Acts Chapter 11 Verses 1 – 3

• Man, tradition and culture are strong tides to swim against, aren’t they? These aren’t Pharisees and Sadducees…these are apostles and brethren and boy were they focused on the wrong thing?!  But that is the strength of cultural comfort and social status!!  What am I talking about?  They were focused on, upset about, talking about Peter eating a meal with gentiles…when…hello…500 pound elephant in the room – Dumbo over here waving – the gentiles had received the Word of God!! (airplane story)
• We have to be on watch in our own eyes, minds, hearts and focuses as well about this…, “You got your nose pierced?! You got a neck tattoo!?  You don’t go to a Calvary Chapel!!!  I know you’re living for the Lord, but really!?”  Here’s the issue…they were more concerned with what Peter did than what God was doing…HOW – ABOUT – YOU!?

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 4 – 10

• Now there may be a connection here, a parallel, between this scene that is being described – the four cornered sheet – and the beach breakfast scene we see in John Chapter 21. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Peter, do you love Me…” and in that scene Jesus is basically reinstalling Peter, lifting him up, helping Peter to deal with Peter…and in this scene, three times the sheet was shown to Peter speaking of dealing with others…and I like that parallel…because before we can show grace, we must receive grace…before we can love like Jesus we must receive the love of Jesus…

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 11 – 13

• Notice…Peter is ultra-smart and uber-clever…, “These six brethren accompanied me…,” and, “Bros! An angel was in there before me…if it’s ok for an angel to go into this man’s house, surely it’s ok for me!”  Ultra-smart, eh!?
• Oh, by the way, how dare you question me anyway! I am the supreme infallible authority of the church!  Not so though.  Peter was not the lead.  He was entirely accountable to the apostles!  That is clear!

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 14 – 16

• Peter understood that there are two baptisms. One is the baptism into the body of Christ that is completed by the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion/salvation.  1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body,” and that is when we are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) into Christ for eternal life.  But then, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit by Jesus Himself and that is the second baptism. 
• John said in John 1:33 (Mark 1:8 also), and you might recall, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit…and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” And so Peter knew this, understood this and so do we that we enter into the body of Christ through belief that is outwardly expressed, not secured (only the Holy Spirit does that) but expressed through water baptism and yet there remains a second baptism…a baptism of power and witness that Jesus Himself does as the Holy Spirit comes upon you…how, when?  When you stick close to Jesus…simple as that!!

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 17 – 18

• Peter’s statement here is so important! He is essentially saying, “How can we hold back our acceptance when God has given His?!”  Important point here though…they aren’t simply accepting this as God’s heart because of what they’ve seen or   Or because it feels right…This is in complete perfect alignment with the word of God! 
• Scripture such as Isaiah 49:6, “I will give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” And scripture such as John 10:16, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”  And so we have alignment to scripture without contradiction in other scriptures…why do I say that?
• Because you can easily hear on today’s scene, “God is here. God is working.  God is with us and this and so on…” But activity and emotion aren’t enough to validate a work of God.  It must align with and be without any misalignment with God’s Word…(Tile story – Because God will reach through darkness to love His children…)
• And then I just love this…, “They became silent.” Three of the most powerful words in all of this fallen creation…notice what comes next, “And they glorified God.”  When they silence their own dark hearts filled with bias and tradition and cultural currents and prideful positional postures…that’s when we can sense, discern and truly enjoy the heart and freedom of God!  That’s when we seek His opinion over our own…

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 19 – 21

• That’s it, that’s the key…that’s belief! Check it out, “They believed AND TURNED to the Lord!”  That word “turn” is epistrepho and it means to make a move, man!  Intransitively!  To not just turn…but to make moves man…put in action…feet to faith!  I have found, and this is remarkable, that when you are walking in some sort of darkness, some sort of sin…something you know one day you’re just gonna have to cut it out…that you cannot help but be in the flesh at least a little bit ALL of the time and that LIMITS you!
• Limits your love, limits your mood, limits your vision, limits your capacity and capability…what would you be like if you laid aside EVERY weight of sin that so easily ensnares you? You’d be walking in the spirit…poured over by the Holy Spirit Himself…these folks turned the ship, man…changed trajectory and made tracks…they stopped their way and went another way…that is belief and that is where the blessing and presence of the Lord is fully FULL!!
• By the way…I have seen many make this move over the years through this ministry and I love that! I think about that often, especially when ministry is tough…why?  Because you cannot turn to the Lord without the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I can turn you to philosophy or even to personality…a set of behaviors…but NOTHING makes you be like the Lord, free and alive and loving and kind and powerful and wise…NOTHING does that but the leading of the Holy Spirit…and I know that…

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 22 – 23a

• Just sometime dumb that I have chewed on this week…GLAD is grace, love and devotion…receive the grace of God, love Him and love others and give God time every day…time in His Word AND time talking with Him…you WILL experience GLAD.

Acts Chapter 11 Verses 23 – 30

• I love this scene…Barnabas goes and gets Saul and brings him to Antioch where the church is essentially (I don’t know complete/maturing) it’s now freely the Jews AND the gentiles…so they are not just Jews following “The Way,” now they are all together as one and they are Christians…and Barnabas encourages them to have purpose of heart…you see, the heart is the seat of you will. Purposing in your heart is entirely different than making a decision with your mind…
• When you purpose in your heart, you are setting the course for your life…you are setting your trajectory…your way. You’re making full commitment.  If you don’t make a full commitment to the Lord then you are going to be sucked back into the world…make that full commitment today…