REMINDER OF GRACE
Text: Acts 11:1-18
Introduction
1. This year in my daily devotions, I have been reading through the letters in the NT. I just finished 2 Peter; in it he reminded his readers of the need to be reminded on the elementary principles of the faith.
2. “Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. 13 And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.” (2 Pet. 1:12-13).
3. One of the fundamental principles of the faith is grace, and we regularly need to be reminded of it.
4. Grace can be thought of as “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” In other words, it is a gift given to us that Christ paid for that we didn’t deserve.
5. The thing about grace we need to be reminded of is that we need it just like everybody else. This is something we frequently forget.
6. Read Acts 11:1-18
Transition: When it comes to grace there is…
I. The Need to Be Reminded (1-10).
A. The Jewish Believers Criticized Him
1. Not only does the church today need to be reminded about grace, but even the early church needed a reminder. They thought this grace was only for them. Luke shows us this in vv. 1-3 where he says, “Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. 3 “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.”
a. As I’ve mentioned before the Jewish believers in Christ thought that salvation by grace and through faith was only for them.
b. Now, there was a group of Jewish believers in Jerusalem that believed that Gentiles could be saved but only if they became Jews first and submitted themselves to circumcision and the other Jewish laws.
c. So, when news came back to the church in Jerusalem about what happened to Peter at Cornelius’s house, he had some questions to answer.
d. We all know how church people can sometime act. If someone does something that is out of the norm, we can get a little aggravated.
e. Like the church in the movie “Jesus Revolution” when the hippies started coming to church and the people started getting upset.
f. But it’s been said, “the last seven words of a dying church are ‘we’ve never done it that way before!’”
g. Now, I can’t imagine people getting upset because people were getting saved, but it happens if those people don’t fit within the church’s paradigm.
h. Well, that’s what happened in Jerusalem and the church was about to take Peter to the carpet for it.
2. So, in vv. 4-7, Peter simply tells them the story of what happened. “Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. 5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. 6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. 7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’”
a. Peter knew that this was a possibly explosive situation, so, he did the most logical thing he could do, he told them what happened.
b. He does a very smart thing here; he tells them he was praying! It’s kind of hard to argue with someone when he begins with “Well, I was praying...”.
c. Then he told them about the trance he was in, and how the Holy Spirit showed him a vision of a sheet filled with all kinds of animals and told him to get up, kill, and eat.
3. Then Peter continues his story by telling them of his negative response to the Spirit’s demand. In vv. 8-10 it he says, “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’ 9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ 10 This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.”
a. Peter tells them that he declared that he’s never eaten anything unclean before and he wasn’t about to start now!
b. But then he says, “the voice from heaven told him not to call anything unclean that God had already declared clean.”
c. He also told the church that the Holy Spirit was very persistent about it because he told Peter three times!
d. Trying to win an argument with the Holy Spirit is like trying to win an argument with your wife, gentleman; it’s a losing battle!
e. And something that really hit me as I looked at it this during the week is that “the sheet and all it contained was pulled back into heaven.”
f. Now, if it was unclean, why would go pull it back into heaven? This ought to remind us that if God saved someone who are we to say they can’t be saved regardless of their past or even their present?
B. Saved By
1. Illustration: John Newton, the author of the song “Amazing Grace” wrote, “I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am.”
2. The longer we walk with the Lord the easier it is to forget that we were saved by grace, and we need to be reminded that just like the sinner next to us, we still need God’s grace.
a. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Eph. 2:8-9).
b. Just like the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery, we need God’s grace.
c. Just like the hippies in the “Jesus Revolution” movie, we need God’s grace.
d. Just like the town drunk and the local meth dealer, we all need God’s grace.
e. It doesn’t matter if you got saved many years ago, or if you got saved last week, we still need God’s grace.
f. We need to remember that we too were once lost but now we’ve been found.
g. We need to remember that we didn’t, nor could we ever earn salvation.
h. Grace is not a reward for the good things that we have done; it is a gift from God that none of us can boast about.
i. We need it just as much now as we ever did!
Transition: Being reminded of grace causes the…
II. Opening Our Eyes to New Possibilities (11-18).
A. Holy Spirit Told Me Not to Worry
1. Now that Peter told them about his experience with the Holy Spirit and the sheet, he tells them, “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. 13 He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’”
a. Peter tells them that as soon as his vision ended the men sent by Cornelius arrived at the door. Now, Peter again does some smart things.
b. First, he tells them the Holy Spirit told him to go with the men, and not to worry that they were Gentiles. Now it’s always a good plan if you can legitimately tell someone, “Don’t get mad at me, God said so!”
c. He put the responsibility back on the Holy Spirit, and I’ll take that any day!
d. Second, he tells them he took six witnesses with him. The Jewish law required that there had to be at least two witnesses, and Peter took six. So, Peter can honestly say, “I followed the law times three!”
e. Third, Peter tells them that not only was the Holy Spirit speaking to him, but he has also spoken to Cornelius and told him to send for a man named Simon Peter, and that he would tell them how to be saved!
f. Now, if the Holy Spirit told them Peter would tell them how they could be saved, then it must stand to reason that it was possible for them to be saved, right?
2. Notice what Peter does next, he continues to tell them what happened next by reminding them of what Jesus had said. In vv. 15-17 it says, “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
a. Peter tells them that he started preaching and the Holy Spirit fell on them just as they did on us at the beginning, meaning at Pentecost.
b. He says, “they had the exact same experience that we did!” He tells them I just started preaching...and boom! I didn’t pray for them, or lay hands on them, and all the sudden the Holy Spirit just fell!
c. Again, Peter is saying, “I just did what I was told to do, and the Holy Spirit did his thing!” Like any good preacher, Peter said, “it’s not my fault!”
d. Then Peter does another smart thing, he reminds them of what Jesus said, and that’s always a good thing to do.
e. He goes back to Acts 1:5 “John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
f. So, if you’ve got an issue with what I’ve been preaching the last couple of Sunday’s, it’s all Jesus’ fault!
g. Then Peter says that’s what God wanted, who was I to stand in the way!
3. Well, Peter’s plan of explaining his actions worked. In v. 18 it says, “When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
a. When they church heard Peter’s story, they all stopped complaining and started praising God.
b. Now, preacher, if you can get the church to stop complaining, and it makes them happy, you did good!
c. So, they went from, “we never did it that way before,” to, “yeah, great job Peter!”
d. It opened their eyes to see that grace is for everyone that will accept it.
e. The gift of grace resulting in eternal life is for anyone who we say, “yes, Jesus!”
B. But God Is So Rich in Mercy
1. Illustration: “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things. I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior.” (John Newton).
2. Being reminded of our need for God’s grace opens our eyes to new possibilities of sharing that grace with others.
a. “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Eph. 2:4-5).
b. Being reminded of God’s grace opens our eyes that God accepted us at our lowest. Therefore, we need to be willing to reach out to others at their lowest too!
c. It’s easy to share Jesus with someone that’s just like us, but it is more difficult to share Jesus with someone who makes us uncomfortable.
d. The reason they make us uncomfortable is maybe they’re like we used to be before Jesus came into our lives.
e. So, being reminded of grace brings back the idea that someone shared the grace of God with me when I made them uncomfortable.
f. I’m sure the person who shared Jesus with me back in the day was uncomfortable talking to me when I was drinking and doing drugs.
g. But because he did take the risk with me, I met Jesus and became the person I am today.
h. Are you willing to take the risk of sharing Jesus with someone who makes you uncomfortable?
Conclusion
1. When it comes to grace…
a. There is the need to be reminded that we needed and still need God’s grace.
b. Being reminded of grace opens our eyes to new possibilities of sharing God’s grace with others.
2. What’s the point preacher? God’s grace ought to remind us that we needed God’s grace, and now it’s our responsibility to share that grace with someone in need of it.
