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Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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So often we just get stuck in our day-to-day living, and we try to justify our own sin and we try to point out sin and other people to make ourselves look better. This is a message not only for the Jews at that time, but it's a message for us today. Don't call unclean what God has cleaned. What God has cleansed, you must not call common. And that includes other people, and that includes yourself.

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Wouldn't it be strange if every time someone washed a dish, you had to double check to make sure it was clean? You see, when the dishes are washed, the assumption is that it's spotless, not needed to be washed again. Today, Pastor Carl says you must think of your sin as completely forgiven. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

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Turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 11. Now in Acts chapter 10, we saw how Peter was used by God to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. And the first Gentile believers that heard the gospel, grabbed a hold of it, were filled with the Holy Spirit as an evidence that God intended the gospel to go to the whole world, not just to the Jewish nation, but to the whole world. With that in mind, when we go into chapter 11, we understand the importance of understanding that the gospel is not just for the Jewish nation. And you'll see by some of the reaction of the Jewish leaders that it was understood by them that we are God's chosen people. The Messiah came for us, and we're so glad and thankful for Jesus, and we've been changed, and he evidenced it by filling us with the Holy Spirit. But yet this other group got filled with the Holy Spirit. They were not Jews. How do we respond to that? Well, let's get into that study. We're in chapter 11, verse 1. Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. You went to those that are not chosen of God, those that, you know, are the scum of the world. Jews believed, a lot of them at that time, that the Gentiles were created in order to stoke the flames of hell. They were not of God's chosen people. They were just the enemies. They were the rejected ones of God. But God obviously had a different story, didn't he? God is making a case here that he came to die for the sins of the whole world, not just the Jewish nation. But the Jewish nation was very important in that plan that the Messiah would come through this chosen nation. The chosen nation would be an example to the rest of the world that this is the rules that I have laid out in order for you to be holy as I am holy, and yet you didn't follow them. You broke them, and you were in need of a savior. You were in need of salvation. And so, if the Jews needed a savior, so did the rest of the world as well. Well, what does Peter do to answer this question? Because indeed he did that. And in verse 4, he began to explain to them in order from the beginning. He'd go back and he's going to recount what happened to him because that's his testimony, and that's all he's got. And that's enough. He didn't have to try to convince them of anything. He was just going to stand forward and step up and say, This is what the Lord did. So in verse 5, he said, I was in the city of Joppa praying in a trance, and I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down by heaven from heaven by four corners, and it came to me. And when I observed it, I intently I considered, and I saw four footed animals of the earth, and beasts, and creepy things, and birds of the air, and I heard a voice saying to me, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. And that kind of shocked them, because these were all creatures that in the Old Testament law were declared unclean. Don't eat these things. And what is the Lord saying? He's saying, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. Verse 8, but I said, Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God has cleansed, you must not call common. Now, when this was done three times and all were drawn up again into heaven. Now, Peter, he's recounting what happened to him. And he's being honest before them. I said, No, Lord, and with visions of going back to Jesus, when Jesus said, I'm going to Jerusalem, I'm going to be crucified. And Peter came forward and said, No, Lord, it's not going to happen. And Jesus said, Well, get behind me, Satan, because you're not speaking the words of God. You're speaking the words of the enemy. But this time he says, No, Lord, thinking the same thing. He's defending the Lord. He's, I'm trained not to do that, Lord. But God had a bigger purpose. God had a bigger vision for him. What God has cleansed, you must not call common. Now, this is the third time that Luke records this in the book of Acts. The first time when it happened, the second time when he met with Cornelius, and the third time here. And there's so much for Luke to summarize and to share about. Why do you think he did it three times? He spelled out the whole thing three times. Could it be that this was very important for us to grab a hold of? Because it's not just about the Jews getting this message, but it's about all of us getting this message. What God has called clean, let no man call common. And to the Jews it was really easy. We're the chosen people, we can't do anything wrong. And of course, they do everything wrong. And aren't we like that as people? You know, I'm God's chosen people, but everybody else does everything wrong. And we get twisted in our thinking, don't we? It's funny, before we come to the Lord, we justify our sin and everything, and then when we come to the Lord, we're really free in Christ and we start pointing things out at other people. But strangely enough, we start getting attacks from the enemy telling us all the things we do wrong. And many of those things are true. You know, where we we act like animals, we act creepy, we act like the birds of the air, which is a picture of Satan in the church, you know, coming and just causing trouble. And so often we like to point fingers at other people to make us feel better about ourselves because we haven't realized the freedom that we have in Christ, and we're listening to the voice of the enemy, convicting us or accusing us of these things that are not really true anymore. When we're in Christ, we're made new. When we are reestablished in our relationship with God, we no longer act like animals. We're no longer creepy, we're no longer demonic, but we're holy and we're righteous and we are servants. We look out for the interest of one another. As we focus on the cross, as we focus on Jesus, as we're changed by Him in seeking Him and partaking of Him and His Word, we're changed from the inside out. As we renew our minds in the Lord, as we read in Romans chapter 12, we're changed and we're renewed and we recognize who we are in the Lord. But so often we forget that, don't we? So often we just get stuck in our day-to-day living and we try to justify our own sin and we try to point out sin and other people to make ourselves look better. This is a message not only for the Jews at that time, but it's a message for us today. Don't call unclean what God has cleaned. What God has cleansed, you must not call common. And that includes other people, and that includes yourself. If God has cleansed you, you are clean. Walk in it. Verse 11. At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent from Caesarea. Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the men's house. Now Peter was ministering in Joppa, and the Lord was moving, and people were coming to faith and growing in their knowledge of the Lord, and just celebrating what God was doing. And he brought six men along with him to Caesarea, which is a wise thing to do. It's not just Peter saying these things. He brought witnesses. These same witnesses he's brought down to Jerusalem now, and they're with him as well, as he's declaring this to the people. Look, this is a work of God. The Spirit was telling me the same thing. He told me these people would come and they were there. He told me what he was telling the man in Caesarea, and that's exactly what he told them. God was working. This wasn't my idea, guys. This is God working, and we need to heed what he's trying to teach us. And verse 13. And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house who said to him, Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and your household will be saved. Now the pressure was on Peter, he didn't realize it, but that's what the man told him as well that the angel had told him that when Peter comes, he's going to share with you words from God in order for you to be saved and your household. And when Peter got there, the house was full of friends and family, wasn't it? And Peter came and he shared. Verse 15, and as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them as upon us in the beginning. In the beginning of the church, in the beginning of this new life we have, on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down. That wasn't our doing, that was God moving. And that same thing God did to us, He did to them. God has approved of them, He hasn't rejected them, He has brought them into the fold. This is big. And then I remembered verse 17, the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. This was after Jesus has had resurrected from the dead and he was meeting with the disciples every now and then. And this was one of the times that he spoke to them and said, Hey, the Holy Spirit is coming. And not many days from now, this is something that John talked about. And he's coming. Are you ready? So then verse 17 if therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? He finally got that. When God tells you something, you say yes, sir, instead of no, sir, right? Let it not be, Lord. But yes, Lord, help me to understand, Lord. This is different, but I'm excited to learn what you're doing now, Lord. Who was I that I could withstand God? Now, you see how he equates the Holy Spirit with gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the root word for gift is grace. This is the grace of God that is being poured out through the person of the Holy Spirit. The grace of God, the unmerited favor. It's what brings us into salvation. We are saved by grace through faith. When we exercise faith in the grace of God that He's given us, we find salvation. It's not through works that any man should boast. And if it's happened to these guys, how can I say anything against it? Verse 18. And when they heard these things, they became silent. And I just imagine like a cartoon. Have you seen that? Everybody's talking rah-rah-rah, and then they just stop. And then all of a sudden, they glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles a repentance to life. It's like a freeze frame. And things are clicking in their minds, and then they just get excited. Yay! And they give praise to God because He's done this thing. And in order to do that, you had to be humbled because it goes against everything you've ever learned and walked out and said in your life. The Gentiles are part of the church. Those that are, you know, cursed by God are part of the church. There are brothers and sisters now. And they had to be humble to accept it. And then be able to celebrate it. What kind of things is the Lord trying to show us that we're not able to grab a hold of because we don't want to hear it? Because we won't humble ourselves before the Lord. I mean, there are things that he shows us that definitely are painful to the flesh. And yet, when we put that flesh to death, there's so much more great blessing to receive from the Lord that he wants to show us. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear, and a willingness to open our hearts to what the Lord is doing. Verse 19. Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but Jews only. You remember Stephen was the first martyr. And when Stephen was martyred, they're like, Wow, we're out of here. And the church dispersed from Jerusalem. And they went all over the place, all the way into Phoenicia and to Cyprus and to Antioch. And they were proclaiming the gospel and people were being saved. But who were they speaking to? They're speaking to the Jews. Because they still thought that was who God came to save, the Jews only. So they were only speaking to the Jews. But, verse 20, some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. You remember who the Hellenists were? They were Jews, but they were part of the Greek culture. They bought into the ways of how Greek thinking went. The Hellenists seemed to be more mystical and pondering and just enjoying life for what it is. And if we do that in focus of the Lord, if we do that seeking God and the greatness that he has, I mean, God is a poet. I mean that the whole word of God is wonderful literature that He's given to us to ponder, to think, to grow, to experience. And if we get too caught up in the law and the don't do this and do do this, we miss the grace of God. We miss the life that He's given us, the abundant life. But these they came and they spoke to these two guys from Cyprus and Cyrene. They spoke to the Hellenists because they were not from Israel necessarily. They were Jews, but they lived in areas outside of Israel, and they were influenced by the Grecian culture, and they came to faith in Jesus Christ, and they recognized there's so much life and goodness in there. So they would preach the gospel to the Hellenists, which were Jews, but they were Jews influenced by Gentiles, and by a lot of Jews, they were pushed out. Remember earlier in Acts, the widows had a conflict because those that were Hellenists were treated different than the locals, and so forth and so on. But we're all one in Christ. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. If we've come to faith in Jesus Christ, we're part of the beloved. And in verse 21, and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. They weren't just saying it, trying to convince people of something, but they were indeed being led by the Holy Spirit. And the gospel that they were preaching was a true gospel that saved. In verse 22, and the news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. Now Barnabas, too, was from Cyprus originally, I believe. He was a Levite who came and became part of the church. He believed and was saved, and he gave to minister to the other people. And his name means the son of encouragement. He was an encourager. He was one that could go up there and really discern what was going on. Was this really happening? Was God really moving in these areas? And so they sent him up there to find out. In verse 23, and when he came, he had seen the grace of God, and he was glad and encouraged them all that they with purpose of heart should continue in the Lord. And may I encourage you that you continue in purpose of heart to continue in the Lord. With purpose of heart. So often we think, you know, I've got saved and I'm making it to heaven and I'm all good and I could just do my own thing. Or we start living for God and we're excited when we first come to faith in Him, but it gets worn out after a while, and we we drift back into our own self. There's this idea that we have to be purposeful in seeking the Lord. Paul talked about all these things that God used him to do, and he did greater works than all of the other disciples, as far as how much of the New Testament that he wrote and how much influence he had and the growth of the church. But then he would say, but it wasn't me, but the grace of God that lives in me. Walking in the grace of God takes a lot of hard work. We need to be purposed, we need to be mindful, to make it a practice, a discipline, to get into God's word, to renew our minds, to be changed by him from the inside out. Ricky uniting it's not us that's doing the changing, but the Holy Spirit in us changing us and making us more like him. It's the grace of God that works in us, but are we entering into that grace of God? It takes a lot of hard work and determination to say, Lord, I will follow you. I am going to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow after you. Help me to do it, Lord. I need your strength, I need your power. Verse 24, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. He loved Jesus and he loved people. He was filled with the grace of God by the power of the Holy Spirit and great faith, knowing that God would do what he's going to do, what he promised he would do. And people saw that in him, and a great many people came to faith as well. As the people that were there were declaring the gospel, he was coming and encouraging them in the gospel as well. And people were just growing in faith. That's what church is supposed to be like, where we come together, we hear the word, and we're changed, and we encourage one another, we pray for one another, we help one another, and we point each other back to Jesus Christ in the Word, so that we can grow and we can celebrate the goodness of God in our lives. Verse 25. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch, so that it was for a whole year that they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. And a lot of commentators say that that was a derogatory word. Christian means a little Christ. You're a little Jesus, you're a little Christian. Look at that, isn't that cute? And that's how people would mock them. But the Christians that were mocked took that as a badge of honor. Yes, I am a little Christ. I am walking with Jesus. He is literally changing my life from the inside out. And you can know him too, would you like to know him? And it was a great time of discipleship and proclamation of the truth as Barnabas and Saul came along the church in Antioch and just encouraged them in the Lord. And here was Saul, who was rejected by the Hellenists in Jerusalem, speaking and preaching to the Hellenists in Antioch who have come to faith in the Lord. You know, there are many people in this world that are hostile against Christianity, hostile against the things of the Lord. And yet, When they come to faith in Jesus Christ, their lives are radically changed. And those are the ones that are on fire for the Lord, even more than you may be. Because they saw your witness and they saw your consistency. And every time they mocked you, you didn't let that get to you. But you just continue to pray for them and love them and declare the truth of the gospel to them. And at some point they came to faith in the Lord and were changed. Here was Saul recognized by the church as being changed by God and used by God in order to teach the truth of God. They didn't come to see Saul as much as they came to hear the word of God. And they recognized that Saul was an instrument now in the hands of God when before he was an enemy of the church. And the disciples were called Christians the very first time in any hour. Now when he was, I think it was about five years that Paul was in Tarsus. And he wasn't just hiding out in Tarsus for five years. If we look at his letter from Galatians in the first chapter, he says, afterward, after coming out and escaping from Jerusalem, I went to the regions of Syria and Sicilia, and I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only. The ones that had scattered from Judea and entered into those areas, they never met him, they never saw him. So they had a different approach to him. They did not see, they heard stories about him, but they didn't see him face to face. So they were a little more open to the idea that God actually changed this man. But they were of hearing only.

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Learn more about us at themountaincross.com. If you're not local to Western North Carolina, we encourage you to check out a Bible-teaching church near you. It's essential to gather with other believers to navigate this topsy-turvy world together. Where Jesus is preached, there's hope for today and for the future. Thanks for listening. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.