Proclamation:
“He
said to them: ‘You are aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate
with or visit a Gentile. But God has
shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.’” Acts 10:28 (NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy
Spirit of God. Luke records that a
devout and God-fearing man named Cornelius, who was a centurion in the Roman
army, had a vision in which he was told to send for Simon Peter. (Acts
10:1-6) About the same time Peter had a
vision in which The Lord God told him not to call anything impure that He had
made clean. (Acts 10:9-16) While Peter
was still trying to figure out his first vision, The Holy Spirit came to him and
told him to go with the three men who were looking for him because He had sent
them. (Acts 10:17-19) Peter went with
them and when he arrived at the home of Cornelius he told them that their law
did not allow a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but God had shown him
that it was okay. (Acts 10:23-29) Cornelius
had invited his relatives and close friends to his home to hear the message
that God had for them. (Acts 10:24) Peter
found a large gathering in the house (Acts 10:27) and preached to them until The
Holy Spirit came upon all of those who heard him. (Acts 10:44-46)
Application:
With
The Lord God there is no respect of persons, (Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11) there
are believers of all nationalities. We
are to accept all believers as brothers in Christ, regardless of our ethnic
differences. All believers possess The Holy
Spirit of God within them. It should not
matter to us what race, creed, ethnicity, or nationality someone is, all that
is important is if they believe or not.
If they believe, then they are to be accepted. If they do not believe, then we are to share
the gospel with them and let The Holy Spirit work on them and add to the church
as He sees fit. (Acts 2:47)
No comments:
Post a Comment