Accepted By Him 10/03/2019
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Welcome to Branches Church! This is one of my favorite Sundays every year. All Nations Sunday! We have had a great time in worship and we are going to have a great time after service with some awesome food.
Guests here today…we are thrilled that you are here to celebrate with us. Thank you for being part of this great service. It is my hope that you leave full of food and full of faith.
Why do we have All Nations Sunday every year? Because I want us to remember what we are supposed to be in God’s Kingdom. His church is diverse. His church is unified under the banner of Jesus and the cross.
When John peeled back the curtain of what is happening in heaven in Revelation. What he saw and wrote about was a diverse group of people assembled around the throne.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
I believe that every church should reflect what the Lord has intended for His church to be. Why not? Why shouldn’t we start becoming what God will bring us to be in heaven? His church is diverse in culture. Diverse in language. Diverse in skin tone. Diverse in background.
Peter wrote of the people of the Kingdom of God.
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
We may have differences. Different backgrounds, different experiences, languages, origins, etc. We may have not been a people at one time, but now...
God takes each of us, with all our differences, and He makes us to be one people.
World leaders try, but cannot accomplish it. Politics tries, but cannot succeed. But God working in the heart of a humble man or woman can bring us together. Gives us a unifying experience in Jesus Christ. Gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit and makes a church where there was no church. Only God can do that.
Every bit of this was set in motion in Acts 10.
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
Cornelius was an Italian man. He is what is referred to in scripture as a gentile, a non jew. He is one of the worst kind of gentiles. A roman soldier. Rome had oppressed and conquered the jews. For every jew this was a person they would not associate with intentionally.
This day is going to bring some change that starts to take hold over the following decades.
Notice what is written about Cornelius.
Devout man.
Feared God with all his household.
Gave alms generously. He is a generous man.
Prayed to God always.
Today it would be said of Cornelius. He is a good man. He is giving, and always praying. Some would even say there is no way Cornelius is lost, God would not send a man like this to hell. Right?
The mistake too many make, goodness means accepted by God.
The truth from a biblical perspective is that good people can and will be lost.
Because the question is not about goodness. It is about righteousness. The question on every persons life is not whether or not they lived a good life. It is whether or not they were right with God.
Look at the person close to you and say to them - “you are righteous dude or you are a righteous chick”.
Righteousness means to be morally correct and justifiable. When someone says God is righteous, what is being said is that every action, or decision He makes is correct and justified. God is right and can never be wrong.
But you and I are unrighteous. We are often wrong in our actions and decisions. Paul wrote to the Romans reminding them of what David wrote in Psalms 14.
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
David knew it, Paul confirmed it. Not a single person in this room is righteous within ourselves.
So when we told the person next to us you are righteous earlier… we lied.
The only way to righteousness for us is thru Jesus Christ and obedience to the gospel.
Cornelius a devout, God fearing, praying, alms giving man is in prayer and has a vision. An angel of the Lord appears to him with this message.
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial. God has seen your good actions and has heard your prayers.
5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”
Send for Peter… He will tell you what you must do.
Ever heard someone say, I practice my faith at home. I don’t need a church. I don’t need a pastor. I don’t need to hear a preacher. I wonder what Cornelius would think of that?
He might would say “you could have a visitation from an angel but you still need someone to preach to you what you must do.” That could be a message for another time.
Peter makes the journey to Cornelius home. Cornelius and all his relatives are there, he has brought his close friends. They are waiting to hear from Peter what they must do.
Peter begins to preach and teach about Jesus Christ and the power given to Him. He preaches to them the gospel of Jesus Christ death, being buried and then being resurrected having all power.
43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
As Peter is preaching and teaching, the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius, his relatives, and his friends.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
The Holy Spirit falls on them. And every jew that was present was shocked because these are gentiles.
45 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.
How did they know the Spirit fell on them?
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered,
They heard them speak with tongues. Speaking in tongues is God given evidence that He is working in a persons life in that moment. We know this because Acts 2 says that is what is happening.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Spirit gives the utterance. The Spirit gives the ability to speak to the person. The same thing that happened to the Jews when they were in Jerusalem in Acts 2 now happened in Cornelius home in Acts 10.
47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
They received the Holy Spirit just like we have. They had the same experience as us. They need to be water baptized too like us. Peter looks at the others with him and asks are you going to stop what God is doing?
Peter commands Cornelius, his relatives and his friends. You need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
God is still doing this work today. He calls all of us to faith and to receive His gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s a common experience that He has for everyone of us.
School pledge or national anthem at a ball game. The flag. There is this common feeling…We are Americans.
The gift of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues. Nationality doesn’t matter. Language we grew up speaking doesn’t matter. Background doesn’t matter. Economic status doesn’t matter.
Same promise and gift for each of us. We know that we are His people thru this shared common experience that is for all believers.
Peter said in Acts 10:34-35.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
You have probably heard or even been asked… Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal savior? Not biblical. Let me tell you what is the biblical expression.
Have you been accepted by Him?
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Have you been born again?
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Have you believed and been baptized?
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Have you repented of your sins? Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit?
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God is calling together a church from every nation, every tongue, and every tribe. He calls them to repentance, to baptism, and He fills them with the Holy Spirit. They become His.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
If you have not experienced it. He is calling you to experience it.