Precisely As It Had Happened

Acts 11 :1·30

Key Verse 11:4

In case you didn't know, today is an important day in American athletics. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, where the Cardinals will play the Steelers. Thank God that this game is played after most church services have finished. In case you go someplace to watch the game I want to tell you about something that you can look out for and hopefully remember this message.

As you watch the game keep an eye out for a green dot on a helmet. You might not know why the helmet has this green dot so let me tell you. A helmet with this special green dot is equipped with a receiver and built-in speaker system. The receiver in the helmet picks up the communication from the coach on the sidelines and then plays it directly into the ears of the player wearing the helmet. The helmet does not have a microphone, so the player can only listen but not speak. The coach uses this device to communicate plays to the team out on the field. However, only one helmet has this special feature and it is signified by a green dot on the back. On offense the quarterback wears this helmet and after receiving the play call from the coach he then communicates it to the rest of his team in person. This device creates a line of communication between the coaching staff on the sideline and the players on the field.

It wasn't always this way though. Before 1994 the plays were called by the quarterback in the huddle only. But after being implemented in professional football a greater synthesis was achieved between the coaches strategic mind and the teams physical talent. A player was quoted as saying, "It is like having the coaches mind in my head." Many good things have come out of this system. Coaches have had an opportunity to focus more and' more on play strategy and refine their art. Players, especially quarterbacks can focus on the physical demands of the game and not have to worry about the intense game of strategy. All in all the blending of sideline coaching and field players has improved the quality of games.

Now in today's passage I want to focus on how God communicates his game plays to us and what kind of system he has put in place to help us know what to do and how to do it. We will see that this passage has a strong message concerning this very topic. We'll cover the passage in two parts. 

Part One-Precisely As It Had Happened

Let's read verses 1·3. 1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 280 when Peter went up to Jerusalem. the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said. "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

Now if you weren't here last week let me recap what occurred in the previous passage. Last week we saw God giving his servant Peter a vision. This vision which was like a movie was played for Peter not once but three times. The purpose of the vision was to show Peter that he had to start looking at Gentile people differently and begin to preach the gospel of Jesus to them. Yet, this vision was not enough to communicate his plan to Peter. God arranged a real life event to make the point clearer. So right after the vision the Holy Spirit said to Peter, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." Indeed three men showed up where Peter was staying and they said that their master (named Cornelius) had seen an angel and the angel had told their master to send for Peter. The next day Peter went with these men and showed up at Cornelius' house. After talking with Cornelius and hearing about his vision of an angel, Peter said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. "At this point Peter was really starting to get the idea God was communicating but still there was more. While preaching the gospel to Cornelius and his household "the Holy Spirit came on a/l who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.· These verses show us that it wasn't just Peter who got the message but also the "circumcised believers" who were astonished at what God had done. God's idea was getting through.

Now when we look at our passage we can see that Peter's entry into the Gentile household wasn't popular in the eyes of the folks back home. Look at verses 1-3 again.

1The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

In our text Luke portrays Peter as a man who is in "hot water," for evangelizing Gentiles. One can almost see these "circumcised saints" standing at the gates of the city, with fire in their eyes and their hands on their hips, waiting for Peter to arrive. Can you imagine someone looking Peter squarely in the eye and greeting him with the words, "You have a lot of explaining to do!" I do not think many expected Peter to be able to talk his way out of this situation.

So how did he handle this precarious situation? Verse 4 tells us that "he explained everything to them precisely as it had happened." Instead of trying to explain himself Peter explained that it was God's idea and that if his fellow brothers had a problem they had better file it up with God. Let's read verses 4-18.

4Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5"1 was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. Sllooked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 8"1 replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' g"The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' 1 OThis happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. 11 "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. 13He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who Is called Peter. 14He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' 15"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with[a]water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" 18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

Peter explained the events leading up to Cornelius "precisely as it happened".

Now it is interesting that Luke who wrote Acts is really limited by space. At this time they did not publish books, but they wrote everything on a scroll. There was a limit to what you could write on a scroll so the book of Acts, because of its length, would have to be recorded in a scroll of maximum limit, about thirtyfive feet long. So you would want to conserve space as much as possible and edit the story down to make room for as many facts as you COUld. But for a definite reason, the Holy Spirit has this account of Peter being called to the Gentiles recorded twice in the limited space of the book of Acts. Why is this? 

The double record shows us how important it is to testify precisely to other believers what God has done so that everyone can be on the same page and see what God is doing. Going back to the helmet analogy; Peter was like a player who heard from the coach and knew exactly what the coach wanted. His fellow players on the field hadn't heard the message and thereby needed Peter to explain word for word what God had said. So not wanting to make it seem like his own idea Peter proved to his teammates that what he did was God's doing and not his own. After testifying clearly about God's work the circumcised believers had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

So what we have here in the first part of this passage is a beautiful story of God working with his people to get them all on the same page and working together so as to accomplish his will. As we can see there were a lot of obstacles and it wasn't a small matter to get the believers to see what God was doing.

Part Two-The Church At Antioch

Although Peter had received a direct communication from God concerning the Gentiles. It seems that he wasn't the only one who knew about God's new play towards the Gentiles. There were others who understood God's plan too.

Lets read verses 19-21.

19Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

So how did some of the circumcised believers think to preach the gospel to Gentiles in Antioch while others kept the course and preached only to fellow Jews? There are no precise answers in the passage but we can speculate a couple of ideas. In my opinion I believe the men from Cyprus and Cyrene might have taken to heart Jesus' exhortation, " ... you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." In reality all the clues to God's plan were written down in the Old Testament and sprinkled throughout the teachings of Jesus. If anyone was an astute Bible reader they would have picked up on this plan of God. It's just speculation but I think these men from Cyprus and Cyrene didn't need God to show them a vision and then show them the out pouring of the Spirit on Gentiles before understanding God's plan. These men might have picked up on it from God's Word and had full confidence that God's plan was for the Gentiles to hear the Gospel message. It also may not have been a big surprise to them when they realized the hand of God was with them. Often times we don't need God to hit us over the head with a vision but to just open our Bible and read the revelation he has already given us within.

Let's now consider how the believers in Jerusalem responded to the news of Gentile converts in Antioch. Let's read verses 22-26.

22News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

It is interesting that the news of Antioch reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem. They had their ears opened up and were listening for the work of God going on around them. When they heard about Antioch they didn't hold a deaf ear but instead sent Barnabas to check things out. Barnabas didn't assume anything good or bad but went like an investigator to see what was going on. When he arrived he saw "evidence of the grace of God". The church of Antioch had the finger prints of God all over it. There were transformed lives and an overflow of love. There was real fellowship, kindness and faith in the bright shiny faces of newly born Gentile believers. The evidence of the grace of God was obvious and so Barnabas exhorted them to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Barnabas was a top-level player on God's team. What was his secret? Verse 24 says "he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith". Barnabas' success as a ministry of Christ was the Holy Spirit dwelling In him. He was a man that was not sorta filled with the Holy Sprit but a man "full" of the Holy Spirit. He wasn't born this way nor did it come natural but through a sincere struggle to give his own heart fully to the Lord, Barnabas developed into a man who was empty of himself and full of the Holy Spirit. And sense he was full of the Holy Spirit he was very successful in knowing God's plan. For instance we see that he went to Tarsus to look for Saul. This plan to bring Saul in was really the work of God and was a divinely inspired tactic. Saul brought a firm grasp of the Bible to the church at Antioch and together with Barnabas they supported the large numbers of Gentile converts. A plan never succeeds because it is a great idea but because it is God's idea. Barnabas' secret to success was that the Holy Spirit was constantly feeding inspired plans to his sanctified mind. Like Barnabas we too can have full confidence in our ideas and plans as we are filled with the Holy Spirit!

Barnabas wasn't the only person Inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let's consider a man named Agabus by reading verses 27-30.

27During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 280ne of them, named. Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Here we find an example of a prophet in the early church exercising the spiritual gift of prophecy. Agabus wasn't a teacher or an Apostle like Paul and Barnabas. His gift from the Holy Spirit was to prophecy on God's behalf. We see Agabus in this passage prophesying about a coming famine that actually happened soon hereafter. We also see Agabus prophesying later in the book of Acts about Paul's imprisonment. Agabus served and important role of revealing what God's future plans were so that they could prepare themselves. We see in our passage that the believers in Antioch "each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul."

Agabus had a direct communication with God through the Holy Spirit that was unique and thereby he acted as a source of blessing by sharing God's sovereign plans. Of course Agabus had already proved himself as a legitimate prophet by previous prophecies having coming true. So In today's passage we see how God works with his team to accomplish his will and plan. Whether It is through a vision, the Word of God, revelation of the Holy Spirit, prophecy or God' clearly revealed sovereignty our God is communicating his plays to his team. It is therefore our job to be active seekers of his inspired plans both for our personal lives and as a church. At the center of this communication is the Holy Spirit whose work is inseparable in Christians success. May God help us to realize more and more how much we need his plans to become apparent so that we may be a blessing to this lost world. And If you end up watching the Super Bowl look for the guy with the special helmet and green dot. Think about what G?d has revealed to you and what he may be saying to you. May God also bless us to use both ears and listen to one another because like Peter someone may have heard from God in a special way.

One Word: Precisely as it happened