All'y'all
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No Trespassing
No Trespassing
I was walking my dog this past winter on my favorite route: right through the golf course. Which is terrible… because I am super not supposed to.
But it’s beautiful, rolling hills of gorgeous grass, and ponds, running fountains. I can toss the ball and Vin can run and run, we love it.
On every entrance to the golf course there is these big “No Trespassing” signs. The golf course is off-limits, etc, etc, etc...
But I have a trick. There is a gate over by the street (and by gate, I mean a little gap in the fence I can squeeze through) where there is no sign.
I got yelled at just the other day. “You’re not supposed to walk here!”
I do one of these “Oh. Really? Okay!”
He says “where’d you come in, there’s signs all over!” And I played my trump card. “I came in over there, there’s no sign, sorry.”
Boom. You can’t prosecute me. If there’s no sign, there’s no crime!
Also, I am a terrible person. I left the golf course and walked home a different way. I actually haven’t tried again, but guess what I am expecting to see when I go try my “secret” entrance? A new sign.
Which, obviously, brings up the question of evangelism and salvation. Obviously.
We think about the person who has heard the gospel of Jesus and just rejects God. “That’s not for me” or “I don’t believe it” or “I want to be Lord of my own life...” all the reasons for rejecting Jesus. And it is heart-breaking that any should perish, but they heard. They read the sign. And they can be held responsible to the crime.
But what about people who truly didn’t know. Unlike me (I was pretending I didn’t know) but someone who has never heard the name of Jesus. Especially the “really good” ones, earnest and honest seekers. People who are looking for God, looking to God, asking the questions.
Can people who haven’t heard the name of Jesus be saved? Does God recognize their sincere seeking heart and save them anyway?
This matters a great deal because it should shape how we evangelize and how we think about missions. If God counts them as innocent if they didn’t “see the sign” then we should actually suppress the spreading of the word. We should focus our efforts on those who have already heard about Jesus… because it is too late for them to claim innocence. But we should leave all those who haven’t yet heard the name of Jesus alone so they can kind of keep their excuse ready.
Cornelius
Cornelius
Remember my man Cornelius.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,
a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”
And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.
He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
Cornelius. A centurion, a military man. One who (as another centurion told Jesus) knows how to be in authority and how to be under authority. A powerful and influential man. His name is Italian, his cohort is Italian. So in an army where Italians are the minority, being from a place in proximity to Rome is notable. And he is stationed in Caesarea, that’s where the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate lives and stays. And he isn’t just a man in power,
He is devout. He fears God. He is generous, and generous specifically to the Jewish people. He is a man of prayer.
Cornelius doesn’t hesitate when he hears from God. He immediately sends men to go get this person he has never heard of. Peter.
God shows Peter this vision. Sheet descending from heaven full of all kinds of animals. Kill and eat! Three times. And three times Peter says “no, Lord”.
(Those two words should never be in the same sentence).
Three times God says “Don’t call common what I have made clean.”
and so when the men come, the Holy Spirit says “Go with them without hesitation” or literally “making no distinction”… as in, don’t call them unclean. No man or woman is unclean before God.
And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.
On just the hope that he would hear from God, Cornelius got EVERYBODY! He spent every ounce of relational capital he had. all of them. Cousin Eddie, it’s been awhile. I just invited this guy and he might come, come listen in the HOPES of hearing something from God.
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
“Oh praise you, you must be the great and holy Peter, sent by God.” “We’re not worthy”
Listen to that respect. This is a man of power, a man of great respect. But based on NOTHING other then the understanding that God sent Peter, Cornelius is ready to go down on the ground and worship the man.
It is ignorance… but what a heart Cornelius has. How thirsty is he for the Word of God?
Peter gently, graciously, lifts him up.
But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.
Peter comes and has his revelation:
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”
And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing
and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’
So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Peter is likely reaching back into the book of Moses.
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Cornelius is a God-fearer but I expect he has felt rejected all along the road by “God’s people”. What incredible news to hear from Peter “God is no respecter of persons”.
Shows no partiality? Anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable?
Doesn’t that sound like they are saved?
Pluralism vs. Exclusivism
Pluralism vs. Exclusivism
A few months ago we talked about pluralism and exclusivism. Pluralism is the idea that there are many ways in which someone can be saved… and this is one of those verses! Here is Cornelius, he is the famous “unevangelized heathen.”
We might get confused between a righteous God-fearer and a self-righteous pretender. God never does, he knows the heart.
We might get confused between someone who is truly seeking Jesus with their questions and someone who is finding excuses to hold on to their own self… but God never does.
And he is a sincere seeker, a God-fearer, devout SO amazing in so many ways. And here it says he is “acceptable” to God. What does that mean?
Cornelius is all of these amazing things, where has his “acceptability” brought him?
So what does “acceptable to God” mean?
It doesn’t mean that people get into heaven by another name. “There is no other name by which men may be saved.” Y’all need Jesus.
Good character and good deeds were not enough for Cornelius! “He may have been religious, but he wasn’t redeemed.”
So what does “acceptable to God” mean?
It at least means: The gospel is available to everyone.
Or Jesus saves all’y’all.
That the gospel is available to everyone. And we, as witnesses to Jesus, should never hesitate or discriminate in bringing that gospel to every tribe, every people, every tongue, every nation.
If there is a category of people inside our heads that “don’t count” or “don’t deserve” the gospel… we are wrong. “There is not on human being on the face of the earth that we should think about as “unclean” or “common””.
But there does seem some sense in which Cornelius has earned special attention, special dispensation from God because of his earnest seeking and righteous living. God sees his heart.
God works wonders to bring Cornelius the gospel. The true seeker, it is not that they get in by a different name or a different route… it is that God is eager to hear and answer their prayers for a Savior.
Here he has sent angels and visions to bring Peter to his front door to hear what he so desperately needs to hear.
And so Peter transitions into preaching pure gospel. We get his fifth (and last) sermon in the book of Acts.
As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:
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.
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,
but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,
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.
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.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
This last verse.
Forgiveness of sins is salvation. Do they still have sins? Yes. Do those sins need forgiveness? Yes. Is there forgiveness through any other name? No.
Cornelius was acceptable to come to Jesus… but he still needed forgiveness for his sins. As AMAZING as he was in our eyes, he was still a sinner. And Cornelius knew it. I think that’s what drove his hunger, what drove his seeking after God.
Nobody who truly seeks after the God who is thinks that they’re perfect. Anyone who comes within a mile of the God who is holy, the God who is perfect is well aware of their own imperfection. Cornelius knew he needed forgiveness and that everyone in his family needed it too. And he was ready and eager.
And within the hearts of all hearing Peter, they are already placing their faith in the name of Jesus. Salvation is happening long before an altar call.
and as absolute proof of their salvation, the Holy Spirit comes.
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
While Peter was still talking. The Holy Spirit didn’t wait for Peter’s sermon to be finished. Peter didn’t close in prayer. They didn’t need to hear it all, they were ready, the Holy Spirit was ready and just fell on all of them.
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.
Literally “out of their minds”. They were blown away.
More about that next week.
For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,
“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
God chose Cornelius, this amazing righteous, God-fearing Gentile, to be the first Gentile to hear and receive the gospel. Because as great as Cornelius was… he still desperately needed Jesus.
There is NO ONE who does not need Jesus.
There is NO ONE to whom Jesus is not reaching. There is NO ONE Jesus does not love, nowhere his salvation cannot reach.
Y’all need Jesus. All’y’all can know him.
Y’all need salvation. All’y’all can be saved.
These are two reasons one might reject Jesus. I don’t need him. Yes you do!
Or this, Jesus can’t reach me, he can’t love me… Yes he can.
Cornelius learned both things. He learned, he knew that his righteousness wasn’t enough. How eager he is to hear from God.
Cornelius learned, he knew, that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit… they were fully present and available to him and his family too.
He wasn’t too good to need Jesus. He wasn’t too far away to be saved by him.
All’y’all Need Jesus
All’y’all Need Jesus
You need Jesus.
Jesus is available to you. As a Gentile. As a lost. As a church member. As a 10 year, 20 year, 130 year Christian… salvation is for you too.
And for those of us who are saved… there is a heavy burden here. Did God need Peter to save Cornelius?
No. Just like God didn’t need Ananias to help convert Saul or Barnabus to make a place for him in Jerusalem. God didn’t need Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius.
But he absolutely insisted on it. He sent angels and visions to make it happen. He patiently, miraculously shaped and changed the heart of Peter to make it happen. To do this work through Peter.
Does God still insist on working through people like you and me to preach the gospel? To be his witnesses?
Yes. By and large. With VERY few exceptions.
But if even Cornelius still needs Jesus… does that mean every Gentile needs Jesus too? What a can of worms has God just opened up here? What an INSANE challenge to put before the church!?
If there is “no other name by which men can be saved...” and all the Gentiles in all the world, if the gospel is available to them too? This challenge is insane! The church needs to get organized and start sending people everywhere!
and that’s exactly what happens once the church gets their heads (and their hearts) around this.
Picture a Cornelius, an earnest seeker after God’s heart. Waiting. Praying. And God sends, send for Levi. Send for Amberle. Send for Arvella.
Are you ready for that?
Do we have that kind of burden for the seeker after Christ?
We should if we have the heart of God! I repent of my own complacency here. My heart should be breaking for the lost. For those who haven’t yet heard the name, haven’t yet received the grace I have been shown, haven’t yet entered into life.
My heart should break. God, give me your heart for Cornelius.
It isn’t that we should feel the weight of guilt for the salvation of the world. That isn’t how God works. But we should be ready, like Peter, at the drop of a hat, at noon on a Tuesday, to share the name of Jesus. To witness to his life and death and resurrection. To witness to how Jesus changed my life.
Because there is no other name by which Cornelius and his family may be saved.
And I believe there is a Cornelius who lives two doors down from you. And there’s a Cornelius and his whole family who lives in Uganda praying for someone to speak the name of Jesus.