THE FULLNESS OF THE GOSPEL
Text: Acts 10:34-43
Introduction
1. Illustration: "Another reason for the gift of tongues was to let the people know that the Gospel was for the whole world. God wants to speak to every person in his or her own language and give the saving message of salvation in Jesus Christ! The emphasis in the Book of Acts is on worldwide evangelization, "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). "The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions." - Warren Wiersbe
2. The great truth of the Gospel is that it is available to anyone who will accept it!
3. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (Jn. 1:12-13).
4. It was Jesus’ plan for his church to take this Gospel to all the world!
5. Read Acts 10:34-43
Transition: Peter tells Cornelius and his household about the…
I. Universality of the Gospel (34-38).
A. In Every Nation
1. Peter begins his message to the house of Cornelius by talking about the universality of the Gospel. He tells them, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.”
a. He starts by talking about what he had just so recently learned that God doesn’t show favoritism.
b. What he means is that God doesn’t treat one person as better than another. While society makes distinctions among people, God’s love and grace are available for all, and can be received by anyone. (NSFLSB, 1403).
c. He is referring to his vision he received from the Lord in the previous section. He sees that God accepts everyone willing to come to him.
d. Peter sees that Christ’s work on the cross was not just for the Jews, but rather for anyone willing to come to him in faith.
e. Now this brings up a question we need to deal with here. I’ve met people, as I’m sure you have, that say “yeah, I believe in Jesus,” but then they go their own way and do their own thing.
f. In other words, this so-called faith of theirs has not changed them.
g. I want you to notice the second half of v. 35, “he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.” You see, faith is an action, and if your faith doesn’t cause you to do what is right, then there’s something defective about your faith.
h. If your faith doesn’t change you, it’s not real faith. You can’t say, “I believe in Jesus,” and then spend your life smoking dope and living like the rest of society. A life of faith is a life called to holiness.
i. Now, this doesn’t mean God expects us to be perfect. However, there’s a big difference between falling into sin and choosing to live in it.
2. Peter continues to tell them about the message of the Gospel in v. 36, where he says, “This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”
a. This verse expresses the true meaning of the Gospel, that we can have true peace with God.
b. There is no worse feeling than to know that you are not right with God. It’s a feeling that eats at you because there is a need within every one of us that only God can fill.
c. As it has often been described, there is a God sized whole within all of us that only God can fill.
d. But the Good News is that peace is available if we will only come to a right relationship with God through faith in Christ.
e. However, the key lies in the end of this verse, that Jesus is Lord of all. You see, for us to have peace with God requires that Jesus be Lord of all...including us!
f. You see, if Jesus isn’t Lord of all, then he isn’t Lord at all.
g. The process of discipleship, and that’s the goal, not conversion, but being a disciple of Jesus.
h. In that process, we gradually allow Jesus to have more and more of us until he has all of us.
i. If you are making progress in the process, you’re on the right track.
3. Peter then affirms what Jesus did that proves he was the Son of God and the Savior. In vv. 37-38 he says, “You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. 38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
a. Peter tells his audience that Jesus had a special anointing from God. He was anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
b. Now one of the great theological truths is that when Jesus was on the earth, he was 100% God and 100% human at the same time.
c. When he ministered, he did so not as Jesus the divine, but rather as Jesus the man who was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
d. That’s why Jesus said in Jn. 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”
e. Peter also shows them that Jesus came to bring deliverance. He says that Jesus went around healing those who were oppressed by the devil...” He came to set people free from the devil. On the cross Jesus not only saved us, but also set us free.
B. No Distinction
1. Illustration: Philip Yancey put it this way in an article in Christianity Today just this last November. He writes, "As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than [diversity]. Beginning with Pentecost, the Christian church dismantled the barriers of gender, race, and social class that had marked Jewish congregations. Paul, who as a rabbi had given thanks daily that he was not born a woman, slave, or Gentile, marveled over the radical change: ’There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ "One modern Indian pastor told me, ’Most of what happens in Christian churches, including even miracles, can be duplicated in Hindu and Muslim congregations. But in my area only Christians strive, however ineptly, to mix men and women of different castes, races, and social groups. That’s the real miracle.’"
2. The Gospel is available to anyone who will accept it.
a. “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26-28).
b. When it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter what color skin you have.
c. It doesn’t matter what nationality you are.
d. It doesn’t matter what side of the tracks you are from.
e. It doesn’t matter how much you own.
f. It doesn’t matter who your parents were.
g. All that matters is that you are willing to accept the gift of salvation offered you in Jesus!
h. So, how does that apply to us here at Oostanaula? It means we don’t get to pick and choose who we minister to.
i. It means we don’t get to pick and choose who we reach out to.
j. It means that everyone is welcome here regardless of what look like, dress like, or smell like.
k. It means that we will take the Gospel to anyone who will listen.
Transition: Peter also tells Cornelius’s household that…
II. Forgiveness Only in the Gospel (39-43).
A. Sins Forgiven Through His Name
1. Peter continues his message by telling Cornelius and his household that he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In vv. 39-41 Peter says, “And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, 41 not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
a. Here Peter is telling them if you don’t believe what you’ve heard about Jesus, let me assure it’s all true because I was there.
b. Peter and the other apostles were there and can testify that Jesus was hung on the cross, and they were eyewitnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
c. In fact, to contradict the rumor that was going around, a rumor that some doubters today still believe, that Jesus didn’t really appear physically after the resurrection, Peter says that Jesus even ate with them.
d. Luke’s gospel is the only one that states this fact, and he must have considered a convincing proof that Jesus was alive.
e. This would have been an important fact for Gentiles like Cornelius because a bodily resurrection was a new concept to them.
f. This is also an important fact today, as people who want to disprove Christianity usually start by attacking the resurrection.
g. However, there is no more verifiable proof of any event in history than the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ!
2. Then Peter goes on to explain the mission Jesus gave to Peter and his friends. In vv. 42-43 he says, “And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. 43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
a. Peter makes it clear that Jesus commanded them to do two things: preach and testify. These are two very important words for us as Christians.
b. To preach means to proclaim a message. It doesn’t necessarily mean preaching a fully formed, three-point sermon, but to proclaim the message of the gospel.
c. So, when you tell someone about Jesus, you are preaching, even if it’s just in your everyday conversation.
d. To testify, is of course a legal term. It means to tell about something you know to be true.
e. The thing they were supposed to preach and testify about is that Jesus is the judge of both the living and the dead.
f. Wait a minute, that sounds like bad news. Well, yes, it is because we are all guilty! But the Good News is that Jesus also came to forgive sins.
g. Yes, we are guilty, but when we accept Jesus into our hearts, we receive forgiveness of sin.
h. The reason that this is such good news is that Jesus not only forgives, but he also forgets!
i. Another big theological term is justified. The best way to understand this term is “just as if I’d never sinned!” Now that’s good news!
B. Pierced For Our Rebellion
1. Illustration: What is this idea of "covering" or "hiding" sin? It means that there are circumstances where God will refuse to see our sin. I like to picture that as being like the technique used in video and film. It’s called the chromakey technique and requires filming in front of a blue or green screen. Then, the technicians "key out" or remove all of the blue or green in the image (essentially, they filter out the blue or green). As a result, anything blue or green will become invisible, and you can composite any other image you’d like behind you. We are "well-off" when our shortcomings are "keyed out" by the blood of Jesus. God no longer looks at what we have failed to do or what we did wrong. God sees the sacrifice of Jesus as the Son. Wouldn’t you like to have your record of failures and missed opportunities erased?
2. The Gospel tells us that our sins we laid upon Jesus, and as a result, our sins have been forgiven.
a. “He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.” (Is. 53:3-6).
b. If you consider the physical torture that Jesus endured, the mental anguish he endured, and the spiritual agony he suffered, no one has suffered more than Jesus did.
c. He was beaten, spit upon, had his beard plucked out, whipped within an inch of his life, had a crown of old Judean thorns pounded into his head, and had spikes like on a railroad tie pounded into him.
d. But it wasn’t for himself he did this; no, it was for you!
e. The crown of thorns should have been yours. The whipping should have been yours. The cross he carried should have been yours. The spikes in his hands and feet should have been through yours.
f. He did this because of your sin!
g. But you were the reason he went through all that pain.
h. And because he did all that your sins are forgiven and forgotten
i. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Rom. 5:6-8).
j. Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I… At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the Light And the burden of my heart rolled away, rolled away. It was there by Faith, I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day
Conclusion
1. The Gospel…
a. Is for everyone.
b. Says our sins are forgiven because of Jesus’ blood.
2. What’s the point preacher? The point is that Jesus’ death on the cross is for everyone. Therefore, our mission is to reach everyone, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done, with the message of salvation in Jesus.
