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The Duty of Forgiveness (Practical Christianity #5) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

The Christian duty of forgiveness is a difficult one, but it is also a very freeing one. This is the center of Christian joy and peace: being forgiven and releasing those who have wronged us.

The Text: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-35).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Peter asked how often Christians must forgive their brothers, Jesus said, seventy times seven (Mt. 18:21-22). Jesus then told a parable to explain why He said that: a story about a servant who owed 10,000 talents to his King, and was granted mercy and the debt was forgiven (Mt. 18:23-27). But when that same servant was owed 100 pence, he refused to have compassion, and had the fellow servant thrown into prison until he paid his debt (Mt. 18:28-30). When the King was told, he confronted the forgiven servant in great wrath and commanded him to be delivered to tormentors until he paid, and Jesus explains that this is what His Father will do with us if we do not forgive our brothers from our hearts (Mt. 18:31-35).

LET’S DO SOME MATH

In the New Testament a denarius (what the KJV translates “pence”) was a silver coin that was considered one day’s wage for an unskilled worker. So if you use our US minimum wage ($7.25 @ 8hr), you’d get an approximate equivalent value of $58 for a denarius. A “talent” was not a coin proper but the total weight of 60 minas and 1 mina was 100 denarii. So one talent (of silver coins) would be about 6,000 coins or approximately $348,000. This means that ten thousand talents would have probably been the equivalent of 3-4 billion dollars in modern currency. The King forgave the servant a vast sum of money, and that servant went out and demanded 100 pence (100 x $58), almost $6,000 in modern currency from his fellow servant, which is nothing close to what he was forgiven, but is still nothing to sneeze at (about 4 months of wages). And if a year’s worth of wages was around 300 denarii or 3 minas, it would have taken 20 years to make one talent, and about 200,000 years to make (pay off) ten thousand talents.

SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN

These numbers are not merely large numbers, they are loaded with symbolic significance going back to creation and the Sabbath. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing a six and seven day rhythm to human economics. Six days of labor and one day of rest is the foundation of economic fruitfulness and faithfulness. But the Sabbath laws specifically required that this rest be given to everyone around us: “thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:10).

This principle was extended to every seventh year, where the people were required to give rest to the land (and therefore the workers of the land) and forgive debts and release Hebrew slaves (Dt. 15), and every seven seven-year cycle was an additional sabbath year (the 50 th year) called “Jubilee,” the year of release, when all debts were forgiven and Hebrew slaves released (Lev. 25). When Judah was conquered by Babylon, it says they were carried away into exile “until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years” (2 Chron. 36:21). And if you do that math, that would suggest that they had failed to keep 70 sabbath years, or 70 7s, or 490 years’ worth of Sabbath breaking, nearly 500 years.

So “70 times 7” isn’t just a big number, it is the number of Judah’s hard-hearted sin against God. “70 times 7” is the number of Israel’s refusal to forgive, release, and give rest. It’s the number of their exile; and so it is also the number of God’s forgiveness of Israel. Jesus is not just pulling that number out of the air; He’s taking it from Old Testament history. In other words, Israel is the servant in the parable who was forgiven billions of dollars. This was initially the forgiveness/release of the Exodus from Egypt, but then also the forgiveness and return from the Babylonian exile for their refusal to practice Sabbath forgiveness. The logic of the gospel was proclaimed from the Exodus: You were slaves in Egypt, therefore, release your slaves. You were in hard labor in Egypt, therefore give rest to your people. You were redeemed from Egypt, therefore, forgive debts. You have been forgiven; so forgive.

APPLICATIONS

This brings us to the duty of forgiveness. It is what we pray week after week: “forgive us our trespasses (or debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us (our debtors).” And Jesus teaches that this is basic: “And if [thy brother] trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Lk. 17:3-5).

What is forgiveness? It is a promise not to hold any offense against you for the sake of Christ. Which means that forgiveness is not a feeling, although Jesus says that we must disciple our feelings so that we forgive “from the heart” (Mt. 18:35). But forgiveness is a promise that the sin will not come between you and your brother as far as Christian fellowship is concerned.

Forgiveness is not the same thing as trust. And forgiveness does not require the restoration of privileges (job, office, marriage). Forgiveness means no animosity, no rage, no bitterness, no careful accounting of wrongs.

The differences between the King and the servant are striking: the initial plan of the King is to “sell” the servant and his family, presumably into debt slavery, where he could actually work towards paying the debt (a little mercy!). The servant, on the other hand, ordered the fellow servant thrown into “prison” until he would pay – which would seem to be never. This is bitterness: putting a fellow image bearer into a prison (if only in your heart) in which you say they can pay it off but nothing would ever really be enough because your pain and wrath are too great.

This underlines a crucial aspect of the gospel: if you think about it, we can never pay for any of our sin. Even what we consider “small sin” is against the infinite goodness and majesty of a Holy God and against our fellow servants who bear the image of that Holy God.

This is why Christ suffered torture in our place and for sin. This is why He had to be both God and man. What we (and your dad, mom, sister, son) could never pay, Christ paid in His own body on the tree. When we “forgive” we are not actually taking away anyone’s sins. We are only agreeing with God that Christ has paid all our debts, and so, they are free.

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The Plain Gospel Intent (Acts of the Apostles #25) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

So we need to begin where we left off, which was at the house of Simon the tanner. Simon Peter was somewhat settled there, and it was there that God spoke to him about how he should not consider Gentiles unclean when God had declared them clean. This was hard for Peter because he had never eaten anything common or unclean, and God’s instruction to him about the Gentiles came in the form of telling him to eat unclean food.

But tanning was an unclean occupation. A tanner has to handle the carcasses of dead animals, as that is his profession. Simon the tanner lived by the sea because he required salt water for his work, and because the sea breezes would help with the smell, which was bad. We know that handling dead animals made one unclean from Scripture (Num. 19:9-10), and this was the case even if the animal was a clean animal.

THE TEXT

“Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. Then called he them in, and lodged them . . .” (Acts 10:21–48).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

So Peter went downstairs to the emissaries, identified himself, and asked why they had come (v. 21). They said that Cornelius, a God-fearing and just man, with a high reputation with Jews, was told by a holy angel to send for Peter in order to hear him speak (v. 22). So Peter took them in, Gentiles, and put them up (v. 23). The next day, Peter left with them, along with some Jews from Joppa (v. 24), including some from the circumcision party (v. 45). The day after that they arrived (v. 24). Cornelius was waiting, with quite a gathering of relatives and friends (v. 24). As Peter was coming in, Cornelius fell prostrate to worship (v. 25). Peter lifted him up, and said that he was also just a man (v. 26). So they went in, talking, and found a crowd there (v. 27). Peter began by saying that what he was doing was unlawful, but that God had shown him not to call any man unclean (v. 28). That is why he came without argument—how can I help you? (v. 29). And so Cornelius told the story about the angel in bright clothing (v. 30). The angel said that his prayers and alms were accepted in the sight of God, and that he was to send for Peter, in order to hear whatever he says (vv. 31-32). And so here we all are. Speak to us (v. 33). And so Peter began by acknowledging that a great barrier had fallen—God accepts men from every nation (vv. 34-35).

He then turned to preach the gospel that had come to Israel, the proclamation of peace through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all (v. 36). They already knew how after the baptism of John, the word began in Galilee and spread to Judea (v. 37). God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. God was with Him, and He went about doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil (v. 38). The apostles were witnesses of all this, not to mention the crucifixion (v. 39), followed by the resurrection and His public appearances (v. 40). He did not appear to absolutely everyone, but rather to those chosen by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose (v. 41). These witnesses were commanded to preach to the people that Christ was ordained to judge the living and the dead (v. 42). All the prophets spoke of this, and the meaning of it, which was that through the name of Christ sins would be forgiven (v. 43). And while Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit interrupted him by falling on these listeners (v. 44). The members of the circumcision party, who had come from Joppa, were astonished that these Gentiles had been given the Spirit (v. 45). They heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God (v. 46). So Peter drew the obvious conclusion. There was no point in denying them water baptism, right? They have been given the Spirit, just like the Jews had been (v. 47). And so it was that Peter commanded they be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (v. 48), and so he stayed with them for a number of days (v. 48).

THE PLAIN GOSPEL FACTS 

The facts of the gospel are objective and fixed. They would be true and certain had none of us ever been born. They are all true outside of us, independent of us. Jesus is the Lord of all. God anointed Him. He did wonderful things over the course of His ministry. He was crucified and then rose from the dead. After His resurrection, He appeared to multiple witnesses, who ate and drank with Him, and who were commanded to tell everyone that this Jesus had been ordained to judge all men, whether living and dead.

THE PLAIN GOSPEL INTENT 

But what was the point? Why did God orchestrate all of this? The point of the gospel message is this—in the person and work of the Lord Jesus, God saves sinners. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). All the prophets are bent on telling us this. From Samuel to Isaiah, and from Jeremiah to Malachi. From Moses to Habbakuk, and from Ezekiel to Jonah, the message is clear. God offers to wipe away your sins, and the offer extends to everyone who has faith in Christ. So there is the offer. All your griping, washed away. All your lusts, washed away. All your fears, washed away. All your ambitious striving, washed away. All your crackling envy, washed away. Done. Forgiven. Hear the word that was spoken over all your tangled problems, the word that was spoken from the cross. It is finished.

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Hard Law, Hot Gospel: The Israel of God (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

Our justification is not by works. But our justification really does result in new life. In this new life, we find that, by the Spirit’s power, there is work for us to do. The work is heavy. The work might even make you bloody. The world will despise your work. But the work is glorious.

THE TEXT

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. […] Galatians 6:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The liberty of the Gospel is not the removal of all restraint. As Paul says in Romans, “Should we sin so that grace may abound? God forbid!” Gospel liberty includes confronting a brother overtaken in a fault (v1), but this rebuke is to be done by those who are spiritual, literally Spirit-people. Confronting sin in others should be aimed towards restoring the brother, and guarding against falling into sin yourself (v1). The Law of Christ requires us to refuse the rugged individualism of modern thinking, and instead bear each other’s burdens (v2). This demands mutual humility (v3). Though we are a community, you must not coast on the work of others; your bushel will either be full of the works of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit (vv4-5). The saints have a duty to be in fellowship with their teachers, and this means submission and loyalty to the truth he is obligated to teach (v6).

Sowing and reaping is inescapable (v7). It’s all a matter of whether you will sow fleshly seeds or spiritual seeds. One bears a harvest of corruption, the other a harvest of everlasting life (v8). But planting and harvest requires being unwearied in good works (v9). Our good works should be ordered, giving priority to the “household of faith”, but this does not absolve us from showing goodness to all men (v10).

As we noted at the beginning of this letter this is all deeply personal for Paul. He had been called by the Lord Jesus Himself, commissioned to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles, and he had suffered persecution for it. Paul closes this letter with a personal touch, he takes the pen from the scribe to add his signature and authentication to this letter (v11). Then he emphasizes that the troublers wanted the Galatians circumcised not out of love for the Galatians, but to spare themselves from persecution (v12). In all their zeal for law-keeping, they are in fact law-breakers, because they glory in the flesh (v13). True glory is in the shape of Christ’s cross; this is what Paul glories in, that he has died to the old world and it has died to him (v14). Christ’s cross has remade the world, and there’s no undoing it (v15). Walking according to this reality assures theses Gentiles that they are the Israel of God (v16). This really should end the dispute, because Paul’s body is tattooed with the stripes of his sufferings for the Gospel (v17). Paul closes by blessing the brethren, with the grace of Jesus equipping their spirit to be this fruitful orchard (v18).

THE LAW OF CHRIST 

The Galatians had their work cut out for them. They had been bewitched by the Judaizer’s lies. It would take time to undo the spell, and thus patience with one another. Picture a part of your property overgrown with unwanted thorn bushes; you might need a hand loading the brush into the bed of the truck. Reformation takes time and patience; restoring fallen brethren takes the long-suffering which should mark us as “Spirit-people.”

Those of the flesh are burden givers, those of the Spirit are burden bearers. Think of Jesus’ rebuke of lawyers of his time: “And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers (Luk 11:46).” Fleshly men, who place their trust in the old world, are only doing so to avoid the persecution that arises from preaching the cross. Their only use for you is whether you’ll make them more glorious. They won’t get their own hand dirty, they won’t risk their own reputation.

Life in Christ makes sacrificial men and women. Look at Paul’s stigmata. Those who follow Christ joyfully lay down their lives for the sake of truth. Even in confronting those in sin, we are doing so for the sake of their restoration. Sin is living in the old world and according to the old man. But those in Christ live in the new world, living in certain hope for the final resurrection. Thus we bear each others burdens: confronting sin, laboring at good works, enduring persecution, comforting each other in our sorrows.

When the Law of Moses was given, it was followed by the Spirit filling God’s people to build the tabernacle (Ex. 31:3). They were equipped for service in building the house of God. The seed of the law of Moses had now flowered into the law of Christ, and now Gentiles were filled with the Spirit to serve in the construction of the house of God.

MERCY & PEACE

Paul saw that Christ really had remade the world. It may not look like it by earthly sight, but by faith we see that this world is being made new. Paul’s benediction is rich with this confident faith that we have entered the new creation through Christ. Israel is being restored, not under the law, but by faith in Christ. Thus, the comfort to God’s people is that the everlasting mercy of God rests upon you. The peace of Israel’s God rests upon this new Israel: the church (Ps. 125).

The message which Paul has been hammering home in Galatians is that you are not brought into this abundant life through striving after law-adherence. You enter this new creation, this new Israel, by faith in the One who is the first-fruit of God’s great harvest. Are you in Christ? Well then, the shalom of Yahweh rests upon you. Not because you are circumcised, but because you are in the Crucified Christ.

THE CROSS & NEW CREATION

The new world is cross shaped. This is your glory. But this glory takes time. It takes long-suffering and patience. It takes sowing to the Spirit. Paul sees by faith that in the cross he is crucified to the old world, but the opposite is true as well. The world is dead to Paul. The old world despises the new world. The flesh lusts against the Spirit. Ishmael persecutes Isaac. The cross comes before the crown. So then, do not grow weary. In the cross you died to the old world and its desires, and by faith you live in the shadowlands of everlasting life.

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Heaven (Practical Christianity #4) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

It has sometimes been said that some people are so heavenly minded they are not any earthly good, but this is a malicious slander. The fact is that Christians are commanded to be heavenly minded so that they can be the most earthly good.

Heaven is the end toward which all things on earth are bending, growing up into. So, to focus on Heaven, where Christ is seated, is to focus on what you and all things are becoming in Christ. Heaven is not an escape. Heaven is the future. In this sense, Heaven is the most practical thing there is.

The Text: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God…” (Col. 3:1-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

If we have been raised with Christ, Scripture says we ought to be seeking everything that is heavenly, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). We ought to think about those things which are in Heaven because to be a Christian means that we have already died, and our true lives are hidden with Christ in God in Heaven (Col. 3:2-3). When Christ appears, who is our life, then we will finally and fully appear glorified (Col. 3:4). Therefore, put to death your old, earthly ways (Col. 3:5). These “things of earth” are what God is destroying, and those are the things you used to live in (Col. 3:6-7). But since you don’t live in them anymore, put them off with all the deeds of the old man, and put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the One in Heaven who made man (Col. 3:8-10).

WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?

The Bible teaches that Heaven is where God dwells: He is “our Father in heaven” (Lk. 11:2). Heaven is where Christ is seated on a great throne in all majesty (Mk. 16:19). Heaven is our Father’s house, full of many mansions prepared by Jesus for His people (Jn. 14:2-3). And since it is our Father’s house, Heaven is truly going home. If you are in Christ, Heaven is where your heart is. Heaven is described as a new heaven and a new earth, with a new capital city, a resplendent garden-castle coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:1-2).

Heaven is that place where there is no death, no dying, no sin, no curse (Rev. 21:4, 22:3). And the God who has kept a record of all our tears, will personally wipe every tear away (Ps. 56:8, Is. 25:8, Rev. 21:4). This means that every sad thing will be completely undone, and we will have a fullness of joy that only grows and pleasures that only increase (Ps. 16:11).

The Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but to be absent from the body is to be “unclothed” and therefore, the fullness of Heaven will be when our bodies are raised from the dead and we are given new immortal bodies (2 Cor. 5:2-5). It’s possible that there is an intermediate state, but since time need not work the same way in Heaven, it’s also possible that when we die, we are immediately taken to the resurrection at Christ’s second coming (1 Cor. 15:20-26). Since even creation groans for our redemption (Rom. 8:19-22), and Heaven includes a new earth, we are invited to believe that all of creation (including animals and stars) will be raised to incorruption, which could certainly include beloved family pets (1 Cor. 15:38-44).

All of this of course means that we will have plenty to do with our new and perfect bodies in this new creation: good work and games, inventions and discoveries, cheetah and dragon rides, the loveliest arts and architecture, and the best adventures forever and ever. But it will always be without the burdens of pain and anxiety, and full of perfect rest (Heb. 4:10).

In that place, we will be reunited with our believing families: “gathered to our people,” as it was said of the patriarchs (Gen. 25:8, 35:29, 49:33). We will be with our fathers and mothers, grandparents, spouses, children, and dear friends who have died in the Lord. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the living, the God of generations and families, and therefore, while marriage will not be the same, we will know and love one another even better there than we ever did here (Mt. 22:29-32). We will be with all the saints, all the angels, and there will never be any sad goodbyes again.

And at the center of it all will be the greatest Wedding Feast, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9), full of the best food, a feast of wine and fat things, full of marrow and the finest wines (Is. 25:6). And there will singing and music like we’ve never heard, vast choirs and orchestras and bands, from all the nations, with all their instruments and distinctive languages and styles and rhythms, praising the Lamb who was slain, the King of kings (Rev. 5:8-9, 7:9-12, 14:2-3, 15:2-4). And every one of us will see His face (Rev. 22:4). And we will cast our crowns before Him, and He will give us lavish rewards that we don’t deserve and put crowns on our heads that defy all reason (2 Tim. 4:8).

APPLICATIONS 

Since all of this is true, put to death your sin. As the old hymn says, “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.”

Your wrath and anger and lust and envy are weights holding you down, bending you down, deforming your life into nothing. But Jesus Christ died so that you might die, so that your sin might die in Him, and He rose from the dead so that you might rise with Him from the dead (without your sin) now in this life and rise in a new body in the Resurrection of Heaven.

Heaven and Hell begin here in this life. Either you are being pulled down into increasing selfishness and pettiness and bitterness and idolatries and fading, or else you are being set free to love and forgive one another as true human beings, real men and women, and beginning to enjoy creation as it was meant to be enjoyed and gathered to the Heavenly Mt. Zion to worship the King forever.

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The Holy Spirit Works the Room (Acts of the Apostles #24) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

This episode is the second time in Acts when the Lord makes a point of introducing two people to one another by supernatural means. The first time was in the previous chapter when He appeared to Saul and said that Ananias was coming, and then appeared to Ananias and told him to go minister to Saul (Acts 9:11-12). Then an angel of the Lord arranged for Philip to meet the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8: 26-27). And in this passage, Cornelius is told to send for a man named Simon Peter (v. 5), and is given the address (v. 6). The next day Simon Peter is told that the men sent by Cornelius are in fact from Him (v. 20). And this is not the last time it will happen in Acts either (Acts 16:9-10).

Remember our Table of Contents from chapter one (Acts 1:8), and realize that the Spirit is actively involved in introducing wildly disparate people to one another. It is as though the Spirit is working the room, making all kinds of introductions. This is how the kingdom works.

THE TEXT

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter . . .” (Acts 10:1–20).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We are here introduced to Cornelius, a centurion from the Italian regiment (v. 1). A centurion was the highest rank that an ordinary soldier could achieve as a soldier. This man was a devout God-fearer, together with his household (v. 2). He was dedicated in alms-giving, and was constant in prayer (v. 2). An angel of the Lord came to him in a vision at about three in the afternoon (v. 3), addressing him by name. Cornelius was afraid, and asked the angel what he wanted. The angel said that his prayers and alms had come up as a memorial (“remembrance” in v. 31) before God (v. 4). Cornelius was told to send some men to Joppa, a little over 30 miles south, and there to call on a man named Simon with the surname of Peter (v. 5). He was staying with another Simon, a tanner who lived by the sea. Peter would take it from there (v. 6). When the angel left, Cornelius summoned two of his domestic slaves and a devout soldier (v. 7), told them what had happened, and dispatched them to Joppa (v. 8). The next day, as they were approaching Joppa, Peter went up on the rooftop to pray around noon (v. 9). Peter became very hungry, and while lunch was being prepared for him, he fell into a trance (v. 10). Heaven opened up, and the Lord offered him lunch, in the form of a sheet filled with unclean animals (vv. 11-12). Peter was told to rise up, to kill and to eat (v. 13). But Peter demurred—he had never eaten anything like that (v. 14). The voice said that he should not call common anything that God had cleansed (v. 15). This offer was made three times, and then withdrawn (v. 16). Naturally, Peter started to puzzle over what it all meant (v. 17), and while he was doing this, the three men from Cornelius appeared at the front gate (v. 17). They called to see if Simon Peter was lodging there (v. 18). And so while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit prompted him to go down to the three men (v. 19). He was not to doubt anything, because God had sent them (v. 20).

PETER DEALS IN THREE

Peter sometimes had the difficulty telling the Lord no when he shouldn’t have. When Jesus predicted that He would be betrayed, crucified, and raised, Peter took Him aside to rebuke Him (Matt. 16:22), only to be rebuked as Satan in turn. He famously denies the Lord three times during the Lord’s trial (Matt. 26:75), and the Lord graciously restored him to office at the end of the gospel of John, doing so with three basic questions (John 21:15ff), each question mirroring one of his earlier denials. And then here in this place Peter is told three times to kill and eat, and three times he refuses (Acts 10: 13-16). When everything is over, Peter goes downstairs to meet the three men.

ALL FOODS CLEAN

In the Old Testament, God required His people to refrain from certain meats as being unclean. This is codified in the Mosaic code (Lev. 11), but it also predates it, in that Noah was told to make a distinction between clean and unclean animals as he brought animals onto the ark (Gen.7:2), and that was centuries before Moses. Jesus expressly taught that His arrival had resulted in the cleansing of all foods (Mark 7: 14-23), meaning that the clean/unclean distinction had been a pedagogical one, teaching the Israelites the concept of holy and unholy. “And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him” (Mark 7:18).

We learn here that the cleansing of all foods was emblematic of Gentiles being grafted into the covenant. “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).

TO REVIEW THE MAIN THING

This book began with a declaration that the gospel was going to go everywhere—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We are then given one systematic demonstration after another of God’s purpose in this. First the gospel spread throughout Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 2:14). Then it spread to Samaria (Acts 8:5). Galilee was then mentioned (Acts 9:31). The Ethiopian eunuch hears the Word from Philip (Acts 8:35). The message had apparently taken root in Damascus in Syria (Acts 9:2).

What we are learning here is that water is thicker than blood. There is nothing at all wrong with natural affection for your own people and your own place. There is something desperately wrong with contempt for the natural affections of others. So the main apostle of a universal gospel was the apostle Paul, and he was willing to go to Hell, if it were possible, for his natural kinsmen. “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). Don’t come around to him talking about blood and soil. He has forgotten more about natural affection than the most ardent kinist will ever know (Phil 3:4-5). But compared to the knowledge of Christ, all of that was nothing more than dumpster scrapings to him (Phil. 3:8).

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