¶ Interactions Between Jews and Gentiles
The Jews and the Gentiles . They didn't have any interaction whatsoever . And you just brought up an interesting text from the Old Testament . I'm curious how do the Jews relate that ? How do they interpret that ? What do they mean when they see that , when they come across that , do they just think that it's not for everybody ?
Like you talk to a Jew today , they think , well , I'm saved because I'm a descendant of aibre , the Jews and the Gentiles . They didn't have any interaction whatsoever . And you just brought up an interesting text from the Old Testament . I'm curious how did the Jews relate that ? How do they interpret that ?
What do they mean when they see that and they come across that , do they just think that it's not for everybody ?
Like you talk to a Jew today that think , well , I'm saved because I'm a descendant of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob , or that they're , I get the pass and I'm able to perhaps do whatever I wanna do , and perhaps Yom Kippur , the day of atonement , doesn't really affect me . I don't have to offer up a sacrifice for my sins .
But yeah , there is definitely a budding to the heads between the Jews and the Gentiles , because Gentiles are an unclean thing , and so what we see here with Cornelius is that God is opening it up through both the vision and the visit . The vision we see where Peter says Peter's told rise , kill and eat .
And he said , well , no , I can't do this , no , unclean meat is touching my liver or something along ? that effect and what God is doing . He's recognizing and he's breaking down the walls that the gospel message is for anybody and everybody . But this also points out something else right , that God has no grandchildren , it's been said , only sons and daughters .
I love that , I've always loved that saying . And Cornelius , he was a devout man , he was a religious man , but he wasn't born again . So you must be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven . And so God's love extended even to the Gentiles . And then we'd see that the apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles , though he had a heart for the Jews .
Sometimes thoughts pop into my head , and this morning a very peculiar one popped into my head . It was an image of Ray Comfort playing hopscotch Hopscotch .
Can you imagine Ray playing hopscotch ?
Crazy .
I used to play hopscotch and he had a long mullet in my imagination , bouncing up and down as he hopped . Ray , you have no idea what hopscotch is .
Yes , I do . You're a psychiatrist Dream .
Wait , easy , seriously , you actually play . They had hopscotch in New Zealand or back in New .
Zealand . We used to wear shoes and we heard of the Beatles . Yeah , yeah , easy . I used to play hopscotch in school . You get a chalk , you make these squares , you get this slate and you throw it , and it was a lot of fun .
And then you hop .
Yeah .
I just can't see it Well I was a little kid . Well , I see people jumping over you to get to the next spot .
Did they use you as the little rock to throw ? Yeah , that was the toss on it .
Seriously , that image just made me giggle . Idiot . Yeah , ray , hopscotch , yeah , and I was thinking about that , ray . What kind of games did you guys have in New Zealand , did you have ?
a we had Bar the Door . Do you play that ?
What you don't know , that I knew it Before I even asked the question . I knew weird stuff .
You fight the door , bar the door .
Bar the door . You ever want to play Bar the door ?
No , what would happen is a crowd . One guy would wait in the middle of a field , a crowd of about 20 people to run across , and whoever he touched had to wait for the next lot to come , and it would build up as someone got touched and it would get more and more people there until there was only one guy left trying to get from one side to the other .
It's quite good , oh , bull Rush .
That would be it . Is that a national game , or what did you call it ?
Bull Rush . What a stupid name . It's Bar the Door .
Oh man , this morning I was just thinking about all the games I loved as a kid . Mark , did you play dodgeball ?
Oh love dodgeball .
Yeah , I mean , how popular is a game when a movie is made about it ? Was there a famous movie called Dodgeball or something ?
Yeah , I haven't seen it . We played a smear something and you take a tennis ball and you throw it up against the wall and you're playing with a bunch of guys and when the ball bounces off the wall you have to try to catch it with one hand .
If you fail to catch it , if it bounces off your hand , you have to run to the wall as fast as you can before somebody else picks up the wall and throws it at the wall . If the ball hits the wall before you get there , then you have to stand up against the wall and they just throw the ball at you as far as they can .
It sounds nice , it's fun . I remember that . Is that anything like handball ? I simply play handball . No , no , something different Handball .
Is that anything like tennis or football ?
Squash Do you know the squash Squash . Wait , is that , though with the paddles ?
Yeah , oh yeah , no paddles . They're kind of records .
Have you guys gotten into paddle ball yet ? What's that Paddle ball ?
What's that Paddle ?
ball . It's for old people . You guys should look into this .
It's actually really fun .
¶ Love for Games and Baklava
It's not about pickle ball , is it ? Oh yeah , no , no , yeah , it is .
It is pickle ball . Old people mark . See , that's why I like it . Yeah , no , I love pickle ball . We've played it a couple of times . Julia is like a pickle ball enthusiast . Are you serious ? She's really . Oh yeah , they hurt her friends by all the time . There's a court over by your house .
We keep paddles and balls inside of our car , in the back . Oh , you've played it .
Oh , yeah , I love it . Oh , pickle ball , Pickle ball . Yeah , there's a court near our house . I didn't know that . Yeah , there's a little park over there . Well , I love pickle ball . Until I went to the gym one day and the pickle ball people overtook the basketball court . They had it blocked out and boy , those guys are territorial .
I've never seen it and many older folks play and I was like hey you can't be in here playing the basketball . We got the car and it went off on me . I punched her , but once in a while you have to do that .
We played rugby too , rugby and cricket .
Oh , you guys were actually able to play it like in high school .
Oh , yes , we were intelligent . Oh , you had great . I played rugby in the oh boy when I was about five years old . Oh really , I was going to start a rugby , hi .
Rugby . But , ray , this is the problem I have with rugby . It's called cauliflower ears . I don't care how fun a game is , I'm not going to play it if it's going to destroy my ears .
It's covered in cover Well , but they wear their mother's bathing cap often .
Do some of them .
Something that's similar kind of look to it . Yeah , just protect their ears , but it's a status symbol . Oh , give me a break .
Yeah , Until you try to find a girl who looks at it and goes yeah , but you find a girl with cauliflower ears .
You know what ? I'm going to look it up , see if there are any women with cauliflower ears .
There are some really ugly ears , but it's the same thing in wrestling . Wrestling has cauliflower ears , are there ?
women rugby teams . Yes , so the women get the cauliflower ear ?
No , I don't think so yeah .
They would be . They're smart , yeah , does it affect their hearing ?
Sorry .
I'm sure it would , because we've got a hole for the sound to go in . The hole disappears under the cauliflower .
Crazy , crazy Boy . I'll tell you some of the games I love you guys . Connect Four , connect Four Did you ever play that ?
Yes , where you connect four and it falls down . Yeah , Jenga . Yeah , that's really good yeah .
Jenga , my family is huge into chess . We love chess Really , ray , do you ?
ever play chess . I thought chess was intellectual , that's for intelligent people .
But I play it every day , really , seriously , every day , love it .
I wish I knew how to play chess . I don't Never learned .
I could teach you and beat you really quick I think you would like chess Ray .
Actually it takes a lot of intelligence . Brilliant , yeah . My favorite as a kid was Hungry , hungry , hippo . Remember that , mark Hungry .
Hungry Hippo , the one that requires no skill . He's hitting the button . He's hitting the skill .
It's just little marbles . You just hit the button . I loved it .
Did you play ?
marbles School . I think so . Yeah , all right that was a big deal . Wait what was it you talked about before ? What was it ? It was called stinkers , stinker .
Yeah .
Yeah , I got a stinker over here . Yeah , yeah , friends . Well , you may notice that there's a missing voice on here today . Oscar is playing hooky , but we have someone here Filming in for him and his place , but you just can't see him . I know Our listeners can't see him , but yeah , there he is . He's a mute .
I purchased this realistic looking dummy . He's about 5'6" . Nice looking chap and he's sitting in Oscar's seat Much better looking than Oscar .
Is he taller than you ? The ?
dummy . No , he's about my height , he's average . Yeah , you're 5'5" , though 5'5" . I'm 5'11" , you should know 5'11" .
Yes , friends , oscar Navarro's gallivanting over to the NRB with Miguel and others .
Should you say what NRB is National Religious ?
Broadcast Bros and he bumped into .
Philip DeCorsi . Philip was the one with the keynote speeches there on a Wednesday night .
Oh , is he really ? Yeah , oh , I didn't know he was doing that .
Well , that's a big deal .
Nice , I know my brother , mike Fibara , often speaks there as well . Anyway , friends , oscar's not here . We missed him .
But yeah , but this is a big deal with him not being here , because my daughter , eden , went to a pastry shop there in Newport Beach here in Silicon Valley and purchased some baklava for us and she thought I can't believe that Oscar's not going to be there , yeah , so I mean I'm not going to eat it , oh .
But why wouldn't you eat it , Mike ?
Well , look at my figure . You don't get a body like this during a flight , so I'm trying to take care of myself . But this is for you guys and for the crew .
Oh , and then there's yourself .
This is for the crew . Oscar's going to do backflips when he realizes we had baklava . Yeah , of all days , of all days , of all days . Yeah , all right , friends , we have a comment . This is from Wright Winger 7 . I wonder what their political view is .
Wait , did I mention it was Eden , would you say Ella ? I don't know , but I once gave credit to Ella for something that Eden said I did all the time , boy , they're territorial , oh yeah , but it was Eden Grace Eden . Thank you .
Yeah , that's your daughter . Thank you , while we're , eden will be thinking of you . Eden , all right , friends , we have a comment right winger seven Old school memories . I remember when I first heard of Ray Comfort and on the box , whoa blast to the past guys video streaming . I remember submitting questions to him , thinking of the lessons I've learned .
Love the podcast . Glad you guys are still kicking in a secular world , ray . You are responsible through Christ for the salvation of my soul . Wow , please keep on keeping on . By the way , mark Spence and easy , you guys are the best . Love your chemistry . Oscar , you're new to me , so the jury's still out .
I Then he put just kidding , trying to bring you guys into my family's life . Prayers for them and for God to soften their hearts . God bless , cameron . See San . Hey , cameron , thank you . I mean I'm glad we're his faves mark , but I mean Ray God using him in a salvation , that's exciting .
¶ Lessons From the Conversion of Cornelius
Yeah , you know , last night I had a gentleman come up to me and said he was just going on and on how the ministry has impacted him and he was talking about apologetics . And he said you know , it got me into apologetics . He's a senior pastor now . He attended the event that we spoke at , yeah , and he's going for his doctorate degree in apologetics .
But he said he watched a video of ours on our . YouTube channel and it's so inspired him that he got into the ministry Because of our YouTube channel . Oh , that is awesome you know .
I've come across a few people over the course of years who have said they , they went to seminary because of the ministry , or others that have said , look I , I came across these solid Bible teachers that I'd never heard of before and it is like Revolutionized my life , you know .
So it's encouraging that , to think about the ripple effects and and what God does through no bodies for dummies , or at least one who's not here today . All right , friends , this podcast is brought to you by the starter kit . The starter kit contains 350 gospel tracks , million dollar bill , 10 commandments , coin Comic are you a good person ?
Small version and 101 of the world's funniest one liner is , if you're drowning , how would you call it help ? Oh , wait , we're trying that earlier . Why ?
don't stop that .
Why in the world Can I not do that ? Hmm , wait , let me try . I'm gonna try my best . Here we go .
Oh , this is why we need to bring Tony in . Tony do is .
I know , so right do it , do Donald that .
I can't do that's . I'm just too humble . No , it's really .
Mark , can you do that I ?
can't come near it . It's not anything like it .
Seriously , it's one of those things that I Don't know what you're doing . I don't always envy people who can do that . I don't you're pretty good though , wait , let me try again .
No , I was wrong . No , it sounds like that creature from Lord of the Rings .
I can do a golem reasonably and look like all yeah , it's through the Bibles . Anyway , friends , or don't forget the starter kit . It's really cool . The reason why I love the starter kit is because it's kind of a turnkey . I guess people started item yeah , it's got , it's got these great traps in it , ready to go for you to go and give it .
Give the gospel to lost people . So Do it , friends . All right , don't forget the living waters mug . Oh , the mugs , they've gone like hot cakes . So get your mug . I think we have the new version out now . I think which ? What is a new version ? That's his friends . Oh , it's all right , friends on it . I bet that's strange .
Yeah , you got to get it , france , don't forget the water's mug . The evidence study Bible hey guys , we just say the evidence study Bible , but hey , it's packed . In fact , mark , I think maybe the same pastor yesterday Told me he reads evidence Bible every day . He says he reads every note , he reads every , every single thing and he loves it . Are you ?
sure it was the same guy . This guy was six foot six for the hairy chest .
Six of the hairy chest raised , glorified body . And don't forget , friends , it's all living waters . Ah , oh , I feel sad all of a sudden . Living waterscom . I didn't even crack , ray filled in . Thank you , ray . Ah , oscar's not here , but the dummy is reminding us of him for sure .
All right , friends , today we are talking about lessons from the conversion of Cornelius , right ? Is this the time to take a picture of me ? I'm assuming this is Oscar . So yeah , the conversion of Cornelius . Um , mark , you're smiling .
Well , because when I first , when you first threw this our way right For those of you that don't know , easy comes up with the titles on the topics , for the most part humbly , our podcast humbly , and I thought that today's topic was on the centurion servant you didn't . I don't even know why . I don't wait . Wait , I mean I can read .
I don't know why it was conversion of Cornelius .
Yes , centurion Mark .
I don't know , because I just finished like studying and I was like so excited to get into it .
It's God's way of telling you not to mock old people , because you're waiting .
That's not what you prepared for . No , no .
But I waited a last second because I was waiting making those centurion .
Oh , mark , yeah , so the conversion of Cornelius Uh , this is man . This is a pretty Pivotal account in the New Testament , and it's pivotal because it's dealing with something that Was not yet common in the church era , and that is the conversion of the Gentiles .
Of course , we know God started out with , uh , you know , way back when , uh choosing Abraham , who would be the father of the Jewish nation , from Abraham to Isaac , from Isaac to Jacob , jacob , of course , of course , uh brought forth the 12 patriarchs and therefore you have the nation of Israel .
You know a lot of people don't realize it that Israel was Jacob's new name , given him by God . And , uh , I remember someone being like , oh , I didn't realize that .
And so whenever you hear Israel , you're , you're hearing about an individual , um , who was a promised Child that would bring forth the , the tribes of Israel , and from there , of course , the tribe of Judah and through the tribe of Judah , the messiah . Oh man , I love how , how meticulous God is , you know , in the way that he ordered history .
But , ray , this was a big deal . Uh , a lot of people don't realize this . You have a Jewish background , um , but you're willing to eat weiner schnitzel ?
Look , there really is my Jewish background , kind of didn't exist . No , I didn't go . I went to synagogue once wearing a Jesus badge and got steered at . And you got kicked out of synagogue in new york .
Oh yeah , so I've been to almost got kicked out of the first one because of that Jesus badge , but I did get kicked out of the second one because I'm out here to see , yeah , the rate .
Your mom never , ever went to synagogue .
No , she didn't know who Moses was . I'm not kidding , are you serious ? She didn't eat bacon or any pig , but that's about it .
That was that was important , but because but her family , seemed they weren't devout Jews , her family .
My grandfather was . His name was Solomon , and then there was Samuel .
And they had the names .
Beth , and yeah , yeah , but my mom just flinched against the whole thing because her dad died when she was young . He died in his 40s or something and just devastated the family and had a funeral and it was just . It left a horrible mark on my mom . Psalm 23 freaked her out because that's what they recited , because it reminded her of the death of a dad .
So there was nothing Jewish about her whatsoever , except pig no pig Family get mad when she married a Gentile yeah .
They did , they just own her . Yeah , and yes , definitely , wow , yeah .
So how old was she when her father passed ?
I don't know . But , young , yeah , yeah , like probably between 10 and 50 .
No idea , but , ray , you know . I am curious to know , though was there ? Was there enough of a Jewish population in New Zealand for , like Jews , to find someone to marry ?
Yes , we had heard of the Beatles , we wore shoes and we played sport , and we did have Jewish no Ray that's a legitimate question .
I mean , you know there was a synagogue in our city there was .
Yeah , big synagogue . Yeah , I don't know how many went to it .
Were the Jews typically like they are , typically Were they pretty successful .
And , yeah , my grandfather had his own business and , yeah , they were very hardworking .
Yeah , all right . So Cornelius , so Ray , take us into .
Excuse me , there's no devout Jews in our city . No one wore a black hat and Curly's no .
Orthodox Jews .
No , no , no not Laura comes from Curly's no Curly's , Curly's Curly Fry's . You know , Laura comes from a Jewish line and her grandma was in a Jewish retirement home and she would get us to smuggle bacon into her and she would cook bacon inside of her little thing and she'd put towels up against inside the door .
Are you serious ?
Yeah , so , the smells wouldn't go and I go , forget it . Bacon troubles . You're going to make all of these Jews backslide , oh , yeah , they smell bacon .
Can you imagine never eating bacon ? I went to a meeting once and they said we've never had such a turnout . This was a Saturday morning men's meeting . They had about 300 to 400 people . They said it's never been like this before , wasn't you ? Today we had bacon for the first time .
You know , I remember when we were in Israel , I went to McDonald's and they do not serve cheeseburgers because of the Old Testament dietary law . You know the Nothing no cheeseburgers . No , they don't put cheese with the meat .
It's very common for restaurants like that , mcdonald's , to have two different lines right , two different sections , with like a divider down the middle one that's kosher , one that's .
Really it's in New York or in Israel ? I didn't know that .
Israel . Yeah , you think Cornelius had cauliflower here .
Why do you say that ? Cornelius the Collie , claremont , I'd say he ate cereal or anything like that .
So , Ray , take us into that , that the conversion of Gentiles . Why was that such a big deal , given the history of the Jews ?
Well , it shouldn't have been a big deal because the promise of the Holy Spirit was it'd be poured out . He would be poured out on all flesh . Joel said that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all flesh and that's what happened on the day of Pentecost . And grace isn't confined to ethnicity , can't be , it's got to go universal . And that's what happened .
And we see that happen with Cornelius , and I find this whole Cornelius thing studying this morning and last night to be very encouraging . When it comes to evangelism , yeah , because Cornelius called his friends Friends . He called his friends and family , close friends and family . He didn't confine the good news of the gospel just to himself .
And that's how we should be . First thing I had when I became a Christian was a deep concern for my family , overwhelming concern , and then for my friends , and then for people I didn't know . And so we've all got people we don't know that we should take the gospel to Like there's 8 billion people out there .
Ray , I'm glad you pointed out that the promise for salvation to reach all people is in the Old Testament . In fact , it goes back to Genesis . Genesis 12 , 15 , god spoke to Abraham in you , all the nations of the earth shall be blessed .
And then , in Galatians , paul gives a commentary on that in your seed , speaking of Christ , all the nations of the earth will be blessed . And we saw God fulfill that . But , mark , there was a real arrogance on the part of Jews , and still is to some degree in some circles regarding Gentiles , where it's like they're seen as dogs in a sense .
Yeah , and that's what we see in John , chapter 4 , with the woman at the well , we're going to get into that in a couple of weeks or next week or something . But yeah , the Jews and the Gentiles , they didn't have any interaction whatsoever . And you just brought up an interesting text from the Old Testament . I'm curious how did the Jews relate that ?
How do they interpret that ? What do they mean when they see that , when they come across that , do they just think that it's not for everybody ? Like you talked to a Jew today that think , well , I'm saved because I'm a descendant of Abraham , isaac and Jacob , that they're ,
¶ Jews, Gentiles, and Conversion of Cornelius
I get the pass and I'm able to perhaps do whatever I want to do , and perhaps Yom Kippur , the day of atonement , doesn't really affect me . I don't have to offer up a sacrifice for my sins .
But yeah , there is definitely a budding of the heads between the Jews and the Gentiles , because Gentiles are an unclean thing , and so what we see here with Cornelius is that God is opening it up through both the vision and the visit . The vision we see where Peter says Peter's told rise , kill and eat . And so well , no , I can't do this .
No , unclean meat has touched my lips or something along that effect , and what God is doing . He's recognizing and he's breaking down the walls that the gospel message is for anybody and everybody . But this also points out something else that God has no grandchildren , it's been said , only sons and daughters . I love that , I've always loved that saying .
And Cornelius , he was a devout man , he was a religious man , but he wasn't born again , right , so you must be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven . And so God's love extended even to the Gentiles . And then we'd see that the apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles , though he had a heart for the Jews .
Yeah , Speaking of the conversion of Cornelius , should you give us a synopsis of chapter 10 ?
Yeah , so what I'd like to do is I'd like to go through the chapter . We'll summarize some portions , but we'll read full portions as well . So let's start out with Acts 10 , 1-8 .
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius , a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment , a devout man and one who feared God with all his household , who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always About the ninth hour of the day . He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him , cornelius .
And when he observed him he was afraid and said what is it , lord ? So he said to him your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God . Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon , whose surname is Peter . He is lodging with Simon , a tanner whose house is by the sea . He will tell you what you must do .
And when the angel who spoke to him had departed , cornelius called two of his household , servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually . So when he had explained all these things to them , he sent them to Joppa .
So yeah , so at the outset we see , as Mark referenced earlier , that this centurion Cornelius had obviously been to some degree impacted by the Judaism that was around him , and the reason why Judaism was around him was because , of course , israel was under Roman occupation and so there was interaction , as they oversaw the Jewish people and interacted with them , and
so obviously , this was a man who feared God . So , ray , how would you explain that he wasn't saved , like Mark said ? Obviously that's why this whole thing took place , but what's it mean that he feared God ?
Well , firstly , I can't get over that his house was by the sea . Why does Scripture tell us that his house was by the sea ? He was into surfing , I don't know . My house was by the sea when I was a young person . But , yeah , it seems amazing that this man was a Roman centurion , 100 soldiers underneath him .
He was greatly respected , probably obviously by the Romans and by the Jews , and he was devout and he feared God . That word devout is used to describe the Jews on the day of Pentecost . They were devout men from every nation under heaven . That word devout means grassed hold of . Well , oh , I love that . Yeah , and that's what Cornelius did .
He grasped hold of what he had heard from the Jews , well , and it had produced a fear of God , which is the beginning of wisdom . All his good works , all his giving of arms mean nothing and so many people trust in that . We're saved by the grace of God through faith , without works and not of yourselves . But he feared God
¶ Fear of God and Salvation Message
and it seems that God , well , he loves those that fear him . If you read Psalms and Proverbs actually all over Scripture , I cannot believe it sometimes when some Christians say what are you preaching ? The fear of God for , and God doesn't want us to fear . Well , read all the promises . You know God has mercy on those that fear him .
And we see that happening with Cornelius . God says in the Old Testament you seek me , or surely find me if you search for me with your whole heart . And that's what Cornelius was like Someone who feared God , was devout , understood the law , obviously , and he was seeking after God .
And there are millions like that out there waiting for Peter's to come to them , and you and I are the Peter's . Oh , I love that right .
You know , the question is often asked how is somebody saved in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament ? Is somebody saved in the Old Testament ? And the answer is very simple here . Right that somebody saved in the Old Testament , the same way they're saved in the New Testament . They're saved by looking to the Messiah to remove their sins .
So here we have Cornelius , who was a development , who looked forward to the Messiah to come . So when the Messiah came , when he was revealed to him , then he was ready to be born again . So remember that there is no difference . They're not saved in the Old Testament , differently than they're saved in the New Testament .
So the Old Testament hey , the Messiah is to come . The Old Testament and the New Testament the Messiah came and this is who he is .
Yeah , I wonder what that would have been like for Cornelius . You know he's doing his daily prayers , he's going about his life and I think this is a good point to make , in that we've touched on it before but God does not really hear the prayer of the unsaved in the same way he hears the prayer of his people . That's right .
And yet God is sovereign enough to take notice of someone in whose heart he's working right , Cause we know salvation is of the Lord and God obviously had begun to do something within Cornelius to give him an awareness of the reality of God . But this is a good case in point again , that there is salvation and no other name .
There's no name given under heaven by which we must be saved . And , Ray , this is something I'd like for you to touch on briefly . You know , a lot of people have this perception that because someone is a Jew , that they must be going to heaven , and oftentimes I think certain people are almost not evangelized .
Oh , they're a Jew , they believe in God , they're God's chosen people . We need to be careful of that , don't we ?
Oh yes , I've witnessed to a lot of Jews and I've found that , just like every other person , they're trusting in their own self-righteousness , trusting in their own works . They have a measure of a belief in God , but their Judaism is very , very shallow compared to what we see in the Old Testament , the committed Jews there .
We're living in a day in which people have a form of godliness , but they deny the power thereof , and that spreads right over to Judaism too . It's caught up in tradition . So what we have to do is say so , you're a Jew . Pay a doom with the law of Moses and bring it right back to the law , because that's the essence of everything .
That's what helps them understand that God sent a Messiah . He sent a lamb , a perfect lamb . John the Baptist said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world . He takes it away , doesn't ?
it , it's covered . Yeah , and look , there are some guys that are really respected in conservative circles , who say a lot of great things . But , ray , you've even taken them to task in some of our videos Dennis Prager , I think , ben Shapiro and they've interfaced with some solid Christians . I mean especially Ben Shapiro .
He's had John MacArthur on , he's had Vodibhachaman and others .
Jordan Peterson .
Oh , Jordan Peterson . Yeah , I'm hoping one day he'll have you on .
Oh , I would absolutely give my right pinky to speak to Ben Shapiro .
What about your left one ? Because why ?
he needs is to be confronted in his conscience , addressed . Most people go in there and do apologetics or just have some intellectual conversation , but someone needs to say to him you call yourself a Jew and you blaspheme the name of the God that gave you life . Because he continually does that ? The guy . Have you ever tried to listen to him on double speed ?
It's impossible .
Do not do that .
He's already on triple speed .
Absolutely the guy he's brilliant and that's a stumbling block . Pride obviously comes in there , as with all of us . As far as half as intelligent as him , I'd be popped up with pride . But the guy needs the Lord . Because he's so influential , so many people listen to him , so many Christians listen to him .
Yeah , and let's pray that he'd be a Cornelius , that he'd finally listen to solid guys like MacArthur and Vodibachem and others that he's had on . He'll have others on , like you said , mark Jordan Peterson , who is in a Christian , obviously , but so many ideas floating around why ?
don't we get Jordan Peterson and Shapiro in here ? Yeah , on at our table and just bring them .
I would love that . I'd love that . I know people have recommended you to Shapiro because he has a lot of guests on .
I'm sure , one of his researchers called me a few years ago and said she was trying her best .
Yeah , I'm sure he'll have you on before long . All right , so let's continue . So these servants are sent out from Cornelius to go to Joppa and to seek out Peter on the basis of this vision . So we pick it up in verse nine of chapter 10 .
The next day , as they went on their journey and drew near the city , peter went up on the house top to pray about the sixth hour . Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat .
But while they made ready , he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet , bound at the four corners , descending to him and let down to the earth . In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth , wild bees , creeping things and birds of the air . And a voice came to him rise Peter , kill and eat .
But Peter said not so , lord , for I have never eaten anything common or unclean . And a voice spoke to him again the second time what God has cleansed , you must not call common .
Such an irony that Peter was called Peter P-E-T-A , and this is all about you .
And I love it . He became very hungry and as he's very hungry , the Lord gives him a vision of food , right , and I wonder . I was thinking about it like what's Peter thinking here ? Cause God is telling him rise , peter , kill and eat . Peter was starving , I mean very hungry . That's indicative of like he's famished .
And I bet he's thinking boy , that looks really good right now . I would . I've never eaten . I bet it tastes delicious , but yet he responds not so , lord , mark , par for the course with Peter , isn't it Always like Put in his fitness mouth , yeah , rebuking God , not so Lord , god Almighty is telling you nope , nope .
Right , yeah , the amount of transfiguration . When he says let's build a tent , yeah , it's like God saying , pipe down .
Pete , yeah . Or when Jesus talked about going to the cross . Not so , lord , yeah .
Yeah , not knowing listen . A lot of times when we don't know what to say , we end up just saying something to kind of feel the air . But it would do us well if we slowed down and just listen to what's happening around us . I have a lot to say right now , but I want to be slow to speak .
Yeah , no , it's so true . You know that element of rushing into things . Ray knows nothing about this . You know rushing into things .
You sure ?
Ray's not rushing . Is that a Kiwi ? Yeah , Ray , that would have been fitting for you to be Russian .
Yes . I like the name . I've always said lightning's my favorite thing . I like doing things quickly .
So , ray , this whole vision that God gave Peter , what is he conveying to him here through food ?
McDonald's is coming . One . That portion you read I love , where the angel said he will tell you what you must do . The angel didn't tell him what he must do . God chose the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe . God has chosen human vessels to reach humanity . How will they hear without a preacher ?
So here we have an angel who could have given the gospel like that didn't . He says you go and listen to Peter and he'll tell you what you must do .
Wow , yeah , and Mark , God was obviously preparing Peter for what was to come .
Yeah , our whole life is preparatory for what is to come , and this is why we don't despise the day of small things , because there's no such thing as a small thing . Thank you , wow , that is quick .
You're big Ray .
Yeah , thank you . You know God has you know . Before I became a Christian I thought I was going to heaven because I believed in God . Just I don't want to upset the man upstairs was kind of my motto .
Is this when you were planning to steal jeans ?
Yeah , of course I still believed in God .
I still don't believe you . You were gonna pull that off , Mark . That's crazy .
Isn't that crazy ? Yeah , but we have to remember that going to church doesn't make you a Christian , as it's been said .
I knew this is coming . Going to McDonald's make you a Big Mac , or sitting in a garage makes you a car .
Or , like my family , we're big Minnesota Viking football fans . Right , we just go crazy over the Minnesota Vikings . But if I dressed up in a Minnesota Viking uniform and I tried to get down there on the field to play with the team , not only would I get destroyed , but I'd get arrested for doing so because I'm an imposter .
Yeah Right , so we need to be careful with this lip service that we're giving to God . So here's Peter being prepped for what is to come . And then Peter begins to say not so , Lord . Put those words together , right ? Not so my master , who I'll do anything for .
Not so , rabbi , leader , who's my greatest teacher , who I've learned everything from and I'll do whatever you say . Not so , lord . We cannot put all of those words together . When God tells us to do something , we do it without hesitation . We move forward , amen .
Yeah , and Peter's sitting here and he's , I think he's like am I really getting a vision from God right now ? Because this was contrary to everything he had ever known or understood .
And basically God was preparing him for Cornelius coming , because it's likely he wouldn't have even received him had he come , because what , I'm not gonna go to a Gentiles house , right , that involved close association , that involved eating , right , and it's unthinkable .
And so the Lord was preparing him to tell him hey , look , basically I want you to understand the full scope of my universal plan for the world , the gospel .
That's an interesting thought . The disciples knew that Jesus mingled with low lives , if I can put it that way . Couldn't they transfer that over to Gentiles ? Were Gentiles worse than the sinners and prostitutes that Jesus ate meals with ?
Well , in the eyes of Jews and those who were self-righteous yeah , Gentiles , I mean , I think there was the prayer God , thank you that I'm not a woman , a Gentile or a dog . Yeah , there you go . Right , Was that a good memory ?
It might have been a dog . Do you remember how we were treated when I was kicked out of that synagogue by the Jews in New York ? They got our camera gear and put it in the trash . No , yeah .
Are you ?
serious . Yeah , yeah , they didn't want to touch it , you dirty Gentile . We left something that was quite valuable there and we went back to get it and there it was it was in the trash , wow .
I like the way JD Greer confronts what's happening here with Peter and he calls it racism . Right , and he says when the Holy Spirit confronted Peter's racism , he didn't just command him to quit looking down on other races , he commanded Peter to embrace Cornelius , to go in and to eat with him , which is a very intimate thing to do .
Peter did not go from racist to non-racist , he went from racist to graces .
I love that . Yeah , and look , we can't forget that Peter still struggled with this later . Remember , in Galatians , chapter 2 , when Paul confronted him .
I remember that , Mark .
He said now , when Peter had come to Antioch , I would stood him to his face because he was to be blamed for before certain men came from James . He would eat with the Gentiles . But when they came , he withdrew himself and I mean it got . He confronted him to his face and Paul gave him a lecture there .
If you're being Jews living in the manor , gentiles , why did he come ? Gentiles who do that , and it was like whoa heavy .
So Peter , had he didn't just talk to him published at the world's biggest selling book of all time , right which shows the authenticity of scripture that one of its heroes is shown in his real life .
Even
¶ Peter Confronts Peter in Antioch
Peter's denial of Christ right , that was shown as well . Peter had passion , but we see that even the greatest have weaknesses and it's tied up in the fear of man . That's what it was , all right . So basically , then the Cornelius guys arrive at Simon the Tanner's house in Joppa where Peter was staying . They tell Peter about Cornelius and the whole vision .
They invite him to go with them to Caesarea . They stay the night at Simon the Tanner's . The next day they get up they leave for Caesarea . So we pick it up and versus 24 to 29 says in the following day they entered Caesarea . Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends . As Peter was coming in .
Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him . But Peter lifted him up saying stand up . I myself am also a man . And as he talked with him he went in and found many who had come together .
Then he said to them you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or to go to one of another nation , but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean . Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for . I asked them for what reason have you sent for me ?
And the only thing that Ray Comfort is thinking about , right , now is his first 26 . How glad he is that Peter said stand up , I'm just the main Explain that though .
Well , I was thinking that it's happened a couple of times . I was preaching in a large church and my notes fell off the pulpit . So the pastor was on the front row , come running up , now down to pick up my notes , and I said , stand up , I'm just a man and it just . It was just an uproar .
Ray , was that the first time you ever said that ?
No , I'd used it before . I've used it like it's in our store , oh yeah . But , um , it was , it was perfect timing and almost maybe want to push my notes off the platform , off the pulpit every time I spoke , so I could do it again .
What do you mean ? That it's in our store ? People don't understand that . Yeah , explain that , Ray .
Oh wow , I might ruin it for some . Anyway , we've got this picture that's down at foot level . It's a picture of me and underneath it's some very small writing , probably nine point , which is very small , and the only way you can read it is kneel down in front of the picture of me and they read it Stand up , I'm just a man .
And it's so funny when you get six or seven people all kneeling down in front of a picture of me and they read stand up , I'm just a man .
Ray comfort . So here it is , guys . So Peter arrives , Cornelius , you know , opens up to him , and Peter comes in , and and he just lets him know , man , I'm only here because God told me to be here . I would not be here had it not been for God revealing .
Jonah . So that's a bit of a slap in the face , isn't it ? To Cornelius yeah , as far as I'm concerned you're unclean , but God says I've got to be here , so I'm here .
Here I am Again putting this foot in his mouth .
No , tact you know , listen , this is very interesting , right , because we see a similar example with Jonah , right , and we also perhaps I'm going to throw this out there see this with the rich young ruler , right , just a reluctance . Remember , when the rich young ruler comes to Jesus , what must I do to inherit eternal life ?
And then Jesus goes through the commandments and then he finally says go , sell all you have , give to the poor and follow me . And this is that . He went away , sad , but we don't know what he did . It doesn't tell us what happened after that . He could very well have went and sold his possessions at that point , but we just don't know .
But we do know , as we see inside scripture and this is a very good example , that oftentimes
¶ The Conversion of Cornelius and Peter
God will tell us to do something and we're at war , we're fighting with it . It doesn't mean we're not going to do with it , but , but we need to come to the end of ourselves . And I'd like to perhaps give benefit of the doubt to the rich young ruler hoping that he did that .
But I'll say this that it's okay to be put in uncomfortable positions and situations and just simply say , as Peter did when he was sinking in the water Lord , help me , help me , I believe , help my unbelief .
Well , it's such a good point because often I think some of those nastiest Pharisees that really railed upon Jesus could have been in the front row on the day of Pentecost .
Wow , that's right . Yeah , and Ray , how cool that he called together his relatives and close friends . I mean , he was like okay , this is something , something's happening here , right , and and also that Peter . I think our Catholic friends could learn from this Peter telling them stand up .
I'm just a man , I mean , we're joking about it , but but there's a seriousness there . You know , no one who truly loves and fears God would want someone bowing before them , and especially their statue , their image , which God forbade strictly .
Even angels said don't bow down . Exactly .
Yeah , so all right . So so he gathers them all together and and Peter says therefore , I come without objection as soon as I was sent for . I ask then for what reason have you sent for me so give me the low , then why am I here right now ?
And so Cornelius recounts the whole story , form basically in verses 30 through 33 , and we pick it up in verse 34 . And Peter opened his mouth and said in truth , I perceive that God shows no partiality , but in every nation , whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him .
The word which God sent to the children of Israel , preaching peace through Jesus Christ , he is Lord of all , the word you know , which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached , how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power , who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by
the devil . For God was with him , and we are witnesses of all things which he did , both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem , whom they killed by hanging on a tree .
Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly , not to all the people , but to witnesses chosen before by God , even to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead , and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judged the living and the dead To him .
All the prophets witnessed that , through his name , whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins .
What a promise Is that highlighted inside your Bibles ? Because if it's not , it needs to be Amen .
Yeah , ray , how powerful this is the gospel going forth and the fact that Peter referenced the importance of remission of sins , because that's what Cornelius didn't have . Yeah , he may have been devout , he may have had a fear of God , but what he needed was remission of sin .
Yeah , often I was mystified when it speaks of Jesus . Right the beginning . I think of Luke , where it says he shall save His people from their sins Doesn't say from hell , but from their sins . And it's our sins that lead us to hell . It's the sins that cause death and it's our sins that we need to be saved from . Sin isn't a friend , it's an enemy .
I love it that here we have , with Cornelius , a mini day of Pentecost . We saw what we saw in the beginning when God gave us Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost . Peter makes reference to it and the reason the Holy Spirit was given the day of Pentecost was but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you should be my witnesses .
And that's the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming upon us to enable us to be witnesses of Christ , to go into this world and share the gospel with every creature . Wow .
Yeah , and Mark Peter here just lets loose . I mean the progression , right ? I mean he comes to realize through the vision okay , something's going on here . I'm being informed by God that there's something I perceive to be unclean , that he's now calling clean . And then they come , he agrees to go with them . That's progression .
He arrives , he says okay , I'm here , here's why , why am I here ? Then they tell him , and then now he lets loose with the gospel . And I love that , to get to a place where our tongues are free and loose and ready to proclaim truth , knowing that , even though this was overtly divine , every encounter with an unbeliever is divine , isn't it ?
I couldn't have said that better myself . I love it . I just wanted to keep hearing you speak . Oh man , you know , I mean that is absolutely right . That's what happens Oftentimes when we take people out witnessing and they say , listen , I don't want to say anything , I just want to listen .
But a Christian who is provoked , knowing that he needs to go out witnessing , when he begins to hear the gospel preached or Christ mocked from the other side , that it wells up inside of them that they cannot help but speak of the things that they have learned and experienced from God .
We see it in Peter and we see it in the life of us and in new believers as well . So you want to have that vigor , come back , go out , step out on a limb and share the gospel with somebody today .
Amen , amen , all right . The conclusion of the story versus 44 to 48 .
While Peter was still speaking these words , the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter , because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also , for they heard them speak with tongues and magnifying God . Then Peter answered can anyone forbid water ?
That these should not be baptized , who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have , and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord . Then they asked him to stay a few days .
They spoke in tongues . Can you imagine in Genesis 11 , when everything was kind of dispersed and then , because everybody's speaking a different language , do you think there's one person who was there speaking ? But now they're speaking sign language ? Rapidly go on board . That would have been interesting .
Sorry , yeah , no , but Ray , how powerful is this ? I think you put it well a many day of Pentecost , right , but this is now with the Jews , whereas on the day Pentecost this was Gentiles , on the day behind us it was with Jews . But how phenomenal this is , and it says that the Jews that were with Peter were astonished , like what , what ?
Boy , that shows the pride of your heart . They shouldn't have been astonished . They should have said this is just wonderful that God loves these people . We see , god resists the proud and gives grace to the humble . In action . Here that's what's happening God spills out upon those that are humble . He doesn't resist them , he gives them grace .
I think it's so important here that these Gentiles were saved before they were baptized in water . They were fully saved , which shows it's salvation is by grace and that not of yourselves .
Water baptism is a step of obedience , but it's not a central thief on the cross and so many others , someone who's terminal that dying in hospital , find a place of true repentance . They can't get totally immersed in their last .
Such a huge misunderstanding of what baptism is really all about . And look , this problem . I like what you said , ray . They should have been rejoicing , just in the same way that when the religious leaders heard that Jesus rose from the dead . When the centurions gave testimony , instead of going whoa , they paid them off to lie .
Same thing with when Lazarus was raised from the dead . You would have think they would have rejoiced and they wanted to kill , kill . You know like it's crazy . And so we need to look and recognize that even in Acts 15 , again , peter had to defend this because they were frustrated with him . Why did you go to the Gentiles ?
And he had to lay it all out and he said God saved them in the same way he did us . And , like you said , this gives evidence that no , we're saved by grace . Who faith ? Baptism doesn't save you . They were baptized after they received the spirit and were converted . And , friends , I hope that you're encouraged today again to preach the gospel .
You know , ray , mark and I were at a church last night . We were showing the what is it Movie and the pastor was interviewing us and I told people about that account when you were about to get up to preach the gospel in Christchurch and it was a windy day Not really worth preaching the gospel today and that Bible page flew up to you .
You looked at it and it was really a science-exceeding . Woe to me if I preach nothing , gospel I mean Ray . That was such a powerful moment .
Yeah , it blew me away . Well , I didn't mean to even say that , but I did . I looked down at the page number a piece of paper floating across in a windy day and I'm the one that finds it and it's , I think , page 1152 out of someone's Bible , and it said woe unto me if I preach not the gospel .
And I just said I'm not going to bother preaching the gospel . There's only 20 minutes till this rock band sets up . And I got up and preached and it's that's remained with me . The urgency how many podcasts have we recorded ? We're getting close to 250 . 250 . This has been a first . Today it's been Oscalus .
An Oscar-less podcast , Rejoice . But boy , I do miss Oscar and we're excited to get him back here . But , friends , look , we want to encourage you to preach the gospel . Be an instrument in the hand of God . Let him use you . Look , we talk about a lot of things as a ministry , but don't ever forget our true heartbeat .
As a ministry , Our main vision is to inspire and equip you to fulfill the great commission , and so heed those words in 1 Corinthians 9.16 and say to yourself woe unto me if I preach not the gospel . You were saved through it . How could you not tell others how they also can be saved ? So make sure to do that . And to do that , remember the starter kit .
Don't forget to check it out with the Living Waters Mug , the Adventist Study Bible , all livingwaterscom . Thanks for joining us friends . This was exciting and fun Podcasts at livingwaterscom . Don't forget to give us your rating and comments and all that good stuff on whatever platform it was going to be . We're joining us friends .
We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast , where we have no idea especially with Oscar not being here what we're doing .