Excited About It And Opening His Mouth Peter Said I Most Certainly Understand Now That God Is Not One To Show Partiality Now Look At This Verse 35 But In Every Nation The Man Who Fears Him And That Fear Doesn't Mean To Be Afraid Of It Means A God Fearing Man Is Simply A Man Who Gives God His Rightful Position In His Life A God Fearing Individual Isn't Somebody Who Is Scared Of God Although He Had Reason To Be Fearful Thing To Fall Into

[48:39] The Hands Of The Living God But God Is Not There To Scare Us He's There To Comfort Us And To Love Us And To Cherish Us And He Says In Every Nation The Man Who Fears Him And Does What Is Right Is Welcome To Him Well Is That What We Preach Today No No The Great Clarity Of The Message For I Delivered Unto You That Of First Importance Which I Also Received How That Christ Died For Our Sin And That He Was Buried And That He Rose Again The Third Day According To The Scriptures Paul Gave That As The Gospel The Good News In First Corinthians 15 And Not Only That Guys But He Said I Delivered Unto

[49:39] You That Which Was Of First Importance That Means This Comes Before Everything And That Is Christ Died For Your Sin That's The Message And Is That Delivered Here With Any Clarity No No Because It's Still In A Developing Process Joe That's Exactly What Jesus Told That Lawyer See The Same Thing It's All Part Of The Pass You Know Fear Him Which Is God And Do What Is Right In Other Words That's When He Said To The Neighbor You Love Your Neighbor Right And That Means Do Do Do Do It's Work Something Good For Your Neighbor So He's Really Basically Giving The Very Same Message Here To Jesus Gave To That Lawyer Absolutely Absolutely So All I'm Saying Guys Is You

[50:42] Can't Preach Both Of These There Is A Contradiction Now Understand This Nobody Is Saying What Was Preached Back Then Was Wrong No It Wasn't Wrong It Was Right For Then But It's Wrong For Now We're We're Not Going To Tell People Fear God Do The Best You Can Do What's Right Help Your Neighbor Blah Blah Blah You Know What That Is The Message That A lot Of Churches Are Giving And It's All Based On Work Do The Best You Can Be A Good Person Give Money Go To Church Do This Do That And Then Maybe Just Maybe You've Done Enough And You've Been Good Enough There's A Gigantic Question Mark Let Me Ask You Is

[51:43] There Any Peace In A Question Mark Is There Any Joy In A Question Mark No Everything Is Dangling Hanging In The Air You Don't Know Where You Are Have I Believed Enough Have I Done Enough Have I Given Enough And You Never Know But Grace Grace Placed In The Heart Of The Individual And The Righteousness And Salvation That Comes With It Puts You In A No So Position And The World Can't Handle That Because They Think That You're Boasting And You Say I Know I'm Going To Oh You Must Think You're So Good No I Know I'm As Rotten To The Core As Everybody Else But Jesus Christ Died For My Sin And That's Where My Security Is

[52:44] That's The Message The World Needs What Don What You Said Mark If You Were Just Men Not And You Say How Many Are A Christian A Lot Of Hands What's The Interpretation They Were Believing To Be A Christian That's What You're Saying Yeah Yeah Absolutely Absolutely That Probably That's Probably One Of The Most Misunderstood Terms In The World Today Is What Is A Christian And And Boy Let Me Tell You Fellas The World Has Got It Wrong And The Scriptures Have Got It Right What This Has To Your Last Comment Joe What You Will Do Good Though You Will Do Works But You Will Do Works That The Spirit That God Leads You To Do Right God Has The Good Things He Wants You To Do You Don't Choose Them If That's You Doing Them Right God Will Present

[53:44] And Have Circumstances Come To Face You That He Wants You To Do Good Works And That's What He Wants You To Do But God Will Tell You And Nobody Is Saying That Works Are Not Important Because They Are But We Are Saved By Grace Through Faith Unto Unto Good Works Not In Order Not Because Of Our Good Works But We Are Saved Unto Good And After You Become A Believer In Christ You Better Believe It's Important What You Do Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of Of And Rewards Whatever They May Be Involving And Are Going To Come Into Play As Well At The Award Throne Of Christ So Hey Guys Thanks For Be Here This Morning And Thanks For Joining With Us Appreciate It