Pastor Allan Kircher
Acts 10:36-43
“All about the Holy Spirit”
Acts series: God’s Vision and Power for Shell Point Baptist.
Introduction:
As we continue in the Book or Acts let’s refresh our memory:
The church had been founded on the Day of Pentecost.
• It had exploded in Jerusalem,
• then it exploded all throughout Judea and Samaria,
• People were being saved everywhere along the way.
• Great revivals were breaking out, particularly in Samaria under the ministry of Philip and, as well, Peter and John and the other apostles.
• Peter was moving around.
The strictness of the Jewish Law was losing its hold on Peter:
His walls were coming down..His prejudices of his upbringing crumbling one by one.
• He was the preacher to the unsaved.
• He was also the teacher to the saints.
• He was available to God, and he moved about from place to place.
In Chapter 9, he healed Aeneas/8 yr paralytic
God is moving mightily in his life..he keeps moving.
On his knees praying he Raised Dorcas from the dead.
Peter’s walls are tumbling slowly and steadily…..
It’s all about the Holy Spirit…He’s living for the glory of God.
We finish chapter 9 with Peter staying at Simon the tanner’s house.
No self-respecting Jew would have anything to do with such a man.
But the strictness of the Jewish Law was losing its hold on Peter
• Peter’s prejudices/being melted down by our Lord.
• The Jail cell/Jewish traditions/training/legalism/prejudice is crumbling…..
There's one key left in Peter's hand that hasn't yet been put in a door and turned, and that's the...the key that opens the church to include the Gentiles.
And so Peter is about to unlock that last door, and that's gonna be a tough key for Peter to turn,
• It’s a key only the Holy Spirit can provide.
• Peter preaches his sermon to Cornelius/family/friends.
• God has prepared Peter through the HS.
Now I want us to look at this simple straight-forward message.
I can't improve upon it, I can't embellish it, I want only to make it clear so that you understand what the gospel of the resurrection is
Now let’s look at our text through the eyes of the visual Bible.
Acts 10:1-47
The Holy Spirit Is Free to Do as He Pleases
The Holy Spirit is free to come and to go whenever and however he pleases.
• He is free/give gifts/withhold gifts,
• To regenerate/convict and baptize and seal and fill
• And comfort and counsel whenever he wills according to his own infinite wisdom.
• He is not bound to make any of our programs work.
• He is not constrained to do what we think he should do when we think he should do it.
• He is God. And he is free.
Hebrews 2:4 says that when the gospel came to those people, God "bore witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy spirit distributed according to his own will."
According to his own will" means that the Spirit is free and sovereign in the way he gives his gifts and works his miracles.
1 Corinthians 12:11 says the same thing. "All these [gifts] are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."
As he wills, not necessarily as we will. He is free.
Jesus put it in a picture for us.
He compares the freedom of the Spirit/freedom of the wind.
In John 3:8 he says, "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
The Holy Spirit is as free as the wind.
• You can't see him. You can't control him.
• Suddenly he is around you and in you.
• You did not make him come any more/you can rule the wind.
• He is free.
When in your soul, evil desire begins to plead the argument of sin
• Was there another voice/your soul pleading for noble things.
• Wasn’t there a voice, low but clear and insistent speaking to you of the best thing to do.
• Pleading, pleading like a skillful advocate in front of a judge.
• “Don’t do it!”
Do you remember that in your soul?
Who was it? I’ll tell you who it was. It was the blessed Paraclete.
It was the Holy Spirit. He was pleading the truth and making reply to every argument of sin.
Where would I have been, where would you have been, but for the blessed Holy Spirit?
• If, at our first foolish frolicking of sin
• If, as soon as we were seduced in our hearts by desire.
• If, when our vagrant wishes ran after that suggestive image.
• If, He had left us without a word, pleading
Where should we have been?
• The HS will never desert you.
• YOU can drive Him away, but He will go unwillingly.
• He wants to plead with you.
• He knows the worst about you, and He longs to save.
See to it, then, that you avail yourselves of these immense advantages and beg of God to pour out His Spirit more and more abundantly upon you through Jesus Christ.
May the HS be so richly poured out upon us from on high that,
As Isaiah foretold, this wilderness may become a fruitful field and the fruitful field be so luxuriant as to be counted for a forest! 32:12
a. Peter's Preaching and the Coming of the Spirit
That's the way he came in Acts 10.
Before the sermon was over, before any formal invitation for him to come, suddenly he was there. Verse 44: "While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word."
The question I have is this:
1. Is there any correlation between the way Peter preached and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power?
I don't mean, Did Peter make him come? He's free. I simply mean,
2. Is there something about the sermon that might increase the likelihood that the Spirit would choose to come?
b. The Mission of the Holy Spirit
I think there is. And the clue is realizing what the mission of the Holy Spirit is.
Jesus told us what the essence of the mission of the Holy Spirit is in John 16:14. He said, "He will glorify me."
"The essence of the Holy Spirit's ministry is, at this or any time in the Christendom, to mediate the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ".
• the Spirit is sent to make Christ real to people
• To show us who he really is in his glory so that we come to love him/trust him/obey him/show him to the world.
What this means is that the Holy Spirit is more likely to come in power where the truth about Jesus is being lifted up and made plain.
The Spirit loves to come and take the truth about Jesus and turn it into an experience of Jesus.
That's what happened in Acts 10. Peter held up a verbal portrait of Jesus and the Spirit came and turned the portrait into the living reality of Jesus himself.
Hey, listen, sometimes we live so far on this side of Pentecost that we forget the wonder of the Holy Spirit.
• but imagine Peter nudging John and saying, “Think of that John.” “think of that John.”
The same power that came into life Gideon, into Jeremiah, Isaiah,
The same power that came into lives of the men in the OT
This power is going to come to take up residence in us, to live in us, man!
The stream that poured forth from the throne of God in Acts 10 has not lost itself in the sands, nor shrunken in its volume.
The fire that was kindled on Pentecost has not died down into gray ashes.
The rushing of the mighty wind that woke on that morning has not calmed and stilled itself into stagnancy and suffocation.
The same fullness of the Spirit which filled the believers on that day is available for us all.
If, like the waiting church of old, we abide in prayer and supplication, the gift will be given to us too.
c. Peter's Preaching Exalted Jesus and the Spirit Came
So my answer to the question: Is there any correlation between the way Peter preached and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power? is YES.
The correlation is that Peter painted such a picture of Jesus that the Spirit saw a very attractive opportunity to come and glorify the Son of God—which is what he is appointed to do.
That is his mission. That's the essence of his ministry.
So he is very likely to come in power when Jesus is lifted up in truth and made the center of our focus.
So if you want the Spirit's power in your life, I encourage you to make Jesus the center of your life.
Has the Spirit glorified Christ to you?
• He is still the great revealer of Christ.
• He shines into our hearts, to give us light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
• Has he led you to the altar
• To the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world?
• Has He clothed you in the high priest’s garments?
• Has He brought you within the veil—to the mercy seat?
• This is He delightful work.
Oh, praise Him that He has done this for you.
Oh, love the Spirit of God…..Amen…..Amen…
John 4:4, He is a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
D. How Peter Exalted Jesus
To be more specific let's take the rest of our time and simply dwell on the way Peter focused on Jesus.
Let's try to do what he did.
And let's pray that the Spirit will clothe us with power so that Jesus is not merely an idea or a word picture, but a living person in our lives.
The central person in our lives.
1. Jesus, the Bringer of Peace
Peter lifts up Jesus as the one through whom God makes peace with his rebellious creation.
Verse 36a: "You know the message God sent to people of Israel, telling the good news of peace by Jesus Christ."
This sermon begins here and ends in verse 43 with God as a Peacemaker through Jesus Christ.
* God offering terms of peace through Jesus.
* There he offers forgiveness through Jesus. It's the same thing.
* We have peace with God only when his anger at us because of our sins is put away, and replaced by peace.
* And that comes through Jesus.
* So the first and last thing Peter lifts up about Jesus is that he is God's Peacemaker. "God sent good news of peace by Jesus Christ" (v. 36).
2. Jesus, the Lord of All
Peter lifts up Jesus as the Lord of all.
Verse 36b “he is Lord of all."
When God undertook to make peace with sinners He send a message of amnesty to his rebel subjects
• He did not send an errand-boy, or a heavenly James Baker,
• Even a five star general like Gabriel or Michael.
• He sent the "Lord of all." "God sent good news of peace by Jesus Christ—"he is Lord of all."
That's how important the mission was.
That's the way it had to be done.
That's who he is. He is Lord of all.
Not just Lord of the Jews,
• Lord of the Gentiles like Cornelius and his family,
• Lord of all angels and all demons (as we'll see in a minute).
• Lord of Beaufort/your life/your home/your children.
• He is Lord of lords and King of kings
• He is universal Ruler.
• He is not a mere local prophet or a tribal deity or a Jewish teacher.
• He is Lord of the universe and everything in it—Lord of all.
That's the second thing Peter lifts up about Jesus: Lord of all.
3. Jesus, a Man Anointed with the Spirit and Power
Peter lifts up Jesus as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
Verse 38: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."
It is tremendously important to say the awesome fact that Jesus—the Lord of all—was a man.
That's the point of Peter's identifying him as "Jesus of Nazareth."
• He had a hometown.
• He was known by friends and kinsmen there.
• He worked in the carpenter's shop.
• The Lord of all had become a human like you and me (only without sin).
And so he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power like other humans need to be anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power in order to have extraordinary effect in ministry.
The end of verse 38 says, "because God was with him."
The point is not that he was not God.
• The point was that as a man he relied upon God.
• He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
• The Lord of all humbled himself
• Became a servant and lived his life in the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the one mention of the Spirit's ministry that the Gentiles at Cornelius' house hear in Peter's message.
I can't help but wonder if this kindled a sense of expectancy that if Jesus—the one from Nazareth 25 miles to the northwest—was anointed with the Spirit and with power, maybe they could be too. And maybe us.
4. Jesus, a Man Stronger Than Sin and Satan
Peter lifts up Jesus as a man who was stronger than sin and stronger than the devil.
Verse 38b: "He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
The anointing and power that Jesus had from God was not given from far away.
• When the anointing came, God came.
• Jesus walked with God his Father.
• When Jesus acted, the Father acted.
• There was perfect intimacy. God was with him.
And because God was with him, and the anointing and power of God were on him, Jesus did what was good.
• Jesus never did bad things.
• He was tempted to do bad things, just like we are,
• Bible teaches that he always conquered the temptation
(Hebrews 4:15). He was stronger than sin, because he kept such intimate, satisfying fellowship with God. The power of sin was broken by the presence of God's joy in Jesus' life.
And by this same power he conquered the devil: verse 38b, "He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
* Jesus is stronger than the devil.
* Jesus rescues people who are oppressed and harassed and tormented and tempted by the devil.
* Peter lifts up this truth.
* He wants Cornelius and his family—and us—to know this and believe it and experience it.
* When the Holy Spirit comes, he comes to make Jesus real as a deliverer from satanic oppression.
5. Jesus, a Man Who Was Killed in Spite of His Goodness
Peter lifts up Jesus as a man who was killed in spite of his goodness.
Verse 39: "And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree."
• In spite of the fact that he was God's Peacemaker,
• in spite of the fact that he was Lord of all,
• that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit
• and His power and was stronger than sin and the devil and that God was with him,
• he was killed.
There is only one possible explanation for this:
God must have willed it and sin must have caused it.
Some strange and wonderful divine work was happening here.
But Peter leaves it a mystery and moves immediately to lift up three final truths about this crucified Christ.
6. Jesus, Alive from the Dead and Raised by God
Peter lifts up Jesus as alive from the dead because God raised him after three days.
Verses 40–41: "But God raised him on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead."
Jesus is alive.
• He is alive because God did not abandon his Peacemaker in death.
• He raised him from the dead.
• He vindicated him and gave him a name above every name
• So that every tongue in the universe will confess that he is indeed Lord of all—just like Peter said he was.
And his resurrection was bodily.
* He is not a ghost.
* He is not mere spirit.
Verse 41 says that the witnesses ate and drank with him.
He has a new resurrection body with flesh and bones
* Jesus did not disappear into some ethereal realm and leave creation to the dogs.
* He took the created world of flesh/bones/fish up into the realm of God and set the stage for the new heavens and the new earth.
7. Jesus, the Final Judge of All People
Peter lifts up Jesus as the final judge of every person in the universe whether they are dead or alive.
Verse 42: "And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead."
O that the Spirit would come and make this real to you!
Every one of you will stand before Jesus Christ as your judge, just as surely as I am standing before you right now.
• No pinstriped power suits, no Visa cards,
• No medals, no make-up or cool pants or trendy shoes or stylish hair.
• No cars, or motorcycles, or houses, or money.
Just the plain, get-up-in-the-morning, unimproved, sinful you.
And Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, will decide where you spend eternity.
And what he decides in that moment, you decide now.
You will either be condemned justly for all your sins and sent to everlasting torment (Revelation 14:11), or you will be acquitted, pardoned, and received into everlasting joy.
The difference? That's what Peter lifts up last in his sermon before the Spirit falls.
8. Jesus, the Source of God's Forgiveness for Our Sins
Peter lifts up Jesus as the source of God's forgiveness for our sins.
Verse 43: "To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
• Before you meet Jesus as Judge, you may meet him this very morning as the forgiver of sins—
• The Peacemaker of God.
• That's how Peter's sermon begins and ends.
• And if you believe in him, you will receive forgiveness of sins through his name and be pardoned when you stand before him as judge.
If you believe in him.
• And that means trust him with your life as the Peacemaker of God;
• trust him with your life as the Lord of all;
• trust him with your life as God's anointed one,
• full of the Spirit and power;
• trust him with your life as stronger than sin and Satan;
• trust him with your life as one who died and rose again and lives today;
• trust him with your life as the one who will judge the living and the dead;
• and trust him with your life as the forgiver of sins.
This is the Christ that the Spirit loves to glorify.
Are we doing that in our lives, doing that here?
May he come to you and make this Jesus infinitely more than a sermon.
“The wind bloweth”
• not where we timidly suggest.
• Or dogmatically demand that it should
“The wind blows wherever it pleases.”
Try shutting the door against it.
Try setting your shoulder to the door and barricading it
It will break the door down, as it did on the day they rolled a great massive stone against the mouth of the tomb in a garden and sealed it shut and said,
“that’s Christ finished! This dead and defeated man will trouble us no more. Let Him sleep behind the stone forever!”
Suddenly the wind of heaven came and burst the tomb, and Christ went conquering through the world.
“The wind blows wherever it pleases.”
Don’t try to tame that intractable wind. It is the master of the world.
• No citadel of self and sin is safe from Him
• No unbelieving cynic secure beyond His reach.
• No impregnable agnosticism He cannot disturb into faith.
• No ironclad fortress of theological self-confidence is immune.
Blessed be His name, there is no winter death of the soul that He cannot quicken into a blossoming springtime of life
No dry bones He cannot vitalize into a marching army of SP saints.
“the wind blows wherever it pleases”
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Holy Spirit abide in us here at Shell Point. Blow our way.
“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13
Ask, and you shall receive and be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power.
