‘LESSONS TO AN AMBASSADOR’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 16, 2022 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: November 16, 2022 from Acts 10:24-48
Theme: As ambassadors of the gospel, we do our work as if God accepts all people who genuinely reverence and seek Him.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The apostle Peter was about to learn a great lesson. It’s a lesson that God—through Peter—would want all of us who bear the name of Jesus Christ in this world to learn.
It wasn’t an easy lesson for him to learn. It was one that was contrary to everything that he had thought he knew—contrary, to his entire upbringing as a devoted Jewish man. It was a lesson that, after he had learned it and accepted it, caused his fellow Jewish believers to be uncomfortable and—once put into action—initially caused scandal. It was a lesson that even—later on—resulted in great debate in the church, and resulted in a decision being called for by the first official church council in history.
But it was, nevertheless, a lesson from God. It’s one that you and I should be very glad that Peter—and the early church—learned. It’s the lesson that God accepts all people—from all people groups—who genuinely reverence and seek Him. If they truly want to be freed from their sins and know Him, He doesn’t care what nation, or people group, or ethnicity they are from. He makes sure that they hear about Jesus Christ. And if they place their faith in Jesus, God the Father now accepts them just as much as He would have accepted any Jewish believer.
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This radical and astonishing idea—that God now accepts any believing Gentile that comes to Him through faith in Jesus—seems obvious to us today. In fact, there had been hints of it in the Scriptures all along. Way back when He promised the coming reign of the Messiah, the Holy Spirit declared:
“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10).
And through the prophet Amos, God said;
“On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing (Amos 9:10-11).
And in anticipation of that day, the invitation was to be sent out to all the world. The Good News of Jesus Christ wasn’t just for the Jewish people. It was now for all people; and all people needed to hear it. It is, as the angel declared to the shepherds, “good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Luke 2:10).
But before the Gentile people could hear it, the Jewish preachers of this Good News needed to undergo a reformation in their thinking. They needed to have their hearts opened up to welcome those believing Gentiles into the household of Christ. And that’s what we’re reading about in the story of Acts 10-11. God was transforming the heart of the apostle Peter—and through him, all the Jewish church—so that the door to the gospel would now be opened to the Gentiles. We’ve already seen a little of how that door began to be opened. First, in Acts 10:1-8, God called the pious Roman centurion Cornelius to send to Joppa for Peter in answer to Cornelius’ prayers. And then, in 10:9-23, God revealed to Peter that he was no longer to call ‘common’ what God called ‘clean’; and that he was to go with the Gentiles who came and asked for him.
Just like Peter, there may be some biases and prejudices in us that may keep us from thinking that certain people groups could ever believe or be saved—some attitudes that God is calling us to now set aside. And as ambassadors of the gospel, we must behave—just like Peter had to learn to behave—as if God now fully accepts all people who genuinely reverence and seek Him.
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In Acts 10:23, we read of how Peter rose up with the Gentile visitors who were sent to him, in obedience to God; and went from Joppa to Caesarea—a 36-mile journey by foot—to the house of Cornelius. And it’s then that a series of confirming lessons were taught to him.
First, in verses 24-39, we see that Peter learned …
1. THAT IN GOD’S SIGHT, NO PEOPLE GROUP IS NOW TO BE CONSIDERED COMMON OR UNCLEAN (vv. 24-39).
We’re told;
“And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends” (v. 24).
The journey must have taken a day and a half or so. It had been four days from the time that—around three in the afternoon—the angel came to Cornelius and commanded him to send for Peter. And it must be that as Peter and the six other Jewish believers who went with him traveled, Cornelius called many of his friends, relatives, and neighbors together to wait for this message from God. It must also have been that, during that time, Peter did a lot of thinking and praying. And now, as Peter and his companions arrived at the very hour when the angel appeared four days before, he found Cornelius’ house full of waiting people. What a picture this was of what Jesus once said—that the “fields” are “already white for harvest” (John 4:35). How many people around us might it be that God has already prepared to hear the Good News from us?
Now; Peter must have known that God was up to something great in all this; but think of how surprised he must have been at the greeting he received once he arrived! We’re told;
As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together (vv. 26-27).
It must be that Cornelius felt moved to bow before Peter because Peter was—clearly—a man sent to him from God. Even more surprising to Peter than the greeting would have been a room full of very receptive Gentiles—all eager to hear God’s message from him. And that’s when we see how this great lesson began to be reinforced to Peter’s heart. Verses 28-29 tell us;
Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?” (vv. 28-29).
The rules of strict separation that God had instituted for the Jewish people were now being revised. What a great step forward this was for Peter—the ambassador for Christ! God was taking the first hindrance out of the way. He was showing Peter that he—on his own part—should never consider any people group to be outside of the reach of God’s full grace through Jesus. The apostle Paul once articulated something like it when he wrote;
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:14-17).
Peter learned that God now considers no one to be ‘common’ or ceremonially ‘unclean’ or outside the full reach of His grace. Have you and I learned this lesson ourselves?
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So; Peter crossed the first hurdle. He now stood—as a Jewish man—in a room full of eager Gentiles to whom he had been sent by God. And then comes the next lesson he needed to learn when it comes to being an ambassador for the gospel …
2. THAT GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY WITH THE GOSPEL, BUT ALL ARE WELCOME TO HEAR (vv. 30-43).
Peter had to ask Cornelius why he had sent for him, because God hadn’t told Peter. All that Peter knew was that he was to go.
So Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God” (vv. 30-33).
Cornelius was an outstanding man. He was a Gentile who truly reverenced and feared God. He sought holiness before Him. He prayed to the God of Israel earnestly and regularly. But none of those things could save him. He needed to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved by a clear, deliberate faith in what Jesus had done for him. And that’s why God sent Peter to him. It truly was good that he obeyed God and came.
And in listening to Cornelius—and perhaps even having his heart broken by what he heard—the lesson became deeper in Peter’s heart.
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him (vv. 34-35).
He now knew that he was sent to Cornelius because God loved and accepted the Roman centurion. God wanted Cornelius—this Gentile foreigner—to hear the gospel and be saved. And so, as we’re told in verse 34, Peter—the God-sent ambassador for Christ—simply opened his mouth and declared the gospel. Verses 36-43 tell us;
“The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (vv. 36-43).
Do you notice that Peter acknowledged that Cornelius knew something of the story of Jesus already? He was an important Roman official. He must have heard something about it all. But he needed greater clarity in order to believe. And also notice the basic points of the gospel that Peter set before Cornelius:
- (1) that God had anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit,
- (2) that He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
- (3) that the Jews in Jerusalem crucified Him,
- (4) that God raised Him up on the third day and showed Him openly,
- (5) that Peter and the other apostles are witnesses of these things and were sent by God to testify of them,
- (6) that God has ordained Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead, and
- (7) that the testimony of all the Old Testament prophets is that whoever believes on His name will receive the remission (i.e., forgiveness) of sins.
God was showing Peter that He now accepted all people who sincerely sought Him—even the people of the Gentile world. He showed that He accepts them by calling for them to hear the message of the gospel. As Jesus Himself commanded:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
All nations are to hear; because God shows no partiality with the gospel. That was a lesson Peter needed to learn before he could be the ambassador God wanted him to be. Have we learned it as well?
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And there’s one more lesson that needed to be taught to Peter; and that’s …
3. THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE ON JESUS—WHOEVER THEY MAY BE—ARE SAVED (vv. 44-48).
This needed to be clearly and memorably demonstrated to Peter and his Jewish traveling companions. And it was … in a very dramatic way! The last thing that we read that Peter told Cornelius was that, through Jesus name, “whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (v. 43). The call for faith in Jesus was set forth. It must be that Cornelius and his household believed. And that’s when we read, in verses 44-46;
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God (vv. 44-46a).
The Holy Spirit had manifested Himself upon the believing Gentiles in just the very same way that He had manifested Himself upon the Jewish believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost. There was no difference. The lesson was now fully taught to Peter. Everyone who believes in Jesus—whoever they may be; of whatever nation they are; of whatever ethnicity they may be—is fully saved by God’s grace. There was nothing left for Peter to do but embrace these Gentiles as his brothers and sisters in Christ.
Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days (vv. 46b-48).
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A little while later, Peter stood before a council of Jewish believers and gave testimony of this. Many of the Jewish believers were insisting that Gentiles who came to faith in Christ must be circumcised and become “Jewish”. But Peter told them;
“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they” (Acts 15:7-11).
Now; it’s always true that people must turn from sin if they will turn to the Savior from sin. But look at how available that salvation has become! All truly repentant and God-fearing sinners from all nations, ethnicities, cultures, people groups, and languages—if they truly reverence God and seek Him—are accepted by Him. He wants them to hear the message of the gospel.
Peter, as the ambassador of Jesus Christ needed to learn this lesson. And he did.
Have we?
AE
