PROCLAMATION
“And He said unto them,
‘Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep
company, or come unto one of another nation; But God hath shown me that I
should not call any man common or unclean.’ ” Acts 10:28 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These are the acts of
the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the physician, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. After Saul had joined the disciples,
(Acts 9:28-31) the Apostle Peter found and healed a man named Aeneas who had
been paralyzed for eight years. All who
saw him turned to The Lord. (Acts 9:32-35)
Peter also raised from the dead the disciple Tabitha, in Greek her name
was Dorcas, who was always doing good works and helping the poor. (Acts
9:36-42) Luke also 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. And all of them in the house that heard him
were baptized. (Acts 10:44-48)
APPLICATION
With The Lord God
there is no respect of persons, (Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11) there are only
believers and non-believers. Believers are to accept all other believers
as brothers in Christ, regardless of their racial, ethnic, or national
differences. All believers possess The Holy Spirit of God within
them. Our physical differences do not matter. All that is
important is that they believe in Christ. If they believe, then they are
to be accepted. If they do not believe, then we are to share the gospel
with them. It is not our job to make
them believe, or to judge them if they do not. It is the job of The
Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and convert them. Only He adds to the church and He does so as
He sees fit. (Acts 2:47)
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