Skip to content The Gospel's Reach Beyond Boundaries in Acts 10-11 Sep 4 · 14 min ...more
The Gospel's Reach Beyond Boundaries in Acts 10-11
September 4, 2025 · 14 min
Discover how God breaks barriers, bringing Gentiles into His grace through Peter and Cornelius.
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The Gospel to the Gentiles: God's Initiative 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we look at Acts Acts chapters 10 and 11. So here's the question for you this morning. Who initiated the presentation of the gospel to the0:21 Gentiles? We're gonna answer that question this morning as we read this passage. Verse 18 of chapter 11. When they heard these things, they became silent, and they glorified God saying, then God has also granted to the0:32 Gentiles repentance to life. Now based upon what scholars say, this occurred around the year 40 AD, 5 to 10 years after the start of the church in Jerusalem. The gospel0:44 had gone not only there in Jerusalem, but it had gone out to Judea and Samaria and beyond with the salvation of the Ethiopian, official. Remember, we read that where Philip shared the shared the gospel0:57 the gospel with him. He was a gentile proselyte to the Jewish faith. However, in this chapter, and this is the difference here, this moves to gentiles who were not converts to Judaism. The Ethiopian had been a convert to1:07 Judaism. Now from the reaction Ethiopian had been a convert to Judaism. Now from the reaction of the apostles, they must have thought that Gentiles needed to be circumcised, that they needed to1:19 become Jewish converts and keep the law of Moses to become followers of Christ. But here in this chapter, we have a Roman military official, Cornelius, in1:31 Caesarea, which was the Roman capital of of what was called Palestine. It it is believed that he was the head of the military unit that protected the Roman governor. Now Cornelius1:43 was a significant man who did not appear to have been a convert to Judaism. Alright? But nonetheless, sought the 1 true God. Now it's through seeking1:55 his seeking God that the gospel introduced by the Holy Spirit coming to the Gentiles by God's own orchestration. Alright? God is the 1 who initiated the gospel being presented in2:07 his timing to the presented in his timing to the Gentiles. Peter was sent by God as a messenger, but we'll soon see that Paul is the 1 who became the apostle2:19 to the Gentiles. Let's let's start in verse 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment, a devout man and 1 who feared God with all his2:31 household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day, that's 3 PM, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. And2:43 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. Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon2:55 whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do. Interestingly, Joppa was the place about 8003:07 years previous, that, someone had been sent to, to bring a message of repentance to gentiles. Remember? Jonah went to Nineveh from Joppa.3:19 Alright. He was lodging with Simon the tanner whose house was by the sea. He will tell you what you must do. So he immediately acts upon, the angel or the messenger of God and what he told him to do. Verse 9. The next3:31 day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the house housetop to pray about the sixth hour. It was about noon. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat. But while he while they made3:42 ready, he fell into a trance. And saw heaven opened, and an object like a great sheet bound at the 4 corners, corners descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of3:54 4 footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. By the way, I think that may have been the first Cajun gumbo. Verse 13. And a voice came to him, rise,4:06 Peter. Kill and eat. But Peter said, no. Not so, lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again a second time. What god has cleansed, you must4:18 not call common. Verse 16. This was done 3 times, and the object was taken up into heaven again. Now when you see something stated or done 3 times, it is an emphatic4:30 declaration to get your attention, exclamation point. Now when Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius4:42 had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. Now this was not so much about food as it was preparation to receive the gentiles into the church, which they4:54 were considered unclean. Now in verse 28, we actually see that Peter clearly got the message from this vision that he saw. Verse 28 says, then he said to them, you know how5:05 unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go in or go to 1 of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.5:17 So Peter goes down, meets the 3 men sent by Cornelius. They spend the night at Simon the Tanner's house. The next day, they head to Caesarea, and they meet with Cornelius. Verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and5:29 said, in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of5:41 Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is lord of all. To him all the prophets witnessed that through his name. Whoever believes in him will receive remission of sin. Whoever, doesn't matter the5:52 nation, nationality, doesn't matter their background, doesn't matter rich or poor, if they believe in him will receive remission of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell6:05 upon all those who heard the word. Tells me that, you know, believing. It's believing. They were believing. The Holy Spirit fell. And those of the circumcision,6:17 that is those who came with Peter, 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. For they6:29 heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered. Now let me stop there for a moment because there there are various interpretations of what is described here. But6:40 before I go any further, let me acknowledge that this passage of scripture is 1 that many people fight over. I'm not going to be dogmatic, because I believe some things6:52 are not totally clear, and you're free to disagree with me on my interpretation of this passage or what I'm going to share based upon what I think, you know, many scholar again, scholars7:04 have have different views, but I have a view. I do not believe in the cessation of the gifts of the holy spirit. Meaning, I believe what was available7:16 in the New Testament church that we're reading about here in the book of Acts is still available to us. Okay? I believe that. I know there a lot of my friends, a lot of my colleagues, a lot of my fellow pastors7:28 don't believe that, and and I'm not gonna fight with them over that. I just believe that the Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and he's continuing to work. Remember what Jesus said, right, in7:40 John chapter 14 verse 12. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also. And greater works than these he will do because I go to my father. He was going to the7:52 father. He was gonna send the holy spirit that empowered us, empowered the apostles, and I believe he empowers the church today. Now the speaking in tongues, which some scholars say was Hebrew, was an unknown tongue to8:04 those speaking it. It was evidence to Peter and to those with him that the Holy Spirit had come upon the Gentiles just like he did upon them at Pentecost. So it was a it was a a a very clear sign to8:15 them that the gospel was going to the Gentiles. So having received the word and the evidence of the Holy Spirit, Peter says, it's time to be baptized. Verse 47. Can anyone8:27 forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days. Now in chapter8:39 11, Peter goes to Jerusalem. He explains and defends the presentation and the acceptance of the gospel to the Gentiles. Verse 1. Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea8:51 heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, you went in to uncircumcised men,9:03 and you ate with him. Alright? We still have that legalism. Alright? And and we're gonna see more of this. Some Jewish Christians in the early church did not want to let go9:15 of the old covenant, sign of circumcision, even though baptism was the sign, the outward sign of the new covenant, and this took some time to overcome. Verse 4. But But Peter explained9:27 it to them in order from the beginning saying and so he goes through the whole thing. Peter goes, recounts the entire episode, including verse 16. Then I remember the word of the Lord, how he9:39 said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,9:51 who was I that I could withstand god? Good question. Notice what Peter points to to confirm what he had witnessed as being of10:02 god. It was in alignment with god's word. It was in alignment with what Jesus had said. Verse 18. When they heard these things, they became silent.10:14 Argument's over. And they glorified God saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. Alright. There's some things we don't understand. And then, quite frankly, there's10:26 some things that I see that I don't understand. And if it's not contrary to scripture, I just don't think we should I don't think we should fight about it. I'm not10:38 dismissing the need for doctrine. It's all important. But I think we the the church spends a lot of time arguing over some things that are not really10:49 clear in scripture. Alright. The remainder of the chapter provides further details about the development of what is now being recognized for the first time here in the for the first time in Antioch as the Christian11:01 faith. That's what it's called for the first time. Now just a note on Antioch. This was the, the third major city of the Roman Empire, surpassed only by Rome and Alexandria. It was called11:13 the Queen of the East. It was the doorway to the great eastern highways. It was a very significant city. It was, an affluent city. It was also a decadent city. And so it's it's it's quite11:25 significant that the church was began the was being established here. The city worshiped the, the fertility goddess, goddess, the Ashtaroth. It was,11:37 probably like some of America's most prominent cities today. I mean, it was it was a it was an evil city. But guess what? The message of truth took hold.11:49 Alright? Because there was boldness and there was courage and there was conviction, and the message took root and the gospel spread. And guess what? It happened12:01 then, and it can happen now as well. We just need to be faithful to the call of God to be bold in our conviction of the truth12:13 and courageous in sharing it. Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit. And and, lord, we look to the gift of the Holy Spirit to be12:25 empowered, to walk with boldness, with courage as we saw in the apostles, lord, in the early church. And we pray for, lord, Jesus Christ to be lifted up and the12:37 father to be glorified through the work that you do through our hands, as the as the disciples prayed. That, lord, that with all boldness, they would speak your words, and, lord, that you12:48 would affirm that by the things that you do in in affirming the the word of truth in touching lives and transforming men, women, and13:00 children. So, father, we pray that as it happened then, it will happen now, and give us the same courage, conviction, and boldness. We pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for13:12 joining me this morning. And, by the way, coming up, this weekend will be our, monthly stand on the word bible study. If you're in the Baton Rouge area, you can join us at our Baton Rouge facility. If not, hopefully,13:23 this month, we, will have all the bugs worked out, and, you will be able to join us on the stand firm platform. Last time, we had, something wrong with the, platform provider, but I think we've worked that out. And so13:35 you can join us at 7 PM central time, 8 o'clock eastern for this Saturday night stand on the word bible study. We'll be looking not only at acts, but we'll also be looking at the book of James.13:48 So until next time, keep standing on the word.13:54 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:06 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Gospel to the Gentiles: God's Initiative
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