Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
EAT WHAT’S IN YOUR SHEET!
Acts 10:9-16, "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven."
If there is one sin that hinders the work of God in the church and in the life of a Christian, it’s the sin of prejudice. I’m not just speaking of racial prejudice, as bad as that is. I’m also talking about a “spiritual prejudice.”
Have you ever met someone who was prejudiced spiritually? These are the folks that are convinced that they are the only ones going to Heaven because they are the only ones righteous and holy enough to get there. I spoke to you previously concerning the sin of pride in our own self-righteousness. Prejudice knows no age limits, no religious boundaries and permeates every fiber of the Body of Christ and all of society and prejudice is damaging to anyone who embraces it.
Have you met those who would not associate with members of another “religion” because they have been taught to avoid contact with those who were considered as heretics from the truth of the Gospel according to our beliefs? I thank God that He has no prejudices and that He does not pre-judge a man simply for the color of his skin or the name over the door of the church where he attends.
God looks at all men equally and desires that all of us come to know him as our Savior!
There is not one of us who has not been raised and taught some things that we found out later were based on prejudice. Prejudices because of the color of a man’s skin or his ethnic background are commonplace and man has been unable to erase that prejudice even with his best efforts.
In this same story of Cornelius and Peter in the 10th chapter of Acts we read the words of Peter when he says, "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:"
Peter, the great disciple of our Lord, had reached a crossroad in his ministry for the Lord. All of his life he had been taught the ways of the God of Israel and had been instructed in keeping the Law of Moses. Now he was going to face a great decision. Would Peter stick with the ways of tradition and the ceremonial Law of Moses or would he cast aside the Law of Moses and embrace a higher law, the Law of Love in Jesus Christ?
This would not be an easy decision for Peter. To cast aside all that he had been taught and kill and eat unclean animals was unthinkable! According the Law of Moses these things were cursed and would lead to God’s judgments, even death.
When that sheet came down and the voice of God spoke to Peter to rise, kill and eat, God was tying to get Peter to realize that we cannot place the move of the Holy Ghost into our neat little box and our way of thinking. God is a big God and he has sovereign power to do whatever he wants, in any way that he wants.
In that sheet were dogs, cats, snakes, lizards, pigs, bugs and all sorts of animals and insects. How many of you know that there are people in this world that will fit into just about any of these categories in the manner that they live?
There are the dog people – barking, panting, chasing after rabbits, and lying around on the porch howling about something and generally making a mess out of everything. They are faithful to hanging around but sometimes you wish they would get lost for a while so you could have some peace.
There are the cat people – always scratching around in other people’s business, oblivious to whatever is going on around them, acting as though the whole of creation was meant just so they could have their own desires.
There are the lizard people – sneaking around, hanging around behind the bushes, not making a sound; just hanging out in the background and blending in wherever they are. They change their appearance to fit it with the crowd and don’t want to make waves.
There are the insect people – little busy bodies, flitting from here to there and back again. Ever on the move and ever dodging those who would attempt to stifle their actions or make them settle down. They are always “in” on every subject. They are always in the know and quick to tell what they know to anyone who will allow them to light for a while.
There are the pigs – those who love wallow in the muck and mire of the filth of the church and of the world and who don’t seem to be enjoying life unless there is a fight going on and some dirty laundry to expose to the whole world. I think that there are plenty of pigs in the church too. They are always rooting around and trying to get to the root of every problem so they can dig it up and see what happens.
There are the snakes – Those who go around hissing and striking at everything and everybody around them. Nothing ever satisfies them for long. They are always slithering off into the darkness in search of someone else to strike.
I believe that you could name any animal or insect and you could think of someone, somewhere who would have the same mannerisms.
It’s no wonder that so many people carry around prejudices against others because there is so much difference in the way we think, the way we act, the things we like, etc., etc. We tend to think that the whole of Christianity should revolve around our little world! We convince ourselves that we are the only ones with the “truth”.
Friend, I think we may all be surprised to get to Heaven one day and find out that there are a lot of people who made it that we just knew couldn’t be saved. After all, they didn’t act like us, dress like us, talk like us or believe the same as we do.
Peter could not accept the fact that God would call Gentiles and make them righteous. No Gentile could ever be made right by the ceremonial Law of Moses. No Gentile could ever be saved under that old system. Peter’s theology was well founded. After all, the Law of Moses had been around for thousands of years and was unchanged in all that time. To be cleansed and to approach God required that every part of the Law must be obeyed or it meant certain death.
But folks, God has a better law in effect now! It’s the Law of Love, Grace and Mercy through the Blood of Jesus Christ! Thank God for His new covenant law! Without that law all of us would be on that sheet in front of Peter.
You and I were represented in that sheet of insects, snakes, pigs and all sorts of unclean creatures forbidden to be a part of God’s chosen people in the beginning.
Peter was so adamant about sticking to his old ways that God had to bring the sheet down three times to finally convince Peter that God was opening the door to salvation for those who Peter thought could not be saved at all.
Matthew 18:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:1 both contain these words, “…in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
God was telling Peter, and telling you and I, that we are not to judge by the color of the skin, by outward appearance, or by customs and mannerisms. We are to judge only by the fruits that are born, whether they are of god or not. We cannot see the heart of a man so we are woefully unqualified to judge the heart – that’s God’s job and He is good at it.
Sometimes our prejudices keep us from witnessing to many lost souls and they also keep us from discovering what God is doing in the lives of men around us.
We are quick to dismiss the biker dude, or the kids with the colored and spiked hair simply because they don’t fit into our mold of the kind of person we want to associate with or speak to.
Those are the people in your sheet! Those are the ones that Jesus came and died for just as much as he did for you and I! Those are the ones that Jesus wants you to win to the Kingdom of God and to tell them of the Love of Jesus Christ!
Just as happened to Peter, I think that we all need to have a real “out of the body” and “in the Spirit” experience in God. For most of us we are too busy to stop and allow God to really get our attention and talk to us.
If you really want to know the will of God for your life or for any situation, then learn to spend time and pray in the Spirit so that God can do some of the talking instead of you! I have a hard time hearing and talking at the same time. There are times when we just need to meditate upon the Lord and give Him a chance to speak to us.
God’s ability to reach people and save them is not limited to our little ways of doing so. Spiked hairdos, leathers, earrings and tattoos don’t scare God. In fact, I think those dear souls are the ones that God is reaching out to the hardest sometimes. But we won’t kill and eat that, Oh no! I can’t be seen talking to an avowed homosexual or a drug dealer! What would my Pastor think? What would the church say if I actually brought one of these folks to church? Would the church world run and hide or would they reach out and try to tell them about Jesus?
Some of those unclean animals in Peter’s vision were wild animals that no man would attempt to kill and eat like lions, tigers, panthers, bears, etc. These represent the “wild ones of humanity”. Those are the people who seem unreachable. I wonder how many would accept Christ if only the church world wouldn’t run from them and begin to preach Jesus to them. One of the ministers in our own district was once one of those “wild ones”. Thank God that someone had decided to rise, kill and eat or he would still be lost today.
Some of us have lived such sheltered lives that we are repulsed by the sight of those who are so different from our own mold. We have never ventured out and “have never eaten anything that is common or unclean”. Now is the time to get out of our own little sterilized and churchy world and get out there where the lost souls of humanity are living so that we may win some.
Jesus desires that every soul be saved, not just those who enter the church doors already cleaned and pressed. We must rise and kill and eat so that all manner of people can feel welcomed into our churches where they can hear the message of the Gospel and be changed into the image of Christ. They certainly won’t hear that message in the bars and nightclubs.
God had to come to Peter three times before Peter finally accepted God’s Word to Him. God knew that a gentile named Cornelius was ready to accept Christ as his Savior and God was going to do whatever it took to give Cornelius that chance. I wonder how many times God has come to you and I and we refused to hear Him?
I often wonder why God chose to bring the outpouring of the Holy Ghost into the Catholic Church, the Baptists, and all the other faiths? I wonder if it is not because we, the supposedly Holy Ghost filled and anointed Children of God who hold all of the Truth of the Gospel in our hearts have failed to rise, kill and eat because we just knew that those kinds of people could not be saved unless they started coming to our church and believing just like us!
God told Peter to not call anything unclean that God had already sanctified and cleansed. Who are we to put God in a box that says that only those who live according to the Pentecostal Doctrines will enter into Heaven’s glories? Who are we to call what God is doing in the lives of some Catholics, Baptists and others as being unclean?
God can save whoever and however He wants to and He doesn’t seek our permission nor listen to our little rules and regulations. He looks only upon the hungry heart that is truly searching for Truth and desires to know Jesus in a greater way. God will always find a way to reach out to them whether we accept it or not!
Do I agree with the doctrines of all these faiths? In most cases I do not! In fact, I believe that many of their doctrines are no more than superstitious traditions that do more damage than good. Some of them even constitute open idolatry. But just because their faith teaches those things does not mean that everyone who goes to those churches will adhere to and believe every part of their own doctrinal teachings.
I dare say that many of our Pentecostal people don’t even adhere to a lot of our Pentecostal doctrines either! Does that mean that we are not saved? Sometimes the answer will be yes! Obedience to God’s laws against idolatry and sin are without compromise if we are to make Heaven our home. Sometimes I believe that our errors in doctrine will damage our spiritual life and even cause us to miss out on God’s best in this life. Perhaps we will even lose a portion of our reward in heaven, but some things won’t condemn us to Hell.
I believe that God’s message to Peter, and to you and I, is simply this: If God is really in it, don’t be found condemning what God is doing just because it doesn’t line up perfectly with your theology. Inspect the real fruit and see if the Spirit is really there before we judge what’s happening. It just may be that God is moving and beginning to tame the wild beasts and cleanse the unclean. Rejoice with them and thank God for what He is doing in their lives. Then, rise, kill and eat and witness to them of the saving grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is God who adds to the church those who are ready. It is the Spirit’s choice on who to call, not ours. It is God’s plan of salvation that counts, not ours!
Keep prayed up and ready to go wherever God’s Spirit leads you. Let Him decide who is ready to hear and who is not. It’s our job to spread the gospel. It’s God’s job to save the lost souls who are ready.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
Aren’t you glad that someone heeded the call to rise, kill and eat when they saw you on their sheet? We were all unclean at one time! Now the Blood of the Lamb has cleansed us all. Now it’s time for us to rise, kill and eat so that more unclean people can come to know that same cleansing power of the Blood of the Lamb.
Don’t let another opportunity pass unheeded! When your sheet comes down, rise, kill and eat what’s in it and let God do the rest!
