#1571 Acts 10 Part 3 An Impartial Judge

 

34 And opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. 36 As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— 37 you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. 40 God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. 45 And all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days. Acts 10: 34-48 LSB

Acts 10: 34-48

We left off with Peter clearly having some understanding of the vision given what it says in verse 28:

28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. 29 That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.” Acts 10: 28-29

Even with the logical understanding it still goes against everything he grew up believing. It is like ritual vs. reality or traditions of men vs. intent of God. He obeys and is here none the less. God is always bringing His children out of error, and there were things I felt most certain about as a baby Christian that God had to work out of me. I thought men like John Macarthur were arrogant when they were unwavering about the word of God, yet time and time again, through sound teaching, men like him and R.C. Sproul were able to change my mind. At first I thought it was weird that they had not "advanced" with the culture. If you listen to their sermons from the 1970s they sound much like their sermons 40 years later. They weren't arrogant, I was, and the reason their sermons sounded the same was because they were from the Bible, a collection of books inspired by God, Who was eternal and unchanging. The Scripture is timeless and in the OT we can see that God's intent was to call gentiles even at the time of Abraham. We also see, even then, that this call would be based upon substitutionary atonement.

…13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” 15And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,…

…16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, 17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”… Genesis 22: 13-18

V. 34 I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality - It's starting to click for him. We all come from Adam and Eve, everyone, Jews and Greeks alike. We all have more in common with each other than we do with God. We all have sinned and fallen short, and the wages of sin is death. God is eternal, and His hatred of sin is too, as are all of His attributes. In order for Jews to be saved Christ had to die, in order for Gentiles to be saved, Christ had to die. The advantage of being a Jew was having the word of God, yet they didn't keep it so it becomes a disadvantage if you don't recognize the Savior for which the word was written. It is all about Jesus rather than ethnicity, all about His grace and merit rather than our own. God has every right to call whom He wants since He has paid for them through the life and death of His Son. 

…16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe. 18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.… Deuteronomy 10: 16-18

…6Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment. 7And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” 2 Chronicles 19: 6-7

…18who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’ 19who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands. 20They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.… Job 34: 18-20

…16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,… 1 Peter 1: 16-18

V. 35 The one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him - That is a sign of believers, for it is Christ Who is our righteousness, and the fruit of believing in Him is believing what He says, so that we do it. Peter is being turned upside down, and realizing that there is more than one wicked culture, there is more than Gentiles who are wrong in their understanding of Who God is and what He expects, which has led many synagogue and church goers to apostasy. Remember, God hated their sacrifices in the OT because they were done as ritual and not from humbled repentant hearts. The sacrifices pointed to the only pleasing sacrifice, His Son, and they rejected Him for their own brand of Judaism. They missed the whole point of the Book, your sinners, and you need this Savior, but you reject Him just as the prophet Isaiah predicted you would. 

…27then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out. 28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” Job 28: 27-28

…3Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.” 4For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant— 5I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.… 

…6And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— 7I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” 8Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”… Isaiah 56: 3-8

…24As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?…

…27The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.… Romans 2: 24-29

28And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. 29If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him. 1 John 2: 28-29

John MacArthur says the "most common use of phobeo in the New Testament represents reverential awe, not cringing fright. It expresses the feeling of a person who is in the presence of someone infinitely superior…In the synoptic Gospels and Acts the term is never used to speak of anything other than the feeling in a person’s heart when he is confronted with divine power, and it is declared to be a part of the Christian’s attitude as he seeks to faithfully serve the Lord (Acts 9:31). Reverential awe of God is a part of the truly repentant life (2 Cor. 7:10–11), the chaste life (1 Pet. 3:2), the holy life (2 Cor. 7:1), and the godly life (Phil. 2:12). Mutual ministry, love, and respect, as well as powerful evangelism and proper church discipline, are all grounded in reverential awe of the Lord (see 2 Cor. 5:11; Eph. 5:21; 1 Tim. 5:20). It is the substance out of which all right Christian worship, behavior, and service must come. (See Matthew Commentary - Page 55)

Puritan Charles Bridges defines fear of God - It is that affectionate reverence by which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his Father's law. His wrath is so bitter, and His love so sweet; that hence springs an earnest desire to please Him, and—because of the danger of coming short from his own weakness and temptations—a holy watchfulness and fear, 'that he might not sin against Him. - PA

V. 36 As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel - The gospel came first to those of the line of Jacob (Israel). 

15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. 17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”… Romans 1: 15-17

Vs. 37-38 You yourselves know - They were witnesses to certain events. They knew of John the Baptist and his ministry of repentance. He went about telling people to turn from sin to God, that they needed to be made clean. These people had also heard about Jesus and everyone knew of His ministry and power. 

John MacArthur explains John's baptism noting that "while there were various ceremonial washings in Judaism (cf. Heb. 6:2), there was no baptism of Jews. But while there was no baptism of Jews in Judaism, the Jews did baptize Gentile converts to Judaism. Thus, those who “were being baptized by [John] in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins” (Mt. 3:6), were publicly acknowledging that they were no better than the Gentiles. Their sins had separated them from the true and living God (cf. Isa 59:2) and cut them off from covenant blessings. For Jewish people to place themselves on the same level as the despised Gentiles was astonishing, and demonstrates the power of John’s preaching. Unfortunately, few being baptized by John were truly repentant. The nation would later reject Jesus when He failed to meet their expectations of a political Messiah, who would deliver them from the Romans. Others were superficial from the start....But those few (Mt 7:13–14) who acknowledged their sinful condition and alienation from God and turned to Him in repentant faith were saved. (See Luke Commentary - Page 209) - PA

…2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.” 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.… Isaiah 40: 2-4

1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple— the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight— see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.… Malachi 3: 1-2

…4“Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”… Malachi 4: 4-6

V. 39 They also put Him to death, hanging Him on a tree - This was predicted in OT Scripture as well, but I am not sure how much of the law and the prophets these gentiles had been exposed to. If they had heard John the Baptist and or Jesus teach then they would have some familiarity.

…12The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.… Galatians 3: 12-14

…31Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.… John 12: 31-33

V. 40 God raised Him up on the third day - It is an important part of the gospel confession.

…8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.… Romans 10: 8-10

V. 41 Not to all people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God - God chose people specifically, that is interesting. The ones He chose were intimately involved with Him, and would not be those that would distort it with swoon theory or visions of a specter. Regardless, we know that even seeing the risen Christ would not change a man's heart to believe, but these who did see were willing to die for what they witnessed. 

…5and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. 6After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.… 1 Corinthians 15: 5-7

…30‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16: 30-31

Vs. 42-43 Through His name - He is the Messiah that the prophets spoke of, the spotless Lamb of God, the suffering Servant. 

…21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. 22Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.… John 5: 21-23

…11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.… Acts 4: 11-13

Vs. 44-48 Received the Holy Spirit just as we did - It was marked by tongues, and "as we did", which would point us back to Acts chapter 2. I believe Acts 2, where they spoke in actual languages which they previously did not know, is the bar for speaking in tongues. Many evangelicals today, like Mormons, some Roman Catholics, try to expand this to include nonsensical babbling. I believe that tongues as a functional gift within the church has ceased. It is a beautiful sign here as the gospel is now going to people of different nations and tongues, but what Pentecostals and Charismatics try to pass off as this gift today bares no similarity. God is not a God of confusion and so to attribute babbling to the Holy Spirit is actual blasphemy. 

More on Acts Chapter 2