On the night of November 9, 1989, a border guard at a Berlin checkpoint with no orders and a crowd of thousands at his gate made a decision that helped end the Berlin Wall. Then he had to answer for it.
In Acts 11, Peter faces the same thing. He has just preached the gospel in a Roman officer’s house, watched the Holy Spirit fall on a room full of Gentiles, baptized them, and eaten at their table. Now he’s back in Jerusalem, and the church’s first response is not “praise God.” It’s “who told you that you could do that?”
Peter’s answer is one of the great lines in the book of Acts: “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
In this sermon, Pastor Jim Peck walks through the four movements of the text: the complaint of the circumcision party, Peter’s report given “in order,” the clincher that God gave the Gentiles the same gift He gave the apostles at Pentecost, and the verdict of a church that fell silent and then glorified God. Along the way we see that the table was the wall, that the Spirit’s order was “make no distinction,” and that repentance itself is a gift God grants that leads to life.
The sermon closes with practical application for the Mohawk Valley and the Finger Lakes: tell the truth in order when you’re questioned about your faith, stop guarding a gate God already opened, and remember that you came through that gate yourself. Every one of us is a Gentile, brought in by grace. The only question left is whether we’ll get out of God’s way and go find our own Cornelius.
Scripture: Acts 11:1-18 (ESV)
Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 54
Sharon Reformed Church, Sharon Springs, NY
Part of the Alliance of Reformed Churches
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