We want to welcome you to Big Valley Grace Community Church. My name is Joel, and I would love to meet you. In fact, after the gathering today, right around the corner here, I am hosting an event with our team called Discover BVG, and I would love to meet you. The event is for people who are new. So maybe one time, maybe five times, maybe ten times, maybe you’ve been coming for a few months and you’re trying to navigate Big Valley Grace Community Church as a church. We want you to know that we want to meet you and we want to get connected with you, and Discover BVG is for you. So right after this gathering, I hope to see you and any of your friends that you want to bring. We’re going to have a great time together.

It was a couple weeks ago, I was at an event in downtown Modesto and someone found out that I was a pastor at dinner. So then they came and got me and said, “Hey, I got a question for you, Pastor. There’s just something I’ve got to know. Why are there so many different churches? Why can’t there just be one church and all of the churches be exactly the same?”

I said, “Well, that’s a good question. That’s a big question. Earth’s a pretty big place.” The bottom line that’s important is that you get into a church that is teaching God’s Word. God’s Word is the standard for the church. We come together in faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, God, and Savior from our sin, and we teach His Word. So you need to be at a church that teaches God’s Word.

When people come around God’s Word in their salvation in Jesus Christ, it forms a fellowship—a fellowship of believers in a local area who are coming together to worship Jesus and obey His Word. Each fellowship tends to look like the people who make it up, and each fellowship is going to be a little different because of where it is and what’s going on in those people’s lives.

But I said, “This is what I want to challenge you to do. Go to church. Find a church that teaches God’s Word, and find how you will get to be a part of the fellowship of believers who are coming to worship Jesus Christ in a church that’s exalting Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father, so that you can find where you belong. Go to church.”

If you’re here and you’ve got questions about church, you’re in the right place. It’s okay to have questions. Questions are all right, and we’re glad that you’re here. We think that God is going to help you answer the questions that you need to have answered. So if church is big and confusing and maybe there are a bunch of things you don’t understand, we’re so glad you’re here. Welcome. You’re in the right place.

Today we continue in the study through the book of Acts. In July and August, we studied through chapters 1 through 10. Then we took September and focused on the end of chapter 2, really casting vision for our church for the next five years. Now we’re getting back into the book of Acts and going through it. We’re in chapter 11. Lord willing, by the end of November we’ll be about at chapter 15.

So if you have a Bible, take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 11. If you don’t have a Bible, we want to give you one today. Come to the prayer room after the gathering. We have Bibles in there. It’ll be a gift to you, no cost to you. We want to make sure everyone has a copy of God’s Word.

In Acts 11:1–18, Peter returns to Jerusalem after the Gentiles have received the Word of God. Some Jewish believers criticize him for entering the homes of uncircumcised Gentiles and eating with them. Peter explains how God gave him a vision teaching him not to call impure what God had made clean. The Holy Spirit then directed him to go with the men who had come for him. When Peter entered the Gentile household and began speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon them just as He had upon the Jewish believers. Peter recognized that God had given them the same gift and concluded that he could not stand in God’s way. Hearing this, the believers praised God and recognized that God had granted the Gentiles repentance that leads to life.

Let’s pray together. Father God, Lord, we thank You for Your Word. God, we ask for Your Word to be the loudest voice in the room. Would the Holy Spirit of God be at work in us to guide us to Your truth and to guide us to repentance and obedience? Lord, would You do a transformational work in us right here, right now? God, we want You to work. We want to see You work. We believe You are working in our church. God, we honor You. We praise You. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Last week in our worship gatherings, I sensed that God was doing something very special in our church. I sensed that God was moving people in our church, and I came out of the weekend gatherings very expectant for what God is going to do this weekend. I’ve had a number of people praying with me toward this weekend.

What this passage describes is incredibly significant. If this passage didn’t describe what it describes, the majority of us would not be in the room, because this passage describes how the gospel of Jesus Christ came not only to people who were Jewish, but also to non-Jews. That’s what the word Gentile means.

The gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ came to those outside the Jewish people and outside the nation of Israel—to people called Gentiles. God would give a gift: that we would be able to repent of our sin and know Jesus Christ as our Lord, God, and Savior. We’ve been praying for what God is going to be doing at work right here, right now.

As I teach through this, you will hear me saying that I believe God is at work, because I do. I believe He’s going to do something today. You may not have come here today thinking that you would experience God moving in your life. You may be surprised today to discover what God has planned. But I believe God is at work. I believe He is going to do something, and that we will see what He is doing.

The main idea for this text for us today is that repentance, not religion, leads to life. Repentance, not religion, leads to life. Acts 11 tells us that God granted the Gentiles repentance that leads to life. Because I believe God is at work in our church, I believe someone is going to find life today. Someone is going to find life in Jesus Christ.

When we talk about the Scriptures, we can converse about the Scriptures in many ways. Let me share three ways. One is that we can talk about things that are so essential to our faith that we’d be willing to die for them. They matter so much that we’d be willing to die. We can also talk about things in Scripture that we have great conviction about, even though there may still be things we’re not completely sure about, and we’d say, “We’d be willing to defend that.”

Then there are places in Scripture where we’ve got a lot of questions and people who love the Lord see things differently. We’d say, “Hey, can we discuss that?” There are things I would die for, things I’m going to defend, and things where we can have a discussion.

Well, the text we’re looking at today is absolutely core and essential to our faith. If you go to our website and look up our statement of faith, you’re going to read the things we’d say we would die for. These things are absolute non-negotiables. They are core and essential to our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, God, and Savior of our sin.

One of those is the salvation of man. This text clearly explains how we as Gentiles have been given salvation by Jesus—God’s good plan to extend salvation beyond the Jews. I’m so thankful for it. If we didn’t have this truth, I would not be here talking to you today about salvation in Jesus because I wouldn’t have it. I’m so grateful as a Gentile that salvation came to me. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to repent of my sin and trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord, God, and Savior. I’m excited for some others to have that as well today.

In Acts 11:1, the apostles and believers throughout Judea hear that the Gentiles have also received the Word of God. These are Jewish believers who had come to faith in Jesus Christ, disciples of Jesus who are hearing that the Word of God is going outside Jerusalem, outside Judea, and outside the Jewish people. People who are not Jewish are hearing the Word of God.

Then Peter, the Apostle Peter, goes up to Jerusalem, and the circumcision group criticizes him because he went into the homes of uncircumcised men and ate with them. Up until now in the book of Acts, we’ve seen a lot of opposition coming from outside the church. Here we’re beginning to see issues arise among people who are believers trusting in Jesus, but they don’t have it all figured out yet. They’re trying to understand, “What is God doing? What is this new thing God is doing?” They have questions and they’re confused.

Often, when we don’t understand what God is up to, we criticize it. They’re criticizing what they see God doing. They criticize what they see Peter doing because they don’t believe it’s good. They’re essentially saying, “You went to uncircumcised men. Those are people outside of us, and you ate with them. That’s outside the boundary of what we do as conservative lawkeepers. You’re going outside of keeping the law.”

Remember, the big idea for today is repentance, not religion, leads to life.

Number one is religion criticizes righteousness. Righteousness is the right thing and doing the right thing. It’s the truth and living by the truth. That is righteousness. What religion does is criticize righteousness. Because I believe God is at work in our church today, I believe someone is going to find righteousness today in Jesus Christ. Someone is going to find the truth today in Jesus Christ.

Religion takes our personal experience and uses our personal experience to try to define and explain God. That’s backwards, because God is actually the One who defines and explains us. When we operate out of religion, we start with ourselves trying to make our way to God, as opposed to the starting point being God and Him making His way to us. Religion always ends up opposing the truth.

Here in this text, we see that religion restricts who’s invited to the table of fellowship. They’re upset that the table of fellowship invited somebody who, in their minds, shouldn’t be there. Peter went to uncircumcised men. They’re upset because of what they see as a violation of the Jewish purity laws. They’re essentially saying, “You were in unclean territory and you were with unclean company. You’re hanging out with the wrong people, and it’s making you unclean.”

Religion restricts who’s invited to the table of fellowship. Religion is also offended by expanding the table of fellowship. Peter ate with them. It’s bad enough, in their minds, that he’s hanging out with the wrong people, but now the same food that’s going into them is going into him. They’re connected because they shared a meal together.

Religion is very offended by expanding the table of fellowship. Religion criticizes righteousness. Wrong people, wrong food—this is a mess. So they’re criticizing the Apostle Peter. He’s doing what God has asked him to do, and they’re criticizing him because they don’t understand it.

Peter begins explaining what happened. He had been in Joppa praying when God gave him a vision. Something like a large sheet was being lowered from heaven by its four corners. Peter looked closely and saw all kinds of animals, and then he heard the Lord command him to get up, kill, and eat.

That’s a problem for Peter because there are things on that sheet he understands that he’s not supposed to eat. He essentially says, “No, Lord. I can’t do that. There are forbidden and unclean things there. I’ve never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

But God corrects him: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” — NIV

You think you know what is unclean, but you’re missing what God has called clean. He’s made it clean. So be very careful about calling common or unclean that which God has made clean. This happens three times, and then everything is taken back into heaven.

Remember, Peter is explaining this to a group of Jews who are criticizing him. “You went to the Gentiles. You ate with them.” Peter’s saying, “Let me tell you about this vision I had. God told me to do something I didn’t think I was supposed to do, and God corrected me.”

This is a picture of what happens when we walk in fellowship with other believers. Questions are going to come up. People are going to have questions, and there are going to be conversations. We’re going to have to explain some things to one another as we’re walking with the Lord.

Remember, we’re looking at the big picture: repentance, not religion, leads to life.

Number two is God’s Word orders our faith.

Peter began and explained it to them in order. God’s Word orders our faith. Because I believe God is at work in our church, I believe someone is going to discover faith in Jesus Christ today.

Let me tell you something. My opinion really doesn’t matter. My opinion is irrelevant. What matters is God’s Word.

God’s Word is the standard of truth. Our church is not built on my opinion. Our church is built on God’s Word. God’s Word orders our faith, and God’s Word is how we share our testimony. When we talk about what God is doing in our life, we use His Word to explain what God is doing in our life. That’s what the Apostle Peter is doing.

He’s saying, “I had a vision. Something like a sheet came down, there were animals on it, and God told me to rise up, kill, and eat. I was like, ‘No way, God. I don’t do that.’” He’s hearing the voice of the Lord giving him direction. He’s praying, and God shows him a vision.

God’s Word is how we share our testimony. God’s Word to us describes God’s will for us. Peter heard God speak to him so that he would know the command of God.

Now, he doesn’t want to obey it at first. Can anybody else relate? You hear the Word of God and you’re like, “No, I don’t know that I actually want to do that. I don’t know, God, that I actually want to obey Your Word.” Peter hears what God wants him to do, and his first response is essentially, “No thank You, Lord. I don’t think I want to do that.” His first response is disobedience.

But God’s Word also corrects our false understandings. God answers Peter a second time. Why did He have to answer a second time? Because Peter didn’t listen the first time.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Can anybody relate? If that is our experience as humans, what do you think God’s experience is dealing with us?

I’m so grateful God doesn’t stop at one. He gives His Word. He gives His Word. He gives His Word. I’m so grateful that God answers again.

Peter’s problem here is that he’s focusing on his own personal experience. We need not focus on our personal experience; we need to focus on God and His Word. Peter’s essentially saying, “I’ve never eaten anything like this, so my personal experience says I can’t do what You’re asking me to do, God.”

But God is saying, “Don’t focus on your personal experience. Focus on My Word. I’m telling you to do something. I’m asking you to do something.”

God’s Word reminds us repeatedly to obey. This happened three times. Over and over and over, the same thing happens.

God graciously gives us opportunities—plural—to follow Him. God gives us an opportunity and grace to follow Him. God gives us another opportunity and grace to follow Him. God gives us another opportunity and grace to follow Him.

Church family, I am so grateful that God gave me opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to hear His Word, so that I might have an opportunity to respond, humble myself, and obey. I wish it would have only taken three times. It took years before I was like, “Oh, okay, God. I’m understanding what You’ve been trying to tell me this whole time.”

It is so gracious of God not to give up on us the first time, not to give up on us the second time, not to give up on us the third, but to graciously give us opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. I think God’s going to give somebody an opportunity today. Somebody’s going to have an opportunity today. I believe it’s going to happen. God’s Word orders our faith.

At that very moment, three men arrive at the house from Caesarea, and the Spirit tells Peter to go with them without hesitation.

So he has this vision. The sheet comes down. The animals are on it. He’s told to rise up, kill, and eat. He’s like, “No, Lord, I don’t want to do that.” God says, “Don’t call impure what I have made clean.” Then people are at his door.

What happens when three guys come knocking on your door? Shut the blinds. Turn the lights off. “Hey, don’t make any noise. We don’t want them to know we’re home. Whatever they’re selling, we don’t want it.”

The doorbell rings. Three guys show up.

And you know what God says? “You’re going with them.” You’re going with these three guys. The Spirit told Peter to go, making no distinction. Six other believers accompany him, and they enter the man’s house.

The man explains that an angel had appeared to him and told him to send to Joppa for Simon Peter, who would bring a message through which he and his household would be saved.

So Peter’s praying. He goes into a trance and sees this vision about animals being let down on a sheet. He’s told to eat these things. “No, God, I don’t want to eat them.” “Don’t call impure what God has made clean.”

This other guy has an angel show up to him and tell him that there’s a Jew who’s going to tell him how he and his household can be saved. Peter then has three guys at his door, and the Spirit is saying, “You need to go with these three guys.”

You see the connection here? God is saying the message of Jesus Christ and salvation is going beyond. It’s going to more people. God arranges all of this to explain it to Peter.

As Peter begins speaking to the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit comes upon them just as He had upon the believers at the beginning. Peter remembers Jesus’ promise that while John baptized with water, His followers would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Now Peter is done telling his story, and he’s addressing the Jews who were criticizing him again. He says that if God gave the Gentiles the same gift He gave the Jewish believers when they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then, “Who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” — NIV

Who was Peter that he could stand in God’s way?

Peter is saying, “I didn’t have anything to do with any of this. God did all of this. God gave me the vision. God sent the angel to talk to the guy. God brought the three guys. God took us there. God’s doing all of this. Who am I to get in God’s way if this is what God’s up to?”

This brings us to a great question: Who actually proves that someone’s in Christ? Whose job is it to prove that someone’s actually in Christ? Whose job is it to prove that someone’s outside of Christ? How does that work?

Remember: repentance, not religion, leads to life.

Number three is God’s Spirit distinguishes all believers.

The text tells us that the Spirit directed Peter to go with the Gentiles without discriminating between them. It tells us that believers would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and that God gave the Gentiles the same gift.

God’s Spirit distinguishes all believers. Because I believe God is at work in our church, I believe someone is going to come into contact with the Holy Spirit of God today.

When we think about how God works with us, we’re all walking together as believers. We’re walking in obedience together. But God’s the One who holds the Lamb’s Book of Life—the book that has the names of everyone who is in Christ. God’s the only One who holds that book. It’s His book. It’s not our book.

We don’t write our names in God’s book. God writes names in His book. God is responsible for when names get into the Book of Life. That’s God’s job. That’s God’s work.

God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, distinguishes all believers. God the Father gives God the Holy Spirit to be in the life of a true believer. God’s the One who does that.

God’s Spirit provides direction to all believers. This is the way we see God at work in our life. Peter said, “The Spirit told me.” The Spirit gave him direction.

The connection between God’s Word—when we read God’s Word—and our obedience to God’s Word is God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit allows us and helps us to obey what we see in God’s Word.

God’s Spirit is poured out on all believers. The Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles just as He had upon the Jewish believers. God gives His Spirit. God pours out the Holy Spirit of God upon all believers. The Gentiles have the Holy Spirit just as the Jews do.

The proof that we are actually in Christ is the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our life. That is the proof that we are in Christ.

God’s Spirit is the promise of the Father to all believers. Jesus was letting His disciples know that the Father would send the Holy Spirit of God to be with them and in them. They would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is the promise of the Father to all believers.

The Holy Spirit is not an optional experience for a believer. That’s not how this works. The Holy Spirit of God is the seal of redemption on the life of every believer. The reality of being a true believer is to have the Holy Spirit of God within us.

Then we come to Acts 11:18. When they heard what Peter explained, they had no further objections.

Why did they have nothing else to say? Because when our opinions are face-to-face with the truth of God, it shuts us up. We’ve got nothing else to say.

When we come into contact with the truth of God’s Word, we have no argument. There is nothing for us to say because God’s Word makes it so clear about what God is doing.

They fall silent, and then they glorify God. They’re now worshiping God because of what God is doing. They didn’t understand it. They were criticizing it before, but now they’re glorifying God. They recognize that God has granted even the Gentiles repentance that leads to life.

They are worshiping God because God has decided to save non-Jews. God has decided to save those who are outside of Israel. God has allowed repentance that leads to life to come to more people.

Remember the big-picture idea of what we’re talking about today: repentance, not religion, leads to life.

Because I firmly believe that God is at work in our church right now, I believe someone is going to experience repentance today. They’re going to experience repentance that leads to life in Jesus Christ.

It is an incredible gift that God gives us to experience repenting of our sin and turning away from our sin. Repenting means, “Here is the sinful activity that I’m involved in, and I’m going to turn away from it.”

That’s what repentance means. It means to turn away from sin and turn toward Jesus Christ, to trust in Jesus Christ to forgive me for my sin.

This is what Jesus has to say about repentance.

In Matthew 4:17, Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” — NIV

The kingdom has come near, so now is the time to repent.

In Mark 1:14–15, after John was put in prison, Jesus goes into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God: “The time has come… The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” — NIV

We need to repent. We need to turn away from our sin. But we don’t turn away aimlessly. We turn toward Jesus. We turn toward the One who can forgive us of our sin. We turn toward trusting in Jesus. That is believing the gospel—trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

In Luke 5:31–32, Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — NIV

Jesus is saying, “I’m here for the sick people. That’s what I came for.” Jesus is the great physician, and He’s here for the sick people.

The greatest sickness that all of us have is sin that leads to death. Jesus is saying, “That’s why I came.” He came as a physician to deal with sickness, and the greatest sickness is sin that leads to spiritual death. He’s calling sinners to repentance.

Jesus says in Luke 13:5, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” — NIV

Jesus is saying this is the only option. The only option is repentance. Refusing to repent of our sin, refusing to trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, is choosing an eternity apart from Jesus Christ.

Why would anybody do that? Why would anybody choose to have an eternity apart from Jesus Christ? That makes no sense. Every one of us needs to make the decision to repent of our sins so that we might have a relationship with Jesus.

Luke 15:7 says, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” — NIV

He’s saying the party in heaven happens when sick people—sinners—repent of their sin and come to know Jesus Christ as Savior.

God is not waiting around to condemn you for your sin. We’re already condemned in our sin. Our sin condemns us. God’s not waiting around to condemn you. You know what God’s doing? He’s going to save you. That’s what God’s doing. He’s up to saving sinners.

And when God saves sinners, heaven throws a party. Heaven is full of joy. Why? Because God’s getting glorified because another one got saved. Another sick person, another sinner, another person who needed to repent, another person got saved by God’s love and God’s grace.

That’s awesome.

You might find you’re the reason there’s going to be rejoicing in heaven. You didn’t realize there was going to be a party thrown for you, but there’s going to be a party because you’re going to come to Christ and you’re going to repent of your sin.

In Luke 24:45–47, Jesus opens the disciples’ minds so they can understand the Scriptures. He explains that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Did you know there’s something I hear from people all the time after our gatherings? They come up to me and say, “I understood what you said. I understood what you said.”

I hear it all the time.

Did you know that actually has nothing to do with me? I can’t open up the hearts and minds of anybody. But right here it says that Jesus does it. Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Every time someone says, “I understood what you said. I understood what God’s doing. I understood Jesus. I understood salvation,” I go, “Well, that’s awesome. Look what God did.”

God did that. Not me, because I don’t know how to do that. God does.

Jesus Christ paid for our sins on the cross, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day to new life. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

In other words, we’re praising God because repentance that leads to life has also come to the Gentiles.

This is something to celebrate. This is great news—that we can have forgiveness of our sins when we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ.

The work of Jesus Christ on the cross is completely finished.

The work of Jesus Christ on the cross is completely finished, and it is totally sufficient to forgive all of us of our sin. This is great news.

Because I believe that God is at work in our church, I believe that someone is going to find repentance for the forgiveness of their sins today.

If that sounds like you, I want to pray for you. I want to pray for every person who is recognizing, “You know what? There is sin that I need to turn away from. There is sin happening in my life. I need to repent of that sin. I need to turn away from that sin, and I need to find forgiveness in Jesus Christ.”

You need to repent so that you can find life in Jesus Christ.

If that sounds like you, I want to pray for you. Here’s what I want to challenge you to do. If you’re here and you need to repent of your sins so that you can have forgiveness in Jesus Christ, I want to challenge you to stand, and I’m going to pray for you.

I’ll pray for you if you’re sitting, but I’m going to challenge you to stand.

If you’re here and you need to repent of sin, you need to turn away from your sin, and you need to turn toward Jesus Christ, I want to challenge you to stand right now. We’re going to pray for you right here.

I’m going to pray for you.

Father God, there are a ton of people standing, and God, You are the One who is at work in their life right now. There are more people standing up even as we’re praying.

Lord, You know exactly what they need to repent of. God, You know, and they know. They know what their sin is, and You know what their sin is.

God, I pray that right now You would give them bravery and courage to repent of their sin. Would You help each person who’s standing, that they would repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone, for their salvation?

God, may they find mercy and grace in the presence of Jesus as they are repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus Christ and Him alone for their salvation.

God, we thank You for how You are moving people today to repent of their sin. You are moving people today to trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sin.

God, would You bless them? Would You bless every person who is standing? God, we pray blessing over them as they are finding hope and freedom and forgiveness and a new way of life, walking in the light, no longer chained and bound by sin, but walking free in Jesus Christ.

We pray blessing over them in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you need further prayer, our team is ready to pray with you in the prayer room. And if you need to come to Discover BVG, we’re going to go to it right now.

Church family, I love you, and we will see you again real soon.