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November 20th

The bible reading today is in Acts 11 and 12.

“Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:1‬

This was huge. The saving gospel message of Christ was spreading beyond the city of Jerusalem since Pentecost. Now there were more churches and believers outside of Jerusalem to take notice of.

For instance, there were now gatherings of believers constituting churches in Samaria and Galilee as well as Judea. In other words, there were now young churches throughout Roman-occupied Israel. Jewish communities were affected. And Gentile communities were being affected by the gospel of Christ.

And the word of Gentiles being saved got to Jerusalem quickly. They heard that Gentiles were hearing and accepting the word of God...the word of eternal salvation in and through Jesus Christ.

Apparently, many of the Jewish followers of Christ in Jerusalem were stumbling over that message. Not that spiritual salvation was in Jesus and in Him alone, but that the salvation gift was for “Jews and Gentiles” all over the world.

Remember Jesus to his disciples before his ascension to heaven?...“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”,

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:18

And as Mark recorded it in his gospel...“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature..."

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16:15‬ ‭

Can you imagine Peter coming back to Jerusalem after being a part of a spiritual awakening in the region of Caesarea? Peter had to be excited.

Peter had 75 miles to think about what God had done in the household of the Gentile Cornelius. Repentance and faith in Christ had been given to this Roman...given to him and his family and his servants and their families...and on and on...given to them by God through the power of the gospel message spoken by Peter and his friends.

Yes, Peter had to be excited about sharing with the church in Jerusalem “this God thing” that he had witnessed with his own eyes and ears.

In Peter’s testimony to the church elders, he spoke of how God got him from Joppa to Caesarea and to Cornelius’s home. “The Spirit bade me”, he said.

“And the Spirit told me to go with Cornelius’ servants, making no distinction between Jew and Gentile. And those six brothers in Christ (the ones that I am pointing out to you) accompanied me, and we entered the Gentile’s house.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:12‬

Peter knew, that before Christ, there were any number of Jewish laws that forbade him to socialize and fellowship with an unclean Gentile. But the Spirit told him to go and not count anyone unclean that God deems clean.

Jesus, his life and death and resurrection, did away with such ceremonial rules of personal rituals qualifying a person to worship God. It was Jesus and his shed blood at the cross that made Peter and all believers clean...forgiven...and qualified for true worship of the God of salvation.

“The Spirit told him to go...” The Holy Spirit only says what is in harmony with the words and will of the Father and the Son. Jesus told his friends....“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭16:13-15‬

So it is not a stretch for me to believe that the Spirit not only directed Peter, but He set Peter’s mind at ease by reminding him of the perfect unity of the Godhead of salvation...he’s not telling Peter anything that Jesus and the Father wouldn't tell him also.....How Cool!

Peter went on to testify of what happened in the house of Cornelius....“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:15-17‬ ‭

O friends, that is exactly what God intends to do with all those who believe...the Spirit of life and truth and conviction and salvation fell upon them and they believed Jesus from their hearts.

Praise God

Have a great day