Come Follow Me LDS- Acts 10-15 Pt 1

'Gentiles, Animals & Covenant'
- Cornelius & Peter
- Animals in Visions
- Gentile and Jew as a 'Covenant'
- All of God's children have a part in the Spiritual Economy through Covenant


*I say 'African-American' where I mean 'African Descent'.

 

 

Come Follow Me

LDS Mormon New Testament Acts Bible

 

so in this episode we're going to talk

about Gentiles animals

it's covenant here we go okay so in acts

10 we get an introduction to Cornelius

who is a Roman centurion

and a man that fears God says that he is

of a band called the Italian band I

don't know of any Italian bands myself

but he's part of an Italian band here

he's a devout man and one that feared

God with all of his house and gave alms

to the people around him so he's a very

pious man who has taught his family and

those with him to fear God to worship

God he's a good guy but the problem is

he's a Gentile and we're living in a

time right now where the Jews just like

with the Samaritans there is a problem

there is a divide there between

them and the Gentiles they figure

themselves the Jews are a tribe and they

are looking out for their own and their

religion is for themselves for the most

part and their view is that their God is

the God of Abraham and Isaac and of

Jacob however along with that if we do

go back and look at the teachings of

Abraham and then go back to Isaiah

especially we learn about the Gentiles

and how they are included in the

Abrahamic covenant and in the higher law

the Melchizedek law and that's what's

about to unfold here is the introduction

of the gospel to the Gentiles so he's

praying one afternoon about three

o'clock and he has a vision and he sees

an angel and this is what we're told in

verse four here it says and when he

looked on him he was afraid that says

looking on the angel and said what

Lord and he said unto Him thy prayers

and thine alms are come up for a

memorial before God this is sacrificial

language as if you were this is

something that might accompany a

sacrifice and he tells him to send some

men up to Joppa remember this is where

Peter is when we left him last he had

been in leta and in Joppa where he had

and leta he had raised Tabitha from the

dead and he had been in Joppa with Simon

the Tanner and this is where he was

staying right now in Joppa right there

on the coast and so Cornelius sends men

out to see Peter as he was told by the

angel and Cornelius has told these men

what has happened he wants them to know

what has happened in to relay this

message about this vision to Peter and

so they journey toward Simon the Tanners

place where Peter is well in the

meantime is there coming near to Simon

the Tanners place these men Peter goes

up on the housetop which would be a

common thing we hear about house tops in

the scriptures and he's up on the

housetop and he's praying and he's very

hungry so we might we might think that

maybe he has been fasting for quite some

time and we're told that he goes into a

trance of some sort so what might this

mean we can think of maybe Nephi who was

taken up in the spirit as he saw a

vision up into a high mountain he's

he's outside of his self physically so

to speak and he begins to see a vision

this is what he sees and he saw heaven

open and a certain vessel something that

holds something descending unto Him as

it had been a great sheet knit or bound

at the four corners and let down to the

earth okay so these visions it's like

Nephi's vision Lehigh's vision of the

Tree of Life we can think about

Revelation the book of Revelation we can

think about Daniel or Ezekiel or Isaiah

we get these visions and what are they

they're not physical reality they are

something completely different

but they are truth and they're

meaningful and they're very symbolic so

what is this he has some kind of MIT

thing here that is bound at four corners

and we're in in verse 12 we're in where

all manner of four-footed beasts of the

earth and wild beasts and creeping

things and fowls of the air now we're

gonna hear about animals a little bit

later when we get to the book of

Revelation toward the end of the year

animals and visions and if the men that

I told you before outside of what Nephi

sees trying to think about that they all

see animals there are animals in all of

these visions so Ezekiel sees animals

Isaiah sees animals John the Revelator

and the book of Revelation there's all

those strange animals that are in there

along with regular animals in Daniel

sees animals so the animals are a big

part of this revelatory or what we would

call apocalyptic not apocalyptic in the

sense of the end of the world that's not

the original meaning of apocalyptic but

apocalyptic means revelatory these

visions and so there comes a voice to

Peter as he sees all these animals of

all sorts in this knit vessel or maybe

sheet or veil of some sort and in verse

13 there came a voice to him rise Peter

kill and eat so we need to remember that

the Jews have a very strict dietary code

and there are certain animals that they

cannot eat they are unclean and this is

driven into them very you know from the

time they're little kids obviously and

so Peter says to him not so Lord for I

have never eaten anything that is common

or unclean he just can't accept that

or at least not right off the bat and

the voice spake unto him again the

second time what God hath cleansed that

call not thou common so something has

changed and there's a lot of theory and

a lot of things we can think about

has actually changed at this time but

there is a time now for the Gentiles to

receive the gospel to be baptized to

have the gospel preached to them and to

have the fullness of the law that

doesn't mean it hasn't happened

previously but it means it's happening

now and it's represented by the animals

the unclean animals are the Gentiles one

thing you see often in arts in early

Christian art is you're going to see the

birth of Jesus and he's in a barn or in

a cave and he's laying in the manger or

he's in Mary's arms and there's Joseph

and maybe the wise men or the shepherds

and behind them what do you usually see

there's usually two animals that you're

gonna see you're going to see an ox

which is a clean animal and represents

Israel and you're going to see a donkey

and the donkey is an unclean animal and

the donkey would represent the Gentiles

so your Christ is being born and there's

a new era that's going to unfold where

the gospel will first go to the Jews and

then it's going to go to the Gentiles

the ox and the donkey look for that in

those paintings

there's also another book that is not a

canonical book that is a very important

book which is Enoch one or first Enoch

or the Book of Enoch and it has a lot of

symbolism with animals a lot of

symbolism with animals in there the jury

the Jews like Lee and the early

Christians especially were very familiar

with this book it's referenced in the

New Testament and there are certain

doctrines in there that are referenced

oftentimes with the early Christians in

the early church fathers and so animal

symbolism is a common thing and for

them to understand and then we get this

remember with Peter we get this now

again here here's a third time with a

number three with Peter this was done

thrice and the vessel was received up

again into heaven and this is the reason

I don't have

the greatest confidence in thinking

about Peter when he's asked to feed his

sheep from the Lord on the shore of the

Sea of Galilee that this was like a

makeup for him denying Christ three

times that's not really what this number

three represents because what would this

be now right this is a third time with

the number three and so it's really more

of a confirmation like this is very

important and this is now ratified and

true and must be taken care of and

done and so that's why Spencer W Kimball

's idea that Peter may have actually

been told to deny Christ to do that

three times where that was like a

confirmation so that he could carry on

with the church seems like a little bit

more of a possibility there or an option

that may have happened I'm not trying to

sweeten the picture with Peter I'm

trying to be very logical about this but

it that there's a lot of merit to that

to that argument I think and so Peter is

still trying to struggle with this idea

of what does this vision mean what

have I just seen here than this trance

that he's been in and while he's going

through this it says while he was

doubting himself the men which were sent

from Cornelius had made inquiry of

Simon's house and stood before the gate

so this is a nice place it's a big place

probably an outer gate and called and

asked whether Simon which was surnamed

Peter were lodged there while Peter

thought on the vision the spirit said

unto Him behold three men seek thee the

number three again it is a three is kind

of like it's a number of perfection it's

a number of truth it's a number of

confirmation remember they're three men

that visit Adam and Eve there are three

men that visit Abraham there are the 3

Nephites right this is a common

thing to see in Scripture and so he's

told to go downstairs remember ease up

on the housetop to go downstairs and

meet these men so he says whom seek ye

what is the cause wherefore ye are come

and they said Cornelius the Centurion a

just man and one that feareth God and

have good rapport among all the nation

of the Jews obviously because he's a he

must be following the religion was

warned from God by an holy angel to send

for the into his house and to hear words

of thee and so Peter invites them into

the house they stay the night there and

then they take off to go back to see

Cornelius and though and so back with

Cornelius in Caesarea

Cornelius having this vision he's now

called in all of his kin and his friends

and he's brought them into his home for

Peter and Peter comes and meets him and

command and Cornelius the Centurion the

man in charge of a hundred men boughs

down and worships him as if he's a God

and Peter says ho hold on here I'm just

a man just like you you know I'm sure

Cornelius has heard all about Peter and

the miracles that he is performed and

and how do you how do you react when you

meet somebody like that that you've

heard about something like this I'm sure

with the stories that have gone around

Peter seems bigger than life at this

point so Peter says you know rise up I'm

just a guy and then he says to Cornelius

you know what it's unlawful for me as a

Jew to come into your home because

you're a Gentile and so this was a

common practice of the Jews early on

because they for various reasons because

for their religion it's not just a

racial thing though it could lead to

that but they're worried about

idol-worshipping and worshiping other

gods as a Roman they might have pictures

of Jupiter and Saturn or whoever right

and so you're entering into a very

different environment and then they

would have been eating things just like

talking about the animals here that the

Jews would think were unclean and

unhealthy and they wouldn't want to be

anywhere near that they're told not to

be anywhere near that but he comes in

and says he was told no longer to think

of the Gentiles of any man as common or

as unclean and so Cornelius recounts

what has happened in his vision

and then here's what Peter says he's

coming and where he was doubting before

this is now he's continuing to you can

just see his eyes opening more and more

about this change I mean just this is a

dramatic huge change and he says the

following then Peter opened his mouth

and said of a truth I perceive this is

just coming to him that God is no

respecter of persons so where there may

have been a time where it was not

allowed and that might make sense in

some circumstances that can make sense

but there but now is the time may not

have been allowed at one time to enter

into a Gentiles home or to baptize or

give ordinances or have a Gentile come

through the temple now Peter is saying

there is no unclean person and God is no

respecter of persons we get the same

almost exact phrase in the Book of

Mormon so what are why would we get that

in the Book of Mormon and here now in

the New Testament even though the Book

of Mormon is six hundred years earlier

when it stated and in a time where the

Jews were much more internal and looking

to themselves and pushing off

the Gentiles well the reason is

because Lehi had the Melchizedek

Priesthood and when they went off to the

new world they would have had the

teachings of Isaiah and an

interpretation of those teachings about

the Gentiles that would have been very

different from perhaps what was being

taught in Jerusalem over and over again

in the Book of Mormon

you see the opening of the way for all

people all nations all Isles of the sea

etc we see that over and over and over

again as a theme which is a theme that

is brought through from Isaiah the

Gentiles are always a part of that

restoration they're always a part of the

Melchizedek Priesthood because there is

a covenant that is in place this is how

the Lord work

this is how we all work together some

people are given a certain privilege and

some people are given are lacking in

that privilege that includes the gospel

there are very few people in the history

of the world that have ever had the

fullness of the gospel with them

including the Jews at this time with

Peter why is that wouldn't it be easier

if constantly there was a restoration

that came about when there was an

apostasy and everybody was given the

gospel and it was spread out to

everybody all the time why doesn't the

Lord work that way

well the fact is it doesn't work

that would not work it takes work and it

takes effort and it takes charity and

faith and hope from few people to get

that all to change because it's about

changing hearts and minds it's about

conversion and if it's just given out

everywhere visions everywhere scripture

everywhere all the time none of us are

going to grow none of us are going to be

able to exercise our faith and so the

Lord works through small and simple

means and line upon line and precept on

precept and we work together as sons and

daughters of God in a covenant

relationship and what I mean by that is

Co veneer coming together they came to

the Jews first with the gospel here and

all of the early members of the church

here are Jews but as a whole they're not

going to accept it and so now they're

going through the Gentiles and all

throughout history the prophets and many

of the Jewish people and the Israelites

in history have given us the gospel from

the time of Adam down to at least the

time of Jeremiah from the time of Adam

all the way down to the end of the

prophets in the Old Testament that is

what we receive as Gentiles from Israel

and from the Jewish people and now the

gospel is going to spread out much

faster and more rapidly through the

Gentiles

and they're going to not they're going

to lose some of it but they're going to

hang on to the good news about Jesus

Christ in the West in the Western

Hemisphere and they will eventually have

their own books such as I'll bring the

New Testament even though that was

originated in the old world and the Book

of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants

and the pearl of great price and that

will be a covenant on our end given back

to the Jewish people and the lost tribes

of Israel because that's how it works

and the first shall be last and the last

shall be first so this is not a change

of convenience for the early apostles

because the church wasn't growing fast

enough for the Jew so is actually

growing very very quickly it's a matter

of covenant and it's a matter of

understanding how this process of

lifting each other up as individuals and

as peoples how this all works this is

right at the center of this idea right

here right now with Peter and Cornelius

Peter and Cornelius are covenant they

are the epitome of how the Lord works

with his sons and daughters throughout

all time and throughout all geography

all places and so Peter follows this up

with but in every nation he that feareth

him and worketh righteousness feareth

the Lord is accepted with him so it's a

new day it's a new dawn things do change

because the Lord has a plan on how this

all connects and how this works together

we can also think of how this works with

the African Americans within within the

modern church and how this has worked

there is a time and a place for

everything I don't know the reasons

behind this I don't pretend to it's a

sensitive issue maybe I shouldn't bring

it up but I have to trust in the Lord

that overall there's a plan that's in

place for all people in in the times of

the Jews here the only people that could

have the priesthood for example were the

Levites most of the Jews here and

especially most of all of is the

Israelites only a very small fraction of

ever had the priesthood the prophets

with the Melchizedek priesthood the

priests sons of Aaron and the Levites

with the ironic priesthood they're a

minority but they are responsible for

everyone and that's the way we all are

we're all a minority of something but

we're supposed to take what is good from

us and offer that up for everyone else

it's like a Rubik's Cube there's all

these little people's on these squares

here and when you first look at it it's

just it's all over the place but as you

go through it you say well there's no

what is this mean there's no

pattern to this there's no nothing it's

random well it's actually not there

actually does have a way where if you do

it right all the colors match up on each

of the sides it just takes some time and

a lot of work and thought and effort to

be able to get it to all be into one so

to speak to be Zion to have covenant all

come together should I say it covenant

is a Rubik's Cube so there's my covenant

reference from the 80s so then Peter

follows up with this he says the word

which God sent unto the children of

Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ

then in parentheses he is Lord of all

he's not just the God of Abraham Isaac

and Jacob he's their God and he's

everyone's God that word I say ye know which

was published throughout all Judaea and

began from Galilee after the baptism

which john preached that's John the

Baptist and then down further he says we

are all witnesses of these things which

he did both in the land of the Jews and

in Jerusalem whom they slew and hanged

on a tree so they are witnesses of

exactly what was seen right now we see

how this all works we don't all get to

see these things very very few people

get that chance and even those that see

these things fall away but that's how

the Lord works there's a few witnesses

that saw the miracles of Jesus Christ

that saw him hanged on a tree and then

saw him as a resurrected being that's

how it works

there are only a few witnesses 13 I

think that we know of the Book of

Mormon the golden plates well why

wouldn't we all be able to just see them

would it make a difference you might

think it would but over time would it

really make a difference wouldn't our

same passions take over wouldn't our own

justification start to take over things

laman and lemuel saw a lot didn't seem

to matter for them the Lord works

through a few witnesses minorities that

offer the truth and a gift to everyone

in fact he says right here at 41 not to

all people he didn't show himself to all

people but under witnesses chosen before

of God even to us who did eat and drink

with him after he rose from the dead so

there it is

you didn't witness it I didn't witness

it and we might be more blessed because

of that if we can grow through faith on

those principles and those truths and

then he says here again a theme that

we've gone over many times here and that

they go over many times here through the

Gospels he says to him gave all the

prophets witness to Christ all the

prophets going back to Adam that through

his name whosoever believeth in him

shall receive remission of sins the

gospel the fullness of the gospel was

taught from the very beginning

faith repentance baptism gift of the

Holy Ghost this has been taught from the

very beginning even many Christians

today don't really believe that or

understand that it is not a new religion

Christianity at the time of Christ it is

a restored religion where there is only

a part of the gospel a limited part of

the gospel that is available to the Jews

at this time Peter and the Apostles and

the disciples here are bringing back the

fullness of the gospel it is a

restoration of what Adam had of what

Enoch had of what Noah had of what

Abraham taught and the covenants that he

made with God and Isaac and Jacob down

to Moses and then down here to Christ

it's not a new religion it's actually

the old religion that they're bringing

back and so while Peter says these

things with Cornelius the Holy Ghost

falls upon them and many things happen

here Cornelius begins to speak in

tongues so this is kind of like the

Pentecost all over again but it's

happening with the Gentiles the Lord is

no respecter of persons and after this

experience Peter says okay we're going

to take this major step here can we

forbid this man this Gentile after he's

been given the Holy Ghost like this this

this falling down from the Holy Ghost is

pouring out of the Spirit and these

visions that we have can we forbid the

waters of baptism from him and they say

no and they go ahead and they baptize

him and his household and those that are

with him as well and so what was a

separation and at different cultures and

different belief systems may be to some

degree in different heritage and lineage

is brought together here and Peter

remains there for a few days and what an

incredible experience of being able to

bring those things together in a

covenant type of a situation and so then

Peter goes down to Jerusalem and Luke

calls those that are there those are the

circumcision or the Jews they started

contending with Peter like what in the

world is going on what did you just do

you even went into his house and

what did you just do and so this was a

major concern for them and so then Peter

goes and recounts everything that had

happened the vision that he had by the

way those four corners that were pulled

together by that sheet or that veil or

whatever that might have been it's kind

of an interesting thing to me why four

there I think of the four streams of the

temple or of the Garden of Eden that go

out to all of the world bringing the

Word of God and bringing water to the

whole world the four corners of the

earth the four canopic jars in the

facsimiles in the Book of Abraham as

soon as we like there's a representation

of

the gospel going out to everyone and all

quarters of the world including all of

the Gentiles so he recounts this vision

that he had and then how the holy ghost

had fallen upon them and then they were

all okay with it and they understood

that some major change had just happened

and that it was from God so then Luke

introduces to us again Barnabas and

Barnabas is heading up to Antioch which

is in modern-day Turkey almost toward

the toward the Syrian side because other

men had been sent there to preach the

gospel and to baptize and they'd had a

lot of success there so he goes up there

follows up and helps solidify the church

a little bit and then he goes out and he

looks for SAW remember Barnabas is the

one that introduced Saul to the leaders

of the church in Jerusalem who are all

like hey do you know who this guy is but

he kind of welcomed him in and brought

him into the fold so he's out to kind of

do that again he's looking for Saul in

Tarsus which is his hometown and he

brings Saul out to Antioch and they stay

there for a year working Antioch’s an

interesting place it's one of the five

major centers of early Christianity they

had huge amounts of success there and

there's an interesting history with

Jerusalem and Judah there because it's

those from Antioch remember that Antioch

was founded by one of the generals of

Alexander the Great

Seleucus he founds Antioch as a Greek

city the story is that he was told where

to go when he saw an eagle that had a

piece of meat and he stopped at Antioch

which is really strange because that's

the story of the Aztecs if you've seen

the Mexican flag you'll see a an eagle

with a serpent in its mouth standing on

a cactus that's the exact same story

that the Aztecs have about where to

build their civilization which ended up

being Mexico City as much as things are

different as we've said they seem to be

the same but Antioch is had come in

previously about a couple hundred years

earlier and

overthrowing Jerusalem and when we hear

about the Maccabee and revolt

that's against Antioch and that's where

the Maccabees come from and one of those

strong families then that's where

Hanukkah comes from and a lot of strange

things went on there those from Antioch

the cellar seeds they put in there

they're assigned high priests they put

in a high priest for the temple and then

later the major families came in and

they put in their own high priests the

Jewish families and so there's a lot of

like where is the authority with all

these high priests where is that all

coming from and who's actually deciding

which high priests are going to be put

in here that's the line of confusion

that happens just a couple hundred years

before the time of Christ when we end up

with Annus and Caiaphas as the high

priests but Barnabas and Saul here in

Antioch is they've been teaching for

about a year here in Antioch it says

here in verse 26 at the end and the

disciples were called Christians first

in Antioch

so this is the beginning of the

separation between the Jews and the new

Christians this is about 15 years from

the time of the death of Christ now

we're getting to a point where as

they're going out and teaching in areas

where there's a lot of Gentiles and

they're speaking to the Gentiles they're

not just a new set of Jews talking to

Jews about what should change they're

now going out to the world and so now

they're not really just Jews they're

Christians they're a different religion

from the Jews based on who they are now

addressing and the church has grown

immensely they've got a lot of people in

a lot of different bases now throughout

Palestine and in Syria

I'll talk to you next time

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