Sharing Salvation To Everyone

Secular -

A pair of missionaries arrived in a distant village determined to share the gospel. The villagers were known for their hospitality, so the missionaries were invited to dinner with the village chief.

During the meal, the chief asked, “What brings you here?”

One missionary said, “We’ve come to share the good news about eternal life!”

The chief nodded thoughtfully and said, “Eternal life sounds great. What do we need to do?”

The other missionary chimed in, “You just need to believe, repent, and follow Jesus.”

The chief frowned for a moment, then pointed to the enormous feast before them. “Will we have to give up our food traditions?”

The missionaries exchanged glances. “Well, no.”

The chief grinned, leaned in, and said, “Good, that means there is bacon in heaven!”

Historical/Cultural Context -

Luke was a physician and a travel companion of the apostle Paul. He wrote the book of Acts. The earliest possible date of Acts is immediately after the events that Luke recorded in, which would have been c. A.D. 62. Acts is addressed to “Theophilus,” about whom nothing more is known. Luke’s broader audience consisted primarily of Gentile Christians like Theophilus who had already “been taught” about Jesus.

Biblical Text -

Acts 10:34–48 NKJV

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - The Power Of God Is In The Gospel. We Are To help People See Their Need For The Savior & Not Be Afraid To Talk About The Meat Of Salvation.

Life Point- Don’t Be Afraid To Help People See Their Need For A Savior

Exegetical -

Acts 10:34–38 NLT

Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Homiletical -

So Peter has had his vision of the sheet coming down from heaven and the men that were sent by the Centurion have come for Peter.

This is what the vision was all about. You see the Gentiles had not really been invited into the church yet. It was just the Jews that were being converted. So God uses the centurion to teach Peter the lesson that the Gospel is for all nations, not for the Jews only but for the Gentiles.

I believe this is where God opens up the Gospel for everyone.

So Peter explains that there is peace with God through Jesus who is Lord of all people. He reminds them about John the Baptist because they have heard about him. Then they are reminded that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power at his baptism and that Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.

Do you see what Peter is doing here? He is drawing upon their previous knowledge of sin, John, and Jesus before he moves on.

This is a problem in the United States. We are no longer one nation under God. Most people in this country have never been in a church. Did you know that? There is a lot of people that don’t even make it on Christmas and Easter now. The church holds no sway over their understanding.

What does that mean for the Gospel. Well it means that people we reach, we have to be careful that we don’t assume they know anything about the Gospel. Let me pu t it this way. They got to get lost before they can get saved.

You have to explain what sin is. You have to ask them if they understand that concept. If I am going to be honest I like to stop and ask them “Have you ever lied? Even a white lie?” The answer is yes, then I let them know that according to scripture they are sinners and cannot entire the kingdom of heaven.

You would then hit them with:

Romans 3:23 NLT

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Are you apart of all? Yes.

Romans 3:10–18 NLT

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.”

Romans 6:23 NLT

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 5:1 NLT

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Now that they know what sin is, and that they are in need and they know what the Bible says go into more detail about Jesus. That He was born of a virgin, did signs, wonders and miracles and rose again on the third day. Now, you ask them if they want to come to know Jesus? If so, pray with them for forgiveness and belief in Jesus.

Illustration -

I came across a modern illustration you can use:

Imagine if every time we made a mistake, a notification popped up on our phone saying, 'Uh oh! You need a new life hack!' Life would be pretty overwhelming, right? Yet, we often miss the most significant life hack ever: Jesus Christ. He’s not an app; He’s our salvation, ready to wipe away our notifications of sin and give us a fresh start!

Life Point - Don’t Be Afraid To Get To The Meat

Exegetical -

Acts 10:39–43 NLT

“And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

Homiletical -

So now Peter comes to the meat of the message that he is giving.

He says you may say this is impossible, but I was there. I saw it, I was a witness. We even ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Don’t think you can escape your fate because God will be the judge of all the living and the dead.

You know what, don’t just take Peters word for it, but go back and look at the prophets over hundreds of years who testified about Him and He fulfilled every one of those prophecies and all who believe will have their sins forgiven them.

Look at this picture. This shows the tremendous amount of links of biblical prophecies and verses throughout the Bible. Where one verse references a thought or idea. Jordan Peterson called the Bible the first hyperlinked book because of the tremendous cohesion that we find in it. The Bible is trustworthy and what it says about sin and repentance and forgiveness can be trusted completely.

by the way that picture is a reference of over 65,000 verses. The bottom lines represent a verse and the top represents the number of times that verse is cross-referenced elsewhere.

The Bible truly is God’s Word

So don’t be afraid to get down to the nitty gritty of the Gospel message. Don’t leave out any part of it.

Some year’s ago I was with a pastor and we were apart of Bill Glass Motorcycles ministry where we would go into prisons and share the Gospel. Well the man that was teaching how to share the Gospel that day said “leave out the virgin birth it’s not important.”

Well you know me. Yes it is important it is apart of the history of the Gospel. It is referenced in prophecy and must not be forgotten.

Folks The virgin birth, the signs, wonders, and miracles that proclaim Jesus as the son of God, the second in the trinity, God in the flesh; Death on a cross for our sins and rose again the third day is the Gospel. Not one thing that I just said can be left out or you are preaching a false Gospel.

We have popular Christian teachers that when you ask for their testimony they will say they just felt the love of Jesus.

Well that’s great, but that ain’t salvation. Salvation deals with our sin and the miraculousness that is Jesus our savior and what He did on that cross. Without that you are believing a false gospel and need to be saved!

Galatians 1:8 NKJV

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

The Gospel is no joke and must be preached, we are dealing with people’s eternal condition of their souls. Either to heaven or to hell.

Illustration -

Imagine a doctor who discovers a cure for a terminal illness but decides to keep it secret. How many patients would suffer because they never learned about this life-saving solution? The gospel is our cure for sin and spiritual death. Keeping it to ourselves is akin to withholding life from those in desperate need.

Life Point - Don’t Forget The Power Of God Is In The Gospel

Exegetical -

Acts 10:44–48 NLT

Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

Homiletical -

Some people will erroneously say that salvation must be accompanied by tongues but that is false. That is not what is happening here.

What is happening here?

Remember God is opening up the Gospel to all nations. Jews and Gentiles.

So that there could be no doubt that the Gentiles are on the same level of the Jews on the day of pentecost, God repeats that miracle with tongues of fire and speaking in unknown languages.

So they Jews could not say something like; “Yes Gentiles can be saved, but they didn’t get the same spiritual blessing we did when salvation was given to us, so they are lesser than we are.”

Galatians 3:28 NLT

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:14–18 NLT

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

So why doesn’t tongues happen on salvation anymore?

Because the Holy Spirit has been given to the church both Jews and Gentiles have access to the same Savior. The Savior of the World. This marked the beginning of the church age and now we receive by faith salvation for our souls.

So then what happens?

Well Peter has these Jewish believers with him and he says to them “In light of what we have just witnessed do you think that we should withhold baptism?”

Peter knew the answer already he didn’t really need to ask but he was getting the point across to them.

Illustration -

The famous author John Newton, who was once a slave trader had his life radically altered by the Gospel. His life was marked by sin and rebellion, yet the grace of God reached him and transformed his heart. Newton became a devoted follower of Christ and went on to write the beloved hymn 'Amazing Grace,' which reflects his journey from darkness to light. His story emphasizes how the gospel can changes one’s life path.

Life Principle– The Power Of God Is In The Gospel. We Are To help People See Their Need For The Savior & Not Be Afraid To Talk About The Meat Of Salvation.

Call to Action – altar call….