Act 10:34-48 God's Kindness Leads Us to Him

Act 10:34-48 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.  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.  You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—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.  “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, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.  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.  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.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.  ”While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.  For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.  Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.  ”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.

In the above focus we see the Holy Spirit falling on those who were considered by the Jews as the unregenerate, the eternally lost, those who were not chosen as God’s own people.  However since the fall in the reality of spiritual life, God considered all people He created, Gentiles and Jews alike, wicked from their conception.  Eventually the Jews became an exception from this intractable darkness humans found themselves in; the law, the light of God, was given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  Now in the above focus we see a Gentile and his household being delivered from being in the darkness of the world.  Cornelius and his household experienced a supernatural event of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit fell on them as they were listening to the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  The Spirit of God indwelled them after they heard Peter’s say: the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.  We see in this setting that the visiting Jews were not anticipating this act of the Spirit of God falling on these unclean Gentiles.  Even if they had envisioned such a happening, they would have considered such an intervention of God on Gentiles would only happen after a long, sustained prayer, maybe accompanied by a period of fasting.  We see in this event, the gracious God of eternal love placing his redemptive hands on the Gentile world.  Yes, we do know Cornelius and his family had circumcised hearts, for they were following the mores of an eternal, good Creator, He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  (Acts 10:2)  But following the nature of God could not wash away their sins; it could not do away with their Adamic nature.  Jesus had said this about the human race; your likeness in the flesh will never be accepted by God; YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.  Or you must come anew in the likeness of God, not of Adam.  Paul says this about Jew and Gentile: You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.  (Ephesians 2:1-3)  How could Paul say that about himself; we know he was dedicated to the law; we know his zeal was so strong for God and his law that he was willing to persecute and even kill the apostate Christians.  He was trying to live a circumcised life, yet he was caught in the net of sinful acts and deeds, killing innocent men and women which is against the law.  As Peter said in a meeting with Jewish Christians, leaders of the nascent church, which one of us circumcised Jews completely satisfy the written law of Moses?  Of course, none of these leaders could answer in the affirmative.  The Bible says, all have sinned, all have gone astray, no one is righteous, or right with God.  Yet in the case of Cornelius and his family, God honors humans with sincere hearts who attempt to be moral, loving and caring for all human beings.  I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

The Romans and Greeks considered circumcision as a form of body mutilation, and hence barbaric.  Therefore, we can assume that no one in Cornelius’ family and household was circumcised.  Maybe not physically circumcised but their allegiance to God the Creator was very strong.  Their hearts indicated circumcision of the inner person, for they had hearts of love and caring for all people.  Paul talks about this condition of circumcision of the heart in his letter to the Romans.  Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.  So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?   The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.  A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.  No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.  Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.  (Romans 2:25-29)  Paul is telling us that the Roman, Cornelius, has a circumcised heart.  He is dedicated to God in his heart; therefore, he is a Jew, or a member of God’s chosen people.  We see the prophets of old constantly warning the Jews that their hearts were uncircumcised.  Their bodies indicated circumcision, dedication to God, but their hearts were far from God.  “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.”  Jeremiah 4:4  An uncircumcised heart will be judged and a circumcised heart will be honored as we see with Cornelius and his family.  God honors Cornelius and his household by pouring the Holy Spirit upon them.  The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The Jews with Peter heard the Gentiles speaking in tongues and praising God.  These circumcised Jewish believers who accompanied Peter to Cornelius’ house concluded no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.   Now Peter fully understands why the voice from heaven told him not to call anything unclean that God has made clean.  These unclean Gentiles as far as the Jews were concerned were now receiving the mantle of God’s chosen.  They were now being clothed in righteousness.  IN CHRIST JESUS you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, FOR YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  (Galatians 3:26-29)  All who live IN CHRIST are Abraham’s seed, a chosen people bound for eternal life in the household of God.

We who live in this time often forget the uniqueness of our position with God.  We are God's children regardless of our personal understanding of how we should live or envision life IN CHRIST.  We might even live uncircumcised lives, not completely under the constraints of God’s law and regulations.  But as we view the Gentiles of Peter and Paul’s time, we see a group of Christians often living lives of unrestraint to Moses’ law and regulations.  James, Jesus’ brother, advises the church leadership in Jerusalem to send a letter to the Gentile churches, recommending to them activity that they should avoid.  It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.  You will do well to avoid these things.  (Acts 15:28-29)  They did not ask these Gentiles to be circumcised in the flesh; they did not ask for the Gentiles to obey all the regulations in the law.  They only asked for them to avoid certain activities.  They really could not ask for anything more, for they knew God had already validated these Gentiles as his own.  How could they put stipulations on God about who He should choose to be in his kingdom and who He should not choose to be in his kingdom?  God had already decided that issue.  As Paul exclaimed, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  (Romans 1:16-17)  The church council leadership, some who had walked with Christ, and the worst of sinners in the Gentile world were living in God’s domain because of faith, a righteousness that is by faith from FIRST TO LAST.  This is so important to today’s Christians.  Let God decide who is in his kingdom and not us.  We are not to be the judge of right and wrong, let God be the judge and let him do the discipline, for He disciplines his children.  We often accentuate the fundamentals in knowing God; these foundational truths should be understood, assimilated in our Christian walk, but we also should move on to deeper things in our walk with Christ.  Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  And God permitting, we will do so.  (Hebrews 6:1-3)  So many of us believe these fundamentals capture what it means to be a Christian.  Yes those are foundational, but keeping in step with the Holy Spirit is to be a major part of a deeper life IN CHRIST.  The basic tenets of being a Christian is but milk when compared with the Holy Spirit attributes in our lives: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22)  If we do not watch out, we are following God by the stipulations of how to be a Christian, which is good, such as the law was good.  But following what is right to be acceptable to God does not mean we are fulfilling God’s demand on our lives.  He is asking us to be IN STEP with the Holy Spirit’s attributes. We see in the above focus, God puts his approval on the Cornelius household by infilling them with the Holy Spirit.  We too are to be FILLED WITH THE Holy Spirit.  We too are to express God’s goodness in the tongues of love and caring for the whole world.  We do not follow God by law or stipulations.  We follow God because our hearts have been circumcised by the infilling of the Spirit.  We are NEW CREATURES, who act and look different to the world.  What law can be against those who express love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to the world.  The kindness of God and his enduring love for all people lead people away from this world into his loving arms.  Let us image God in our daily lives so that the world may see him in us.     

 

       

    

    

   

   

  

  

 

 

Acts 10:23-35 Give Gifts to the Poor!

Acts 10:23-35  The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.  The following day he arrived in Caesarea.  Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.  As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.  But Peter made him get up.  “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”  While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.  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.   So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection.  May I ask why you sent for me?  ”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 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.  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.’  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.”

In this story we see two people from different cultures called by God to meet together.   Both of them are aware that a Jew and a Gentile are traditionally foes; they are not to associate with each other.  When Peter meets Cornelius, he reminds Cornelius that Jews are forbidden to associate with Gentiles.  You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile.  Even though this societal separation was well understood in both of their communities, we have Cornelius calling for a Jew to come to his house because of a supernatural event happening in a prayer time.  Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.  The next day Peter while in a trance sees a sheet with many different types of creatures on it.  This sheet comes down from the sky three times, a complete number in the Jewish society.  Because he is hungry, he is ordered to, “Get up, Peter.  Kill and eat.”   However, many of these living things are considered unclean to the Jews.  If Peter ate them he would be violating a direct commandment of God.  But the voice from heaven tells Peter, Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.  Now we see in the above focus, Peter, a Jew, meeting with Cornelius, a Gentile.  This interaction happens only because both men knew God was intricately involved with their meeting: a Jew mingling with a Gentile even though such a get-together violated the norms of that day.  Cornelius is a chosen vessel of God because he is an upright man who gives gifts to the poor.  Taking care of the disadvantaged and the stranger is a prominent theme in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  God has much to say about caring for the most vulnerable in a society.  In the Old Testament we see: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.  (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)  In the New Testament we know the Lord will separate people at the end of time based on how they treated the weakest among them.  Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  (Matthew 25:34-36)  Cornelius was a man who cared for the weak, the poor, those who were losing out in this world.  Therefore, an angel came to him to open up the way to eternal life by having him call Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ to come to his house.  When the two men meet, Cornelius falls at Peter’s feet to worship and honor him.  But now, Peter has a full understanding that all men are equal and precious to God.  He tells Cornelius to get up because he is a man just as Cornelius is a man.  Both are equal; there is no separation between a Roman and a Jew; God sees both as precious, for they are made in his likeness from the beginning of time.

This event is God’s story to restore all men and women to himself.  Men and women from the beginning of time have chosen their own way.  Rather than appreciate what God has made, mankind has desired to rule, to be independent from God.  When Eve violated God’s command of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge, her heart darkened with the thought that she too could be like God in his nature, his power, his authority.  Satan tempted her with the idea that she could be as God, catering to her own needs and desires, not to the wishes of the Creator.  Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish heart was darkened.  (Romans 1:21)  The hearts of men and women were still dark after the great flood.  God stated He would not destroy mankind with a flood ever again, even though He knew from their conception, their hearts were wicked.  In the above focus, we see God’s rescue plan from this wickedness in mankind, both Jew and Gentile.  Peter would come to Cornelius with a life-changing story.  He would reveal the good news that a Savior has come to mankind, to rescue all people from their eternal darkness.  Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, has been sent to mankind, to restore all people to the Heavenly Father.  They would be reconciled to a holy God, a righteous God, a perfect God.  The darkness in people’s hearts would be dealt with by the blood of Jesus on the cross.  No longer would men and women serve God out of their own efforts to please him; instead, they would rely by faith in the works of Jesus to please a perfect God.  Cornelius in many ways was trying to live a righteous life by obeying what a good man should do to please the God of heaven.  He was categorized as a good man, a man who cares for even the weakest in society.  But Cornelius was in no way a perfect man, that which is required by a sinless God.  Jesus, the Son of God, said we must be perfect, living our lives without even a shadow of sin in us.  But Peter as did Paul now comes to a Gentile with the Good News: perfection is available to all men and women though the blood of Jesus Christ.  Both men knew perfection would never come to men without the holy work of Christ on the cross.  Both men knew Cornelius must accept Jesus and his work by faith to be wholly righteous.  God loved Cornelius as He loves all people who are made in his image.  Cornelius’ life was like many people across the world, people who live good lives: kind, generous, caring and gentle.  But Cornelius, as with all these people who are greatly respected by others, lacked perfection and therefore the complete acceptability by the perfect God of all existence.  Because He is eternal, and eternity allows no shadow of sin in its domain, a Savior is needed who is without a shadow of sin.  Peter brought the Good News of this Savior: Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the good news: Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life.  Cornelius needed to know salvation comes through no other than Jesus Christ.  His good life would not be enough to satisfy the requirements of God on his life.  He could not reach God's standard of holiness by living just a good life. The Jews since Mount Sinai failed miserably in forcing their flesh to be good and acceptable to God by following the law given to them by Moses.  Their rebellion to God’s law was so pronounced that even in the wilderness, delivered from slavery, they pretentiously served God with sacrifices and gifts.  Stephen in his last words to the Sanhedrin reveals the truth of the Jews infidelity to God even in the wilderness.  The Sanhedrin's ancestors chose to serve idols and images that would allow them to live the way they wanted to live, in sin and self-gratification.  Sadly, in the wilderness, the chosen people served the gods of Egypt and of the surrounding nations.  Stephen relates this truth to castigate the Sanhedrin and their willful ways of living.  The prophets of old tell of God’s mind about the wilderness people.  Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?  You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god, Rephan, the idols you made to worship.  (Acts 7:43)  Stephen is implying that even the chosen, delivered from the chains of slavery possessed rebellious hearts.  Even with the light of the law, they were intent on being outsiders to God’s demands on their lives.  Now Peter is coming to Cornelius to say, even your best intentions will not satisfy the requirements of holiness that God demands from you.  You need something more than just law in your life.  As Paul said so well, through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!  (Galatians 2:19-21)  Peter knows Cornelius must accept the truth of the good news to know God, to move away from the intractable darkness in human beings.  Jesus said, I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)  The Jews, even though they had the light of the law could not move away from their rebellious hearts; their hearts were uncircumcised.  As Stephen said, You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!  (Acts 7:51)  Now, a Roman, uncircumcised in the flesh, will be circumcised in the heart, an eternal condition.  And he will receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit; he and his household.  May we all follow in his footsteps!     

  

     

   

Acts 10:9-23 Let Your Heart Change!

Acts 10:9-23 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.  He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.  He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.  Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”  “Surely not, Lord!”  Peter replied.  “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”  The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”  This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.  While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.  They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.  While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.  So get up and go downstairs.  Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.  ”Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for.   Why have you come?  ”The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion.  He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people.  A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”  Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

This story indicates how intricately God plans our lives that are under his direction.  We have Peter, a man of God, given orders by Jesus to go and preach the Good News.  We also have Cornelius, a good man who has placed his life under the authority of God.  Both are men of prayer and meditation; both experienced a supernatural event in prayer.  While in a trance, Cornelius sees a brilliant figure, asking him to send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  (vs. 5)  Peter sees a large sheet with a menagerie of living things on it, dropping down from heaven three times.  The three men that Cornelius sends are on their way while Peter is experiencing his vision from God.  The details of this story reveal God's involvement in these men’s lives.  Everything is coordinated in this story.  Peter just finished with this vision about eating everything that God has created.  He was mulling over what this vision meant when the three men knocked on his door where he was staying in Joppa.  The Holy Spirit informs Peter, Simon, three men are looking for you.  So get up and go downstairs.  Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.  Peter knows already before he goes downstairs to open the door who is waiting for him.  He is not to hesitate in his decision of whether to go with them.  He is to go with these three Gentiles to a centurion in Caesarea.  Peter is not only willing to go with these three gentlemen, he invites them into the house to stay for the night.  A violation of the Oral Torah, or the rabbi’s interpretation of the written Torah, implied by Joshua’s farewell speech to the Israelites; Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them.  You must not serve them or bow down to them.  (Joshua 23:7)  Tradition held that the Jews were not to fellowship with the Gentiles even though there was no direct commandment in Moses’ law against associating with Gentiles.  However, the scribe Ezra is very vexed by the mingling of the former exiled Jews with the Gentiles in Jerusalem.  He knows this mingling has caused the Jews to contaminate themselves with the ideas of the wicked Gentiles.  For we have forsaken the commands you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples.  By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other.  Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.  Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time.  (Joshua 9: 10-12)  However, we now see Peter being exposed to the idea that all people who call on the name of the Lord are holy, not just the chosen Jews.  This is a difficult idea for Peter to internalize because for hundreds of years the tradition held that Jews were not to gather with the outsiders, the dogs.  

Because of the trance and the voice of the Lord revealing to Peter that all creatures are to be considered equal or able to be eaten, Peter realizes his conception about Gentiles being dogs should be altered.  Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.  Later on we see Peter still struggling with this concept when he chooses to eat only with the Jerusalem Jews in Antioch.  Paul confronts him about this hypocrisy, reminding Peter that to be right with God requires only faith in Jesus’ works.  Holiness does not come from the works of men such as circumcision, but directly from the works of God: the cross and subsequent resurrection.  We see later on in Paul’s writing to the Philippians that the term dog refers to anyone who is opposed to the message of redemption through Jesus Christ.  Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!  It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.  Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.  For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.  (Philippians 3:1-4)  Paul is now saying those who wish to circumcise you to be right with God are those who are outsiders to the grace of God.  As we see Peter leaving with the three men to Cornelius’ house, we see a man who recently believed that associating with Gentiles was not a good thing.  He is going there only because the voice of the Spirit told him to go to Cornelius, and that this journey would produce good things, something beyond what Peter ever thought could happen, the purification of the Gentiles.  When Peter greets Cornelius, he tells Cornelius what a big transition this is for him to associate with a Roman.  You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile.  (Acts 10:28)  But Peter, a man of prayer, knew the voice of the Lord and he knew Jesus had commanded him to feed his sheep, and in this incident, Cornelius is a sheep that God wants to call to him.  These outsiders to the chosen people were now to be brought into the fold of God, now they too will be called THE CHOSEN.  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 3:6)  All who are renewed in Christ are one, put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  (Colossians 3:10-11)  As Peter approaches Cornelius, we find Cornelius worshipping Peter out of respect and humbleness, but Peter tells him to get up, for I am but human as you are.  Peter recognizes that he a Jew has no more favor with God than Cornelius, the Gentile, both are but human, both come before God in humbleness and devotion to him.  

Paul is especially called to the Gentiles: people that he, as a devout Pharisee, would have called scum, but now he views them as being very precious to God.  As he talks to the people of Ephesus, he reminds them of what the Jews thought about them.  Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.  You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.  (Ephesians 2:11)  The Jews considered them as unworthy to be God’s own.  For the Jews the act of circumcision marked them as God’s children, the cherished ones, God’s own people.  But now Paul is moving through the Gentile world, explaining to them that salvation is open to all people.  He is calling them to Jesus Christ, the Jew, who died on the cross for their redemption, died so that they too might be right with God and receive eternal life.  This message of inclusion brought him hatred from the Jews, for they thought of themselves as the only chosen people, the only people who could be right with God.  Of course for them being right with God meant the laws and regulations given on Mount Sinai must be followed.  To the Jew the avenue to God comes through obedience to the law; no other way can one be accepted by God.  But the Jewish history reveals clearly their failure to follow the demands of the law.  Of course, their obvious failure to be obedient to the law reveals clearly the difficulty of being right with God through laws and regulations.  As Paul said, there is something inside of him that rebels against God’s righteous law.  We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  (Romans 7:14-20)  In our focus for today, we see Peter journeying to Caesarea with the Good News that there is a better way to be right with God than the law or the efforts of being good and not bad.  Cornelius was a good man, but not perfect.  His goodness was recognized by God, that is why he was told by an angel to send for Peter.  God wanted him not only good, but perfect, to be a child of God, to pass from the human state to his eternal child.  This message of eternal life with God was on Peter’s lips, and now he would expose the way to be right with God to the Gentiles.  God orchestrated this whole story.  The Gentile’s world would be opened to the Good News.  Paul carried this message of hope to the Gentile world,  You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  (Ephesians 2:20-22).   We praise God today for his glorious plan to bring the Good News to the world that Jesus saves and because He lives we live also!

 

 

  

Acts 10:1-8 Your Gifts Are A Memorial!

Acts 10:1-8  At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision.  He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”  Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.  The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.  Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.  ”When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.  He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.   

 

In the above focus we have an angel of the Lord appearing to Cornelius, a devout Roman centurion.  Cornelius is an officer in Caesar’s army over approximately a hundred men.  The angel of the Lord tells Cornelius to send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  After raising Dorcas the seamstress from the dead, Peter is staying in Joppa in the house of Simon the tanner.  Because Cornelius is a devout man who shows his devotion to God by praying and giving money to the poor, he is visited by an angel in a vision.  The angel is preparing him to know the only way to be right with God.  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)  In this world there are many like Cornelis who are searching for God by living good lives.  In countries where Jesus is locked out of their societies, God often sends dreams, visions and strong testimonies from other Christians to these people to deliver them from the darkness in their communities.  God knows these people who desire with their whole hearts to know God.  Cornelius is one of these individuals.  The angel tells him to send some men to Joppa to convince a man named Peter to go from Joppa to his house in Caesarea some 32 miles away.  Cornelius sends three men to Joppa, one is a devout soldier in the Roman army.  This request of Cornelius an officer in the Roman army for Peter to come to his house is a hard one for Peter to refuse, for the Roman army has authority over the Jewish people, but God, not fear of the Roman officer, convinces Peter to accept the invitation of Cornelius and to go to Caesarea where the Roman garrison is located.  In this event we see God intervening in Cornelius’ life. This scene is similar to what happened to Saul on the way to Damascus.  Saul, as with Gentiles, was living in ignorance of how to be right with God.  He was more in darkness than Cornelius for he was fighting Jesus directly: THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.  Paul, a devout man to the law and regulations of God was serving God the best way he knew.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  (Acts 9:3-6)  After God’s interdiction in Paul’s life, he was never the same, for he knew the God of grace, mercy and love.  He completely gave his life to God, eventually dying a martyrs’ death.  

In today’s focus we see Cornelius on the way out of the darkness of not knowing the only true God, the Creator of all things.  God reached into his life, revealing himself to Cornelius by eventually infilling him and his household with the Holy Spirit.  This enlightenment in his soul delivered him permanently from the futile traditions and rituals of his world, making him a child of the living God.  In the Old Testament, we see God many times using Gentiles to bring Jesus to the world.  Because of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations through his Seed, his descendants were responsible to bring this Seed to the world.  Gentiles were also part of this mission to carry his seed to fruition.  Ruth was a Moabite; she was David's great-grandmother--David whose throne Jesus would inherit.  To assure the Seed's protection, David used Gentiles in his army to display his kingdom’s power, not only in Israel but also in the lands surrounding Israel.  Even some of his strongest and most abled members in the army, known as David’s Mighty Men, thirty fierce and able warriors, were foreigners: Zelek the Ammonite, Uriah the Hittite.  (2 Samuel 23:8)  We see the prostitute Rahab, a Canaanite woman, instrumental in the Israelites' success in invading the land of Canaan.  The Seed of Abraham’s promise, Jesus Christ, was protected and enabled to come to realization through the efforts of many Gentiles.  In all these efforts, Jewish and Gentile alike, God was bringing  salvation to the world in the form of the man, Jesus Christ.  Now through Cornelius' salvation experience, the door of salvation is thrown wide open to the Gentile world. The Seed would now deliver them from the darkness of the secular society.  Jesus is the way to being right with God for the whole world.  Abraham’s promise to all nations comes into reality.  Cornelius was a good Gentile man, devout, giving alms to the poor.  However, he was also a leader in the Roman army, an army known as cruel and vicious.  Caesar ruled by the instrument of fear; people feared his army.  But Cornelius was a devout man who wanted to please God.  Although a man of violence, he was a man dedicated to God.  God recognized him as being a good man at heart; consequently, He sent an angel to him.  As Jesus said by their fruit you will recognize them.  (Matthew 7:20)  A good tree bears good fruit.  In the Bible there is a constant theme in the Old Testament and the New Testament to give to the poor and needy.  The giving to the disadvantaged or the helping of those who need support in life such as widows, orphans, aliens, crippled, infirm, and the like is a bellwether of a good heart.  If this is not part of your life, no matter how religious you seem or how much spiritual activity you are involved in, you lack the heart of God.  Jesus himself came for those who need a doctor.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matthew 7:21-23)  God knows those who have his heart, who HEAR his heart in their daily walk.  

Cornelius’ heart WAS devoted to God and giving to the poor.  Paul says to the Thessalonica people that God himself has taught them to live in love and unity.  Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia.  Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.  (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12)  Because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the Thessalonians’ lives, God himself was teaching them how to live good and wholesome lives.  What is a good and wholesome life?  A life filled with the attributes of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  (Galatians 5:22-26)  There is no law against goodness, peace, and love.  But there are many laws established against selfishness, self-interest, aggrandizing the self: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:16-21)  Obviously, Cornelius was not displaying the works of the flesh and neither were members of his household, for he was the spiritual leader of those who were in his care, all his family were devout and God-fearing.  As Christians filled with the Holy Spirit, are we fighting against God’s will in our lives?  Are we displaying in our daily walk some of the attributes of the flesh to the world: discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy.   Do  people welcome us in our work places, in the grocery store, in offices, in our communities, or do they wish to avoid us because we come with a negative spirit and a contrariness that is distasteful to others.  Are we men and women of self-willedness, lacking appreciation of others, not preferring them above our own interests in life?  Are we minding our own business or heavily involved in other people’s business and lives, telling them how to run their lives or work places?  What fruit are we bearing in our lives?  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  (Matthew 7:18-20)  Are we people who cry Lord, Lord, but do not do God’s will of loving his creation with an enduring love, a constant love, day after day.  Are we hearing God’s heart for people He created?  Yes, as Christians, people will not appreciate us because we carry the name of Jesus on our lives.  We will be persecuted and maybe even hated all on account of Jesus' NAME.  (Luke 21:12)  But we should not be hated because of our contrary nature, our stubbornness, our self-willed interest in life or our arrogant and selfish nature.  No, if we are hated, it should be because of the name of Christ.  Jesus' nature brings a contrast to the world’s way of living; their selfishness, hatred, arrogance and self-interest.  Will an angel come to you some night and say, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God?  Will you hear when you meet God: “Enter into my rest my good and faithful servant.”  Yes, I am sure you will, but please, as you live your life, keep in step with the Holy Spirit.  

 

Acts 9:32-43. Give Generously!

Acts 9:32-43  As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda.  There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.  “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you.  Get up and roll up your mat.”  Immediately Aeneas got up.  All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.  In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.  About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.   Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!  ”Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room.  All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.  Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed.  Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.”  She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.  He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.  This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.  Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

In the above passage, Peter is on a mission to spread the Good News in Israel.  He is following Jesus' words, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  (Matthew 28:19-20)  The disciples are in the midst of laying the foundation of the Good News everywhere they go.  Their ministry is accompanied by miracles and wonders.  We see in Jerusalem that even Peter’s shadow healed many.  People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.  (Acts 5:15-16)  Where wonders and miracles occurred, crowds came to believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  Jesus had told his disciple to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit infilled them.  After they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, the believers moved with the power of the Holy Spirit within them everywhere they went.  The Spirit of God was no longer just in the holy temple in Jerusalem.  Ananias and Sapphira discover too late that the Spirit of God was always present with believers.  In attempting to deceive the church about giving all the money they received to the church from a sale of their land, they got caught lying to God.  They had not given all the money from the sale to the church.  They held back some for themselves.  Peter told them, you have lied to the Holy Spirit; both of them died immediately.  This incident brought fear upon the church because now the believers knew that nothing they thought or did was outside of the Holy Spirit’s knowledge and control.  In the above passage we see Peter going to Lydda, a community 25 miles away from the holy city of Jerusalem.  Peter is spreading the Good News of Jesus being alive and that salvation has come through him to the children of Israel.  In Lydda  he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.  With the fulness of the power of God in him, Peter goes to this paralyzed man.  “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you.  Get up and roll up your mat.”  Immediately Aeneas got up.  How wonderful!  Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, tells Aeneas to get up.  He does not say God has healed you; he says God is healing you NOW.  The Spirit of God was in that room.  Peter’s very presence brought healing to people through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had told the disciples that they would do greater works than what they had seen him do.  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  (John 14:12-14)  In Paul’s ministry as he was laying the foundation of the New Covenant in other lands, many miracles accompanied him.  God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.  (Acts 19:11-12)  As with Peter’s ministry, Paul’s work in foreign territories also came with miraculous events.  God’s incursion into the lands of unbelief came with the mighty power of the Holy Spirit within his apostles.  Definitely, it was important for the followers of Jesus to remain in Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Lydda we saw Peter’s very presence bring healing to Aeneas.  Now in the next city, Joppa, we see something different.  Peter, whose very presence, his shadow, brought healing and deliverance to people, is now kneeling at Dorcas’ bed.  Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed.  Dorcas was a good woman who loved people, especially the poor.  She was always doing good and helping the poor.   As with the centurion, Cornelius, giving to the poor was central in her life.  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.  (Acts 10:2)  God honors people who look out for the poor.  Jesus told the religious young man who obeyed all of the commandments that he was to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor and then follow him.  God honors the lives of people who look after the poor.  But of course selling all his possessions and giving the money to the poor was unthinkable to him; he loved his possessions more than God.  Complete servitude to God is a difficult task for men and women.  It is like a camel going through the eye of a needle: an impossibility.  Jesus had said, call no man good.  The disciples understood the impossibility of a camel passing through the eye of a needle, exclaiming, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus says, yes, that is an impossibility for men and women, but for God, all things are possible.  With this statement, Jesus is saying that man’s efforts will never bring salvation to him; God’s works alone through Jesus Christ on the cross will deliver men and women out of slavery to Satan.  Escape from Egypt comes only through the blood of the Lamb.  As we see Peter on his knees praying, he intercedes on her behalf.  Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.”  She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.  He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.  This command of get up is what  Peter heard when delivered from prison by an angel.  He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.  “Quick, get up!”  he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.  (Acts 12:7)  Peter was delivered from certain death the next morning.  Now we see Dorcas being delivered from death; the chains of death fell off of her body and she gets up.  The command to get up is often stated in the New Testament.  Then Jesus said to him, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.  (John 5:8-9)   We see Peter immediately helping the crippled man by the Temple to get up.  Then Peter took the man’s right hand and lifted him up.  Immediately the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  (Acts 3:7)   After Jesus prays for Peter's sick mother-in-law, she gets up and fixes a meal for them.  Getting up is an act of faith, testifying by actions that Jesus has healed them.  We must not assume anything, but sometimes getting up is a necessary act in our healing.  However, in all things let God be God, his will be done.

Peter’s missionary journey throughout Israel brought many people to the Lord.  As he went from one community to the next, miracles and wonders were manifested in their towns.  New converts were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The fulfillment of the promise God gave their father Abraham had come to them in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus would bless all nations, but first He would bless the children of Israel that carried the promise to Abraham to fruition in the person of Jesus Christ, the Mediator between man and God.  This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God and they will be my people.  No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness  and will remember their sins no more.”  (Hebrews 8:10-12)  The ministry of Peter to the Israelites was one of salvation: Jesus had come to them to deliver them from the hands of Satan, to bring eternal life to them.  Peter's ministry was powerful and because of miracles and wonders, the people came to know Jesus Christ as the redeeming Messiah.  The  people in Lydda were impacted by Aeneas’ healing, All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.   In Joppa, Dorcas’ rising out of death brought many to the Lord, many people believed in the Lord.  Through miracles and wonders, God established the New Covenant.  He was breaking open the hardness of people’s hearts through wondrous deeds that had no rational explanation for what was happening in their communities.  God powerfully extended his hand on the land of the Jews.  People were seeing things and experiencing  phenomenon that went beyond explanation. God no longer dwelt far away, but He was immanently involved in their existence.  Today God is still involved in people’s lives.  He is still always present with believers, and believers are still powerful in their communities.  As believers we should understand that God is not far removed from us, but is even at our lips: our statements of faith.  We should still tell people to “Get up” and live lives for God.  Let us not forget who we are; we carry the dynamo of God in our lives, the Holy Spirit.  He has come to restore men and women to God.  Through us, let them know what God’s existence in a person’s life looks like.  Let them see even in our struggles the face of God in us.  Let the world know that Jesus is alive, and He lives in every believer!