Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you; I want to see you. Do we really mean the words of that song? Do we really want to see God? Do we really want to see Him for who He is, and what He expects and what He’s doing? Do we really want to see God?
I’m convinced that one of the major problems of the church in America today is that we really don’t want to see God for who He is. We’ve created God in our own image and that’s what we really want to see. We’ve put God in this little box of our own church experience and our own preference and we think we’ve got Him all figured out! We see God as we want to see Him and limit Him to our own myopic point of view.
[Box demonstration; (not the Bible).]
In the process all we’ve really done is create a religion that now gets in the way of our relationship with the Creator of the universe. That’s why you see so many people who’s faith has gotten old and cold over the years. People’s who’s faith doesn’t make a consistent difference in their daily life any more. People’s who’s faith doesn’t move them to make a difference in this world. People who don’t see God for who He really is because they’re God is all boxed up.
It’s time for the church in America to start [2] believing outside the box again to be able to see God for who He is, and what He expects and what He’s doing in the world. It’s time to stop painting a picture of God that suits our own personal agendas. Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I need to see you!
Last week we saw how the apostle Peter believed outside the box when he realized that the salvation of the Lord is the same for all - whether a person was a Jew or a gentile. This was a new concept for him but he saw the evidence for himself as the member’s of Cornelius’ house were saved just like his fellow Jews were saved.
The news of this glorious event traveled fast to the mother church in Jerusalem so Peter set out to let his fellow Jewish Christians know exactly what had happened. But as we’re going to see he was met with some [3] resistance to God’s works amongst the gentiles. Resistance from those who wouldn’t believe outside the box.
[Read Acts 11:1-3.]
These Jewish Christians were upset! Peter had done the unthinkable and had fellowshipped with non-Jewish people! They just didn’t understand that God’s plan for the world included the gentiles as well as the Jews.
You see, all throughout history God made a way for non-Jewish people to come to Him. Faith in God has always been the avenue to God. But when gentiles would place their faith in God they would also identify themselves with God’s people the Jews. This was done through practicing the Jewish traditions and laws.
But it seems that some of these Jewish Christians still didn’t understand that God’s plan for the world was for the world, not just the Jews! They probably only remembered some of what Jesus taught instead of all of what He taught.
You see while Jesus was on the earth He spent most of His time preaching to the Jews and presenting Himself as their long awaited Messiah. His main public ministry was an effort to wake up the nation of Israel to His validity. But He also taught how He loved the entire world and would die for the sins of the world and how they needed to reach out to the world.
[Read John 3:16 and Mark 16:15.]
They had conveniently forgotten how Jesus taught of His love for all people and instead kept Him in their little, Jewish God box. They just couldn’t believe that God would save those awful gentiles in the same way He saved them. So when they heard of something happening that was different or uncomfortable with their own religious preferences, they resisted. (Not realizing that their resistance was of God’s works!)
But not much has changed in the church over the past two thousand years. Many people still resist what God is doing because it isn’t what they expected Him to do or what they even wanted Him to do. Some people don’t like things that don’t fit into their nice, neat little boxes.
Just think about the issues the church has had with musical styles over the years. Oh my goodness can we argue over music!
Case in point. Around the turn of the century there was a young lady writing some incredible worship songs. But instead of setting the lyrics to traditional music, she set them to modern music and tried to bring them into the church. She was met with harsh resistance and criticism. “You can’t sing Christian words to bar room music!” But she just kept writing and many of her songs have become the most cherished songs of the church.
Of course I’m talking about Fanny Crosby who wrote songs in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Songs like: “To God be the Glory”, “Praise Him! Praise Him!”, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus”, “Rescue the Perishing”, “Jesus is Calling” and “Blessed Assurance” just to name a few. Songs that we now look at as traditional, the people back them looked at as ungodly! Songs that have been and will continue to be an incredible source of encouragement and joy, they thought were a waste of time. They couldn’t see the work of God going on right in front of them because they refused to believe outside the box!
That’s what the Jewish Christians were like in Peter’s day. So in response to their resistance Peter gives them the [4] evidence of God’s works amongst the gentiles.
“So you don’t want to take my word for it, just look at the evidence!”
[Read Acts 11:4-17.]
Peter lays out several pieces of evidence that proves that this was in fact a God-thing that happened amongst the gentiles. He didn’t want to argue theology or nationalism with them. He simply gave them the undeniable facts of the situation.
1. His vision from God
2. The Spirit spoke to him
3. Cornelius’ vision from God
4. Holy Spirit baptism after hearing and believing God’s Word, (like at Pentecost)
5. Peter’s six Jewish witnesses to the whole thing
There was so much evidence that this was a work of God. God wanted to not only
save these gentiles at Cornelius’ house also but wanted the Jews to know that salvation was just as much for the gentiles as it was for them. There would be no denying it any longer. This was a pivotal event for the church to help people know that it was for everyone!
This resistance to change reminds me of how people used to resist the new Bible translations that would come out on the market. Now I know there’s still some people out there who do this, but not as much as before.
When I was in college I remember seeing a student’s car with a bumper sticker that read KJV 1611. And there were several students who liked to argue that the King James version of the Bible was the only version that was actually God’s Word. They didn’t argue it was a better translation. They argued it was the only translation of God’s Word.
And they had little nicknames for the newer versions like for the NIV they said it stood for the not inspired version. For the NASB they would say it’s the not a sound Bible version. Now, you can like one bible translation more than others. And you can make the case that some translations are more accurate than others. But to resist to the point of saying that a certain bible translation wasn’t God’s Word just because it wasn’t the King James is ludicrous!
You see, the evidence is overwhelming that the NIV, the NASB, the CEV and the many translations of the Bible into the languages of the world is of God.
1. Scholarly examination
2. Changed lives!
A person comes to Christ when he hears God’s Word and chooses to believe in God’s
Son. There have been countless millions of people who have been saved after reading one of the modern translations of God’s Word. How can a person get saved if they aren’t reading God’s Word? They can’t! But just like the King James Bible, the modern translations have led multitudes of people to the Savior. Evidence that the translations are the Word of God. You can argue against preference, but you can’t argue against evidence.
Peter gave the Jewish Christians there the evidence that God was at work amongst
the gentiles. Well that evidence made all the difference in the world. Because they responded with an [5] acceptance of God’s works amongst the gentiles.
[Read Acts 11:18.]
Again, this is an incredible admission by the Jewish Christians. God’s plans for the church was just as much for the gentiles as it was for the Jews. They started to crack open their god-box and see Him for who He really is.
Now they would still have some issues within the early church when it came to this. There would be a learning curve for them. But at least the lid was off the box and they were starting to see God for who He really is – the impartial, all-loving God.
I wonder if some of us here struggle with believing outside the box? I wonder if some of us struggle with doing ministry in new and different ways? You know how to test yourself to see if you have this struggle? The next time you find yourself not liking the way something is done here at church, ask yourself why you don’t like it. If your honest answer is, “That’s just not how we do things around here!” or, “I just don’t like it!” There’s a good chance you’re having a struggle believing outside the box.
[Getting rid of box demonstration; (Word and Spirit).]
Listen, God is God and He can do whatever He wants to do. We need to open up our eyes and let Him show us through His Word and through the evidence of His Spirit who He is and what He wants us to do!
You see, we’re talking about the God who used 90 year old Sarah and 100 year old Abraham to literally birth the beginnings of the nation of Israel.
We’re talking about the God who used a whale to get Jonah to the mission field.
We’re talking about the God who enabled a donkey to literally speak instructions to Balaam, (Numbers 22).
We’re talking about the God who used a virgin to bring forth the Savior.
And we’re talking about the God who used a crude, uneducated fisherman named Peter to lead the early Christian church.
Let’s open our hearts to God’s Word and God’s Spirit and start believing outside the box! God wants to do amazing things in and through you. God wants to do amazing things in and through our church. God wants to do amazing things in our community. Will we believe Him and be a part of what He’s doing? [6]
