God Salvation is Opened Up To All - Part Two (Acts Chapter 10: 24-48)

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Introduction:

• Welcome back to TBPDP, where we explore biblical principles and their relevance to contemporary life.
• Today's episode continues from last time, focusing on Acts 10:24-48, where the message of God's salvation is revealed to be open to all people.

Recap:

• Briefly recap the first part of the story where Cornelius, a Gentile, receives a vision and sends for Peter, who also has a vision about unclean animals, symbolizing the inclusion of Gentiles.

Act Three: The Meeting and the Message

• Verses 23-24: Peter travels with some believers from Joppa to Caesarea, where Cornelius has gathered his relatives and friends in anticipation of Peter's arrival.
• Verses 25-26: Upon meeting, Cornelius falls at Peter's feet in reverence, but Peter quickly corrects him, emphasizing that he is only a man.

Key Verses and Themes:

• Verse 28: Peter addresses the gathering, acknowledging that it is against Jewish law for him to associate with Gentiles but reveals that God has shown him not to call anyone impure or unclean. This verse highlights the breaking of barriers between Jews and Gentiles, signifying the universal nature of God's salvation.
• Verse 34: Peter declares that God shows no partiality, accepting anyone who fears Him and does what is right, regardless of nationality.

Peter’s Message:

• Verses 36-43: Peter preaches about Jesus Christ, emphasizing His life, miracles, death, and resurrection.
  • Verse 36: Peace comes through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
  • Verse 40: God raised Jesus on the third day, witnessed by chosen apostles.
  • Verse 43: Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

The Holy Spirit's Confirmation:

• Verses 44-46: While Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on all who hear the message, and they begin speaking in tongues, astonishing the Jewish believers with Peter. This event mirrors Pentecost, confirming that Gentiles are also recipients of the Holy Spirit and God's salvation.

Baptism and Inclusion:

• Verses 47-48: Peter commands that the new believers be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, cementing their inclusion in the faith community. The sequence shows that belief and receiving the Holy Spirit precede baptism, emphasizing faith as the key to salvation.

Applications and Observations:

• Universal Salvation: God's message of salvation is inclusive, breaking down ethnic and cultural barriers.
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Chapters

• 15:53 [Ad] Funny news, Real Talk & Spiritual Growth - Faith that's honest, Deep & Intentional
• 16:40 (Cont.) God Salvation is Opened Up To All - Part Two (Acts Chapter 10: 24-48)

Transcript

God Salvation is Opened  Up To All. (Acts 10: 1-23)

Transcript.

 Continues - Peter is at Cornelius’s House

23 The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

(Acts 10:9-48)

Now, we've got to get these two people together, and that’s Act Three. This part of the story is really rather simple and self-evident. Cornelius has sent some people down to Joppa. They arrive, and Peter is still skeptical. We’re told that the Spirit speaks to him again and nudges him, and he finally agrees. They spend the night, and the next day they take off to go back to where Cornelius is in Caesarea. When they get there, the first thing that happens is Cornelius bows down and worships Peter. Look at verse 25: "As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him." Peter quickly corrects this. Look at the next verse: "But Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up; I myself am also a man.'" Don’t worship me, I’m just the messenger.

Peter then says in verse 28, which is probably the key verse in this whole chapter, "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." So, the first thing Peter does is stop the worshipping. "I’m not God. In fact, it's even unlawful for me to come to your house according to Jewish customs, but God just told me I should do that." The sheet had more to do with animals and creeping things, but really, it was about people.

Peter then says, "Now, why did you call for me?" Cornelius tells Peter, "Well, I was praying, and I had a vision. I was told to send somebody to go get you, and that’s why you’re here." The rest of the passage is Peter’s message to Cornelius. So, in Act Three, we get the two together: Cornelius, the seeker, and Peter, the messenger. This is the meeting and the message.

What’s the message? What does God have for anybody who is seeking to know Him? May I repeat that if you’re just being interested in religion, this isn’t going to be for you. But if you really want to know God, this is what God would say to you. Here it is: there are basically four things that Peter says.

The first is in verse 34: "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality.'" God shows no partiality. God is not partial. Peter goes on, "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." The key word there is "fears," which is one of the ways Scripture talks about trusting Him. So, the first thing Peter says is if you really want to know God, you can. God is not partial.

The second thing he says is in verse 36: "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all." He then goes on to tell about the life of Christ, that He lived, that He worked miracles, that He died, and that He rose from the dead. 

In verse 40, it says God raised Jesus up on the third day and showed Him openly. This passage says that the apostles were witnesses to that. The message here is that God wants everybody to be saved, and that message comes through Jesus Christ. Or, to use the words of this text, peace comes through Jesus Christ. That bears a word of explanation.

According to the Scripture, we are born separated from God. We go our own way and do our own thing. In fact, the book of Isaiah says that we turn each to his own way, and like sheep, we go astray, letting God go His way. That might seem innocent or not, but one of the words the Bible uses to describe that situation is "enmity." Let me use another word: there’s a little war going on between the average person and God. So, God wants to make peace, and that's what this text says.

Here's how He did it: He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and pay for the sins of the world. He raised Him from the dead, and then God extends an invitation: if you come to my Son, there will be peace between us. You will have peace with God. So, the second thing Peter says is that peace comes through Jesus Christ.

The third thing he says is that what you must do is believe. Look at verse 43: "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." Please note that this is one of the most important verses in this whole chapter. Peter clearly says if you believe, you will experience the remission of sins.

What do I have to believe? I mean, probably the whole Bible, right? Well, the message has been briefed and centers on Jesus Christ. You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died to pay for your sins and rose from the dead. Now, one other thing is that the word "believe" doesn’t just mean to accept all those things intellectually; it means more than that. It means that you trust in Jesus Christ, that you depend on Him for the forgiveness of your sins.

So, that's God's message to anybody who wants to know Him: "I'm not partial. I sent my Son, and if you believe in Him, there will be peace between us. You will have peace with me and the forgiveness of sins." Interestingly, Peter didn’t pass out a decision card or invite people to come forward. He didn't even finish his sermon. Here's what happened: look at verse 44: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word." They began to speak in tongues, just like at Pentecost. This was God supernaturally saying, "Hey, I'm accepting these Gentiles, and I'm giving you Jews a sign that I'm doing that."

They were astonished that God accepted the Gentiles. Peter says in verse 47: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" There are two important things to note here: First, they received the forgiveness of sins before they got baptized. In other words, Peter said believe, and in the middle of his sermon, they believed and trusted Christ. At that moment, they received the Holy Spirit, meaning they got the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Then they spoke in tongues, and Peter says, "Let's baptize them."

All of this means you don't have to be baptized in order to be saved, but you should be baptized if you trust Christ. The other important thing is this: Peter didn’t tell them they had to become Jews before becoming Christians. They didn’t have to go through Jewish rituals to get to Christianity. That’s the point of this story. It really goes back to verse 28: "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." And in verse 34: "God shows no partiality. God accepts all who, by faith, trust Jesus Christ for the gift of eternal life."

Alright, that's the story. Now, let me wrap it up with some simple observations.

Who let them in here? God let them in here. And in order to do it, God had to supernaturally get Jewish Christians to allow the Gentiles in. He supernaturally appeared to Cornelius, He supernaturally appeared to Peter, He got them together, and then supernaturally put His seal of approval on it by having these new Gentile converts speak in tongues.

The point of the story is: God wants all to be saved. God wants all to be forgiven. God wants all to be given the gift of eternal life. That's the point of this passage. 

But there's another little thing we need to take note of: God uses humans to share the message of salvation. He could have used an angel—He did not. The angel told Cornelius to go get Peter, but the angel did not give Cornelius the message of salvation by grace through faith. The Lord could have used a dream—He communicated with Peter through a vision—but He didn't use that to communicate the good news to Cornelius. The message that all you have to do is trust in Jesus Christ came through a human messenger, Peter.

So here's the point: first, God wants everybody to be saved. Second, God uses humans to share this message. Think about your own experience: if you are a believer, it is because someone was instrumental in introducing you to the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads every individual to salvation through the testimony of another, whether by preaching, writing, or personal testimony. It is God's way of propagating the gospel.

If you know the Lord, you have a great gift—the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. All you have to do to receive this gift is believe. Peter makes this very clear in verse 43: "Whoever believes in Him will receive the remission of sins." God wants you to know this, and someone has to tell you. In your case, this morning, that might be me or whoever invited you to this service.

All you have to do to get in is believe. That’s how I got in. That’s how everybody in here got in. We’re going to heaven not because we are perfect, religious, or good, but because we trust in Jesus Christ to get us there. It doesn’t depend on what we do; it depends on what He did. This is really good news: all you have to do is simply believe in and trust Jesus Christ, and God gives you the gift of eternal life.