Tag: Cornelius

The Gospel Is For ALL!

The news that the good news is for everyone is old news to us, but it is still big news! It does not matter who you are, where you are from, what you have done, or when you hear, the gospel is for you, too!

Neal Pollard

The first time the word “Gentiles” appears in Scripture is in Psalm 2:1 (your translation may have “nations”). Isn’t it interesting that this is a Messianic psalm? According to New Testament writers, the “mystery of Christ” and the “mystery of the gospel” is “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body…” (Eph. 3:6; cf. Rom. 16:25-27; Col. 1:27). Prophets like Isaiah foretold this (42:1). That’s incredibly important to you and me, since, presumably, the overwhelming majority of not only those who read this but also those who are members of the New Testament church in the 21st Century are ethnically Gentiles. Acts 10 is where it all began. Jesus’ roadmap of making disciples was ultimately heading to this destination (1:8). 

THE MAN (1-8). Luke introduces us to the Gentile who will first have the opportunity to hear the gospel. His righteous character is outlined: (a) “Devout” (profoundly reverent), (b) God-fearing, (c) Generous, and (d) Prayerful (2). He will later be described as “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews” (22). His “prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (4). He is directed by an angel of the Lord to send for Peter (5) who would preach to him (22). He was moral and full of faith in God, but he needed instruction and guidance. Though he was a good, moral man, he obviously needed more than that.

THE MISSIONARY (9ff). Peter is the first to preach the gospel to the Jews (Acts 2). Now, the Lord chooses him to be the first to preach it to the Gentiles. However reluctant he was about the first mission, this mission is far more complicated. So, the Lord gives him a visual to illustrate the legitimacy of this new mission. Peter “saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’” (11-13). At first, Peter refuses on the grounds that such was forbidden under the Law of Moses (Lev. 11:20-25; Deut. 14:4-20). But after divine reassurance and re-reassurance (14-16), Peter seems to get the message (cf. 28). When emissaries from Cornelius arrive to find Peter, he gives them lodging (23) then leaves with them the next day for Cornelius’ home (24). 

THE MESSAGE (13ff). Peter has to receive and comprehend the message before he can share it with Cornelius. The message is simple. No person is excluded. No one is unholy and unclean based solely on their ethnicity (15-16). While Peter is trying to connect those dots (17), it begins to make sense to him (19). It will form the launching point when he preaches Jesus to Cornelius and his house (34ff). 

The news that the good news is for everyone is old news to us, but it is still big news! It does not matter who you are, where you are from, what you have done, or when you hear, the gospel is for you, too! It is for your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your classmates, your friends, your enemies–everybody! That may have started in Acts 10, but it will continue until the second coming of Christ. We must remove any hesitations and prejudices we may harbor and see every person through heavenly eyes. It’s our mission and God’s message for every man (and woman). 

“Wait Until Fall”

Neal Pollard

It was a beautiful experience, talking with our newest brother in Christ last night. It was beautiful watching him be bombarded with love and attention from member after member. Listening to him tell his story built my confidence in the simplicity of the Bible when a person reads it without prejudice or agenda. What an affirmation that God has a will for us and He made sure it was understandable to the seeker. As Jesus put it, “Seek, and you shall find” (Mat. 7:7).

Roberto has been seeking. As he has been attending a large, area Community Church, he has also been studying his Bible. He’s been a diligent student. Along the way, he read the repeated emphasis upon baptism as a necessity for salvation. This prompted him to approach his church and ask if he could be baptized. He was told that they baptize in the fall, and he could be baptized then. His immediate concern? What if I am killed in a car wreck or my phone blows up when I charge it? There was no manipulative or badgering teacher filling his head with such scenarios. Instead, he could make the connection between a command from God and the consequences of disobeying it.

He started Googling the importance of baptism and eventually found World Bible School. This led him to connect with Terry Pace, a Christian in Flint, Michigan, who studied with him. Roberto wanted to know if he could be baptized. Terry went to work. Terry’s son, Sam, happens to preach at the Northwest congregation in Westminster. One of the Northwest members, Allan Javellana, met him to study with him on Monday and found out he had sufficient understanding to be baptized. Since he lives close to Bear Valley, Allan brought him to our building where Wayne Nelson let him in. Allan stressed with Roberto the importance of working and worshipping with a group that is trying to answer Bible questions with Bible answers.

On Pentecost, they asked “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). They were told (Acts 2:38), and they acted that day (Acts 2:41).

On the road to Gaza, the eunuch asked Philip (who had preached Jesus to him, Acts 8:35), “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36). They stopped the chariot right there and then, and he was baptized (Acts 8:38).

At Cornelius’ house in Caesarea, this Gentile asked Peter to come over from Joppa (Acts 10:23ff). Cornelius knew Peter would be speaking words by which he could be saved (Acts 11:14). When it was clear that God wanted Gentiles to be saved (Acts 10:44-47), Cornelius and his household were baptized on the spot (Acts 10:48).

In the prison in Philippi, the jailor asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). He’s told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), Who they proceed to teach him about (Acts 16:32). Armed with this knowledge of the Savior, this jailor “immediately…was baptized, he and all his household” (Acts 16:33).

Nobody waited because God’s answer was “now.” What has changed from then to now? What would make a different answer acceptable today? Roberto is another, amazing example of what a receptive heart does when faced with God’s Word and will. Simply, humbly do what He says. Oh, that I will approach God’s Word the same way!

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