Gospel to Gentiles

 

Peter perplexed, propelled, perception, preaching, praising

     God’s most important plan – to include Gentiles in the blessings of the Gospel. Some non-Jews like Cornelius were continuing with prayer to the God of the Bible. The angel appeared and instead of telling the Gospel to him, Cornelius is referred to Peter, for Peter is to learn much about this special purpose of God.

Peter’s prayer time was interrupted by a heavenly vision of unclean animals for food. A voice pronounced an astounding new arrangement “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Perplexed Peter was then invited, commanded to go to the house of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius – what should Peter do as an observant Jew? Mixing with Gentiles was forbidden.

       But propelled by the Holy Spirit, he set out for Caesarea, taking witnesses with him. At the hose of Cornelius, he asked, “why have you sent for me?”

   Peter perceived that God was at work, teaching him the wide embrace of God’s GRACE. “In every nation God accepts those who fear Him and do what is right”.

  Peter immediately preaches Jesus Christ as LORD of all ( all people) without any introduction of Torah, temple or Judaism.

The message about Jesus Christ is most important  especially the conclusion in verse 43  - “Everyone who believes in HIM, will have  their sins forgiven through HIS Name.”

Peter explained about John the baptiser, followed by Jesus the one anointed by the Holy Spirit to do great and good things. Peter then identifies himself with others who were witnesses of Jesus dying and rising again from death. Jesus Himself had commanded them to preach the Gospel of forgiveness to the whole world in His Name.(Luke 24)   Also that He would be the final judge of the living and the dead.

    The message might have continued, but enough said, enough to believe and God who knows the hearts, interrupted by the giving of the Holy Spirit to these new believers!  Just like it had been given to believing Jews in Acts 2, so these Gentiles were able to speak in various languages (maybe Hebrew) and to praise God.

     So Peter joined in the praise of God for putting this plan together to include the Gentiles . He then authorized them to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, as was done for the Jews. Peters later presentation to the Jerusalem conference summed it up well –( Acts 15:8) 

   “ ……. God made no distinction between us and them……….we are all saved the same way, by the favour of the Lord Jesus Christ”

   “God has also given the Gentiles the opportunity to repent and receive eternal life”  (Acts 11:18)

 

I with Peter praise the LORD for His providence and grace!

Many relevant issues flow from this incident, but chiefly it shows God at work taking this Gospel beyond Jewish boundaries to include the whole world.

Amazing grace and the final accountability of all to the Lord God.

Gopel to the Jews

 

Peter’s second message to a privileged people.

Please read Acts chapter 3 for the full response.

This chapter begins with a serious contradiction. The extravagantly adorned temple had at its gates people begging for money!  So today, a world of billionaires and religious wealth, while so many are starving!

But once again in our Bible record, God takes the initiative to turn a bad thing into something good. And so the crippled man was the means to the glory of God. He was miraculously healed and the crowd were excited.

Peter’s response is important. Way beyond the healing was the significance. This was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at work. This was done in the Name of ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. So Peter describes this Jesus: - the Holy and righteous one, the author of life, raised from the dead. By His name the lame man was made whole!

But I missed something – the guilt of the people.

V14  - the Jewish people denied any loyalty to Jesus before Pilate

-      They chose the release of a murderer for festival celebration

-      They killed the true source of life

Peter was not preaching a feel good gospel – no – he exposes the significant sin, particularly the sin of rejecting Jesus the Christ.

Peter commands – ‘repent’, and then gives a beautiful description of God at work.

God foretold the sufferings of Christ. (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 etc).

God can blot out sins and send times of restoration, refreshing and hope. It can only be valid as it comes from the presence of the Lord.

Verse 21 indicates that there was still an opportunity for all Israel as nation to be saved. God is the God of a second chance!

So Peter outlines the means of their restoration:

1           V13 – Relational connection to Abraham, Issaac and Jacob

2           V18 – Revelation of prophecy about Messiah

3           V22 – Raising up of the Prophet to speak again for God

4           V23 – Retribution for deaf  ears

5           V25 – Remembrance of the covenant

6            V26 – Real possibility of recovery from past wickedness by Him whom God raised up to bless instead of curse.

Then would be fulfilled the ancient purpose of God to Abraham –  ‘ through your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.’  Oh such a God of mercy and grace to such an underserving people!

 

And the rest of that story??? Keep reading the Bible book of Acts, or read the newspaper to see a nation largely far away from God.

Gospel series 1

 

The Gospel according to Peter.

Acts 2:23-42   - please read the verses before reading my summary.

Peter’s audience were Jews from many parts of the world. The people were astounded that locals could describe the wonderful works of God in many languages. Indeed it was the power of the Holy Spirit indicating that the Gospel was not restricted to the Hebrew language or the Jewish people.

Verse 23  - Peter then focuses the attention of the people on Jesus. Many of these people had seen Jesus crucified. Peter says God had a bigger and better plan. The life of Jesus was verified as God directed, by many signs and wonders.

God used even the combined rejection of Him by Jews and Gentiles to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 2 and Isaiah 53. God has the habit of turning bad situations into good outcomes  -- the death of Jesus of Nazareth becoming the means of human salvation and God’s final glory.

Peter  emphasises that this seeming disaster has been overcome by Jesus rising from among the dead, never to die again.

1       God raised Him from the dead – He was sinless

2       God foretold His resurrection in Psalm 16

3       God had a plan for David’s promised heir

4       God established witnesses of the living Lord Jesus

5       God has exalted Jesus to the place of highest honour

6       God has verified the Old Testament scriptures, as fulfilled in Jesus the Christ

7       God has established Jesus forever as :

       LORD – superior to all, greater than the prophets, greater than Moses, Lord over all people!

        Messiah – Christ- anointed to fulfill the great plans of God

 

Now the question of relevance – for three years the crowds had listened to and admired Jesus of Nazareth. Now their indolence became guilt and they must either receive or reject Him.

Peter issues the command “ Repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter gives no options  - the  only way to be on right terms with God was total commitment to the risen Jesus Christ..

    And so it was that many took the humble place of repentance (I was wrong, God was right) and rested their hope for forgiveness and future purpose in Jesus Christ the Lord.  It created peace, togetherness, prayerfulness. But most of all the focus of the disciples was Jesus who before He died took some bread, broke it and said “do this in remembrance of Me”.

Their devotion was no longer to the temple, to Moses, to the law .It was to the living Lord Jesus Christ.

 

From this day forward, things would be different.

 

Peter’s third recorded message is to the Gentiles – stay tuned.

2025

 

A word for the new year:

--- a voice is heard from heaven (Revelation 2):

“I know………….” It is the voice of the Him who knows all about the year past, and the year to come. Such is His character that we can trust HIM to judge righteously and guide graciously.

“I will………”   It is the voice of power, one who can keep His promises and do a work in and for us to the glory of God the Father.

 

For those who hear His voice, there is only one thing required :

“If anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come in…………”  (Revelation 3:20)

 

Prayer for 2025

‘Lord  I open the door and Your presence is welcome’

Terrifying verse

 

The words of Jesus  I tremble to publish but true love insists.

A most terrifying Bible verse:

From the sermon on the mount, Jesus speaking:

“On judgement day, many will tell Me –“Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name, and performed miracles in your name.” – but I will reply “ I never knew you. Go away, the things you did were not authorized.””    Matthew 7:22

 

How could it be?

I let the Lord answer: “ Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to Me as Lord, but they still won’t enter the kingdom of heaven.  The decisive issue is whether they obey My Father in heaven.”        ( Matthew 7)

      Gathered in His audience were very religious men like Pharisees who studied hard the Torah and traditions so as to keep the law precisely. Also the scribes who constantly copied the scriptures. There were so many following the Jews religion but not Jesus.

So few accepted the teaching of Jesus as authorized by God the Father. So few were willing to take the humble place and do the will of God revealed by Jesus the Christ. Most importantly, so few believed on Jesus for who He claimed to be – the Messiah, the Saviour, the King, the Son of God.

             They didn’t know HIM, or rather He didn’t know them as sheep counted into His fold.  (John 10 “ I am the door, by Me if anyone enter in he will be saved………  My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow Me. I give unto them eternal life….).

   How tragic this end, to have lived in religion, thinking activity there was enough to gain eternal life, then to discover (too late) that it was all empty.

 

Dare I repeat the words of Jesus Christ:

Luke 13:25     “ When once the master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, and you begin to stand without and knock …. He will answer ‘I know you not whence you are…. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ “

 

 Do I get pleasure publishing such negative warnings – no – but genuine love says I must. I don’t want anyone to hear such tragic words from the lips of Jesus the final judge – “I never knew you”.

 

How then can we be sure?  His promises are sure and as quoted above – He is the once dead, now living Shepherd. Entrusting ourselves completely to Him (enter and follow), He promises to take us in, and give us the gift of eternal life. His words change from the threat of damnation, to the hope of eternal glory.

As you read the Bible, what does  it mean to you? Is your faith valid, are you activities authorized by Him?

To really know the Lord

 

A most beautiful Bible verse:

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”  Ephesians 3:17

 

Considering the distant, derelict and demonised condition of the Gentiles (as described in chapter 2), the idea of intimacy with God seems impossible.

   But the grace of God moved by the love of God has effected redemption by Christ’s blood. This has achieved forgiveness, salvation and cleansing so great that the Gentile believer is accepted, reborn and brought into a relationship with God that is sublime.

   By the operation of the Holy Spirit, the praise of these redeemed ones is described (chapter 2) as a temple of praise.

 

But the wonder of it all goes so much deeper in Ephesians 3:

   “ When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father , the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit.

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvellous love. And may you have power to understand , as all God’s people should, how wide , how long, how high, how deep His love really is……NLT(look it up for yourself)

 

This describes the extreme beauty of belonging to God and His overflowing desire for us to know him personally.  If this is dry words to you, please seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him.

The story of Jesus

 

   “Let me tell you the story of Jesus”  ( for the millions who have never heard)

Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was busy in heaven making and sustaining the world.

   Gabrial, the angel from heaven said to Mary that her baby would be called:

“the Son of the Highest” – this means He was coming to represent God to all people. No other prophet could do this completely, but Jesus Christ did.

    When Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem in Israel, another angel announced that this baby was the Saviour, ‘Christ the LORD’. God knew that we sinners needed to be saved. We needed His forgiveness.

   Jesus went to school and  learned a trade as a carpenter.

Then at the age of 30 years, He was baptised. A voice from heaven said “This is My Beloved Son. I am fully pleased with Him”  (Matthew 3)

Many people wanted Him to bring peace on the earth, but no, God wanted to connect with individuals. They needed personal change, more than political solutions – forgiveness of sins, acceptance into God’s spiritual family, eternal life in the life to come etc. So the plan of God was different. He wanted to change hearts!

    The Lord Jesus taught the truth, healed the sick, raised dead people to life. After three years , the plan seemed to all go wrong. Jesus was arrested  and by the Jewish court considered not worthy to live (blasphemy charge because He claimed to be the Son of God – Mark 14).

Jesus was considered innocent by the Roman judge, but the crowd got their way and Jesus was sentenced to be crucified – dying on a cross. He was nailed to a cross, along with two others. He was left to die, but instead of dying from crucifixion, He gave up His spirit  to the Father and so died.

    On the third day after, God raised Him to life again. His surprised followers were so happy. They ate with Him. They listened to Him. He explained to them that the sufferings of the cross were necessary in God’s plan.

After 40 days, He was talking to them outside Jerusalem when suddenly He was taken up and a cloud hid Him from their eyes. Two angels stood beside them and said: “This same Jesus you have seen taken up into heaven, will come again” (Acts 1)

     The fearful followers waited for God to give them further instructions and sure enough, the Holy Spirit came to explain who Jesus really was, what He had achieved by dying on the cross and their responsibility to tell the Good News to all people everywhere.

    And so the New Testament was written so that all should believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. By believing in Him, all can have forgiveness, new birth into the family of God and the gift of Eternal Life with Him forever.

      Since then, millions have found the promises of God to be true. The Holy Spirit has transformed the lives of so many and created a relationship with the living Lord Jesus that is greater than religion, greater than circumstances and is for all peoples of the world. He is Lord of all. (Acts 10)

johnmckee@internode.on.net