(November 29, 2024) Wayne Swift once again calls it as it is…

Often our speech is filled with promises, hopes, and New Year resolutions— all of which are soon forgotten or deliberately ignored or broken, especially the latter! And the older we get the more we’ll stay safely within the parameters imposed on us by our upbringing and experiences. ‘Breaking-out’ is a term for the often midlife crises.

I actually want to share with you about breaking-out from certain rules, not promises, hopes or resolutions! Deliberately stepping out and intentionally going against some rules that are imposed on us takes a special sort of attitude.

Now many people break rules every day— road laws perhaps by speeding or using mobiles while driving. Many an adult breaks even simple dietary rules. Every day TV news tells of rules being broken not just by adults but even by students, by teenagers regarding certain things.

Some rules when broken create a sense of guilt, some a sense of freedom. But… before you work out which rules you might be guilty of breaking today, let me share about the sort I think should be broken.

A Puzzled Peter
In doing so, I direct you to consider Peter. Peter? The apostle Peter? Oh yes… that Peter. He knew something about breaking rules! Let me take you to Acts 10NLT…

The opening verses of tell of Cornelius, a devout God-fearing Roman captain in Caesarea, having a vision of an angel who said, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.’ 

Although somewhat frightened he obediently sent his trusted aide and two faithful household servants off some 50 km (30 miles) journey. Verses 9ff tell what happened the next day at Joppa.

A hungry Peter had an unusual rooftop vision while a meal was being prepared below: he fell into a trance and saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet being let down by its four corners.In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. And a voice was saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’

His response? ‘No, Lord… I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean’ he declares and is further surprised when that ‘voice’ rebukes him: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ 

To his further surprise the same vision is repeated three times, then the sheet is suddenly pulled up to heaven (v15-16NLT). Peter is now very bewildered, very perplexed, very puzzled. As he wonders what the vision could mean, the men sent by Cornelius arrive below and are asking for him. 

‘The voice’ was actually the Holy Spirit who spoke again to the puzzled apostle, ‘Three men have come looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.’

Physical hunger is now forgotten as Peter goes downstairs to enquire, ‘Why have you come?’

A Stunned Peter
I’ll cut here to the proverbial chase— to his amazement Peter learns of the vision some God-fearing gentile had. Next day he willingly travels to Caesarea with the three men. If he had been so surprised by his rooftop vision, he now has another surprise! This Gentile Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his Gentle relatives and many close friends. 

Can you image that scene? Cornelius brings Peter inside his home where the apostolic discovers that huge assembly of Gentiles and says, ‘It was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.’   

I can image a stunned Peter gulping before he says to them all, ‘You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you.’

Then happily adding, ‘But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for … I see very clearly that God shows no favouritism. In every nation He accepts those who fear Him and do what is right’ (v34-35).

Then he went on to share the message of the gospel’s good news, that there is peace with God through the risen Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.

The result was that those Gentiles accepted Jesus and— the Holy Spirit fell on them and they praised God in tongues! Those Jewish believerswho came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Spirit was for born again Gentiles, too! 

Something else happened…
(i) A delighted Peter asked:
‘Can anyone object to their being baptised, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?’ Not one Jew objected and he gave orders for them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ (v47-48a).
(ii) A delighted Cornelius asked:
‘Peter to stay with them for several days’ (v48b). Obviously he and the new converts were hungry to learn more about their newfound Saviour and God’s word.

A Questioning Peter
In reading Acts 10 about Peter breaking religious manmade rules, I’m reminded— as no doubt Peter was too— of the day Matthew recorded in his gospel (chapter 15) when some Pharisees and teachers of religious law had challenged Jesus ‘Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition?’

Jesus had immediately challenged them: ‘And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?’ He then told the gathered crowd to ‘Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.’

His disciples had come to Him asking, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?’ And He had made it clear that they should ‘Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’ 

In steps Peter asking Jesus ‘to explain what He meant when He said that people are not defiled by nonkosher food’ (v15TLB).  

Peter was actually querying about breaking manmade religious rules and Jesus’ reply must have rocked him: ‘Are you still so dull?’ (v16NIV) or as the Message version bluntly says, ‘Are you being wilfully stupid?’ 

A Renewed Peter
In the Acts 10 incident above, Peter was neither dull nor wilfully stupid! He acted immediately, willingly travelling to Caesarea. And oh the blessings his ‘breaking manmade religious laws’ made, not only for those Caesareans Gentiles but the growing church of Jesus.

It was to the church of that time— and still is to churches today, to your church today, 2024— an encouragement to reach out to everyone no matter who they are, what colour they are, with the gospel and help fulfill the Matthew 28:18-20 great commission!

I’ve been speaking above about an extraordinary dream, rule-breaking faith, leading to revival. Remember that line of an old children’s chorus… ‘All are precious in His sight.’ It’s so true!

God prepared the people to receive before Peter learned to break the rules. The end result of this rule-breaking of manmade tradition was a move of God. There are people coming to your church or you’ll come across who will require you to minister differently to them.

There is a rule or measure over your life in the area of your faith. That rule may be regarding salvations, healings, finance, your calling in God itself. These days faith in every area needs to expand— but in my experience we learn one lesson at a time. We need to make space away from our current activities to allow God to impact us with His rule-breaking dream for us.

A ‘Breaking-out’ Peter
I conclude by asking—

• Do you, like Peter, need a startling dream, a puzzling vision from the Holy Spirit?
• Are you willing to obey whatever He asks, even if it means breaking some ‘religious rule’?
• When such manmade religious rules are broken, one’s measure of faith is increased when we step out in response to revelation.

Good ideas aren’t enough, Peter’s dream was a breaking-out revelation for him. What ‘breaking-outs’ is God lining you up for?  Whatever they are, it has all to do with faith.

Most don’t break such manmade religious rules because they don’t give God the time and space necessary for Him to speak. The reality is that God has more to say to us than we have time to listen to—  we have more to say to Him! We often fail to listen! Revelation can come at any time but it only takes root when the soil is prepared well.  Are you well prepared soil?

The time to take action to break-out from some ‘religious rules’ is now. Such rules aren’t broken by prayer or perfection, perseverance or patience— but by obedience to God’s word. 

Schedule the time, list religious rules over your life that are restricting you and with revelation break those restrictions and step into a new era.       

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Wayne and Ruth Swift pastor Resound Church, Scoresby, Victoria. Link: Web resound.church
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