SPREADING THE GOSPEL
Acts 11:1-18
SPREAD THE WORD OUTSIDE YOUR CIRCLE
V:1. " The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea
heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God."
A. Whatever you do has a way of traveling to other people
and other places.
1. You never know
who is watching what you do.
2. You never know
who is associated with someone who knows you in other places.
B. It would be better for good news to travel than for bad
news to travel.
1. We are God's
ambassadors.
2. The more we
promote Jesus, the more the Gospel will spread.
C. Peter, at the command of Jesus, preached the Word to
Cornelius, who
was a Gentile and
a Roman commander.
1. The Word was
also preached to Cornelius family and
friends.
2. In a vision,
God corrected Peter's attitude that Jews were the chosen race
and the
Gentiles were excluded from a relationship with God.
3. The prevailing
attitude was that the Gentiles being uncircumcised,
were
unclean.
D. God does not act
on majority opinion.
1. God gave the
mission to Peter to preach the Gospel to
Cornelius, but not to
the other
Apostles.
2. God does not
give everyone the same mission.
3. God does not
need your input to used someone in a way
that you don't
agree.
PREPARED TO TESTIFY
V 2-3 " So when Peter went up to Jerusalem ,
the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the
house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
A. No matter what you do for the Lord, there will be someone
who will find fault
in what you have
done.
1. Some people will
judge you when they don't know the whole story.
2. Don't get upset,
because before God cause you to change, you may
have had the
same attitude.
3. We have to be as
tolerant with others as God has been with us.
4. People need good
role models to follow and you may be the one
God has
chosen.
B. Notice the tone of
Peter's accusers was one of authority, power and
conviction.
1. Jesus had given the
Apostles the authority to take the Gospel to the ends
of the earth.
a. Jesus had given His Apostles the keys
to the Kingdom of Heaven
2. The Church had
receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
a. They had
power to lay hands on new believers and baptize them
with the
Holy Spirit.
b. They had the
power to admit new believers into fellowship with
the Church.
3. BUT, they had
their convictions.
a. They were
convicted by their traditions.
b. They were
convicted by their Law.
c. Their laws
and their convictions prevented them from fellowshipping
with non
Jews or Gentiles.
d. The word
Gentile comes from the Greek word "ethnos" which means
heathen or
pagan. (We get the word ethnic).
4. Their Law
required that every Jewish male baby be circumcised
on the
eight day after
it's birth.
a. This was a
sign of the covenant God made with Nation of Israel (Gen 17:10 -12).
b. To them,
Gentiles were uncircumcised heathens.
5. What the
circumcised believers didn't understand was that Jesus death on the
cross had
fulfilled all the requirements of the Law.
a. They didn't
understand that to be circumcised was no longer a requirement
for a relationship
with God.
b. They did not
understand that the only requirement for a relationship with
the Father
was faith in His Son. John 3:16
c. Jesus, while
He lived on earth did not talk against the law because He had
to fulfill all
the requirements of the Law with His shed blood on the cross.
6. The Jews
and the Jewish proselytes who had
converted to faith in Jesus
had to realize
that the Church was not under the Law but under Grace.
a. The Law
condemns; Grace redeems.
b. The Law is
death; Grace is life.
c. The Law
separates; Grace promotes unity.
d. The Law
reveals our sins; Grace reveals the righteousness of God.
EXPLAINING GOD'S PLAN
V:4-9." Peter began and explained everything to them
precisely as it had happened: 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and
in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down
from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked
into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and
birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and
eat.' 8 "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever
entered my mouth.' 9 "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not
call anything impure that God has made clean."
A. Some times God will use your experiences and testimonies
to explain the doctrine of
Salvation to
others.
1. Just as Peter
needed a visual example of how belief in the shed blood of Christ
makes us clean,
they needed Peter's testimony.
2. The traditions
and the history of the Jews, blinded them from seeing others outside
their race and
their beliefs as being equal to them.
B. Peter followed
God's command not his own directive.
1. The circumcised
Jews followed the letter of the Law, but
not spirit of the Law.
2. They allowed the
letter of the Law to block their love for other races.
3. They allowed the
letter of the Law to cause them to believe that they were the only
ones God
considered to be clean and worthy of His favor.
4. They forgot that
Law said love your neighbor as yourself.
5. They defined
their neighbors as people who looked like them.
C. Their are times when we need to listen to others to get
an understanding of the Word.
1. It is the Word
that changes our heart and our actions
2. It is the Word
that causes us to see others as equal in Christ Jesus.
3. It is the Word
that dissolves any and all prejudices we have against others.
PREPARED FOR THE MISSION
V:10-12. " This happened three times, and then it was
all pulled up to heaven again. 11 "Right then three men who had been sent
to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was
staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them.
These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house."
A. God prepared Peter for his mission by showing and telling
him His doctrine of
cleanliness.
1. God know how
much meditation on the Word we need to understand His directives.
2. Sometimes it
takes an actual experience to help us get an understanding of the Word.
3. God may puts
us in the mist of trials to help us understand
that we can trust Him.
4. Sometimes God
puts us in the mist of someone different from us to get us
to understand
that we are all the same.
B. Sometimes God prepares us for a mission before He sends
us on the mission.
1. God knows what
problems and issues we have.
2. If we are going
to be effective on the mission, we have clear up any issues that will
hinder the
mission.
3. Before the vision
with God, Peter's heart was not right.
a. He saw the
Gentiles as unclean.
b. God showed
Peter that being clean or unclean was not based on his opinion.
c. From the
vision, Peter understood that it is God that makes one clean.
C. Once Peter was ready for the mission, God's prepared
people, were made available
to take him to the
mission field.
1. Maybe you are
not on the mission field because God is still preparing your heart
for the
mission.
2. Not only did
God prepare people to take Peter to the mission field (Cornelius's men)
but He also
prepared six disciples to go with him.
3. When God sends
you somewhere you have never been, He will not leave you
unprotected.
4. Peter had six
disciples to travel with Him.
LED TO THE MISSION
V:13. " He told
us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for
Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and
all your household will be saved."
A. Sometimes God will confirm His mission to you, using
other peoples.
1. Peter had a
vision from God regarding his mission.
2. Peter had a confirmation
from Cornelius men about his vision from God.
B. Once Peter understood the Word, He preached the Gospel to
a receptive
Gentile audience.
1. Not only that,
Peter had six disciples who witness the conversion and
the giving of
the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his family.
2. Sometime we need
the testimony of others to change our ways to God's ways.
3. We have to see
people outside the Church as equal with us, and in need of salvation.
4. It is not our
job to count anyone out but to count every in according to the Will of
God.
THE SUCCESS OF THE MISSION
V:15 "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them
as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had
said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit."
A. Peter preached the Gospel as commanded by God and witness
the Holy Spirit
being given to
the Gentiles who he had previously discounted.
1. It was the
seeing that caused Peter to believe the Word he had heard from Jesus.
2. It was the
seeing that caused Peter to remember the Word. (Acts 1:5)
B. Peter witness the equality of God's gift among different
races of people.
1. Peter witness
God doing the same thing with the Gentiles as He had done with the
Jews.
2. His witness
convicted his heart that God treats everyone as equal.
3. Notice, part
of Peter's testimony was the doctrine of
the baptism by the Holy Spirit,
and not the
water baptism by human hands.
EQUALITY IN GOD
V: 17-18. " God gave them the same gift as he gave us,
who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose
God?" 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised
God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto
life."
A. It is one thing to witness a miracle. It is another thing
to give the credit to God.
1. We should give
God the credit for all things that happens in our lives; good or bad.
2. We do not have
to understand why God does what He does, but we do have to
accept His
Will.
B. It is one thing to accept the blessings of God for
yourself.
1. It is another
thing to deny that same blessings to someone else because they are
different from
you.
3. We must
understand that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not
our thoughts.
4. We must accept
that all things work together for those who love the Lord and are
called according to His purposes.
5. You cannot get too
bad to be saved by God.
C. It is the grace of God to provide salvation to all who
call on His name.
1. We are all
God's creation made new through the shed
blood of Jesus
on the cross.
2. We should at
all times, give God the Glory for this wonderful undeserved gift.
3. We should
always be ready to share Gospel of Jesus Christ
will all people
regardless
of their nationality or faith.
THANK GOD FOR THE GIFT OF SALVATION
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
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