The Gospel of Christ

Acts 10:34–43 NASB95

34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. 36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)— 37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40 “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Introduction

All of these verses focus on Jesus Christ.

He is the centerpiece of the gospel!

It is impossible to detail the PLAN of salvation without detailing the MAN of salvation

Yet it is possible to know the PLAN… and not the man Himself

Jesus Christ IS the gospel! It is about receiving CHRIST and following Him

The gospel is presentation of the person of Christ, and the truth surrounding His life, death, and resurrection… an invitation to come and KNOW CHRIST! And to come into relationship WITH, Christ Jesus, the Lord of all

As we look at these verses this morning, I want us to see, that as Peter presents the Gospel to Cornelius and his household… is to see how Peter presents the person, the work, the terms of Jesus Christ.

As you and I share our faith… we are to share CHRIST, we are to proclaim HIM! Just as we do during the Lord’s Supper.

My prayer for you today is that you may come to love Christ. For the unsaved, and saved alike. That this presentation of Christ may convict you of sin, and point you back to the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ

The Peace of Christ

Acts 10:34 NASB95

34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

Peter has come to a deeper understanding, and that understanding, is that salvation is no longer only for the Jew, but also for the Gentile and for EVERY nation

Therefore, ‘God will not show partiality’

Which signifies that God will not show salvific FAVORITISM based on their nationality… or position in life.. or status among the people

Acts 10:35 NASB95

35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

The one who fears Him, is the one who in reality, according to verse 43, BELIEVES in the Lord Jesus Christ

A mark of a true Believer, is one who demonstrates an inward… FEAR.. and REVERENCE towards God

And as the middle of verse 35 indicates… is one who ‘does what is right’

Who longs to hear the precious word of Christ and seeks to follow it with all their being

And bears fruits of repentance… and DOES WHAT IS RIGHT

It is this person, who is acceptable before God

Acts 10:36 NASB95

36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—

This is what the gospel is! It is a proclamation of peace with God, through His Son Jesus Christ

To be without Christ is to be without peace with God

To be without Christ is to be at war with God.. and to be an enemy of God

The world doesn’t think this. The world says that everything is fine how it is! Everything is okay!… Yet God says everything is NOT okay!

God says that man outside of Christ is in rebellion against Him.. is fighting Him to the death

And it is in the gospel, and the death of Christ, that there is peace with God!

Within this peace are 2 fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith… propitiation & reconciliation… BOTH necessary to have peace with God

Propitiation is through the death of Christ, the wrath of God has been satisfied towards us who believe in Christ

Romans 8:1 “1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

God’s righteous anger has been stopped and satisfied towards us. That is NECESSARY

Reconciliation… that we who were estranged from God, we who were ENEMIES of God.. through the cross of Christ we are RECONCILED to God!

We are made to be FRIENDS of God, adopted SONS of God… through the Lord Jesus Christ

There is no greater news that can be proclaimed across the earth

The peace spoken of here is not the peace OF God… it is the peace we have WITH God, through the death of Christ.

However, it IS true that once we have peace WITH God, we shall have the peace OF God reigning in our hearts

Verse 36 ends: ‘He is Lord of all’

And the emphasis here is that He is Lord over Israel, yes! But also that He is Lord over all the nations.. all the Gentiles as well

Therefore EVERYONE, must believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ

This is where Peter begins his sermon… that Jesus is our PERFECT… peace

This morning I hope you remember that.

That the favor and blessing of God is upon our lives

That God has extended PEACE to me and you through the Lord Jesus

And I am RECEIVED into the presence of God because of the SUFFICIENCY of Christ’s atonement

The Baptism of Christ

As Peter is preaching the gospel, he makes mention of Jesus baptism… which was an essential part of the apostles teaching

It may not be AS important to modern Christians… but to the early Christians it was gravely significant!

All 4 gospels make mention of this unique baptism of Jesus

Acts 10:37 NASB95

37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

The importance of the baptism is 2-fold:

It was at that moment that God spoke from heaven and declared that Jesus is His beloved Son… it was the proclamation of heaven, and the identification of God the Father to those who gathered there, that THIS IS my beloved son… there is no greater witness

But also! Jesus in this public baptism, identified Himself with us whom He came to save!

There was no sin for Jesus to confess in His baptism.. yet He was publicly baptised though He had sin to confess

It is where He began to stand in our place! To identify Himself with us

Third! Verse 38 tells us it was at this time that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit

The 1st member of the Godhead… anointed the 2nd member of the Godhead… by the 3rd member of the Godhead

And when this took place, Christ was bestowed with power from on high, and it was by the power of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus conducted His public ministry

Acts 10:38 NASB95

38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus was filled with the Spirit.. led by the Spirit

In fact he says at the end of verse 38, God was WITH Him! God was UPON Him! By the Holy Spirit

So Christ is set apart by the Father, to carry out the mission of salvation

And the name ‘Christ’ MEANS the ‘Anointed One’

Jesus was anointed, not just with oil symbolically, but with the Holy Spirit of God! And with power, carried out His mission

The Ministry of Christ

Acts 10:38 (NASB95)

38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth … how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

He went about doing good

This was something He did consistently!

He went about teaching, encouraging, uplifting, forgiving!

He went about doing GOOD!

AND… healing all who were oppressed by the Devil

Jesus, in His public ministry, clashed with the very forces of Hell!

As we read the gospel accounts, it clearly teaches that demons were speaking through the voices of men and women.. and Jesus, as the light of the world.. SHONE into the darkness of their hearts healed them by His power

1 John 3:8 “8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

Jesus came to clash with the forces of Hell, and do so by the power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 10:39 NASB95

39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

This was a public display. Jesus had been seen visibly, heard audibly, Peter says we are WITNESSES of allllll the things He did in the land of Jerusalem

The Crucifixion of Christ

The central truth of Peter’s gospel

Acts 10:39 (NASB95)

39 “… They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

What an awful death

The Romans, conspiring with the corrupt Jewish leaders who cried out CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM … delivered Him over to Pilate and hanging him on the tree.

Deuteronomy 21:23 says: “for he who is hanged is accursed of God”

Galatians 3:13 “13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—”

Christ became a curse FOR us, as he hung upon the tree of the cross

God took our sins, placed them on the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ became accursed for us, condemned by God as He bore our sins upon that tree… punished in OUR place FOR our sins!

Because Jesus is God, His death had an infinite value… as He died in place of the whole WORLD.. His death had EXTRAORDINARY power to forgive us of all our sins

The Resurrection of Christ

Acts 10:40 NASB95

40 “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,

THEY put Him to death, but GOD raised Him up!

The promise Jesus declared not long before CAME to pass! Christ ROSE on the 3rd day! The fact that it happened it validation and confirmation that Jesus Christ IS who He claimed to be! The eternal Son of God

And Christ became visible

But not to everyone.

You’d think He’d appear in the Sanhedrin courtroom, or go visit the Praetorium where Pilate gave the verdict! But no!

Christ appeared to His own

Acts 10:41 NASB95

41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

If we had ever forgotten that the Sovereign will of God had been lost among the chaos of death and resurrection, we can put that thought to rest with God CHOOSING… … BEFOREHAND… WITNESSES… to see the risen Lord.

‘that is to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead’

Strange thing to say in a gospel presentation

Why stress it?

1. It was a real resurrection… not a hallucination or a ghost, an unmistakable truth

2. The close fellowship they had with Him…

3. And it is BECAUSE of this bodily resurrection that you and I have fellowship with Christ!

That we commune with Christ.. that we share in this communion together ALSO of eating and drinking with Him!

The Judgement of Christ

Acts 10:42 NASB95

42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

We have been commanded JUST as the apostles were ordered.. to PREACH to the people!

Preach means to proclaim with loud voice… sense of urgency

Christ has ordered His leaders, to preach, and herald, the word of God

To lift up our voice and make known the truth of God!

Then Peter says: “Solemnly to testify”

Preaching is not entertainment

Preaching is not another show at the theater

Preaching is not wild and reckless and baseless and flimsy

No, preaching is a solemn testimony, a sober-minded yet EAGER proclamation of the truth of God

To preach as if you will never preach again… and to preach:

“The One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead”

Important

Jesus has died for us… Jesus has been raised for us… but He is the judge of the living and the dead

And every man and woman will stand before Him on the last day and give an account of themselves

And those who are without Christ.. will have the list of uncountable sins pour out of the mouth of Christ on High! The book of life will be shown to you to see that indeed your name is not found on its pages! And Christ will say I NEVER KNEW YOU!

The exact one who died on the tree and rose from the dead, will.. be.. our.. JUDGE

This is apart of every gospel presentation

That Christ has come to save… but in the last day, Christ has come to Judge

Why does it mention the dead? Judge over the dead?

Because they cannot hide in the grave.

The dirt, the casket, the rocks and pebbles can’t get in the way on the last day. Their Spirit shall be judge in the courtroom of Heaven. And found guilty

But praise God Almighty… that my sins were judge 2000 years ago. That Jesus took and buried my sins far far away out of the presence and sight and knowledge of God, never to be seen again

Jesus suffered on that cross IN OUR PLACE so that WE shall not suffer after this life is over!

The Forgiveness of Christ

Peter ends with greatest news the world has ever seen

After laying the hammer down, that Christ indeed SHALL JUDGE…

He opens the door of opportunity,,, to be saved.

Acts 10:43 NASB95

43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

All of them bear witness, all of them proclaim: That the savior of sinners is coming!

They declare ‘His name’

Referring to the name of Christ… Him being prophet priest and king

‘EVERYONE who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins’

Peter as he is speaking to Cornelius and his household… offers an invitation for them to believe and receive the forgiveness of sins

What does it mean to believe in Jesus?

Far more than intellectual knowledge of who Jesus is

Far more than just some emotional feelings about the story

It must go to the extent where you decisively make the decision, CHOOSE, to commit ALL that you are, the entirety of your life, to the Lord Jesus Christ

It means to surrender your life.. to resort and firmly grasp on the the last and only hope one has in this life.

It is to rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and to commit your life unto Him… relying and trusting on Him alone for salvation

“Receives forgiveness of sins”

Means the cancellation of a debt… a reversal of that which we owe… and that these sins will never condemn us.. because Jesus made the payment for our sins.

Therefore Peter in this sermon, at every turn, is preaching Christ, from beginning to end.

He presents the Risen, Living, Victorious Christ

Who died for our sins

Who hung upon that tree

Who has been raised from the dead

Who is the judge of the living and the dead

And who offers forgiveness to those, who believe on Him

This is the gospel message

Where Christ is EVERYTHING, and creature is nothing.

May Christ be everything to you today, and may He reign supreme in your life.

Turn from your sin… confess Christ as Lord! and be baptised into Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins Acts 2:38.

Episode of the original greeting

Recount how it was that they had been brought together… after those details

Peter opened his mouth and said (Hebrew idiom that means he is now beginning to preach!)

Christ the Judge

The Gospel is about Jesus being our savior…

But it is also about Jesus, having been raised from the dead… being our JUDGE

How often do you hear people say THAT? “Jesus is your judge”

Doesn’t sound like good news… and its not! It’s bad news!

UNLESS… He’s your advocate, defense attorney, Redeemer

Removes from the record ALL CHARGES against you!

But until or unless you put your trust in Christ and in Christ alone… He is your judge.

And your sins are ever before Him

And if you do not submit to Him, the gavel will come down

And there will be no mercy

You will stand on the basis of your own self-righteousness before Him,

And it’s THIS… that the apostle Peter tells Cornelius on that day!