Acts 10, Part 21
Notes
Transcript
Caeserea
Caeserea
34 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.
36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,
40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,
41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
This passage gives the first message ever preached to Gentiles by one of the apostles. It is the message that opened the door of salvation to all the people of the world, to the Gentiles.
God shows no favoritism—He accepts anyone who fears Him and does what is right
God sent His Word to Israel; He sent Jesus Christ preaching peace
Jesus is God’s anointed Savior
Jesus was crucified
Jesus was raised up from the dead by God
Jesus appeared to some who were chosen to be witnesses
Jesus will judge the living and the dead some day in the future
Jesus is the prophesied Messiah
Jesus brings forgiveness of sin to those who believe in Him
God is no respecter of persons. The term “respecter of persons” means to regard with partiality and favoritism; to favor a person because of looks, position, or circumstances. God has no favorites and no prejudice against anyone. He shows no partiality or discrimination whatsoever. He does not accept a person because of nationality, race, caste, social standing, or class. Person or appearance, possessions or position, abilities or works, health or stature—these things do not make a person acceptable to God. “God is no respecter of persons.” He has always said so; but men, including Peter, had not paid attention to Him. They just went right on ignoring the truth of God’s Word and feeding their prejudices. Two things make a person acceptable to God. Peter covered them both, fearing God, and working righteousness (to be right, and do right).
There are those who stress being righteous and neglect doing righteousness. This leads to two serious errors. The first is false security. It causes a person to stress that he is saved and acceptable to God because he has believed in Jesus Christ. But he neglects doing good and living as he should. He neglects obeying God and serving man. The second is loose living. It allows one to go out and do pretty much as he desires. He feels secure and comfortable in his faith in Christ. He knows that what he does may affect his fellowship with God and other believers, but he thinks his behavior will not affect his salvation. He thinks that no matter what he does he is still acceptable to God.
The problem with this stress is that it is a false righteousness. Righteousness in the Bible means being righteous and doing righteousness. The Bible knows nothing about being righteous without living righteously.
There are those who stress doing righteousness and neglect being righteous. This also leads to two serious errors. First, self-righteousness and legalism. It causes a person to stress that he is saved and acceptable to God because he does good. He works and behaves morally and keeps certain rules and regulations. He does the things a Christian should do by obeying the main laws of God. But he neglects the basic law: the law of love and acceptance—that God loves him and accepts him not because he does good, but because he loves and trusts the righteousness of Christ. Second, Being judgmental and censorious. A person who stresses that he is righteous (acceptable to God) because he keeps certain laws often judges and censors others. He feels that rules and regulations can be kept, for He keeps them. Therefore, anyone who fails to keep them is judged, criticized, and censored.
The problem with this stress is that it, too, is a false righteousness. Again, righteousness in the Bible is both being righteous and doing righteousness. The Bible knows nothing of being acceptable to God without being made righteous in Christ Jesus.
God sent His Word to Israel; He sent Jesus Christ preaching peace. Israel was the first nation to receive God’s Word. Salvation is of the Jews. God sent His Word to Israel by Jesus Christ, God’s very own Son. It was Jesus Christ who brought the message of God. However, God’s Word was not meant for Israel alone. Jesus Christ did not come just for Israel’s salvation. God is no respecter of persons. God accepts people from every nation, all those who fear Him and work righteousness.
Jesus Christ is Lord of ALL. Not only the Jews, but the Gentiles (every nation), not just the privileged, but the heather. Not just the poor, but the people who truly fear Him and work righteousness. Not just the religious, but those in need of a Savior. Just as salvation is intended for everyone, no one has an excuse for rejecting the Gospel. Anyone (Jew or Gentile) who has heard the gospel is without excuse.
Jesus is God’s anointed Savior. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. But note: He was anointed with the Holy Spirit in a way that no other person has ever been anointed: the Holy Spirit was given without measure to Christ. He received an unlimited measure of the Spirit, and it was once-for-all. That is, the Spirit’s fulness never left Christ, not for a moment. Jesus was anointed with miraculous power. Power is the presence and outworking of the Holy Spirit within a person. Jesus declared this.
Because the this declaration, Jesus was persecuted and put to death - crucified. But, we know that Jesus was also raised up by God from the dead. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to some people who were chosen and appointed to be witnesses. God set Jesus before people so that He could be visibly, openly, and publicly seen. God manifested, showed, and set Him forth as the Risen Lord. Jesus appeared to chosen witnesses. The word “chosen before” means to be pointed out, to be designated, to be appointed. Before Christ ever arose, God chose some people to be witnesses of His Son’s resurrection. They were chosen for the very purpose of proclaiming the resurrection to a world of dying men. The witnesses did “eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.” They had close and intimate fellowship with Him. Peter was telling anyone who would hear that he and the other witnesses had REAL contact with the risen Lord. Not only did they see Him, they ate and drank with Him. They were true, verifiable witnesses to a risen Jesus.
Jesus shall judge the living and the dead of all nations, both Jew and Gentile. God has ordained Jesus Christ to judge all men, no matter who they are or where they are, alive or dead. He and He alone shall judge every soul who has ever appeared on earth. He alone, as the risen Lord, has the right to determine judgment. He determines the conditions of salvation: what a person has to do to be saved; how a person is saved; who is and is not saved. He determines the conditions of eternity: what eternal life shall be like; what eternal death shall be like; the state, the environment, the reward and the punishment of both heaven and hell.
Peter emphasizes Jesus is the prophesied Messiah and believing in Jesus brings forgiveness of sins.
Receiving the Holy Spirit
Receiving the Holy Spirit
44 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.
46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,
47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
God and God alone saves the Gentiles, that is, the people of the world. No man can save another man. No man has the power to save anyone else; therefore no man has the authority to save. Salvation—the gift of the new birth and of God’s Spirit—is of God and God alone. This is made abundantly clear in this passage, the passage where the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles when they “heard the Word.” Hearing the Word of God was necessary. It is one of the essentials for receiving the Holy Spirit. The unsaved (Gentiles) had to hear the Word before they could receive the Holy Spirit. The idea is that they heard and believed and received the truth of God’s Word into their hearts without Peter even telling them to believe. This is made clear in Acts 11:17. They heard and received the message, hungering and thirsting for the Word of God in their lives. Therefore, they believed it immediately. T
he Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles “while Peter yet spake.” Peter was still preaching; he had not finished his message when the Holy Spirit fell. God and God alone caused the Holy Spirit to fall upon the Gentile believers, not the hands of Peter. No man had anything to do with God pouring His Spirit upon these believers. The gift of the Spirit was the act of God and God alone.
“The Holy Spirit fell” and was “poured out” upon the Gentiles. Peter said the Gentiles “received the Holy Spirit as well as we” (v. 47). Note that God gave them the Holy Spirit after they “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ”. Hearing the message and “believing on the Lord Jesus Christ” are absolute essentials for receiving the Holy Spirit.
The Jewish believers were astonished or amazed. This refers to the six Jewish believers who had come with Peter (Acts 10:23).
23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
They had been taught from earliest childhood that the Holy Spirit was available only to the Jews. But here before their very eyes they witnessed God accepting Gentile believers into the church. All their life these leaders, Peter included, had been taught and steeped in a bitterness that bordered on hatred for Gentiles. What a radical course of events to see their God pouring His Spirit upon the Gentiles! The sight of such, and the gift of tongues, was the sign to these leaders that Gentiles were to be as much a part of the church as Jews. And the Jews were to accept the Gentiles as readily as they did each other. The gospel is universal—for the whole world.
The Gentile believers spoke in tongues and praised God. Note: the speaking in tongues led the Gentile believers into a glorious and joyful praise of God. They magnified God. They were caught up in an ecstatic praise of the Lord. The “speaking with tongues” seems to be the sign that the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the Gentiles. Both Peter and the Jewish believers needed a sign, a sign that would leave no doubt that the Gentiles were saved. Speaking in tongues, that is, breaking out in an ecstatic praise of God, was such a sign. It was the sign that would leave no doubt whatsoever. Note: it is this that utterly shocked the Jewish believers who were with Peter; for the Gentiles were, as Peter says, receiving “the Holy Spirit as well as we”.
The Gentile believers were baptized. Note that Peter asked a question. Apparently he was challenging the Jewish believers who were with him. There could be no question: the Gentiles had received the Spirit. No one present could deny it. Therefore, could “any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized?” The door to the Gentiles was now opened. Peter commanded the Gentile believers to be baptized. Evidently he commanded the six Jewish brothers to baptize them. They had “heard the Word”, they had “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ”, they had experienced the “Holy Spirit falling”, being “poured” out on them, . They had “received the Holy Spirit”, and they were “baptized in the name of the Lord”.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
