Gtcotr/ws082819
This
evening we will continue our study of the Book of Acts with Acts, chapter 11.
As you may remember from last week:
·
A
high-ranking Roman military commander named Cornelius who was stationed in the
city of Caesarea, an important port on the Mediterranean coast of western
Israel, received an angelic visitation.
·
Cornelius
was instructed by the angel to send men to Joppa to summon Peter to come to his
home and tell him how he and his household could be saved.
·
Seeing
it was against the Jewish law for Peter to enter into the house of a Gentile
and lodge or eat with him, God needed to prepare Peter to go with the men
Cornelius was sending.
Acts 10:20 “Arise
therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
·
God
gave Peter a vision and spoke directly to him from out of heaven and ordered
him to go with them without any doubting.
o The word “doubt”, in this passage, is translated from the Greek
word, “diakrino” means:
§
To hesitate
§
To discriminate
§
To pre-judge; prejudice
§
To oppose
§
To separate
§
To contend
§
To be hostile towards
§
To desert
§
To strive with
§
To withdraw from
o God said, “Peter you
go with them, doubting nothing …
·
Peter
arrived at Cornelius’ home where Cornelius had gathered his family and friends
and entered without doubting.
·
Peter
began his sermon, (Acts 10:34 & 35), by saying he had come to realize that
God was “no respecter of persons”, that he did not show partiality or
favoritism, but in every nation, God
accepts those:
o Who fear Him
o Who do what is right
·
While
Peter was preaching, it was not his best sermon by the way … you can read it …
·
But
when Peter got to the punch line, the meat of the message, the point of the
sermon saying, “Everyone who believed in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through
His name.”
·
God
interrupted the meeting and poured His Holy Spirit out on Cornelius and
everyone listening to Peter. They began to:
o Speak in tongues
o Praise God
·
Peter
baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ then Peter and the six Jewish
Believers who came with Peter from Joppa stayed with them for several days.
Well,
it didn’t take long for the news to travel to Jerusalem.
Acts 11 NLT
1 ¶ Soon the news reached the
apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word
of God.
2 But when Peter arrived back
in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.
3 “You entered the home of
Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.
It’s
sad, but true to human nature, that people are often more aggressive and
therefore more engaged in things they don’t like rather than in the things they
do like. The Apostles and the Believers in the Church at Jerusalem were
displeased to hear about what had happened in Caesarea.
They
were focused on adherence to a system they had adopted from the beliefs they
had brought into the Church with them from their lives before Christ.
·
Exclusion from salvation is a doctrine that only exists in the minds
of men
who have set themselves up to judge the souls of others.
·
Everything
in the Gospel message of Christ cries inclusion.
When
we are called upon, or allowed the privilege, or seize some moment to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to one or to many, it is between God and those who
hear as to whether they are:
1.
Informed
2.
Reformed
3.
Transformed
Don’t
hesitate, discriminate, pre-judge, separate, contend, be hostile towards,
desert or withdraw from those who must hear the Good News in order to be saved.
The blood of Jesus is available to every person. God is not afraid of nor does
He hate sinners. In fact, the opposite is true. God loves every person from
every nation, tribe, kindred, tongue, culture, custom and condition of life …
especially the poor, the needy, the widow, the orphan, and the chief sinners in
every city.
Tell
them all that God loves them right where they are, just like they are, and if
they will believe in Jesus, they will receive forgiveness of sins in His name. Help
God reach them all and teach as many as will listen how to fully follow Christ
and please Him above else.
I
LOVE THE CHURCH!!!
The Church of the living God is wonderful and forgiving and grace-filled and
loving and kind. When Peter told them how God baptized the Gentiles in Caesarea
with the Holy Spirit just like He did to all of the Apostles in the upper room
on the day of Pentecost …
Acts 10:18 When the others
heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can
see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their
sins and receiving eternal life.”
I
believe that Acts 11 teaches us that anytime anyone gets a chance to witness to
sinners and someone comes to Christ, let’s make sure we:
1.
Don’t doubt their salvation
2.
Not object to their inclusion
3.
Praise God for their transformation
