By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Acts
10:34-48
Acts 10:44-45
While Peter was still
saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And
the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were
amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on
the Gentiles.
(ESV)
As election day approaches, the divisiveness
in the United States is increasing and the campaign ads and rhetoric is
becoming more hateful and vial. What is
missing in the culture of the United States is something people can unify
around. Many believed the election of
Barack Obama would bring racial unity but Obamacare, the main objective of the
Obama Administration, did not become something the nation could unify
around, Instead, this issue brought
greater division that still exists today.
Failure to unify racially as a nation has resulted in violence that has
made cities like Portland and Seattle unsafe places to live in. However, there is something people can unify
around, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Acts
10:34-48 records the first account of Gentile believers receiving the Holy
Spirit, indicating that God sent His Son Jesus to save both Jews and Gentiles
and fill both with His Spirit (Matthew
12:18). However, the divisiveness
between Jews and Gentiles was so great, God had to arrange an angelic
visitation for Cornelius and a vision for Peter to bring them together. The division may have also been personal with
Peter reminding Cornelius of his knowledge of events in Judea that began with
the baptism of Jesus by John (Acts
10:37). These personal memories may
have included,
1) Cornelius
remembering how the Jews stirred up trouble in Jerusalem (John
19:1-16; Mark 15:6-15) – Cornelius was a centurion stationed in Caesarea by
the Sea. Herod, the governor of the
region had a palace there, so it is highly possible Cornelius knew much about
Jesus and more specifically Pilate’s presenting Jesus' case to Herod (Luke
23:6-17). During Herod’s questioning
of Jesus, the chief priests and scribes continued to accuse Jesus. Even though Herod found nothing Jesus had
done that was worthy of death, they continued to place pressure on Pilate who
had Jesus crucified (Luke
23:18-25). Cornelius may have
overheard Herod complain about how the Jewish high priests and scribes caused
trouble in Jerusalem and crucified an innocent man. However, Cornelius is a devout man who feared
God (Acts
10:1-2) and after his visitation from an angel of God, he sends men to
Joppa to summon Peter.
2) Peter
remembering the oppression of Rome and the crucifixion by Roman soldiers of
Jesus (John
19:17-30; Mark 15:21-39) – Even though at the time of Peter’s visit to
Cornelius, there was no Roman persecution of the Church, Peter could have
recalled how Pilate gave in to the demands to crucify Jesus (Luke
23:18-25). If it were not for the
vision God gave him (Acts
10:9-16), Peter may have hesitated in going with the men sent by Cornelius,
wondering if the religious leaders were using the Romans to set a trap for
him. Peter may have also remembered
Jesus foretelling that he too would die by crucifixion (John
21:18-19). However, God’s
intervention through a vision stirs up Peter’s dedication to obedience and
Peter obediently accompanies the men sent to summon him to Caesarea.
These individual experiences may
have built a wall of resistance between Peter and Roman authorities and
Cornelius and Jewish people he viewed as troublemakers. However, even divisiveness as great as this
can be unified through Godly intervention (Acts
10:1-33). The divisiveness in the
United States needs Godly intervention and something we must continue to pray
for. Many churches had a time of prayer
this past weekend to encourage the Church to pray for our nations and a
spiritual revival. Here is a video of the service at
Desert Breeze Community Church in Phoenix that I encourage you to watch as a
reminder of what to pray for.
This unity begins with one first
asking Jesus to save them from their sins.
Unfortunately, many ministers do not speak of sin out of fear it will
offend some in their congregations.
However, sin is something common in all humanity for all have sinned (Romans
3:23). Sin is also a serious problem
carrying the death penalty (Romans
6:23) but there is hope for Jesus came to die for sinners (Romans
5:8). To escape the death penalty of
sin and experience eternal life one needs to believe in Jesus and make a public
confession of belief in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (John
3:16; Romans 10:9-10). To begin the
process of unification with God, I invite everyone who has not already done so,
to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins by praying with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
Here are some verses to remind us
of the need to pray for unity around God for our communities, nation, and the world,
Romans 10:12-13
For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of
all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(ESV)
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, there
is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
(ESV)
Acts 10:28
And he said to them,
“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to
visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not
call any person common or unclean.
(ESV)
Acts 10:34-35
So Peter opened his
mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no
partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
(ESV)
John 7:24
Do not judge by
appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
(ESV)
1 John 2:9
Whoever says he is in
the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
(ESV)
Revelation 7:9
After this I looked,
and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every
nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in
their hands,
(ESV)
I pray that people can put aside their fleshly differences
and unify around the life-changing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May God bless everyone reading this post and
bring Godly unity and revival to our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment