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[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] Thank you.

[1:00] And so now we're going to pick up here in Acts chapter 10. So if you are able to stand, would you please do so as this evening we stand as we honor the reading of God's word.

[1:10] Luke is writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writing for us the Acts of the Apostles, God's redemptive work as it is expanding to the nations.

[1:22] And in chapter 10 verse 1, Luke says that at Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Corda, devoted man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God.

[1:42] About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius. And he stared at him in terror and said, what is it, Lord?

[1:55] And he said to him, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who's called Peter.

[2:05] Peter, he's lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him.

[2:18] And having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

[2:29] And he became hungry and wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing, he fell into a trance. He saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.

[2:44] In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.

[3:00] And the voice came to him again a second time. What God has made clean, do not call common. This happened three times. It takes Peter three times, right, by the way.

[3:14] And the thing was taken up at once to heaven. This is God's word. Pray with me. Lord, thank you for this opportunity to study your word.

[3:24] And every single word of it is inspired by you for our edification and learning. And so we pray tonight that you would speak to us. Lord, you know why we're here.

[3:37] And you know what you want to say to us. So give us ears to hear. Focus on what you are going to say to us this evening. And I pray it in Jesus' name.

[3:48] God's people said. Amen. You can be seated. The statement that I'm about to make is going to reveal how old I am. I remember Blockbuster Video.

[4:02] Now, for those of you who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, back in the Old Testament times, if you wanted to rent a movie, you actually had to get on a camel. They didn't have Uber back then.

[4:14] And you would have to go to an actual store. And you would have to pick up a video from the shelf. And I know this is hard to believe, but sometimes it wasn't in stock.

[4:28] And do you know what that meant? You're not going to believe this. What that meant is you couldn't watch the movie that night. It was a dry and weary land when there was no iTunes.

[4:39] Back in 2004, Blockbuster was the big name in entertainment until along came a company that offered the same entertainment experience from the comfort of your own home.

[4:53] Only, you didn't have to drive to the store to pick up a video. They would actually mail it to you. And you could keep it as long as you wanted without any late fees.

[5:06] And whenever you were finished watching the movie or the movies, you just mail it back. And then this company started offering streaming services. It's a company, I bet almost all of you have heard of it, known as Netflix.

[5:21] Exactly right. Netflix today is a $96 billion company with 223 million subscribers.

[5:31] Blockbuster is nowhere to be found. There was like one store up in Alaska, and I think even that has closed now.

[5:42] Why? What happened? Back in 2006, 2007 range, Netflix was struggling. It actually approached Blockbuster to see if they would buy them out, but Blockbuster refused.

[5:57] Within 18 months, Blockbuster would lose 85% of its value, and within two years would be bankrupt. The reason? Lean in.

[6:08] Blockbuster was unwilling to change. They were unwilling to adapt to a new way of doing entertainment. They were stuck in the old system, and their unwillingness to change caused them to become completely irrelevant in the entertainment industry.

[6:29] And of course, there are so many examples like that in history that we could give. Here's just a few. Ken Olson, who was the president of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1977, says this, There is no reason anyone will ever have a computer in their home.

[6:47] Western Union memo of 1876 said, The telephone has way too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.

[6:58] The device has no value at all. Decca Recording Company said this of the Beatles, We don't like their sound, and in addition to that, guitar music is on its way out.

[7:12] The president of Michigan Savings Bank in 1903 was encouraged not to invest in Ford Motor Company because, quote, here it is, The horse is here to stay.

[7:26] The automobile is only a novelty. Daryl Zanuck in 1976 said this, The television won't be able to hold any market value after six months because people are going to get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.

[7:46] And yet that's pretty much all people do. Last one, Charles Duell, this is my favorite. It was the commissioner of U.S. Office of Patents in 1899 said this, Quote, Everything that can be invented has now been invented.

[8:03] That is called insane, right? My point is this, Faith Family, there's a lot of businesses, a lot of industries, and a lot of people that struggle with change.

[8:14] They struggle adapting to something that's new. And I wonder, how about you? Are you the kind of person that struggles with change?

[8:25] You don't have to confess out loud. But are you the type of person that struggles with change? I bet you there's some area in your life where you struggle with that, right? Maybe you've stayed in a relationship because that's just simply all you've ever known.

[8:38] Maybe you've only lived in one part of the country because that's kind of your comfort zone. You don't like to branch out. Maybe you resist technology like anything that new comes along.

[8:49] You don't want to have anything. To do with it. There are probably some of you that are still wearing the same socks you bought in 2010. And if that's you, the Lord has a word for you tonight.

[9:05] It's gross. It's really, really gross. And the Lord just wants me to tell you to buy some new socks. And your spouse says, Amen.

[9:16] All right? The point is, all of us in one way or another can struggle with change. It's funny watching some of you, but he's talking to you, right? And at the same time, all of us know how important it is to adapt to something new.

[9:33] That is exactly what is happening here in Acts chapter 10. I mean, for years, for hundreds of years, God's redemptive story has been under the old covenant.

[9:47] And the people who relate to God do so through the law. It is a very transactional relationship. It's through the rules and laws that God has given. And the people of God are almost exclusively Jewish.

[10:02] But now, as we've been seeing in the book of Acts, you have a new reality that has come in, a new covenant that has been inaugurated. The mission of Christ is moving forward.

[10:13] And as it advances, as it moves forward, it rubs up against old ways of thinking. It rubs up against old systems. God is bringing something new.

[10:25] And here in Acts chapter 10, there are two men who are going to be transferred into an entirely different reality.

[10:36] They are going to leave behind the old and embrace the change that comes with the mission of God. Look at Acts chapter 10 and verse 9.

[10:49] Acts chapter 10, verse 9 says, The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. He was hungry, wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance.

[11:05] And he saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. And in it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

[11:17] The first thing we see here is a new acceptance in this mission, a brand new acceptance in the mission of Christ. Peter's been sharing Jesus. He's been experiencing miracles.

[11:29] You see that at the end of Acts chapter 9. He's tired. He's hungry. He goes up onto a housetop and he starts to pray. And as he's praying, he falls asleep.

[11:43] You thought you were the only one, right? Even Peter fell asleep while he was praying. And as he falls asleep, he has this dream. And this dream is like this large sheet stretching from the four corners of the earth and it's full of animals.

[11:59] And what happens next, like get what's going on here for Peter, what happens next is unthinkable. It is way outside his paradigm.

[12:10] It is outside everything he knows. Look at verse 13. Verse 13 says this. Now listen, where I come from back in Tennessee, there's no greater verse in the Bible, except maybe John 3.16, than this one.

[12:35] Rise, kill, and eat? That is not a verse this old southern boy struggles to obey. Forgive as you've been forgiven? I struggle with that one.

[12:47] Rise, kill, and eat? Here am I, Lord. Send me. Every time. But Peter refuses. Look at what he says. This is his response in verse 14. The first part, he says, By no means, Lord, for I have never, by no means, Lord.

[13:02] So his resistance is, I'm not going to do that. Like, I know you've told me to eat this and I'm not going to eat it. Is he like some type of vegan slash communist? That's a joke.

[13:14] That is just a joke. I'm teasing, so far as you know. Does he just think it's like gross? Like, what's Peter's issue here? Why is he not eating? And all of us, at some point, have been asked to eat something we don't like or something that we found gross.

[13:29] I will never, ever, ever, ever forget my first mission trip to China when I was hanging out with some teachers in a school being served things that I had absolutely no idea what it was.

[13:40] I had already walked through the markets and been like, really? They serve that and they sell that and I was already a little freaked out here and so I'm having lunch and they're serving me all these kinds of things.

[13:52] I don't know what they are and then I look down and in my soup is an eyeball looking back at me. And it was one of those moments where you're like, I'd say a prayer but I don't want to wake it.

[14:05] You know? And so, I just kind of buried it in my soup and just kept going on. I mean, all of us have been in those kind of situations where it's like, this is really gross. I don't really want to eat this.

[14:16] I don't even know what it was. Is that what's happening here? Of course not. Peter's not rejecting this because he thinks it's gross or he's some kind of picky eater.

[14:27] He's refusing it because according to the Mosaic Law, sorry, Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, these foods are unclaimed. Look at the rest of the response that Peter gives here in verse 14.

[14:40] By no means, Lord, and here's the reason why, for I have never eaten. This is outside my paradigm. The system I come from doesn't eat anything like this.

[14:53] Something that is common or unclean. In other words, Peter has a norm. He has a system he's been living in and it is being challenged.

[15:05] God had given the people of Israel specific dietary laws that set them apart from all the other nations. And in that sense, Peter's response is the right response.

[15:18] Do you remember in the book of Daniel when Daniel refuses to eat what the king asked him to eat because he's only going to eat what God allows and won't eat what God has forbidden?

[15:30] You remember that. Well, that was right in the book of Daniel. Why is it not right here? Because something new has come. Because the old has passed and the mission of Christ has brought about something new.

[15:48] Think about it this way. Imagine a parent and a child crossing a busy street. Traffic is coming and the parent looks at the child and says, don't cross.

[16:00] The command is given not to cross. But once the traffic clears, the parent gives a different command. Cross. Now let me ask you this question you can answer back.

[16:11] Is that a contradiction? Is it a contradiction to at one point say, don't cross and then in the next moment say, cross? No, it's not a contradiction at all because in one moment the right command was, don't cross.

[16:27] But then once the reality and situation had changed, a different command is given. Something new has passed through.

[16:40] Peter understands that Jesus has fulfilled the Old Testament promises. We know that because of how Peter preaches in the book of Acts. I did a sermon earlier in this series just on one of Peter's sermons where he preaches Christ.

[16:57] He understands that Jesus is the fulfillment. He is the yes and amen of the promises of God in the Old Testament. What Peter has failed to understand is that Jesus not only fulfills the Old Testament promises, he fulfills the Old Testament ceremonial laws.

[17:15] If I'm going a bit too deep for some of you, I'm going to tell you what I mean here in just a moment. These laws in the Old Testament that is, you're not allowed to eat this and you are allowed to eat that and you can't have this on your skin or you've got to keep your beard this length and you can wear that but you can't wear this.

[17:35] Have you ever read Leviticus? You know the part that you just kind of get two chapters in and then you skip? You're like, I'm going to jump to the Gospel of John or something. You know how you do that because you read a lot of those rules and you're just like, none of this makes any sense.

[17:49] Well, why did God give all those ceremonial laws? Answer, to keep Israel different. To separate her from all the other nations. To be different than Assyria or Babylon.

[18:02] It's why again in the context of Daniel when the king says, you're going to eat like a Babylonian. Daniel says, no I'm not. I eat the way God has called me to eat because these laws set me apart.

[18:17] And what Peter doesn't understand yet, but he's about to, is that Jesus fulfills those as well. Here's the simple point that I'm getting at. I hope this will make sense.

[18:28] Notice it on the screen. Peter, what sets you apart now is not the rules you keep, it's the person you follow. Keep that on the screen for a moment. What keeps you, what makes you separate, what makes you different, what makes you peculiar, is no longer the laws you keep.

[18:46] That's Old Testament. It is now the person you follow. That is what, that's the new thing God is teaching Peter in this rise, kill, and eat.

[18:59] Now you're probably wondering, really, are God and Peter having a food fight? I mean, is really that important to argue about food? Listen, God is preparing Peter for something new.

[19:11] Verse 17. While Peter was inwardly perplexed, as you can imagine, this goes against everything he knew, as to what the vision that he had seen meant, behold, there were men who were sent by Cornelius having made inquiry at Simon's house and they stood at the gate.

[19:32] And they called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, behold, three men are looking for you. Rise.

[19:43] Are you paying attention? Rise. Has Peter ever been told that before? Rise. Rise. Not kill and eat, but rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation for I have sent them.

[20:00] Are you seeing that in the text? Notice it on the screen. The rise, kill and eat is setting him up for the rise, go down and receive. Somebody just say, preach, preacher.

[20:13] Rise, kill and eat is just getting you ready for the rise, go down and greet. This is what God is preparing Peter for.

[20:24] And who is at the door? Gentiles. Those people.

[20:36] You see, faith family, the issue here is not those foods. It's those people that eat those foods. Doesn't, God is not concerned here about bacon as awesome as bacon is.

[20:53] And God's people said, amen. That's the loudest amen faith family has ever given. That is quite telling. That the issue here isn't the food.

[21:04] It's the people at the door. When God says, take up and eat, he's not giving Peter a better breakfast menu. He's, listen, he's preparing him for the removal of a 1400 year barrier.

[21:22] Let me say it again. He's not giving Peter a better breakfast menu. Hey, now you get to go to Taco Bell. Sweet. He's preparing Peter for the removal of a 1400 year racial barrier.

[21:38] And Peter does something. the day before he never could have imagined himself doing. At least not to the degree he's doing it now. Verse 23. So he invited them in to be his guests.

[21:57] The good thing is if you've been around faith family for very long, like when we've gone through parts of the gospels and we've talked about what it means in the ancient Near East to dine with someone, how hospitality is identifying yourself with someone.

[22:18] It's so much more than just sharing a cup of coffee. You are receiving this person. And an ancient Near Eastern Jew here would read this and say that is absolutely insane.

[22:30] You do not associate with people like that, much less invite them in, much less show them hospitality, much less let them stay the night. Peter realizes there's a new acceptance in this mission of Christ.

[22:46] Do you want to know who is now accepted in the kingdom of God? Everyone. Everyone. everyone can now enter in and Peter realizes the new has come.

[23:04] Notice it on the screen. When your life is on mission with God, you're going to end up with people and you're going to end up in places and you're going to end up doing things that at one point in your life it would have seemed unthinkable.

[23:17] And some of you can amen that. Some of you are doing that right now. Where God broke down that old system that you were living in and brought you into something new.

[23:31] Peter hears what he never thought he'd hear. He does what he never thought he'd do and it's because that's what happens on the mission of God. Let me ask you this.

[23:42] And I'm asking you this question. What does rise up and go look like for you? What is this new acceptance that the mission of Jesus is all about look like in your life?

[23:56] I'll give you just a few examples that maybe will hit you. It might mean being friendly to someone who has a different political point of view as you. It might mean adopting a child of a different race.

[24:11] It might mean living in a neighborhood that no one else wants to live in. It might be because I've experienced this a lot in ministry. In fact, I referenced earlier a mission trip to China.

[24:23] I've actually had people come up to me and say, I don't believe, not from Faith Family, I don't believe that we should do a mission trip to China because China is not in good relationships with the U.S.

[24:34] people. I really, really, really, really wanted to slap them as though the Chinese that have never heard the gospel don't deserve to hear the gospel, as though the mission of God is now somehow only for people who align with America.

[24:56] Oh, my dear friend, you're a part of the wrong kingdom. You are a part of the wrong kingdom. This doesn't have anything to do with political relations around the world.

[25:06] This has to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ that must go to the ends of the earth. This is the new mission that God has called us to. So maybe it's to go on a mission trip to a country that has a bad history with America.

[25:20] Maybe it's just simply this, forgive as you have been forgiven. Whatever it is, right now it feels unthinkable because in your old system, you've never operated that way, you don't act that way towards that group of people, you see them as different, but once you become a part of the mission of Christ, you realize there is a new acceptance here, namely, the gospel of grace for everyone, everywhere.

[25:53] Peter's not the only one here that's going to experience a whole new reality, a paradigm change, a life that's going to enter into something brand new, but another man does as well.

[26:04] Let's pick it up in chapter 10, verse 1. At Caesarea, there's a man named Cornelius. He's a centurion who's known in the Italian court. He's a devout man who feared God with all of his household, gives alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

[26:20] And about the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius, and he stared at him in terror and said, who is it, Lord, or what is it, Lord? And he said to him, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

[26:34] And he sent men to Joppa and brought one Simon who is called Peter. So now we see not only this new acceptance that is happening in Peter's life, he's now accepting Gentiles, we see a new access that comes as a result of this mission of Christ, and it happens in Cornelius' life.

[26:54] Luke tells us here that Cornelius is a really, really good man. He lays out a bit of his resume in verses one through three. He tells us, for instance, he's a military man, which would have meant he was of good reputation in this community.

[27:08] He's a devout man, very pious and committed, very serious. He's God-fearing, that is, he's monotheistic, and I'll explain that in more of just a moment. He's a family man, he's led his family.

[27:20] He's a generous man, he gives alms, and he does so graciously. He's a praying man, he prayed when the Jews prayed. That is, he prayed to Yahweh.

[27:32] He prayed to the God of Judaism. That's a pretty good resume if you ask me. I mean, if I brought this into today's world, it would look like this. Here is a man who's very patriotic, he believes that God exists, he loves his family, he's church-going, he's generous, and he's known as a man of prayer.

[27:54] Sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it? But, and we've seen this in other occasions in the book of Acts, you can be all those things and not be in relationship with God.

[28:04] Amen? Because listen, during this time you had three kinds of people lean in and hear this. You had Jews who were the covenant people of God that followed the Old Testament.

[28:15] You had pagans who worshipped false gods. And then you had a group known as the proselytes, or they'd be called the God-fearers. It's why Luke says that Cornelius feared God.

[28:28] These were Gentiles who had adopted Judaism. That is, Cornelius belongs to this group. He's a Gentile who honors the God of Judaism, the God of the Old Testament, and he tries to live by those moral standards.

[28:44] That's the kind of person who will spend eternity separated with God without Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis, I think, makes a really helpful insight as we think about this in terms of Cornelius.

[29:00] Here's what C.S. Lewis writes. Quote, A world of nice people content in their niceness and looking no further, that is beyond their niceness, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world and might even be more difficult to save.

[29:22] Oh, this is so true. For mere improvement is not redemption. Mere improvement is not redemption.

[29:32] Though redemption always improves people. God became a man to turn creatures into sons, not simply to produce better men of the old kind, but to produce a new kind of man.

[29:49] It's not like teaching a horse to jump better, but like turning a horse into a winged creature. You become something new.

[30:05] And that's what happens to Cornelius. He has a dream about Peter. He sends men to get Peter. He hears the gospel from Peter. And something unbelievable and unthinkable happens in Cornelius' life.

[30:22] Look at chapter 10, verse 44. Notice it here on the screen. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

[30:33] Look at verse 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. Look on into chapter 11, verse 18.

[30:46] It says, When they heard these things, they all fell silent and they glorified God saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

[31:00] Oh, I'm excited just thinking about it here, faith family. Cornelius and the other Gentiles go from devoted to religion to born again.

[31:11] From good people to saved people. From I can do the best I can to now I get to draw near to God. Because if you know anything about the proselytes, the Gentiles who had adopted Judaism, you're not allowed to go as far as the Jew can go.

[31:30] You're another layer out. But now Cornelius experiences something unthinkable. You ready? Brand new life in Jesus Christ.

[31:44] Cornelius on this day receives access to God just like a Jew. The old system has been destroyed and Jesus has brought in the new covenant covenant.

[32:02] And now everyone everywhere just like Cornelius can enter in. Does that do you rejoice in that faith family?

[32:14] Is that good news to you? Oh, here's what I would ask you to do this evening. Here's the first kind of application is to rejoice in your unthinkable salvation. Your story is like Cornelius' story.

[32:27] You don't have rights to access God except that which Christ has done for you. Stop and think how unthinkable. Like, listen, we just kind of walk in church tonight like it's just old news.

[32:43] I mean, did anybody walk in here tonight, myself included, like, I can't believe that I get to worship God. I can't believe it.

[32:56] I can't believe it. They should lock the doors and say, you're not allowed in. But Christ has torn the veil and I get to draw near.

[33:07] Oh, rejoice. Rejoice in the unthinkable salvation that you have been given in Jesus. Now, listen, as most of you know, I run around with some really strange and weird people.

[33:20] I mean, some really messed up, strange people in life. It's just the ministry that the Lord has called me to and the missions for everybody.

[33:31] Amen? And on occasion, this friend that I have has allowed me into his domain and given me access to come down on the field at the Vikings game.

[33:47] And I'm not saying, most of you know Paul, you know he's a part of faith family here. I'm not saying this as any type of name dropping. Here's the illustration. And I hope that it will hit you. I don't have a right to be on the field.

[34:02] If I walk onto the field on my own, security drags me off. I don't have a right to be there. But because of a relationship, I've been given access somewhere I don't belong.

[34:21] Faith family, that's what's happened to Cornelius, and that's what's happened to us in the person of Jesus Christ. You don't have a right to come before the throne of God. Who do you think you are?

[34:34] What gives you the right to just walk in and worship holy God? Security doesn't drag you off, you die. But the book of Hebrew says, we can with confidence we can with confidence and boldness draw near to God because of our great high priest that has given us access to a place we don't belong, but now we belong because of the grace of God.

[35:07] Like, think about how unthinkable your salvation is. Oh, that it would be afresh and anew this access you have to worship.

[35:20] It's a new reality that Cornelius experiences. The old way was I can only go so far. The new way and the change that he embraces is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[35:34] And the second thing I would say is this, to some of you I would plead with you to receive this unthinkable salvation. You're here and you're like, man, that salvation sounds awesome, but you don't know what I've done and you don't know what's in my past and you don't know what happened last night and you don't know what happened this morning and you don't know anything.

[35:53] Listen, but I know this, I know that the grace of God is for everyone everywhere. And if tonight you would turn and put your faith in Jesus Christ, like Cornelius, you can receive the salvation of God.

[36:12] God, and I pray, I pray that tonight would be that night. Are you seeing the change? Are you seeing the newness? Peter learns the lesson of a new acceptance.

[36:24] Your old way was you don't eat that and you don't associate with those people. The new way is rise and eat and rise, go and receive them.

[36:36] They're about to be your brother. other. And then there's the change in Cornelius' life of being a very devout religious man who now experiences the salvation of God.

[36:48] There's one last thing I'm going to point out and then I'm done. Look at verse 44. Chapter 10 verse 44. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word and the believers from among the circumcised had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit, I love how Luke puts this, was poured out even on the Gentiles.

[37:15] Even those Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. Like even Luke's like can't believe the Gentiles received the Spirit. Here's the point I'm trying to make is there's a new assignment of the mission.

[37:28] The new assignment of the mission. The same Spirit that came upon the Jews in Acts chapter 2 comes on the Gentiles now here in Acts chapter 10 and it is unthinkable.

[37:39] If you know your Bibles, if you know redemptive history, as I referenced earlier, you have a 1400 year barrier. It has been Jewish that entire time all the way back from Genesis 12 till now.

[37:53] There's been a few Gentile believers sprinkled along the way but most of it is Israel and only Israel. But because of Jesus, Jew and Gentile are now one.

[38:05] And that ought to amaze us. It is unthinkable. This is the new family to which we belong. But it shouldn't surprise us.

[38:16] After all, Jesus has already told us, go and make disciples of the Jewish nation. No. Go and make disciples of all nations.

[38:26] How did the book of Acts start? You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Peter can say this. Look at chapter 10 verse 34. So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly, I understand that God shows no partiality.

[38:42] What good news. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. There is no partiality with God.

[38:55] the mission goes from cultural isolation to global inclusion. And the implications are more, quite honestly, than we have time for, but I am at least going to make a statement.

[39:08] And the statement is this. A church or a Christian that does not have a global view of God's mission does not understand the mission of Jesus.

[39:21] I'm going to say it again. A Christian or a church that does not have a global view of God's mission doesn't understand the mission of Jesus. I've heard so many people say, we just have so many needs here in America.

[39:34] That's true. But you know what I'm thankful? I'm so thankful the apostles didn't say this. You know, we have a lot of needs just here in Jerusalem.

[39:47] They took it to Samaria and Judea and the ends of the earth. And these men and women gave their life so that you could sit in this place tonight on a Saturday night in Minnesota.

[40:06] Talk about the unthinkable mission of God. Who would include these people? It gets worse. People from Tennessee. In other words, you're here because these men and women didn't take the attitude that, well, we have enough issues here.

[40:26] They had a global picture of the mission of God. Do you know why? Because there's going to be something beautiful in the final throne of God when there are people from Jerusalem and there are people from Samaria and there are people from Judea and there are people from Minnesota and there are people from Tennessee.

[40:46] There'll be just a few. And there are people from all around the world gathered at the throne saying, he is worthy. That's where this mission's going.

[40:59] And we will go to the ends of the earth until that day comes. Amen? That is the new work of God. This new assignment, which is not now just Jerusalem, it is to the ends of the earth.

[41:14] I'll just give you these three things and then I really am done. Why this global focus is so important, number one, it's at the heart of the gospel. I say that because Jesus is Lord of all. He's not Lord of the Jews.

[41:27] He's not Lord of the Gentiles. He's Lord of everyone. He is Savior of all. Two, it's the witness of the gospel. Paul will tell us that what shows us the power of the gospel is how it saves Jew and Gentile.

[41:42] We know the gospel is powerful because it saves anybody and everybody. There is no one outside the power of the gospel. And then thirdly, it's the commission of the gospel.

[41:55] Acts 1-8, ends of the earth. Acts 2, they speak in different languages. Acts 8, Samaria and Ethiopia. Acts 10, Jews and Gentiles. In other words, all throughout the scriptures, it is clear this is going to the nations.

[42:14] Acts chapter 10, faith family, is all about change. Change in acceptance towards other people that aren't like us. Change in our access towards God, we can now draw near.

[42:29] Change in our assignment of the mission. It is now not just here, it is everywhere. And as difficult as change can be, as hard as it can be to adapt to new things, we know that change is at the heart of the gospel.

[42:46] Because why did Jesus come to earth and live the perfect, obedient life? Why did he do that? Why did Jesus endure the pain and suffering of this world?

[43:01] Why did Jesus joyfully go to the cross for your sins? Here is the answer. so that our lives would never be the same.

[43:15] Jesus did all of that to change us forever. Faith family, if you aren't willing to accept change, you're not willing to accept Christ.

[43:28] For Christ not only wants to change you now, he promises that one day he's going to change you forever. I close with this.

[43:40] 1 Corinthians 15, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

[44:02] And all God's people said, amen. Pray with me. Pray with me. Lord, Lord, thank you. Thank you for what you taught us tonight from your word.

[44:12] I trust that there are plenty of things from your word this evening that you have convicted us about, that you have put on our hearts and minds. Maybe it's a relationship.

[44:25] That as it relates to this acceptance, because they're not like us, or they don't talk like us, or they're not from here, or they have a different political view, whatever it is.

[44:37] I pray, Lord, that that acceptance of the gospel, just as Peter did with Cornelius and other Gentiles, Lord, that you would lay those on our minds as well.

[44:50] Maybe there's somebody here like Cornelius that has never trusted Jesus and never been given access to salvation because they've been religious, they've been a good person, maybe they've just made lots of mistakes in life and they think they're outside your grace.

[45:10] What we see tonight from your word is that everyone everywhere who responds by faith will be given access to God's grace. And then for all of us, Lord, give us new eyes, give us new eyes as we look upon the world and go about this mission each and every day to workplaces wherever we go or give us the eyes of the mission to see who you've called us to.

[45:40] Lord, we thank you for the change of salvation and the fact that you came so that we would no longer be the same. And we celebrate that now as we enter into a time of remembrance and communion and remember what you did to change our lives forever.

[45:59]  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.