Pete's Reviews and Sermons: Obeying Jesus's Commands

Preached at Christ church, Billericay, 5 May 2024

Readings: Acts 10v44-48; John 15v9-17

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TJUEYWakkU from 20:00 to 35:50

Introduction

Last week we looked at the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, a man who was excluded from worshipping in the temple. We saw how easily Philip follows the Holy Spirit's instruction to speak to the Ethiopian. The Ethiopian was baptized and went on his way, rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. This week, we see Peter speak to a household that is most definitely excluded from everything Jewish, and people that the Jews are not allowed to associate with.

Peter’s Struggles

This was a struggle for Peter, and today we have only heard the outcome. This short passage is sometimes known as the ‘Pentecost of the Gentiles’ because it is the first time that the Gentiles are recorded as having received the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit prepares the way

Let’s have a look at Acts 10 to see how Peter was prepared and how Cornelius was prepared.

Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, was devout and God-fearing. He prayed regularly and gave generously. An angel told him to send for Simon, who is called Peter.

Peter in Joppa

Meanwhile, Peter was in Joppa, dozing on the roof while lunch was prepared below. He sees a vision of all kinds of 4 footed animals, reptiles and birds. They are all on the prohibited foods list, but Peter is told to “Kill and Eat”. He really can’t do that, he says, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” (Acts 14:10). The voice replies, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” The vision is repeated three times. Peter is baffled.

Travelling

Then, the men sent by Cornelius arrive, and Peter is told by the Holy Spirit, “Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” Peter is a good host, and puts them up for the night. The next day, Cornelius’s men, Peter and some of the brothers from Joppa, travel to Cornelius’s house. It’s about a day’s travel, and it gives Peter time to think. Even so, when he gets there and goes inside, he feels it necessary to say:

“You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.”

It seems Peter and perhaps the brothers who came with him are still less than sure that they are doing the right thing.

Peter’s Sermon

Peter even starts his sermon with “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

Then he talks about Jesus’s death and resurrection, and that he and the others are witnesses of that. He gets to “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”.

Interrupted by a sign.

He is then interrupted by the Holy Spirit as all the assembled Romans begin speaking in tongues.

It is a sign to Peter and the brothers that they have done the right thing in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God has given the gentiles the gift, just as he has the Jews.

It is not quite the same, though. If you remember back to the day of Pentecost, the gift of tongues was given specifically to allow the many assembled foreigners to hear and understand the Gospel. Here, it is probably more like the gift of tongues that Paul describes in Corinthians – not earthly languages, but heavenly ones. This is because it has been given with a different purpose in mind – proving to Peter and the brothers that the Holy Spirit is acting. He’s going to need as much evidence as he can get, because there’s not going to be a friendly welcome when he returns to Jerusalem.

Baptism

The new gentile converts are now baptized with water. Caesarea is a port city. Looking at the map, it doesn’t seem to have a river, but it did have an aqueduct. The baptism, may not therefore have occurred in a river, and the sea would be a very unlikely choice. Perhaps it was more like our baptisms.

Stay with them

Amazing things have happened, and they need some time to take it all in. There is also lots more to teach about Jesus. So Peter stays with them for a few days.

Peter

Peter has been obedient to the call of the Holy Spirit. He has understood his master’s business, just as John tells us Jesus said we should.

15¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

They are Jesus’s friends because they are doing what He requires of them.

Lay down your life

Of course, they haven’t gone the whole way yet and laid down their life.

WWI story

This story was in one of the sermons I read during preparation:

A soldier in the First world war, asked his officer if he could go out into “No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring in one of his friends who lay there seriously wounded.

“You can go,” said the officer, “but it’s not worth it. Your friend has probably died, and you will throw your own life away.” But the man went. Somehow, he managed to get to his friend, lift him on to his shoulder, and bring him back to his own trench. The two of them tumbled together and lay in the bottom of the trench.

The officer looked very sympathetically on the would-be rescuer, and then he said, “I told you it wouldn’t be worth it. Your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded.” “It was worth it, though, sir,” he said. “How do you mean, ‘worth it?’ I tell you your friend is dead.” “Yes, sir,” the soldier answered, “but it was worth it, because when I got to him, he was still alive, and he said to me, ‘Jim, I knew you’d come.’”

It shows us what laying down your life for your friend means. Friendships amongst soldiers in WWI were closer than most of us experience today, largely because of the shared horror that they lived through. Jim risked his life and gave it up to bring comfort to his dying friend.

Jackie Pullinger

Sometimes, though, laying down our life for our friends doesn’t have to mean imminent death. Jackie Pullinger was a young woman when she left her home, boarded a boat, and waited for the Holy Spirit to tell her where to get off. At the eighth stop, she left the boat and entered Kowloon. It was a city full of heroin addicts and run by triad gangs. Not a safe place for a young woman. After much heartache and difficulty following the Holy Spirit's lead, she saw many released from their addiction, and perhaps even more surprisingly released from the gangs they had made a lifetime commitment to.

Jackie does not like to be called a missionary, or to talk about her ‘calling’. She says that she simply wants to have a good story to tell when meets Jesus. Unlike many missionaries who spend a short time working for God, Jackie really did give her life to the work she was doing.

Hudson Taylor

There are others too. Hudson Taylor, founded the China Inland Mission, but before that he had a lot to learn about faith. He also had a lot of preparation to do. He was teaching himself to live on very little, to be ready for life in China. So he had given away most of his wages. One evening he was asked if he could go and pray for an Irish labourer's wife who was close to death. When he arrived by her side, he found that her weak state was a result of childbirth and severe hunger. He knew he should do more than pray, but he didn't have the money - only half a crown (equivalent to less than £10 today) which he needed to live on. Yet he was aware that God had sent him to help this woman and unless he did what he could how could he expect God to take notice of his prayer. So he gave his money to the husband to buy food and trusted God to provide for his own needs. The following day, the Lord provided half a sovereign through a gift from someone. His trust in God proved to be completely justified.

Risks

The Apostle Peter, Jackie Pullinger, Hudson Taylor and many others have taken huge risks as they attempted to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and to obey Jesus’s commands and so remain in His love.

Chosen

Jesus has chosen each of us. We see from the gospels how Jesus chose his first disciples, that process continues, even though we may not see it so easily now. We are chosen for specific tasks, or to reach specific people. Peter was chosen to establish the church, Hudson was chosen to bring the good news to China, Jackie was chosen to save people from addiction and gang membership.

What are we chosen for?

Do you and I know what we are chosen for? To be sure, we have to spend time dozing on the roof as it were – time dedicated to listening to the Holy Spirit. Once we hear a message, at least one that we are capable of understanding, we must simply obey, just as Peter did when told to go with the gentiles who were asking for him (a scary prospect for a Jew). Just as Jackie did when she believed it was time to get off the boat. Hudson heard the voice of God and realized that he needed to be ready for what was ahead. That, too, is obedience.

Do you and I know what we are chosen for? Whatever it is, we must be sure to obey all that Jesus commands us, and remain in His love. Most of all though, love one another as He has loved us, because it is this that makes us stand out from all those others around us.

Amen.