Lessons From Acts – Lesson 15
Act 11:1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
News travels fast. People have always loved to gossip and spread news. And news of what happened about Gentiles getting saved makes it to Jerusalem in short order. It was shocking to some.
But this news should not have been a surprise. In fact it should have been expected and they should have looked forward to it.
Isa_11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
The root of Jesse is speaking of the coming Jesus. And God says thru Isaiah that the Gentiles shall seek Jesus. This was foretold.
The Jews were always to be a light of God’s truth and get that truth to others.
Isa_42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa_49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Isaiah wrote this of course before the captivity and He promises to restore Israel and after that restoration of those that were preserved thru the captivity, Israel is to be a light to the Gentiles.
Instead they separated from the Gentiles and thought of them as unclean and made laws that they could not even eat with them. But God’s plan was that they mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. That is clearly talking about everyone.
God even told them that His name would be great among the Gentiles.
Mal_1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
Israel was supposed to teach God’s word and share it and help others come and worship the true God.
And some got that in the past and it was recorded as scripture.
2Sa_22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
1Ch_16:24 Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
And God plainly says in Isaiah 56 that He accepts the stranger and that His house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isa 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
And Jesus when speaking to Jews clearly said other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.
This fold is the Jews who He is speaking to.
Joh_10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
That is not every verse or mention about this subject. God made it clear. They were not to keep His truth to themselves. They were not to get prideful and racist and separate from all those who are not Jews.
And God gave prophecy that Gentiles would come to Him. So this first group of gentiles that come to God and got saved should not have surprised or upset anyone.
But sad to say it did.
Act 11:2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
It is obvious to me that Peter accepted the truth that God was turning to the Gentiles, after they were saved and Peter baptized them, then they asked Peter to stay and he did and when it came dinner or breakfast Peter ate what they ate and with them.
And when Peter gets back the Jewish leaders contend with him. They confronted him and charged him with two things. 1st going to see gentiles and 2nd then eating with them.
Peter then gives his answer.
Act 11:4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
Act 11:5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
Act 11:6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 11:7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
Act 11:8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
Act 11:9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 11:10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
Act 11:11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
Act 11:12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:
Here we get a new piece of information. Peter was accompanied by 6 other Jews. So this event was witnessed by 7 Jews. The 6 plus Peter is 7. The number 7 in the Bible is God’s number for perfect or complete. God created and on the 7th day everything was complete and God declared it all very Good. God rested the 7th day. Everything was completed and perfectly created.
It is interesting to me that the start of the turning to the Gentiles was witnessed by 7 witnesses. Speaking of being completely and perfectly witnessed.
Act 11:13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
Act 11:14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
I already mentioned this last week. Peter mentions it here. God gave them the like gift of the Holy Ghost for believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when Peter saw that, he got it. The light bulb went off so to speak and Peter acknowledged that this is God’s doing and His almighty perfect will. And Peter says what was I that I could withstand God.
I applaud that. We sure need more of that in this world. I am talking specifically about people seeing what God’s will is and instead of fighting against it, saying what was I that I can withstand God.
Today we have God’s completed word. And it has truth after truth for us. His will is revealed. Love thy neighbor as thyself for example. And thou shalt not kill, or steal, or lie. Stop for just a moment and think what our society would be like if people just acknowledged those 4 things and quit fighting God on just those 4.
Wow. It is hard to fathom. The changes would be huge.
Or how about if churches read their Bible and found out that His will is that we seek and save that which was lost. And if they would find out that His will is to go and teach and get His word out. And if they would say, what are we that we withstand God.
We are getting into the horse blinders principal. What is that? It describes man’s ability to see what he wants to see and his ability to control what he looks at. One example is what we see here.
The Jews had every one of those scriptures that we read earlier. They had all the prophecies of Gentiles getting saved and they had all the instructions in scripture about how they were to be a light to the gentiles.
But they decieded to put on the horse blinders to those scriptures. O’ they would copy all those verses when they made copies of scriptures. They would acknowledge that they are the Word of God.
But they are not going to look at them or consider them. Not really. Not to the point that it would affect the way they think or their actions. People do this all the time and it can be with so many different truths of the Bible. It basically is whatever that person or group does not like or want to do.
And when someone or a group puts on the horse blinders to something, they have an amazing way of fooling themselves that they are correct and in good standing with God and absolutely in His will.
Those that contended with Peter had horse blinders on and thought they were right and Peter was wrong. Their scriptures said different but they have horse blinders on to those.
Now they are confronted with their error. Peter was confronted and he took the journey.
I think we all here understand that there are different levels of taking the journey. Some see the truth and they will act upon it. Peter did. He gave them the gospel and then acted and baptized them and stayed a little while and taught them.
Peter admitted he was wrong and changed direction. Not everyone will really change direction. Not totally. Some will admit their wrong because of the situation. But later might be a different story.
Some will even be ok with it and still admit they were wrong years later. However, they will not go beyond that. Some people will admit their error and not attack that truth ever again. But going out of their way to actively support it. Nope. Be genuinely excited about it. Nope.
Get involved to support this new truth and live it and share it. Nope. Some people are like that.
So God has now started the turning to the Gentiles and this gets different levels of support. It is not one of those things where there are only two positions or only two reactions.
It is not one group enthusiastic about it and all in, and another group fighting it. It is not like that. There are going to be people at different levels between those two positions.
Act 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
They held their piece. That is not someone who is enthusiastic about this truth. Holding your piece means you just shut up. You quit arguing. You admit the truth, but you are not excited about it. You hold your piece.
And they admit that God has now also granted salvation to the Gentiles. And they do give God glory.
Are they going to make a plan to get the Gospel to as many Gentiles as possible? No. Are they going to send out great numbers of missionaries to the Gentiles. No.
They admit they were wrong and they admit the truth but they are not going to get busy and do God’s will in this area. People still do this kind of thing. We could find many examples where churches and Christians admit an important truth but do hardly anything about it.
The next verse is about those who scattered before God had started turning to the Gentiles.
Act 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
Preaching only to Jews. They all were infected with that same wrong attitude. A wrong attitude can spread like an infection. The peer pressure of a group is powerful. It is a sad truth that peer pressure often wins over truth.
So it is God’s clear will that Gentiles need to be reached with the Gospel, but it does not look good as far as getting this done. Peter has taken the journey but the rest of the Bible shows that Peter does not become a preacher to the Gentiles.
James and all his people are not going to do it. We are told that those who left because of persecution are only preaching to Jews.
So how is God going to get this done?
It looks overwhelmingly difficult but not for God. He just does one simple thing. Don’t misunderstand. Something so hard that it is impossible for us, but for God it is simple.
What does He do? He moves in the hearts of just a few.
Act 11:20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
Act 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
God moved their hearts about it and they started preaching to Gentiles. And did you catch it. The hand of the Lord was with them. God is blessing it by opening eyes and burdening hearts. That is something that He must do.
And a great number get saved. They turn from their sin and turn to the Lord.
Of course news get back to Jerusalem where the blessings of large numbers getting saved has stopped. And they want to know what is going on.
And so they send one man up there to size up the situation. They don’t send a team of soul winners to help and they don’t get busy writing extra copies of the gospel to take up there. They send one man to check it out.
But I see God intervening here in their choice. Instead of choosing a run of the mill man who has no independent thought they send a man who was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost. A man full of faith who is walking close to God. A man who is sensitive and obedient to the Holy Spirit speaking in that still small voice in his heart.
God worked so that they would send Barnabas.
Act 11:22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
Act 11:23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
Do you see the difference? The group who contended with Paul just held their piece. Barnabas saw gentiles getting saved and was glad. He was excited and we see here he got involved.
He started preaching and teaching them. He exhorted them that they should cleave unto the Lord with purpose of heart.
Barnabas is going to take this journey all the way. He is going to be all in.
Act 11:24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
There is going to be no horse blinders for Barnabas on this issue. And God is going to use that in a huge way. Because this man is listening to God’s leading, God will use him to do something that changes the lives of literally millions of people thru the centuries.
We need to learn from all of this. Specifically we need to recognize that the horse blinder issue is real and actually fairly common.
And since it can and does affect even great men like Peter and the other apostles, then should we ever think that we are immune?
No. We need to always be sensitive to what the Word of God says and we need to put the Word of God above our feelings or tradition and especially we should always put the Word of God above culture or peer pressure.
And we need to learn from the example of Barnabas and we also need to be sensitive to what God wants us to do.